During a national disaster, this is what passes for commentary on US Fox News
September 2, 2005I was going to post this on a forum that I frequent regularly. But out of sensitivity to the people that are directly affected by this disaster, I decided to post it here instead. I don’t believe it’s appropriate to indulge in political debate when real people in real life are being so badly hurt by such a catastrophic disaster. Nevertheless, I find the comments by Barnes and co. on FoxNews absolutely appalling.
My deepest commiserations to everyone who’s been touched by this. I’m reading some of the reports over the past few hours, and I’m absolutely shocked at everything that’s happened thus far.
There was an article at The Washington Monthly chronicling FEMA over the past few years. And here’s an unrelated rebuttal to some of the points raised in the previous article. And then there’s this appalling diatribe on Fox News.
Barnes, speaking on “Special Report with Brit Hume” on Monday (August 29), said people who move into such areas should assume the risk themselves rather than expect help from Congress. He noted that earlier in the day he talked to a Republican offical who also noted that as the storm raged, “every half or hour or so, you know, there’s another billion dollars, another billion dollars the federal government’s gong to have to spend.”
KRAUTHAMMER: Well, we have to declare in advance certain areas off- limits to federal aid. Now, I don’t think that’s ever going to happen. But unless we do,we are asking for — I mean, as we build hugely on the coast — these disasters to hit us again, and again, and we never learn a lesson.
KONDRACKE: Yes, well, the question is, where do you draw the line? And that’s the problem. Do you draw it at the Barrier Islands? Do you draw it at Vero Beach, you know, where Fred has a beach house?
HUME: How did your house, by the way, do over the weekend?
BARNES: Well, it did fine, because we were on the Atlantic coast and the hurricane went to the Gulf Coast. So it missed it entirely.
HUME: It got rained on, right?
BARNES: But last year, when there were two hurricanes, and I got a new roof, I paid my part. My private insurance company paid the other part. The federal government and taxpayers paid no part.
HUME: What about the cover on your swimming pool? Did the government…
BARNES: I paid all of that.
(LAUGHTER)
They all make for interesting reading - although it’d be completely understandable if nobody gave a damn right about now.
