Seems that the mainstream media has very little respect for truth and just keeps advancing their agenda. Katrina Lies Promoted By Mainstream Media By Jonah Goldberg Sunday, June 4, 2006 On a recent edition of "Larry King Live," liberal Republican Rep. Christopher Shays, eager to put some distance between himself and the president, explained what he thinks is George Bush's real albatross. "Let me just say that I think the thing that has hurt the president most is not Iraq. It's Katrina," Shays said. "People saw an arrogant but confident administration, but when they saw Katrina, they saw arrogance and frankly incompetence, and that was very unsettling." This sentiment is pervasive among Democrats and the press. Time magazine writes matter-of-factly that "the government's inept response to Hurricane Katrina" is a major liability for Republicans in '06. Howard Dean and other Democrats mention Katrina as a staple talking point. That's certainly fair, given that the bar is set pretty low for what constitutes fair in American politics these days. But it is worth reminding people that the Katrina they think they remember wasn't the Katrina that actually took place. In fact, it is difficult to think of a bigger media scandal in my lifetime than the fraudulently inaccurate coverage of Hurricane Katrina. Where to begin? As I've written before, virtually all of the gripping stories from Katrina were untrue. All of those stories about, in Paula Zahn's words, "bands of rapists, going block to block"? Not true. The tales of snipers firing on helicopters? Bogus. The yarns, peddled on "Oprah" by New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and the New Orleans police chief, that "little babies" were getting raped in the Superdome and that the bodies of the murdered were piling up? Completely false. The stories about poor blacks dying in comparatively huge numbers because American society "left them behind"? Nah-ah. While most outlets took Nagin's estimate of 10,000 dead at face value, Editor and Publisher -- the watchdog of the media -- ran the headline, "Mortuary Director Tells Local Paper 40,000 Could Be Lost in Hurricane." In all of Louisiana, not just New Orleans, the total dead from Katrina was roughly 1,500. Blacks did not die disproportionately, nor did the poor. The only group truly singled out in terms of mortality was the elderly. According to a Knight-Ridder study, while only 15 percent of the population of New Orleans was over the age of 60, some 74 percent of the dead were 60 or older, and almost half were older than 75. Blacks were, if anything, slightly underrepresented among the dead given their share of the population. This barely captures how badly the press bungled Katrina coverage. Keep in mind that the most horrifying tales of woe that captivated the press and prompted news anchors to -- quite literally -- scream at federal officials occurred within the safe zone around the Superdome where the press was operating. Shame on local officials for fomenting fear and passing along newly minted urban legends, but double shame on the press for recycling this stuff uncritically. Members of the press had access to the Superdome. Why not just run in and look for the bodies? Interview the rape victims? Couldn't be bothered? The major networks had hundreds of people in New Orleans. Was there not a single intern available to fact-check? The coverage actually cost lives. Helicopters were grounded for 24 hours in response to media reports of sniper attacks. At least two patients died waiting to be evacuated. And yet, a ubiquitous media chorus claims simultaneously that Katrina was Bush's worst hour and the press's best. That faultless paragon of media scrupulousness Dan Rather proclaimed it one of the "quintessential great moments in television news." Christiane Amanpour explained, "I think what's interesting is that it took a Katrina, you know, to bring us back to where we belong. In other words, real journalists, real journalism, and I think that's a good thing." But in the race to prove the federal response incompetent, the "real journalists" missed some important details. As Lou Dolinar of RealClearPolitics.com exhaustively documents, the National Guard did amazing work in New Orleans. From the Superdome, the Guard managed some 2,500 troops, a dozen emergency shelters, more than 200 boats, 150 helicopters (which flew more than 10,000 sorties moving 88,181 passengers, 18,834 tons of cargo, and saved 17,411 survivors), and an enormous MASH operation that, among other things, delivered seven babies. Also left out of the conventional tale of Katrina is the fact that the hurricane hardly singled out New Orleans. Obviously, the flooding was worse because of the levee breaks. But, as Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour noted, the people of his state and Alabama and Florida have the same federal government. And despite awesome destruction, they managed to do OK. None of this is to say that the federal government and the Bush administration didn't make mistakes. But if we're looking for poster children for arrogant incompetence in response to Katrina, there are better candidates than George W. Bush. Jonah Goldberg is a contributing editor at National Review magazine and editor at large of National Review Online.
