Evacuees using their money to take trips to the Bahamas and buying

[Elwood P Dowd]

Louie Vuitton (sp?) products. While surfing the radio to see what the right wing AM hosts were saying, this guy named Mark Christopher was spouting this crap on WLAC (1510 KHz) in Nashville. These people have lost it. They are totally out of control.

[in_cog_ni_to]

1. Oh please. That's just bullshit.

The last thing those people are thinking about is vacationing and luxury goods. RW bullshit.

[AlCzervik]

2. some of them got as little as $500 and the most was 2K, that won't buy a

Louie Vitton anything but it would buy a bus tickert and a few weeks at a crappy motel.

[ContraBass Black]

24. It might buy a Vitton Wallet.

A small one.

[Lars39]

3. We can let him know how we feel:

[e-mail]

[Child_Of_Isis]

4. They are also buying cadillacs and mansions on the hill.eom

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

5. Yeah, it's that same 'welfare queen' from the Reagan era!

[postulater]

6. $2K in Halliburton stock would triple itself pretty fast, I bet.

[I_Make_Mistakes]

7. Must be those same Welfare Queens with Cadie's to get out of

NOLA, right?

[I_Make_Mistakes]

19. I swear when I posted my comment there were not 2 prior.

Why would I bother getting ridiculed here. I think it was level 3 or 4 when I posted. There was not a welfare Queen or cadie post here. I would not post a redundant RW claim. It's kinda SPOOKAY!

[me b zola]

8. Would you please use quotation marks in you subject line

to indicate that you are not posting on freeprepubic?!

[faithnotgreed]

11. i 2nd that

[tamtam]

9. This rumor is going around

The Houston media is reporting this also

http://www.click2houston.com/money/4972026/detail.html

I read this report from Houston and I'm trying to figure out why the employee that saw this refused to be identified.

[FreedomAngel82]

10. I think they need a padded room

[really annoyed]

12. Reported in the Ny Daily News

In the gossip column:

http://www.nydailynews.com/09-10-2005/news/special/story/345050p-294601c.html

[mountainvue]

13. I heard the exact same verbage used on

an FM station here this afternoon.

[BiggJawn]

14. The Vitton stuff was seized knock-offs...

Lots of people sportin' new DKNY, Tommy Pullmahfinger and Nike stuff, too. NONE of it genuine, NONE of bought in a store.

Customs trucked it in and handed it out.

Surprised the racist bastards aren't staking out the package stores "Hey, BOY! Where'd you get that money? You from Nawlins, BOY? Is that the money George Bush gave you to GET BACK ON YOUR FEET with? Ya Heah me, BOY?"

Oh, yeah, designer handbags. And EVERYONE had them. DUH!

[Stephanie]

15. please put your title in quotes or something

it looks like a FR thread title - confusing

[Elwood P Dowd]

16. Too late

Sorry folks. x(

[Bozita]

17. Houston "banker" arrested last week -- buying cards for $100-1,000

It was the 2nd day of the debit cards.

Read it here at DU.

[DefenseLawyer]

18. And picking up their welfare checks in a Cadillac

playing the hardworking white man for a sucker yet again.

[RebelOne]

32. That is probably quite true.

I was in the grocery store checkout behind a black woman who bought a shitload of food and paid for them with food stamps. When I left the store, I saw her loading her groceries into a brand-new Cadillac.

[johnaries]

20. I've heard that slime bag before. Here's the lowdown on the

"designer" products...
http://www.click2houston.com/money/4937407/detail.html

Seized Knockoffs Given To Katrina Evacuees
WASHINGTON -- They escaped Hurricane Katrina with nothing more than the clothes on their back. And now, they'll be wearing clothing with labels like Tommy Hilfiger and Yves St. Laurent.

They might not even mind that the labels are phony.

Hurricane survivors in the Houston Astrodome will be able to choose from counterfeit and abandoned clothing, as well as toys, dog food, and sheets and blankets.

They're among the items seized by federal customs officials. And now, they're being pulled from the warehouses and made available to hurricane survivors.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

21. Why are you repeating obvious right wing slime here?

[tamtam]

23. Why the hell not

If the right wing is spreading this rumor what better place than DU to get the facts and debunk the lie. Damn, I don't know what the problem is with some of you people. Next thing you know someone is going to call the OP an undercover freeper.

Whether you like it or not there are naive people out there that will believe the hype. I've seen dozens of rumors spread across the internet about Katrina victims and I usually come to DU to get the facts. If this post will help someone debunk this lie on some other site then what is the problem? Not only that we now know who is spreading the rumor and we can e-mail the asshole and tell him what we think. Most of the AirAmerica host do this everyday. Al Franken is always playing Rush lies and debunking them on air. Now are those of you that don't want to hear the right wing lies going to boycott liberal AirAmerica? Damn!

