Uh, Shut Up
I have read this and reread this a few times to see if it's possible that I misinterpreted it...but there's only one way to understand Barbara Bush's remarks today after visiting hurricane victims at the Houston Astrodome:
Truly sickening.
I'm sure the "underprivileged" that have been forced by a natural disaster to relocate indefinitely to sleeping on a cot in the middle of a sports stadium with tens of thousands of strangers, feel very fortunate to have been flooded out of their homes, their jobs, and every belonging they had to their names.
Or not.
In a segment at the top of the show on the surge of evacuees to the Texas city, Barbara Bush said: "Almost everyone I’ve talked to says we're going to move to Houston."She really said it.
Then she added: "What I’m hearing 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 (she chuckles slightly)--this is working very well for them."
Truly sickening.
I'm sure the "underprivileged" that have been forced by a natural disaster to relocate indefinitely to sleeping on a cot in the middle of a sports stadium with tens of thousands of strangers, feel very fortunate to have been flooded out of their homes, their jobs, and every belonging they had to their names.
Or not.
posted by orthomom at 8:07 PM
60 Comments:
No. She. Didn't.
Since I've been crowned a Bush apologist, Babs asked me to pass this on:
I think she meant that many refugees are now considering not returning to LA, but move to Houston. Since their relocation expenses will be subsidizesd, their situation could be worse (unsubsidized move to a state they don't like).
And removing my apologist hat:
What a stupid, stupid thing to say.
Hard to believe. Just got back from a place with no internet conexion. Nice Katrina postings.
Some ppl shouldn't say whatever is on their mind.
I'll meet you on our planet, Mom. As you saw on my blog, I'm through with planet Earth. Bring coffee and beer.
it's always amazing the stupidity that comes out of some people's mouths. but now we have proof positive why sonny boy is the way he is. no filters on the mouth and no brains. must be genetic.
just read your last few posts. they were so on the money. great writing!
Some people just don't get it.
Dumb dumb.
you remember that show thats my bushie
"Some ppl shouldn't say whatever is on their mind."
That goes for Sean Penn and Jesse Jackson too.
What a moron.
(BB, that is. Not you, Orthomom.)
Of course they want to say in Texas, their homes are destroyed and their yards are filled with raw sewage!!
Honestly some people need to spend ONE DAY being poor and see what it's like.
I hear ignorant comments like this from rich people way too often.
Didn't she mean that they will now receive support to build a new life someplace else?
That's how I understand it.
She should have added something like "but I'm sure they would have preferred it not to have happened".
This was also reported in today's NY Times.
It sounds ridiculous the way that you read it, OM. I understood her slightly differently.
She is saying that it is scary that Houston might have to absorb all these migrant refugees who have nothing but the clothes on their backs. It may difficult for the economy to absorb all those people. On the other hand, from the point of view of the poor people themselves, while they have lost their meager belongings in a place of traditionally depressed economy, they will have a chance to start life anew in a place with a better economy and good prospects for a better life.
Knowing Mrs. Bush's previous humanitarian and philanthropic efforts, it is unlikely that she meant it in the Marie Antoinette-ian way that all of you read it. For limud zechus though, the article gives little context for the comments.
I am sure that Mrs. Bush was not trying to be antagonistic and that she really does have hope for a bright future for the homeless victims of Katrina. HOWEVER, people who are in the spotlight need to watch their words carefully. The fact that she would allow those words to escape her lips so soon into this tragedy show a serious lack of empathy.
Knowing Mrs. Bush's previous humanitarian and philanthropic efforts, it is unlikely that she meant it in the Marie Antoinette-ian way that all of you read it. For limud zechus though, the article gives little context for the comments.
She atually has a reputation for being quite "Marie Antoinette-ian". This is not the first time she has said something that was as insensitive as this. There is NO way to view "starting over" as an even more indigenous person without even a roof over ones head, and in many cases, having lost family members, in a positive light. Sometimes, there really is no silver lining.
You can add this to the list of insensitive comments on Katrina as well:
http://web.israelinsider.com/Articles/Politics/6530.htm
Newsflash:
Thousands of mostly white Phoenix residents wait in an hour long line to donate money, clothing, food, water to mostly black New Orleans refugees. Scene repeats itself across the country.
Meanwhile, Momof4 does her part: uses the last bit of strength to carp about political incorrectness by some elderly lady and decrying racism in America.
Great to see everyone helping in their own way.
