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#781
09-13-2005, 08:34 PM
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Governors handle crisis in own ways
By Jill Lawrence, USA TODAY In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco has prayed for the dead, comforted the living and defended her leadership after an abrupt emergence onto the national stage. Some commentators and officials have blamed Blanco for problems such as flawed communication and blocked aid in the aftermath of Katrina. By Pat Sullivan, AP How does she cope? Her answer spills out rapid fire: "I have to tune out the political talking heads. The blame game can get in the way of protective efforts. It can sap your vitality. It's the vulture mentality. Woulda coulda shoulda, sitting in their clean spaces, not knowing what's going on in the trenches. They know not of what they speak." Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, once chairman of the national Republican Party, finds himself responsible for helping get 1 million people back on their feet amid unprecedented devastation. How does he cope? His answer reflects his Yazoo City roots: "You just hitch up your britches and do what you gotta do." Both governors have faced cameras in tears, made threats to lawbreakers, rejected federal takeovers of relief efforts, fended off questions about whether the federal government came through for them in their time of need. Both are looking at legacies far different than what they had intended. But there the similarities end. Blanco, 62, a Democrat from Port Iberia, raised six children and honed her political skills going door to door in Cajun country. Ever since New Orleans was overtaken by floodwaters, the soft-spoken governor has faced stinging criticism. "She found herself in a desperate situation," says Susan Howell, director of the Survey Research Center at the University of New Orleans. "She's going to rise or fall on the timeline of her decisions." Barbour, 57, took a 20-year detour to Washington, where he developed close ties to President Bush and other important Republicans as a White House political director, national party chairman and high-powered lobbyist. He's said and done nothing in the past two weeks that stands to damage a career that could be headed for a White House bid. "He's managing to at least look authoritative," says Marty Wiseman, executive director of the Stennis Institute of Government at Mississippi State University. "So far, he gets a passing grade from most people." New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani set the standard for disaster management after 9/11, projecting a compelling mix of command and vulnerability. Some analysts liken Barbour to Giuliani. Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, calls Barbour "the only political figure to gain" from the Katrina fiasco. "A Giuliani-Barbour ticket in 2008? Or is it Barbour-Giuliani?" he wondered. A 'nurturing' style Blanco's reviews are worse, but so is her situation — a catastrophic hurricane and a catastrophic flood that left a major city in ruins. Blanco declared a state of emergency Aug. 26 three days before the storm and followed the steps in her disaster playbook. On Aug. 31, she asked Bush for "everything you've got." But some commentators and officials have blamed her for problems such as flawed communication and blocked aid. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., accused Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin of "mind-boggling incompetence." Nagin, who has been criticized for failing to get people without money or cars out of the city before the storm, praised Bush and scored Blanco Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press. Was it the state's responsibility to help Nagin evacuate? "He had a plan, and his plan should have evacuated the city," Blanco said tersely in an interview with USA TODAY. Was the state handicapped because many of its National Guard troops were in Iraq? "We might have had more feet on the ground quicker," she says. "But we had it all lined up with our neighboring states to come in." Blanco came to her job without Giuliani's law enforcement background or Barbour's deep knowledge of national politics and government. A stay-at-home mom for 14 years, she was the first woman on the state's Public Service Commission and, in 2003, the first woman elected governor of Louisiana. John Maginnis, a political newsletter publisher who has observed Louisiana politics for 30 years, says Blanco is not an inspiring speaker and appeared "rattled" on TV after seeing her devastated state. But he also says it was clear that "her heart went out" to Katrina's victims. "She's an empathetic, nurturing kind of person," he says. "Maybe she is not the towering tower of strength that some people would hope or expect to see." Lafayette Parish Sheriff Michael