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The promised Sean Penn post -- Not as pointless as it sounds
My heroic search for the story of Sean Penn's rescue efforts, a story abandoned by the media in their rush to point fingers
Before last week, I wouldn't have called myself a Sean Penn fan... and I still don't, actually. I'm old enough that, no matter how many accolades he may receive for his acting, regardless of how I feel about his acting, he'll always, first, be that guy who beat his then-wife Madonna and had a habit of breaking photographers' cameras. But I don't think I had a thought *about* Penn in the last ten years, except maybe fleeting impressions based on previews of films he's been in. I just wanted to get that out of the way.
Among other Katrina-related posts I've made recently, I pointedly sought out first-person accounts of what's been going on 'on the ground' for those affected by the storm and its aftermath. In researching that post, it puzzled me that I could not find an official statement by actor Sean Penn, even though, as most of us have heard, the actor went to New Orleans early last week -- to help, Penn himself has said; or as an ill-thought-out publicity stunt, as is now predominantly being reported by our news media. But as with many Katrina-related disputes of fact vs. spin, the timeline tells the tale.
(Readers are welcome and encouraged to go to http://news.google.com, search for '"sean penn" katrina', click the 'Sort by date' link at the upper right corner of the first results displayed, and page back to where the earliest reports of Penn's arrival and activities in Louisiana appeared -- page 55 of the results, as of Thursday morning when I first began hunting for the article I remembered seeing Monday, no doubt rather further back now. See for yourself.)
According to Google's timestamp-sorting, the first mention of Penn's visit appeared in this article in the Pensacola (FL) News Journal, attributed to Dan Turner and Gannett News Service. Published *on* Sunday 4 September, the article -- entitled "Missing people, emotional trauma are part of storm’s legacy" -- encapsulates a variety of Katrina-related news items, including Governor Blanco's actions over the weekend, and comments by Louisiana Senator David Vitter and Representative Charles Melancon regarding the lack of federal assistance and the important work being done by people in the area who often acted after attempts at delay from FEMA officials higher up in the bureaucracy, as well as comments by New Orleans City Councilman Oliver Thomas regarding mischaracterisation of evacuees as dangerous and examples of the federal government playing semantics games instead of getting disaster relief personnel and equipment where it was needed. The only mention of Penn, in fact, is in these two sentences: 'Actor Sean Penn beat Bush to Baton Rouge, showing up at the state Office of Emergency Preparedness about 6 p.m. today [Sunday] before departing to see the damage in New Orleans for himself. He declined to be interviewed.* Why did Penn decline to be interviewed at the time? Maybe because his concern was to get to where he could do something to help, and do it. Many have come up with other theories about Penn's motives. But if all he cared about was personal publicity, it seems likelier that he would have stopped to give at least a short speech about his plans.
The Turner/Gannett article also appeared in the Shreveport (LA) Times, a short while later.
But immediately after those two sites' articles, the next (online) media mention of Penn's journey into New Orleans appeared at allheadlinenews.com (according to AHN, posted just before 8pm last Sunday) -- and the tone was very different. The spin began before Penn had even left the city. Attributing the piece to AHN Staff Reporter Douglas Maher, the site stated, as do myriad news outlets which have also picked up this version of the story, Penn had planned to rescue children and adults in the flood waters, but apparently forgot to plug a hole in the bottom of the vessel, which began taking water within seconds of its launch. The article ends, as do most of the verbatim copies at other sites, with the allegation 'that one bystander taunted the actor saying, "How are you going to get any people in that thing [referring to the leaking boat]?"' (The original source of this version of the story appears to have been an article in Australia's Melbourne Herald Sun.)
I cannot for the life of me figure out why there are only a handful of sites -- less than ten -- reporting that Penn did successfully rescue several New Orleans residents stranded by Katrina despite the mechanical failures of his rescue vessel. It's this version of the story which actually names a witness -- Johnnie Brown, 73, a retired custodian, rescued from a flooded building by Penn -- and the other with its 'taunt' attributed to an unnamed 'bystander' is perhaps unverifiable, unless the reporter who first filed that story is forthcoming with details. (What kinds of 'bystanders' were hanging around in the poisonous flooded streets of New Orleans? I have to ask.)
