Pointing out the obvious to the dense
New York Congressman Rep. Peter King appeared on MSNBC's Chris Matthews' Hardball Sept. 26th:
PK: Let me tell you, Chris. Mike Chertoff is with the president every step of the way. I met with Secretary Chertoff. Mike Chertoff has been with the president each stage over the last several days. He was there in the planning. I was with him last week when he was involved with the planning. He's been with President Bush at every stage. And Chris, there's sort of a frenzy here by the media. Let's not forget the incompetence of the mayor of New Orleans. the Governor in New Orleans. They were the ones in the first instance you were required to do the job, and they didn't. As far as President Bush, it's wrong for you to say he wasn't caring. He certainly was caring. But what he was not equipped for was to explain for the incompetency of local officials, or to explain the hysteria, or anticipate the hysteria created by you in the media, who go off the deep end. Let's treat this with a little rationality, and a little bit of decency.
BT: Well, Chris, let me give you a little...
CM: You can make that charge, but the fact is that most people trust the media on this story, because the pictures of what was happening down there in New Orleans apparently got to them before they heard of any federal action. But go ahead.
PK: Chris, you are totally distorting reality, and that's the problem with you. You're distorting reality. You're wrong on this story. You and MSNBC are carried away with this. You should be ashamed of yourself. You've disgraced yourself and the media.
CM: You said a moment ago before the break that we're guilty of, let me get the words, of hyping this thing, of hysteria, of creating a hysteria about this, of totally distorting reality in our coverage of the hurricane and the damage done in the South. Do you want to go on on that?
PK: I'm not talking about distorting the damage. I'm talking about distorting President Bush's role. Somehow, this was almost entirely blamed on him. That was a certain impression given by the media from the very first moment, when the levees broke. And you had Andrea Mitchell on talking about how that was because President Bush didn't put enough money into the water projects in Louisiana, or the levee control projects, when it turns out that he put more money in, in his first five years, than Bill Clinton did in his last five years. And no state gets more money in the country than Louisiana does. And use that as an example, and then go right through. There was much more focus put on what President Bush was supposedly not doing, when the fact is it was the mayor who didn't provide the trucks, the buses to evacuate the people, sent the people to the Superdome without adequate food or water. And then also, there's the governor. The governor of Louisiana, and I was down there last week, she said every report that was done before this, said that a storm of this magnitude would kill 20,000 people. The fact is, so far there's less than 800. Every death is tragic, but why isn't your story less than 4% of those who were supposed to have been killed were not killed, because of the efforts of the federal government? The Coast Guard, remember, is part of Homeland Security. They were in the very first day rescuing thousands and thousands of people. That's just an example of the distortion. It's continuing today, the way you're questioning the contracts, assuming something is wrong when the president is fully following the law.
CM: Well, let me go into a couple of things here. First of all, do you believe that the president was on top of this matter from the time after the hurricane hit, Hurricane Katrina hit? Do you think it's fair to give the guy good ratings for the way he responded?
PK: I think it's good to give him at least adequate ratings, because he was relying on what everyone, including Page 1 of the New York Times said, which was that New Orleans had ducked the storm. It wasn't until Tuesday that we realized how bad the situation was. And by then, the president had no way of knowing that the New Orleans Police and Fire Departments were going to disappear, that the governor wasn't going to adequately use the National Guard, and that the mayor had not put sufficient water and food into the Superdome. It takes a good 36 to 48 hours to move troops, the amount that were necessary, to provide relief in the Superdome.
CM: Look, first of all, Peter, Congressman, let's get a couple of things straight. I have been very tough on the mayor. I've talked about the schoolbuses being left behind to be flooded. If I have said a good thing about Governor Blanco, I can't remember it. But I want to ask you about the President of the United States, because most people watching right now get to vote for president. They vote for President Bush, and he's the majority...he won most of the votes. He's president. And they want to think about how good a job he's doing in his second term. Let me ask you. Weren't you dismayed, I was, when I read that the president had to be shown a DVD, a recording of all the press coverage, television coverage, of the hell going on down there with those people stuck at the convention center, on his way down to visit New Orleans?
PK: I think it's important that he see the way the media is covering it, but the fact is the president...
CM: No, no, no. Let me ask you. Weren't you dismayed as a Republican Congressman, that the President of the United States didn't watch television for all those 48 hours? That he had to be shown a picture of what we'd all been watching? One of the reasons these people are volunteering is because of what they saw on television. I'm very proud of the media this last couple of weeks. We're not always perfect, but I've got to tell you something. The latest polling shows almost 80% of the American people say the media has done a fabulous job in handling this hurricane, because it's the pictures that people have seen on television, in their homes, that have alerted them to this tragedy. And maybe to a large extent, push the politicians to move a little faster.
PK: Now the fact is, Chris, you guys are giving yourselves too much credit. You guys dwell in self-congratulation. The fact is, the media's shots were distortive...
CM: No. It's rare that we have anything to congratulate...
PK: No. If you...most...
CM: Most of the time, people give us...let me ask you about this. Congress...let's get back to...
PK: Wait, wait. Let me...
CM: Okay.
PK: Chris, you won't give me a chance to answer the questions. Just because the president doesn't watch you on television, it doesn't mean he's not doing his job. You know, Franklin Roosevelt wasn't hired to listen to radio accounts of D-Day. You're hired to do the job, and the president can do his job without having to listen to Chris Matthews or Andrea Mitchell or Tim Russert, or any of the others. He is doing his job. Now I agree the military should have been brought in sooner, but that was primarily the fault of the local government not being more responsive, and then the president did the best he could. Could he have been there a few hours earlier? Perhaps. But nowhere near the criticism he's getting from you people.
PK: Let me tell you, Chris. Mike Chertoff is with the president every step of the way. I met with Secretary Chertoff. Mike Chertoff has been with the president each stage over the last several days. He was there in the planning. I was with him last week when he was involved with the planning. He's been with President Bush at every stage. And Chris, there's sort of a frenzy here by the media. Let's not forget the incompetence of the mayor of New Orleans. the Governor in New Orleans. They were the ones in the first instance you were required to do the job, and they didn't. As far as President Bush, it's wrong for you to say he wasn't caring. He certainly was caring. But what he was not equipped for was to explain for the incompetency of local officials, or to explain the hysteria, or anticipate the hysteria created by you in the media, who go off the deep end. Let's treat this with a little rationality, and a little bit of decency.
BT: Well, Chris, let me give you a little...
CM: You can make that charge, but the fact is that most people trust the media on this story, because the pictures of what was happening down there in New Orleans apparently got to them before they heard of any federal action. But go ahead.
PK: Chris, you are totally distorting reality, and that's the problem with you. You're distorting reality. You're wrong on this story. You and MSNBC are carried away with this. You should be ashamed of yourself. You've disgraced yourself and the media.
CM: You said a moment ago before the break that we're guilty of, let me get the words, of hyping this thing, of hysteria, of creating a hysteria about this, of totally distorting reality in our coverage of the hurricane and the damage done in the South. Do you want to go on on that?
PK: I'm not talking about distorting the damage. I'm talking about distorting President Bush's role. Somehow, this was almost entirely blamed on him. That was a certain impression given by the media from the very first moment, when the levees broke. And you had Andrea Mitchell on talking about how that was because President Bush didn't put enough money into the water projects in Louisiana, or the levee control projects, when it turns out that he put more money in, in his first five years, than Bill Clinton did in his last five years. And no state gets more money in the country than Louisiana does. And use that as an example, and then go right through. There was much more focus put on what President Bush was supposedly not doing, when the fact is it was the mayor who didn't provide the trucks, the buses to evacuate the people, sent the people to the Superdome without adequate food or water. And then also, there's the governor. The governor of Louisiana, and I was down there last week, she said every report that was done before this, said that a storm of this magnitude would kill 20,000 people. The fact is, so far there's less than 800. Every death is tragic, but why isn't your story less than 4% of those who were supposed to have been killed were not killed, because of the efforts of the federal government? The Coast Guard, remember, is part of Homeland Security. They were in the very first day rescuing thousands and thousands of people. That's just an example of the distortion. It's continuing today, the way you're questioning the contracts, assuming something is wrong when the president is fully following the law.
CM: Well, let me go into a couple of things here. First of all, do you believe that the president was on top of this matter from the time after the hurricane hit, Hurricane Katrina hit? Do you think it's fair to give the guy good ratings for the way he responded?
PK: I think it's good to give him at least adequate ratings, because he was relying on what everyone, including Page 1 of the New York Times said, which was that New Orleans had ducked the storm. It wasn't until Tuesday that we realized how bad the situation was. And by then, the president had no way of knowing that the New Orleans Police and Fire Departments were going to disappear, that the governor wasn't going to adequately use the National Guard, and that the mayor had not put sufficient water and food into the Superdome. It takes a good 36 to 48 hours to move troops, the amount that were necessary, to provide relief in the Superdome.
CM: Look, first of all, Peter, Congressman, let's get a couple of things straight. I have been very tough on the mayor. I've talked about the schoolbuses being left behind to be flooded. If I have said a good thing about Governor Blanco, I can't remember it. But I want to ask you about the President of the United States, because most people watching right now get to vote for president. They vote for President Bush, and he's the majority...he won most of the votes. He's president. And they want to think about how good a job he's doing in his second term. Let me ask you. Weren't you dismayed, I was, when I read that the president had to be shown a DVD, a recording of all the press coverage, television coverage, of the hell going on down there with those people stuck at the convention center, on his way down to visit New Orleans?
PK: I think it's important that he see the way the media is covering it, but the fact is the president...
CM: No, no, no. Let me ask you. Weren't you dismayed as a Republican Congressman, that the President of the United States didn't watch television for all those 48 hours? That he had to be shown a picture of what we'd all been watching? One of the reasons these people are volunteering is because of what they saw on television. I'm very proud of the media this last couple of weeks. We're not always perfect, but I've got to tell you something. The latest polling shows almost 80% of the American people say the media has done a fabulous job in handling this hurricane, because it's the pictures that people have seen on television, in their homes, that have alerted them to this tragedy. And maybe to a large extent, push the politicians to move a little faster.
PK: Now the fact is, Chris, you guys are giving yourselves too much credit. You guys dwell in self-congratulation. The fact is, the media's shots were distortive...
CM: No. It's rare that we have anything to congratulate...
PK: No. If you...most...
CM: Most of the time, people give us...let me ask you about this. Congress...let's get back to...
PK: Wait, wait. Let me...
CM: Okay.
PK: Chris, you won't give me a chance to answer the questions. Just because the president doesn't watch you on television, it doesn't mean he's not doing his job. You know, Franklin Roosevelt wasn't hired to listen to radio accounts of D-Day. You're hired to do the job, and the president can do his job without having to listen to Chris Matthews or Andrea Mitchell or Tim Russert, or any of the others. He is doing his job. Now I agree the military should have been brought in sooner, but that was primarily the fault of the local government not being more responsive, and then the president did the best he could. Could he have been there a few hours earlier? Perhaps. But nowhere near the criticism he's getting from you people.
posted by impresario | 9:28 AM
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