Mrs. Bush was very active as a spokesperson for campaigns against illiteracy in the US. Particularly, her organizations focused on minorities and the poor (the vast majority of the illiterate). She was also very active in organizations dealing with leukemia. My recollection is that she lost a child to the disease in the 50's. I cannot vouch for all of her personal efforts, but the disease is far less deadly now than it was then, so it is likely that she was effective.
Given this, I would have to stick to my story. Mrs. Bush is more likely to have been misquoted than to have been atypically patrician. It is not impossible however that the wife of a Greenwich CT uppercruster has moments like that. Do you have any examples?
Absolutely a stupid comment.
I wonder, though - is it useful, or even accurate to reduce people down to the superficial, cartoonish level where we can pretend that such individual utterances fairly and fully reflect their character?
Pick your favorite person in the whole world, and ask yourself whether if we had a microphone handy, we couldn't find a similar idiotic statement (or even a bunch) by him or her.
Meanwhile, Momof4 does her part: uses the last bit of strength to carp about political incorrectness by some elderly lady and decrying racism in America.
Um..someone didn't read the post before this one, I guess. Scroll down, anonymous, and then tell me I am prone to "carp about racism in America". Talk about carping.
Sure I read it. You said:
But we aren't one united race, we aren't one united class, and Katrina didn't hit all folks equally. By failing to acknowledge upfront that black New Orleanians—and perhaps black Mississippians—suffered more from Katrina than whites, the TV talkers may escape potential accusations that they're racist. But by ignoring race and class, they boot the journalistic opportunity to bring attention to the disenfranchisement of a whole definable segment of the population.
It's fun to complain, but what have YOU done to help?
Anonymous, OM didn't "say" that. It was in an article quoted by OM. You see the indentation? That sort of gives it away.
Actually, I was quoting a piece from Slate. Did you notice that? That's why they have block quotes - you know, the part where the text is indented? That's usually a pretty sure bet that I wasn't the one saying those words. I actually spent the whole post saying I don't believe that the delay in aid was due to racism. Did you somehow miss that part?????
Given this, I would have to stick to my story. Mrs. Bush is more likely to have been misquoted than to have been atypically patrician. It is not impossible however that the wife of a Greenwich CT uppercruster has moments like that. Do you have any examples?
"Why should we hear about body bags and deaths," Barbara Bush said on ABC's "Good Morning America" on March 18, 2003. "Oh, I mean, it's not relevant. So why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?"
So are you saying that you quoted two paragraphs of that tripe because you disagreed with it? You still have not answered my question. Aside from race-baiting, what have YOU done to help? Anything?... Anything?... Anything?...
Really, I shouldn't answer you. I shouldn't give your idiotic (incorrect) rantings the time of day. I shouldn't tell you that I'm running a school supply drive for children displaced by Katrina and starting school in strange places. I shouldn't tell you that I have been collecting clothing and toiletries from people in my community and shipping it down to Houston. So I won't.
And anonymous, what the heck have you done other than to act like a troll on this blog?
Anything?... Anything?... Anything?
The lady doth protest too much, methinks.
Yep. All will be well once a box of crayons and a few old shirts make their way from Nassau County. Maybe even a toothbrush. Bonus.
Anonymous, use some name so you don't give all the other anonymous' a bad name. I suggest "Loser."
Uh, I'm sorry. maybe I misunderstood. The example you contrasted me with to portray me as useless in the face of this tragedy was Thousands of mostly white Phoenix residents wait in an hour long line to donate money, clothing, food, water to mostly black New Orleans refugees. But that doesn't count if I actually own up to doing the same.
Loser.
MQP,
For one thing I have not engaged in baseless race baiting. I also have not whined endlessly. On a more practical level, I've donated blood and have made donations to organizations that have aid workers in the affected areas.
Mailing a few boxes of crayons is not the same as actually delivering them to the people in need. That is what the line in Phoenix was for. If you actually wanted to help, you would have given $$$.
If you actually wanted to help, you would have given $$$.
Who didn't, Loser? That goes without saying. I guess you missed my post where I gave the link to places to donate to, as well. You must not regularly visit my blog. Please keep it that way.
Mailing a few boxes of crayons is not the same as actually delivering them to the people in need.
I don't see how. Loser.
I don't see how
The sad part is that you probably never will. Sigh.
I guess you missed my post where I gave the link to places to donate to, as well.
No, I didn't. You said So please, everyone, stop politicizing and donate to the victims. and then 2 days later you started politicizing.
and then 2 days later you started politicizing.
