You need to check this thread. Your concern that the letter of Louisiana governor Blanco asking the President for help is good for Blanco is not in its place. Our fellow freepers here have analyzed the letter and it shows how much Blanco underestimated what they need from the Fedreal government in particular on the issue of coordination. Blanco and Nagin wanted to be in charge of the operation and they failed miserably. When the Feds stepped in late on last Wednesday and took control of the operations, everything worked much better since then. It is a failure of leadership among the local and state officials in Louisiana or in the case of Blanco and Nagin, the absolute lack of it.
Thanks for the link to this thread. I'm trying to understand the situation, so all of the FReeper research really helps!