Wednesday, September 14

The Mark of a Real Leader Is Knowin' When It's Time To Have the Little Woman Ride To the Rescue

Nedra Pickler, AP: First Lady Becomes President's Defender

Never a Discouraging Word:
Mrs. Bush said Tuesday that much more human good than bad has come from the disaster, despite what people see on TV. She said the evacuees she has met in her three trips to the Gulf Coast are hopeful and thankful that they don't have to start from rock bottom because of the donations and the kindness of strangers.
"That's what I've seen at each of the shelters I've visited," she said. "I've never heard a single word of complaint."

Hmmm. Mrs. Bush seems to be an expert about "what people see on TV", but she hasn't heard a word of complaint. It puzzled me for a moment, before I realized she must be watching with the sound off.

Laura Bush, to the Heritage Foundation:
"We've seen terrible, terrible things and we've seen unbelievably unselfish acts of giving as well by communities all across the United States and, of course, many more unselfish acts of giving than bad things," she said in a speech Tuesday to the conservative Heritage Foundation. "Maybe the media hasn't shown us that much, but we've read about it and we do know about it."

Now, the first thing that occurred to me here was that Laura sounds an awful lot like Hillary's Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, except without any evidence. I watched a lot of teevee coverage the first week. The terrible, terrible things I saw for the first 72 hours were, basically, what the Hurricane had done to the Gulf Coast and what the levee breaks had done to New Orleans. I call that "news". After the storm had passed and we got away from shots of beparka-ed newshounds standing in high winds, most of the pictorial coverage consisted of the Coast Guard rescuing people. I call that "about as unselfish an act as you can perform without drowning yourself."

For godssake, there's been no lack of uplifting stories. The teevee loves uplifting stories.

I would offer one modest suggestion, however. The next time Mrs. Bush sees some terrible, terrible things on her teevee she might want to pick up the phone and make sure the Department of Homeland Security [sic] knows about them.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

*snicker* I'll second that. She might want to mention it to her husband, too.

Her comments are crass as well as inaccurate. What *is* it with the Bushes? The Let Them Eat Cake moments just keep coming.

Yeah, Laura, and the really neato thing about a crippling stroke is that you learn that Doctors Are Your Friends.

Jesus Christ.

Anonymous said...

Hey, MY own little stroke was so wonderful... that first winter, I couldn't feel cold on my left side! Of course, it also left me pissed off and determined to recover. The worst part was encountering so many second guessers in my life, and so many less than helpful "friends." But at least in all of that I did not have to run into any truly, utterly, profoundly, stupid & unhelpful shit-spewers as the whole bush tribe. Incredible what has bubbled forth since the hurricane. Maybe I make too much noice about this to those around me, but I haven't met anyone willing to defend their words and actions since that diaster.