Broussard Tells Russert the Truth

The truth of this was told to Tim Russert by Jefferson Parish President, Aaron Broussard. As quoted by Jeff Jarvis, the money quote is:

Were we abandoned by the federal government? Absolutely we were. Were there more people that abandoned us? Make the list. The list can go on for miles. That'’s for history to document. That'’s what Congress does best, burn witches. Let Congress do their hearings. Let them find the witches. Let them burn them. The media burns witches better than anybody. Let the media go find the witches and burn them. But as I stood on the ground, sir, for day after day after day after day, nobody came here, sir. Nobody came. The federal government didn'’t come. The Red Cross didn'’t come. I'’ll give you a list of people that didn'’t come here, sir, and I was here.

His interview with Russert can be found at Crooks and Liars.

The brouhaha over Russert's intcrystallizestalizes the difference between dealing with people as human beings vs. treating them solely as sources of information. It also shows big media's willingness to go to any ends to preserve their appearance of objectivity and balance.