Mtnjim
10-12-2005, 02:51 PM
25 Mind-Numbingly Stupid Quotes About Hurricane Katrina And Its Aftermath
Thanks
Daniel Kurtzman
1) "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees." ˆPresident Bush, on "Good
Morning America," Sept. 1, 2005, six days after repeated warnings from experts about the scope of damage expected
from Hurricane Katrina.
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) ˆ this is working very well for them." ˆFormer First Lady Barbara Bush, on
the hurricane evacuees at the Astrodome in Houston, Sept. 5, 2005
3) "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
4) "Considering the dire circumstances that we have in New Orleans,
virtually a city that has been destroyed, things are going relatively well." ˆFEMA Director Michael Brown, Sept. 1,
2005
5) "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job." ˆPresident Bush, to FEMA director Michael Brown, while touring
hurricane-ravaged Mississippi, Sept. 2, 2005
6) "Now tell me the truth boys, is this kind of fun?" ˆHouse
Majority Leader Tom Delay (R-TX), to three young hurricane evacuees from New Orleans at the Astrodome in Houston,
Sept. 9, 2005
7) "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." ˆHomeland Security
Secretary Michael Chertoff, blaming media coverage for the government's failings, "Meet the Press," Sept. 4,
2005
8) "What didn't go right?'" ˆPresident 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.
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." ˆSen. Rick Santorum (R-PA),
Sept. 6, 2005
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." ˆCNN's Wolf Blitzer, on New Orleans' hurricane evacuees, Sept. 1, 2005
11)
"We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans. We couldn't do it, but God did." ˆRep. Richard Baker (R-LA)
to lobbyists, as quoted in the Wall Street Journal
12) "If one person criticizes [the local authorities‚ relief
efforts] or says one more thing, including the president of the United States, he will hear from me. One more word
about it after this show airs, and I∑I might likely have to punch him, literally." ˆSen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA),
"This Week with George Stephanopoulous," Sept. 4, 2005
13) "There are a lot of lessons we want to learn out of
this process in terms of what works. I think we are in fact on our way to getting on top of the whole Katrina
exercise." ˆVice President Dick Cheney, Sept. 10, 2005
14) "I believe the town where I used to come ˆ from
Houston, Texas, to enjoy myself, occasionally too much ˆ will be that very same town, that it will be a better place
to come to." ˆPresident Bush, on the tarmac at the New Orleans airport, Sept. 2, 2005
15) "I have not heard a
report of thousands of people in the convention center who don't have food and water." ˆHomeland Security Secretary
Michael Chertoff, on NPR's "All Things Considered," Sept. 1, 2005
16) "Last night, we showed you the full force
of a superpower government going to the rescue." ˆMSNBC's Chris Matthews, Sept. 1, 2005
17) "We just learned of
the convention center ˆ we being the federal government ˆ today." ˆFEMA 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."
18) "Mayor Nagin and most mayors in
this country have a hard time getting their people to work on a sunny day, let alone getting them out of the city in
front of a hurricane." ˆSen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), on why New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin failed to follow the city's
evacuation plan and press the buses into service, "Fox News Sunday," Sept. 11, 2005
19) "Louisiana is a city that
is largely under water." ˆHomeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, news conference, Sept. 3, 2005
20) "I
also want to encourage anybody who was affected by Hurricane Corina to make sure their children are in school."
ˆFirst Lady Laura Bush, twice referring to a "Hurricane Corina" while speaking to children and parents in South
Haven, Mississippi, Sept. 8, 2005
21) "It's totally wiped out. ... It's devastating, it's got to be doubly
devastating on the ground." ˆPresident Bush, turning to his aides while surveying Hurricane Katrina flood damage
from Air Force One, Aug. 31, 2005
22)"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." ˆFormer
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
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
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
25) "A young [black] man walks through chest deep floodwater after looting a grocery store in New
Orleans..." "Two [white] residents wade through chest-deep water after finding bread and soda from a local grocery
store after Hurricane Katrina came through the area in New Orleans..." ˆcaptions at Yahoo News, Aug. 30, 2005
Thanks
Daniel Kurtzman
1) "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees." ˆPresident Bush, on "Good
Morning America," Sept. 1, 2005, six days after repeated warnings from experts about the scope of damage expected
from Hurricane Katrina.
