Louisiana Governor says she takes responsibility for the state governments failures

[gh0st]

La. governor takes blame for response

MELINDA DESLATTE

Associated Press


BATON ROUGE, La. - 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.

I hope you guys take a good strong look at this, and realizes that it wasent JUST bush that failed here. failures were on all levels, failures hopefully that will be corrected VERY quickly.

 

[Absinthe]

We all realize that. I don't think anybody involved deserves their position.

 

[Icarusintel]

i was waiting for this to happen

 

[Korgoth]

Hey I take responsibility too!
If it means I get to keep my cushy job and still be a worthless scab that does absolutely nothing when the people that voted me into my position need me the most, then hell yeahs!

 

[Glirk Dient]

Hey I take responsibility too!
If it means I get to keep my cushy job and still be a worthless scab that does absolutely nothing when the people that voted me into my position need me the most, then hell yeahs!

Your right, it would have been better if he shoved the blame on someone else. That is exactly what this country needs more of. Idiot.

 

[bliink]

Idiot.

No more personal attacks.

 

[smwScott]

I don't understand, I mean taking responsibility for something this huge should be grounds for removal from office. Clinton got a blowjob from his intern. Bush's incompetence in appointing officials and mismanaging the budget lead to the deaths of hundreads of people (although the final toll may be in the thousands, it's likely that the number killed because of incompetence is only in the hundreads). This is something that can't be argued against one way or another. The presidency should be beyond reproach, such a catostrophic failure should simply not be accepted.

And as far as the governor and other local officials go, they of course are also at fault. New Orleans and even Lousiana as a whole has always been known for running a fairly corrupt government. It's likely that what little money they had left over after the massive budget mismanagement from the Bush adminstration was squandered and spent on special interests. Heads should roll for this, starting from the top.

It's simply f**king ridiculous, and makes me more pissed off the more I think of it. It's sad that it takes a large loss of American lives for the people to actually give a shit about the incompetence of the adminstration and party they elected. Nevermind that a similar death toll occurs monthly in Iraq, the moment it happens somewhere in the United States people actually care. I'm not trying to trivialize the devastation of Katrina but the whole situation is f**king ridiculous.

 

[DreamThrall]

Your right, it would have been better if he shoved the blame on someone else.

You're missing the point. The point is that it's not good enough to say "It was my fault, sorry!" and wash your hands of it. I hope to dear god that is not what Bush and Blanco plan on.

 

[Korgoth]

Your right, it would have been better if he shoved the blame on someone else. That is exactly what this country needs more of. Idiot.

You're calling me an idiot and yet you refer to this mysterious "he" as if I were talking about someone not related to this post. However the Governor KATHLEEN BLANCO doesn't sound like a "HE" to me, but eh' whatever. You just assumed I was talking about your buddy Bush huh?

 

[No Limit]

I hope you guys take a good strong look at this, and realizes that it wasent JUST bush that failed here. failures were on all levels, failures hopefully that will be corrected VERY quickly.

Wow, another half ass apology that means absolutely nothing. What did she do wrong? What the hell is she taking responsibility for? For christ sake, what is wrong with the leaders in this country?

 

[gh0st]

Wow, another half ass apology that means absolutely nothing. What did she do wrong? What the hell is she taking responsibility for? For christ sake, what is wrong with the leaders in this country?

a lot, it would seem.

 

[Kmack]

I hope you guys take a good strong look at this, and realizes that it wasent JUST bush that failed here. failures were on all levels, failures hopefully that will be corrected VERY quickly.

wow. . do you honestly see things in the world this way? or do you consciously warp your mind and filter out anything with any hint of reality behind it? of course it wasn't ENTIRELY his fault for ****s sake, its not like he went down there and tore down levees (although...figuratively he might as well have...), there is A LOT of blame to go around here, Bush gets a shitload because when it boils down, he is the president, and the president should take the responsibility, frankly I think what he did was noble, all you clowns trying to shift the focus onto other people we can blame are pathetic, you are doing something that Bush probably would try to avoid, I think he is taking the heat for a good reason, we should just sit back and let him take it, since frankly, he probably won't take responsibility for any of the other **** ups he has performed

 

[Mechagodzilla]

wow. . do you honestly see things in the world this way? or do you consciously warp your mind and filter out anything with any hint of reality behind it? of course it wasn't ENTIRELY his fault for ****s sake, its not like he went down there and tore down levees (although...figuratively he might as well have...), there is A LOT of blame to go around here, Bush gets a shitload because when it boils down, he is the president, and the president should take the responsibility, frankly I think what he did was noble, all you clowns trying to shift the focus onto other people we can blame are pathetic, you are doing something that Bush probably would try to avoid, I think he is taking the heat for a good reason, we should just sit back and let him take it, since frankly, he probably won't take responsibility for any of the other **** ups he has performed

Reread this to hear my opinion.