Well, this guy is a writer for the National Review which is of course on the right side of the ledger in print journalism. While I agree with some of his facts listed I do not agree with the tone of the article in that all reports of Federal Government ineptitudes and insensitivity to the human suffering and an inaction by the Feds causing more suffering were merely the stuff of fairytales as he suggests. No doubt some reporting was supercritical of FEMA and the Bush administration's handling of Katrina but there is also no doubt that the suffering was real and was widespread and was prolonged by a discourse of inaction and failed communication and a general lack of a cohesive strategy at all levels. With Katrina...the fish rots at the head and that's what people remember the most about the poor emergency response efforts and post-storm management. Some facts on Katrina: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effect_of_Hurricane_Katrina_on_New_Orleans
Well MCG we will have to agree that the fish rots from the head. So I think the good people of Louisiana will take care of the head when they have the next election for Gov.
Indisputable fact: The administration was completely and totally incompetent in its handling of the disaster, as were the governing units in LA and New Orleans. Incompetence bottom to top and top to bottom. Regarding Jonah Goldberg's justified criticism of the media: What's new? Is anyone surprised at the media's conduct? Par for the course, regardless of the event or issue.
I'll tell you one report that was accurate. The police did loot stores for days after the storm. My brother in law watched them do it from his hotel room. The failure in the Katrina episode started days before the storm when the town and state failed to evacuate more people. Nagin is more like a party host than a mayor. It's hard to belive that guy was ever elected to public office once much less twice. As uusual, there was a failed reponse at the local level followed by the inevitable fingerpointing at the federal government.
George, I don't care where you live or how many strong, skilled at emergency response leaders you have there I'll gurantee you that your community could not deal with a disaster on the magnitude that Katrina was for New Orleans. This catastrophe required extreme Federal intervention in a very expeditious manner and that just didn't happen. To say that New Orlean's local government could have averted the extreme disruptions and displacement and lost lives both figuratively and literally is asking the impossible.
Especially when one's desire in life is to blame Bush for everything. I don't buy for one minute that it's the Federal governments job to evacuate prior to a storm hitting. After the storm, that's a different thing. But then I'm not out to blame Bush for every percieved ill in our country.
MCG, No reasonable person believes that any level of government could have prevented the disastrous outcome. It's the lack of preparedness on all levels, the lack of action on the local level just prior to the onset of the hurricane, and the failures on all levels in the aftermath that must be acknowledged, regardless of political leanings.
You guys are focused on the before and not the after. The criticism of the Feds is not so much on the before although all levels of gov't. should have been more prepared due to the several reports and studies done to show what could happen to the levees in a major hurricane. The city of New Orleans didn't build those levees....the U.S. Army Corp. of Engineers did. To say Katrina was/is a local problem primarily is ludicrous. That's like saying 9-11 was strictly a city of Manhattan issue and no Federal response was necessary. The post-Katrina aftermath and poor response is what is under fire here. If that reflects negatively on Bush then I guess it does. If a football team loses all of it's games because of a terrible defense sure you fire the defensive coordinator and the recruiting coordinator but at some point the head coach is under fire also.
Lot's of blame to go around and no doubt the Feds could have done a better job. But also no doubt, to me at least, that no matter how well the Feds operated those who hate Bush were going to find things wrong and say he didn't do enough fast enough. I doubt if FEMA could have performed to a level that would have had Democrats/Bush haters saying what a great job Bush did. Terry
MCG: I grew up in tornado country. With those storms you have minutes or less to take cover. In New Orleans they had five days to get out. The bars were offering free drinks to everyone to stay and ride out the storm. My brother in law was one of the dummies who ignored the weather forecasts. Do you not remember the photos of acres and acres of school buses under water? You can assign blame on FEMA for the actions taken after the storm but before the storm the lack of preparedness rests for the most part on local and state government.
