DeLay to evacuees: 'Is this kind of fun?'

[brettdale]

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/DeLay_to_evacuees_Is_this_kind_of_f_0909.html

DeLay to evacuees: 'Is this kind of fun?'

A report on the Houston Chronicle blog by Chronicle reporter Purva Patel reveals that House Majority Leader Tom DeLay asked Hurricane Katrina evacuees if their current situation was "kind of fun," RAW STORY has found. Excerpts follow.

[gademocrat7]

1. the bug man needs to locked up

why is this scumbag still the House Majority Leader????

[Trevelyan]

43. ANOTHER FALLUJAH!! NOW??? Please have an article on the following

I read something similar about a new Fallujah happening right now yesterday on SmirkingChimp.com THIS IS IMPORTANT AND FITS IN WITH THE OTHER ATROCITIES GOING ON NEW ORLEANS AGAINST CITIZENS AND JOURNALISTS

If you live in the US, please read this in light of what you are
witnessing regarding New Orleans. The following is the latest press
release from "Doctors for Iraq" Society:

HUNDREDS OF CIVILIANS ARE FORCED TO FLEE AS US/IRAQI FORCES ATTACK
TALLAFA, NORTH-WESTERN IRAQ. DOCTORS FOR IRAQ WARNS OF MEDICAL
HUMANITARIAN CRISIS

Doctors for Iraq is deeply concerned at the fate of hundreds of
civilians trying to flee the sieged town of Tallafa, 80 km from Mousel
City. Thousands of residents from the town have been told to leave the
area by US/ Iraqi forces who have been attacking the area for the past
three- four days.

Eyewitnesses report that heavy bombs were dropped on targets in the towna few days ago and on Monday 5^th September the US army has been firingmissiles onto the town from aircraft. The entire town is under siege andin preparation for a new military attack. .

Doctors for Iraq has received reports that at least twenty civilians
have been killed in the attack. It is impossible to check these reportsfor accuracy.

US / IRAQI forces have forced frightened civilians to leave the sieged
town and women and children are making their way to a refugee camp
set up outside the Tallafa.

Civilians have told Doctors for Iraq that many young men aged between
20- 35 are being stopped and detained at checkpoints and are being takento a US military building near an airport.

It is not known how many men have been detained and why they are being
held. It is impossible for Doctors For Iraq to check this reports as
media and health workers are being prevented form entering the area.

What is know is that during the military siege of Falluja in 2004 youngmen were also prevented from leaving the city and were detained by US/Iraqi military.

Doctors inside the town are concerned about the lack of medicine and
health care facilities for people who are being forced to flee their homes.

Tallafa's medical infrastructure has been badly damaged by the ongoing
military attacks on the area over the past few weeks. Doctors and
medical convoys are unable to enter the sieged town and assist the
desperate civilians.

Doctors for Iraq is particularly concerned about the fate of the
refugees. There is concern about the lack of clean drinking water for
displaced civilians and the threat of disease is very real as hygiene
conditions in the area are very poor.

Ends

Doctors for Iraq is calling for :

A complete and immediate *END *to the military attack on the town so
all civilians can be evacuated safely

For the US/ IRAQI military to uphold the Geneva Convention and allow
doctors and medical supplies into the town.

For international human rights organizations to carry out an immediate
investigation into allegations that young men are being detained by themilitary and reports of civilian deaths during the attack.

For more information contact:

Dr. Salam Ismael ^[e-mail]_ : Aisha Ismael
[e-mail] _

[ClintonTyree]

