CNN- FEMA director just blamed the people who "chose" to stay in NO

[highplainsdem]

OMG, hasn't this idiot been listening at all? Those people couldn't afford to leave. He said they CHOSE to stay.

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. *head thunking on table*

---------------------------------------------------------
Would Jesus love a liberal? You bet!
http://timeforachange.bluelemur.com/liberalchristians.htm

[xray s]

2. Karl Rove's talking point

its been the message for about 24 hours now

[leftchick]

3. The NG Used to help evacuate people before hurricanes

the folks who had no way to leave. He is a total fucktard.

[tulsakatz]

4. even if they did choose to stay.........

......it is still the govt's responsibility to protect them!!!

[charlie]

5. Not the first time

It's the underlying theme to his excuses. He keeps raising it, but disavowing its importance, just to keep the idea percolating out there.

[Citizen Jane]

6. ARRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHH!

:argh:

[me b zola]

7. He needs to relieved of his duties...NOW!!!!!!!!!!!

[MO_Dem]

21. Absolutely right!

We've seen his incompetence for 4 days now. This is inexcusable!

[distantearlywarning]

8. I'm not too thrilled about the people who chose to stay either

But who gives a flying crap now? They should be working on getting relief efforts to the affected areas and stop worrying about whether they "deserve it". Talk about "finger pointing"...

[RBHam]

11. see post 10

nt

[distantearlywarning]

13. I'm not talking about poor, sick, or disabled people

I'm talking about the people who could have gone but ignored the warnings.

And anyway, it doesn't matter at this point. They need to help these people and worry about blame later. I can't even believe this guy is even discussing this issue with all the problems out there waiting for help.

[Hobarticus]

18. Well, this is compassionate conservatism at it's best...

Somehow, they DESERVE their fate because they didn't take advantage of our free-market system and invest, ad naseum...

[katinmn]

27. Have you ever been poor? Lived paycheck to paycheck?

I have and I politely ask you to stop blaming the victims.

Believe me, there are working poor people who cannot afford a bus ticket.

[Beaverhausen]

30. I'm not too thrilled at your lack of compassion

do you think everyone in your town would have the ability to leave if they could? Since you disabled your profile I have no idea where you are from but come on...not everyone has the ability to just pick up and go.

[Blue_In_AK]

9. There was such a column in our morning newspaper

from some asshole reporter at the Houston Chronicle saying the same thing. I couldn't believe it. The insensitivity of some of these people to the plight of the poor is astounding. They should have to live from hand to mouth sometime (I have) and see how they like it. There have been times in my life when I would have been in the exact same situation as these poor people in NO, and to be blamed is the LAST thing they need. Compassion, people Just like Jesus would do.

[RBHam]

10. Thousands of poor people had no CHOICE!

Michael Brown carrying water for his Neo-Con bosses.

Sickening.

[AnnInLa]

12. Every time I hear him say that, I scream, literally.

He usually prefaces his remarks by praising bush. Vomit.

[LSparkle]

14. The people who stayed SURVIVED THE HURRICANE!!!!!

It was the FLOODING -- the flooding that happened because the FUCKING GOVERNMENT DIDN'T REINFORCE THE LEVEES -- that has them stuck in this catastrophic situation. If those levees had held (which they might have, with proper maintenance), those people wouldn't now be criticized for staying behind.

[thecrow]

15. What I want to know is where were the free buses out of NO??

Yeah, like they CHOSE to stay.
Our country has gone insane.

[Hobarticus]

16. "Let them eat cake..." he said, safely miles away from NO

Rotten, dark-hearted bastard.

[mr_hat]

17. 20% of the NO population has owns no private transportation. >

Disaster planning (hurricane "Pam") assumed that that percentage wouldn't make it out of the city. Check out the NPR interview this afternoon with the environmental reporter from the NOTP.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4828801

They CHOSE to remain, see? It's because they were just waiting to LOOT.

[onecent]

DON'T REPUBS KNOW THERE ARE POOR people who cannot

get in their SUV air conditioned...with all the kiddie seats....and truck on down the highway with gas at 4 or 5 dollars a gallon.

Repubs are shits....especially the evangelists - well, hell, THEY ARE nuts....

I'm 60 yrs old, but I"LL never see Armaggaden(spel).... maybe I should wish...theese people read the fuckin bible that was written by a bunch of hebrews smokin some "really good hashish" (the kind in the old days was powerful, I'd say).....sitting around by the fireside chatting about the yeare 2005.... Yep I'd stake my life on it.

people are nuts...AND NEED organized religeon to get thru their miserable little days.

[WLKjr]

19. They knew for 5 days, and FEMA or BUSH did nothing

They could have hauled people out by rail and by bus, but they didn't.

Bush was practicing getting on with his life even while people lost thiers.


I think this should become a meme:


Bush is getting on with his life, how about your's?

[jmm]

20. They should not be allowed to declare an evacuation without

giving people the means to get out of town. Even if they had it wouldn't excuse blaming the victims but I atleast then people would be able to rightfully say they chose to stay.

[dave29]

22. Yes, and it is not his job TO MANAGE EMERGENCIES

but to blame people for creating them.

[Drewskie]

23. 24 hours

They had a 24 hour window... Some of them might not have even heard about the warning in time.