 

[gh0st]

kmack i think you didnt quite grasp what i said. i admitted bush's faults, there are a ton of people HERE on these forums, who have put the blame squarely onto bush's soldiers which isnt fair.

 

[bliink]

Please stop fighting with each other.

 

[baxter]

kmack i think you didnt quite grasp what i said. i admitted bush's faults, there are a ton of people HERE on these forums, who have put the blame squarely onto bush's soldiers which isnt fair.

Who?

Who are these tons of people that blame Bush entirely?

BTW its shoulders not soldiers.

 

[Jintor]

Possibly gh0st means they somehow blame the War in Iraq for Hurricane Katrina (OMGALQUAIDAHASAWEATHERCONTROLDEVICE!!!!!111oneone!!!11)

And in case you can't tell, i'm not being that serious.

 

[Bleeder]

Bush is a Nazi. In other words.....I'm really drunk.

 

[No Limit]

kmack i think you didnt quite grasp what i said. i admitted bush's faults, there are a ton of people HERE on these forums, who have put the blame squarely onto bush's soldiers which isnt fair.

Bush's soldiers? What the **** are you talking about?

 

[Kmack]

kmack i think you didnt quite grasp what i said. i admitted bush's faults, there are a ton of people HERE on these forums, who have put the blame squarely onto bush's soldiers which isnt fair.

i think it's pretty obvious that the blame isn't entirely on Bush, but he is stepping up to the plate and taking some flak something he should do a lot more often. Frankly, I applaud him. He could just as easily (and I know this because in many cases ::cough:: Iraq, WMD's, Afghanistan, the environment, abu ghrab, can i say etcetera while coughing? ::cough:: he has) use scape goats to keep his image clean (who knows where his approval rating would be if he did the right thing and took some heat more often).

basically, my point is, if you come in here with a small note on how Joe Asshole the president of the Elks Lodge in Podunk Louisiana has taken a bit o' the blame, people are going to see it as you giving Bush the proverbial hand-job by drawing all the attention you can away from his wrongdoings and eventual admittance of them. that is why you got this response.

Bottom Line: we see this as a direct insult, trying to trivialize Bush's blametaking and pointing fingers at underlings instead is a tactless attempt to instigate those who feel bush IS to blame, and SHOULD be publicly taking some of the blame. I doubt many people here SERIOUSLY think that the entire disaster, its aftermath, and the hundreds of individual mistakes leading to such a widespread humanitarian disaster, is completely, totally, utterly, undeniably Mr. Bush's fault.

soldiers? boy, get yourself sobered up before you start defending moot points with a gross misunderstanding of the English language.

 

[Korgoth]

Let me take the time to explain something here. As president of these United States, an office for which Mr. Bush voluntarily sought election to, he has been nominated commander and chief of the federal government. meaning he is the last stop on the blame train. Thats part of the job, a job which he volunteered to take, just like you would say about a soldier fighting in Iraq, who doesn't want to be there, he should have read the contract if he can't take the criticism.

 

[Apos]

Still waiting to hear who said the blame was entirely on Bush and his people...

Oh wait, that isn't what happened at all. It was Bush apologists insisting that he bore NO blame whatsoever and was instead some sort of hero and that anyone who said different was a Bush-hater. But now, apparently, Bush is a Bush-hater himself. So the butt-covering must begin.

 

[No Limit]

Still waiting to hear who said the blame was entirely on Bush and his people...

Good luck getting an answer to that question, I've been trying to get them to tell me who said that Bush caused the hurricane.

The bottom line is yes, everybody messed up at some point. But it is the responsibility of the federal government to ensure that everything goes smooth even if the local officials mess up. You can not expect some town with a population of 500 to manage an emergancy themselves, that is exactly why FEMA was set up. And as soon as FEMA messed up the right wing went in to defensive mode which means they try to diffuse the blame any which way they can. This is when you get idiotic statements like "you are blaming the hurricane on Bush" or "Bush is a hero, the local democrats are the monsters". I am willing to admit that those local democrats could have been a lot smarter and not relied on FEMA to handle the emergency like they are supposed to, but the buch stops at Bush as he is in charge of FEMA and he is the asshat that appointed his political friends with no experiance to lead it.

 

[Apos]

The issue is much bigger anyway. We've spent billions of dollars, hundreds of thousands of personell, and four years supposedly preparing for how to deal with massive disasters: many of which assume not only the failure of local systems, but the _destruction_ of local systems. We were supposed to be prepared for the worst. Instead, what got exposed was massive federal incompetance and unpreparedness. People that had left FEMA because of the politicization have said that they find it absolutely bizarre that FEMA people spent time during the disaster musing about things they should have mapped out years ago if they had been doing their jobs.