Ben DeSoto/Houston Chronicle Jesse Jackson, center, U.S. Rep. Al Green left, and U.S. Rep. Shelia Jackson Lee hold a press conference before touring the Astrodome.
Posted on 09/05/2005 2:04:37 PM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Ben DeSoto/Houston Chronicle Jesse Jackson, center, U.S. Rep. Al Green left, and U.S. Rep. Shelia Jackson Lee hold a press conference before touring the Astrodome.
Joining two of Houston's most prominent black legislators in slamming the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said today that evacuees shouldn't be shipped to distant states and shouldn't be referred to as "refugees."
Jackson said he appreciated the willingness of states as far away as Utah and Minnesota to take in evacuees but suggested such plans take them too far from their families and the homes that must be rebuilt.
"It's a long ways from home," he said. "It's a long way from where they have lived, where they were acculturated."
If evacuees are living thousands of miles away, he said, they can't be in on the jobs and economic opportunities that will arise as their communities are rebuilt. He proposed using military bases in Louisiana, such as the mothballed England Air Force Base in Alexandria. Evacuees could live in dorms and tent cities.
Jackson said evacuees from the Gulf Coast are not refugees, a word he believes suggests subhumans or criminals.
"It is racist to call American citizens refugees,'' he said.
After touring the Reliant Astrodome today, Jackson blamed the federal government for many of the problems evacuees now face. The government should have assisted New Orleans with evacuation efforts before the storm struck and has been far to slow in its wake to rescue those left in the city and provide aid, he said.
"As the waters subside, the death toll could be astronomical, of frightening dimensions, because we've been so slow to act," Jackson said
U.S. Rep. Shelia Jackson Lee, D-Houston and U.S. Rep. Al Green, D-Houston, also said the Federal Emergency Management Agency left New Orleans unprotected.
"This was a test case, and we failed," Jackson Lee said.
Jackson also lambasted the Louisiana office of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, saying it should have let the Red Cross into New Orleans immediately after the hurricane passed one week ago.
Homeland security officials told the Red Cross not to enter the city because they were trying to get residents out, not encourage them to stay, because most of the city was still under water, and because armed gangs of looters were in the streets.
Marsha Evans, president of the American Red Cross, said today the agency was ready to go in. Its volunteers understood the danger and were willing to do their jobs, she said.
"The decision not to let them in was not sound," Jackson said. "The danger was exaggerated."
The federal government has been taking criticism from all quarters in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
The New Orleans Times-Picayune, in an open letter, called upon Bush to fire every official at FEMA.
"We're angry, Mr. President,'' the newspaper said in an open letter.
If criticism of the federal government has been sharp, Jackson and other political leaders were happy to praise the efforts of Houston and the state of Texas, where one quarter of a million of Louisiana's refugees have landed.
"I'm so proud of Houston," Jackson Lee said. "This city has done a wonderful job."
"It is racist to call American citizens refugees,'' he said."
Jesse probably uses the word racist with everyone and everything he comes into contact with.
Je$$e's problems as the head slave master, is the voting slavers of N O's are gone, and may never return to Jesse's N O's plantation. La might become a blue state in the next election.
I still wonder how much Brazile earns, and how much, approximately, she is worth, so this can be "accented" a bit.
Metro areas are a living organism, with dependent parts. When some parts fail, others do as well, or the reverse. That is why I look at political trends on a metro basis. It is the only basis with any meaning.
Your in sugar sales aren't you. LoL!
Granular or powdered?
Just funnin' Lady J. : )
That's gratitude for you, millions of Americans making huge sacrifices to try to accommodate the victims of the disaster in NO and all this moron can say "is it's not fast enough, it's not good enough, it's too far".
What would Jesus say about that Jesse ?
Easy on the parasite comparisons.
Some parasites are good for the ecology.
