9
9 Trillion Dollar Republican Natio
Guest
Mind-Numbingly Stupid Quotes About Hurricane Katrina And Its Aftermath
1) "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees." -
President Bush, on "Good Morning America," Sept. 1, 2005, six days
after repeated warnings from experts about the scope of damage
expected from Hurricane Katrina (Source)
2) "What I'm hearing which is sort of scary is that they all want to
stay in Texas. Everybody is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so
many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged
anyway so this (chuckle) - this is working very well for them." -
Former First Lady Barbara Bush, on the hurricane evacuees at the
Astrodome in Houston, Sept. 5, 2005 (Source)
3) "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job." -President Bush, to FEMA
director Michael Brown, while touring hurricane-ravaged Mississippi,
Sept.
2, 2005 (Source; audio clip)
4) "Considering the dire circumstances that we have in New Orleans,
virtually a city that has been destroyed, things are going relatively
well." -FEMA Director Michael Brown, Sept. 1, 2005 (Source)
5) "Now tell me the truth boys, is this kind of fun?" -House Majority
Leader Tom Delay (R-TX), to three young hurricane evacuees from New
Orleans at the Astrodome in Houston, Sept. 9, 2005 (Source)
6) "We've got a lot of rebuilding to do ... The good news is - and
it's hard for some to see it now - that out of this chaos is going to
come a fantastic Gulf Coast, like it was before. Out of the rubbles of
Trent Lott's house - he's lost his entire house - there's going to be
a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the
porch." (Laughter) -President Bush, touring hurricane damage, Mobile,
Ala., Sept. 2, 2005 (Source)
7) "Well, I think if you look at what actually happened, I remember on
Tuesday morning picking up newspapers and I saw headlines, 'New
Orleans Dodged the Bullet.' Because if you recall, the storm moved to
the east and then continued on and appeared to pass with considerable
damage but nothing worse." -Homeland Security Secretary Michael
Chertoff, blaming media coverage for the government's failings, "Meet
the Press," Sept. 4, 2005 (Source)
8) "What didn't go right?'" -President Bush, as quoted by House
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), after she urged him to fire FEMA
Director Michael Brown "because of all that went wrong, of all that
didn't go right" in the Hurricane Katrina relief effort (Source)
9) "I mean, you have people who don't heed those warnings and then put
people at risk as a result of not heeding those warnings. There may be
a need to look at tougher penalties on those who decide to ride it out
and understand that there are consequences to not leaving." -Sen. Rick
Santorum (R-PA), Sept. 6, 2005 (Source)
10) "You simply get chills every time you see these poor
individuals...many of these people, almost all of them that we see are
so poor and they are so black, and this is going to raise lots of
questions for people who are watching this story unfold." -CNN's Wolf
Blitzer, on New Orleans' hurricane evacuees, Sept. 1, 2005 (Source)
11) "We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans. We couldn't
do it, but God did." -Rep. Richard Baker (R-LA) to lobbyists, as
quoted in the Wall Street Journal (Source)
12) "If one person criticizes [the local authorities' relief efforts]
or says one more thing, including the president of the United States,
he will hear from me. One more word about it after this show airs, and
I...I might likely have to punch him, literally." -Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-
LA), "This Week with George Stephanopoulous," Sept. 4, 2005 ((Source)
13) "There are a lot of lessons we want to learn out of this process
in terms of what works.
