BIGGEST SPIN OF 2005; KATRINA
Posted in political on December 29th, 2005
As 2005 comes to a close, I’ve been looking back to see if I can find the biggest spin of 2005, in my continuing quest to expose efforts to mislead you. For those of you that don’t know, a “spin” is facts distorted to give you a false impression of something that isn’t really true. There were a lot of contenders out there this year. The left spent most of the year trying to convince you that George Bush is the Devil incarnate, who lies about everything while filling his friends pockets with money, killing your children in Iraq for no good reason, and ignoring the poor and minorities while they die in mass. The right spent their year bragging up the economy, protecting you from left-wing agendas and saving Christmas. Wow, what a year! It wasn’t easy but I had to go with Katrina as the biggest spin of 2005.
When Katrina hit the Gulf Coast on the morning of August 29, the Liberal media was poised like a vulture waiting for a kill, hoping for anything to go wrong. What they got must have given them an orgasm. The storm hit with a furiousness rarely seen by this generation. As news reports started streaming in, it seemed the press started criticizing Bush before they even had the facts. Although there was plenty to criticize. Soon the levee broke and the parishes of New Orleans began flooding. I swear I heard the collective sound of leftist media machinery all firing up at once. That following morning of August 30 came and revealed the unspeakable destruction and human suffering that we all witnessed on our video screens. I can’t remember what I heard first on the following days, it all became one continuous blur, but I do remember that story after story focused on race. Poor black victims were propped up one after another, leading me to believe all of lower New Orleans had not one white person who wasn’t evacuated. Black bodies, crying faces, destroyed homes, and sad, sad stories filled my T.V. Soon the politicians and activists started their usual condemnations of the U.S. government and it’s failings. Damu Smith, founder or the National Black Environmental Justice Network charged that the Federal government had “Ignored us, they forgot about us…because we look the way we look.” Jesse Jackson stated that race was “at least a factor” of the slow start up of FEMA’s response and that “we have an amazing tolerance of black pain.” CNN ran continuous shots of black people herded like cattle in convention centers, sleeping on floors and complaining (justifiably) that not enough was being done. Then the rumors started. A 9-year old girl raped in a bathroom (didn’t happen), sixty bodies stacked in a freezer (false), tens of thousands dead, no food, no water (exaggerated). In their frenzy to outdo one another truth meant nothing, but one thing was certain, the Federal government and George Bush were at fault. Kayne West, a black rapper, stated for all who think he matters, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.” The media swallowed his statement like the whale swallowed Jonah. They never asked anyone for facts supporting their claims. Louis Farrakhan, desperate for media attention, said about the levee “it may have been blown up to destroy the black part of town and keep the white part dry.” How a man who once claimed to be captured by aliens and taken to Muhammad gets treated like he has any credence, I’ll never know. Yet there he was, no facts and unquestioned. It was one long orgy of misinformation. Even I, H.C., began to think that maybe “W” had plotted to rid the world of Mardi gras, after all, religious people hate that stuff.
So now, almost 4 months later the truth finally starts to seep out, although barely reported at all. Louisiana Dept. of Heath and Hospitals reports 905 confirmed deaths, not the tens of thousands that the mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin said. Less than half of those were African American (47%) and 42% of them were Caucasian. Not at all what we were led to believe is it? George Bush and Congress have allocated close to 200 billion to hurricane relief for Katrina victims, the most money for any hurricane. Far from ignoring the plight of New Orleans, G.W. immediately fired the head of FEMA and started an investigation into what went wrong. I’m no apologist for President Bush, but what the media did was wrong. They caused racial tensions, gave false impressions, passed off rumor for fact and failed at their main mission, to supply information during times of crisis. We should all expect more. H.C.
Posted in political on December 29th, 2005
As 2005 comes to a close, I’ve been looking back to see if I can find the biggest spin of 2005, in my continuing quest to expose efforts to mislead you. For those of you that don’t know, a “spin” is facts distorted to give you a false impression of something that isn’t really true. There were a lot of contenders out there this year. The left spent most of the year trying to convince you that George Bush is the Devil incarnate, who lies about everything while filling his friends pockets with money, killing your children in Iraq for no good reason, and ignoring the poor and minorities while they die in mass. The right spent their year bragging up the economy, protecting you from left-wing agendas and saving Christmas. Wow, what a year! It wasn’t easy but I had to go with Katrina as the biggest spin of 2005.
When Katrina hit the Gulf Coast on the morning of August 29, the Liberal media was poised like a vulture waiting for a kill, hoping for anything to go wrong. What they got must have given them an orgasm. The storm hit with a furiousness rarely seen by this generation. As news reports started streaming in, it seemed the press started criticizing Bush before they even had the facts. Although there was plenty to criticize. Soon the levee broke and the parishes of New Orleans began flooding. I swear I heard the collective sound of leftist media machinery all firing up at once. That following morning of August 30 came and revealed the unspeakable destruction and human suffering that we all witnessed on our video screens. I can’t remember what I heard first on the following days, it all became one continuous blur, but I do remember that story after story focused on race. Poor black victims were propped up one after another, leading me to believe all of lower New Orleans had not one white person who wasn’t evacuated. Black bodies, crying faces, destroyed homes, and sad, sad stories filled my T.V. Soon the politicians and activists started their usual condemnations of the U.S. government and it’s failings. Damu Smith, founder or the National Black Environmental Justice Network charged that the Federal government had “Ignored us, they forgot about us…because we look the way we look.” Jesse Jackson stated that race was “at least a factor” of the slow start up of FEMA’s response and that “we have an amazing tolerance of black pain.” CNN ran continuous shots of black people herded like cattle in convention centers, sleeping on floors and complaining (justifiably) that not enough was being done. Then the rumors started. A 9-year old girl raped in a bathroom (didn’t happen), sixty bodies stacked in a freezer (false), tens of thousands dead, no food, no water (exaggerated). In their frenzy to outdo one another truth meant nothing, but one thing was certain, the Federal government and George Bush were at fault. Kayne West, a black rapper, stated for all who think he matters, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.” The media swallowed his statement like the whale swallowed Jonah. They never asked anyone for facts supporting their claims. Louis Farrakhan, desperate for media attention, said about the levee “it may have been blown up to destroy the black part of town and keep the white part dry.” How a man who once claimed to be captured by aliens and taken to Muhammad gets treated like he has any credence, I’ll never know. Yet there he was, no facts and unquestioned. It was one long orgy of misinformation. Even I, H.C., began to think that maybe “W” had plotted to rid the world of Mardi gras, after all, religious people hate that stuff.
So now, almost 4 months later the truth finally starts to seep out, although barely reported at all. Louisiana Dept. of Heath and Hospitals reports 905 confirmed deaths, not the tens of thousands that the mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin said. Less than half of those were African American (47%) and 42% of them were Caucasian. Not at all what we were led to believe is it? George Bush and Congress have allocated close to 200 billion to hurricane relief for Katrina victims, the most money for any hurricane. Far from ignoring the plight of New Orleans, G.W. immediately fired the head of FEMA and started an investigation into what went wrong. I’m no apologist for President Bush, but what the media did was wrong. They caused racial tensions, gave false impressions, passed off rumor for fact and failed at their main mission, to supply information during times of crisis. We should all expect more. H.C.
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