Keep talking ,Jesse, you ignorant, low life SOB. America is laughing at your stupidity. The Government didn't fail them. YOU did by making excuses for them not being productive, self sufficient citizens all their lives. THEY have to be held accountable for making the decision to stay. No one made them stay. NO ONE. Not the President , not the government, nor the citizens or taxpayers. Quit blaming every body else for your ignorance and thiers. If you cared so much, where the hell are you when they were trying to evacuate them? It is easy to spout your bs from a stage. And yes Jesse. I did my part. I donated to ALL colors of people. Some of us DO NOT play the race card every time something happens to get publicity. If you truly care, DO SOMETHING......
With all Donna Brazile's political connections, she couldn't get him out of there?
Or maybe she wouldn't. Maybe the situation was worth milking for political points for the Democrats.
And as for her financial ability to assist her mentally disabled sister, well, based on her own website's biography, http://wwwdonnabrazile.com, I'd say she's doing okay:
Donna Brazile is Founder and Managing Director of Brazile and Associates, LLC. Brazile, Chair of the Democratic National Committee's Voting Rights Institute (VRI) and an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University, is a senior political strategist and former Campaign Manager for Gore-Lieberman 2000 - the first African American to lead a major presidential campaign.
Prior to joining the Gore campaign, Brazile was Chief of Staff and Press Secretary to Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton of the District of Columbia where she helped guide the District's budget and local legislation on Capitol Hill.
Brazile is a weekly contributor and political commentator on CNN’s Inside Politics and American Morning. In addition, she is a columnist for Roll Call Newspaper and a contributing writer for Ms. Magazine.
A veteran of numerous national and statewide campaigns, Brazile has worked on several presidential campaigns for Democratic candidates, including Carter-Mondale in 1976 and 1980, Rev. Jesse Jackson's first historic bid for the presidency in 1984, Mondale-Ferraro in 1984, U.S. Representative Dick Gephardt in 1988, Dukakis-Bentsen in 1988, and Clinton-Gore in 1992 and 1996.
In addition to working on political campaigns, Brazile has served as a senior lecturer and adjunct professor at the University of Maryland and a fellow at Harvard's Institute of Politics.
Ahm, he isn't the only moron in this case....
The other morons have an excuse however for they are Democratic Politicians, thus it is to be expected from them.
I don't recall seeing anything but waste from this parasite.
Tough choice. On the one hand, it would be nice for Lousiana to lose tens of thousands of welfare-state Democratic voters. On the other hand, what well-run, law-abiding community in its right mind would take these people in?
Nor do I.
I never claimed to see any good from his parasitical directives. ; )
Bringing back businesss and the jobs will be the first priority and makes the most sense just to bring in revenues for the city. I doubt anyone is going to want to use federal money for housing until the levee problem is solved.
Kind of reminds me when we used to "adopt" a family at Christmas at the office and everyone would bring in gifts. Last time we delivered them on Christmas eve the mother was drunk and upset her kid didn't get a bicycle. We quit and made a donation to the Children's home, they were very appreciative.
Wait a minute... I'm white AND a refugee... from Vermont, now living in refugee status in the Live Free or Die state of New Hampshire.
Excellent point JL, for the time being , the federal government will suffice as being the blame taker.
Of course they can't. Other states have been willing to help, but not enough of the refugees/evacuees (I'm not interested in that argument) have been convinced that they need to think about the future beyond tomorrow.
A convoy of busses from Wash. DC went down there, hoping to pick up 800 people to bring back. All they found were convoys of busses from other states - all of them went back home empty.
These people are being taken care of pretty well, and none of them want to move on yet. That says a lot for the generosity and caring of people in TX, LA, MS, etc. As time drags on, some of these people will either volunteer or be "encouraged" to move on.
If any of the evacuees were capable of being in on the rebuilding jobs, they wouldn't have been sitting around on their asses griping that their MRE's were cold, waiting for someone to do something.
Are you series? And give up the cushy gig he has now?
From West Central Minnesota to Middle Tennessee here. It don't get much more "culture shocky" than that. LOL
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