About that Katrina "small boat" story Jindal was pushing

[starroute]

I don't know anything about yelling sheriffs, or whether Jindal was anywhere to be seen, but this is how the story appeared at Daily Kos back on September 3, 2005 -- apparently reposted from Clark's Securing America site. It makes it very clear that it was FEMA alone that turned them back. (And also that the rescue group was organized by a Democratic state senator, Nick Gautreaux.)

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/3/171718/0826

On Wednesday morning a group of approximately 1,000 citizens pulling 500 boats left the Acadiana Mall in Lafayette in the early morning and headed to New Orleans with a police escort from the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Department. The flotillia of trucks pulling boats stretched over FIVE miles. This citizen rescue group was organized by La. State Senator, Nick Gautreaux from Vermilion Parish. The group was comprised of experienced boaters, licensed fishermen and hunters, people who have spent their entire adult life and teenage years on the waterways of Louisiana. . . .

The State Police waved the flotillia of trucks/boats through the barricades in LaPlace and we sped into New Orleans via I-10 until past the airport and near the Clearview exit. At that time we were stopped by agents of the FEMA controlled La. Dept. of Wildlife & Fisheries. . . .

The DWF agent did not want to hear this and ordered them home -- ALL FIVE HUNDRED BOATS. They complied with the DWF agent's orders, turned around and headed back to Lafayette along with half of the flotillia. However, two friends were pulling a smaller 15ft alumaweld with a 25 hp. The DWF agents let them through to proceed to the rescue operation launch site.

They were allowed to drive to the launch site where the FEMA controlled La. Dept. of Wildlife and Fisheries were launching their rescue operations (via boat). They reported to me that there were over 200 DWF agents just standing around and doing nothing. They were kept there for approximately 3 hours. During that time they observed a large number of DWF agents doing absolutely nothing. Why? Because FEMA would not let them HELP! After three hours had passed they were told that they were not needed and should go home. They complied with the DWF's orders and turned around and went home to Lafayette.

[aquart]

1. See, I would want people hanged for that.

And I would hang them from the bridge where NO refugees were turned back at gunpoint. Just because I feel like it.

[Duer 157099]

2. But I thought his point was that FEMA failed?

No?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

4. No, his point is that the government failed.

People who have nothing to do with government- like sheriffs, governors, and Republicans... those are the people you can trust.

[ColbertWatcher]

5. The GOP frame is that government=administration.

They are trying to confuse people (mostly their supporters) that all administrations perform the same way and that there is no distinction between the Bush administration (the ones who failed miserably during Katrina) and the Obama administration (the ones getting stuck with the consequences).

[JHB]

10. Right! Note who he faulted: some nameless "bureaucrat"...

...holding up emergency aid over some piss-ant "dot the i, cross the t" reason.

No name, not even of the agency that allegedly decreed this, just invocation of the "lazy, obstructing, unaccountable gummint bureaucrat" boogeyman -- pure Republican boilerplate.

[ColbertWatcher]

12. "Bureaucrat" is typical GOP code.

Just like "welfare queen" is.

[tkmorris]

3. Jindal was trying to demonstrate that govt doesn't help people

And his point was perfectly valid, except for two key points. It's REPUBLICAN governments that fail to help people, and further that is an INTENTIONAL, planned lack of help those governments engage in. In this particular example not only did those in power not help the people of New Orleans, they refuse to allow anyone else to either, an act of hypocrisy given their stated belief that people should help each other rather than relying on government to do so. Thousands died as a direct result of that Republican ideal.

The man is an ass.

[robertpaulsen]

6. K & R! Thanks for pointing out the truth, starroute.

:kick:

[Beam Me Up]

7. I remember this vividly. This wasn't government failure. It was policy. n/t

[starroute]

8. There's now a good post over at Kos suggesting Jindal was lying

The poster points out that

1 - Jindal and his family evacuated to Baton Route when Katrina hit, and he was still there on August 30-31 at the time of the boat incident and did not return until after September 1.

2 - Jindal was interviewed frequently at the time but never mentioned this incident.

3 - On September 8, Jindal had a piece in the Wall Street Journal blasting bureaucratic failures -- but did not include the boat incident.

4 - The first time Jindal mentioned the boat incident was in August 2007, and then he did not claim any personal involvement.

5 - Jindal's story last night claimed, "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. ... 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!’" None of this seems to be supported by any previous accounts -- but Lee died in 2007 and is not around to confirm or deny Jindal's story.


http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/2/24/23132/9395

[MagickMuffin]

9. Opioion article Jindal wrote in the WSJ 09.05.05

One quote that struck me "There will also be situations in the future when people will rely on massive government support and help. We'll have to do better delivering it."


http://www.opinionjournal.com/cc/?id=110007224

[kath]

11. Another Repuglican liar?!?!?? I'm SHOCKED, shocked I say.