Congressional Research Service absolves LA officials

This was a surprise. Just yesterday I said that I'd be on the lookout for any evidence of mismanagement by those much-maligned "state and local officials" who somehow bungled everything so badly that the feds couldn't get to work for three days. That in itself is patently absurd, but I was willing to acknowledge that they'd made some mistakes. One group-- at the federal level, no less-- finds that they did things just as they should have. This is a must-read-- especially if you'll be speaking to any Bush conservatives in the near future. You'll have something of substance to say when they recite "State and local officials! State and local officials!" It's the liberal way.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 13 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Pursuant to a September 7 request by Representative John Conyers to review the law and legal accountability relating to Federal action in response to Hurricane Katrina, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) issued a report today about whether the Governor of Louisiana took the necessary and timely steps needed to secure disaster relief from the federal government. The report unequivocally concludes that she did.

Congressman Conyers issued the following statement:

"This report closes the book on the Bush Administration's attempts to evade accountability by shifting the blame to the Governor of Louisiana for the Administration's tragically sluggish response to Katrina. It confirms that the Governor did everything she could to secure relief for the people of Louisiana and the Bush Administration was caught napping at a critical time."