Louisiana Political News Service

Failure of Governor to Act Constitutes Malfeasance in Office
By Carl Tritschler

Every day that Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco remains in office constitutesa clear and present danger to the safety and security of every man, woman, andchild in the state of Louisiana. That is, except to those hundreds of thousandsof Louisiana citizens who are temporarily or permanently located in anotherstate. That is, except to those thousands of Louisiana citizens who are already dead.

Governor Blanco's indecision and vacillation during this crisis has cost lives.

Therefore, the best course of action is for Governor Blanco to resign immediately from office or to be impeached. I say this not as a political statement but as the only conclusion that can rationally be drawn after the events leading up to and in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

The first duty of a public official who is the chief executive of any state, city, town, or village is to ensure the welfare, i.e., the health and well being, of their fellow citizens. In the aftermath of the storm it is abundantly clear that Governor Blanco has failed miserably. Blanco has been in for officemore than eighteen months; before that she served in public office for two decades, the last eight years of which was as Lieutenant Governor.

Blanco had ample time to review and revise the emergency plans of the state and of the parishes and towns most likely to be impacted by a strong hurricane. And yet Blanco did nothing.

On Monday August 29, after the storm had hit, she did finally act. It was to show our state, nation, and the world that the leader of the highest elected official of state of Louisiana was shell-shocked into tears and inaction. In the words of one observer she looked "concussed." She cried. She made nonsensical and confusing statements such as "the situation is untenable."

As she had done in all her years in office, Blanco once again failed to providea plan of action. She had no plan for the three major catastrophes enveloping New Orleans: the initial impact of Katrina, the flooding which thereafterresulted, and the spreading civil disorder.

During the week Blanco gave no statement that the looters, murderers, and rapists would be dealt with by using the full force of martial law: shoot tokill. Instead she sternly let us all know that "we don't like looters one bit." She said her main focus was search and rescue, but the armed thugs were severely hampering those efforts to which, once again, she had no response.

It is vital to note that during the week President of the United States GeorgeW. Bush requested that the Louisiana National Guard be federalized. Time and time again he was refused. Blanco, the consummate political player, did not want to give up power. And people paid the price with their lives.

Gov. Kathleen Blanco, standing beside the mayor at a news conference, said President Bush called and personally appealed for a mandatory evacuation for the low-lying city, which is prone to flooding."

It was the plan agreed to by Democrat Mayor Ray Nagin which called for bringing those without transportation out of the city to the SuperDome and to the Convention Center. And it was his and other Democrat elected officials' decision to let them stay there and to rot.

Mayor Nagin's own unique brand of leadership was to also blame others, but to accompany such accusations with a stream of obscenities, as he did on radio station WWL. At least he didn't cry.

And we have Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard who, taking his cues fromhis fellow petrified weepers in the Democrat Party, went on national TV and promptly dissolved into a blubbering mass of jelly. The spectacle gave the country a taste of the kind of éclair-spined leadership the Democrats offer inour state.

Finally, we have Democrat John Breaux. He served longer in a position of power than anyone else in the state: 32 years, including 18 years as a United StatesSenator. Where was his leadership in the past three decades in helping prevent this tragedy?

Kathleen Blanco has betrayed the trust of the citizens of Louisiana. Impeachment is clearly in order.

The Louisiana Constitution states simply that any state official "shall beliable to impeachment for commission or conviction, during his term of office ofa felony or for malfeasance or gross misconduct while in such office."

Before this disaster I and other conservatives were opposed to Blanco because ofher Democrat big government, tax and spend policies which threaten our walletsand the economic future of our state. Now I see that her nonpartisan ineptitude is a threat to our very lives.