Don't get stuck on stupid

[senorpepr]

This was passed to me... and it makes a very good point about the media hindering the communication process between the gov't and the public. In the email I received it said, "I think the General just started a movement, and he may not even realize it. Every time a reporter, in any situation, starts spinning, or completely misses the point, they need to be peppered with, "Don't get stuck on stupid.""

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin held a press conference a little bit ago, and started losing control to a media pool assembled that was showing signs of panic, due to the previous incompetence in the region by the local and state government. Lt. Gen. Russel Honore stepped in and literally took over. Here's what he had to say:

Honore: And Mr. Mayor, let's go back, because I can see right now, we're setting this up as he said, he said, we said. All right? We are not going to go, by order of the mayor and the governor, and open the convention center for people to come in. There are buses there. Is that clear to you? Buses parked. There are 4,000 troops there. People come, they get on a bus, they get on a truck, they move on. Is that clear? Is that clear to the public?

Female reporter: Where do they move on...

Honore: That's not your business.

Male reporter: But General, that didn't work the first time...

Honore: Wait a minute. It didn't work the first time. This ain't the first time. Okay? If...we don't control Rita, you understand? So there are a lot of pieces of it that's going to be worked out. You got good public servants working through it. Let's get a little trust here, because you're starting to act like this is your problem. You are carrying the message, okay? What we're going to do is have the buses staged. The initial place is at the convention center. We're not going to announce other places at this time, until we get a plan set, and we'll let people know where those locations are, through the government, and through public announcements. Right now, to handle the number of people that want to leave, we've got the capacity. You will come to the convention center. There are soldiers there from the 82nd Airborne, and from the Louisiana National Guard. People will be told to get on the bus, and we will take care of them. And where they go will be dependent on the capacity in this state. We've got our communications up. And we'll tell them where to go. And when they get there, they'll be able to get a chance, an opportunity to get registered, and so they can let their families know where they are. But don't start panic here. Okay? We've got a location. It is in the front of the convention center, and that's where we will use to migrate people from it, into the system.

Male reporter: General Honore, we were told that Berman Stadium on the west bank would be another staging area...

Honore: Not to my knowledge. Again, the current place, I just told you one time, is the convention center. Once we complete the plan with the mayor, and is approved by the governor, then we'll start that in the next 12-24 hours. And we understand that there's a problem in getting communications out. That's where we need your help. But let's not confuse the questions with the answers. Buses at the convention center will move our citizens, for whom we have sworn that we will support and defend...and we'll move them on. Let's not get stuck on the last storm. You're asking last storm questions for people who are concerned about the future storm. Don't get stuck on stupid, reporters. We are moving forward. And don't confuse the people please. You are part of the public message. So help us get the message straight. And if you don't understand, maybe you'll confuse it to the people. That's why we like follow-up questions. But right now, it's the convention center, and move on.

Male reporter: General, a little bit more about why that's happening this time, though, and did not have that last time...

Honore: You are stuck on stupid. I'm not going to answer that question. We are going to deal with Rita. This is public information that people are depending on the government to put out. This is the way we've got to do it. So please. I apologize to you, but let's talk about the future. Rita is happening. And right now, we need to get good, clean information out to the people that they can use. And we can have a conversation on the side about the past, in a couple of months.

[arkess7]

man the media can be just pain in the butts!!!!! Gen Honore is a good guy....and a tuff one at that!!

[Galvestongirl]

I personally think he is what the US needs on several different levels. He definately does not put up with the BS.

[artist]

I so agree - everyone is always worried about appearing politically correct instead of just saying it like it is! Oh! And putting up with reporters rather than putting them in their place. You let them walk all over you and they will!

[Downdraft]

Honore isn't anything special really. He's a 3 star general that commands troops to go into combat. He's cut from the same mold as
Stormin Norman Scwarzkopf. He doesn't understand politics, he doesn't understand political correctness. He only understands he's given a mission and his job is to utilize the assets at his disposal to get the job done so he gets it done. He is a prime example of why we need to change some laws in this country so that we can more effectively utilize the military, the active military, not the weekend warriors, to get the job done when something of this magnitude hits us.

