"Finger-pointing" or "Stop trying to hold us accountable!"

[beandelphiki]

Ganked from i_dreamed_i_was:

Go HERE for a transcript of yesterday's [White House, sorry!] press conference. It has some really mind-boggling parts, including this:

Q Does the President agree with his mother that the homeless taken from New Orleans to Houston are much better off now because they were underprivileged in New Orleans?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think she was making a personal observation on some of the comments that people were making that she was running into. I'm not sure that that's exactly what she said, but --

Q I have it right here if you need it.

MR. McCLELLAN: -- what we're focused on -- what we're focused on is helping these people who are in need.

Q Does he agree with his mother?

MR. McCLELLAN: And I think that the observation is based on someone who -- or some people that were talking to her, that were in need of a lot of assistance, people that have gone through a lot of trauma and been through a very difficult and trying time. And all of a sudden, they are now getting great help in the state of Texas from some of the shelters.

Q "It's scary that they're all coming to Texas."

MR. McCLELLAN: Again, I think you can look at her comments.

Q That is what she said, though.


And this:


Q When did the President know that Katrina was the kind of hurricane that could overtop the levees?

MR. McCLELLAN: A lot of the media reports that were coming out Monday, Monday night, Tuesday morning were expressing that it had missed the massive flooding that some had projected in a worst-case scenario.

Q The President of the United States was getting his information about this major disaster from the media?


...And so much more.

Go read.

Comments

[siegeengine.livejournal.com]

exactly, that's exactly what they're doing.
It's what they always do when they make a mistake.
they point fingers in every direction they can, whipping up such a smokescreen that most people, most of the public, have no idea what is true and what is not, and so dismiss accusations at the president as easily as they dismiss the bizarro fake accusations that he is hurling himself.

[siegeengine.livejournal.com]

the idiot in charge of FEMA btw, Brown I think his name is, had NO qualifications for the job. NO experience in emergencies or disaster relief or whatnot. He was the head of the Arabian Horse association. That's it.

I think Bush has some Arabian Horses, oddly enough.

Bean...

[i-dreamed-i-was.livejournal.com]

I heard what you were saying in Kitti's thread on BF. It's a weird position to be in, because you know that black folk can defend themselves. They don't "need us" to do anything.

OTOH? I kinda think it's our job as white people to call-out/educate other white people. POC shouldn't have to do it. But it's just another one of those conundrums WRT being a "white ally."

I also think it's kinda funny/bizarre, 'cause you and I know that Kitti's husband/fiance (?) is white, and that thread on BF about me made her kinda upset about what she called "blacker-than-thou" folk. So-- I mean-- if there ever WERE someone to "remind" that "all white people aren't bad" (and I don't think there ever will be)-- she certainly wouldn't be it. You know?

*smh*

And P.S...

[i-dreamed-i-was.livejournal.com]

FWIW, I don't think toodani was implicating you in any drama. I think she was just talking about that other whitegirl with her Gandhi stuff... Basically just agreeing with you. Just my 2 cents.

[beandelphiki.livejournal.com]

Wow, I didn't know about that...but it's so creepy and makes me think about conspiracies. You know?

Re: Bean...

[beandelphiki.livejournal.com]

Yeah, weird position...I generally leave off, because I know the folks there can hand out their own smackdowns. And I always figure that if I try to do it, I'll end up saying something privilege-y and stupid, and end up undermining the whole thing, because the white person will listen to ME (as long as I say I'm white) because I'm white, and not everyone else, but then they'll get the fucked-up version that's privileged and stupid.

On the other hand, I want to BREAK something when I see people like zra or this girl posting. I felt like kittikattie's post was very eloquent and on-point. And then this white girl wanders in and praises it, and says how much she likes it and then posts something totally antithetical to it. Can I hurt someone now?

But then, I think that my anger is often coming from this place where I am hurt to see myself in action...you know? I am frequently not any better, I'm sure, and I hate knowing that. So...I don't know that anything I could say is going to be useful or educational, because I want to hurt her more than I want to school her.

[beandelphiki.livejournal.com]

They're doing it now, as fast as they can. Coming up with all these reasons that what we saw happened didn't really happen.

I mean, I knew it was coming, but I can't believe they started pulling that fast one so soon. Or that it's WORKING.

Yeah...

[i-dreamed-i-was.livejournal.com]

You know?

Conundrum, again. I need to get more comfortable with the ambiguity of my position, too. Esp. as classes are starting again for me, and it's going to be all Af Am Studies, all the time. Of course, it's funny, 'cause all but one prof in the dept is black, but usually the students are no more than 1/2 black. It's a pretty white school. So the dynamic there is a little different.

Hmmmm... It may be that I projected that dynamic onto BF, where (WRT active members), BF is 90+% black. Hmmmm...