Clueless First Lady Halts Victims' Medical Treatment

Sure, there is a diary about Laura Bush grinning for the Extreme Home Makeover Show, but nowhere is mentioned the actual effect this STUPID Photo-Op had on Hurricane Victims: Her appearance SHUT DOWN a free medical clinic providing care for people who have been ignored for days and weeks by her husband's incompetent administration.

Before Mrs. Bush entered the community center where the show was filming, a director shooed away both victims and volunteers from the doorway, instructing them on how to react as her entourage entered.

"Act surprised!" he said above the din.

A clinic offering free treatment and medicine at the community center had to shut down...

First, Bush the Junior ignores the plight of thousands, strumming while New Orleans drowns. "Brownie" does a 'heck of a job.' Mean old momma Bush tells the poor how much better they have it sleeping under mercury-vapor lights on the floor of a stadium. And now, the incredibly clueless First Lady mugs for the camera while giving victims the things they do not need (clothes) and denies them what they do need: MEDICAL TREATMENT!

...some of the people who came to see her did so under the mistaken belief that there was to be a drawing for free appliances.

"That's why people are here. We don't need clothes. We're not walking around naked," said Susie Hightower, 53.

Good Lord, when will we get a break from this pandering self-righteous, disconnected-from-reality, just flat-out-ignorant family!???

First lady offers clothes and a 'Makeover'
 (clueless) Laura Bush helps hand out donations in Biloxi as reality cameras roll
09:55 PM CDT on Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Associated Press

BILOXI, Miss. - First lady Laura Bush made her reality TV debut Tuesday, helping with a taping of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition in a sweltering community building as she toured hurricane relief sites on the Mississippi coast.

If my family members needed medical care and we were "shooed away from the door" and told to "act surprised", the least I'd do is shout back "Go 'Cheney' Yourself!" Actually, I  would probably just lose it completely. They'd have to haul me off before I would allow that to happen. The nerve of denying MEDICAL CARE for a photo-op!  

Day after day, I honestly think they won't think of anything worse than the latest outrage, and then they simply surpass all base expectations all over again!

---------------------------

[UPDATED] Idea for Laura's appearance was pitched FROM the White House to the show, not the other way around:

But it could be difficult to discern whose fortunes will be lifted higher — the displaced victims of two hurricanes or the White House, which was widely perceived as slow to understand their pain.

Which is probably why the Bush team contacted the show for a booking instead of the other way around. "EM:HM," as it is known in Hollywood-speak, was ranked among the top 15 shows last season with an average 15.8 million viewers. Airing Sunday nights, it is considered one of the strongest family hours on television.

"We got a call from the White House saying, 'What are you doing and, if you need help, just let us know,' " Forman said. "We said here's what we're doing and if the first lady would like to join us, we'd love to have her."

•  OMG

  And they had to advertise free appliances in order to get anyone to come.

  These people are sickening.  And once again, although it's out in the open, it has no impact on the media or on the great sheeple.

  Business as usual.

  by delphine on Wed Sep 28, 2005 at 12:34:19 PM PDT

  •  And who do you suppose put out

    "rumors" that Free Appliances were to be given away?  Who's done that sort of 'background trick' before - for example, inviting homeless people for free beer and food to rival campaign rallies, using other people's campaign stationery, using phone banks to float rumors?

    Why Karl Rove, of course. This has Rove written all over it. He's planning 10 chess moves ahead. Next January, when this episode may be aired, Michael Brown will have been forgotten in the main stream media and Queen Laura Bush will be handing out cake to the hoi polloi.

    by YucatanMan on Wed Sep 28, 2005 at 12:39:21 PM PDT

•  I am amazed

  at how quickly the American public has accepted the notion that our President's (and first lady's) job is to go around making appearences.  I about lost it   during Bush's first Katrina trip when he said it was his job to comfort people....no, thats NOT HIS JOB!  We elect a Commander-in-Chief, not a Therapist-in-Chief.

  by tjb22 on Wed Sep 28, 2005 at 12:35:52 PM PDT

•  I'm willing to bet

  that the production company was behind all this nonsense, not FLOTUS.

  Just as stupid, natch.  They'll do anything for ratings.

  by PeteyP on Wed Sep 28, 2005 at 12:42:55 PM PDT

  •  Very possible!

    But the White House - if it cared at all - should have the highest priority on taking care of our citizens - the victims of the disaster. Not on joining in with shameless self-promotion.

