The Associated Press is reporting that, on Tuesday evening, Rick Santorum clarified his statement from this weekend that those who did not evacuate New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina should be penalized. After being criticized for the remark, Rick now says he wasn't speaking about people who didn't have the means to leave the city.
In a weekend interview with WTAE-TV about the victims of Hurricane Katrina, Santorum said: "You have people who don't heed those warnings and then put people at risk as a result of not heeding those warnings. There may be a need to look at tougher penalties on those who decide to ride it out and understand that there are consequences to not leaving."
On Tuesday night on WTAE, Santorum clarified his comments.
"Obviously most of the people here in this case, an overwhelming majority of people just literally couldn't have gotten out on their own," he said. "Many didn't have cars ... and that really was a failure on the part of local officials in not making transportation available to get people out."
Hmmmm, "local officials" eh Rick? Shocked, shocked we are to hear Rick blame local officials and not the Bush Administration. Didn't President Bush say that we shouldn't be playing the blame game?
Would he blame Governor Rendell, Mayor Street and other local officials in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania if some catastrophic event were to happen in Pennsylvania's largest city, and the citizens there could not be evacuated?
It's true that the northeast corridor has more trains and busses and other options for evacuating people without cars from its major cities -- but do those people know anything about how that would happen? Would all the trains and busses out of town be free of cost? Does anyone know? Is there even a plan? If not, whose fault is that -- the people who have been spending billions on homeland security, or a city like Philadelphia?
He does not realize (or if he does, doesn't care) that the major breakdowns in communication and in coordinating rescue/relief efforts are a failure of the almighty Bush Administration and the so-called Department of Homeland Security.
A source told me (a veteran of 25 years of gov't service, now retired) that after 9-11, FEMA was rolled into Homeland Security, and all resources were redirected to anti-terrorism.
As a result FEMA lost its independence, its freedom of action, its funding, and especially its field officers.
There was no one on the ground in New Orleans to report on just how bad things were, and if there were, they had no authority to do/say anything.
But of course, it's the poor's fault isn't it, Rick? You who have been pampered and spoon-fed everything your whole life and have been insulated from reality by your wealth, your connections, your alleged religion and your callous disregard for the "others" of this world...that's 99% of the population.
A very sad commentary that Pennsylvanians continued to put this jerk in office. Let us hope he is defeated next year...I don't believe anything until it's done!
- a PA Republican Against Santorum
Coburn also publicly protested the showing of "Schindler's List" to young people because of the naked bodies...more like he didn't want them to know about the Holocaust.
There is a strong line of denial when it comes to guys like Santorum and Coburn.
Hopefully, Bob Casey, Jr. will not just ride on his famous daddy's coattails again next year and run a real campaign.