Gov. Blanco Passes the Buck... AGAIN

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

The updated Louisiana numbers were released as the Gov. Kathleen Blanco lashed out at the federal government, accusing it of moving too slowly in recovering the bodies. The dead "deserve more respect than they have received," she said.

However, Federal Emergency Management Agency spokesman David Passey said the state asked to take over body recovery last week. Passey said he did not understand the governor's remarks.

"The collection of bodies is not normally a FEMA responsibility," he said.

Blanco said FEMA has slowed down the process by failing to sign a contract with the company hired to handle the removal of the bodies, Houston-based Kenyon International Emergency Services. Kenyon is working without a contract but threatened to pull its workers out of Louisiana unless either the state or the federal government offered it a signed agreement, the governor said.

"No one, even those at the highest level, seems to be able to break through the bureaucracy to get this important mission done," Blanco said. "The failure to execute a contract for the recovery of our citizens has hurt the speed of recovery efforts. I am angry and outraged."

Passey said FEMA had an oral agreement with Kenyon last week, but the company decided not to sign a written contract. He said he did not know the reason, and calls to Kenyon were not immediately returned.

Blanco said the state would sign a contract with Kenyon _ even though she believed the body recovery is the responsibility of FEMA _ because "**I** could not bear to wait any longer."

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/09/13/D8CJJOF81.html

So again, she can't get the job done, and now it's the federal government's fault that they didn't do it for her. :lol

What's next? Is she going to whine about the brown streak on her panties because FEMA couldn't get there fast enough to wipe her ass for her?

[Vashner]

I heard they tried to collect Nancy Pelosi's body but they just told them it was the botox and she was indeed alive.

[hussker]

I heard they tried to collect Nancy Pelosi's body but they just told them it was the botox and she was indeed alive.

This just in: Nancy Pelosi immune to effects of Clostridium.botulinum, a potential WMD ingredient for its neurotoxin qualities. Sources say that Pelosi is bound and determined to be the last DEM standing in 2008, come what may...

[Hook Dem]

http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/3038/laughing6ct.gif (http://imageshack.us)

[Nbadan]

Sounds to me like FEMA was dragging it feet again, and Governor Blanco had to take the Bull by the horns.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Dan, do you just suck at reading or what? She said it was taking too long so she told FEMA it was their job to deal with (when it had been her responsibility to line up the recovery).

Does 2+2 = -i in your world?

[travis2]

Dan, do you just suck at reading or what? She said it was taking too long so she told FEMA it was their job to deal with (when it had been her responsibility to line up the recovery).

Does 2+2 = -i in your world?

Actually, it's even worse than that. Your equation at least remains in R2.

With Dan and his ilk, it's more like "2 + 2 = chartreuse"

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Yeah, but what I was going for is that -i only exists in the domain of imaginary numbers :lol

[Hook Dem]

Dan doesn't know when to cut his losses and STFU ! :lol

[xrayzebra]

I heard they tried to collect Nancy Pelosi's body but they just told them it was the botox and she was indeed alive.

He-he-he-he. Actually, heard she woke up and said Bush made her do it. :lol :drunk :elephant :elephant

[boutons]

The New York Times

September 14, 2005

La. Governor Takes Blame for Response

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 8:33 p.m. ET

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- Echoing the words of President Bush a day earlier, Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco took responsibility Wednesday for failures and missteps in the immediate response to Hurricane Katrina and pledged a united effort to rebuild areas ravaged by the storm.

''We all know that there were failures at every level of government: state, federal and local. At the state level, we must take a careful look at what went wrong and make sure it never happens again. The buck stops here, and as your governor, I take full responsibility,'' Blanco told lawmakers in a special meeting of the Louisiana Legislature.

On Tuesday, Bush for the first time took responsibility for federal government mistakes in dealing with the hurricane and suggested the calamity raised questions about the government's ability to handle both natural disasters and terror attacks.

Blanco called Bush ''a friend and partner'' in the recovery effort. She described plans for a rebuilding effort that would span all levels of government but would be funded with all federal money.

The governor said she would appoint an outside financial adviser to oversee the cash flow. ''I assure the Congress and every American taxpayer that every nickel will be properly spent,'' Blanco said.

The relief effort should include financial help to rebuild homes, tax relief and loans for businesses, and an extension of unemployment benefits, she said.

And she appealed to the more than 1 million Louisiana residents who have left the state to escape the devastation. ''I am telling each and every one of you: We want you back home,'' Blanco said.

Southeast Louisiana is beginning to recover, Blanco said, citing the reopening of the New Orleans airport, banks and hospitals, and the first docking of a ship since the hurricane at the city's port.

''New Orleans and the surrounding parishes may be ravaged, but our spirit remains intact,'' Blanco said. ''To anyone who even suggests that this great city should not be rebuilt, hear this and hear it well: We will rebuild.''