51. Bush Administration: :Death and Destruction is What We're All About

Everywhere they go, everything they touch turns to death and destruction. They are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse all rolled up into one. Exactly where is the "culture of life" they always crow about? Their culture is death and they relish it with reckless abandon.
How any THINKING American can support these specters of death boggles the mind. The thought of an unborn, unwanted child being aborted for ANY reason, be it rape, disease, poverty, a direct threat to a Mother's health, disgusts and appalls them. They seem to have no problem with killing that child AFTER it leaves the womb, however. I guess "the miracle of birth" ends and "the reality of life" kicks in as soon as the child leaves the womb. That's "compassionate conservatism" for you. That is what defines them.
That these people don't view themselves as hypocrites is mind boggling in itself. Added to their callousness bigotry and complete lack of empathy we have a group of people that are actually the antithesis of all they claim to be. These people are not good, pious Christians. They're evil, sanctimonious charlatans hiding behind a threadbare cloak of holiness.
I know there is a faction in this country that will support these people no matter what they do. They're our version of the Taliban; religious extremists who've so polluted and twisted their religion into something that barely resembles the original tenets set forth by their creators. These people should be dealt with as all religious zealots are, total shunning and marginalization from a society that does not share their narrow minded, apocalyptic, hatred of anyone not sharing their convoluted belief system.
We cannot bomb people into freedom. We cannot murder them into Democracy.
bush, DeLay, Hatch, Santorum, Frist etal. along with Robertson, Falwell, Phelps etal. are dangerous, dangerous men. Their vision for our world is not what a vast majority of Americans want, yet Americans vote for these people often because of one single issue along with their demonization of any opponent that may stand in their way. It is up to Americans to educate themselves about these people and what they REALLY stand for, but that is a very shallow hope on my part. Americans, unless smacked directly in the face with an event the likes of Hurricane Katrina and it's aftermath, have no will to actually SEE what's going on around them. Then they ask the simplistic question of all the ill-informed; "what happened, how could this happen in OUR country"?
The answer is painfully obvious to those that HAVE educated themselves. Painfully obvious.

[Wickerman]

2. Removes any doubt even his staunchest supporters should have about

his sanity. :crazy:

[ktowntennesseedem]

24. Nah! Those "staunchest supporters" are just as stupid

and/or heartless as he is. They probably had a good chuckle out of his comments.

[July]

3. Nothing but tin ears in the GOP. nt

[Ilsa]

4. 'Sure. It's so much fun we're going to force you to stay here

tonight and we're going home to your house!"

[tavalon]

5. I'm calling not fair

And I hate Delay. Damnit, he was talking to little kids. He was talking the way a person might talk to children.

[AverageJoe]

7. Even so

I suspect the little kids did not think their situation was in any way fun. Delay is a putz.

[Eric J in MN]

13. You have a point. Maybe he was trying to cheer them up.

Republican officials do so many terrible things
we don't need to pounce when it's iffy.

[AngryOldDem]

64. Cheer them up?

Lemme see...they have no homes, no schools, maybe no more relatives, no immediate futures, and have most likely seen sights that no human being should ever have the misfortune to see. Their worlds have been rocked to their very cores. Don't be fooled that just because they're kids, that they can't appreciate the seriousness of their situation. And DeLay has the balls to ask if they're having fun?

A simple "How're you doing?" would have sufficed.

I have to say, though, that the thoughtlessness of the comment does not surprise me in the least. No GOP response to tragedy does anymore.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

15. Having seen corpses, lost neighbors, parents, friends family...

I would never ever ask a child that has been through that if it was "fun". Maybe he meant it that way, but at very least, he's an idiot.

[mondo joe]

22. It's still totally fucked up. He was talking the way an IDIOT might

talk to children, not the way a sensible person would talk to children who have just been through this crapfest.

[malaise]

27. Someoen should lock him away

in the same conditions without food and water for days and then asked him if it was fun. These people are really sick.

[aresef]

37. We know what he meant, it just came out the most wrong way possible.

Just like Dubya. It's a Texas thing, I guess.

[Splatter Phoenix]

41. NO child would find that fun. NONE.

I mean...really. x_X Give me a break.

[Trevelyan]

44. Tavalon, I agree, there are too many more important things to be on the

front page of DU. Like the new Fallujah going on now. Like Anderson Cooper of CNN on Latest, asking for a restraining order so that reporters could do their jobs without being threatened with guns.

If you live in the US, please read this in light of what you are witnessing regarding New Orleans. The following is the latest press
release from "Doctors for Iraq" Society:

HUNDREDS OF CIVILIANS ARE FORCED TO FLEE AS US/IRAQI FORCES ATTACK
TALLAFA, NORTH-WESTERN IRAQ. DOCTORS FOR IRAQ WARNS OF MEDICAL
HUMANITARIAN CRISIS

Doctors for Iraq is deeply concerned at the fate of hundreds of civilians trying to flee the sieged town of Tallafa, 80 km from Mousel City. Thousands of residents from the town have been told to leave the area by US/ Iraqi forces who have been attacking the area for the past three- four days.

