A message making the rounds of the internet reports and comments briefly on an interesting statement recently made by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA), which I confirmed by finding the relevant quote in the Washington Post here. The Kennedy statement was in regard to the federal government's response to Katrina, and the internet message is as follows:
"What the American people have seen is this incredible disparity in which those people who had cars and money got out and those people who were impoverished died," Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) said.
Mary Jo Kopechne could not be reached for comment.
I have an idea for a sci-fi screenplay: Ted Kennedy's body is taken over by aliens, who are staging Yet Another Bid To Take Over The World. They use Ted as a practice human, because they know that his behavior has passed so far over the line of self-parody that no one will notice if Alien Ted says and does things that seem too stupid to be real.
ReplyDeleteOr a Saturday Night Live skit (if SNL was still funny, that is): Ted Kennedy goes to New Orleans to volunteer to drive a schoolbus transporting Katrina victims to safety. Everyone declines, preferring to drown at home rather than in Massachusetts.
Funny, Kathy. In the first scenario, I picture him as being portrayed by Vincent D'Onofrio in the twitchy way he played his character in Men in Black—and the way he plays Detective Bobby Goren in Law and Order: Criminal Intent, for that matter.
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ReplyDelete"What the American people have seen is this incredible disparity in which those people who had cars and money got out and those people who were impoverished died,"
ReplyDeleteTranslation: "... those who depended upon the government died."
I can't help but draw a parallel between the Katrina disaster and the heat wave in France a few years ago.
The shift of responsibility towards the state is indeed dangerous.
Social Welfare: The expenditure of tax revenue for the public good.
ReplyDeleteHope you don't enjoy taking your kids to public parks or driving on roads, CLA. Or eating uncontaminated foodstuffs. Or having a health system to fall back on if your local hospital goes under.
"while you certainly may feel free to mock the source what he said was also quite simply true."
ReplyDeleteTrue? No. Misleading? Definitley.
"... a small percentage of those who were impoverished died along with many others who thought they could ride the storm out."
"Alternate translation: "those impoverished by the inequities in america were left to die.""
Are you still reading the papers from weeks ago? You know ... the ones that had outrageous claims of what happened in the Superdome?
"How exactly is relying on the state to provide highways for your car more responsible? Just curious."
You lost me ...
I'm not going to play the "reductio ad absurdum" game with you James.
ReplyDeleteWhich was my point.
ReplyDeleteWe're all on welfare, CLA. Some of us just realize it.
There are certain things that "the state" has shown to be good at; building roads is one of them.
ReplyDeleteThere are other things that "the state" has been shown to by abyssmal at; caring for elderly, evacuations, etc...
Exactly what were the problems in France? Poor healthcare system, no one caring for elderly ...
One might argue that no one caring for the elderly might have more to do with a selfish, consumerist society than the welfare state, CLA. In fact, I'd say that's exactly why people ignore their extended families.
ReplyDelete"One might argue that no one caring for the elderly might have more to do with a selfish, consumerist society than the welfare state, CLA. In fact, I'd say that's exactly why people ignore their extended families."
ReplyDeleteYou may have a point, JE. I would remove your word "exactly" and replace it with "one reason".
Another reason: the extended families all assumed that their parents and grandparents would be cared for by "the state"; both with welfare and health care.
Why should I pay to help my mother when she can get the help from "the state?"
Oh ... and I don't want to hear about what a cruel b@$t@rd I am, I am merely (as in other threads) speaking about what may be someones motivations.
CLA, no fears on that score on this thread. In this instance, you're posing a hypothetical. Personally, I think you're a tad ridiculous in insinuating that in a welfare state, people abdicate all responsibility to their fellows. Research shows that actually quite the opposite is true.
ReplyDeleteLet's not forget that Mary Jo's parents took the hush money and hushed. "I traveled the Earth and the Seven Seas... some people want to use you and some want to be used by you..."
ReplyDeleteSo, conservatives in this thread think it's funny that many people drowned in New Orleans?
ReplyDeleteThe stuff that passes for humor among conservatives I can't understand. I'm not sure which is a bigger sin, swimming away from the scene of one death, or pretending someone else's having done so excuses hundreds of such deaths.
Let me take that back: I'm sure which is the bigger sin. Kennedy didn't commit it.