<p>TO THE OP: It sure sounds as tho you have NEVER - while speaking to someone - misused any word that could be misconstrued to mean something else. AND that you ALWAYS are able to think on your feet and say exactly the right thing at all times.</p>
<p>GIVE THIS A BREAK!!! I hope someone ostrasizes everything YOU say and do as YOU do - and comes away with the impression that YOU are out of your mind as well.</p>
<p>Don’t forget that the difference between the OP and Barbara Bush is that the latter is a public figure, and as such, Bush is subject to media attention and public scrutiny when she speaks. (I assume that Bush was talking to the press, or at least in front of the press, when she made the statement at issue here, and that is how it got to be so widely reported.)</p>
<p>I hope when I’m an octogenarian that I don’t have to leave my lazy boy to help extricate my son from trouble - political or otherwise. Yes, it was nice of her to stop by and I do feel sorry for her. She’s an old hand at this sort of thing, and I’m sure she was aware of the camera crew.</p>
<p>Barbara Bush was giving a radio interview at the time.</p>
<p>As for me, I’m a public school teacher and am well aware that everything I say can be interpreted in the worst possible light. I once had a student tell her parents that I was a drug addict–because I mentioned (to a class of 8th graders) that I am dependent on a morning cup of tea for the caffeine, which I also then explained was a biologically addictive drug. </p>
<p>So not only am I used to self-censorship, I’m used to being baited in hopes of getting me to say something inappropriate. And unlike Barbara Bush, saying the “wrong” thing can cost me my job.</p>
<p>Well Mrs Bush has already done her job - and is now retired!! The censorship issue is just a bit overboaord on this one IMHO.</p>
<p>Odyssey:</p>
<p>It’s true that Mrs. Bush has led a life of privilege (I once sewed clothes using McCalls patterns–McCalls being the company her family owned). But she has also a sense of public duty that came out in this and many other instances. I don’t like the way she sounded but let’s not make a mountain out of a pebble. Mrs. Bush may be in the public eye, but she is neither appointed nor elected. And she is in her 80s, for heaven’s sake! Do we want her head? Let’s give it a rest.</p>
<p>I agree with you Marite. My comment was intended to be less about Barbara Bush and more about the attack against the OP for raising the issue. After all, the media has spread it far and wide, and the OP shouldn’t be attacked for bringing it up.</p>
<p>I totally agree with Marite’s post (#66) about this! I hesitate to even post on some of these threads lately because the tone of them really is not what I normally enjoy on CC discussions. I’ll likely regret posting but I have read the thread and I just really have to agree with Marite about this.</p>
<p>I don’t like what Barbara Bush said either. I mean, many would agree that it was very insensitive and sounds really bad. As others said, many of these folks were poor and downtrodden but no matter their lot in life, they just lost everything. Nothing is positive for them right now. Nothing will replace that sense of loss of place. </p>
<p>However, I think to pick apart Barbara Bush’s remarks like this, is just too much. Yes, she is in the public eye and knows that everything she will say will be scrutinized (and boy, I’d hate to be in that position…just look at people jumping on her on a message board), but she is not any official in government…she is a mother of a president…an elderly well meaning woman who has done many good things in her position as wife or mother of elected officials. I happen to like the woman, I will admit, and I am more aligned with Democrats but I don’t judge people by their party but by who they are and overall, this woman has done some effective charitable work and is intelligent and articulate. </p>
