Call me crazy, but if news outlets were going to, oh, get hurricane reaction from the lead singer of Katrina and the Waves, or utilize the storm’s name to make political potshots, maybe they should’ve done it well in advance of the death count that’s begun to mount in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida.
Instead, though, today’s New York Times tracks down Katrina Leskanich, former lead singer of Katrina and the Waves, to see how she felt seeing her name linked with the category 5 hurricane that’s left hundreds of thousands homeless, and perhaps up to several thousand dead. (Um, guys, how did you think she’d feel?) To her credit, Leskanich tries to make the most of an icky interview by noting she hopes ”the true spirit of [the group's hit single] ‘Walking on Sunshine’ will prevail” in the wake of the destruction.
Unfortunately, that spirit seems to have been forgotten by Rush Limbaugh; as recently as Aug. 31, the conservative radio host referred to the storm as Katrina vanden Heuvel (after the editor of The Nation), and worried aloud that ”the left is going to use this tragedy against the right.” (Read the transcript of Limbaugh’s broadcast here.) Am I the only one who finds Limbaugh’s blathering tasteless, especially when the depressing news just keeps pouring in?
At least the people at ABC are showing restraint, pulling promos for its hurricane-themed series Invasion out of respect for Katrina’s victims. Meanwhile, celebrities with New Orleans ties such as Ellen DeGeneres, Harry Connick Jr., and Patricia Clarkson, are all talking about the horror they felt over the storm’s destructive effects, and discussing their plans to help in the fundraising and rebuilding process.
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I thought that Eva Longoria’s hurricane comment at the VMA’s was tasteless but Rush’s comments and the NY Times bring it to a new low.
Kudos to ABC for pulling the promos for their show out of respect.
I like many have not been able to look away. I was in New Orleans a year ago and felt welcomed into the city by the many locals. When I see the images on the news it does not even look like the same place, or the same country for that matter.
The victims are in all our hearts. Well, except maybe Rush Limbaughs.
While Eva’s comments were likely read from a teleprompter or fed to her before she walked out (and before the hurricane’s full force known), I find it disgusting, if not surprising, that Rush would politicize such a terrible disaster.
You are so right on – why isn’t RUSH IN JAIL for his drug abuse instead of on the air abusing victims of the hurricane. GO EW.COM for telling it like it is and not like that lunatic – blaggering at the mouth!!!!
Is it really so bad when several people HAVE started blaming the hurricane on Bush’s environmental policy. Maybe THAT’s the kind of rhetoric we can do without.
Um, the left IS using the hurricane as an excuse to Bush bash! Check out fatso Roger Moore’s website.
Apparently hurricanes didn’t exist before Bush took office and nothing ever flooded.
roger moore has a bush bashing website? who knew?!
Al Franken was right: Rush Limbaugh is a big, fat idiot, and I find the number of people who subscribe to his views appalling. I’m not fan of Bush or his environmental policies, but this hurricane cannot be blamed on him. The seeds for the destruction of the Gulf Coast were planted long before he managed to gain office. Of course, he and Congress have done little to avert future environmental tragedies, but that’s another story.
Having lived through Hurricane Charley last year, and having a business destroyed by it, I thought ABC showed remarkably poor taste with Invasion even before Katrina.
My 17 year old daughter’s name is Katrina (yes – named after the band. I’m such an 80’s nerd!), and she’s had to hear endless jokes and comments about Hurricane Katrina over the past few weeks. Funny, it just doesn’t seem that hilarious any longer…
I have to give some of those at the Fox news network some credit. They have been critical of the administrations lack of planning and slow response to the disaster. I am tired of presidential and cabinet press conferences promising results. Lets have some accountabiltiy in government finally so we can prevent further situations such as this. Are we to expect the same response in the case of a terrorist attack? Where is all the money spent on home land security and response?
My thought and prayers are with the victims and those affected by this tragedy. God Bless America.
CNN’s coverage of Katrina has been appalling. Criticism and blame is the LEAST helpful contribution that anyone can make during a crisis.Your “coverage”(debates)is only adding a catalyst to a potential exploxion that like the US hasn’t seen for 4 years.(Nancy Grace is no more a news reporter than Jerry Springer is.)FYI I’m a democrat that has been following CNN since the first gulf war…but right now I’m watching FOX.
I am tired of the media using every oportunity that arises as a excuse to bash president bush. Katrina has destroyed the lives of thousands of Americans and all the media can do is use this travisty to undermind government. It is no wonder, public opionion on the competence of government is negative. If you ran a business and you knew the day after Thanksgiving was going to be the busiest day of the year you could prepare for the day as much as possible, but I’m sure your going to incounter unhappy customers and un-forseen problems will arise.
