Hastert backtracks on New Orleans comments

[brooklynite]

SPRINGFIELD — Only a day after saying spending billions of tax dollars rebuilding New Orleans “doesn’t make sense,” U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert on Thursday vowed not to rest until the historic city is restored.

“It is important that when we rebuild this historic city that we consider the safety of the citizens first. I am not advocating that the city be abandoned or relocated. My comments about rebuilding the city were intended to reflect my sincere concern with how the city is rebuilt to ensure the future protection of its citizens and not to suggest that this great and historic city should not be rebuilt,” Hastert said in a statement sent to news organizations Thursday.

His clarification came as national media attention grew over previous comments that appeared in Thursday’s Daily Herald. In talking to the paper, Hastert called into question rebuilding New Orleans.

http://www.dailyherald.com/story.asp?id=89334

[Horse with no Name]

1. Nobody ever calls these fuckers liars

They lie and then say "whoopsi--that's not what I meant to say" and they get a pass.:mad:

[Journeyman]

2. Or they claim their comments were "taken out of context" . . .

as though there's an acceptable context for some of the assinine comments these fools regularly make.

[indepat]

25. Glad the Speaker clarified that

[Born Free]

54. GOP is "Out of Touch" with main street America

These guys have lost touch with working class America, they have no idea of the pain and suffering being imposed on Working Class America by the constant incompetence of GOP in managing America.

[Erika]

3. He floated a baloon

and found out it was lead. The Republicans would love to do away with a blue community.

[Skip Intro]

4. Damn these lying sacks of scum

LIAR!

[Canuckistanian]

5. "When I said forget about rebuilding NO, what I ACTUALLY meant..."

"... was, let's rebuild this fine city. Sorry you misunderstood me."

[Zenlitened]

6. "I didn't say what you all heard me say. And have on tape."

Republican = shit.

[natrat]

10. republican=grim reaper

[dweller]

7. the city will not be 'rebuilt'

to a semblance of the original. Note that jerk's comment:
"My comments about rebuilding the city were intended to reflect my sincere concern with how the city is rebuilt ...


with eminent domain, it will be be a corporate dream's city.


that's why he's backtracking. He got the memo.
dp

[jaysunb]

9. Bingo !

n/t

[SoCalDem]

48. Think Stepford/Disney

:(

[kestrel91316]

8. Denny: Do the US a favor and get a gun and shoot yourself in the head.

[The_Casual_Observer]

12. Hang in the shower, Stand in front of a moving train,

leave the car running in the garage, jump off a bridge, razor blade to your wrists.

I would accept any of those for the god damned son of a bitch.

[struggle4progress]

49. Hastert himself would look better if bulldozed. eom

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Up2Late]

13. Just once I'd like to hear a reporter say, "I'm sorry, but I'm...

...going to have to call BULL SHIT on this one Denny!

What a Horses Ass.

[Dr Fate]

33. I wish a Democrat would say that to his face on CSPAN. n/t

n/t

[ngGale]

14. Yeah, right ...

:nuke:

[Endangered Specie]

15. FLIP FLOP FLIP FLOP FLIP FLOP FLIP FLOP FLIP FLOP FLIP FLOP FLIP FLOP

[texpatriot2004]

20. LOL. FLIP FLOP is right. I knew it wouldn't take long for him to

back paddle on that comment. It was stupid, thoughtless, wrong and political suicide.

[Occulus]

16. Why can't the media call a lie a lie? n/t

[TankLV]

56. I wish we knew.

They certainly had no hesitation with Clinton or any dem politician.

[cascadiance]

17. He's already in deep enough doodoo taking Turkish bribes!

You'd think he'd watch his mouth and be a good boy now! That sack of crap needs to be put out with the rest of the Rethugs in 2006. Hopefully Nancy Pelosi will become our new president then after the impeachments...

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

18. I spit on Dennis Hastert

If everyone joins in, maybe he'll get a sense of what it's like standing in water up to his neck.

[Lioness]

19. This temporarily evicited resident of New Orleans lakefront

would like to turn a firehose on him.

I am an emotional wreck. Just located the last of my family members tonight, thankfully all alive but numerous friends MIA.

Please pray for us and our beloved city. We want to rebuild and reclaim our lives.

Chicago was rebuilt. San Francisco was rebuilt. New Orleans will be reborn.

My love and prayers to all my fellow New Orleanians and to those on the Gulf Coast.

[silvermachine]

26. Millions of us...

...are thinking about you.:hug:

I worked/stayed in Biloxi for about 8 months some years back and went to New Orlenas frequently and I loved the city. Still one of my favorite places and cities. I hope things work out for you.

[JoFerret]

35. Welcome Lioness

...here's hoping all the best for you and yours and your future.

[calimary]

38. Aw, MAN! Welcome to DU, and be sure to hang around here to get

lots of hugs and support.

I am so sorry... I am so sorry... Just grateful that you've located your loved ones. I hope for the same for your missing friends.

I am so sorry... just words, but they're heartfelt.