Neustrom, a lifelong friend, says Blanco's political style developed in the early 1980s when she ran for the state Legislature. She didn't have the money for TV ads, so she knocked on doors and talked directly to voters. "That was the beginning of her success," he says. "People felt connected. They felt she cared about them." Part of Blanco's job these days is person-to-person. She spent hours with evacuees at shelters in Houston and Dallas on Sunday night. One woman had just located her mother, her father and her two children after a two-week separation. "We believe we have a flight," Blanco said. "We'll be able to connect that whole family." The other part of her job is of a different order of magnitude. As she put it last week, "It's as though one region of the state has been erased, and we have to start from the beginning and recreate it." Blanco has had several skirmishes with Bush and sent signals that she did not trust his administration. She brought in James Lee Witt, former president Bill Clinton's emergency management director, to advise her. She rejected Bush's proposal that the federal government take control of National Guard troops under her command. ("If that would have improved our situation, it would have been a no-brainer," she says). She says that two days after Katrina, desperate for help, she couldn't get through to Bush and didn't get a callback; hours later, she tried again, and they talked. Some frustrated officials, including the mayor, have burst into tears and obscenities during the ordeal. But Blanco kept her public reaction measured and now depicts herself and Bush as a team. Her husband met Bush's plane Sunday night in New Orleans, and she rode with him Monday as he toured the city. "He and I both agree that FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) did not respond as quickly as we needed," she says. "He's going to look at it. He has to." In her first 18 months as governor, Blanco tried to tighten state ethics rules and pass a $2,000-a-year teacher pay increase financed by a tobacco-tax hike. Both proposals died in the Legislature. It's a safe bet recovery and rebuilding will dominate the rest of her term. "What are we going to do to make life whole, to heal our state?" she has asked. If she runs for re-election in 2007, she'll be judged by her answers. No wait for Bush's calls Barbour hasn't had to wait hours to talk to Bush. In fact, Barbour said in an interview with USA TODAY, the president called him three to four times in the wake of Katrina. "I never called him. He always called me," he said. Ed Rogers, Barbour's longtime friend and business partner, says Barbour "has a very sophisticated working knowledge of this administration and this city (Washington). He knows what people can do and what they can't do. He knows who to call, and they know him." Katrina grabbed Barbour's full attention. The hurricane dealt the Mississippi Gulf Coast "utter devastation," Barbour says: 1 million people significantly affected, tens of thousands "who've lost everything." By Kyle Carter, The Star via AP Barbour says the federal government has been "a good partner." But compared with the complete wipeout next door in Louisiana, the destruction was familiar hurricane damage writ large, and recovery efforts were moving ahead relatively rapidly. By Friday, as authorities in New Orleans continued to hunt for corpses in toxic waters, Barbour had named a recovery czar — former Netscape CEO Jim Barksdale. A damaged vacuum cleaner plant reopened in Biloxi and displaced people started moving into mobile homes. By Saturday, electricity was available to all customers who could accept it. "The most critical thing is what the private sector does," Barbour says. "Our people need jobs." The onetime party leader declined to comment on Republican plans to push for tax cuts despite mounting federal deficits driven by Katrina and the Iraq war. "I just haven't got anything to do with it," he says of the national agenda. "I got a full-time job down here." Upbeat and good-natured, Barbour also has refused to express much frustration with a federal relief operation even Bush acknowledged was flawed. He repeatedly says the federal government has been "a good partner." Bush offered Mississippi as well as Louisiana a federal takeover of relief efforts. "I told him we didn't need it," Barbour says, "that we were doing well." Not everyone appreciates Barbour's positive spin. Steve Bozell of Milton, Fla., said in a letter to The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson that he had made three trips to Biloxi to deliver supplies. "While Barbour was praising FEMA and praising the president's response, reporters and private citizens like me were driving the streets" on a fruitless search for federal relief officials, he wrote. Wiseman says Barbour is expecting that good behavior "will pay off in a bigger way down the road" when his strapped state needs federal money to rebuild. Barbour often takes the long view, whether it's avoiding complaints or investing in high technology for his campaign in 2002. Wiseman used to bring groups of students to visit Barbour year after year in Washington. "He took time he really didn't have every time we were up there. He welcomed them with open arms," Wiseman says. "Knowing Haley, he was probably thinking, eight to 10 years from now, I may run for governor, and I will need these folks." Find this article at: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/...overnors_x.htm
