Celine Dion: Let ‘Em Loot!

International singing star Celine Dion has little problem with the large amount of looting taking place in hurricane-ravaged New Orleans, and she’s slamming the U.S. government for its perceived slow response to Katrina’s impact.

“You know, some people are stealing and they’re making a big deal out of it,” Dion said on CNN’s “Larry King Live,” as she said she’d donate $1 million toward relief.

“Oh, they’re stealing 20 pair of jeans or they’re stealing television sets. Who cares? They’re not going to go too far with it. Maybe those people are so poor, some of the people who do that they’re so poor they’ve never touched anything in their lives. Let them touch those things for once.”

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The Bush administration was also accused of racism on national TV during a celebrity relief effort on NBC.

“George Bush doesn’t care about black people!” exclaimed rapper Kayne West. (Click for video of West’s comments.)

West continued:

I hate the way they portray us in the media. You see a black family, it says, “They’re looting.” You see a white family, it says, “They’re looking for food.” And, you know, it’s been five days [waiting for federal help] because most of the people are black. And even for me to complain about it, I would be a hypocrite because I’ve tried to turn away from the TV because it’s too hard to watch. I’ve even been shopping before even giving a donation, so now I’m calling my business manager right now to see what is the biggest amount I can give, and just to imagine if I was down there, and those are my people down there. So anybody out there that wants to do anything that we can help—with the way America is set up to help the poor, the black people, the less well-off, as slow as possible. I mean, the Red Cross is doing everything they can. We already realize a lot of people that could help are at war right now, fighting another way—and they’ve given them permission to go down and shoot us!

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