August 29, 2006
The Yes Men
"have impersonated some of the world's most powerful criminals at conferences, on the web, and on television, in order to correct their identities."
Yesterday, a federal housing official spoke to the attendees of the Gulf Coast Reconstruction and Hurricane Preparedness Summit. The topic of his speech was his department's mission to ensure affordable housing is available for those who need it.
"This year, in New Orleans, I'm ashamed to say we have failed," he said.
That should've been their first clue that the speech was a hoax.
The man was an impostor. He drew applause from the crowd with descriptions of plans to support public housing, help nurture local businesses, finance wetlands rebuilding. "With your help, the prospects of New Orleanians will no longer depend on their birthplace, and the cycle of poverty will come to an end." But none of these things are true. A HUD spokesman has referred to it as a cruel hoax (for claiming that the Bush administration was actually going to help the victims of the hurricane, when really they're not).
This was the work of The Yes Men. They've done things like this before.
And right or wrong, their actions have never failed to get media attention. A HUD spokesman, for example, responded to the current hoax in an interview on CNN, just to let the nation know that the plans to help Katrina victims are "totally bogus" and that the department does in fact plan to continue closing public housing in New Orleans.
Nothing says "wacky!" like taking an extraordinarily bad situation and making it just a tiny bit worse.
Nicely FPPd Smally. But you missed my favorite
Heritage is very up-front about these goals. Paul Krugman and others have pointed out that the goal of the Bush administration seems to be to bankrupt the federal government; the Heritage Foundation indeed announces this vision up front: "Too many conservatives lose hope," writes Heritage president Edwin J. Feulner. "They doubt that the liberal welfare state can be brought to collapse.... In short, they doubt that The Heritage Foundation's Vision for America can be achieved." (By "liberal welfare state" he means Social Security, the Department of Education, and so on—but not the Department of Defense. Read on.)
They did it in France as well.
In French, but basically, the guy, a elected politician, claims that in France there is no such thing as poverty, and if some people are poor it's simply because they chose this way of life.
These guys should get government funding.
I think the idea is particularly biting social satire, and showing that the emperor has no clothes. And who knows? Maybe by claiming the gov'mt is going to do all these things, somebody might get shamed into actually doing them. Cuz the closed door crap ain't working.
Or, you know, maybe they're mean. It could be either, really.
They’re continuing to close housing and not helpt the victims...and it’s the hoax that’s cruel?
But you missed my favorite...
The scary bit is that Ed Meese is still around.
So I had a wander around their site. I like it. It's clever.
Is it cruel to point out what should be happening?
I'm confused...
So there are liars telling us what could/should be true, and those we've trusted to speak the truth are telling us lies.
I'm just surprised these poorpeonspeople don't storm the castle and bring down King Bush and his evil henchmen.
The GOP doesn't care about people who don't have money. Then let them eat cake.*
*for benefit of the history-challenged: this was supposedly a remark uttered by Marie Antoinette, queen of France, upon being told the people were rioting because they had no bread, and for a time was regarded as symbolizing the indifference of the French nobility towards a suffering populace
This isn't making it worse, it's bringing media attention to the fact that the government is not only not doing anything to help people, but it's actually making things worse.
Reading this, I couldn't help but remember that victims of 911 received thousands, sometimes millions of dollars each in compensation (the richest recieving the most), while the victims of Katrina (which was preventable) are left homeless, even threatened with having their property taken from them.
That reminded me of something so I Googled:
"Nancy Reagan" +"let them eat cake" - 520 hits. (Fussybritches who want to argue that search engine hits don't prove anything may now drink their beer and be quiet.)
Republican politicians don't care to help people without money and Katrina is all ye need know.
"I used to wonder why the French chopped off Marie Antoinette's head, BUT NOW I FUCKING GET IT!"
-lewis black
One of those 520 hits:
"Just Say No" was nothing more than the "Let Them Eat Cake" of the 20th century and essentailly institutionalized enabling in this country...
I have often wondered how Nancy Reagan would feel if somebody offered "Just Think" as a slogan to combat Alzheimers.
It would be no less absurd and no less cruel."
A Katrina Timeline. via wood_s_lot.
I didn't realise how frustrating this still is until my overly-observant three-year-old asked me, while I was reading the timeline, why I had "those wrinkles."
"What wrinkles?" says I.
"The frowny ones on your eyebrows," he says. So now I'm reading the damn timeline with a big fake smile pasted on.
*howls*
Yes Men Strike Oil: Civil Disobedients Make Modest Flesh-to-Fuel Proposal
Q&A With the Yes Men's Andy Bichlbaum
Misrepresentation? Inaccuracies?
Lyin' corporate sacks of shit. Dow especially. They are cold-blooded killers.
The Yes Men's Latest: Fake New York Post Takes On The Environment
EFF to Represent Yes Men in Court Battle Over Chamber of Commerce Action
Not the Yes Men, but definitely kindred spirits:
Black tie activists crash HMRC boss' retirement do
Trespassing scum!
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