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 save the cheerleader - save the world 
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#782
09-13-2005, 10:06 PM
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The plot thickens
 Nursing home owners charged Attorney: Clients stayed with at-risk patients as Katrina hit BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (CNN) -- The attorney for a couple charged with 34 counts of negligent homicide said Tuesday his clients never abandoned the nursing home where people tried to ride out Hurricane Katrina. The Category 4 hurricane swamped St. Rita's Nursing Home in St. Bernard Parish, near New Orleans, killing 34 people August 29. On Tuesday, Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti Jr. charged Mable and Salvador Mangano Sr., both 65, with 34 counts of negligent homicide. (Watch the attorney general explain the charges -- 4:23) The Manganos, who face up to five years on each count, surrendered to Medicaid Fraud Control Unit investigators in Baton Rouge and posted bail. Jim Cobb, an attorney for the Manganos, told CNN that his clients said they were never told about the mandatory evacuation, and the couple was concerned that if they moved their patients, many would have died. The owners stayed in the nursing home through the storm with their children, grandchildren, and nieces and nephews, he said. Tammy Daigle, a nurse at St. Rita's, agreed that the Manganos didn't want to risk losing any patients. "Instead of endangering their lives, they [the Manganos] thought they could stay safely in the building with all of them," she told CNN. Foti said the patients should have been moved to a safer place. "They did not die of natural causes; they drowned," Foti told reporters. "Thirty-four people drowned in a nursing home where they should have been evacuated." He said the owners had plenty of opportunity to move their charges out of the facility. The Manganos were asked if they wanted to evacuate the building and were offered buses; in addition, they had signed last April a contract with Acadian Ambulance to provide transportation in the event an evacuation was needed, Foti said, but "they were never called." Dr. Bryan Bertucci, a coroner, said he called all five nursing homes in the parish as the storm was threatening the city, and all but St. Rita's said they were evacuating their patients. By Sunday at 2 p.m., when the danger was imminent and a mandatory evacuation order had been issued, he called back and spoke with Mrs. Mangano. "I told her I had two buses with two drivers that would take them wherever they want," Bertucci told CNN. But he said he was told that five special needs patients could not be evacuated. "She said, 'I have five nurses, I have a generator, and I've spoken to the families and they said it was OK.' " The Manganos had a spotless record for 20 years, and the home was well-regarded in the community, Cobb, their attorney, said. Eighty-five percent of the patients were from St. Bernard Parish, he said. "At the end of the day the relatives of these people decided that it was best for their relatives to be there," he said. Workers at the nursing home called each family, Cobb said, to tell them they were prepared with supplies and medicine and were staying at the home. Only six people came to get family members, he said. Bertucci said the Manganos had provided good care before the storm, but he found fault with their decision not to evacuate. "I think they made a poor decision," he said. Foti said it was unclear whether all 34 bodies were patients, family members or people who had sought refuge in the home. Between 40 and 50 other people were rescued from the facility, St. Bernard Parish Sheriff Jack Stevens has said. Cobb said the Manganos "saved 52 lives." Find this article at: http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/09/13/ka...ome/index.html
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save the cheerleader - save the world
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#783
09-13-2005, 10:11 PM
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Quote:
 ) and he talked about how they just wouldn't evacuate until it was too late. These people are being rightfully charged.
