JUST POSTED: CRS Report on Blanco & Bush response to Katrina

PDF file:

http://www2.dccc.org/docs/conyersgaokatrina.pdf

Bottom line, Gov Blanco did it right.

Says the Gov. requested what and when she was was supposed to and says the President started the ball moving on making assistance available.

The shoe drop behind the responsibility moment?

Back on September 7th, Rep. John Conyers wrote to the Congressional Research Service (one of the few parts of the government that can legitimately be called non-partisan) and asked them to review the record to see whether Gov. Blanco of Louisiana took the necessary steps in a timely fashion to secure federal assistance in the face of hurricane Katrina.

The report came back yesterday. Yes, she did. Read it yourself.

I have no brief for Gov. Blanco and none of the president's critics should either. I'm not saying dump on her. But let the chips fall where they may. My friends in Louisiana tell me that on the ground Nagin is coming off better than she is, to the extent that public opinion can be gauged under such circumstances. But the White House has been hitting her for weeks now claiming that in various ways she dropped the ball. And that seems quite simply to be false.
-- Josh Marshall

www.talkingpointsmemo.com