report finds Louisiana governor took necessary steps

From the Raw Story courtesy of BuzzFlash:

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) issued a report Tuesday afternoon asserting that Louisiana governor Katherine Blanco took the necessary and timely steps needed to secure disaster relief from the federal government, RAW STORY has learned.

The report, which comes after a request by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) to review the law and legal accountability relating to Federal action in response to Hurricane Katrina, unequivocally concludes that she did.

"This report closes the book on the Bush Administration's attempts to evade accountability," Conyers said in a statement. "The Bush Administration was caught napping at a critical time."

Click here for the rest.

Last week, Becky told me about a moderate-liberal coworker who seemed to be buying in, to some extent, to the right-wing spin about responsibility and Hurricane Katrina. That is, he was apparently saying that the Governor shares some of the blame because she waited too long to let the Feds in. My immediate response was to print up Blanco's August 27th declaration of emergency from the Louisiana state government website--it is now hanging on our refrigerator door like a child's A+ worksheet. At least we knew the truth. Thing is, it's pretty maddening that journalists didn't shove that declaration in Republican faces the moment they started spewing their vile bullshit; I guess it's still too much to ask the "fourth branch of government" to actually do their jobs. Fortunately, this new report makes it obvious to all where the real blame lies. Group that with what amounts to Bush's recent firing of FEMA chief Brown, as well as the President's admission of having dropped the ball on Katrina, the first time I can recall Bush ever admitting to having made a mistake, and no sane American can possibly blame anyone else for the post hurricane fiasco but the President.

In this age of illusion, even the brutally obvious must be supported with overwhelming evidence if one wants to counter the lies of the right-wing spin machine. The only reason "the blame game" became a partisan issue is because the Republicans wanted it that way. Now we know for sure: Bush screwed up. End of discussion.

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