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| Lt. General Honore blasts press coverage of Katrina aftermath | |
| 2005-09-06 | |
| Lieutenant General Russel Honore lived up to his 'John Wayne dude' nickname, blasting complaints that red tape or poor security were snarling relief efforts as "B.S." The fiery general, in charge of the military component of the mission, lost his rag during a press conference after President George W. Bush's visit to rescue coordinators here. "That's B.S. It's B.S.," Honore raged. "I can tell you that is B.S. We have got 300 helicopters and some of the finest EMS workers in the world down there. "There is no red tape ... there are isolated incidents that people take to paint a broad brush." Honore also lashed out at questions from journalists at the Baton Rouge emergency operations center concerning the security situation in New Orleans. "You need to get on the streets of New Orleans, you can't sit back here and say what you hear from someone else. "It is secure, we walk around without any issues. Why the hell are you trying to make that the issue, if you can help, get there and help," he said, saying that people were being scared away by reports of violence. When one reporter argued that there still reports of bureaucracy and unrest stalling relief efforts in some outlying parishes of New Orleans, Honore fumed: "I don't care if it is Hancock County, Mississippi -- we are not going to have that kind of issue." The comments that sparked Honore's verbal blast were apparently made by US Representative Bobby Jindal, who represents a New Orleans district. "The bureaucracy needs to do more than one thing at a time. It's appropriate to save people with helicopters, but it can't be done to the exclusion of everything else," Jindal was quoted by Time magazine as saying. Honore did not discount that Jindal may be basing his complaints on "isolated" incidents, and said he would follow up with him. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin dubbed Honore 'one John Wayne dude' in admiration for his efforts when he showed up in the city last week. "He came off the doggone chopper, and he started cussing and people started moving," Nagin said in a radio interview on Thursday.
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| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #4 One thing I was wondering about was the newschoppers . Why the fuck didn't the fucking networks order them to pick people up instead of broadcasting their misery. |
| Posted by: Cheaderhead 2005-09-06 22:22 |
| #3 Saw an interview of the mayor this morning (CBS?). It was an incredibly soft interview primarily allowing him to blame the federal government, instead of his administration's unpreparedness or the lawless citizens of N.O. There was not one tough question. Later I saw an interview of an aircraft carrier captain. The newsbabe was trying her hardest to get the captain to fault FEMA and the feds. No matter how many times she tried, he wouldn't bite. Near the end, the captain said the ship had taken on extra rations and water before the hurricane in case relief operations were needed. The flight deck was piled high with goods. Too bad the N.O. administration didn't have the foresight to stock their emergency shelter (Superdome) with food and water. |
| Posted by: ed 2005-09-06 18:00 |
| #2 We need more can-do people like Lt. General Honore in the public view. And when slime-spewers like CNN give them crap, and the can-do people dump it back in the faces of the reporters, we need the higher-ups in the government, like the Cabinet and the President back them up and tell the CNNoids, that, well, that is how we call them. Press: Do you always look at the press negatively like that? General: Yes, Ma'am. We certainly do. Most of you are, uh, shall we say, biased, agenda driven, lazy, cowardly, and worthless, nothing personal, you understand..... |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2005-09-06 16:35 |
| #1 Got any links on the General's arrival and this interview.Sounds like this guy is a lot like Stormin Norman when it comes to dealing with the press.My favorite Swarzkoff quote"That's a bunch of Bovine Scatology". |
| Posted by: raptor 2005-09-06 09:51 |