Posted on 09/16/2005 3:23:01 PM PDT by Kaslin
Reporter apparently sought critical remarks after speech
An ABC News reporter who apparently expected hurricane evacuees to criticize the president after his speech last night, instead heard words of praise for Bush and blame for local officials.
Dean Reynolds, in the parking lot of Houston's Astrodome, spoke with black evacuees from New Orleans, but "not one of the six people interviewed on camera had a bad word for Bush – despite Reynolds' best efforts," said the Media Research Center in a report on the segment.
"You talk about a major big media backfire, folks, this is it," commented radio talk host Rush Limbaugh during his show today.
Reynolds asked Connie London: "Did you harbor any anger toward the president because of the slow federal response?"
"No, none whatsoever," she said, "because I feel like our city and our state government should have been there before the federal government was called in."
London pointed out: "They had RTA buses, Greyhound buses, school buses, that was just sitting there going under water when they could have been evacuating people."
Reynolds asked Brenda Marshall: "Was there anything that you found hard to believe that he said, that you thought, well, that's nice rhetoric, but, you know, the proof is in the pudding?"
She replied, "No, I didn't," prompting Reynolds to marvel to anchor Ted Koppel: "Very little skepticism here."
Reynolds pressed another woman: "Did you feel that the president was sincere tonight?"
She affirmed: "Yes, he was."
Reynolds asked who they held culpable for the levee breaks – a problem national media have blamed on Bush-mandated budget cuts:
One evacuee said, "They've been allocated federal funds to fix the levee system, and it never got done. I fault the mayor of our city personally. I really do."
The full text of Reynolds interviews is as follows:
"I'd like to get the reaction of Connie London who spent several horrible hours at the Superdome. You heard the president say repeatedly that you are not alone, that the country stands beside you. Do you believe him?"
Connie London: "Yeah, I believe him, because here in Texas, they have truly been good to us. I mean-"
Reynolds: "Did you get a sense of hope that you could return to your home one day in New Orleans?"
London: "Yes, I did. I did."
Reynolds: "Did you harbor any anger toward the President because of the slow federal response?"
London: "No, none whatsoever, because I feel like our city and our state government should have been there before the federal government was called in. They should have been on their jobs."
Reynolds: "And they weren't?"
London: "No, no, no, no. Lord, they wasn't. I mean, they had RTA buses, Greyhound buses, school buses, that was just sitting there going under water when they could have been evacuating people."
Reynolds: "Now, Mary, you were rescued from your house which was basically submerged in your neighborhood. Did you hear something in the President's words that you could glean some hope from?"
Mary: "Yes. He said we're coming back, and I believe we're coming back. He's going to build the city up. I believe that."
Reynolds: "You believe you'll be able to return to your home?"
Mary: "Yes, I do."
Reynolds: "Why?"
Mary: "Because I really believe what he said. I believe. I got faith."
Reynolds: "Back here in the corner, we've got Brenda Marshall, right?"
Brenda Marshall: "Yes."
Reynolds: "Now, Brenda, you were, spent, what, several days at the Superdome, correct?"
Marshall: "Yes, I did."
Reynolds: "What did you think of what the President told you tonight?"
Marshall: "Well, I think -- I think the speech was wonderful, you know, him specifying that we will return back and that we will have like mobile homes, you know, rent or whatever. I was listening to that pretty good. But I think it was a well fine speech."
Reynolds: "Was there any particular part of it that stood out in your mind? I mean, I saw you all nod when he said the Crescent City is going to come back one day."
Marshall: "Well, I think I was more excited about what he said. That's probably why I nodded."
Reynolds: "Was there anything that you found hard to believe that he said, that you thought, well, that's nice rhetoric, but, you know, the proof is in the pudding?"
Marshall: "No, I didn't."
Reynolds: "Good. Well, very little skepticism here. Frederick Gould, did you hear something that you could hang on to tonight from the President?"
Frederick Gould: "Well, I just know, you know, he said good things to me, you know, what he said, you know. I was just trying to listen to everything they were saying, you know."
Reynolds: "And Cecilia, did you feel that the President was sincere tonight?"
Cecilia: "Yes, he was."
Reynolds: "Do you think this is a little too late, or do you think he's got a handle on the situation?"
Cecilia: "To me it was a little too late. It was too late, but he should have did something more about it."
Reynolds: "Now do you all believe that you will one day return to your homes?"
Voices: "Yes" and "I do."