Eyewitnesses report that heavy bombs were dropped on targets in the town a few days ago and on Monday 5^th September the US army has been firing missiles onto the town from aircraft. The entire town is under siege and in preparation for a new military attack. .

Doctors for Iraq has received reports that at least twenty civilians have been killed in the attack. It is impossible to check these reportsfor accuracy.

US / IRAQI forces have forced frightened civilians to leave the sieged
town and women and children are making their way to a refugee camp
set up outside the Tallafa.

Civilians have told Doctors for Iraq that many young men aged between
20- 35 are being stopped and detained at checkpoints and are being takento a US military building near an airport.

It is not known how many men have been detained and why they are being
held. It is impossible for Doctors For Iraq to check this reports as
media and health workers are being prevented form entering the area.

What is know is that during the military siege of Falluja in 2004 young men were also prevented from leaving the city and were detained by US/Iraqi military.

Doctors inside the town are concerned about the lack of medicine and
health care facilities for people who are being forced to flee their homes.

Tallafa's medical infrastructure has been badly damaged by the ongoing
military attacks on the area over the past few weeks. Doctors and
medical convoys are unable to enter the sieged town and assist the
desperate civilians.

Doctors for Iraq is particularly concerned about the fate of the
refugees. There is concern about the lack of clean drinking water for
displaced civilians and the threat of disease is very real as hygiene
conditions in the area are very poor.

Ends

Doctors for Iraq is calling for :

A complete and immediate *END *to the military attack on the town so
all civilians can be evacuated safely

For the US/ IRAQI military to uphold the Geneva Convention and allow
doctors and medical supplies into the town.

For international human rights organizations to carry out an immediate
investigation into allegations that young men are being detained by the military and reports of civilian deaths during the attack.

For more information contact:

Dr. Salam Ismael ^[e-mail]_ :
Aisha Ismael [e-mail] _

[Skittles]

52. yeah

I'm inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt here and I absolutely DESPISE him. The trouble is when you talk to kids too often there really isn't a "context" - because you are talking to kids.

[PurpleChez]

56. I'm the father of a two-year-old

I wouldn't have said that to a bunch of kids who had just lost everything. Kids are smart.

[Inland]

58. It's not fair, because kids feel obligated to say yes even if they aren't

having fun. It makes them feel like there is something wrong with them OR that the adults are not going to take care of them.

Now, if he had said it to someone who could tell him to fuck off...

[Media_Lies_Daily]

62. He talks that way to adults, too.

[LSK]

6. look, the Devil speaks

I wonder if fire comes out of his mouth behind closed doors.

[UrbScotty]

8. Talk about 'compassionate' conservatism. (nt)

[all.of.me]

9. come join the party!

[bvar22]

10. Separated at Birth?

Separated at Birth???


Republican GREED has now KILLED more Americans than Al Qaeda!

The Democratic Party is a BIG TENT, but there is NO ROOM for those who advance the agenda of THE RICH (Corporate Owners) at the EXPENSE of LABOR and the POOR.

[BlueJac]

21. Fucking creep

[Baltimore]

36. Pigs and Delay

Look, you guys, I'm really fed up with the way you keep insulting pigs.

[PegDAC]

45. AMEN! n/t

:shrug:

[mermaid]

49. Hey...

Is the one on the right Flush Rimbaugh??

[political_invader]

11. DeLay you are some kind of sick

BASTARD to even imply any of this is fun. These people have had their entire world flipped upside down and you say "is this some kind of fun". You are a cold hearted piece of crap.

[louis-t]

12. Y'know, I kept waiting for some freep creep to say

"see, it's not so bad, they're smiling" when they would show people in the Superdome.

[PegDAC]

46. I think

that somewhere they have...
:grr:

[CitySky]

14. This is SICK

These kids have been through some serious trauma. ADULT survivors are reporting nightmares about the floodwaters carrying them away; can you even imagine what this is like for kids?

I posted in the Texas forum about my experience as a volunteer: the kids had body crayons and were drawing on the face and arms of one of my friends. A child had filled a space on my friend's ARM with a black-crayon drawing of three stick figures standing under pouring rainclouds with rippling black lines representing water below. That picture, and the boy who drew it, will stick in my mind for a long time. Imagine what is sticking in HIS mind?

