News Richard H. Baker - Misquoted Like Pat Robertson?

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Richard H. Baker, a long-time representative from Washington D.C., faces backlash after a controversial statement regarding public housing in New Orleans, which he claims was misquoted. Initially reported as saying that God cleaned up public housing, Baker asserts his actual words emphasized the long struggle to improve conditions, suggesting divine intervention was finally prompting action. This incident draws parallels to previous controversies involving religious figures and media misrepresentation. The discussion highlights concerns about the implications of attributing natural disasters to divine will, particularly regarding the treatment of marginalized communities. Additionally, remarks from Barbara Bush about evacuees' conditions have sparked debate over the perception of disaster victims and the potential exploitation of their plight. The conversation reflects broader anxieties about the intersection of politics, religion, and social justice in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
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Meet Richard H. Baker. He's spent the 20 years of his life in Washton DC representing the good people of http://baker.house.gov/ . Now, Mr. Baker seems to have a problem. It seems the liberal media overheard him saying:
We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans. We couldn't do it, but God did.

However, Mr. Baker's side of the story is a little different. He says he was misquoted---Like good'ol pat---and his statement went more like this:

We have been trying for decades to clean up New Orleans public housing to provide decent housing for residents, and now it looks like God is finally making us do it

The corrected statement isn't much better IMHO. This has the surprising smack of the Pat Robertson debachle from a few weeks past. Ya'll remember that where the liberal media was working to torpedo poor poor Pat through no fault of his own?

Anywho, what do ya'll think?

Oh, and a link for those who want to read the WaPo article for yourselves.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/09/AR2005090901930.html
 
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I think it's a weird mentality indeed that embraces a God who sends a cat 4/5 hurricane because He got tired of waiting for local officials to clean up public housing.

What is *with* this religious segment?
 
Another "religious compassionate conservative".
 
I have also heard mention of a statement from Barbara Bush (Gee Dub's mommy) saying that the conditions provided the evacuees wasn't that bad because "They don't have anything anyway"
 
I have disagreed that the disaster has been used as a psyops. However, if there are those who are thinking happily how the natural tragedy is eliminating poor people who are a drain on government resources, I would not be at all surprised. And if so, I gather they are feeling some disappointment that the death toll is not likely to be as high as originally projected, and worse yet, now these poor people are displaced--some in their own neighborhoods. Hmm...maybe God does work in mysterious ways.
 
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Tarheel said:
I have also heard mention of...
Yes, here's a source for you:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/06/katrina.presidents.ap/
Barbara said:
"What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality ... And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them."
 
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SOS2008 said:
Hmm...maybe God does work in mysterious ways.
Then again.. maybe george did it.
 

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