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Barbara Bush Calls Evacuees Better Off
As President Bush battled criticism over the response to Hurricane Katrina, his mother declared it a success for evacuees who "were underprivileged anyway," saying on Monday that many of the poor people she had seen while touring a Houston relocation site were faring better than before the storm hit.
"What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas," Barbara Bush said in an interview on Monday with the radio program "Marketplace." "Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality."
"And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway," she said, "so this is working very well for them."
Mrs. Bush toured the Astrodome complex with her husband, former President George Bush, as part of an administration campaign throughout the Gulf Coast region to counter criticism of the response to the storm. Former President Bush and former President Bill Clinton are helping raise money for the rebuilding effort.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/07/national/nationalspecial/07barbara.html
Finally, we have discovered the roots of George W. Bush's "compassionate conservatism."
On the heels of the president's "What, me worry?" response to the death, destruction and dislocation that followed upon Hurricane Katrina comes the news of his mother's Labor Day visit with hurricane evacuees at the Astrodome in Houston.
Commenting on the facilities that have been set up for the evacuees -- cots crammed side-by-side in a huge stadium where the lights never go out and the sound of sobbing children never completely ceases -- former First Lady Barbara Bush concluded that the poor people of New Orleans had lucked out.
"Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this, this is working very well for them," Mrs. Bush told American Public Media's "Marketplace" program, before returning to her multi-million dollar Houston home.
On the tape of the interview, Mrs. Bush chuckles audibly as she observes just how great things are going for families that are separated from loved ones, people who have been forced to abandon their homes and the only community where they have ever lived, and parents who are explaining to children that their pets, their toys and in some cases their friends may be lost forever. Perhaps the former first lady was amusing herself with the notion that evacuees without bread could eat cake.
At the very least, she was expressing a measure of empathy commensurate with that evidenced by her son during his fly-ins for disaster-zone photo opportunities.
On Friday, when even Republican lawmakers were giving the federal government an "F" for its response to the crisis,
President Bush heaped praise on embattled
Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Michael Brown. As thousands of victims of the hurricane continued to plead for food, water, shelter, medical care and a way out of the nightmare to which federal neglect had consigned them, Brown cheerily announced that "people are getting the help they need."
Barbara Bush's son put his arm around the addled FEMA functionary and declared, "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job."
Like mother, like son.
Even when a hurricane hits, the apple does not fall far from the tree.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20050906/cm_thenation/120080
Bush's mother offends refugees
07sep05
THE US National Guard was last night preparing to order everyone out of the city of New Orleans, permanently.
Yesterday floodwaters finally began to recede as some residents were allowed back in to the city to collect belongings.
President George W. Bush returned to the site of the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in a bid to quell criticism of his Government's response to the disaster.
But his mother, Barbara Bush, appeared to make his troubles even worse by suggesting some of the homeless might be better off.
Mrs Bush and her husband, former president George Bush, visited evacuees in Houston, Texas, yesterday accompanied by former president Bill Clinton and his wife, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.
The visit was supposed to be a bipartisan show of support for victims.
But Mrs Bush further inflamed simmering racial tensions when she referred to the 18,000 people now in Houston who had lost everything saying: "This is working very well for them."
Mrs Bush, who hails from Texas, also appeared to express concerns that many of the victims might remain in the state's largest city.
"Almost everyone I've talked to says 'We're going to move to Houston'," she said. "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, this is working very well for them."
Earlier President Bush met with senior black church leaders to tell them there was no racism involved in his Government's response to Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
The vast majority of the tens of thousands of those left behind to face the hurricane and resulting floods were black and poor.
Their Government took almost a week to arrange mass evacuation and to get food and water to the victims.
http://www.thecouriermail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,16517579%255E954,00.html
"And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway," she said, "so this is working very well for them."
Mrs. Bush toured the Astrodome complex with her husband, former President George Bush, as part of an administration campaign throughout the Gulf Coast region to counter criticism of the response to the storm. Former President Bush and former President Bill Clinton are helping raise money for the rebuilding effort.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/07/national/nationalspecial/07barbara.html
Finally, we have discovered the roots of George W. Bush's "compassionate conservatism."
On the heels of the president's "What, me worry?" response to the death, destruction and dislocation that followed upon Hurricane Katrina comes the news of his mother's Labor Day visit with hurricane evacuees at the Astrodome in Houston.
Commenting on the facilities that have been set up for the evacuees -- cots crammed side-by-side in a huge stadium where the lights never go out and the sound of sobbing children never completely ceases -- former First Lady Barbara Bush concluded that the poor people of New Orleans had lucked out.
"Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this, this is working very well for them," Mrs. Bush told American Public Media's "Marketplace" program, before returning to her multi-million dollar Houston home.
On the tape of the interview, Mrs. Bush chuckles audibly as she observes just how great things are going for families that are separated from loved ones, people who have been forced to abandon their homes and the only community where they have ever lived, and parents who are explaining to children that their pets, their toys and in some cases their friends may be lost forever. Perhaps the former first lady was amusing herself with the notion that evacuees without bread could eat cake.
At the very least, she was expressing a measure of empathy commensurate with that evidenced by her son during his fly-ins for disaster-zone photo opportunities.