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#784
09-13-2005, 11:22 PM
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Sorry about your questions
 I think you should post them here. Did you concentrate on the Feds mess up or did you ask about the Mayor's and Gov.'s as well?Also, FYI Louisiana State Law, defining negligent homicide: §32. Negligent homicide A. Negligent homicide is the killing of a human being by criminal negligence. B. The violation of a statute or ordinance shall be considered only as presumptive evidence of such negligence. C. Whoever commits the crime of negligent homicide shall be imprisoned with or without hard labor for not more than five years, fined not more than five thousand dollars, or both. However, if the victim was killed as a result of receiving a battery and was under the age of ten years, the offender shall be imprisoned at hard labor, without benefit of probation or suspension of sentence, for not less than two nor more than five years. and rhen LA R.S. 14:12 Criminal negligence exists when, although neither specific nor general criminal intent is present, there is such disregard of the interest of others that the offender's conduct amounts to a gross deviation below the standard of care expected to be maintained by a reasonably careful man under like circumstances. __________________________________________________________ Looks like it fits. It is al little odd seeng as how they, according to the article, ran such an great nursing home for so long - and this. The defense will point out that that negates that they would have "such disregard of the interest of others that the offender's conduct amounts to a gross deviation below the standard of care expected to be maintained by a reasonably careful man under like circumstances." The prosecution will be able to cut through that though because no matter how good they were prior to this, the standard is "a reasonably careful man under like circumstances" and I know of no one who sould not have evacuated these poor souls. Anyway, that's my $0.02
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save the cheerleader - save the world
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#785
09-14-2005, 09:36 AM
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Last night Howard Dean was on Hannity and Colmes and said:
There was a big squabble over who was going to have control. The thing that's so disturbing is that the Congressional Research Service today, which is totally non-partisan, came out today and said that Governor Blanco did everything she could. Which means obviously they thought that the real screw-ups were at the federal level, and they were. I tried to find where the Congressional Research Service ( http://www.ncseonline.org/NLE/CRS/ ) actually said Governor Blanco did everything she could. AllI could find was the following September 7, 2005, letter from Congressman John Conyers, Jr., Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee (footnotes omitted): I write to request that CRS review the applicable law and legal requests pertaining to Hurricane Katrina, and confirm whether or not the necessary steps were taken to give the Federal government in general, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in particular, the legal authority needed to act to save lives and mitigate the damage stemming from Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana. Given that the Administration has described the Hurricane as the largest natural disaster in our nation's history, it is inconceivable to me that they would permit a bureaucratic issue to interfere with the performance of its job. However, it appears to me that the State of Louisiana took all necessary and appropriate actions to permit federal engagement. Some in the White House and Congress appear to want to derail any inquiry of this matter by labeling attempts to assess accountability as a "blame game." In my view, such labeling is not only misguided, but has potentially deadly implications, as it is essential to determine what went wrong and who is responsible so that we can correct shortcomings and avoid a similar debacle in the future. An immediate review of the legal authority is necessary due to the continuing confusion in the media and the public concerning whether or not FEMA's actually had the necessary authority to respond under the law. For example, Monday's New York Times reports that "the administration is ... working to shift the blame away from the White House and toward officials in New Orleans and Louisiana, who, as it happens are Democrats." I also understand that White House officials provided information to the Washington Post claiming that "[A]s of Saturday, Blanco still had not declared a state of emergency," and to Newsweek, asserting that "Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco seemed uncertain and sluggish, hesitant to declare martial law or a state of emergency, which would have opened the door to more Pentagon help." My own review of the facts and law indicates the following: The Stafford Act, the relevant statute concerning natural disaster relief, provides that "[a]ll requests for a declaration by the President that a major disaster exists shall be made by the Governor of the affected State." The Act goes on to specify that such a request is "a prerequisite to major [federal] disaster assistance" and details various information which is to be included in such a request. On Saturday, August 27 and Sunday, August 28, Gov. Kathleen Blanco wrote to President Bush requesting that the president "declare an emergency for the State of Louisiana due to Hurricane Katrina." The letters reference the Stafford Act and itemize the severity and magnitude of Hurricane Katrina and specifically requests federal assistance. On Saturday, August 27, President Bush issued a Statement on Federal Emergency Assistance for Louisiana. He "declared an emergency exists in the State of Louisiana" and by its terms "authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency to the local population." The White House statement also references the provisions of the Stafford Act. The DHS website provides that "in the event of a terrorist attack, natural disaster, or other large scale emergency, the Department of Homeland Security will assume primary responsibility on March 1st for ensuring that emergency response professionals are prepared for any situation. This will entail providing a coordinated, comprehensive federal response to any large-scale crisis and mounting a swift and effective recovery effort." For your convenience, I have attached copies of all of the above materials to this letter. In my judgment, it would appear to be relatively straightforward that the Governor's letter, combined with the declaration by President Bush granted DHS and FEMA full and complete authority to respond to Hurricane Katrina and to provide necessary aid and assistance to Louisiana and the other affected States. However, it would be extremely helpful if you could confirm to me whether or not I am reading the law correctly. Given the importance and urgency of this issue, I would ask that you please provide us with a detailed analysis no later than Monday, September 12, 2005. Please feel free to contact Perry Apelbaum or Ted Kalo of the Judiciary Committee staff, at 2142 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515 (tel. 202-225-6504, fax 202-225-4423), with any questions or requests for any additional information. Thank you for your prompt attention to this issue. Sincerely, John Conyers, Jr. http://www.house.gov/judiciary_democ...ureltr9705.pdf Does anyone know anything about this or where the actual report/opnion is located?
