Posted on May 14, 2010

‘Barack Obama Doesn’t Care About White People!’

Larry Elder, WorldNetDaily, May 13, 2010

{snip} None [who performed on a telethon to raise money for victims of the historic floods ravaging parts of Tennessee, Kentucky and Mississippi] accused the Obama administration of indifference or lack of attentiveness to these floods.

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{snip} During a Katrina fundraiser, rapper Kayne West accused President George W. Bush of indifference to the plight of those suffering. West said, “George W. Bush doesn’t care about black people.”

Hurricane Katrina was catastrophic. It caused over 1,500 deaths, with property damage estimated at near $100 billion and hundreds of thousands of people displaced. {snip}

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But has the traditional media devoted the time and attention warranted by the historic floods?

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How big a deal are these floods?

Hale [Elden Hale, general manager of Nashville’s NBC affiliate, WSMV] said his area received 15 inches of rain in two days, a phenomenon of “biblical proportions.” People, he said, still haven’t grasped the dimensions of this disaster. The rainfalls are the highest since records have been kept. The resulting floods have been described as the greatest tragedy to hit the area since the Civil War. So far, 30 peopled are listed dead, the count expected to grow as floods recede and bodies are recovered. {snip}

Why haven’t the floods gotten more attention?

“I don’t want to get into that,” Hale said, “but you and I both know they care more about the two coasts than they do Middle America.” Did NBC network express any interest in airing the telethon? “No,” Hale said, “but in fairness, I didn’t offer it to them. We intended for it to be a local affair.”

{snip}

In his piece “We Are Nashville,” Tennesee writer Patten Fuqua said: “Parts of Nashville that could never even conceivably be underwater were underwater. Some of them still are. Opry Mills and the Opryland Hotel are, for all intents and purposes, destroyed. People died sitting in standstill traffic on the Interstate. We saw boats going down West End. And, of course, we all saw the surreal image of the portable building from Lighthouse Christian floating into traffic and being destroyed when cars were knocked into it. I’m still having trouble comprehending all of it.”

Consider some alternate explanations for the media’s comparative lack of interest:

* Those affected, residents and officials, didn’t blame others. WSMV general manager Hale praised the spirit of Tennessee. His station, organizers and entertainers came together with two days notice. Quoting one of his news anchors, Hale said, “‘Volunteerism is in our DNA.’ When the Red Cross came in they were surprised because so much had already been done.”

* The media’s beloved Obama failed to carry Tennessee, Kentucky and Mississippi. Those states, alien (if not enemy) territory, are simply of minor importance. It’s just hard to feel those folks’ pain.

* One Bush critic argued that the president didn’t care about New Orleans because it is “black” and “sexy.” Perhaps the media’s indifference to Nashville is because that city is “only” 25 percent black and therefore “white and redneck.”

* Non-Obama voting, self-reliant “Hee-Haw’ers” who aren’t blaming somebody for their troubles just don’t make for big news.

Where’s the race card when you need it?