Yet another chapter in my book that writes itself, Why I Hate Texas.
Barbara Bush is being clobbered by progressive and liberal bloggers presently for her comments yesterday at the Astrodome.
"This is working very well for them."
The former First Lady's remarks were aired this
evening on American Public Media's "Marketplace"
program.
She was part of a group in Houston today at the
Astrodome that included her husband and former
President Bill Clinton, who were chosen by her son,
the current president, to head fundraising efforts for
the recovery. Sen. Hilary Clinton and Sen. Barack
Obama were also present.
In a segment at the top of the show on the surge of
evacuees to the Texas city, Barbara Bush said: "Almost
everyone I’ve talked to says we're going to move to
Houston."
Then she added: "What I’m hearing which is sort of
scary is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is
so overwhelmed by the hospitality.
"And so many of the people in the arena here, you
know, were underprivileged anyway, so this--this (she
chuckles slightly) is working very well for them."
(Via Editor and Publisher by way of Winding Road in an Urban Area.)
Barbara just said what all of her friends and neighbors at the Houston Country Club are saying. Sure, it sounded like the right thing to do, you know, helping all of those poor victims of Katrina. Offering help seemed the polite, Christian thing to do. It would have been just as polite for those awful people (the evacuees) to say "no thank you, we'll manage." You see, in Texas, anyone who deserves help doesn't need it, and anyone who needs it doesn't deserve it.
Texans are not known for their generosity, especially to poor people. Their generosity in the present situation has serious limits. Unfortunately for those who actually will be depending on the kindness of those strange Texans, the first limitation is respect. People who need help don't need respect. You have to leave your self-respect at the door. Watch the Texans turn the evacuee centers into detention centers.
I happened to be watching MSNBC on Sunday as a plane load of evacuees from New Orleans were landing in Lubbock, Texas. Their meager belongings had been unloaded and were sitting on the tarmac, and while the evacuees were waiting to deplane, drug-sniffing dogs were checking out their baggage.
This chapter is just beginning. Texans are just going to be who they are, only this time they're going to get caught doing it. To borrow a line from Chicago in 1968, "The whole world is watching."
Gah, Barbara Bush is out-Antoinetting Marie Antoinette.
Someone elsewhere said it best- the good people of Texas welcome the refugees of New Orleans! Now, please, do try not to get your poor people smell on everything.
Posted by: Vestal Vespa | September 08, 2005 at 08:22 AM
I have a post on Barb [bitch] too. Mine is not nearly as kind as yours.
By the way, the Bush's are NOT representative of true southeners. They are nothing more than carpetbaggers. Faux southerns.
Unfortunately this line, "People who need help don't need respect", IS farily representative of SOME southern attitudes. Thankfully they are in the minority. Southerners are a kind and generous people. They will reach out and help you in anyway the can. They may look down their noses while doing it but they will help. Oddly enough this trait is not exclusive to the well-to-do either. Poor folks in the south can be rather snobby too.
Posted by: wanda | September 08, 2005 at 02:48 PM