Posted on 10/14/2005 1:58:09 PM PDT by Neville72
In the days following Hurricane Katrina, Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard leapt into the white-hot media arena and became one of the most eloquent, savage, and ubiquitous critics of the Bush administration's lackluster, stutter-step response. As we noted earlier, Broussard's gift of gab had quote-hungry reporters lining up for tart samples.
But weeks later, at least one paper has remembered that Broussard is not only a political critic but also a politician -- and one who played a not-insignificant role in the failed evacuation. Unfortunately for Broussard, that paper is the one his constituency reads -- the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
As it turns out, in the hours prior to Katrina's arrival, while Broussard was busy pumping out memorable one-liners, his administration was neglecting something else -- specifically, the water pumps that protect the east side of Jefferson Parish.
Today the Times-Picayune published an editorial criticizing Broussard for his porous judgment. "Much of East Jefferson, like much of the rest of greater New Orleans, was built on drained swampland," noted the paper. "An elaborate network of drainage canals and pump stations is crucial to keeping water off the streets." But for 36 hours on August 28 and 29, the Times-Picayune continued, Jefferson pump stations sat silent, simply because parish officials had sent a total of 1,100 workers and 700 vehicles to Mount Hermon, near the state line, including the men and women who operate the pumps.
"Lots of people in Jefferson Parish are furious over ... Broussard's decision to evacuate more than 200 pump station workers as Hurricane Katrina loomed in the Gulf of Mexico," noted the editorial. "And while Mr. Broussard has vehemently defended that move ever since, residents have ample reason to be upset."
In an article, published in the Times-Picayune last week, upset residents did more than second-guess the decision -- they channeled their Inner Broussards.
"This wasn't an act of God," resident Danny Callahan told the paper. "It was an act of stupidity, and we're the little guys now stuck between the parish and the insurance companies. We are the ones who have to pay for the decisions politicians make. Higher insurance rates, deductibles, financial ruin. I don't want any politician deciding what they think is best for me. When he pays the mortgage on my house or takes my place in filing for bankruptcy, then he can make the decisions."
"For bedridden people, flooding is a matter of life," another resident told the paper. "I believe our homes would not have flooded in Hurricane Katrina had the pumps been running at the proper time. Now we have the agony -- yes, agony -- of trying to meet with insurance adjusters, fighting mold and mildew, and throwing our treasured possessions in a heap on the curb. ... What kind of faith can we have in our public officials to protect us?"
And while Broussard famously wept on NBC's "Meet the Press" while discussing the Bush Administration's failures, at the same time, others were shedding tears over Broussard's failures.
"I couldn't believe it," Debbie Settoon, a former East Jefferson Civic League president told the Times-Picayune. "I just screamed when I heard [that the pump stations were closed], and then I started crying. It was the first time I cried. It was the straw that broke the camel's back, because I knew what it meant."
Still, it's not easy to out-Broussard Broussard. When it was time to criticize the Bush Administration for its handling of the hurricane, Broussard delivered the best quotes. Now that the spotlight has turned to Broussard himself, the quote-maestro is not about to recuse himself from the proceedings.
"I am not an analysis paralysis guy," Broussard recently told the Times-Picayune. "I'm an action guy. If you manage a crisis by committee, you are hopelessly inept in reacting to the needs of the citizens. ... I was absolutely a salmon swimming upstream on this one."
Perhaps. But to hear the citizens of Jefferson Parish tell it, while Broussard was swimming upstream, their homes, dreams and possessions were being swept downstream. And now, thanks to the Times-Picayune's reporting, Broussard can no longer blame the flooding on management-by-committee at FEMA.
--Felix Gillette
When will Tim Russert apologize for foisting this lyin' moron on the nation? Sigh, probably never.
Great article.
Bush should have been there to pull the switch.
While were on the subject of the imposition of lying morons on the Nation let's not leave out the master practitioner of this black art - Nagin.
Undresses? LOL, I think the Times-Picayune meant "Dresses Down."
Wasn't Broussard the guy who was saying that the Bush Administration was cutting off people's power and water in the NOLA area?
I had a lefty neighbor stop me in the street after Katrina- he was furiously parroting this guys assertions. He became even more angry when I said that I was just out for an after-dinner neighborhood stroll and wasn't going to take what this guy was saying at face value. "Oh, but it's from the Washington Post- one of the most repected papers in the country!"
Great read.....I am surprised that CJR published an article critical of a Dimocrat.
A lot of people in the area (like my grandmother's neighbor) only got an inch or two of water in their houses. Not something that the pumps couldn't have handled, but enough to ruin carpet, furniture, etc.
Well perhaps you can print this article and shove it under his nose, or elsewhere if you're so inclined, while he's eating dinner with his family.
Just on the off chance that he'd love to do a story on this maybe we should go ahead and email it to him.
Russert had this moron on again two weeks after his lying cry fest. When challenged, Broussard said he didn't remember saying his lies and said he was offended being asked. Russert backed off and let him slide...it was sick.
"I'm an action guy."
Aaron Broussard's "action" consisted of thoughtless panicking. Broussard did his absolute best during and after the storm to convince people that Jefferson parish had been wiped clean off the face of the planet, when some parts had power only a few days after the storm. Most of Metarie was never more than, at most, two weeks from being livable, but this asshead told people that they should build their lives someplace else and never return; that Jefferson parish was some kind of post-apocalyptic nightmare.
I stayed through Katrina. I live in Jefferson Parish. Broussard is despicable. The Monday night of the hurricane on WWL this moron stated that he ordered the pumps shut off and the workers across the lake. Everyone present had their jaws drop. Not including the breach, this moron is the SOLE reason most of Jefferson flooded, probably causing over a Billion in damages. ALL the pump operators in Orleans stayed through the storm. Some of the pump operators in Jefferson were insisting on staying but Broussard ordered them to shut off the pumps and leave. They were livid. My sister's house and many friends had their houses flood b/c of this mental case Broussard. Our neighbor's nephew works for the Parish and was in the EOC (Emergency Operations Center) and said that Broussard has his own personal chef. He says everyone can't stand him. They call him a nut. I could write a book on what happened since Katrina. Broussard committed a criminal act with his actions. How this man can live with himself is beyond me.
I'm trying to find a link or transcript but WWL radio out of New Orleans was playing an audio last night of a meeting of the Jefferson Parish Council. Broussard and some of the council members as well as some local citizens were at each other's throats threating each other with "ass whippings", calling each other "s**theads, throwing F-bombs at each other and all kinds of assorted mayhem.
Too bad I wasn't in the area. I'd have paid money to see it.
"And they called Broussard at 2 am to start the pumps, and he said no. SOB! Boo Hoo!"
"And they called Broussard at 4 am to start the pumps, and he said no. SOB! Boo Hoo!"
"And they called Broussard at 6 am to start the pumps, and he said no. SOB! Boo Hoo!" ....
Something similar happened to my neighborhood a few years ago, during Hurricane Floyd. My town, Cranford, was doing fine. The rain was over, and the river was still a good two feet below flood stage. But then water started getting into the garage of the Township Administrator of Kenilworth, the next town upstream on the river. He didn't want his garage to get wet, so he had his Department of Public Works release the Kenilworth Dam out of sequence. The water in Cranford rose four feet in about ten minutes, and 300 homes were flooded.
Moral of the story: Public officials don't give a damn about you or your property. They will sacrifice you, your home, and hundreds of millions of dollars, just so they won't have to move their car.
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