Barbara Bush says Victims are Better Off Now

mzspaztastic

mzspaztastic

Active member
The Nation -- Finally, we have discovered the roots of George W. Bush's "compassionate conservatism."

On the heels of the president's "What, me worry?" response to the death, destruction and dislocation that followed upon Hurricane Katrina comes the news of his mother's Labor Day visit with hurricane evacuees at the Astrodome in Houston.

Commenting on the facilities that have been set up for the evacuees -- cots crammed side-by-side in a huge stadium where the lights never go out and the sound of sobbing children never completely ceases -- former First Lady Barbara Bush concluded that the poor people of New Orleans had lucked out.

"Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this, this is working very well for them," Mrs. Bush told American Public Media's "Marketplace" program, before returning to her multi-million dollar Houston home.

On the tape of the interview, Mrs. Bush chuckles audibly as she observes just how great things are going for families that are separated from loved ones, people who have been forced to abandon their homes and the only community where they have ever lived, and parents who are explaining to children that their pets, their toys and in some cases their friends may be lost forever. Perhaps the former first lady was amusing herself with the notion that evacuees without bread could eat cake.

At the very least, she was expressing a measure of empathy commensurate with that evidenced by her son during his fly-ins for disaster-zone photo opportunities.

On Friday, when even Republican lawmakers were giving the federal government an "F" for its response to the crisis, President Bush heaped praise on embattled Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Michael Brown. As thousands of victims of the hurricane continued to plead for food, water, shelter, medical care and a way out of the nightmare to which federal neglect had consigned them, Brown cheerily announced that "people are getting the help they need."

Barbara Bush's son put his arm around the addled FEMA functionary and declared, "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job."

Like mother, like son.

Even when a hurricane hits, the apple does not fall far from the tree.
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WOW. That's all I have to say!
 
Well, if you think about it this way, that most of the impoverished of the population of New Orleans will be getting new homes (eventually) money (eventually) and basically given a new start (eventually) then yes, they are a bit better off. This is the way my wife explained it to me. She is keeping up with the news on this more than me, I hate TV. She said something about at least one Mobile Home company sending 1800 Mobile Homes (house trailers or prefabricated houses) to New Orleans to help. It is sitting a few states away, mainly cause they are not sure where exactly they need to put them at yet I think.
 
She commented during a radio interview with the American Public Media program "Marketplace."
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that was the AP

White House press secretary Scott McClellan is now saying that BB made the comments based on what she was seeing....and that she was meeting people in need of assistance, and that's why she feels they are better off now. Duh. They are all in need of assistance. They lost their homes, jobs, possessions, sometimes friends and family. Of course, it's easy to say it's nice to have food and shelter when you don't have to worry about that. In an impoverished community, it's the friends, family, community and neighborhood thatcounts, and that is what is most important, and that is what is gone.

Anyone know much about the vouchers given out to refugees only in the state of Texas? I find it a little odd seeing as Bush happens to be from Texas, as well.
 
Uh, yeah, she meant that the refugees are better off there in the Astrodome than their ordeal in the superdome or trapped in their houses. She was expressing how pleased she was with how Houston was handling the refugees as oposed to the botched Superdome situation.

Not surprised that "The Nation" would put such an anti-Bush spin on it. If only that same creativity they use to 'quote' people where being used to help people, like the 500,000 homeless like Mrs. Bush is doing, instead of padding their $500,000 a year income from writing partisan filth.
 
...

BB said
"And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway," she said, "so this is working very well for them."
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She also chuckled when she made the last sentence.

She didn't just say "And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this — this is working very well for them."
She said, "And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this — this is working - CHUCKLE - very well for them."
http://www.smh.com.au/audio/bbush.mp3
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Some people feel that... Quote: The problem with her statement is the connection between “were underprivileged anyway” and “working very well for them” which seems to belittle the suffering of those forced to seek refuge in Texas simply because they did have much in Louisiana to begin with. She seems to be saying that they shouldn’t be upset about their post-hurricane situation (“this is working very well for them”) because it isn’t that much worse than their pre-hurricane situation (they “were underprivileged anyway”). This shows an extreme insensitivity to the losses suffered by the people she was supposedly comforting. Underprivileged people may not have much, but losing what little they do have is just as traumatic as the losses felt by the privileged. Perhaps the loss is even more greatly felt by the underprivileged because they have little or no hope of recovering the meager possessions they lost and face greater financial uncertainty. I simply don’t see how living in an abandoned stadium with the few possessions they were able to salvage can be considered as “working very well” for anyone regardless of whether they were “underprivileged anyway” before the hurricane.
 
Barbara Bush, who accompanied the former presidents on a tour of the Astrodome complex Monday, said the relocation to Houston is "working very well" for some of the poor people forced out of New Orleans.

"What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality," she said during a radio interview with the American Public Media program "Marketplace." "And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them."

Her comments came as the two former presidents visited with hundreds of the 23,600 hurricane refugees and announced the creation of the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/06/katrina.presidents.ap/
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When I first heard about this, it just didn't sound like something I'd expect Mrs. Barbara Bush to say--honestly, I thought they meant Laura. After checking a number of sources, I just shook my head sadly and let it drop. Then here it is again. The above quote is from CNN--a somewhat mainstream source for news information--though a google for barbara bush houston will give you 20 more sources.

I don't know what's sadder, the fact that a seemingly down to down-to-earth lady like Mrs. Bush could get so distanced from the everyday strife of life in America, or the way some folks automatically cover for any stupid thing a popular person says and blame the "liberal" media for a bad spin on it.
 
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