re: FEMA FEMA is so valuable, that both parties in Congress are talking about abolishing it... FEMA was never designed to be a first responder. The whole idea of FEMA was to assist and coordinate with local agencies, such as state, county, and city governments, private disaster charities like the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and Catholic Charities, as well as the National Guard. It was ordered not to help the Red Cross or Salvation Army by Gov. Blanco, who also refused to moblize the National Guard or allow any of the agencies to do anything unless the process went through her... No MCG. We're talking about after the disaster. ................TP
Ok..so Bush and his staff were responsive....alert...and skillful in their Katrina response. Any thoughts to the contrary are strictly a result of the brainwashing machine that is the leftist Democratic party. The extended suffering if in fact it actually did exist was soley due to the the ineptness of the Democratic led local government of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana. If Republicans had been in local power in the situation instead of these plodding, dull thinking Democrats then this never would have happened but even if they did need extraordinary assistance faster than many natural disasters ever seen in the U.S. then Bush and his staff had it more than covered and it is asinine and hyerpolitical to even question Bush on this. I am of the conviction now that I have been enlightened by your wisdom here on Skybox that Bush is akin to the best president we have ever had in this country and he is next to God and makes no mistakes and could absolutely have done no better in the post Katrina aftermath than he did and that he sure as hell was better in his management and sensitivity to the situation than any sitting president could possibly have been since the revered Ronald Reagan. Thanks for the education guys....I am eternally grateful and can't believe how stupid I have been. P.S. I am thinking of cancelling my ultra liberal local mainstream newspaper because of their obvious erroneous reporting of the Katrina situation and their manipulation of the public opinion polls that show my God.. George W. having some of the lowest ratings ever for a sitting president and I am subscribing instead to that bastion of truth...The National Review.
Coupla observations: I didn't realize that Nagin was a Democrat until you just mentioned it. I thought he was just incompetent. You're hysterical over this; you're practically squealing the words out. Settle down. Nobody said that Bush handled it perfectly; those were your words. All we were saying was that the local and state authorities didn't do much prior to the storm to minimize damage and loss of life. Now breathe into a paper bag and then crack a beer. :wink:
I'm no defender of Nagin because I am sure that better preparations could have taken place on the local level. However, he quickly realized the overwhelming nature of the disaster and urgently appealed for the Federal assistance that it took much too long to get. I am in a business where you could sit back and say well Mr. Client what a fu*ked up situation you have created for yourself and it's all on you buddy cause it was your initial mistake. I wouldn't have that client for long with that kind of attitude. I keep clients by making their problem MY problem and I try to help them resolve their issues asap or eventually the finger points at me and my organization as "incapable" and "uncaring". I have feeling those not in business don't understand that concept.
The question shoud be, are his FACTS correct!!!. Was the group mostly effected the elderly. (the ones that are too weak to evacuate themsenlves and have to rely on the LOCAL authorities to get them to safety.) Were blacks not overrepresented in the death toll. If you believe Mr. Chocolate City, the Federal response was somehow racist. The press reports of shooting, raping, and murder in the city were untrue but may well have had a effect in slowing down the insertion of FEMA employees who are NOT first line rescue personel like the National Guard. Looking back it's clear that the primary purpose of the media was in reporting in a way to reflect badly on the Federal government. And as we know all to well, there are plenty of people out there the buy every untrue word written as long as it supports their belief that the president is the devil incarnate.
re: newspapers No. You can't trust reading the newspapers. The leading newspaper in the country is the New York Times. They ran 59 consecutive days of Abu Ghraib stories on the front page page of their paper, ending on election day 2004. They have not run a single article on the subject since. Why not? re: Bush poll numbers Mr. Bush's poll numbers are low, because conservatives are p!ssed off at him. He's way too far over to the Left on spending, entitlements, immigration/borders, the size of the federal government and making compromises with Congress. Also, he's a lame duck who's power is slipping and his numbers are very similar to other lame ducks at this point in their presidency. Truman holds the lowball, lameduck record at 23% when he fired Gen. MacArthur...
The amazing thing is that I don't believe any of you watched the post-Katrina mayhem. That's pretty amazing. If you did I cannot understand why you could think that 3-4 days after the event there were STILL human beings standing on their rooftops! There is a disconnect with that kind of scenario and you are in outer space if you think the U.S. government did a good job of hurricane recovery efforts in New Orleans.
:twisted: I blaim Rove! He was asleep at the switch! Can you imagine the "photo-op" of W landing in a chopper at the super dome dressed in jeans and a flannel shirt hauling out cases of drinking water. It sure beats that "photo-shopped" picture of him catching a bass in the 9'th ward that was the internet rage for awhile.
The greates natural disaster in the history of the US and 4 da. after the even, everyone is supposed to be bunked out at the nearest Ritz Carleton. Who's in "outer space?" Hundreds of square miles of distruction. Hundreds of thousands of houses to be checked and in 4 days everyone is supposed to be rescued. What complete ********!!!