<p>She said something that sounds very inappropriate here. But she is not here to enter this discussion and I feel that it is very easy to jump on a remark when someone is not here to clarify what they meant. Perhaps she MIGHT say that she knows these people lost everything and that can never be replaced no matter how hard we try. That sense of great loss cannot be undone. But perhaps there was one positive thing that could happen to them that would not erase what they lost but perhaps there was hope of some brighter future in some aspect of their lives…that attention would be paid to them and help to create a better life…maybe she was simply trying to find the bright side amongst the very horrible side that these folks have and are experiencing that cannot be fixed. Maybe she was trying to bring up a sense of hope and the way she said it came out sounding entirely different, at least out of context or without further clarification. The sentences quoted do not sound right or good. But she is not here to really explain herself fully and so I am not sure she truly means what people are saying and in any case, while it is ok to debate her thoughts, her thoughts do not matter in the long run as she is simply a person who has no authority on the subject. Her remarks are being overly scrutinized considering she is not some official here. She is a public person but it makes you wonder who in the world wants to be a public perrson who is merely a relative (not elected) and have every single comment scrutinized, sometimes out of context even, like this! I mean she has a track record of helping. Yes, she is wealthy. She is in her 80s. This is becoming an overly picked apart attack on some comments that she may not have meant exactly in the way they are being interpretted. Lots of people say things that are interpretted a certain way that were not intended. I will give Ms. Bush the benefit of the doubt that she meant she was being hopeful that some good could come out of their tragedy, while recognizing that what they experienced was horrible. Also she seemed to be trying to look at the positive in terms of how there are Americans out there that want to help. So much attention is understandably being given to how terrible this catastrophe was handled by government, but it is nice to put some attention to the people who are trying to help and do good things for these people. There are good people in America giving a helping hand. Maybe she was trying to look on the bright side in an otherwise tragic situation that can never be undone. I’d love if she could enter into a discussion of her true thoughts on the matter and not little snippets that are taken apart word for word. Yes, her comments did not sound good but to judge her as a person on those few sentences, is not what I want to do. She has said and done MANY good things. I don’t think she meant this comment to the extent that people think but she is not here to defend or explain herself further. And she does not have to. She is not in any official capacity. She is just a MOTHER, an elderly one at that. </p>
<p>Susan</p>
<p>The reason this has become such a brouhaha is that it illustrates the despair the public is feeling - that the people with the power and resources to solve the problem can’t even begin to understand the magnitude of the problem and how the displaced and poor feel. So it seems they not only can’t deal with the physical side of the disaster, but they are insensitive to the realities of the lives of those most affected. </p>
<p>It’s not really Barbara-bashing, although it may read like that. I hope this is the flash point - that in working through the immediate problems caused by Hurricane Katrine, we start to work on broader, underlying inequities. Wouldn’t it be nice if some form of reasonable national health care was born out of this disaster? We’ve got a huge displaced population with all their day to day health care needs compounded by contact with the storm waters and being herded into close proximity in shelters. Let’s hope we deal with it.</p>
<p>I have good news to add to this. There are only about 3,000 people still in the Astrodome and they should be relocated within the week. People have been moved to apartment complexes throughout the city, while trying to keep groups together so that they have a sense of community. Two elementary schools, that had been closed because of declining enrollment, opened up yesterday full of kids K-5 from LA with teachers displaced from NO. People are getting on with the process of making a new life in a new place and there does seem to be a sense of hope. Yes, these people have been devastated by a calamity that none of us can truly understand, but there is HOPE that they will move on from it and make a better life!! Forget Barbara Bush and what she said!! THINK POSITIVE THOUGHTS!!</p>
<p>Lefthandofdog:</p>
<p>It IS Barbara-bashing. She may be connected to some of the “they” but she is not "they.’ She has influence, a great deal of it; but she does not have the authority or power of government officials either appointed or eleted. I am happy to reserve my fire for the incompetents at all levels of government.</p>
<p>marite who did not vote for GW.</p>
