It is of course unfair to compare Barbara Bush to Marie Antoinette: unlike the queen, George's mother actually said the noxious things attributed to her.
"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 — this (chuckling slightly) is working very well for them."
Much has been made of that last clause: how Barbara sees this catastrophe as kind of a lucky break for these people, who otherwise wouldn't get out much. Had Marie Antoinette actually said, "let them eat cake," it would have been, relatively speaking, a sensitive suggestion.
Not enough, however, is being made of the slight chuckle. It's the little laugh that indicates to me, more than anything, the rank condescension: the suggestion that these people might not actually deserve the fortuitous bump in status that they've received at the hands of those hospitable Texans. The suggestion that it's a bit like, you know, welfare: you wouldn't want these people to start feeling as if they're entitled to a nice cushy life in a filthy ad hoc emergency shelter.
Jane Austen was particularly good at calling attention to those little class tics which speak so eloquently. By far the most repulsive figure she ever cooked up was Mrs. Norris in Mansfield Park, who had to constantly remind Fanny Price, the poor relation, that the girl was overwhelmingly lucky to have secured a third-class citizenship in such a grand house. Mrs. Norris had all sorts of little mannerisms, like the Barbara Bush Chuckle, to indicate her amazement at the undeserved change in state enjoyed by that ungrateful wretch.
Article comments
1 - Joanie
Apparently you've never encountered nervous laughter.
As for the "what's sort of scary" part of Mrs. Bush's comment, I agree that it's scary in this day and age that after a hurricane has destroyed someone's life one could still find hope or that these folks had lived their entire lives never encountering the kindness of strangers.
Or maybe she really meant that it's scary anyone would find living in Texas a step up.
Either way, her comment wasn't nearly as sinister as everyone makes it out to be.
2 - Dave Nalle
Her comment wasn't well said, but it was true. It's exactly what people in the shelters have been saying all over Texas.
However here in Austin we have the added feature now of people being intensely pissed off, because FEMA is giving out $2000 debit cards to evacuees in Houston, Dallas and San Antonio, but not in Austin.
Dave
3 - marc
I agree Joanie, it's mostly the "anyone but Bush" crowd that has been crying foul.
Not to mention not even having enough control over the budget to know how many school teachers are on payroll and the financial condition has been called a "train wreck.""what's sort of scary" couldn't possibly mean the Texas school system suddenly and without warning would have to assimulate thousands of extra students. Not to the ABB crowd or those suffering with Bush Derangment Syndrome (BDS), it just has to mean she's afraid of more blacks entering the State.
Because Barbara Bush says evacuees "were underprivileged anyway, so this -- this (chuckling slightly) is working very well for them."
To those with BDS that means Katrina was a lucky break for them and doggone it lets have another cat 4 storm to have even more "lucky underprivileged blacks" sitting on rooftops and swimming for their lives!
To the more reasonable people, and Barbara, it means they truely are lucky to escape. They might actually have a chance at a good education in Texas vice in New Orleans where the city accounts for 55 of Louisiana's 78 worst schools. More than two-thirds of the school system's fourth-graders do not have basic competence in math. And where:
Yes they truely are lucky but not the way your attempting to describe it "Mr." Cooper.
And please enlighten us "Mr." Cooper why they wouldn't be lucky, as Barbara called them, to escape a place where the their local elected officials blocked the Red Cross from delivering food and water to the Superdome, or blocked the Salvation Army from doing the same?
A piece of advice, there is a cure for BDS, take a little common sense, mix with a course in reading comprehension 101 and avoid all contact with dKos, Oliver Willis, Democratic Underground and Moveon.org.
4 - marc
Oh and BTw "Mr. Cooper, when do you plan on giving credit for the Marie Antoinette reference that was first used on MSNBC than echoed by Bill Maher.
Just wondering.
5 - Shark
Coupla comments:
* Jeesus, marc, about a million people have noted the 'let 'em eat cake' similiarities. Find a new beef.
* Here's what's scary: Barbara Bush has THREE MORE SONS who want to be President!
* IRONY OF THE DAY:
re. accusation that Texans might fear massive influx of poor/uneducated might want to stay in Lone Star State: "'...There's a temptation to say: I hope they do."
Writer sees 'hoping "they" stay as some sort of punishment for Texans, the exact thing he criticized Babs for doing.
Ironic, that.
* In a state that ex-governor George W. Bush left as among the LOWEST IN THE NATION in a number of important ^^categories, worrying about an overnight infusion of 250,000 poor people sounds like good pre-planning for a natural disaster -- y'know, like a... hurricane?
* Those poor folks from New Orleans had better know how to speak Spanish!