Reynolds: "I mean, do you all want to return to your homes? We're hearing some people don't even want to go back."
Mary: "I want to go back."
Reynolds: "You want to go back."
Mary: "I want to go back. That's my home. That's all I know."
Reynolds: "Is it your home for your whole life?"
Mary: "Right. That's my home."
Reynolds: "And do you expect to go back to the house or a brand new dwelling or what?"
Mary: "I expect to go back to something. I know it ain't my house, because it's gone."
Reynolds: "What is the one mistake that could have been prevented that would have made your lives much better? Is it simply getting all of you out much sooner or what was it?"
Mary: "I'm going to tell you the truth. I had the opportunity to get out, but I didn't believe it. So I stayed there till it was too late."
Reynolds: "Did you all have the same feeling? I mean, did you all have the opportunity to get out, but you were skeptical that this was the really bad one?"
Unnamed woman: "No, I got out when they said evacuate. I got out that Sunday and I left before the storm came. But I know they could have did better than what they did because like they said, buses were just sitting there, and they could have came through there and got people out, because they were saying immediate evacuation. Some people didn't believe it. But they should have brung the force of the army through to help these people and make them understand it really was coming."
London: "And really it wasn't Hurricane Katrina that really tore up the city. It was when they opened the floodgates. It was not the hurricane itself. It was the floodgates, when they opened the floodgates, that's where all the water came."
Reynolds: "Do you blame anybody for this?"
London: "Yes. I mean, they've been allocated federal funds to fix the levee system, and it never got done. I fault the mayor of our city personally. I really do."
Reynolds: "All right. Well, thank you all very much. I wish you all the best of luck. I hope you don't have to spend too much more time here in the Reliant Center and you can get back to New Orleans as the President said. Ted, that is the word from the Houston Astrodome. And as I said, when the President said that the Crescent City will rise again, there were nods all around this parking lot."
Uhh... who'd have thunk it?
I despise the media.
Well, if they do mention it, they will say those poor folks who were interviewed have been given mind control drugs by Karl Rove, or some such nonsense.
Heh heh...I'm picturing the interviewer's face getting redder and redder from the bottom up, then he just starts vibrating in place like Yosemite Sam, he's so frustrated.
It's fairly obvious Rove must have had these people drugged just like he did to Saddam when they caught him. Whatever that drug is, they should sneak some of it to the Dems in Congress. Heh, heh!
Be series, will you. I didn't fall off the turnip truck yesterday you know.
I can see it now, from now on ABC live "man on the street" interviews will look like bad 70s "Godzilla" movies. As the folks on camera speak, ABC will overdub their own "reactions" to the questions. No one will notice when the person on TV seems to be talking when they've already completed their answer to the question.
Well, right now I DON'T despise Dean Reynolds since he did such a great job of making President Bush look good. It was even better that he had the NO people praising him. Hilarious. Why in the world did they run that on ABC? Are they forgetting what their mission is? IBF! (It's Bush's Fault!)
One evacuee said, "They've been allocated federal funds to fix the levee system, and it never got done. I fault the mayor of our city personally. I really do."
Bravo - Where is the lynching?
"It's fairly obvious Rove must have had these people drugged just like he did to Saddam when they caught him"
Implants. I'm thinking implants. Yeah, that's it... implants. And psychotronic waves.
ABC Radio found a couple evacuees to bash Bush this morning. I was listening to WBZ (1030) in Boston, and they played an brief ABC radio piece wherein the reporter interviewed two evacuees (who had been stranded on the interstate after Katrina) about the President's speech. They said it was too little, too late, insincere, blah blah blah.
And when pressed for examples of their complaints, one of the two women lashed out against state troopers who had just driven around the interstate and offered them no instruction or help. Yes, you read that right....STATE TROOPERS.
But of course, it's still Bush's fault in their eyes, and apparently in the eyes of ABC Radio, who described the piece as 'dissatisfaction with the President'. All message but NO substance to back it up.
Rush made sure 20 million heard this today!
I watched Reynolds conduct those interviews. The transcript does NOT give you a feel for the TONE of his questions. He was trying VERY hard to get the people to say something BAD about Bush. His voice was dripping with sarcasm. As soon as someone said something good, he immediately moved on to another person. In case you were wondering about demographics, all of the people were black.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
*LOL*
Rove's got to be giving "mind-control drugs" to get black people to sopmething nice about the prez, eh?
Bloody hilarious!
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