I think we are in fact on our way to getting on top of the whole
Katrina exercise." -Vice President Dick Cheney, Sept. 10, 2005
(Source)
14) "I believe the town where I used to come - from Houston, Texas, to
enjoy myself, occasionally too much - will be that very same town,
that it will be a better place to come to." -President Bush, on the
tarmac at the New Orleans airport, Sept. 2, 2005 (Source)
15) "I have not heard a report of thousands of people in the
convention center who don't have food and water." -Homeland Security
Secretary Michael Chertoff, on NPR's "All Things Considered," Sept. 1,
2005 (Source)
16) "FEMA is not going to hesitate at all in this storm. We are not
going to sit back and make this a bureaucratic process. We are going
to move fast, we are going to move quick, and we are going to do
whatever it takes to help disaster victims." -FEMA Director Michael
Brown, Aug. 28, 2005 (Source)
17) "We just learned of the convention center - we being the federal
government - today." -FEMA Director Michael Brown, to ABC's Ted
Koppel, Sept. 1, 2005, to which Koppel responded: "Don't you guys
watch television? Don't you guys listen to the radio? Our reporters
have been reporting on it for more than just today." (Source)
18) "If you'll look at my lovely FEMA attire you'll really vomit. I am
a fashion god ... Anything specific I need to do or tweak? Do you know
of anyone who dog-sits? ... Can I quit now? Can I come home? ... I'm
trapped now, please rescue me." --FEMA Director Michael Brown, in
various emails to colleagues and friends in the immediate aftermath of
Hurricane Katrina (Source)
19) "We ask black people: it's time. It's time for us to come
together. It's time for us to rebuild a New Orleans, the one that
should be a chocolate New Orleans. And I don't care what people are
saying Uptown or wherever they are. This city will be chocolate at the
end of the day." --New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, Jan. 16, 2006 (Source)
20) "Mayor Nagin and most mayors in this country have a hard time
getting their people to work on a sunny day, let alone getting them
out of the city in front of a hurricane." -Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA),
on why New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin failed to follow the city's
evacuation plan and press the buses into service, "Fox News Sunday,"
Sept. 11, 2005 (Source)
21) "Last night, we showed you the full force of a superpower
government going to the rescue." -MSNBC's Chris Matthews, Sept. 1,
2005 (Source)
22) "I also want to encourage anybody who was affected by Hurricane
Corina to make sure their children are in school." -First Lady Laura
Bush, twice referring to a "Hurricane Corina" while speaking to
children and parents in South Haven, Mississippi, Sept. 8, 2005
(Source)
23) "It's totally wiped out. ... It's devastating, it's got to be
doubly devastating on the ground." -President Bush, turning to his
aides while surveying Hurricane Katrina flood damage from Air Force
One, Aug.
31, 2005 (Source)
24) "But I really didn't hear that at all today. People came up to me
all day long and said 'God bless your son,' people of different races
and it was very, very moving and touching, and they felt like when he
flew over that it made all the difference in their lives, so I just
don't hear that." -Former First Lady Barbara Bush to CNN's Larry King,
after King asked her how she felt when people said that her son
"doesn't care" about race, Sept. 5, 2005 (Source)
1) "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees." -
President Bush, on "Good Morning America," Sept. 1, 2005, six days
after repeated warnings from experts about the scope of damage
expected from Hurricane Katrina (Source)
2) "What I'm hearing which is sort of scary is that they all want to
stay in Texas. Everybody is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so
many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged
anyway so this (chuckle) - this is working very well for them." -
Former First Lady Barbara Bush, on the hurricane evacuees at the
Astrodome in Houston, Sept. 5, 2005 (Source)
3) "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job." -President Bush, to FEMA
director Michael Brown, while touring hurricane-ravaged Mississippi,
Sept.
2, 2005 (Source; audio clip)
4) "Considering the dire circumstances that we have in New Orleans,
virtually a city that has been destroyed, things are going relatively
well." -FEMA Director Michael Brown, Sept. 1, 2005 (Source)
5) "Now tell me the truth boys, is this kind of fun?" -House Majority
Leader Tom Delay (R-TX), to three young hurricane evacuees from New
Orleans at the Astrodome in Houston, Sept. 9, 2005 (Source)
6) "We've got a lot of rebuilding to do ... The good news is - and
it's hard for some to see it now - that out of this chaos is going to
come a fantastic Gulf Coast, like it was before. Out of the rubbles of
Trent Lott's house - he's lost his entire house - there's going to be
a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the
porch." (Laughter) -President Bush, touring hurricane damage, Mobile,
Ala., Sept. 2, 2005 (Source)
7) "Well, I think if you look at what actually happened, I remember on
Tuesday morning picking up newspapers and I saw headlines, 'New
Orleans Dodged the Bullet.' Because if you recall, the storm moved to
the east and then continued on and appeared to pass with considerable
damage but nothing worse." -Homeland Security Secretary Michael
Chertoff, blaming media coverage for the government's failings, "Meet
the Press," Sept. 4, 2005 (Source)
8) "What didn't go right?'" -President Bush, as quoted by House
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), after she urged him to fire FEMA
Director Michael Brown "because of all that went wrong, of all that
didn't go right" in the Hurricane Katrina relief effort (Source)
9) "I mean, you have people who don't heed those warnings and then put
people at risk as a result of not heeding those warnings. There may be
a need to look at tougher penalties on those who decide to ride it out
and understand that there are consequences to not leaving." -Sen. Rick
Santorum (R-PA), Sept. 6, 2005 (Source)
10) "You simply get chills every time you see these poor
individuals...many of these people, almost all of them that we see are
so poor and they are so black, and this is going to raise lots of
questions for people who are watching this story unfold." -CNN's Wolf
Blitzer, on New Orleans' hurricane evacuees, Sept. 1, 2005 (Source)
11) "We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans. We couldn't
do it, but God did." -Rep. Richard Baker (R-LA) to lobbyists, as
quoted in the Wall Street Journal (Source)
12) "If one person criticizes [the local authorities' relief efforts]
or says one more thing, including the president of the United States,
he will hear from me. One more word about it after this show airs, and
I...I might likely have to punch him, literally." -Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-
LA), "This Week with George Stephanopoulous," Sept. 4, 2005 ((Source)
13) "There are a lot of lessons we want to learn out of this process
in terms of what works.