    Still Extreme Makeover: Home Edition should hear from Kossacks about this lame move.  To complain about the callous acts of this production crew, CONTACT:

    ABC Television Network
    77 West 66th Street
    New York, NY 10023-6298
    [phone]
    Fax: [phone]

    Parent Company:
    The Walt Disney Co.
    500 S. Buena Vista Street
    Burbank, CA 91521-0142
    [phone]

    Offices:
    ABC Daytime
    77 West 66th St.
    New York, NY 10023
    [phone]

    ABC Entertainment Television Group
    500 South Buena Vista Street
    Burbank, CA 91521
    [phone]

    For ABC's Primetime and Daytime shows, as well as our Movies and Specials and ABC Sports: Audience Relations Department at [e-mail]

    by YucatanMan on Wed Sep 28, 2005 at 12:55:59 PM PDT

    •  SEARS Contact Info:

      CEO, Sears Retail:

      Aylwin B. Lewis
      Sears, Roebuck and Co.
      3333 Beverly Rd.
      Hoffman Estates, IL 60179  

      Phone: [phone]
      Fax: [phone]

      also: President, Merchandising and Marketing, Sears Retail: Luis A. Padilla

      Sears National Customer Relations
      3333 Beverly Road
      Hoffman Estates, IL 60179

      by YucatanMan on Wed Sep 28, 2005 at 01:00:47 PM PDT

•  Not that it'll do any good,

  but I wrote to ABC to complain about this.  I told them they were taking a right wing political position by putting her on the show and that, even though I like the show, I won't watch it anymore if they air that episode.  Also, I said I'd write to Sears to complain about them.  

  by joodleboodle on Wed Sep 28, 2005 at 12:46:29 PM PDT

  •  Action beats bitching any day

    great idea, thanks, now that I am done venting I will do the same.

    by Oke on Wed Sep 28, 2005 at 12:56:19 PM PDT

•  WWHD

  What Would Hillary Have Done?  First, she would have kicked Bill's ass if he would have put a moron like Brownie in charge of FEMA, then kicked ass to get real help to people.  
  Yeah, Hillary's a politician, yeah, she's rich, but she at least has shown a realistic perception of what it is to be an average citizen trying to make it in this country.  Hillary has a concept of reality that Laura is incapable of.
  If Laura was in reality she would've left Shrubmonkey years ago.
  BUSHWOMEN=MATERIALISTIC, SELF-CENTERED, HEARTLESS
  B****ES!

  by Oke on Wed Sep 28, 2005 at 12:51:36 PM PDT

•  Hillary v. Dubya

   The BIG difference between Hillary and Dubya when it coems to being rich is that HILLAY made her money the old-fashioned way: she earned it.  She went to law school and held downa real job in a real law firm.  Unlike Shrub, she wasn't born wealthy, nor did she get into her Ivy League schools as a legacy; instead,  she made high grades and studied.   There was no one there to clean upa fter her if she screwed up or failed. She has a far better grasp of relity for precisely that reason.

  Dubya, on the other hand, was born into a welathy family with lots of political conenctions. He got into prep  schools and the Ivy League because his Dad went there (University of Texas wouldn't have him in their law school because he wasn't a legacy).  He failed at every business venture he attempted until he got the baseball team, and he used Other People's Money to buy it and to construct the stadium.   He's never missed a meal, had to study to get good grades, had to apply for a job without Dad pulling strings, or created a mess by his incompetence that wasn't cleaned up for him. Hsi grasp on reality is tenuous at best.

  ANd if he';s so damned itnerested in conserving energy, he can stop flyign to NOLA--he wasn't where  he was needed (D.C., not NOLA) when it mattered. Hugs don't do a damned thing to alleviate the pain these people feel at losing everything. Give 'em money, rebuild their homes, helpt hem furnish them, allow the Dems to revise the bankruptcy law to exempt disaster victims, and help them find jobs and get good educations--that is what they need, not phony sympathy.
  

  by irishwitch on Wed Sep 28, 2005 at 01:04:20 PM PDT

•  Ummm

  not that I don't believe it's true, but could you provide a link to this.  I recommended assuming what I thought was a link to this worked.  Thanks.

  by otis704 on Wed Sep 28, 2005 at 01:28:24 PM PDT

  •  ummm I got it to work....never mind

    duhhhh I'm kind of in shell shock mode with all that's going on this afternoon...

    by otis704 on Wed Sep 28, 2005 at 01:29:40 PM PDT

  •  May not be obvious, but the link

    is in the block quote below the fold. BTW, there are over 217 articles about this on Google. So it isn't some obscure little fact. It is all over.

    What makes it so awful is the detail behind the fact she's on the show. They shoved people aside when they needed medical care and told them to "Act surprised" when the First Lady shows up. Disgusting.

    by YucatanMan on Wed Sep 28, 2005 at 01:40:28 PM PDT

    •  I agree.

      Just another photo op regardless of the misery it might cause others.

      What gets me also is how on earth could you pick just one family out of all of these families in such incredible need to help?  I couldn't pick just one and then sleep at night.  This is a really horrible idea unless they rebuild the whole town, not just the family they deem "worthy". It's just too soon and there is too much misery for them to even consider this.  

      It kind of makes me feel the same way that I feel when people say, God spared us, he was good to us and the rest of the neighborhood is totally trashed.  

      by otis704 on Wed Sep 28, 2005 at 02:01:37 PM PDT