Mike
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Aaron Broussard and Tim Russert: Sorting Out the Mess
By CK Rairden
Sep 20, 2005
Two weeks ago, I wrote about a Louisiana official, Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard, who appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press" with Tim Russert. My comments were that he was unhinged and I opined that he lacked the guts and fortitude it takes to deliver as a leader.
I took quite a bit of heat from those on the left as they consider him a hero.
Turns out I was too easy on him; he's a liar as well. Broussard delivered one of the most offensive and ridiculous unchallenged tirades I've seen. Tim Russert looked like a fool for not challenging the man just because he was crying and begging for money and help from the federal government.
His claim was outrageous on its face as he screamed that a colleague's 90-year old mother died because the "federal government" didn't come rescue her for five days.
Think about that--for five days locals in Louisiana would have to have ignored this poor woman's pleas for help.
During the interview he delivered this tirade as he was crying on air.
"The guy who runs this building I'm in, emergency management, he's responsible for everything. His mother was trapped in St. Bernard nursing home and every day she called him and said, "Are you coming, son? Is somebody coming?" And he said, "Yeah, Mama, somebody's coming to get you.
Somebody's coming to get you on Tuesday.
Somebody's coming to get you on Wednesday.
Somebody's coming to get you on Thursday.
Somebody's coming to get you on Friday.
And she drowned Friday night," he claimed.
Several things didn't pass the smell test with this. First, once Katrina hit, no one in New Orleans had phones. How was she calling? Second, what kind of a son that was only a few miles from his mother would allow her to call day after day after day and allow her to die?
And why wouldn't Broussard go save her? Any real person would do everything they could to get to their mother or help their friend get to her and get her out of harms way.
A better question, why didn't Tim Russert ask these questions?
Now NBC has had to admit that Broussard's account was a fabrication. On Monday the network ran a small story on its website explaining what was called a "misunderstanding."
Subsequent reporting identified the man whom Broussard was referring to in the Meet the Press interview as Thomas Rodrigue, the Jefferson Parish emergency services director. Contacted on Friday by MSNBC.com, Rodrigue acknowledged that his 92-year-old mother and more than 30 other people died in the St. Rita nursing home. They had not been evacuated and the flood waters overtook the residence.
That was on Monday August 29.
Rodrigue said he didn't see or hear Broussard's comments on Meet the Press. When told of the sequence of phone calls that Broussard described on Meet the Press, Rodrigue said "No, no, that's not true."
"I contacted the nursing home two days before the storm [on Aug. 27th] and again on the 28th of August," Rodrigue said.
"At the same time I talked to the nursing home I also talked to the emergency manager for St. Bernard Parish," Rodrigue said, "to encourage that nursing home to evacuate like they were supposed to and they didn't until it was too late."
Broussard must have been confused "because I was calling, not my mother calling me, I was calling her," Rodrigue said. Further, Rodrigue says he never made any calls after Monday, the day he figures his mother died, based on conversations he's had with another person who had a family member perish inside St. Rita's.
Broussard could not be reached for comment by NBC.
So we're clear on the timeline, this man's mother perished in the floodwaters from Katrina on Monday August 29. Broussard went on NBC and made his claims on Sunday September 4th.
He claimed that the woman called her son Tuesday through Friday (after she had already perished) and moved her death back to Friday September 2.
Why--to try and capitalize politically on her death. Broussard had to take the heat off of the inadequacies of his actions as a government official and shift the blame to President George W. Bush. What better way than to cry on air and let a willing media just lap up the story unchallenged.
NBC's Tim Russert sadly allowed him to do just that.
He was quickly made a folk hero by the moonbat left as they loved the fact that he was attacking the president and claiming that the Bush Administration had committed murder. Some wanted him to run for higher office based solely on that performance. And what a performance it was.
I expect this kind of behavior from a joke of a "leader" like Aaron Broussard. But Tim Russert calling this small time politician "Mr. President" and letting this obvious lie stand for two weeks is unacceptable.
Russert had an agenda and Broussard's lies fit that agenda. So he allowed him to rant with no follow up and ignored obvious questions. Why would Russert's instincts as a reporter not kick in? Where were the easy questions?
Russert should be ashamed, and needs to apologize for his part in broadcasting an obvious lie.
