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Jindal Admits Katrina Story Was False
Make sure you watch the video at the bottom of the article to compare and contrast it with the truth.
Jindal Admits Katrina Story Was False
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/02/jindal_admits_katrina_story_was_false.php
Looks like the game is up.
Remember that story Bobby Jindal told in his big speech Tuesday night -- about how during Katrina, he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with a local sheriff who was battling government red tape to try to rescue stranded victims?
Turns out it wasn't actually, you know, true.
In the last few days, first Daily Kos, and then TPMmuckraker, raised serious questions about the story, based in part on the fact that no news reports we could find place Jindal in the affected area at the specific time at issue.
Jindal had described being in the office of Sheriff Harry Lee "during Katrina," and hearing him yelling into the phone at a government bureaucrat who was refusing to let him send volunteer boats out to rescue stranded storm victims, because they didn't have the necessary permits. Jindal said he told Lee, "that's ridiculous," prompting Lee to tell the bureaucrat that the rescue effort would go ahead and he or she could arrest both Lee and Jindal.
But now, a Jindal spokeswoman has admitted to Politico that in reality, Jindal overheard Lee talking about the episode to someone else by phone "days later." The spokeswoman said she thought Lee, who died in 2007, was being interviewed about the incident at the time.
(The rest of the article is at the link above)
Not defending Jindal here but a comment about these men/women on the street incidents as told by politicians everywhere (especially on the campaign trail).
I have never actually believed thes type of stories to be true per se but rather a combination of events/actualities have have occurred. So in essence what I am saying is that I am not surprised.
I find the fact that he made up this story - or any other story about Katrina - incredibly insulting, insensitive, repulsive, irresponsible, and just down right WRONG. IF Jindal did indeed make up this false story for political reasons/gains, then he is no better than the other dishonest, lying, manipulative politicians out there and I will NEVER vote for him again. Period.
Suzi, can you do some research (digging) on a local level and let us know what you find??? You are WAY better at that kind of thing than I am.
"I SO voted for Barack Obama! 10/25/08"
LOL Misty!! Shocking isn't it? (tongue in cheek!)
I know that they all tend to embelish stories, but geezzzz I thought that Jindal was above that kind of garbage. That's what I get for thinking!
"I SO voted for Barack Obama! 10/25/08"
I'm glad to see that he admitted that it wasn't true. It sure won't help him but I don't think it would harm him as much as being dismissive about it.
It reminds me of when Hillary Clinton was confronted with the false story about sniper fire in Bosnia and her arrogant, dismissive response. I had tried to be objective (although emotionally favoring Obama) about the Democratic primary candidates, but once she acted like that I was firmly behind Obama.
I think Jindal ultimately did the right thing here, which makes me more wary of whomever wrote that speech.
----It's sad that we've reached a point where 'government service' is a dirty word... If we're the greatest country on earth, maybe we can have the greatest government.
Lewis Black
A Jindal spokeswoman has admitted to Politico that in reality, Jindal overheard Lee talking about the episode to someone else by phone "days later." The spokeswoman said she thought Lee, who died in 2007, was being interviewed about the incident at the time.
This reminds me of something . . . silly me.
But, I'll have to remember this the next time I'm spinning a big yarn.
I think you guys are making too much about this.
Politicians (all of them) do this routinely. I am with MaryMoo on this one. Much ado about very little.
I disagree, I think people should be mad, especially Republicans looking for better leadership in their party. Not only was his speech terrible but he lied about this story, lied about the train pork in the stimulus, and mocked the volcano monitoring when he of all people should understand guarding against natural disaster. All this on his first national stage appearence. I think it's terrible and it's hard to know how much he's been pushed anymore from the GOP heads who were probably behind his speech too. What does it say that he didn't protest what this speech was about and how it was presented.
I'm not setting anything in stone about him yet, but what a terrible national debut. I think he has time and chances left but he better watch it now because after this he won't easily win over moderates or democrats who are fed up with these kinds of things from the GOP....
I can totally accept exaggerations. Bald-faced, made-up stories (a/k/a lies) are a whole other thing. I didn't forgive Hillary Clinton when she made up an untruth about snipers.
I will let Suzi report back about local news about it.
Politicians exagerate all the time, and "mis-speak" or overstate facts, but if we are willing to shrug off outright fabrications as simply what politicians do, we deserve the bag government we've had and it's our fault they do what they do.
I think it's also important to ascribe relevance to the reason a story is fabricated. In Clinton's case, the sniper fire lie was offered for no other reason that as personal testimony to her courage.
Jindal's lie is worse - his lie was much more manipulative and therefore more egregious because it's "central anecdote" was to discredit government regulation and cast a shadow on the Federal government. Bush's FEMA cast plenty of shadows, it's true, but NOT because of regulations.