We are all aching over this. I feel like I've just awakened after a SERIOUS sparring class the night before when I was bruised and stiff and messed over for days, and about all I've done is watch the news and fulminate here.

Glad you're here. We are praying and pulling for you, AND for your city. New Orleans was, still is, and will again be, a shining jewel in the crown that rings the Gulf. It will rise again. People like hastert - don't you fret about him. He's already suffering for the ass his mouth and his mentality and his heart-of-frozen-stone have made of him. He can go fuck himself, and judging from his reaction today, I'd say that's what he's heard non-stop since he opened his shit-filled pie-hole. GO TO HELL, hastert. Go DIRECTLY to HELL. DO NOT pass "GO." DO NOT collect 200 dollars. Oh yeah, and something else, too, hastert: you could also stop off in jail for awhile, on your way. You should spend a long time there, too.

[Lioness]

53. I am so grateful for the encouragement and support I received

from so many of you.

In so many ways I am more fortunate than most of Katrina and Bush's victims.

I am surrounded by loving family.
A stranger opened his home to all of us. (my son-in-laws friend but I'd never met him before.)
I have flood insurance.

I am not worried about my house, which, being in a working class neighborhood, is submerged to the rooftop. (I saw the Lakefront area on television and confirmed it on a FEMA map) I lost everything material, and yet it doesn't bother me sleepless. Seeing my fellow citizens in such dire straits and my beautiful city all but washed away is tearing me apart. I want to go back and help, but we are not allowed to enter the city. I am not afraid of the punks, the police, the feds or anyone else at this point. I am one highly pissed off lady who badly wants to see that justice is meted to anyone remotely responsible for this complete and total failure of our politicians and political appointees.

[auburngrad82]

21. My Ass!

The GOP is great about saying what they really mean before figuring out a way to make it palatable for people. He meant what he said the first time. Now he's just covering his ass.

[Tracer]

22. I must say, when Aaron Brown ...

... mentioned Hastert's "correction", his face screwed up in a "riiiiiiiiight" expression.

And, for the first time in a very long time, I've seen anchors fail to hide their anger and disgust at the disgraceful and shameful response of the government.

[Stuckinthebush]

23. He was against rebuilding New Orleans before he was for it!

Oh, wait....would that be called a flip flop by the right wing hacks?

[struggle4progress]

74. No. Denny didn't realize that W supported rebuilding Trent's house. eom

[warrens]

24. Too fucking late

We have the quote. He is now married to it and nothing he says from here on out will change that.

[myrna minx]

27. Kiss my ass you greedy heartless pos.

:grr: :grr:

[Supersedeas]

36. what myrna said

[triguy46]

28. The old "it was taken out of context..." butt covering statement n/t

[eauclaireliberal]

29. Know what that sounds like?

............zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..........zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.........

[eauclaireliberal]

30. Oh, and this too:

[yellowcanine]

31. Put Hastert on a levee with "Kick em while they're down" Brown *

* FEMA head who said it was the fault of the people in NO for not leaving, without considering whether they COULD leave.

[The Stranger]

32. But no apology! Paging Dick Durbin . . .

. . . we need an apology . . . Paging the Dick . . .

[TankLV]

57. Yes - where is Mr Apology? I'm sure he has some ass-licking to do

After all, there are plenty of repukes who are revealing just how big a pile of useless scum they all are!

[Im_Your_Huckleberry]

34. yeah, right.

[maddezmom]

37. what a complete uncaring ass

[KamaAina]

39. Vowed not to rest until the historic city is restored?

There ain't enough No-Doz in the whole world! What an ass.

Maybe he could borrow some coke from **? That'd keep him up a while.

This is beyond "flip-flop". The Hawai'i Association of Royally P.O.'d Ex-New Orleanians (president, treasurer and sergeant-at-arms: KamaAina) hereby awards Hastert the "Rubbah Slippah Award" (that is what we call flip-flops out here):

[TacticalPeek]

40. "I'm afraid I would have assaulted him." Bill Clinton re: Dennis Hastert

Hastert Tries Damage Control After Remarks Hit a Nerve

By Charles Babington
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, September 3, 2005; Page A17

House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert began his day yesterday explaining that he really does not want to see New Orleans bulldozed, and he ended it defending his absence from the Capitol when Congress approved a $10.5 billion hurricane aid package. In between, a former president hinted he would like to throttle the Illinois Republican.

Hastert was still reeling from reaction to his comments earlier this week about the storm-ravaged city. "It looks like a lot of that place could be bulldozed," he said in an interview with the Daily Herald of Arlington Heights, Ill. Asked whether it made sense to spend billions of dollars rebuilding a city that lies below sea level, he told the paper, "I don't know. That doesn't make sense to me."

snip

In Syracuse, N.Y., former president Bill Clinton was discussing New Orleans's dilemma when someone described the speaker's comments. Had they been in the same place when the remarks were made, Clinton said, "I'm afraid I would have assaulted him."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/02/AR2005090202156.html




I miss Clinton.