Despite the charm of the Italian film, "Life Is Beautiful," we're not going to get these children through this trauma by pretending it's all a game. They know better. They are saddened by the loss of their homes, maybe the loss of loved ones too. They are absorbing the grief and confusion and panic of the adults around them. They are torn from whatever friends and comforts and routine they knew. These kids need hugs and listening ears and adults who acknowledge that what they feel -- fear or sadness or whatever -- is real. They do not need to be told they should think of this as "fun."

[NJCher]

30. The Eichman Files

When I was about that age, my parents went to a drive-in movie to see The Eichman Files. We kids, dressed in our jammies, were assumed to be sleeping in the back seat.

Not even seeing the images, I screamed and cried in the back seat. I knew what was happening. I knew people were being sent to their deaths in the gas chambers.

So much for that movie. My parents only got to watch about 30" of it.

Same situation with these kids. Let's not play games. The fact that the kids didn't buy it is reflected in their reaction: "The children looked perplexed."

Yeah, Delay is a jerk but then we knew that before. This is just more of the same inappropriate behavior from a cast of clueless sociopaths.




Cher

[stlsaxman]

16. Boys??? He called them "boys"?

I need to see a photo of this meetings.

I'm just sayin'...

[LiberalinNC]

17. Fun? What an ass! Losing everything you own, family/friends, yeah

that's fun to an asshole like Delay!

[edbermac]

18. Delay probably thinks the Holocaust was a barrel of laughs...

:wtf:

[CitySky]

19. Link to the Chron Blog

Brava, Purva Patel, for reporting this:

http://blogs.chron.com/domeblog/archives/2005/09/delay_to_evacue.html

[jmm]

20. Are we sure he's not related to Bush?

he sure is sick enough to fit in that family.

Yeah children like these sure sound like they're having fun

http://www2.townonline.com/norton/opinion/view.bg?articleid=321655

In the chaos outside the New Orleans Superdome, a policeman confiscated a little boy's dog as the frightened kid prepared to board the bus that would evacuate him to Houston. It was harsh but there were no provisions for pets or their care; the authorities were overwhelmed just looking after the people.

The boy sobbed "Snowball! Snowball!" until he vomited from the stress and grief at the separation, the AP reported. No one knows for sure the whereabouts of the boy or his dog.

http://www.canada.com/health/story.html?id=e33b1cf2-0f2f-40cd-adbe-823fff936ec9

"When we gonna leave?" Israel Reed kept asking his mother at a shelter in Jackson, Miss., where he marked his eighth birthday with just a bowl of Rice Krispies.

At a shelter in Boynton Beach, Fla., a girl about eight years old drew crayon pictures of her flooded New Orleans house with floating bodies of people and animals. Then her face turned sombre.

[Jon8503]

23. This has to be bullshit; are you sure about this? Delay is a complete

total ass, ignorant but this is way way over the top.

He needs to go; never mind.

[GoreDean2008]

25. Tom DeLay Does Not Surprise Me

That is typical of many Christian conservatives' moral standards.

Why doesn't Tom DeLay also ask, "Hey Trent Lott, was it kinda fun to see your Mississippi home blown away?"

[struggle4progress]

26. From years a breathin them fumes, Bugsy jest ain't right in the head.

[sakabatou]

28. DeLay you sick bastard!

[AndyTiedye]

29. Sweet Dreams, Mr. Delay...

One morning, as Tom Delay was waking up from anxious dreams, he discovered that in bed he had been changed into a monstrous verminous bug. He lay on his armour-hard back and saw, as he lifted his head up a little, his brown, arched abdomen divided up into rigid bow-like sections. From this height the blanket, just about ready to slide off completely, could hardly stay in place. His numerous legs, pitifully thin in comparison to the rest of his circumference, flickered helplessly before his eyes.

(with apologies to Franz Kafka)

[akarnitz]

31. But they're famous!!!

Like the "Lost Boys" of Sudan or Vietnamese boat people. I wanna be famous, too.:sarcasm:

[rucky]

47. It's like a reality show with a $2000 prize for the "survivors"

where do I sign up?

[Minstrel Boy]

32. Reminds me of that Jerry Lewis movie, "The Day the Clown Cried,"

about the comic at Auschwitz amusing kids on the way to the gas chambers. Except this clown isn't even crying.

[BootinUp]

33. We likes playin in the swamp mr. delay sir.

can wes go back soon?


