Political Junkie (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} huskerlaw) wrote in ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} w_daily,@ 2005-09-12 13:29:00 |
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Compiled by about.com. Mostly Republicans, obviously.
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. Perhaps you didn't you inept moron, but anyone who, you know, turned on a TV or picked up a newspaper knew it was a very real possibility. Due in no small part to your de-funding of the Army Corps of Engineers.
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 is (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. This worked out well for them? Those "underprivileged" people lost everything, you ignorant, heartless bitch. Perhaps they didn't have much, but they watched their family members die and float down the street, they lost their homes, they lost their kids' baby pictures...ugh. Now I know where Bush's inability to empathize comes from.
3. "It makes no sense to spend billions of dollars to rebuild a city that's 7 feet under sea level...it looks like a lot of that place could be bulldozed." ~House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL), Aug. 31, 2005. Maybe they could start with your house? Idiot.
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, AL. Sept. 2, 2005. Yes, let's keep our eye on the ball here. Trent Lott, a millionare, lost his vacation home. And out of the rubble of that mansion, there will be an even bigger and better one for Bush to visit. Priorities correctly aligned, I see.
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. New Orleans has been virtually destroyed, but everything's going relatively well. Yeah. Ok.
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. Then why did you "relieve" him of his duties like, 2 days later?
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. Funny how the rest of the world knew before you did. Might help if you turned on the TV, dumbass.
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. Oh wait, he apparently did pick up a newspaper. And because IT said that New Orleans was ok, you figured it was ok to sit on your ass. Nice.
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. Yes, we should be very tough on people who can't afford to save themselves. Those damn poor people, always insisting upon making life difficult for the rest of us. /sarcasm
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. You think?? Doh.
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. Oh, you know...nothing much, just a few tens of thousands of dead people. Nothing to worry your pretty little head about, W.
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. You betcha. It's hella fun to watch family members die, live in the very definition of hell on earth for a week, lose your home and all of your worldly possessions, and then sleep on a cot surrounded by thousands of random strangers. Fun...yup, that's it.
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. I don't even have a witty comeback for that one. This guy should be hung.
14. "Louisiana is a city that is largely under water." ~Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, news conference, Sept. 3, 2005. Louisiana is a state, but yeah, ok...I'm glad you're in charge of keeping the country safe...
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. Say it with me now...K-A-T-R-I-N-A. And perhaps they're a bit more worried about making sure their children are alive than whether they're being educated at the now non-existent school.
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. Well, let's think about that one for a minute. Which is worse? Looking at flood damage from the comfort and safety of the most well-appointed aircraft on earth, or looking at flood damage from your vantage point on your roof, where you've been stranded for 3 days? I'd have to guess the roof is more than doubly bad. Idiot.
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. Once again, he's more concerned about his potential vacation destinations than about people who lost their homes, but hey, it is too bad that the place he used to come to party when he was a wee lad is gone...poooooor baby.
18. "Last night, we showed you the full force of a superpower government going to the rescue." ~MSNBC's Chris Matthews, Sept. 1, 2005. Oh yes, and what a sight that was.
19. "You know, I talked to Haley Borbour, 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 4 days and no one, not one single mention of the word Iraq.' Now where does this 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 imaginatin a rest. Interview with CNN's Larry King, Sept. 5, 2005. Well maybe he was talking to the same people who told your son the levee's wouldn't break? Or maybe the ones who told Michael Chertoff that the damage wasn't so bad.
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." In fact, not ony had they been "reporting on it," they were reporting FROM the convention center. Once again, the news reporters could get there, but the military couldn't. Fabulous.
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. Is he lying or is he as woefully misinformed as his bosses? Hard telling.
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. Famous Last Words: Brought to You By Michael Brown...
23. "I don't make judgements 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. That's so nice of you to withhold judgement Michael. Unfortunately for you, we won't grant you the same treatment. Perhaps if your two-bit, sorry-ass excuse for a department had provided them with an evacuation plan, more people would have had the option of leaving.
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. This guy's a strategist? Scary. Truly scary.
25. "Thank President Clinton and former President Bush for their strong statement 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 4 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?" I saw this interview. Senator Landrieu's complementary mentions of policitians who, frankly, hadn't done shit up to that point was so revolting...I turned off the TV and threw the remote across the room. But to be fair, how could she be expected to know what was going on when the President of the United States, the Director of FEMA, and the Director of the Department of Homeland Security didn't have clue-fricking-one either?