On Friday, when even Republican lawmakers were giving the federal government an "F" for its response to the crisis,
President Bush heaped praise on embattled
Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Michael Brown. As thousands of victims of the hurricane continued to plead for food, water, shelter, medical care and a way out of the nightmare to which federal neglect had consigned them, Brown cheerily announced that "people are getting the help they need."
Barbara Bush's son put his arm around the addled FEMA functionary and declared, "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job."
Like mother, like son.
Even when a hurricane hits, the apple does not fall far from the tree.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20050906/cm_thenation/120080
Bush's mother offends refugees
07sep05
THE US National Guard was last night preparing to order everyone out of the city of New Orleans, permanently.
Yesterday floodwaters finally began to recede as some residents were allowed back in to the city to collect belongings.
President George W. Bush returned to the site of the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in a bid to quell criticism of his Government's response to the disaster.
But his mother, Barbara Bush, appeared to make his troubles even worse by suggesting some of the homeless might be better off.
Mrs Bush and her husband, former president George Bush, visited evacuees in Houston, Texas, yesterday accompanied by former president Bill Clinton and his wife, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.
The visit was supposed to be a bipartisan show of support for victims.
But Mrs Bush further inflamed simmering racial tensions when she referred to the 18,000 people now in Houston who had lost everything saying: "This is working very well for them."
Mrs Bush, who hails from Texas, also appeared to express concerns that many of the victims might remain in the state's largest city.
"Almost everyone I've talked to says 'We're going to move to Houston'," she said. "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, this is working very well for them."
Earlier President Bush met with senior black church leaders to tell them there was no racism involved in his Government's response to Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
The vast majority of the tens of thousands of those left behind to face the hurricane and resulting floods were black and poor.
Their Government took almost a week to arrange mass evacuation and to get food and water to the victims.
http://www.thecouriermail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,16517579%255E954,00.html
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But then Barbara Bush, the president's mom, went and dusted off the Bush family silver foot Monday. And she used it.
While touring the Houston Astrodome, where thousands of Hurricane Katrina refugees have been huddling, Barbara Bush said they didn't have it so bad because, heck, they were poor to begin with.
"What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas," she was quoted as saying in an interview on National Public Radio.
Thousands of hurricane refugees were sitting on or near their green army cots, perhaps thinking of lunch, presumably waiting to be fed something hearty.
Anything but cake.
"Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality," Barbara Bush said. And here comes the fastball over the middle of the Democratic plate:
"And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them."
At least she didn't ask them to sing and dance. But I'm sure it's working out very well for them. How often does something nice like a hurricane come by and change your life so you can hang out with thousands of others in the Astrodome and have Barbara Bush say it wasn't so bad, because you were poor anyway?
By my calculations, Barb's foot is about a 10 1/2 EE, but by the time you read this on Wednesday, after Leno and Letterman get through with her, she'll have an EEEE at least. There should be some back teeth stuck to the pinky toe when the surgeon general finally pulls it out.
You've got to figure that somewhere, former Texas Democratic Gov. Ann Richards is smiling. It was Richards, or perhaps one of her pointy-headed ghostwriters, who came up with the devastating line about former President George H.W. Bush.
Richards said the former president couldn't be blamed for his misstatements, because he was born with a silver foot in his mouth. Now it turns out Barbara was in charge of the silver. She polished it up good and shiny. And in political terms, she put her foot in her son's mouth and knocked loose a few teeth.
I'm sure Barbara won't be able to fix things up just by bringing a lime Jell-O mold (with floating chunks of pineapple) over to the White House at suppertime.
"Son?"
"What, Ma?"
"I'm sorry what I said about those people. However, I did make Jell-O to cheer you up."
"With the chunks?"
Most of us have moms, but if we're lucky, they never made Jell-O with or without the hideous chunks. But most of us don't have moms who could start a war with China or overturn the Republican's Southern Strategy with a few choice words, like Barbara Bush just did.
Please don't get it into your head that my constant exposure to people in the mainstream media--many of whom are still peeved that Al Gore isn't president--has changed my political views. It hasn't.
But what Barbara Bush said can't be ignored. She's the former first lady, the current first grandmother, and she's no political cream puff.
While looking over the thousands of families and children now without homes, she spewed out this quote, "Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this, this is working very well for them." Later on, Ma Barker-Bush can be heard laughing as she observes just how great things are going for families that are separated from loved ones, people who have lost their homes and the only community where they have ever lived, and parents who are explaining to their kids that their pets, their toys and in some cases their friends may be lost forever. Afterwards, she and George went back to their lush multi-million dollar Houston home and enjoyed cake. (I made the cake part up, but is it really that hard to imagine?)
So this is what being a "compassionate conservative" is all about. Calling tax paying Americans "refugees" (or at least the ones that hadn't died from dehydration or starvation before you decided to actually do something), some of whom you have no problem sending their kids off to a war you have no reason for but oil and money for your real friends, storing them like cattle under armed military guard and then saying this is all working very well for them. Watch out G.O.P., here I come to sign up for this program. I guess the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. In a random thought, what if both Clinton and George H.W. Bush had both kept it in their pants?
http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/09/06/202647.php