Crooks and Liars: Newt Blames the Victims of Katrina

[catgirl]

Only a republican candidate would say (or even think) something like this!

(Newt Gingrich, speaking at CPAC) blamed the residents of New Orleans' 9th Ward for a "failure of citizenship," by being "so uneducated and so unprepared, they literally couldn't get out of the way of a hurricane."

And he called for a "deep investigation" into this "failure of citizenship."

Here's the full quote:

How can you have the mess we have in New Orleans, and not have had deep investigations of the federal government, the state government, the city government, and the failure of citizenship in the Ninth Ward, where 22,000 people were so uneducated and so unprepared, they literally couldn't get out of the way of a hurricane. (emphasis original)

To listen to the audio, click here.

I tell you, this CPAC convention really highlights the humanity of these conservatives. And the worst part? It's not the first time Newt's put this in one of his speeches

http://www.crooksandliars.com/

[Faux pas]

1. newt needs to crawl back under the rock he's been hiding under

for the last few years. I haven't missed him at all.

[19jet54]

43. Newt, Crawl & Rock...

Are you making a joke about the duality of his name? :yourock: Isn't a Newt a water snake with legs?

Wikipedia - "Handling newts"
"Theoretically it is safe to handle newts provided one thoroughly washes one's hands as newts secrete a toxin that is harmful if swallowed or if it comes into contact with mucous membranes. Newts also have the ability to carry the salmonella bacteria, although it's not likely, which causes food poisoning-like symptoms for several days."


:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Faux pas]

51. LOL that was the idea, no one else 'got it'. Glad I could give you

a smile or chuckle, made my day. ;)

[justmakingsense3]

53. Isn't this kinda true??

Don't we need to kind of watch out for ourselves and not trust the government?

[bleever]

2. I think a Gingrich/Giuliani ticket would be great

for us.

[Ishoutandscream2]

5. Yes! Run Newt, run!!

Gingrich/Inhofe 08! I mean, one can dream.

[BigBearJohn]

13. Careful what you ask for. They elected Bush, didn't they?

[acmavm]

18. NO.

[waiting for hope]

30. Don't be so sure they will

vote Republican this time around...I was there last Easter and they were pissed, and betch money they are still pissed. Gingrich is just repeating what most moronic right wingers were saying after the Hurricane hit - they reality of it is if you didn't have a car and a credit card for a hotel, you were screwed and had to bunker down. There were as well a lot of elderly people in that mix, just another example of compassionate conservatism. :sarcasm:

[tblue37]

41. And handicapped. (eom)

[ckimmy57]

59. Nooooo

They STOLE it for Bush.....a definate difference.

[roseBudd]

3. "were so uneducated and so unprepared" try so broke, were they supposed to walk?

[bdamomma]

21. what a rude remark !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

from a rude and arrogant man.

[tblue37]

42. Do notice that those who did try to walk out were turned back at gunpoint by

law enforcement officers.

[Name removed]

58. Deleted message

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

[Forkboy]

4. Besides rich people is there anyone they don't hate?

[maggiegault]

6. You Know, It's Time To Call This Little Meetup What It Actually Is

Hate-a-thon 2007

No blacks
No Jews
No immigrants
No Muslims
No education
No intelligence
No foreigners
No libruls
No rights
No Constitution
No end

[maggiegault]

7. Oh, and No Gays

[Forkboy]

9. That about sums it up

I think you have them pegged! :)

[Dawgs]

20. and no judges, no professors, and no poor people

anyone else?

[lizerdbits]

22. Fundies and the people they screw economically but who still vote for them

I think those are the only 3 groups.

[Bob3]

8. This takes blame the Victim to a whole new level.

What next- do we start blaming all those Iraqi civilians that got killed for not getting out of the way of the bombs, motor shell, car bombs and death squads?

Madmen - the entire party consists of either gibbering madmen or people who won't say their leaders are gibbering mad men.

ugh.

[opihimoimoi]

10. GOP...Sheer Madness....sheer delusion....sheer Ignorance and Dangerous Thinking

[Heathen57]

11. I knew Newt was an arse

but I didn't know he would stoop so low.

There were many factors that caused the disaster that was Katrina, but people being stupid was not one of them.

Start with the shoddy way the levees were maintained and add to that the inability of people to make their way out due to poverty. Add in that the government (local and state) didn't use the resources that they had to help people and FEMA coming in and hosing the whole thing with their pompus and arrogant attitudes.

When Bushit showed there for his photo op I had friends who were still trying to find their families. The entire response of the government (all levels) was a disgrace to this country and for a pious asshole like Newt to try and blame the victims is the height of GOP arrogance and lack of common sense.

Newt should be made to live down there for the next year so he can experience all of the things those 'stupid' people have to put up with.

Heathen-

[DirtyDawg]

12. Ten To One...

...My odds that The Newt will claim that he simply 'chose his words poorly'...that what he meant to say was 'uninformed' not 'uneducated'. That way he can lay it off on the City and the State along with the Democrats running them....and still throw a little more red meat to his 'base'.

