Jindal's Katrina Story: A Tall Tale?

[Hissyspit]

Source: TCM Muckraker

Jindal's Katrina Story: A Tall Tale?
By Zachary Roth - February 26, 2009, 1:10PM
The evidence continues to grow that the story Bobby Jindal told Tuesday night -- about how he backed a tough-talking sheriff's efforts to rescue Katrina victims, government red-tape be damed -- was, how to put it ... made up. Delivering the GOP response to President Obama's speech to Congress, Jindal had his first chance to impress a national audience. To do so, he told the following story:

"During Katrina, I visited Sheriff Harry Lee, a Democrat and a good friend of mine. When I walked into his makeshift office I'd never seen him so angry. He was yelling into the phone: 'Well, I'm the Sheriff and if you don't like it you can come and arrest me!' I asked him: 'Sheriff, what's got you so mad?' He told me that he had put out a call for volunteers to come with their boats to rescue people who were trapped on their rooftops by the floodwaters. The boats were all lined up ready to go - when some bureaucrat showed up and told them they couldn't go out on the water unless they had proof of insurance and registration. I told him, 'Sheriff, that's ridiculous.' And before I knew it, he was yelling into the phone: 'Congressman Jindal is here, and he says you can come and arrest him too!' Harry just told the boaters to ignore the bureaucrats and start rescuing people."

But there are several pieces of evidence that suggest this just didn't happen. Nothing, to be sure, that definitively proves the story was made up. But more than enough to declare it highly suspicious. First, Jindal's story has Lee railing against the red-tape in the midst of the crisis. But Lee, the sheriff of Jefferson Parish in suburban New Orleans, told CNN he didn't find out about the license and registration issue until about seven days after the incident. Here's Lee talking to Larry King (via Nexis) a week or so after Katrina:

- snip -

That's just the tip of the iceberg. Daily Kos diarist xgz assembled a slew of additional evidence suggesting that Jindal took some serious dramatic license, at best. To summarize:

Read more: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com

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http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/2/25/121750/746

Jindal Learned a Lesson Before It Was Taught
by Barbara Morrill aka BarbinMD

Wed Feb 25, 2009 at 10:50:04 AM PST

There are many things to criticize about Governor Bobby Jindal's speech last night, but instead of focusing on the setting or the delivery, let's look at his honesty. Jindal said:

During Katrina, I visited Sheriff Harry Lee, a Democrat and a good friend of mine. When I walked into his makeshift office I’d never seen him so angry. He was yelling into the phone: ‘Well, I’m the Sheriff and if you don’t like it you can come and arrest me!’ I asked him: ‘Sheriff, what’s got you so mad?’ He told me that he had put out a call for volunteers to come with their boats to rescue people who were trapped on their rooftops by the floodwaters. The boats were all lined up ready to go - when some bureaucrat showed up and told them they couldn’t go out on the water unless they had proof of insurance and registration. I told him, ‘Sheriff, that’s ridiculous.’ And before I knew it, he was yelling into the phone: ‘Congressman Jindal is here, and he says you can come and arrest him too!’ Harry just told the boaters to ignore the bureaucrats and start rescuing people.

There is a lesson in this experience: The strength of America is not found in our government. It is found in the compassionate hearts and enterprising spirit of our citizens

But that's not the story Harry Lee told Larry King in 2005 (with a hat tip to Daily Kos user Kj):

LEE: I fully believe that when then matter is looked into, we tried to get some boats in the water early on ... Those boats where not allowed to get into the water when they were needed and I just found out about seven days later one of the reason boats couldn't get in was they didn't have enough life preservers and some of them didn't have proof of insurance.

Perhaps Mr. Jindal can explain how he learned that lesson during Katrina, when Harry Lee didn't learn about it until a week later?

[madaboutharry]

1. This story is so easily fact checked.

It is just stupid to make this shit up.

[HopeHoops]

12. Maybe his teleprompter went blank on him ;}

:puffpiece:

[daleo]

2. Interesting

Let's hope this gets as much scrutiny as Hillary Clinton's Bosnia anecdote.

[Judi Lynn]

3. It sounded bogus when he said it. Like a big windy yarn a drunk might tell, or a right-winger. n/t

[AlexDeLarge]

18. Is there a difference?

[Tempest]

4. It was an outright lie

DailyKos has been following this and there's a detailed description on how Jindal lied his ass off.


Here's the link to where the lie is exposed:

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/2/25/121750/746

[Hissyspit]

5. Another DKos diary is in the TPM story.

I'll put it in the OP.

