DISASTER IN NEW ORLEANS - LOOKING GLASS NEWS | |
25 Mind-Numbingly Stupid Quotes About Hurricane Katrina And Its Aftermath |
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by Daniel Kurtzman, Political Humor Entered into the database on Monday, September 12th, 2005 @ 09:52:34 MST |
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1) "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the
levees." –President Bush, on "Good Morning
America," Sept. 1, 2005, six days after repeated warnings from experts
about the scope of damage expected from Hurricane Katrina (Source) 2) "What I'm hearing which is sort of scary is that they
all want to stay in Texas. Everybody is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And
so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway
so this (chuckle) – this is working very well for them." –Former
First Lady Barbara Bush, on the Hurricane flood evacuees in the Houston
Astrodome, Sept. 5, 2005 (Source) 3) "It makes no sense to spend billions of dollars to
rebuild a city that's seven feet under sea level....It looks like a lot of that
place could be bulldozed." –House Speaker Dennis Hastert
(R-Ill.), Aug. 31, 2005 (Source)
4) "We've got a lot of rebuilding to do ... The good
news is — and it's hard for some to see it now — that out of this
chaos is going to come a fantastic Gulf Coast, like it was before. Out of the
rubbles of Trent Lott's house — he's lost his entire house — there's
going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch."
(Laughter) —President Bush, touring hurricane damage,
Mobile, Ala., Sept. 2, 2005 (Source) 5) "Considering the dire circumstances that we have in
New Orleans, virtually a city that has been destroyed, things are going relatively
well." –FEMA Director Michael Brown, Sept. 1, 2005
(Source) 6) "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job." –President
Bush, to FEMA director Michael Brown, while touring Hurricane-ravaged
Mississippi, Sept. 2, 2005 (Source) 7) "I have not heard a report of thousands of people
in the convention center who don't have food and water." –Homeland
Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, on NPR's "All Things Considered,"
Sept. 1, 2005 (Source) 8) "Well, I think if you look at what actually happened,
I remember on Tuesday morning picking up newspapers and I saw headlines, 'New
Orleans Dodged the Bullet.' Because if you recall, the storm moved to the east
and then continued on and appeared to pass with considerable damage but nothing
worse." –Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff,
blaming media
coverage for his failings, "Meet the Press," Sept. 4, 2005 (Source)
9) "I mean, you have people who don't heed those warnings
and then put people at risk as a result of not heeding those warnings. There
may be a need to look at tougher penalties on those who decide to ride it out
and understand that there are consequences to not leaving.” –Sen.
Rick Santorum (R-PA), Sept. 6, 2005 (Source) 10) "You simply get chills every time you see these poor
individuals...many of these people, almost all of them that we see are so poor
and they are so black, and this is going to raise lots of questions for people
who are watching this story unfold." –CNN's Wolf Blitzer,
on New Orleans' hurricane evacuees, Sept. 1, 2005 (Source)
11) "What didn't go right?'" –President
Bush, as quoted by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), after
she urged him to fire FEMA Director Michael Brown "because of all that
went wrong, of all that didn't go right" in the Hurricane Katrina relief
effort (Source) 12) "Now tell me the truth boys, is this kind of fun?"
–House Majority Leader Tom Delay (R-TX), to three young
hurricane evacuees from New Orleans at the Astrodome in Houston (Source) 13) "We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans.
We couldn't do it, but God did." –Rep. Richard Baker (R-LA)
to lobbyists, as quoted in the Wall Street Journal (Source) 14) "Louisiana is a city that is largely under water."
–Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, news conference,
Sept. 3, 2005 (Source)
15) "I also want to encourage anybody who was affected
by Hurricane Corina to make sure their children are in school." –First
Lady Laura Bush, twice referring to a "Hurricane Corina"
while speaking to children and parents in South Haven, Mississippi, Sept. 8,
2005 (Source) 16) "It's totally wiped out. ... It's devastating, it's
got to be doubly devastating on the ground." –President Bush,
turning to his aides while surveying Hurricane Katrina flood damage from Air
Force One, Aug. 31, 2005 (Source)
17) "I believe the town where I used to come –
from Houston, Texas, to enjoy myself, occasionally too much – will be
that very same town, that it will be a better place to come to." –President
Bush, on the tarmac at the New Orleans airport, Sept. 2, 2005 (Source)
18) "Last night, we showed you the full force of a superpower
government going to the rescue." –MSNBC's Chris Matthews,
Sept. 1, 2005 (Source) 19) "You know I talked to Haley Barbour, the governor
of Mississippi yesterday because some people were saying, 'Well, if you hadn't
sent your National Guard to Iraq, we here in Mississippi would be better off.'
