Look! A straw! It will keep us all afloat!
The Swiftboating of Aaron Broussard begins:
Aaron Broussard, President of Jefferson Parish, appeared this Sunday on Meet the Press. He made some extremly seriouss charges that officials at FEMA had actively interefered with assisitance efforts in his Parish. Responding to host Tim Russert’s questions on local and state-level accountability, he said:
Let me give you just three quick examples. We had Wal-Mart deliver three trucks of water, trailer trucks of water. FEMA turned them back. They said we didn’t need them. This was a week ago. FEMA–we had 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel on a Coast Guard vessel docked in my parish. The Coast Guard said, “Come get the fuel right away.” When we got there with our trucks, they got a word. “FEMA says don’t give you the fuel.” Yesterday–yesterday–FEMA comes in and cuts all of our emergency communication lines. They cut them without notice. Our sheriff, Harry Lee, goes back in, he reconnects the line. He posts armed guards on our line and says, “No one is getting near these lines.” Sheriff Harry Lee said that if America–American government would have responded like Wal-Mart has responded, we wouldn’t be in this crisis.
Notably, Wal-Mart has not made public comment about Broussard’s allegations. Of all the claims Broussard made, this seemed the easiest to confirm.
So I called Wal-Mart’s public relations office (479-273-4314) to ask them for comment. Wal-Mart’s Sharon Weber returned my call. She told me that they had not heard of the incident – which supposedly took place last week – until they “read about it in the newspaper.” When I asked if she could confirm or deny that the story was true, she told me she would have to check and call me back later today.
Weber was able to tell me that any relief efforts in the field would have been subject to any orders given by FEMA. Other media sources have been quite clear that many shipments of aid from Wal-Mart have made it to relief distribution centers, and this reporter thinks that Wal-Mart’s efforts are commendable.
More as this story develops.
UPDATE: Sharon Weber of Wal-Mart called back. She said that last week, FEMA diverted those water trucks to “another location, which [FEMA] felt was in greater need than where they were headed.” Weber emphasized that Wal-Mart would not override any FEMA decisions made in emergency situations. So Broussard, who claimed that Wal-Mart’s aid was ourtight(sic) rejected, was wrong. Based on Wal-Mart’s information, their trucks were taken where FEMA thought they were needed most. It would appear that the same story occurred with the Coast Guard fuel issue. Broussard said that FEMA wouldn’t release the fuel to Jefferson Parish – but surely that fuel went somewhere else it was needed. Thanks to Wal-Mart’s Sharon Weber for tracking down this information.
So…
A) FEMA, which has done such a bang up job that Mike Brown is being considered for the the O’Connor seat, obviously sent the water somewhere where it was needed even more because they have been nothing but right right right. And the water wasn’t turned back. It was…um, diverted.
B) The fuel also surely went somewhere else where it was needed. Because…well just because it had to, it just had to.
C) Therefore Aaron Broussard is a filthy stinking commie liar.
Why does Aaron Broussard hate America?