I think we are in fact on our way to getting on top of the whole
Katrina exercise." -Vice President Dick Cheney, Sept. 10, 2005
(Source)
14) "I believe the town where I used to come - from Houston, Texas, to
enjoy myself, occasionally too much - will be that very same town,
that it will be a better place to come to." -President Bush, on the
tarmac at the New Orleans airport, Sept. 2, 2005 (Source)
15) "I have not heard a report of thousands of people in the
convention center who don't have food and water." -Homeland Security
Secretary Michael Chertoff, on NPR's "All Things Considered," Sept. 1,
2005 (Source)
16) "FEMA is not going to hesitate at all in this storm. We are not
going to sit back and make this a bureaucratic process. We are going
to move fast, we are going to move quick, and we are going to do
whatever it takes to help disaster victims." -FEMA Director Michael
Brown, Aug. 28, 2005 (Source)
17) "We just learned of the convention center - we being the federal
government - today." -FEMA Director Michael Brown, to ABC's Ted
Koppel, Sept. 1, 2005, to which Koppel responded: "Don't you guys
watch television? Don't you guys listen to the radio? Our reporters
have been reporting on it for more than just today." (Source)
18) "If you'll look at my lovely FEMA attire you'll really vomit. I am
a fashion god ... Anything specific I need to do or tweak? Do you know
of anyone who dog-sits? ... Can I quit now? Can I come home? ... I'm
trapped now, please rescue me." --FEMA Director Michael Brown, in
various emails to colleagues and friends in the immediate aftermath of
Hurricane Katrina (Source)
19) "We ask black people: it's time. It's time for us to come
together. It's time for us to rebuild a New Orleans, the one that
should be a chocolate New Orleans. And I don't care what people are
saying Uptown or wherever they are. This city will be chocolate at the
end of the day." --New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, Jan. 16, 2006 (Source)
20) "Mayor Nagin and most mayors in this country have a hard time
getting their people to work on a sunny day, let alone getting them
out of the city in front of a hurricane." -Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA),
on why New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin failed to follow the city's
evacuation plan and press the buses into service, "Fox News Sunday,"
Sept. 11, 2005 (Source)
21) "Last night, we showed you the full force of a superpower
government going to the rescue." -MSNBC's Chris Matthews, Sept. 1,
2005 (Source)
22) "I also want to encourage anybody who was affected by Hurricane
Corina to make sure their children are in school." -First Lady Laura
Bush, twice referring to a "Hurricane Corina" while speaking to
children and parents in South Haven, Mississippi, Sept. 8, 2005
(Source)
23) "It's totally wiped out. ... It's devastating, it's got to be
doubly devastating on the ground." -President Bush, turning to his
aides while surveying Hurricane Katrina flood damage from Air Force
One, Aug.
31, 2005 (Source)
24) "But I really didn't hear that at all today. People came up to me
all day long and said 'God bless your son,' people of different races
and it was very, very moving and touching, and they felt like when he
flew over that it made all the difference in their lives, so I just
don't hear that." -Former First Lady Barbara Bush to CNN's Larry King,
after King asked her how she felt when people said that her son
"doesn't care" about race, Sept. 5, 2005 (Source)