He told me 'I've been out in the field every single day, hour, for four days
and no one, not one single mention of the word Iraq.' Now where does that come
from? Where does that story come from if the governor is not picking up one
word about it? I don't know. I can use my imagination." –Former
President George Bush, who can give his imagination a
rest, interview with CNN’s Larry King, Sept. 5, 2005 (Source)
20) "We just learned of the convention center –
we being the federal government – today." –FEMA Director
Michael Brown, to ABC's Ted Koppel, Sept. 1, 2005, to which Koppel
responded " Don't you guys watch television? Don't you guys listen to the
radio? Our reporters have been reporting on it for more than just today."
(Source) 21) "I don't want to alarm everybody that, you know,
New Orleans is filling up like a bowl. That's just not happening." -Bill
Lokey, FEMA's New Orleans coordinator, in a press briefing from Baton
Rouge, Aug. 30, 2005 (Source) 22) "FEMA is not going to hesitate at all in this storm.
We are not going to sit back and make this a bureaucratic process. We are going
to move fast, we are going to move quick, and we are going to do whatever it
takes to help disaster victims." --FEMA Director Michael Brown,
Aug. 28, 2005 (Source) 23) "I don't make judgments about why people chose not
to leave but, you know, there was a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans."
–FEMA Director Michael Brown, arguing that the victims
bear some responsibility, CNN interview, Sept. 1, 2005 (Source) 24) "I understand there are 10,000 people dead. It's
terrible. It's tragic. But in a democracy of 300 million people, over years
and years and years, these things happen." --GOP strategist Jack
Burkman, on MSNBC's "Connected," Sept. 7, 2005 (Source) 25) "Thank President Clinton and former President Bush
for their strong statements of support and comfort today. I thank all the leaders
that are coming to Louisiana, and Mississippi and Alabama to our help and rescue.
We are grateful for the military assets that are being brought to bear. I want
to thank Senator Frist and Senator Reid for their extraordinary efforts. Anderson,
tonight, I don't know if you've heard – maybe you all have announced it
-- but Congress is going to an unprecedented session to pass a $10 billion supplemental
bill tonight to keep FEMA and the Red Cross up and operating." –Sen.
Mary Landrieu (D-LA), to CNN's Anderson Cooper, Aug. 31, 2005, to which
Cooper responded: "I haven't heard that, because, for the last four days, I've been seeing
dead bodies in the streets here in Mississippi. And to listen to politicians
thanking each other and complimenting each other, you know, I got to tell you,
there are a lot of people here who are very upset, and very angry, and very
frustrated. And when they hear politicians slap – you know, thanking one
another, it just, you know, it kind of cuts them the wrong way right now, because
literally there was a body on the streets of this town yesterday being eaten
by rats because this woman had been laying in the street for 48 hours. And there's
not enough facilities to take her up. Do you get the anger that is out here?"
(Source)
Quotes That Didn't Make the Top 25 "This is the largest disaster in the history of the United States, over
an area twice the size of Europe. People have to understand this is a big, big
problem.'' –Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), Sept. 6, 2005
(Source)
"A young [black] man walks through chest deep floodwater after looting
a grocery store in New Orleans..." "But I really didn't hear that at all today. People came up to me all
day long and said 'God bless your son,' people of different races and it was
very, very moving and touching, and they felt like when he flew over that it
made all the difference in their lives, so I just don't hear that." –Former
First Lady Barbara Bush to CNN's Larry King, after King asked her how
she felt when people said that her son "doesn't care" about race,
Sept. 5, 2005 (Source)
"I'm going to go home and walk my dog and hug my wife, and maybe get a
good Mexican meal and a stiff margarita and a full night's sleep." –FEMA
Director Michael Brown, on his plans after being relieved from his
role managing Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, Sept. 9, 2005 (Source)
"Bureaucracy is not going to stand in the way of getting the job done
for the people." –President Bush, Sept. 6, 2005
(Source)
"Louisiana's Senator Landrieu announced on network television, 'I might
likely have to punch him, literally.' And my question, since 'him' is the President,
and both punching and threatening to punch the President is a felony, has her
qualifying words 'might likely' saved her from arrest and prosecution?"
-unknown reporter to White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan,
Sept. 6, 2005 (Source)
"As of Saturday (Sept. 3), Blanco still had not declared a state of emergency,
the senior Bush official said." –Washington Post staff writers
Manuel
Roig-Franzia and Spencer Hsu, who didn't bother to fact-check the blatant
lie peddled by the Bush administration as part of its attempts to pin blame
on state and local officials, when, in fact, the emergency declaration had
been made on Friday, Aug. 26 (Source)
"Just to get you on the record, where does the buck
stop in this administration?" –White House reporter |