<p>You know, I don’t often say this, because I really am not a fan of President Bush, but I really feel sorry for him in this situation. What do you do when the press is calling your mom insensitive and arrogant? You can’t defend your mom or people will think you share the same views, but you also can’t say, “Yes, my mom is arrogant and insensitive,” because she’s your mom. Talk about being between a rock and a hard place.</p>
<p>Received this today from an old friend who lives in New Orleans:</p>
<hr>
<p>Dear America,</p>
<p>I suppose we should introduce ourselves: We’re South Louisiana. </p>
<p>We have arrived on your doorstep on short notice and we apologize for
that, but we never were much for waiting around for invitations. We’re
not much on formalities like that.</p>
<p>And we might be staying around your town for a while, enrolling in
your schools and looking for jobs, so we wanted to tell you a few
things about us. We know you didn’t ask for this and neither did we, so
we’re just going to have to make the best of it.</p>
<p>First of all, we thank you. For your money, your water, your food,
your prayers, your boats and buses and the men and women of your
National Guards, fire departments, hospitals and everyone else who has
come to our rescue.</p>
<p>We’re a fiercely proud and independent people, and we don’t cotton
much to outside interference, but we’re not ashamed to accept help when
we need it. And right now, we need it.</p>
<p>Just don’t get carried away. For instance, once we get around to
fishing again, don’t try to tell us what kind of lures work best in
your waters.</p>
<p>We’re not going to listen. We’re stubborn that way.</p>
<p>You probably already know that we talk funny and listen to strange
music and eat things you’d probably hire an exterminator to get out of
your yard.</p>
<p>We dance even if there’s no radio. We drink at funerals. We talk too
much and laugh too loud and live too large and, frankly, we’re
suspicious of others who don’t.</p>
<p>But we’ll try not to judge you while we’re in your town. </p>
<p>Everybody loves their home, we know that. But we love South Louisiana
with a ferocity that borders on the pathological. Sometimes we bury our
dead in LSU sweatshirts.</p>
<p>Often we don’t make sense. You may wonder why, for instance - if we
could only carry one small bag of belongings with us on our journey to
your state - why in God’s name did we bring a pair of shrimp boots?</p>
<p>We can’t really explain that. It is what it is.</p>
<p>You’ve probably heard that many of us stayed behind. As bad as it is,
many of us cannot fathom a life outside of our border, out in that
place we call Elsewhere.</p>
<p>The only way you could understand that is if you have been there, and
so many of you have. So you realize that when you strip away all the
craziness and bars and parades and music and architecture and all that
hooey, really, the best thing about where we come from is us.</p>
<p>We are what made this place a national treasure. We’re good people.
And don’t be afraid to ask us how to pronounce our names. It happens
all the time.</p>
<p>When you meet us now and you look into our eyes, you will see the
saddest story ever told. Our hearts are broken into a thousand pieces.</p>
<p>But don’t pity us. We’re gonna make it. We’re resilient. After all,
we’ve been rooting for the Saints for 35 years. That’s got to count for
something.</p>
<p>OK, maybe something else you should know is that we make jokes at
inappropriate times.</p>
<p>But what the he l l.</p>
<p>And one more thing: In our part of the country, we’re used to having
visitors. It’s our way of life.</p>
<p>So when all this is over and we move back home, we will repay to you
the hospitality and generosity of spirit you offer to us in this season
of our despair.</p>
<p>That is our promise. That is our faith.</p>
<p>I would like to know what some of these Barbara Bush Bashers on this forum would like to say about the following Teresa Heinz Kerry’s statement on the Ivan hurricane victims as reported by the AP:</p>
<p>“Clothing is wonderful, but let them go naked for a while, at least the kids,” said Heinz Kerry, the wife of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. “Water is necessary, and then generators, and then food, and then clothes.”</p>
<p>socal05: I would say THK has a pretty good grasp of priorities. If it has to be a choice, water is indeed more important than clothes.</p>
<p>Interesting, dmd77… So remarks that might possibly be construed as, “insensitive” are fine as long as their speaker is affiliated with a democrat? Oh, I see…</p>
<p>Barbara Bush’s Beautiful Mind</p>
