Katrina - Mayor Blasts Governor

New Orleans mayor blasts Louisiana governor for delay that may have cost lives.

Nagin singled out Gov. Kathleen Blanco for criticism,
saying that the governor had asked for 24 hours to
think over a decision when time was a luxury that no
one, especially refugees, had.

“When the president and the governor got here, I said,
'Mr. President, Madame Governor, you two have to get
in synch. If you don't, more people are going to die.”
Blanco and Bush met privately at his insistence, Nagin
said, after which Bush came out and told Nagin that he
had given Blanco two options, and she requested a full
day to decide.

I'll think you'll find it was Bush who insisted on the meeting.

This wasn't the first time the governor rejected Bush's offer of assistance.

Behind the scenes, a power struggle emerged, as federal officials tried to wrest authority from Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D) [Democrat]. 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.

Does the mayor share any of the blame?

Asked whether he himself bore responsibility for the debacle, Nagin responded: “I'll take what responsibility I have to take.

Well, Mr. Mayor one of the first ones you have to face is why you failed to use city owned transport to evacuate those that had no means to leave. City transport like school buses - the ones shown here:

As I've said before, when this is over, we're going to find out the mayor and the governor share most of the blame for much of the tragedy that could have been avoided.
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