Laura Bush: Criticisms of
Laura Bush: Criticisms of the President "Disgusting"
Yesterday, Mrs. Laura Bush visited schools in hurricane stricken regions and those assisting in the relief efforts. During her visits, Mrs. Bush praised the efforts of those helping hurricane victims rebuild their lives and defended the administration's response to the recovery effort. CBS News covered Mrs. Bush at a school in Mississippi, where she said, "I think we've seen a lot of the same footage over and over that isn't necessarily representative of what really happened in both, in a lot of ways. Overall, it was a very good response." CNN's The Situation Room added Mrs. Bush "addressed the plight of children displaced by the hurricane. She urged parents to make sure their children are safe in school. And, earlier, she visited a school in Iowa that is taking care of children of evacuees." And Mrs. Bush had words for those making outrageous criticisms against the President. The AP reports, "Laura Bush described as 'disgusting' comments by rapper Kanye West and Democratic chairman Howard Dean blaming her husband for the disproportionate number of black hurricane victims. 'I think all of those remarks are disgusting, to be perfectly frank, because of course President Bush cares about everyone in our country,' the first lady said Thursday in an interview. 'And I know that. I mean, I'm the person who lives with him,' she said. 'I know what he's like and I know what he thinks and I know how he cares about people. " The AP notes, "On a nationally televised telethon Friday, broadcast live on NBC, West departed from the script to declare 'George Bush doesn't care about black people.'" Dean, earlier this week, "told the National Baptist Convention of America, a black religious group, that race played a role in the hurricane casualty numbers. Mrs. Bush said it was clear that poor people were more vulnerable when the hurricane hit. 'They lived in poorer neighborhoods. Their neighborhoods were the ones that were more likely to flood, as we saw in New Orleans. Their housing was more vulnerable,' she said. 'And that's what we saw, and that's what we want to address in our country.'"