^^Texas Standings Post-George W:
50th in teacher salaries plus benefits
50th in per-capita spending on government administration
50th in per-capita interest paid on state's general debt
49th in per capita general revenue;
49th in spending for the environment;
49th in per-capita spending on natural resources;
49th in percent of adults voting (1996)
48th in per-capita spending for public health;
48th in per-capita spending for public parks and recreation;
48th in per-capita spending for public arts programs;
48th in per-capita tax revenue;
47th in delivery of social services;
47th in per-capita spending on highways;
46th in welfare benefits as a percentage of poverty-level income;
42nd in state and local government welfare spending;
42nd in per capita high school completion rate
42nd in per-capita revenue from current charges
42nd in spending for public libraries (the First Lady is a librarian!)
39th in physicians per capita
38th in immunization rates;
35th in per-capita education spending for K12 and higher;
32nd in average life-expectancy;
31st in infant mortality rates.
"Don't Mess With Texas!"
heh.
6 - marc
Well "Jeesus" Shark. I guess I should read every thread here so I won't make that error.
Not!
7 - Shark
marc, yer forgiven.
~Not!
hehe.
8 - Scott
Those Bush's. They don't understand nor even care about the plight of the poor.
9 - Douglas Anthony Cooper
I get a kick out of the "Mr." Cooper. Do you mean that, because I don't support your chickenhawk, I'm not a real he-man? I should perhaps be "Mrs." Cooper?
As for the Marie Antoinette reference: you're joking, right? Is there *anybody* who didn't immediately think of the headless queen when they read those remarks? You have to watch Bill Maher to get a dose of History 101? (I don't own a television, by the way; I couldn't tell you what Bill Maher looks like.)
I'm truly interested, though: *why are you continuing to support this man?* I mean, by all means stand up for his mom -- that's what you Real Men do -- but why *him*? Don't you have the sense, post-Katrina, that he might be a bit... well, incompetent? Okay, we can disagree regarding his character: he makes my skin crawl; clearly you find him congenial. But does he make you feel *safe?*
(And as for the Irony of the Day: what I was saying -- and I was being, um, ironic -- is that I hope they stay and apply for welfare: Barbara's worst nightmare.)
10 - Gary
Another difference is that Marie Antoinette was female.
When I saw Barbara Bush being interviewed I didn't recognize her at first and said to myself "Wow, Dame Edna sure hit the wall."
11 - The Fifth Dentist
"She might benefit from a night in the Superdome (chuckle) although what's sort of scary is that she's so old she probably wouldn't notice she was sleeping on a bed of human waste (chuckle)." But seriously, the entire Bush Family -- mom, dad, Jeb, Neil, Doro, Dodo, Doodoo, Johnboy, Jimbob, and whoever they've got locked in the basement -- needs to be deported before they wreck this country.
12 - Dave Nalle
>>re. accusation that Texans might fear massive influx of poor/uneducated might want to stay in Lone Star State: "'...There's a temptation to say: I hope they do."
Writer sees 'hoping "they" stay as some sort of punishment for Texans, the exact thing he criticized Babs for doing.<<
Shark, as a Texan who actually understood what Babs was saying, rather than deliberately trying to twist the meaning, I also hope they stay. Not as a punishment for Texas, but because these are good Americans who deserve better than the degraded and oppressed life as serf/clients of the political machine in New Orleans. In Texas they can be free and prosper, and everyone deserves that opportunity.
Dave
13 - Nicole
"Shark, as a Texan who actually understood what Babs was saying,..."
Dave, again, you're so clever! Those 'anyone but Bushers' have managed to twist Babs' words all around to look like something awful! How dare they!
Really, Dave, if I hadn't read so many of your truly enlightening, self-indulgent, condescending, and just plain ignorant, ranking posts, I would be hard pressed to believe that you actually exist. Unfortunately, you have company, which sadly, is a fact of life.
To your credit I will say it is people like yourself, ever so willing to stick your foot in your mouth and suck hard, that allow the rest of the free thinking world to know what to look out for. Thanks Dave, keep up the good work!
14 - Jewels
Wow, Dame Edna sure hit the wall. there's Gary being so funny about ol' Babs:
>>Gary on September 10, 2005 05:27 PM:
Another difference is that Marie Antoinette was female.
When I saw Barbara Bush being interviewed I didn't recognize her at first and said to myself "Wow, Dame Edna sure hit the wall."<<
Yep.
15 - Bob A. Booey
This topic wasn't even about me. How disappointing.
I'm Babs. She's Bubby or some other Eastern seaboard WASP nickname.
That is all.
16 - sdfsdfsdf
marie antonette was like ceacsecu's wife, why don;t they stop making crappy movies about her