[stanwyck]

26. I agree. A usually rational co-worker

started up the other day with this trash talk about all the Katrina evacuees buyiing designer shoes and purses with their refund money. She'd heard it "on the radio" of course. I think this stuff needs to be debunked for the blatant propaganda it is. Faux News was 24/7 looting after Katrina. That was the whole story...looting. And now, rightwing radio is all about "those people" using their federal money to buy luxury items.
This talks to their base. "Just look at what "those people" do when they get our tax money!"
It's a coordinated effort to whip up the uglier emotions of their viewers/listeners. No facts are necessary.
This is toxic; it's poisoning our country. And we need to not turn away and shrug but get moving and counterattack.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

29. Don't repeat slime except to ask about it or if somebody asks about it.

The original poster was just propagating the slime. I'll grant you that he did include info on which station he heard it, but basically he was just repeating the slime. There is no shortage of slime out there. If every bit was repeated here because "why the hell not", this place would be a right wing sewer.

With regard to Al Franken debunking Rush junk, the original poster did not lift a finger to debunk the slime he brought in here.

Leave the slime in the mouths of the right wing unless it is specifically asked about or unless it becomes an issue in another context. There is no need to raise it all on its own.

[tamtam]

30. No they didn't try to debunk it

Because that was not their intentions. The OP posted it because he/she is voicing their disgust about the people spreading this crap. If they want to post right wing talking points to show their disgust for the right-wing then what is the problem? There is no rule on DU saying you cannot post right wing talking points to prove how disgusting they are. If that was the case then the mods would be running mad closing down post on DU. People post quotes from freerepublic everyday. Most of it disgusting, racist, Conservative propaganda yet I don't see too many people telling them not to post quotes straight from the freepers mouth. Did you tell those that posted the freepers response to the speech tonight not to post that crap on DU?

So what if the OP didn't debunk the propaganda. The OP open up a discussion,others responded and now we know the source of the lie. This post provided others information to debunked this lie. Who are you to tell someone they cannot vent their disgust in regards to the right wing on this board? If that was the case you would be busy telling people what not to post.

[Sgent]

22. The one federal

agency (other than the USCG) who actually did something somewhat inventive which is helping the people, and the RWers are going apeshit.

Fuck them.

[NorthernSpy]

25. like hell they are!

The people who are inventing this garbage deserve to have their asses kicked.

Thanks for the rumor report, and a special thanks for including the source. I will add it to the collection.

[ladylibertee]

28. FOX NEWS!!! I saw it while I was spying.It wasn't the real evacuees...

It was a husband/wife team of scammers who defrauded FEMA by posing as victims.See how different things are when you get the TRUTH....This is exactly why I spy on FOX . To keep this shit from happening.

[NorthernSpy]

34. nice work!

Thanks for keeping an eye on this stuff. It's disgusting how some elements have done nothing but slander those displaced by the storm.

[Not_Giving_Up]

27. Houston news the other night did a story

Had a clerk from an "upscale store in the Galleria" who was angry because a man used his Red Cross debit card to buy a bracelet. She was angry as hell, but didn't want her face shown. she said "It's not their money. It's your money, it's MY money." She said that she donated, and this pissed her off.

Right after that came the story of a riot at a Houston high school. Seems gang members from NOLA were fighting with gang members from Houston. One intelligent citizen was shown screaming that "they need to go back to their own school" (a parent). Umm...their school is prbably under water!

[ladylibertee]

31. and....THIS STORY IS POSSITIVE ....how?

YEAH, CAUGHT.BU BYE

[Not_Giving_Up]

33. I never said it was positive...Just that it was reported on the local news

Why are you telling me bye?

[NorthernSpy]

35. if she doesn't want her face shown, then I'll just assume she's a liar...

Why the hell shouldn't I? I certainly have no reason to think she isn't a liar. Whenever I've dealt with the press, I've used my real name, and I haven't expected to be allowed to spread rumors anonymously.

I don't doubt that scam artists will prey on the evacuees and soak up valuable resources meant to help them. But these attempts by some in the rightwing media to slang the evacuees themselves -- who are in dire circumstances and know it only too well -- really piss me off.

[Kaylee]

36. So what! Let's say this story is true......

We are talking about maybe 10 people out of 1 million. Humans are humans, there will always be someone whose head isn't screwed on right.

Only idiots lump the bad actions of a few onto the character of the many. The few supposed "evacuees" who are being dishonest, does not speak to the million who are. I'm black so this is just par for the course.