[katinmn]

24. All neocons blame the victim.

[spuddonna]

25. Yes, tell all those tourists that got trapped because the airport closed

that they 'chose' to stay... IDIOT!!!

[kenny blankenship]

26. Of course he says this

Acknowledging the fact most had no way out, no choice but to stay and hope for the best, would expose his agency to the charge it failed to attempt evacuation of the city. Which is an obvious fact that stays suppressed only through the assumption that its not a public safety responsibility of "Emergency Management" to provide for the evacuation of those who cannot move themselves. Not only did poor people get left behind, all the hospitals were not evacuated either. Total blindspot.

[bpilgrim]

28. shoot, the rush clones have been all over that meme since monday morning

remember the days when rush was considered an extremist joke? now, he got the VP and CiC call'n into his BS 'show' :crazy:


http://media.globalfreepress.com

peace

[DoYouEverWonder]

29. The government knows that in the last US Census

that there were 100,000 households in New Orleans that did not have transportation. They knew that there was no way these people could get out without assistance and they offered them none.

What the Bush government did to these people is beyond criminal.

[Frances]

31. Can someone at the UN

call for a resolution condemning this administration's handling of this crisis?

I didn't think the U.S. could go any lower in the world's estimation, but I think we just did.

[DoYouEverWonder]

34. The UN

Ha, ha, ha, ha....

Congress needs to convene an emergency session immediately. There is little the UN can do for us now.

[katinmn]

44. Congresscritters have been called back to Washington

according to my rep's office.

[DoYouEverWonder]

45. About friggin' time

I called Kerry and Bill Nelson this morning about this.

[katinmn]

37. That is an excellent suggestion.

I wish the UN would call for his resignation, even if it was to send a message.

[LisaL]

32. Stupid XXXX.

They should have use buses and gotten those people out before the hurricane, they didn't do that, and now they blame the people?
If you have no car, no money, HTF does he think you can get out of there unless you grow some wings?

[speedoo]

35. This idiot makes the rest of this administration actually look decent.

He's a total incompetent and idiot.

[rateyes]

33. Since when did the word MANDATORY mean...

"it's your choice?" There were MANDATORY evacuations in effect for that city...the military should have been in there 3 days before Katrina hit and made sure that anyone who had no way out was put on a chopper, bus, plane, etc. and made to get out. Was the Astrodome in Houston not available BEFORE Katrina hit. And, BTW, yes I was saying this BEFORE the hurricane hit. When I learned they were putting people in the Superdome, I was asking "what happens if the damned city gets flooded?" If they said, "I'm not leaving...that's when they get handcuffed and taken out for their own protection. Did NO ONE learn what a damned Cat. 5 storm does when Andrew came through South Fla. We were talking about a city that was built BELOW stinking sea level.

Bush, FEMA, everybody in charge KNEW for DECADES that this could happen---there should have been a plan in place to get them ALL out BEFORE it happened--and, while the property damage would have happened--this level of suffering wouldn't have.

HEADS SHOULD ROLL----BUSH'S BEING THE FIRST---NOW!!

[mzmolly]

36. Is it a "choice" when you don't have a f**king car?

Wow.

[stevietheman]

38. If any of the "looters" are shot, the FEMA guy should meet the same fate.

n/t

[Lone_Star_Dem]

39. You hear that you dirty poor people?

It's all your fault for not walking your butts the hell out of there!

How convenient to blame people who can't defend themselves since they are all either homeless, dead or dying.

:wtf:

[Johonny]

40. So

IF if it were true they chose to stay. I'm sure some percentage did chose to stay. But so what. I mean that a person would willingly stay in the path of a CAT 5 storm shows what a terrible job we do teaching people.

[rodeodance]

41. he is on msnbc now saying meals are on the way (convention center)

[rodeodance]

43. he talked about the emotional distress of this crisis and missed the point

that water and food is what they are upset about now!!

[Ms. Clio]

49. Yes, those promised meals were supposedly arriving "momentarily"

Not seeing anything like that on Olbermann, however.

[DainBramaged]

42. I have been emailing anybody and everybody in the MSM

the Senate and the House about what this jerk has been saying. And he has been saying it ALL DAY.

[Eloriel]

46. He should be fired for that comment alone, and Chertoff too

who said the same thing earlier in the day:

DNC: Chertoff Blames Refugees and the Dead for Their Fate
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4552525
Link: http://www.democrats.org/a/2005/09/chertoff_blames.php

So it seems to be an institutional "value" to blame the victims here.

[highplainsdem]

47. Unfortunately, lack of compassion never got anyone fired in this

"compassionate conservative" administration. Unless it was a lack of compassion for Bush and his base, the haves and the have-mores...

[Ms. Clio]

48. workers were also told if they left, that they would lose their jobs

according to what I heard a caller say on Randi today.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

50. Would you go off on foot a few hours before a hurricane hits?

If you had no car, would you trust to the fact that your feet could carry you overnight far enough away to be safe, knowing you had no shelter to go to and would be caught out in the open in the wind and rain? After all, these people had no idea exactly where the hurricane would make landfall, as no one really knew. If I had four solid walls, I think I would have preferred taking my chances inside a solid structure than walking outside in the open, where cars were flying through the air, even though I would be walking away from the coast.

I went to Junior High in northwest Arkansas for one year, where they had severe tornado warnings and dimissed classes a couple of times. All I could think of was running home and getting inside four walls.