[checks-n-balances]

15. You mean Newt would, in a sense, apologize? In public?

I've never heard of that phenomenon, since he tends to be the ultimate role model for pompous, arrogant gasbags.

[silvermachine]

38. You certainly nailed it...

...right on his puny little head.

[nealmhughes]

14. Those who fled the NOLA metro possessed the following:

Automobiles and/or
Cash and/or credit cards for hotel rooms, gasoline, food, etc.

OR

Had friends or relatives who did.

Period.

Education was not a factor, per se. "Dr." Gingrich has commited a cardinal sin in my scholarly book, the man is no historian or statesman with any recognized qualities, in my opinion, and only a politician of the basest level.

The "Dr." is an academic a term of respect, and I refuse to use it for his ilk.

How about the elderly, those in wheelchairs and the blind? What about them Newt? How about the people in the hospitals, Newt? How about the working poor who rely -- actually relied, these days -- upon the buses and streetcars to get anywhere in the city, and could only dream of having an air conditioner, much less a car?

I don't see how anyone in the SE US -- strike that, the world -- could vote for him for dog feces manual scraper given that remark. As a Southerner, I take this as a personal insult to all my friends and neighbors in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana who were trapped in that fiasco his own House of Representatives helped to create, along with the nasty "bathtub drowning" mentality of them.

In short, fuck you Gingrich.

[yellowcanine]

28. Yeah - what he said!

[Chulanowa]

16. Put a stake in him, he's done.

Fucking political vampires.

[Up2Late]

17. That has to be absolutely the MOST Stupid thing I've ever heard!!!

Not only because...

1)...it was the a FAILURE on the part of the Army Corp of Engineers' levee design and the STUPID MRGO design that funneled the storm surge into the 9th Ward, which caused the levee failure...

AND

2) ...the fact that Knut was one of the main opponents against funding the levee repairs and improvements during the late 1990's when there WAS money to pay for them!

But for this racist redneck SOB to blame this on (3) under education, which is usually due to lack of funding by the GOVERNMENT! Please refer to reason 2 again for why.

Sorry folks, he's my former House "rep" and part of the "Old South" which is thankfully dying out around here at least.:banghead: :rant:

[HuffleClaw]

19. pandering to the base racism of the republican base i guess

cute 'codewords' they can snicker at.

[underpants]

34. "Katrina Victim" is the new codeword for "black" "welfare mother"

and the other that I won't post.

[moggie]

23. Government to elect new public

"Figures released today show that government confidence in the public has fallen to an all-time low, and it looks increasingly likely that the next election will show the current public swept out of power and replaced..."

[BeliQueen]

24. My Letter to Newt

Newt Gingrich
Former Speaker of the House
1425 K Street, NW
Suite 350
Washington DC 20005

March 5, 2007

Dear Mr. Gingrich:

This morning I heard of your statement that described the victims of Hurricane Katrina as “failure(s) of citizenship.” You went on to say that they were too uneducated and unprepared to get out of the way of a hurricane.

Sir, you were speaking of American citizens—some of them dead. These people died—these people were left homeless—because the levees failed. Perhaps you missed that in the reporting of this American tragedy. The levees failed.

That was not a failure of citizenship; that was a failure of engineering.

You owe the victims of this disaster an apology.

You claim to be a God-fearing, patriotic American, but at the least provocation or event that would make your political party look weak and unprepared, you leave behind the most essential principles of the Bible (compassion and love) to attack the citizens of this great nation. That’s not patriotic—that’s cowardice.

You, sir, are a disgrace and a hypocrite.

I pray that you will seek redemption.

Sincerely,



Belinda Bates

[MGKrebs]

31. Wow, that is a good letter.

It's just so strange and sad and frightening that people like that can get so influential, while so many worthwhile voices are drowned out. How did we get to this place?

[SemperEadem]

37. The 1980 Elections which brought Reagan and his ilk into power

That is what started the hatred of the working/poor people in this country and the worship/glorification of the wealthy class in this country.

[ProudDad]

54. Great letter

says it all...

[ckimmy57]

60. Here Here

:toast: Good letter....

[brentblack]

25. Newt is a moron, but....

....folks...the time has come when we need to recognize the federal government has transformed into something far too large to pay attention to the individual. The time has come to start focusing on personal responsibility. I am not saying, IN THE LEAST, that these folks in NO are to blame for the mess they are in - I am saying that - going forward - we must begin to recognize that the government is not here for us and we need to focus more on self reliance.


This is NOT to say that we cannot continue to redress the government with our grievances (as long as I pay taxes and vote you can bet I will), but just recognize that we need to become more community oriented and self reliant. I do not have all - or most - of the answers, I just have an awareness that dark days are ahead and we cannot hope for a federal government (regardless of who is in charge) that is responsive.



Meh....getting cynical in my advancing age.

[yellowcanine]

27. Fine but how does that work for a nursing home resident when the water is rising and they can't even

get out of bed even if they did know about and comprehend the danger? Or someone without any means of transport and 24 hours to get their ass out of the way of a hurricane? No I am sorry, if our government can't help out people like that we need to get a government that can.

[MGKrebs]

39. There are many better times and places and circumstances

to advance that concept other than condemning victims of a natural disaster after the fact.

