Jack Risko of Dinocrat.com has put together an awkward timeline for Louisiana Governor Blanco.

Blanco contacted [Clinton's former Federal Emergency Management Agency director James Lee] Witt on Thursday, September 1, according to the Boston Globe. Then on Friday, Nagin made his famous direct appeal to President Bush aboard Air Force One — the one in which Blanco said she needed '24 hours' to decide if she would accept federal troops.

The deplorable Blanco had no problem deciding to contact a Democrat crisis management firm, but somehow had great problems making simple and obvious decisions to actually manage the crisis — if those decisions let in the Bush administration for action and, we suppose, credit. We really want to know who the deplorable Blanco needed to talk to in the 24 hours after Mayor Nagin's desperate plea: the result of Blanco's 24 hours of deliberation was to hire a Democratic consulting firm and to shun real, tangible, large, and direct federal assistance. We would really like to see Blanco's phone records for that period.

The triumph of appearance over substance is apparent in the Governor's priorities. Was she clearing everything with Witt & Company? A Congressional investigation could uncover the phone records with a subpoena.

Thomas Lifson   9 11 05