[mourningdove92]

41. me too

[davepc]

42. J. Dennis "Billions for Iraq, bulldozers for Louisiana" Hastert

[iconoclastic cat]

43. Okay, who else would love to see Clinton pimpslap the shit out of Hastur?

[iamjoy]

44. I Love It (eom)

[Gloria]

45. Why not assault the Bushes for crapping up all the work he did

while their cronies were out to crucify him??

[tedoll78]

46. Dammit.

I haven't cried all day today, but Clinton saying that..

I remember in the Summer of 1996, I had just finished high school and was about to go off to college in August.. and President Clinton came to New Orleans. He had a really frantic schedule, but insisted on stopping at Cafe Du Monde for beignets. The people there downtown loved that man, and his picture was in the Times Picayune the next day, with him sitting down at one of the tables just like any one of us normal folks, eating his beignets and drinking his O.J. I held onto that picture for a long time.

He and I might not agree 100%, but I miss him too.

[applegrove]

47. Way to go Bill. Bush spends TRILLIONS on the WAR ON TERROR

that will likely only save a 100,000 American lives. And Has - wants to destroy NO because it is too expensive to compensate. Fine buddy. You stop the WAR ON TERROR and then include everyone living along the Coast from Texas to the Carolinas..and then will talk. Oh - and you'd also have to move CALIFORNIANS.

[tabasco]

50. I saw Clinton in person once when he was running for Prez.

He's a big dude. He would kick Hatert's ass easily.

[1932]

51. Clinton LOVES the city of New Orleans. He writes about it in his book.

[TankLV]

58. OK, now Clinton has (briefly) returned to his senses.

I wonder if he will continue to hobknob and kiss bunkerboy and his father's asses?

This is heartening news.

[Lilith Velkor]

52. Too late MFer! n/t

[BiggJawn]

55. Hastert the Bastert.

He should be recalled. Obviously he's been in DC too damn long, and is totally disconnected from "The Common Man"..

[leesa]

59. Liar.

[davidinalameda]

60. Hastert Tries Damage Control After Remarks Hit a Nerve

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/02/AR2005090202156.html

House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert began his day yesterday explaining that he really does not want to see New Orleans bulldozed, and he ended it defending his absence from the Capitol when Congress approved a $10.5 billion hurricane aid package. In between, a former president hinted he would like to throttle the Illinois Republican.

<snip>

Hastert later issued a statement saying he was not "advocating that the city be abandoned or relocated." But Louisiana Democrats were incensed. Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco demanded an apology. "To kick us when we're down and destroy hope, when hope is the only thing we have left," she said, "is absolutely unthinkable for a leader in his position."

In Syracuse, N.Y., former president Bill Clinton was discussing New Orleans's dilemma when someone described the speaker's comments. Had they been in the same place when the remarks were made, Clinton said, "I'm afraid I would have assaulted him."

You go Bill

Hastert again tried to smooth things over. Shortly after a small number of House members unanimously approved the $10.5

[skooooo]

61. Hastert = cockroach

[Kittycat]

62. I'm so thankful that I'm in his district, just so that I can Vote him out!

eom

[cloud75]

63. just more ammo for the upcoming election in 06. n/t

[VegasWolf]

64. Paper tigers. These Republicans are really just a bunch of scared

babies convinced that the world is out to get them.

[dethl]

65. If he really wanted to defend himself...

He would have gone to the Capitol and voted on that aid package. I hope he gets eaten alive for these comments.

[Autonomy]

66. Kick his ass Big Dawg!!!

:yourock:

[Lindsay]

67. Not gonna work this time, Denny, old chum.

Ya don't debate rebuilding a city while tens of thousands of its citizens are wading through waist-deep water trying to stay alive.

[IndianaGreen]

68. Would Hastert had uttered the same words had Cairo, Illinois

had been flooded and hit by tornatoes?

What a fat pig we have for Speaker, and what an elitist at that!

Now, excuse me while I go watch Trent Lott boohoo about his lost mansion!

[Karla Marx]

69. What a pig. Fuck Hastert!

[asjr]

70. And knowing he is third in line after the first two

idiots makes me cringe.

[acmavm]

71. Maybe some of his Turk buddies would be able to send a few bucks

as well.

[seemslikeadream]

72. PLEASE CALL DENNY

Denny Hastert was at a fundraiser in Indiana yesterday
I heard he was also auctioning off an antique car he owns.


Please whether you live in his district or not

CALL HIM ask what he is doing about this disaster

D.C. Office
235 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Batavia District Office
27 North River Street
Batavia, IL 60510

Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Dixon Regional Office
119 W. First Street
Dixon, IL 61021

Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Office Hours
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday
9 AM – 4 PM

Geneseo Regional Office
137 South State Street, Suite 336
Geneseo, IL 61254

Phone: [phone]

Office Hours
Thursday
9 AM – 3 PM


You may want to ask about the money from Turkey while you've got 'em on the phone

[Malikshah]

73. What is said cannot be unsaid. He showed his true colors

as has the regime.

Time for some prisons to be filled w/ these criminals.

My suggestion: Arctic circle. Out of harms way.