Kathleen Blanco: I Should Have Called the Military

[DrMaddVibe]

Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco's abrupt decision Wednesday night to take responsibility for her state's inadequate response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster followed an inadvertent confession that was caught on camera where Blanco admitted she blew it.

"I really should have called for the military," Blanco said, while chatting with her press secretary in between TV interviews. "I really should have started that in the first call."

Unbeknownst to Blanco, her bombshell acknowledgment was recorded on a network satellite feed, and by Tuesday the clip was getting wide exposure in Louisiana news broadcasts.

In the early days of the Katrina crisis, disaster management experts repeatedly blamed the failure to send in the National Guard for the city's descent into chaos.

Most observers blamed the White House for the blunder - a misconception that was thoroughly dispelled by the governor's inadvertent confession.

Some say Blanco's blooper was responsible for the abrupt change of tone in her speech Wednesday night to the Louisiana legislature.

Where earlier she and her aides had openly blamed the Bush administration for bungling Katrina rescue efforts, Blanco announced: "The buck stops here, and as your governor, I take full responsibility."

Just as surprising were Blanco's words of praise for the White House: "I want the people of Louisiana to know that we have a friend and a partner in President George W. Bush. I thank you, Mr. President."

[Cathedral]

If everyone sucks it up and takes responsibility for their own failures before pointing the finger at others...we are at least moving in the right direction.

My biggest beef in the aftermath has been the inability to do that.

I admit, the storm overwhelmed everyone, but the reactions have only added insult to injury.
Suck it up, admit your mistake and take the reigns and get back in there and make it right.
If people are going to remember where you failed then you had better get busy fixing what you fucked up, at least you'll earn back some respect that you won't if someone else has to come in and fix it for you.

[Big Train]

Bush apoligized...
Blanco...well I'd say she apoligized, but it's more like getting caught being an idiot.

Will someone now please train a camera on Nagin 24/7?

[Cathedral]

Nagin, i haven't got that guy figured out yet.
I can tell you that according to some comments from Nawlen's residents that he is respected by many.

He strikes me as severely unprofessional and a bit of a knee-jerk reactionist though.
He did have the power and the time to help avoid some of what went down but hind sight is always 20/20.

But what i have trouble understanding is how everyone seemed to be waiting on everyone else for shit.
It seemed that everytime Blanco was faced with a choice she either made the wrong one or was waiting for someone or something to review before acting.
Sorry, but in an emergency situation, time is a luxery most don't have.

That's why i loved the Coast Guard in all of this.
They knew what needed to be done and were out doing it immediately.
They didn't ask anyone's permission, they just did it.
Of course they have full jurisdiction over the coast, so they didn't have to wait on anyone.
But the point is, they didn't allow their own red tape to hinder the task at hand.
And there lie's the culprit in all of it, it's called Buerocracy.

Empowerment should be written into the hand books of all state, local and federal officials.
And what i mean by that is that if your people are hit by a bomb, natural disaster or terrorist attack, you don't wait for anything, you just jump in and deal with it in whatever ways you can.

Hell, there were some Canadians out there helping to save people before our own Federal Government got anyone on the scene for cryin out loud.

There is an awful ot of bad stemming from this, but let's hope and pray that something good ultimately comes out of it.