[ProudDad]

55. Community

Pay close attention to definition 3.2. below.

I'd rather live in community with my fellow humans, the Earth and all of its creatures.

The nightmare world of a bunch of (psychotic) "self-sufficient" organisms you suggest is one I don't want to live in any more. The world you recommend is the world the repukes have built here and want us to embrace. Frankly, it's Randian bullshit...


--------------------------------


com·mu·ni·ty (kə-myū'nĭ-tē) pronunciation
n., pl. -ties.

1.
1. A group of people living in the same locality and under the same government.
2.
1. A group of people having common interests: the scientific community; the international business community.
3.
1. Similarity or identity: a community of interests.
2. SHARING, PARTICIPATION, and FELLOWSHIP.

4. Society as a whole; the public.


"If the sense of community exists, both freedom and security exist as well. The community then takes on a life of its own, as people become free enough to share and secure enough to get along. The sense of connectedness and formation of social networks comprise what has become known as social capital.<3>

Social capital is defined by Robert D. Putnam as "the collective value of all social networks (who people know) and the inclinations that arise from these networks to do things for each other (norms of reciprocity)." Social capital in action can be seen in groups of varying formality, including neighbors keeping an eye on each others' homes. However, as Putnam notes in Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (2000), social capital has been falling in the United States. Putnam found that over the past 25 years, attendance at club meetings has fallen 58 percent, family dinners are down 33 percent, and having friends visit has fallen 45 percent."

[yellowcanine]

26. "Failure of citizenship?" "So uneducated and so unprepared they literally couldn't get out of the

way of a hurricane?". Ok Newt. Even for you this is outrageous. How about "so poor and so desparate that they had no means of getting out of the way"? or "so old and sick that they were at the mercy of caretakers who had no way to move them?" Holy cow, this one rant should be enough to squelch any talk of a presidential run for Newt. And it is not as if there isn't more.

[Amonester]

29. This should "signal" the final downfall of the Republic Party...

If THAT doesn't do it, what planet do they come from?

[Rosa Luxemburg]

33. the media will say

that he didn't say that only he meant something else.

[shirlden]

44. Does this make Newt

an example of "failure of humanship"?

:crazy:

[Rosa Luxemburg]

32. oh well, there goes his Presidential candidacy

just add his comments to George Bush's mother's

[SemperEadem]

35. his ignorance and gall is breathtaking

it would be a marvel to the ages were it not so fucking pathetic.

[Bluestar]

36. I hates me some Newt!

This is exactly the kind of candidate the Republics will field when Rudy's and McCain's campaigns fall apart. Newt is so ignorant he doesn't even realize how ridiculous a figure he is. It will be so much fun when the Republicans nominate him!

[Massive]

40. ARGH!

You know, I really really really HATE these people. I mean do they truly hate people of another race and income bracket of them THAT much?? From the day the storm hit, i've been hearing nothing but cruel and heartless words from these assholes.
I just don't understand why people with such influence can be so evil. Every time I think about Katrina, I have a rage build up in me that i've never had before (rage that i tunnel through at the voting booth). These people lost everything they had and are displaced all over the country. And they have no compasion whatsoever....

[Joey Liberal]

45. Questions for Newtie

Questions for Newtie: Where should a resident of the 9th Ward, who may not have had transportation, gone? If a huge tornado hits an urban area in Oklahoma, we have shelters to go to. In a hurricane that floods an entire city and destroys the coastal areas of two or three states, going to a local shelter does no good. So tell me, where did Newtie expect the residents of the 9th Ward to go? This man talks about these U.S. citizens, many of whom are something he is not - a veteran - as if they are mere peasants. While I admire Newtie's call for investigations, his Ann Coulter-like name calling is both uncalled for and un-American (but typical for conservatives).

[Skittles]

46. FUCK YOU NEWT

what a disgusting, inhuman piece of SHIT he is

[TygrBright]

47. A Newt even Gussie Fink-Nottle couldn't love. n/t

[AtomicKitten]

48. hopefully Dems will remember these "pearls of wisdom"

and remind Americans during the general election

[d_b]

49. Typical scum.

[Ninja Jordan]

50. Pure evil

[AnneD]

52. The guy served....

divorce papers on his wife while she was in the hospital fighting breast CA and he chastized Clinton for his impropriety with Monica the whole time he had an affair. What make you think he would be kinder to the victims of Katrina. Wake up and smell the sludge. SSDD

[ProudDad]

56. Actually, Newt, it was those

uneducated ignorant crackers in Buras-Triumph, LA who couldn't get out of the way.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buras-Triumph%2C_Louisiana

That's where the center of Katrina hit...

[KamaAina]

57. I've heard of "blame the victim", but "investigate the victim"?

A new low even for the repukes.

I haven't seen anything about this on any of the NOLA blogs. I can just imagine the response: "Listen, you scum-sucking mook, if I ever meet you in a dark alley..." (actual blog quote, from a computer science professor, at that!)

edit: fun, potty-mouthed blog post here: http://ashleymorris.typepad.com/ashley_morris_the_blog/2007/02/what_do_you_tel_1.html