Shame on U.S. for the un-organized, un-communicative, and seemingly uncaring response to this tragedy. Many questions to be answered. The interview with the lady today who is now in Baltimore after being rescued from the Ritz/Carlton hotel on Thursday. Seems she and 300 of her “special” friends were trapped there. No pool, no AC, no valet service. So…what does FEMA do….it sends EIGHTEEN buses to pick up these people, takes all of them to Baton Rouge…and flie’s them home. Seems the “rescuers” neglected to notice the “little” people out there treading water as they drove by, to what was just minutes before an area that could not be reached. Hmmm….makes you wonder. Then there’s the evacuation of staff and family members from Tulane University PRIVATE Hospital…not long after all of the patience had been rescued. While ACROSS THE STREET at Charity Hospital (the Public hospital for the poor)…over 200 PATIENTS get to watch the evacuation…again being told that it was to dangerous to pick them up.
I don’t know if it’s class issue…or it’s a race issue…it just’s downright confusing.
I spent 30 years working in Disaster Preparedness…and responding to crisis situations around the world. Never have I seen such a blatant disregard for human life. And it has to make you wonder why. I’m afraid in the overall BIG picture of things, while many, many acts of heroism and human kindness have been going on this week, this will still become one of Americas darkest moments. While politicians, agency directors, and other heads of government hold constant press conference applauding each others efforts, the fact remains this was a cluster-f_ _ k from day one at many levels. The weak, poor, and frail paid the price. It makes you wonder…if this had been Boca Raton Florida, would the response be this slow in coming. Some people say that now is not the time to question things. That we must just stay on task and get the job done. It’s funny how this administration always says that: i.e….9/11. Most Americans were caught by total surprise. After the smoke had cleared, come to find out the administration had all kinds of info within it’s agencies pointing to this very type of attack. BUT…Don’t question it…do the “hard work”, no use in placing blame. (More effective leaders would call it “responsibility”) Then…we invade Iraq…cause they have MASS quantities of WMD’s and are supporters of Osama. Well…that didn’t pan out….but…lets not question it. Now we have a category 4 hurricane hit one of our major cities and the Gulf Coast. There is plenty of warning, a state of emergency is declared 2 days before the hurricane hits. Why were we not prepared to respond…assets in place, troops called up and ready to go. That’s how you plan for the worst. But according to the administration…everybody is doing a GREAT job. I guess Bush found that out while watching TV before leaving his vacation early. Ohhh….and Condi finally arrived today after her vacation. Did anybody else see the interview with FEMA Head Brown. When asked at a press conference about the situation in New Orleans, no food or water for thousands, he got downright pious with the reporter and assured all that meals and water were reacing EVERYBODY. Well…instead of listening to his staff of lackies…he must have finally turned on the news and found out that there were around 30,000 people at the conference center….who everybody had forgotten. NOW…that’s leadership for you.
It’s sad….just very, very sad. And the thing is….nothing…absolutely nothing will be done about it. Our nation..is in big trouble.
Like so many other blacks in America, I am outraged and despondent at the lackluster response of the American Government. I regrettably can once again point to New Orleans and the lack of response until day 5 and say , here lies another example of the marginalization of poor African Americans in America. Again our Government deserted us in our time of need and have left our people out to die.
This comment is not meant to trivialize the thousands of Americans who have given and are digging deep into their own pockets and hearts to help the people of Lousiana and Mississippi. In fact, they are the only source of comfort and hope in this horrible time.
As I watch the news, I cannot help but echo the feelings of Kanye West and thousands of other blacks in America and wonder out loud, If this happened in a predominantly white city, would the government of this great nation of ours have responded earlier? Would thousands of people be left stranded without food and water for 4-5 days? Would they be left to live or die in complete squalor?
Today, the tears and the anger just cover the hopelessness and the despair that arises from the feeling that no matter what we accomplish as a people and no matter what strides we make, our government will and does consider us second class citizens and treats us in that manner. It breaks my heart and I am ashamed to call myself an American.
Laredo, Texas
when you picture roving bands of thugs. what picture appears in your minds eye? the mayor of new york handled the problems he did not blame others and start cursing at everyone. the governor of the state of LA should have had the LA national guard in place on sunday!
Internally displaced persons are not refugees
Refugees are people who flee their country and seek the protection of another country because they fear persecution in their homeland based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or social group. In the U.S., people with refugee status are recognized as refugees before coming to this country.
President Bush referred to our American citizens of New Orleans as displaced persons when he addressed the nation earlier this week. This is the appropriate term as it refers to internally displaced persons and includes those displaced because of natural or man-made disasters.
The media should know these terms and stop referring to our citizens as refugees.
Every disaster related warning from government (local, state and federal) has been specific that the individual should not expect to be fully relieved for at least 72 hours – depending on the severity and scope of the disaster. This guideline has been used for the last fifty years for everything from tornado to earthquake to flood. That means that the best prepared would be the least distressed. Could government get to the sites of this tragedy sooner? Perhaps. But if hindsight teaches us anything it’s that Murphy was right. Nothing is ever as easy as it looks and will always take longer to accomplish – especially if the government is involved.
Read it again. Even if you hate him, Rush was correct. The left is making great political hay out of this. As an evacuee from Slidell, LA and a New Orleans native. I can speak with authority on this: Wait for the death toll from St. Bernard and Plaquemine parishes. They’re mostly white and still in worse shape than New Orleans. Their story is yet to be told and were more brutally abandoned than the citizens of New Orleans. I’ll wait patiently for the left to admit they were wrong.