Mea Cover-upa

Is there a counter-corrective (or at least counter-narrative) to the wave of Katrina myth-debunking? Well, sure.

Comments

[Tim Cavanaugh]

Who are we to doubt Motley Cr?e's bassist?

[SM]

"Who are we to doubt Motley Cr?e's bassist?"

Ha Ha ! Good one, Tim.

[mediageek]

Had the disaster been anywhere near as bad as this guy wants it to be, the thronging masses would have surely killed Geraldo.

[joe]

I've been observing the right wing media machine long enough to know how this works.

This is going to migrate from Mens News Daily (thanks a lot, pinhead) to the "responsible" conservative media in a slightly more subltle form.

Brit Hume will declare "Liberals are saying that there was no violence or looting in New Orleans," then procede to disprove this phantom assertion.

He will then ask one of his guests "So why does the Racial Grievance Industry want to cover up these crimes?"

No real answer will be given, and no actual accusation that black people are inclined to commit crimes will be made. But the job will be done. Next on Fox, do the people of New Orleans really deserve "ordinary Americans'" tax dollars to rebuild their city?

[Jason Ligon]

"Next on Fox, do the people of New Orleans really deserve "ordinary Americans'" tax dollars to rebuild their city?"

Which is annoying, because buried in all that crap somewhere is a legitimate point.

[Happy Jack]

A cite from Steve Sailer is a sure clue as to which direction the post is headed.

Meanwhile, all this talk about Geraldo and Fox sounds like an idea for a reality show. A version of Escape From New York/Survivor, where Geraldo gets dropped off in a rough 'hood. If he survives your 'hood, a nice parting gift, if not, $1,000,000.

[mediageek]

Except the "prize" should be more like the one at the end of the movie "The Running Man."

[joe]

Jason, "Which is annoying, because buried in all that crap somewhere is a legitimate point."

Sounds like me, watching Al Sharpton on a talk show.

[nofollow breaks blogs]

What a wonderful post! Find an extreme example of the other side, then use that to justify your position. Hey, we all do it, don't we?

Meanwhile, those who want to find out what really happened might, for instance, let us know what happened to this.

I'd put more links in, but when I tried that before the comment was moderated and never showed up. That might have been a technical glitch I guess.

[Matt Welch]

nofollow -- I wasn't looking for an "extreme example of the other side," and I wasn't posting it "to justify" my "position."

As for what happened to Wendell Bailey, he's facing trial, far as I know. (I linked to news of his arrest just as soon as I heard about it one month ago). I've also linked twice to the Knight-Ridder account which mentions that incident & paints a decidedly gray picture of the alleged helicopter-shooting incidents.

Also, I asked a main ATF guy active in Louisiana if they had investigated any other cases of people shooting at helicopters, and he said "no." He also said "draw your own conclusions" about that fact, for what it's worth.

Finally, the comments-robot here seems to get grumpy when you put mulitiple links in one post.

[Herman]

Was wondering when good ol' lonewacko would show up.

[Anonymous Coward]

I've been observing the right wing media machine long enough to know how this works.

I've been observing the use of the phrase "right wing" long enough to know how this works.

[joe]

Hey, look at that! A right winger brought up an actual example of mayhem that did occur, to criticize the debunking of all the false stories.

*little endzone dance*

Though, I must admit, thelonewackoblog ain't exactly "the 'responsible' conseravtive media."

[Steven Crane]

Gee, nofollow, nobody ever would have guessed that you were the Lonewacko, even without scrolling over your screenname.

[Steven "The Merovingian Menace]

Oh yeah.

I suggest you get a new schtick before you embarrass yourself any further.

cackle.

[mobile]

I dunno if Mr. Stix is on to something. But I do know that Matt Welch ain't noone's bitch.

[drf]

MR CRANE!

awesome.

drf

[nofollow breaks blogs]

Thanks for all the ad hominems, they're how I know I'm doing my job.

I'm not trying to say that no or almost none of horror stories happened, nor am I trying to say that all or most happened.

I'm just looking for the truth.

First we had the series of horror stories, then the series of debunkings. I don't entirely believe either, and I also tend to be a bit skeptical of things that government officials say. Especially since they blocked photogs for a day or two. I also spoke to a mortician who was there for 13 days.

A newspaper report had said "He was surprised by the number of homicides ? people with gunshot wounds to their heads and backs..."

When I spoke to him, he said team rules prevented him from disclosing how many he was talking about, but don't you think that would be more than the official toll?

I'm keeping an open mind, but the rest of you can do what you want.

[Happy Jack]

Lonewhacko- is a mortician qualified to perform an autopsy? Just wondering how he knows that the bodies contained gunshot wounds.

From your link, it appears that all he did was move bodies. It's quite possible that in a hurricane flying debris could puncture the skin, mimicking a bullet wound.

You'll need more evidence to convince me.

[Tom Cruise]

I dunno if Mr. Stix is on to something. But I do know that Matt Welch ain't noone's bitch.

Actually Matthew's my bitch.

[ralphus]

"Lonewhacko- is a mortician qualified to perform an autopsy? Just wondering how he knows that the bodies contained gunshot wounds."

Big gaping holes in the cranium are usually a pretty good tip off. I'm assuming that if you've worked as a mortician in a major city with an average crime rate or even in a rural area with a fair share of hunting accidents you would probably have a decent idea of what a gunshot wound looks like. That being said Happy Jack; I too need a little more evidence than "I talked to a mortician."

I think I am somewhere in the middle on the whole post apocalyptic warlord scenario in NO. I doubt that it was as Lord of the Flies as first reported. I also doubt it was as peachy as the revisionist would have you believe.

[joe]

Are there any revisionist describing it as "peachy?"

[ralphus]

Sorry joe. Bad choice of words. No one is saying it was peachy. But you have more than a few saying that that all reports of mayhem were gross exaggerations based on racist assumptions.

I think that the reality was somewhere in the middle. Just like any disaster most people demonstrated the best of human traits, while others demonstrated the worst and took advantage of the situation. I think some of the events that grabbed headlines happened; rapes, murders, shooting at choppers. But I think that they were blown out of proportion by the lack of communication and the natural rumor mongering nature of humans. Like the kid in high school that cut of the tip of his pinky in woodshop and by the end of the day he's a triple amputee - according to the grapevine. I don't doubt that people were raped. Baby gang rapes however trigger my bullshit meter.

Same with the choppers, maybe one got shot at by one mentally unstable guy, or someone who was pissed that he had been passed over for pick up a number of times. I doubt it was epidemic, but it could have happened.

The problem is that "Green Zone" reporting has permeated the media. All we get now is the grapevine with cool graphics.