Blanco and the Red Cross

So this is the latest hype on the right in an effort to "play the blame game" that the President has asked them not to and pin the disaster on Governor Blanco. Except, you'll note, the Governor's name never gets mentioned in the article. It was, instead, a member of the state's DHS team that made the initial decision to deny access.

It should also be noted that the Red Cross asked to take over relief and aid efforts on Sept 1st, three days after the Hurricane hit the area and a day after the National Guard began to ship in its load of ice, water and food into the state in its own haphazard and indirect manner.

By Saturday, however, the point became moot because the large-scale evacuation of the city was under way, Howell and Mayeaux said.

"After that point in time ... their rescue operation was in full force, and they felt they had adequate supplies there to take care of it without (the Red Cross) being introduced into the situation," Howell said. "So we did not go directly into New Orleans."

So while the initial decision to block the Red Cross may have belonged to the state's DHS director, the decision to continue and keep them out seems to have been made by the National Guard.

Oh, and the director of the state's DHS office? Appointed originally by a Republican.

That is, if you want to play the blame game.

Oh, and one other thing. A lot of my real life Republican friends have noted that unsafe conditions kept the federal government from distributing aid to the folks at the Superdome and convention center. Now, if you buy that argument, how can you suddenly suggest that keeping the Red Cross out of those same areas was a bad idea?