<p>“Why should we hear about body bags and deaths,” Barbara Bush said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on March 18, 2003. “Oh, I mean, it’s not relevant. So why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?”</p>
<p>Her Beautiful Mind<br>
by Joyce Marcel </p>
<p>What could be behind the Bush Administration’s decision to censor the photographs of flag-draped coffins returning from Iraq? Could it really be, as the government says, to respect “the privacy of the families?” Or is it to hide the realities of war for political reasons? Or is it to protect the delicate sensitivities of the ruling class as Americans die to build them an empire? </p>
<p>As the argument over this censorship continues, I hope people remember a widely-quoted remark made by the president’s mother, Barbara Bush, last year during the build-up of the war - the lying time. </p>
<p>“Why should we hear about body bags and deaths,” Barbara Bush said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on March 18, 2003. “Oh, I mean, it’s not relevant. So why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?” </p>
<p>We know this particular censorship can’t be about privacy. Since the photos were made public last week, many family members have praised their publication. And since the coffins are anonymous, where is the privacy to be protected? </p>
<p>Were the pictures censored to prevent Americans from having a visceral understanding of the price we must pay for our aggressions overseas? Does “out of sight, out of mind” mean we will not hesitate to “stay the course”? </p>
<p>This thinking dates back to the Vietnam War, when some conservatives decided that the war was “lost” because of television. But those televised images were in our living rooms for years before the final fruitlessness of our effort brought the war to a close. </p>
<p>Most of us know that over 700 American soldiers have died in Iraq so far - and we’re still counting. That means 700 extended families in mourning, 700 pictures of funerals and crying parents on the front pages of home-town newspapers, and 700 communities paying their hushed last respects. The number of people personally touched by the deaths of Americans in Iraq is growing exponentially. </p>
<p>Until last week, most of us didn’t personally know anyone killed in Iraq. But the need to know was a force starting to hit critical mass: </p>
<p>First, newspapers and magazines began to do stories about soldiers in rehabilitation - men and women learning to live with without arms and legs. From Iraq, as of this writing, there have been 2,470 Americans wounded so badly they could not return to their duty. (Another 1,394 were able to return after being hurt, according to several Web sites tracking the numbers.)
The coffin photographs started leaking out.
Garry Trudeau courageously allowed his “Doonesbury” character, B.D., to get his leg shot off, which brought the war home to the funny pages.
NFL football star Pat Tillman’s death in Afghanistan put an even more personal face on war.
The American people, to their eternal credit, want to know the truth. The Seattle Times ran the first coffin picture, taken by a contract cargo worker in Kuwait who wanted to show the parents back home how respectfully their children’s bodies were being treated. (She and her husband, who was also working in Kuwait, were fired.) The Times’ editor reported that almost 100 percent of the feedback the first day was favorable. The next day, favorable comments were running 50-to-1, and the day after 30- or 40-to-1. (Many more pictures, taken by the government and released through the Freedom of Information Act, are available on-line at <a href=“http://www.thememoryhole.com)%5B/url%5D”>www.thememoryhole.com)</a>. </p>
<p>To bring home the deaths even more, on tomorrow night’s “Nightline,” Ted Koppel will devote the entire hour to showing photographs and reading the names of the soldiers killed in Iraq. </p>
<p>You can argue both ways about the long-term impact of these images. Those who believe we need to be in Iraq will accept the deaths as the price we pay for “liberating” the country. Those who are adamantly opposed to the war will see it as the cost of occupation and empire. </p>
<p>As the discussion over the censorship of the photos continues, I hope people remember the blood-chilling arrogance of Barbara Bush’s remark. None of us have beautiful minds. We all have bloody minds now, and bloody hands. Whatever our political persuasion, the pictures should make us more aware than ever that war should be a last resort, not a first.</p>
<p>Barbara Bush: Oh, those disaster victims are just so lucky (9:18 am)