[O Town]

Kinda goes to show how well Mayor Nagin can handle situations. He needed someone to step up for him here. I think the Honore did a good job of getting the point across to the media and did not take no B.S.
I think it's great, sometimes you have to put the media in their place ecspecially when it is a serious situation such as this. Clear plans need to get to the public, and I think he made that very clear.

[thermos]

This was passed to me... and it makes a very good point about the media hindering the communication process between the gov't and the public. In the email I received it said, "I think the General just started a movement, and he may not even realize it. Every time a reporter, in any situation, starts spinning, or completely misses the point, they need to be peppered with, "Don't get stuck on stupid.""

Not sure what the point of this thread is. If it were not for the media coverage on Fox, CNN, etc. of reporters explaining the dire situation the U.S. government wouldn't have sent Honore to begin with. Everytime someone starts blaming the media for the NO crisis they miss the point.

[Downdraft]

I find it strange that someone would support the media in general. While some of them did an outstanding job most were concentrated on a feeding frenzy of every bad report they could find. I find it totally disgusting that they were more interested in reporting anything they heard than anything they could verify. MOST of what they reported now turns out to untruthful or grossly exaggerated. Even the media themselves now admit what they reported about the Superdome was not true. A liberal media will do anything to push a liberal agenda even by painting the very people they say they support as something slightly higher than animals which they are most definitely not. As for if it wasn't for the media help wouldn't have come ...that's a bunch of horse dung. Help was already on the way long before CNN, NBC and CBS started feeding the public manure on a daily basis.

[senorpepr]

This was passed to me... and it makes a very good point about the media hindering the communication process between the gov't and the public. In the email I received it said, "I think the General just started a movement, and he may not even realize it. Every time a reporter, in any situation, starts spinning, or completely misses the point, they need to be peppered with, "Don't get stuck on stupid.""

Not sure what the point of this thread is. If it were not for the media coverage on Fox, CNN, etc. of reporters explaining the dire situation the U.S. government wouldn't have sent Honore to begin with. Everytime someone starts blaming the media for the NO crisis they miss the point.

I think you're missing the point. The point is that the media is so fixed on certain angles of stories and rating that they miss the point. In the case above, the point was trying to pass along important Rita information whereas the media was still a couple of weeks behind on Katrina.

See... I'm not blaming the media for the NO crisis -- I point blame on a few other people. I'm blaming the media for the general lack of providing proper coverage in any news event. Instead they tend to give stories that are usually over-exaggerated just to boost their ratings.

[Stellar Storm]

they tend to give stories that are usually over-exaggerated just to boost their ratings.

It's all about the ratings. If you can answer the golden question, "What's their angle?" for each piece they do, you can start reading between the lines and start thinking for yourself. It's not about the real story sometimes, it's about the real unusual story and what emotions they can evoke from their audience. Some reporters just go too far.

[thermos]

This was passed to me... and it makes a very good point about the media hindering the communication process between the gov't and the public. In the email I received it said, "I think the General just started a movement, and he may not even realize it. Every time a reporter, in any situation, starts spinning, or completely misses the point, they need to be peppered with, "Don't get stuck on stupid.""

Not sure what the point of this thread is. If it were not for the media coverage on Fox, CNN, etc. of reporters explaining the dire situation the U.S. government wouldn't have sent Honore to begin with. Everytime someone starts blaming the media for the NO crisis they miss the point.

I think you're missing the point. The point is that the media is so fixed on certain angles of stories and rating that they miss the point. In the case above, the point was trying to pass along important Rita information whereas the media was still a couple of weeks behind on Katrina.

See... I'm not blaming the media for the NO crisis -- I point blame on a few other people. I'm blaming the media for the general lack of providing proper coverage in any news event. Instead they tend to give stories that are usually over-exaggerated just to boost their ratings.

OK. I see what you are saying. Yes, the media often does goes for ratings. There are lots and lots of sad pets stories for example but not much about how poor some people are here in the U.S. I was worried when you wrote this "makes a very good point about the media hindering the communication process between the gov't and the public." You have to be careful with that because a country can quickly run into trouble when the media just trumpets what the government says without any analysis or criticism.