Jon Christian Ryter has the must read item of the day.

— Blanco’s advisers told her that the remaining 7,000 National Guard troops left in Louisiana were not enough to secure the city of New Orleans, and that it was not in her best political interest to use them until they could be reinforced since they might get hurt, or worse, hurt or kill a civilian they were charged with protecting. Instead, she let Nagin’s 1,500 New Orleans cops fend for themselves in a city that had been tacitly surrendered to looters and thugs.

— From the moment Katrina blew ashore—hours before the 17th Street levee broke—New Orleans mayor Raymond Nagin declared martial law over his city and ordered it evacuated. He tried, in vain, to get Gov. Blanco to turn control of available National Guard troops over to him. She refused. She did, however, drive to New Orleans and “stand beside him” while he ordered the people to evacuate the city. What Nagin should have done was commandeer all of the school buses in New Orleans and place them at strategic intersections in the city’s poorest sections to provide exit transportation for those who did not possess the means to escape the city. However, the buses were not insured for that purpose.

— Blanco who, according to Nagin, was not in constant or at least direct contact with the him as the crisis evolved into catastrophe, appeared to have been preoccupied with her own media photo ops advising people to leave the city, which made it appear that she was aware of the plight that was enveloping her State—and that she was swiftly implementing corrective measures to ward off disaster. Like a school teacher passing out unimportant assignments, she outlined the measures that would take place to secure the city of New Orleans and rescue its people. But nothing happened. Why? Because Blanco never took control of the emergency apparatus of Louisiana—and apparently did not want anyone else doing so, either, until she was ready to act.

Blanco never became the leader the people elected her to be. Go read the whole thing.