:puke:

[TankLV]

34. But according to some DU'rs here, we ALL do this sort of thing!

Don't you see - since we all do it - democrats and repuks alike, then it's not so bad and we're ALL to blame!

They freeptard moles have infiltrated DU and they are spewing their lies and disease all over the place!

Not once, ONCE did I EVER hear any democrat, except maybe Zellout, utter such vile things, and I dont' even think Zellout has.

If these statements, from bunkerboy, to babs to poppy and mccaine don't get people mad, they are not listening!

I wonder every day, how can this get any worse, and then I see things like this.

Yes. Yes it can - get worse - as long as these creatures are allowed to live, let alone remain in power!

[BootinUp]

35. I haven't seen those

DU'ers posts. Im fact the outrage has been pretty unanimous hasn't it?

(Scared to see your response ):scared:

[TankLV]

61. Then you're not looking or paying attention.

I've argued with many of them.

Look at any thread about the responce and the repukes attempts to shift the blame from themselves.

It's all there, I'm afraid.

[AceAlmighty82]

38. I gotta question??

My boss got off the phone with his insurance agent through American Family. His agent told him that Red Cross had the stuff ready to go but the governor and mayor said "No! We don't want it." I could go on but it's all similar in nature..anyways, is there any truth to that or did the agent get something wrong?

Oh yeah, and the what the hell is DeLay smoking..has he even been to the shores of LA or MI

[checks-n-balances]

39. There they go again, those RWers, projecting again

Meaning, they are the ones having a kind of fun themselves - probably orgasmic, even - hoping that their dreams of "drowning government in the bathtub" are finally going to be realized soon.

[Catherine Vincent]

40. Probably taken out of context.

He was more than likely talking to kids as they were playing around. Damn....can't believe I'm defending that rat bastard.

[liberalhistorian]

42. Hey, bugman, is it

fun being such a HEARTLESS, HOPELESS, WORTHLESS, CLUELESS, SCUMBAG EXCUSE FOR A HUMAN BEING?

[mermaid]

48. Yep...

Lotta fun! Just a barrel of monkeys, wading chest-deep in human excrement contaminated water, and losing everything you own! What a complete fucking ASS Tom DeLay is!!

[HoustonGuy]

50. Here is my perspective

That quote is probably much ado about nothing.

As a volunteer from the Houston area, I can give the comment some context. The kids have a really neat playground and videogame rooms, etc., there at the Astrodome, which is part of Reliant Park. Quite frankly, just watching those kids have so much fun made me want to be a kid again so I could play too. Anyhow, it is absolutely amazing what all has been donated to make these displaced visitors feel more welcome and to also keep the children occupied so that they don't become bored. We want these kids to have fun and to have a positive experience in spite of their devastating and traumatizing situation.

BTW, get out there and volunteer, help your fellow man, and come visit us in Houston if you ever get a chance.

[Flubadubya]

54. Gotta love that bug man, eh?

...for being so positive, upbeat, and perky just to help those poh little black boys feelin's. Yeah, right! :eyes:

[mirandaod]

55. Well, as much as I despise

the current administration and its shills, including Delay, I think you're probably right, HoustonGuy.
What I WILL be watching for is any spin from this - like "I talked to the kids - they're having FUN! They're better off" etc....
But as it sounds now, I think he was probably just trying to cheer the kids up.
There are a lot of very valid reasons to critizize. We need to concentrate on those, and work to get these jerks out of office.
And, HoustonGuy, thanks to the citizens of your city for everything they're doing.

[tanyev]

59. The man trying to roadblock an investigation into the lack of response

does not have the right to say such a thing to kids who have lost everything.

[thebigidea]

60. I guess you can take time off from helping your fellow men to help Delay

fuck him. And fuck defending him.

[and-justice-for-all]

53. IMPEACH!!!

IMPEACH NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Dora]

57. That's a keeper!

Good lord. Why hasn't this man spontaneously combusted or crumpled into a pile of ash?

[arcos]

63. kick nt

[Teena]

65. CALL NOW!

Unhappy with the way things are going in the United States?
Launch a complaint. Let the Commander in Chief know you think
it’s time he and his cabinet stepped aside so that competent leaders
can begin to restore dignity, order, and progress to our nation.
The phone number for the White House is as follows:
[phone]