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) ˆ this is working very well for them." ˆFormer First Lady Barbara Bush, on
the hurricane evacuees at the Astrodome in Houston, Sept. 5, 2005
3) "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
4) "Considering the dire circumstances that we have in New Orleans,
virtually a city that has been destroyed, things are going relatively well." ˆFEMA Director Michael Brown, Sept. 1,
2005
5) "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job." ˆPresident Bush, to FEMA director Michael Brown, while touring
hurricane-ravaged Mississippi, Sept. 2, 2005
6) "Now tell me the truth boys, is this kind of fun?" ˆHouse
Majority Leader Tom Delay (R-TX), to three young hurricane evacuees from New Orleans at the Astrodome in Houston,
Sept. 9, 2005
7) "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." ˆHomeland Security
Secretary Michael Chertoff, blaming media coverage for the government's failings, "Meet the Press," Sept. 4,
2005
8) "What didn't go right?'" ˆPresident 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.
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." ˆSen. Rick Santorum (R-PA),
Sept. 6, 2005
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." ˆCNN's Wolf Blitzer, on New Orleans' hurricane evacuees, Sept. 1, 2005
11)
"We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans. We couldn't do it, but God did." ˆRep. Richard Baker (R-LA)
to lobbyists, as quoted in the Wall Street Journal
12) "If one person criticizes [the local authorities‚ relief
efforts] or says one more thing, including the president of the United States, he will hear from me. One more word
about it after this show airs, and I∑I might likely have to punch him, literally." ˆSen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA),
"This Week with George Stephanopoulous," Sept. 4, 2005
13) "There are a lot of lessons we want to learn out of
this process in terms of what works. I think we are in fact on our way to getting on top of the whole Katrina
exercise." ˆVice President Dick Cheney, Sept. 10, 2005
14) "I believe the town where I used to come ˆ from
Houston, Texas, to enjoy myself, occasionally too much ˆ will be that very same town, that it will be a better place
to come to." ˆPresident Bush, on the tarmac at the New Orleans airport, Sept. 2, 2005
15) "I have not heard a
report of thousands of people in the convention center who don't have food and water." ˆHomeland Security Secretary
Michael Chertoff, on NPR's "All Things Considered," Sept. 1, 2005
16) "Last night, we showed you the full force
of a superpower government going to the rescue." ˆMSNBC's Chris Matthews, Sept. 1, 2005
17) "We just learned of
the convention center ˆ we being the federal government ˆ today." ˆFEMA 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."
18) "Mayor Nagin and most mayors in
this country have a hard time getting their people to work on a sunny day, let alone getting them out of the city in
front of a hurricane." ˆSen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), on why New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin failed to follow the city's
evacuation plan and press the buses into service, "Fox News Sunday," Sept. 11, 2005
19) "Louisiana is a city that
is largely under water." ˆHomeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, news conference, Sept. 3, 2005
20) "I
also want to encourage anybody who was affected by Hurricane Corina to make sure their children are in school."
ˆFirst Lady Laura Bush, twice referring to a "Hurricane Corina" while speaking to children and parents in South
Haven, Mississippi, Sept. 8, 2005
21) "It's totally wiped out. ... It's devastating, it's got to be doubly
devastating on the ground." ˆPresident Bush, turning to his aides while surveying Hurricane Katrina flood damage
from Air Force One, Aug. 31, 2005
22)"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." ˆFormer
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
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
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
25) "A young [black] man walks through chest deep floodwater after looting a grocery store in New
Orleans..." "Two [white] residents wade through chest-deep water after finding bread and soda from a local grocery
store after Hurricane Katrina came through the area in New Orleans..." ˆcaptions at Yahoo News, Aug. 30, 2005