"Fred Stone" <fstone69@earthling.com> wrote in message
news:1125846553.7c31e4367f13a98277890149c460022a@teranews...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2005/09/03/AR2005090301680.html

...Behind the scenes, a power struggle emerged, as federal officials
tried to wrest authority from Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux
Blanco (D). Shortly before midnight Friday, the Bush administration
sent her a proposed legal memorandum asking her to request a federal
takeover of the evacuation of New Orleans, a source within the
state's emergency operations center said Saturday.

The administration sought unified control over all local police and
state National Guard units reporting to the governor. Louisiana
officials rejected the request after talks throughout the night,
concerned that such a move would be comparable to a federal
declaration of martial law. Some officials in the state suspected a
political motive behind the request. "Quite frankly, if they'd been
able to pull off taking it away from the locals, they then could have
blamed everything on the locals," said the source, who does not have
the authority to speak publicly.

A senior administration official said that Bush has clear legal
authority to federalize National Guard units to quell civil
disturbances under the Insurrection Act and will continue to try to
unify the chains of command that are split among the president, the
Louisiana governor and the New Orleans mayor.

Louisiana did not reach out to a multi-state mutual aid compact for
assistance until Wednesday, three state and federal officials said.
As of Saturday, Blanco still had not declared a state of emergency,
the senior Bush official said.

"The federal government stands ready to work with state and local
officials to secure New Orleans and the state of Louisiana," White
House spokesman Dan Bartlett said. "The president will not let any
form of bureaucracy get in the way of protecting the citizens of
Louisiana."

Blanco made two moves Saturday that protected her independence from
the federal government: She created a philanthropic fund for the
state's victims and hired James Lee Witt, Federal Emergency
Management Agency director in the Clinton administration, to advise
her on the relief effort...

All very smart moves on her part. It still shouldn't have delayed
getting food and water to the people affected.