Pub Def on “Meet the Press”
Filed Sunday, October 8, 2006 at 12:00 PM
PUB DEF was quoted on “Meet the Press” this morning during the debate between Sen. Jim Talent and State Auditor Claire McCaskill.
MR. RUSSERT: Let me turn to George W. Bush, because he’s become an issue in the campaign. Ms. McCaskill, you were quoted in the pubdef.net giving a speech which was blogged, saying, “She reminded people that ‘George Bush let people die on rooftops in New Orleans because they were poor and because they were black.’†One, why would you say that, and do you believe it?
MS. McCASKILL: Well, first, I was acknowledging how thousands and millions of Americans felt. The visual that we all saw in Hurricane Katrina was frankly, something none of us will ever forget. Incompetence turned tragic because the people there were unable to help themselves. This administration…
MR. RUSSERT: But do you think the president let people die because they were poor and black?
MS. McCASKILL: I do not, I do not believe the president is a racist. I was acknowledging the feelings of many, many Americans that this administration has left the most vulnerable, helpless—this administration has been about Wall Street and not about average Americans.
MR. RUSSERT: But do you apologize for this statement?
MS. McCASKILL: I, I think if it is misinterpreted that I was calling the president a racist…
MR. RUSSERT: Misinterpreted? “George Bush let people die on rooftops because they were poor and because they were black.â€
MS. McCASKILL: That was—I was acknowledging what Americans believed at the time.
MR. RUSSERT: So you stand by it?
MS. McCASKILL: Absolutely, that’s what Americans believed. Now, I don’t believe he’s a racist, and if that—if people think—and maybe I shouldn’t have said it that way, Tim. Maybe I should have said it another way. I probably should have said it another way. But the feelings are real.
And by the way, if we had that tragedy, how ready are we for a disaster in this country? After the billions of dollars spent—once again, no accountability—they still are not looking in Congress at how all the money was misspent in Katrina. With all the billions spent on homeland security, our citizens died because we couldn’t get them food or water. This is not an administration that is ready to protect us.
Click here to read the transcript. Click here to read our original story in which this comment was first reported. And check back later to see the video from today’s debate.
UPDATE: Click here to watch the entire debate on MSNBC’s website.
UPDATE 2: Thanks to Christina Bellantoni for mentioning PUB DEF in her article on the debate in Monday’s The Washington Times.
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