[Auggie]

6. Is anybody surprised? The GOP spews nothing but lies.

[groundloop]

9. Another one bites the dust.

Jindal was supposed to be the future of the party (right after Sarah Palin). Seems that the GOP's future are dropping like flies. (Come to think of it maybe the GOP doesn't have a future).

[Auggie]

13. I was just wondering the same thing

They're working ideology (Reaganomics) is nearly 30 years old -- like trying to market Walkmans and VCRs.

[benld74]

7. Twas nothin be the atypical GOP boggeda-boogeda big government

story they begin to tell their children at bedtime in order to scare them into thinking government is Bad, BBBBBBAAAAAAADDDDDD

[GDAEx2]

15. Even taken at face value if true

Government(bureaucrats)prevented much needed resources from getting to where they were needed.
Situation rectified when government got involved (Sheriff, Congressman).

JINDAL is the government too!!!

[Oldtimeralso]

8. Out Right Lie

Just like his magnetic levitation train from Las vegas to Disneyland as part of the stimulus package.

[waiting for hope]

10. Not all the boats were stopped -

My brother in law was able to help rescue people during Katrina, and knowing him and his boat, it probably didn't have insurance and most definitely, no life preservers ... the whole area was in disarray with communication and coordination of services, how Jindal could be involved like that - he was totally unaware of this:

Louisiana Governor Jindal Unaware Katrina Caused ‘Major’ Oil Spills In His Own State

[No Elephants]

11. One issue is whether Jindal is lying. Another is whether rescue attempts were

actually hampered and by whom. Not enough life preservers makes perfect sense. You don't want so called rescue efforts increasing the danger. No proof of insurance is another issue entirely, though. Were people really prevented from rescue efforts because of that, or is Lee a liar, too? And if they were prevented, who prevented them? Under whose authority? Was this another Homeland Security failure--because HHS did hinder or halt a lot of rescue and relief efforts, both of people and animals.

[jobycom]

17. There were several stories about caravans of boats turned away.

Apparently a lot of people turned up with boats to help with rescue. One long caravan of boats on trailers were turned back by either the Feds or the State, saying they didn't need the help. I never heard it had anything to do with insurance or life preservers--I thought at the time it was more a case of the governing agency being afraid the rescuers would just get in the way.

Keep in mind that on Monday night Nagin went on television and said he had been promised by the feds boats and helicopters and all the assistance he could use. The feds who promised all of that help never gave it, and that was part of why it took people so long to respond. There were several stories about the state or city trying to get something done, and the Feds telling them that they would handle it, causing the state to not act. Blanco was promised evacuation buses by FEMA after she had received offers of free buses from several bus lines. FEMA told her they had ordered buses already, that they didn't need her buses, so she told the volunteers she didn't need them. The FEMA buses didn't get there until Sunday afternoon, too late to do any good.

The feds screwed that up from top to bottom. Jindal's story was meant to make him look good, but also to make the Republican response to Katrina look better, by blaming beauracracy instead of his own party.

[No Elephants]

22. Thanks. I know someone who was in Houston on business right after Katrina. Apparently, a lot

of people who had rushed to Louisiana to help had been stopped from entering Louisiana and re-directed to Houston. They were all sitting in her hotel lobby in Houston, frustrated and doing nothing.

Another friend, a real animal lovers, worked for animal rescue on Cape Cod. She and a group of animal rescue workers from other northeastern states went to NOLA and were also redirected, but at least they were redirected to other Katrina-afflicted states.

A third friend lives just outside NOLA and had gone to Baton Rouge to wait out the storm. She witnessed trucks with food, water, etc. being turned away by HHS. I live in Massachusetts and, believe it or not, a bunch of the water trucks ended up here. On overtime, of course.

Not knowing where to go, the drivers just parked on the street and slept in their trucks. I don't know when the orders for them to move on finally got to them.

Apparently, HHS treated the situation as though Katrina were a terrorist attack, instead of a natural disaster. And/or my friend is correct: They wanted NOLA destroyed so that Louisiana would be more red. I thought she was paranoid, until I saw a story in which someone from Louisiana said "we'd" been praying about NOLA and God answered our prayers with Katrina." Or words to that effect.

[happygoluckytoyou]

14. What about where he built the ARK and saved the drowning nuns from the flood?---> MY POEM-->

we got us Bobby Jindal
his fame will dwindle
his titanic fame is sailin'
and sinkin' like sarah palin

[beac]

16. And another GOPer is pushed through the "series of tubes" into the septic tank of history. n/t

[Ikonoklast]

19. Boom! goes the dynamite!

The sound you are hearing is another Republic political career of slinging bullshit going up in smoke.

[2feeedle2]

20. Jindal is such a transparent tool

[Vickers]

21. He's making up shit? Hey, he really *IS* the new Reagan!

:patriot: