1 Year Ago Today: Barbara Bush's Infamous Remarks About Katrina Evacuees

[bigtree]

By E&P Staff

Published: September 05, 2006 12:15 AM ET
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003087096

NEW YORK One year ago, on Sept. 5, 2005, with the Gulf Coast still reeling -- to say the least -- from the effects of Hurricane Katrina, former First Lady Barbara Bush appeared with he husband in Houston at a relief center for some of the tens of thousands of evacuees from New Orleans.

There she was interviewed for American Public Media's "Marketplace" program, not aired everywhere. An E&P contributor happened to be listening in the New York area and wrote down her remarks, in which she seemed to suggest that, thanks to the disaster, things were actually working out "very well" for underprivileged evacuees.

After some checking, E&P quickly launched a online story that became one of the most popular in the history of the web site. The former First Lady's comments soon were quoted elsewhere, from Drudge to CBS, and became part of the official history of the period, ending up, among other places, in Spike Lee's recent HBO film on the flood.


Here's the original quote:

"And so many of the people in the arena here, you
know, were underprivileged anyway, so this -- this (she
chuckled slightly) is working very well for them."

[Karenca]

1. I'm pissed off all over again.

I truly hate that bitch.

[LibDemAlways]

2. And that quote never made it into the corporate whore

press, or if it did, it was buried on the last page. Ditto for her horrendous "beautiful mind" comment.

Thanks to the whores, the American public has the perception that Babs is a kindly grandmother instead of the mean-spirited, elitist shrew she consistently reveals herself to be.

[EFerrari]

9. But Spike Lee put it in his film. He has Al Sharpton NAILING her.

for those remarks. :)

[Swamp Rat]

10. I can't watch it, but good for Al!

[LibDemAlways]

11. Good for him. Only wish the film was required

viewing for the American public.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

13. Actually, it got fairly good media attention.

If it ended up on page two, it's because there was much more important news on page one. For a week or two there, the media was actually doing a bnag up job.

If it didn't have the negative impact you'd hoped it'd have, that's because there's a significant portion of the American public that agreed with her.

[Erika]

3. Her elitism was disgusting and a total disconnect

It sickens me to think about it. This witch has never worked a day in her life and has "the good life" and she talks about these poor evacuees as being fortunate for having these type of quarters?

She enjoys talking on about her blue blood lines as if it was of some merit or something that put her above all others.

She's a spoiled pig who has played a large role in the downfall of this country through her elitism and ignorance.

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Kiouni]

5. every time

i hear her name i think of a picture a DUer posted depicting her as medusa and the fact that she killed someone!

[intheflow]

8. That picture would have been Swamp Rat's.

He's from the NOLA area, and he did get her right on with that Medusa caricature. But Babs has killed someone? I never heard that. What's the story on that factoid?

[Raster]

16. I don't think babs has ever killed anyone. You might be confusing her

with Laura "Pickles" Bush*. She was the one involved in a fatal car accident.

[Kiouni]

19. my bad yeah that's it

[maddezmom]

6. disgusting

[democrank]

7. This is the same woman

who taught Junior about compassion.

[ComerPerro]

12. Don't waste your beautiful mind worrying about that bitch

[Xenotime]

14. That's the * elitist attitude toward the general population.

[GrpCaptMandrake]

15. Y'know, when you think about George W. Bush

being potty-trained by that hateful beast, a lot of things come into much sharper focus.

:puke:

[Wednesdays]

17. The propaganda and misinformation never ends...

Came across this message board thread. Looks like they deleted my reply...they'll delete anything that even hints to be a personal attack.

http://ronstoppable.proboards89.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=1156914548&page=1

Some of the "compassionate" comments:

"One year later and these people still haven't gotten off their rears and fixed their own lives. ... Frankly they need to stop complaining, take responsibility for their own lives, and stop looking for hand outs. Then again they elected the same idiots who failed them the first time (yes I blame local not federal on this one) so I've got no hope. I'm sure more money will be wasted on them and I wouldn't be surprised that those chaps will steal as much as they can while it's coming in. Bah is what I say about that area of the country."

"There are alot of people that believe the national goverment needs to get these people back on their feet. I disagree. We have footed the bill for people long enough. 6 month long hotel stays and $2000 spending cash is horribly excessive."

"Yes, brilliant idea, Frenchies...build a city below sea level...right next to the sea and a decent-sized lake."

"New Orleans and the state of Louisiana are looked over by complete morons.

Everyone decided to start blaming FEMA for not helping fast enough after the Hurricane hit when it was really Nagin and the Gov.'s fault they didn't show up.

But Nagin...waited 3 days after the disaster to call on FEMA, and that's FEMA's problem?"

"The more I hear of New Orleans, the more I hope they don't rebuild. That's my honest opinion, especially after I just saw that another Katrina Refugee shot and killed a cop after he robbed a convienent store."

"One of the guys in my class said that a tourguide in NO said that the French district was really the only place to go, and once you step out of there you'd get mugged, beaten, raped or killed.

And that's exactly what most of the Katrina refugees are doing now in cities that were better before they came."

[BlueStorm]

18. Oh how compassionate!!! (sarcasm)

The fuckers. Maybe they should go and try to live down there for awhile, perhaps then they will change their tune.


BLue