Loser. Criticizing a insensitive comment made by a public figure has nothing to do with politics. Again, if you would read my blog, you would know that if I have criticism, it always cuts across party lines. I pay NO attention to partisan politics. I call 'em like I see 'em. And Barbara Bush made an insensitive comment. End of story.
My blog is the place where I get my whining done. Most personal blogs are. You don't like it, get lost.
Wow, you really are a troll, aren't you. Go away.
Would you like some cheese with your whine?
A pseudonymous ad hominem attack on an octogenarian lady, is not exactly a profile in courage.
LOL. Said he of the anonymous ad hominem attacks. Mr. Courageous himself.
You have me so pissed I'm gonna have to blog about this. Anon: why is what one can do better than another? Is giving money better than giving crayons to a child who now has NOTHING, giving them a smile, if that is what you can do? I have been part of a ham radio link and have directly saved people by getting their locations known to rescuers. Is that better than giving money? NO, it is doing what I can. Only a puke will put their values on someone else if it puts them down. You really don't have a clue. Give your money, but I bet you wouldn't go down and get withing a mile of a poor black person, would you? Too many people would give money as long as 'those people' don't touch them. Give your money, make yourself feel superior. Putting down MOMOF4 only makes you smaller.
Never meant to claim being corageous. Just called you on some pretty obvious hypocricy.
Just called you on some pretty obvious hypocricy.
I don't actually think you did. Not for lack of trying, of course.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
M4 you forgot one word.
LOSER!!! (Thanks Krum!)
Is giving money better than giving crayons
Actually, yes. It has nothing to do with values. It has to do with practical consideration. Shipping crayons or most any other item to Houston is pointless and wastefull. Pointless because there is no shortage of crayons in Houston. Wasteful because you are spending money on freight or postage. The extra money would be better spent in Houston to buy additional items that might help. Obviously, this only applies to things that can be bought easily. It does not apply to blood or labor.
I have been part of a ham radio link and have directly saved people by getting their locations known to rescuers. Is that better than giving money?
These are not comparable. Hams do great work during and in the immediate aftermath of an emergency. They add little value couple of weeks down the stretch. Similarly, money would be of little help during a hurricane, but is extremely important after it.
Give your money, but I bet you wouldn't go down and get withing a mile of a poor black person, would you? Too many people would give money as long as 'those people' don't touch them.
Where I live now, there aren't that many poor black people. We do have poor hispanic people. Do they count?
Give your money, make yourself feel superior.
Can I, really, can I?
momof4 said...
LOSER!!!
I am now officially impressed with your rhetorical prowess. Your eloquence appears to have no bounds. Perhaps, someday you will grace the universe with a post describing all the hard work (mental AND physical) that goes into producing such a witty repartee. Please, warn us in advance, so that we could prepare and not be blinded by this brilliance.
OM, how dare you make fun of Barbara Bush's beautiful mind while people are dying in the streets. You should be flying firemen into LA to be part of the backdrop of your press photos instead.
[http://billmon.org/archives/002138.html]
That's what a real patriot would do.
As for the rest of you, the no-name-obnoxious-troll is the new sherrif in this here town, and this is the new rule: No more bashing clueless, old lady Bush. From now on you bash clueless junior Bush or no one at all.
DovBear has spoken. End of thread.
I'll get you started. Here's a thought:
Maybe it wasn't the alcohol and the cocaine and the three cans of glue per week habit that made Jr, you know, "special". Maybe the problem is genetic.
Whoops, that's old-lady bashing, isn't it? Sorry. No one tell the loser, ok? We know how all peculiar he gets whenever someone points out that old lady Bush is a friggin moron.
Damn did it again.
Personally, I like BB ... every family needs a totally disfunctional old lady.
Berele never disapoints. Now that he "added value" we can all go home and suck on a burnt stick.
Wow! I missed all the fun. They say you shouldn't feed the trolls you know. But you did it so well Im inclined to bend the rules for you just this one time! nice job, Mom!
"Anonymous said...
Anonymous, use some name so you don't give all the other anonymous' a bad name.
All you anonymouses should give yourselves names. What r you hiding? Even if its a fake name at least give yourself some identity.
DB
I was the one defending Mrs. Bush, not LOSER.
I simply happen to know of her leukemia connections, and I never found her so distasteful, though I can accept that she probably makes stupid comments from time to time. She is not really as patrician as, say, Hillary Clinton, who won't allow commoners to so much as make eye contact with her! I also do not share your abhorance of all things Republican. From what I have seen, you are pretty fundamentalist in the eleventh commandment, Thou shalt vote Democrat.
Enough partisan politics.
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