Sometimes, I still get surprised by how out of touch and callous these people are
Read below
.</p>
<p>Barbara Bush: Things Working Out Very Well for Poor Evacuees from New
Orleans</p>
<p>By E&P Staff</p>
<p>Published: September 05, 2005 7:25 PM ET updated 8:00 PM</p>
<p>NEW YORK Accompanying her husband, former President George H.W.Bush, on a tour of hurricane relief centers in Houston, Barbara Bush said today, referring to the
poor who had lost everything back home and evacuated, This is working very well for them.</p>
<p>The former First Ladys remarks were aired this evening on National Public Radios Marketplace program.</p>
<p>She was part of a group in Houston today at the Astrodome that included her husband and former President Bill Clinton, who were chosen by her son, the current president, to head fundraising efforts for the recovery. Sen. Hilary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama were also present.</p>
<p>In a segment at the top of the show on the surge of evacuees to the Texas city, Barbara Bush said: Almost everyone Ive talked to says were going to move to Houston.</p>
<p>Then she added: What Im hearing which is sort of scary is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality.</p>
<p>And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so thisthis (she chuckles slightly) is working very well for them. </p>
<p>posted by Tracy Van Slyke
Reader Comments
Looks like Barbara studied up for her interview by watching a GOOD TIMES marathon on Nick at Night. </p>
<p>posted by rmb on 9-6-05 at 11:53 AM
Its clear from Babs remarks that Ws gene pool is tainted. The ole girls elitism matches her husbands facination with the scanning machine at the grocery store. </p>
<p>Heres hoping there is a PR deluge from this extremely stupid remark. </p>
<p>As someone has observed, the apple doesnt fall far from the tree. </p>
<p>posted by Lackey Rowe on 9-6-05 at 12:45 PM
Relevant anecdote: </p>
<p>My family used to do the dry cleaning for the old man Bush…one day, our drapery guys go to the Walker household, the old mans mother. Theyre sweating their asses off, putting up these big drapes in their big house. </p>
<p>So the old lady offers them some iced tea. They readily accept; but when they follow her into the dining room, she has this embarrassed look on her face and says, The servants quarters are over there. </p>
<p>True story. </p>
<p>posted by rocco on 9-6-05 at 1:03 PM
Ride it like a fiord: …700 guests and employees from the Hyatt Hotel could move to the head of the evacuation line much to the amazement of those who had been crammed in the Superdome since last Sunday."
<a href=“http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9175611/page/2/[/url]”>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9175611/page/2/</a> </p>
<p>posted by Tim Christopher on 9-6-05 at 4:33 PM
And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so thisthis (she chuckles slightly) is working very well for them. </p>
<p>Looks like Dubya got his special form of sensitivity and compassion from the mothers side. </p>
<p>posted by Rabbit on 9-7-05 at 7:29 AM
I was once told that ignorance is bliss, and in so many ways the Bush regime continues to display that very fact. It would have been nice to have her stand in the center of Dome durring the 3rd day of turmoil and deliver that very message to the desperate and destitue…they would have ripped that woman to shreds. </p>
<p>posted by Vvondale Reynolds on 9-7-05 at 2:53 PM
They should slaughter that cow, Barbara, and feed her to the crowds. That would lend a very Tennessee Williams - Suddenly Last Summer - motif to this tragedy. How perfect! </p>
<p>posted by Keith Gore Wiseman on 9-8-05 at 2:42 PM
I did not agree with the outburst Kanye West made on national TV after the Katrina disaster. One thing he said was, George Bush dosent care about black people. Perhaps I was too quick to dismiss the comments West made. Barbara Bushs ignorant and disgusting comments are evidence that West may in fact be right. </p>
<p>posted by Sean Ryan on 9-8-05 at 8:45 PM
Looks like Barbara studied up for her interview by watching a GOOD TIMES marathon on Nick at Night. - rmb </p>
<p>I deficated in the Bush gene pool</p>
<p>What is the point of posting more Hate Barbara Bush comments from some other site??</p>
<p>It is very disingenuous to excuse the MANY insensitive, out of touch, crass, gay bashing comments of the ultra-privileged Teresa Heinz Kerry, while making such a big deal out of one misstatement by Mrs. Bush. You are exposing your hypocrisy. If any of those words had come out of Barbara Bushs mouth, you would be all over it.</p>