By CK Rairden
Sep 20, 2005
Two weeks ago, I wrote about a Louisiana official, Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard, who appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press" with Tim Russert. My comments were that he was unhinged and I opined that he lacked the guts and fortitude it takes to deliver as a leader.
I took quite a bit of heat from those on the left as they consider him a hero.
Turns out I was too easy on him; he's a liar as well. Broussard delivered one of the most offensive and ridiculous unchallenged tirades I've seen. Tim Russert looked like a fool for not challenging the man just because he was crying and begging for money and help from the federal government.
His claim was outrageous on its face as he screamed that a colleague's 90-year old mother died because the "federal government" didn't come rescue her for five days.
Think about that--for five days locals in Louisiana would have to have ignored this poor woman's pleas for help.
During the interview he delivered this tirade as he was crying on air.
"The guy who runs this building I'm in, emergency management, he's responsible for everything. His mother was trapped in St. Bernard nursing home and every day she called him and said, "Are you coming, son? Is somebody coming?" And he said, "Yeah, Mama, somebody's coming to get you.
Somebody's coming to get you on Tuesday.
Somebody's coming to get you on Wednesday.
Somebody's coming to get you on Thursday.
Somebody's coming to get you on Friday.
And she drowned Friday night," he claimed.
Several things didn't pass the smell test with this. First, once Katrina hit, no one in New Orleans had phones. How was she calling? Second, what kind of a son that was only a few miles from his mother would allow her to call day after day after day and allow her to die?
And why wouldn't Broussard go save her? Any real person would do everything they could to get to their mother or help their friend get to her and get her out of harms way.
A better question, why didn't Tim Russert ask these questions?
Now NBC has had to admit that Broussard's account was a fabrication. On Monday the network ran a small story on its website explaining what was called a "misunderstanding."
Subsequent reporting identified the man whom Broussard was referring to in the Meet the Press interview as Thomas Rodrigue, the Jefferson Parish emergency services director. Contacted on Friday by MSNBC.com, Rodrigue acknowledged that his 92-year-old mother and more than 30 other people died in the St. Rita nursing home. They had not been evacuated and the flood waters overtook the residence.
That was on Monday August 29.
Rodrigue said he didn't see or hear Broussard's comments on Meet the Press. When told of the sequence of phone calls that Broussard described on Meet the Press, Rodrigue said "No, no, that's not true."
"I contacted the nursing home two days before the storm [on Aug. 27th] and again on the 28th of August," Rodrigue said.
"At the same time I talked to the nursing home I also talked to the emergency manager for St. Bernard Parish," Rodrigue said, "to encourage that nursing home to evacuate like they were supposed to and they didn't until it was too late."
Broussard must have been confused "because I was calling, not my mother calling me, I was calling her," Rodrigue said. Further, Rodrigue says he never made any calls after Monday, the day he figures his mother died, based on conversations he's had with another person who had a family member perish inside St. Rita's.
Broussard could not be reached for comment by NBC.
So we're clear on the timeline, this man's mother perished in the floodwaters from Katrina on Monday August 29. Broussard went on NBC and made his claims on Sunday September 4th.
He claimed that the woman called her son Tuesday through Friday (after she had already perished) and moved her death back to Friday September 2.
Why--to try and capitalize politically on her death. Broussard had to take the heat off of the inadequacies of his actions as a government official and shift the blame to President George W. Bush. What better way than to cry on air and let a willing media just lap up the story unchallenged.
NBC's Tim Russert sadly allowed him to do just that.
He was quickly made a folk hero by the moonbat left as they loved the fact that he was attacking the president and claiming that the Bush Administration had committed murder. Some wanted him to run for higher office based solely on that performance. And what a performance it was.
I expect this kind of behavior from a joke of a "leader" like Aaron Broussard. But Tim Russert calling this small time politician "Mr. President" and letting this obvious lie stand for two weeks is unacceptable.
Russert had an agenda and Broussard's lies fit that agenda. So he allowed him to rant with no follow up and ignored obvious questions. Why would Russert's instincts as a reporter not kick in? Where were the easy questions?
Russert should be ashamed, and needs to apologize for his part in broadcasting an obvious lie.
I meant your signature, of course, the article sounds dodgy!! :shock: