current mood: Angry!!!
Stuff like this just really makes me mad!!! No wonder there were revolutions against the aristocracies of old...
Barbara Bush on Hurricane Katrina RefugeesSeptember 08, 2005
Barbara Bush on Hurricane Katrina Refugees
It is, without doubt, the quote of the hour — a remark attributed to ex-first lady and mother-of-the-president Barbara Bush during a visit to the Hurricane Katrina refugee shelter in the Houston Astrodome:
What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them.
Some folks are loathe to believe she actually said this. As one reader wrote, "I would like to see the transcript, hear the video, see something other than this [email] to confirm what Barbara Bush reportedly said. I find this difficult to believe, as she is a compassionate and caring person and was a wonderful first lady (regardless of opinions about her husband or son)."
The fact is, she did say it during a question-and-answer session with a reporter for "Marketplace," a program aired on National Public Radio. Audio recordings of both the finished segment and the original, unedited interview are available online.
In fairness, the comment was extracted from a lengthier exchange in which Mrs. Bush did express compassion for the Katrina refugees she had encountered, but that hasn't stopped critics of the Bush administration from comparing it to Marie Antoinette's alleged response to the plight of the poor on the eve of the French Revolution: "If they have no bread, let them eat cake."
White House press secretary Scott McClellan defended Barbara Bush's comments thus: "I think that the observation is based on someone or some people that were talking to her that were in need of a lot of assistance, people that have gone through a lot of trauma and been through a very difficult and trying time. And all of a sudden, they are now getting great help in the state of Texas from some of the shelters."
Poll: Do you think Barbara Bush's remarks about Katrina refugees were insensitive? 1)
Yes 2)
No 3)
Not sureThis whole thing just is very upsetting to say the least... And to top it off, they guy that was put into power for FEMA (Michael Brown) may have
padded his resume! I think he needs to step out of the way, or Bush should fire him and let someone who can do the job get it done!!! Also, since he works "directly" for the president as he has stated when asked to resign, then Bush should be held responsibile! In any case, there needs to be a strong democrat to point this things out. My vote would be for
Barack Obama!
Heck, if you can try to impeach a president for having sex in the white house, why can't you impeach a president for letting thousands of poor people die???
Which is worse?Ok, ok.. this beagle is getting off of his soapbox...