Governor wanted to wait 24 hours

[Broken Glass Can]

Mayor Nagin revealed the truth about the discussions between Bush and Blanco in an interview with Soledad O'Brien on CNN:

(transcript)

S. O’BRIEN: What has Secretary Chertoff promised you? What has Donald Rumsfeld given you and promised you?

NAGIN: Look, I’ve gotten promises to – I can’t stand anymore promises. I don’t want to hear anymore promises. I want to see stuff done. And that’s why I’m so happy that the president came down here, because I think they were feeding him a line of bull also. And they were telling him things weren’t as bad as it was.

He came down and saw it, and he put a general on the field. His name is General Honore. And when he hit the field, we started to see action.

And what the state was doing, I don’t frigging know. But I tell you, I am pissed. It wasn’t adequate.

And then, the president and the governor sat down. We were in Air Force One. I said, ‘Mr. President, Madam Governor, you two have to get in sync. If you don’t get in sync, more people are going to die.’

S. O’BRIEN: What date was this? When did you say that? When did you say…

NAGIN: Whenever air Force One was here.

S. O’BRIEN: OK.

NAGIN: And this was after I called him on the telephone two days earlier. And I said, ‘Mr. President, Madam Governor, you two need to get together on the same page, because of the lack of coordination, people are dying in my city.’

S. O’BRIEN: That’s two days ago.

NAGIN: They both shook – I don’t know the exact date. They both shook their head and said yes. I said, ‘Great.’ I said, ‘Everybody in this room is getting ready to leave.’ There was senators and his cabinet people, you name it, they were there. Generals. I said, ‘Everybody right now, we’re leaving. These two people need to sit in a room together and make a doggone decision right now.’

S. O’BRIEN: And was that done?

NAGIN: The president looked at me. I think he was a little surprised. He said, “No, you guys stay here. We’re going to another section of the plane, and we’re going to make a decision.”

He called me in that office after that. And he said, “Mr. Mayor, I offered two options to the governor.” I said – and I don’t remember exactly what. There were two options. I was ready to move today. The governor said she needed 24 hours to make a decision.

S. O’BRIEN: You’re telling me the president told you the governor said she needed 24 hours to make a decision?

NAGIN: Yes.

S. O’BRIEN: Regarding what? Bringing troops in?

NAGIN: Whatever they had discussed. As far as what the – I was abdicating a clear chain of command, so that we could get resources flowing in the right places.

S. O’BRIEN: And the governor said no.

NAGIN: She said that she needed 24 hours to make a decision. It would have been great if we could of left Air Force One, walked outside, and told the world that we had this all worked out. It didn’t happen, and more people died.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[newfant]

Ugly. Looks like Bush might still be able to weasel out of responsibility for this mess.

[vulturesrow]

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Ugly. Looks like Bush might still be able to weasel out of responsibility for this mess.

[/ QUOTE ]

What do you mean weasel out? I would like someone to delineate exactly what Bush did wrong in this incident. The more I read about this the clearer it becomes that Nagin is an incompetent bumbling fool and Blanco isnt much better.

[jaxmike]

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Ugly. Looks like Bush might still be able to weasel out of responsibility for this mess.

[/ QUOTE ]

So, you hate Bush. Clearly you aren't able to see past that. I pitty you.

[newfant]

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[ QUOTE ]


Ugly. Looks like Bush might still be able to weasel out of responsibility for this mess.




[/ QUOTE ]



What do you mean weasel out? I would like someone to delineate exactly what Bush did wrong in this incident. The more I read about this the clearer it becomes that Nagin is an incompetent bumbling fool and Blanco isnt much better

[/ QUOTE ]

The levees broke on Monday and Bush finally made it down there until Thursday. It looks like the governor delayed the help of federal troops another 24 hours on top of that. So Bush was responsible for 3 days delay and the governor 1. They each showed negligent leadership.

[El Barto]

Reading that transcript gave me goosebumps. If you just skimmed it, go back and read it properly.

I think we are getting past the speculation and are finding out what really happened in those critical days.

This is damning evidence. Think of the people who suffered because this lady couldn't make a decision.

[jaxmike]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]


Ugly. Looks like Bush might still be able to weasel out of responsibility for this mess.




[/ QUOTE ]



What do you mean weasel out? I would like someone to delineate exactly what Bush did wrong in this incident. The more I read about this the clearer it becomes that Nagin is an incompetent bumbling fool and Blanco isnt much better

[/ QUOTE ]

The levees broke on Monday and Bush finally made it down there until Thursday. It looks like the governor delayed the help of federal troops another 24 hours on top of that. So Bush was responsible for 3 days delay and the governor 1. They each showed negligent leadership.

[/ QUOTE ]

A thousand of buses sit in New Orleans right now basically destroyed due to flood damage. Where was the mayor on putting people on those buses and driving them to safety BEFORE the hurricane hit?

[nicky g]

"I would like someone to delineate exactly what Bush did wrong in this incident."

From what I've been reading from this side of the world, I think the point is that when it became clear that local government solutions were not working, for whatever reasons, the federal government, for which Bush is responsible, acted belatedly and incompetently. He also acted in an ill-informed and inappropriate matter given the seriousness of the situation (claiming noone could have foreseen the levees breaking, cracking jokes, playing golf at the peak of the crisis and so on). The fact that the local response was inadequate doesn't let Bush off the hook.

[cadillac1234]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]


Ugly. Looks like Bush might still be able to weasel out of responsibility for this mess.




[/ QUOTE ]



What do you mean weasel out? I would like someone to delineate exactly what Bush did wrong in this incident. The more I read about this the clearer it becomes that Nagin is an incompetent bumbling fool and Blanco isnt much better

[/ QUOTE ]

The levees broke on Monday and Bush finally made it down there on Thursday. It looks like the governor delayed the help of federal troops another 24 hours on top of that. So Bush was responsible for 3 days delay and the governor 1. They each showed negligent leadership.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's not Bush's fault, dammit. We can't tell you why it's not but it's not Bush's fault.

I still can't understand why the LA Gov and the NOLA Mayor stopped Mississippi from evacuating fully and getting FEMA aid into areas affected there.

[jaxmike]

[ QUOTE ]
It's not Bush's fault, dammit. We can't tell you why it's not but it's not Bush's fault.

[/ QUOTE ]

Please tell me why it IS Bush's fault. Try not to resort to the Holy "He's the one ultimately responsible for anything in the executive branch" nonsense. That excuse doesn't really hold water, so to speak...