Here's another one to chew on.......
Subject: In case You Did not Hear this on the NEWS
Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2005 11:12:21 -0700
As Paul Harvey would say, “now you know the rest of the story”.
> On Friday night before the storm hit, Max Mayfield of the National
Hurricane Center took the unprecedented action of calling Nagin and
Blanco personally to plead with them to begin MANDATORY evacuation of
NO and they said they'd take it under consideration. This was after the NOAA
buoy 240 miles south had recorded 68' waves before it was destroyed.
> President Bush spent Friday afternoon and evening in meetings with
> his
advisors and administrators drafting all of the paperwork required
for a state to request federal assistance (and not be in violation of the
Posse Comitatus Act or having to enact the Insurgency Act).
> Just before midnight Friday evening the President called Governor
Blanco and pleaded with her to sign the request papers so the federal
government and the military could legally begin mobilization and call
up. He was told that they didn't think it necessary for the federal
government to be involved yet. After the President's final call to
the governor she held meetings with her staff to discuss the political
ramifications of bringing federal forces. It was decided that if they
allowed federal assistance it would make it look as if they had failed so it
was agreed upon that the feds would not be invited in.
> Saturday before the storm hit the President again called Blanco and
Nagin requesting they please sign the papers requesting federal
assistance, that they declare the state an emergency area, and begin
mandatory evacuation. After a personal plea from the President Nagin
agreed to order an evacuation, but it wo uld not be a full mandatory
evacuation, and the governor still refused to sign the papers
requesting and authorizing federal action. In frustration the President
declared the area a national disaster area before the state of Louisiana did
so he could legally begin some advanced preparations.
> Rumor has it that the President's legal advisers were looking into
> the
ramifications of using the insurgency act to bypass the
Constitutional requirement that a state request federal aid before the
federal government can move into state with troops - but that had not been
done since 1906 and the Constitutionality of it was called into question to
use before the disaster.
> Throw in that over half the federal aid of the past decade to NO
> for
levee construction, maintenance, and repair was diverted to fund a
marina and support the gambling ships. Toss in the investiga tion
that will look into why the emergency preparedness plan submitted to the
federal government for funding and published on the city's website was never
implemented and in fact may have been bogus for the purpose of gaining
additional federal funding as we now learn that the
organizations identified in the plan were never contacted or
coordinating into any planning - though the document implies that
they were.
> The suffering people of NO need to be asking some hard questions as
> do
we all, but they better start with why Blanco refused to even sign
the multi-state mutual aid pack activation documents until Wednesday which
further delayed the legal deployment of National Guard from adjoining
states. Or maybe ask why Nagin keeps harping that the President should have
commandeered 500 Greyhound busses to help him when according to his own
emergency plan and documents he claimed to have over 500 busses at his
disposal to use b etween the local school busses and the city transportation
busses - but he never raised a finger to prepare them or activate them.
> This is a sad time for all of us to see that a major city has all
> but
been destroyed and thousands of people have died with hundreds of
thousands more suffering, but it's certainly not a time for people to
be pointing fingers and trying to find a bigger dog to blame for local
corruption and incompetence. Pray to God for the survivors that they can
start their lives anew as fast as possible and we learn from all the
mistakes to avoid them in the future.>
> James K. Wicklund
> Managing Director - Energy Research
> Banc of America Securities LLC
> 700 Louisiana Street, 3rd Floor
> Houston, Texas 77002
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+ Bruce S. Marshall [EMAIL PROTECTED] Bellaire, MI 09/13/05 21:45 +
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