Q&A Friday #22: Is Barbara Bush Getting Too Much Flack For Her Comments?

Question: “I know Barbara Bush has gotten a lot of flack for her comment. I’ll admit it lacked tact, but, and it has to be said, is she really wrong? We have been hearing all along that many people didnt leave because they were dirt poor and couldnt afford cars or even a bus trip to anywhere else. Now they will have access to unprecedented financial support- both from the federal government and from private donations.

Now, I dont envy what they went through in the slightest, and I’m sure many with have psychological issues with this for many years to come. But in terms of pure standard of living, isnt it possible that many of New Orleans’ poorest will come out of this better than they started?” — RightWingConspirator

Answer: First of all, here’s the quote from Barbara Bush:

“And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this — this is working very well for them.”

Barbara Bush has caught a lot of flack because she’s a very rich, very privileged woman, and it rubs people the wrong way when she sees people who are sleeping in the Astrodome and proclaims that things are, “working very well for them.” It gives off the same vibe as Marie Antoinette’s infamous, “Let them eat cake,” comment, except of course, on a lesser level. Even if this is a step up for a few people, anybody stuck sleeping on a cot, wearing donated clothes, after losing everything they owned is in really rough straits and it sounds out of touch to say things are working out, “well for them.”

In any case, I haven’t seen too many people making a big deal of it and Barbara Bush isn’t running for office, so I wouldn’t worry too much about it.

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