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Matthew Hoy currently works as a metro page designer at the San Diego Union-Tribune.

The opinions presented here do not represent those of the Union-Tribune and are solely those of the author.

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Dec. 7, 2001
Christian Coalition Challenged
Hoystory interviews al Qaeda
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Sunday, September 11, 2005

Denial isn't just a river in Egypt: If you didn't get up early enough this morning to watch Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu look like a complete and total idiot on "Fox News Sunday," then head over here and check it out. Even if you showed me a CAT scan of this woman's skull and it showed a brain, I wouldn't believe it, because there's no evidence that it's ever been used.

Chris Wallace: Sen. Landrieu, I want to ask you -- and I'll ask you both -- but let me start with you about the local response. Was it incompetent and insulting [words Landrieu used last week on the Senate floor to describe the federal response to the disaster] for Mayor Ray Nagin to order a mandatory evacuation, but then to leave buses and we have a picture of them, hundreds of buses idle so they could be flooded instead of using them to get people out?

Sen. Landrieu: Well Chris, I was there, as you know, through the whole ordeal with state and local officials. And was right there with Louisiana Democrats and Republicans, city councilmembers, police chiefs, mayors, the governors, and I could watch what Haley Barbour was doing and Gov. Riley in Alabama. I am not going to level criticism at the local level. These ...

Chris Wallace: I'd like you to answer, if you will, this one simple question ...

Sen. Landrieu: I will answer it. I am not going to level criticism at local and state officials. Mayor Nagin and most mayors in this country have a hard time getting their people to work on a sunny day. Less alone getting them out of the city in front of a hurricane, and it's because this administration, and administrations before them, do not understand the difficulties that mayors, whether they're in Orlando, Miami or New Orleans, face. In other words, this administration does not...

Chris Wallace: But senator, senator, there were ...

Sen. Landrieu: This administration does not believe in mass transit. [No, I'm not making this up.] They won't even get people to work on a sunny day, less alone getting them out...

Chris Wallace: But senator, there were hundreds of buses sitting in that parking lot.

Sen. Landrieu: and I'll tell you what.

Chris Wallace: Can I just ask the question?

Sen. Landrieu: You can, but let me finish...

Chris Wallace: If I might...

Sen. Landrieu: If I could please, also the communication

Chris Wallace: There were hundreds of buses, we're looking at the picture. There are hundred of buses in the parking lot, the city and the state...

Sen. Landrieu: That's under water.

Chris Wallace: It wasn't under water before the ...

Sen. Landrieu: Those buses were under water...

Chris Wallace: They weren't under water on Saturday. They weren't under water on Sunday.

Sen. Landrieu: We had two catastrophes. We had a hurricane and then we had a levee break. When the levee broke, not only did New Orleans go under water, but St. Bernard went under water, and St. Tamany Parish went under water...

Chris Wallace: But they weren't under water on Sunday...

Sen. Landrieu: And Clackman went under water. And because the mayor evacuated the city. We had the best evacuation between Haley Barbour and Kathleen Blanco of any evacation I've seen. I'm 50 years old and I've never seen any better.

Chris Wallace: But there were 100,000 people left in the city.

Sen. Landrieu: They did 100,000 people left in the city because this federal government won't support cities to evacuate people, whether it's from earthquakes, tornados or hurricanes. And that's the truth, and that will come out in the hearings.

As you can see, there's no intelligence required to actually be a senator. I've criticized politicians before for willfully ignoring reality and sticking blindly to talking points, but Sen. Landrieu's performance is a new high -- or low. The real kicker is later in the same interview, Landrieu makes the following statement: "Now is not the time for fingerpointing." It's like real-life "Memento."

Over at Junkyard blog, they have the answer to this intriguing question for Sen. Landrieu:

Q: Sen. Landrieu, do you know what the difference is between a hurricane and election day?

The answer won't surprise you.

10:55 PM

Comments:

Did she have a polaroid camera with her?

Frank G

# posted by

Anonymous : 8:33 PM

Nice photo of the buses.....but where were the bus drivers New Orleans could have called into service? I'm guessing they either FLED BEFORE THE STORM or they were TRAPPED BY THE FLOOD WATERS THEMSELVES. FOX is so simple-minded in their attacks. Very one-dimensional. But they stick to the talking points, so now all the FOX watchers (yourself included, evidently) somehow believe that the buses would have driven themselves if only Ray Nagin had waved his magic mayoral wand and asked for it.

Simpletons.

Face it, this was a national disaster and the federal government, run by the GOP, totally and embarrassingly and murderously blew it. Everyone knows it. The right wing wants to blame Clinton for 9/11 and they want to blame Louisiana democrats (but not Mississippi's Haley Barbour!) for Hurricane Katrina. You need to wake up.

FEMA has been crippled by Bush, who gutted its funding and put a crony pony-lover in charge. When was the last time an American president lost a CITY? A whole CITY?

Ineptness, incompetence and ignorance are going to be what W's second term is remembered for.

Bush played guitar while people drowned. We can all see this and I can only assume you can see it too, but you warm yourself with the GOP's talking points.

Politics is one thing, but those talking points must be cold comfort in the face of the facts. You can see all the people who died because the White House and FEMA fiddled and waited and delayed and now they're pointing fingers and throwing stones at Landrieu and Nagin. But everyone knows who needs to respond in times like these.

If San Diego were hit by a massive and destructive earthquake, something in your city that's on the scale of a hurricane Katrina, would you want Toni Atkins and Barbara Boxer in charge? Hell no. You'd want -- expect! -- the feds to show up in 20 minutes. That's the one time we all want government in our lives, that's when they're saving our lives.

But the gang that can't shoot straight? They just stood back and watched. Watched as people died.

Compassionate conservative my ass.

# posted by

Anonymous : 12:06 AM