Hi Gov. Jindal,
welcome to the world of national politics
(where everybody will scrutinize your every word)
My thoughts exactly.
When does his Wiki page get updated?
". . . and then sheriff said Congressman Jindal is here and you can come arrest him too."
Yes, wcolin, but you'd think for a guy who was speaking in front of a national audience for the first time in his political career (and with such a relatively short speech) would not want to spend such an inordinate amount of his overall speaking time doing what "politicians routinely do," which is lying to the nation.
What amazed me more is that for someone who's governor of a state that was the victim of the worst natural disaster in this country's history, would be opposed to a system that could monitor potential natural disasters in the future (volcano warnings). Is this guy for real?
----
It's sad that we've reached a point where 'government service' is a dirty word... If we're the greatest country on earth, maybe we can have the greatest government.
Lewis Black
You're right about Yellowstone. It, Washington and Hawaii are the first things that pop into my head when the issue is discussed.
Oh, Good Lord! Can it get any more pathetic???
- formerly klaf
Wait a minute.. Wasn't it Sheriff Lee who ordered the Jefferson Parish police force to form an armed blockade to prevent people from crossing the Gretna bridge to seek refuge at the convention center?
Fact check:
"We shut down the bridge," Arthur Lawson, Police Chief of the City of Gretna, Louisiana, adjacent to New Orleans. In an interview with UPI, Gretna Police Chief Arthur Lawson confirmed that his department shut down the bridge to pedestrians: "If we had opened the bridge, our city would have looked like New Orleans does now: looted, burned and pillaged."
You would think by this time, in this rapid communications age, that politicians would be a little more careful about what they claim.
It is not so much that what he 'misrepresented' was wrong, after all the crux of the story - that the government not helping due to lack of permits is presented as true - the problem is that this becomes a point of evidence that Jindal is able and willing to play around with the truth.
And yes, "everyone does it" and everyone will continue to do it until we can somehow hold them accountable,- even Obama
I agree with those who think this is much ado about very little. I didn't have to do but 5 minutes of research to find this: First, and update to the linked Daily Kos story:
< I just read it, but there is a second Sheriff who played prominently with Jindal, Jack Stephens from Chalmette, Louisiana, in St. Bernard Parish, Jindal did a lot to help them. The boat rescuers were being blocked from his parish (they are on the east side of New Orleans, directly next to the lower 9th Ward.) They were isolated for days, without any help, worse than New Orleans. The update fits exactly to the Jack Stephens story, not the Harry Lee story. (I'm not trying to be difficult, but the Katrina misinformation was flagrant and was never corrected, and I see some of that here as references.) BTW I can't believe I'm the only resident, a Democrat, who is aware of all this, posting here, which I found through HuffPo where I'm a regular,particularly on New Orleans and Katrina.
I'm glad you shed light on this. I might have gotten carried away and it's easier to believe you over some of these other sources.
I have to disagree Misty. The nut of the story is finding out what did or didn't really happen. If you check out the update on CTM's Politico link, you'll get a bit more info. We're gonna need a lot of popcorn to sort out this non-issue. ;-)
I'm beginning to believe this stuff on Jindal is dope.
Yep, I think so too, Misty.
A good lesson for all of us is to remember that both sides can be harshly partisan, and will spin things to try to bring the other down hard. That is one of the things President Obama wants to change. Good luck with that, Mr. President. *sigh*
Just for the record...When anyone down here says "During Katrina, we don't mean while the storm was actually raging. No one was doing anything during the actual storm but praying and/or shaking.
"During Katrina" is a catchphrase for the storm and it's aftermath.
Whatever the story, I have to admit it was great to hear Sheriff Harry Lee mentioned in a national address. He was a true folk hero in New Orleans and Jefferson Parish.
He was a 300 pound Chinese good old boy. He was sometimes very politically incorrect in some of his comments but he was well loved in suburban NOLA and was an excellent sheriff. He was also a Democrat, but would sometimes endorse Republicans.
I'm just sorry I never got to eat at his family's restaurant, the House of Lee in Metairie, Louisiana.
Pres. Clinton took "stretching the truth" to new levels. I think it was an art form for him. I recall so many stories of the people he met and I always wondered "Hmmm-is that person real?" But if he was making stuff up, he was very good at it and it was effective. That was before all this instant internet checking. Hillary learrd some lessons from Bill but she wasn't quite as savy. I guess many politicians do this but I think we'd all just prefer straight talk.
I doubt this will harm Jindal much but I do think the speech in general did more damage than I originally thought. Maybe he will make a come back in a few years. Who knows?
I doubt it harms him much either, at least I hope not. Heck in america anything is possible no matter your past stories..great short term memory here!!for further details see Prez 44
This story has gotten zero traction locally. I think that those who dislike Jindal will just have to accept that there is nothing to it.
His speech is another matter entirely....;-)