Legislative leaders have said they expect to call a special session in the upcoming months to address rebuilding and recovery needs. They also will have to grapple with crippling budget problems caused by Katrina, the movement of thousands of taxpayers out of the state and the shutdown of businesses, schools and government agencies.

* Copyright 2005 The Associated Press

[hussker]

1) They are ALL fighting for their political lives, as pathetic as they are, just as you and I would be fightiing for our chosen professions. Some out there who do not have one but aspire for one will understand when they age...

2) HOOK DEM, Was that @$$ directed AT me or FOR me?

Hugs,
Hussker

[The Ressurrected One]

Hey, I hear Blanco took the blame for everything! Well, she said exactly what the President said...so, using Nbadan logic...well...you know.

[Hook Dem]

1) They are ALL fighting for their political lives, as pathetic as they are, just as you and I would be fightiing for our chosen professions. Some out there who do not have one but aspire for one will understand when they age...

2) HOOK DEM, Was that @$$ directed AT me or FOR me?

Hugs,
Hussker
I was laughing with you Hussker! Your posts are refreshing. Good job! By the way, I understand your comment about professions. I am aged & retired.

[CharlieMac]

She just said she is to blame for failures at the state level. Clinton tactics always work. Even for Bush.

[whottt]

1) They are ALL fighting for their political lives, as pathetic as they are, just as you and I would be fightiing for our chosen professions.


W is not really fighting for his political life...his political career, at least from a winning the people over POV...is over.

Nagin and Blanco are done though...IMO....especially Nagin.

[Nbadan]

Dan, do you just suck at reading or what? She said it was taking too long so she told FEMA it was their job to deal with (when it had been her responsibility to line up the recovery).

Does 2+2 = -i in your world?

Talk about sucking at reading, where is your reading comprehension? I've already proven in another thread that FEMA is responsible for body removal..says who? Says Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff...

Louisiana Hires Contractor to Help Recover Bodies
Sept. 13 (Bloomberg)


-- Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco said the state hired a contractor to recover bodies left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, saying she had given up on the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"In recent days, I have spoken with FEMA and administration officials to convey my absolute frustration regarding the lack of urgency and the lack of respect of our people whose lives were lost as a result of Hurricane Katrina,'' Blanco told reporters in Baton Rouge today during a meeting with state officials.

Blanco said Kenyon International Emergency Services, a Houston-based unit of Service Corp. International that has worked on Asian tsunami recovery effort, will find the corpses left after Katrina roared ashore on the U.S. Gulf Coast Aug. 29. The storm killed thousands, caused an estimated $100 billion in damage and left 80 percent of New Orleans submerged in water....

***

Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff said the agency that runs FEMA created a "system of recovery" a week ago and is responsible for the recovery of bodies, Blanco said, adding that even the highest government officials couldn't "break through the bureaucracy to get the coordination done." She also blamed the agency for not committing enough workers to the effort.

Respect

"I cannot bear to wait any longer," Blanco said today during a meeting with state officials. "In death as in life our people deserve more respect than they have received."...

Bloomberg (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=addOntqk3YEA&refer=top_world_news)

[whottt]

God forbid the State of Louisiana and the City of NO clean up their own dead...

What exactly are they contributing to this relief effort BTW?

The Mayor isn't even in NO anymore...his cops are in Las Vegas...

What the fuck are they doing exactly other than a lot of whining and bitching? What the fuck have they done in any of this other and a lot of stonewalling, whining and bitching?


And Blanco and Nagin have both played the blame game, now they're just copying Bush, but everyone knows they've been trying to deflect their own failures entirely on to the FED for much of this crisis...Bush OTOH hasn't been deflecting.

[Nbadan]

Any other straw man arguments you would like to throw out there Whott?

[RandomGuy]

God forbid the State of Louisiana and the City of NO clean up their own dead...

What exactly are they contributing to this relief effort BTW?

The Mayor isn't even in NO anymore...his cops are in Las Vegas...

What the fuck are they doing exactly other than a lot of whining and bitching? What the fuck have they done in any of this other and a lot of stonewalling, whining and bitching?


And Blanco and Nagin have both played the blame game, now they're just copying Bush, but everyone knows they've been trying to deflect their own failures entirely on to the FED for much of this crisis...Bush OTOH hasn't been deflecting.

Fallacy: Straw Man



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Description of Straw Man
The Straw Man fallacy is committed when a person simply ignores a person's actual position and substitutes a distorted, exaggerated or misrepresented version of that position. This sort of "reasoning" has the following pattern:


Person A has position X.
Person B presents position Y (which is a distorted version of X).
Person B attacks position Y.
Therefore X is false/incorrect/flawed.
This sort of "reasoning" is fallacious because attacking a distorted version of a position simply does not constitute an attack on the position itself. One might as well expect an attack on a poor drawing of a person to hurt the person.

[Spurminator]

Good for her.

[RandomGuy]

W is not really fighting for his political life...his political career, at least from a winning the people over POV...is over.

Nagin and Blanco are done though...IMO....especially Nagin.

THAT I agree with 100%

This will drag just about any elected official (in an executive capacity) involved down.

Blanco and Nagin both deserve it, as does Bush. As a Democrat, it irks me to see Dems as desperately trying to cover their asses as the shameless Bush administration has done, but I can't say I blame somebody for trying to do so. I just wish they were a bit more noble and sucked up the portion of blame they should rightfully take.

Hell, even Bush finally took SOME responsibility.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Reading comprehension?

Try again...



[i]Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff said the agency that runs FEMA created a "system of recovery" a week ago and is responsible for the recovery of bodies,[/] Blanco said, adding that even the highest government officials couldn't "break through the bureaucracy to get the coordination done." She also blamed the agency for not committing enough workers to the effort.


The only person saying it was FEMA's job is the governor, who is trying to cover her own ass.

You haven't proven jack shit Dan, other than that yet again you try and pass off the spin of someone trying to save their own neck when they've fucked up every step of the way as fact.

[RandomGuy]

Reading comprehension?

Try again...

The only person saying it was FEMA's job is the governor, who is trying to cover her own ass.

You haven't proven jack shit Dan, other than that yet again you try and pass off the spin of someone trying to save their own neck when they've fucked up every step of the way as fact.

You talking about GW "great job Brownie" Bush? pfft....

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

I never said Bush has done an awesome job on this, just all of Dan's bullshit partisan mudslinging is tired, misguided, and factually incorrect.

I wish Bush would have stepped in sooner, hindsight is 20/20. Considering FEMA had handled 4 hurricanes in 2 months last year, I don't think you can blame Bush for trusting those same people to do the job this time.

I think FEMA's major problem was taking too long to realize that Nagin and Blanco screwed the pooch.

That said, we're all Monday Morning QBing, no one knows legally how all this gelled. Everyone seems to be forgetting about states rights vs. federal, which I imagine was the guiding legal light at the federal level.

And politics factored too heavily into everything. Part of the Bush camp's decision to wait was not to step on the democratic governor's toes, when it was pretty obvious by Tuesday evening that for all intents and purposes Blanco's leadership and disaster management team was at the bottom of Pontchartrain.

[SpursWoman]

link (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/katrina_wrap_dc;_ylt=AvdrGG_LQurUgJMpz890Pmys0NUE; _ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--)


As Bush this week for the first time acknowledged personal responsibility for some of the problems following the hurricane, Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco told state lawmakers Wednesday night that the state also shared responsibility.

"There were failures at every level of government," she said, adding that "the buck stops here, and as your governor, I take full responsibility."

[Nbadan]

Reading comprehension 101 people:


Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff said the agency that runs FEMA created a "system of recovery" a week ago and is responsible for the recovery of bodies, Blanco said, adding that even the highest government officials couldn't "break through the bureaucracy to get the coordination done." She also blamed the agency for not committing enough workers to the effort.

Bloomberg (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=addOntqk3YEA&refer=top_world_news)

Anyone have anything factual that says different?

[Hook Dem]

"As Bush this week for the first time acknowledged personal responsibility for some of the problems following the hurricane, Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco told state lawmakers Wednesday night that the state also shared responsibility.

"There were failures at every level of government," she said, adding that "the buck stops here, and as your governor, I take full responsibility." " I can just hear 'ol Dan screaming now...."damnit Blanco, quit admitting anything. I'm trying to buffalo these people! :lol

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Reading comprehension? Try again yourself.


Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff said the agency that runs FEMA created a "system of recovery" a week ago and is responsible for the recovery of bodies,
Blanco said

So again, the only "proof" you have is a politician who is trying to cover her ass by passing the buck to the federal government.

[Nbadan]

Do you have anyway of confirming that the Blanco statement is bogus? No.

Has anyone besides Bush lovers questioned the Governors statement? No.

Has FEMA tried to pass this off to the local Government or the State? No.

next topic...

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Do you have anyway of confirming that it is legitimate? No.

Has anyone besides Bush haters called a quote from a politician who has changed her story on several matters related to the hurricane several times fact? No.

Has FEMA ever come out and said they were in charge of body recovery? No.

Next topic indeed.

[SpursWoman]

Has FEMA tried to pass this off to the local Government or the State? No.

I saw a quote from Mike Brown today day somewhere that specifically does....not entirely, of course, but it figures I got busy. I'll try to find it later. :fro

[Spurminator]

You'd think both parties coming out and taking responsibility for their part in the post-hurricane clusterfuck would pretty much end the debate. I guess I underestimated the power of a good partisan conspiracy theory loophole.

[Nbadan]

You'd think both parties coming out and taking responsibility for their part in the post-hurricane clusterfuck would pretty much end the debate. I guess I underestimated the power of a good partisan conspiracy theory loophole.

When did W accept responsibility for any specific FED errors? When did he admit that he made any specific errors? That wasn't a apology it was a PR stunt to improve W's Poll numbers.