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save the cheerleader - save the world
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#786
09-14-2005, 10:05 AM
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Quote:
).Quote:
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#787
09-14-2005, 10:10 AM
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^^^^^
There have been several articles regarding the efforts to rescue the dogs and cats - I never read they were instructed to kill them
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save the cheerleader - save the world
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#788
09-14-2005, 10:16 AM
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Quote:
Warning: It's incredibly disturbing and may cause you to lose your breakfast. I don't know how these people can live with themselves. I can't comprehend officials being instructed to shoot these creatures. However pointless it may seem, you can fill this out: http://www.helpinganimals.com/f-dpet...p?c=ha_kat_net
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#789
09-14-2005, 01:44 PM
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Dont know if this has been posted...
but sure is funny:
The doctor is in The heckler who cursed Vice-President Dick Cheney on live television has become a bit of a hero among foes of the Bush administration. The man, who had just visited his hurricane-destroyed home at the time he told the veep to "Go [bleep] yourself Mr. Cheney," has been identified as Dr. Ben Marble, a young emergency-room physician who plays in alternative rock bands. He has been lauded on various Web sites and blogs, has set up his own Web site that discusses the incident, has been attempting to sell a tape of the incident on eBay, and even links to a line of "Go [Bleep] Yourself Mr. Cheney" merchandise - including T-shirts, bumper stickers, coffee mugs, a baby bib, and a dog shirt, emblazoned with the now-infamous line. "So we survived the worst disaster in the history of our nation," Marble writes on his Web site, "Only to have a politician come to our neighborhood to try to score some brownie points after totally screwing up the rescue efforts????"
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"To acknowledge death is to accept freedom and responsibility." "Fleetwood Mac and its fans remind me of a toilet plunger...keep bringing up old sh*t..."
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#791
09-14-2005, 04:34 PM
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On edit - I thought I posted this - these poor anilmals should have been allowed to be evacuated as well and any person who left their animal in a flood area in a hurricane ought to be prosecuted
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save the cheerleader - save the world Last edited by strandinthewind; 09-14-2005 at 06:49 PM..
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#792
09-14-2005, 05:02 PM
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 I will fill out your form.The Ledge was down for me most of the day, you guys too?
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~Suzy
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#793
09-14-2005, 05:07 PM
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Yep...
Quote:
Oh, Love yer sig pic of Al "Personality of a casserole" Gore and his 'hand puppet' Stuart "Al Franken" Smalley 
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"To acknowledge death is to accept freedom and responsibility." "Fleetwood Mac and its fans remind me of a toilet plunger...keep bringing up old sh*t..."
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#794
09-14-2005, 05:14 PM
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Thanks. Those are "My Two Als". Well, Nancy's site is on the same server so hers tends to go down with The Ledge. As far as others go I don't know.
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~Suzy
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#795
09-14-2005, 05:24 PM
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Ok...
Quote:
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"To acknowledge death is to accept freedom and responsibility." "Fleetwood Mac and its fans remind me of a toilet plunger...keep bringing up old sh*t..."
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