I cited one site which mentioned Penn's successful rescues before the leaking boat forced him to abandon further attempts above, news.webindia123.com (About Webindia123.com).
And I said there were fewer than ten such sites, by my count. Here are the rest.
Two: Teentoday.co.uk (billing itself as 'the uk's best teen site* (*probably)')
Three: South Africa's tonight.co.za ('Tonight -- Your entertainment guide from Independent News and Media' -- apparently when they say 'independent' they really mean it)
Four: sify.com, another site based in India (About Sify corporation)
Five: newkerala.com, a third site based in India ('Online Newspaper since 2001')
Six: monstersandcritics.com, actually a UK-based site (more about Monsters and Critics)
Seven: ThisIsLondon.co.uk, also from England (an online service of London's Evening Standard newspaper) This article specifically mentions that "Penn said he had spent nine hours on Monday searching the water for people" -- so much for his having to give up and be rescued when his boat allegedly began leaking "within seconds."
Barely more than a half-dozen sites telling the other side of this story.
(I did not count at least one article which briefly mentioned the actual rescues but mainly repeated, and emphasised, the text of the article criticizing Penn and quoting the alleged 'taunt.' Because that *doesn't* count.)
An even more oddball standout in coverage of Penn's New Orleans rescue attempt, published in London, England's The Sun (online edition) no more than a day after AllHeadlineNews broke their version of the story, suggested that the bulletproof vest Penn was mocked for wearing and even the boat he ventured out in were supplied by other rescuers working in the area.
The Houston Chronicle reported on Monday 5 September that, earlier in the weekend, Sean Penn [had] arrived in Houston with ambitious plans to charter a jet to fly to New Orleans and aid in the rescue of evacuees. The Chronicle also noted that, prior to departing Houston, Penn had been observed meeting with FOXNews's Greta van Susteren, together with New Orleans author and historian Douglas Brinkley and a Houston businessman with ties to New Orleans, perhaps to plan or coordinate private rescue efforts.
Yet very few media outlets seem to be reporting what I found at the websites of Columbia, SC's The State newspaper (attributed to Maureen Ryan and the Chicago Tribune) and Buffalo, NY's Buffalo News newspaper (attributed to Maureen Ryan and Knight Ridder Newspapers): "having spent part of the Labor Day weekend in stricken Louisiana, he [Penn] phoned Greta van Susteren's Fox News show to note that the rescue workers he traveled with didn't have enough bullhorns and therefore found it difficult to get the attention of those in need of help." Ms Ryan also noted that though Ms van Susteren, like most journalists at FOXNews, has been known for her staunch partisan support of the Bush government (at least prior to Katrina), "It was a civil exchange between van Susteren, she of the flag-waving, right-friendly news network and he, honorary president of the Lefty McLiberal Memorial Hollywood Democrat Coalition."
You won't find any such description -- nor any mention -- of Penn's call at FOXNews's website, however; just another repeat of the allegation that Penn himself needed to be rescued.
In addition to being mocked for the way the boat he was in sprang a leak and had its motor fail, Penn was castigated for allegedly bringing a group of people with him, and for the inclusion of a photographer in that so-called 'entourage.' I can't end this section of my post without addressing these two points.
First: If you know you're going into a heavily storm-damaged area, and your priority is to help people who can't evacuate on their own for physical reasons, wouldn't it make sense to have more than one strong, healthy adult with you, to help lift elderly or disabled people from where they're stranded to a rescue boat? Heck, wouldn't you want more than one person to help you lift little kids... to maneuver your boat... to have an eye and ear out for people in need of rescue?
Second: If we have learned anything from this disaster, it is that getting the pictures out is *crucial* to getting the people out. The directors of FEMA and Homeland Security have admitted (this one I don't need to link to, it's everywhere) that they did not know about conditions at the Convention Center or the Superdome in New Orleans until after TV news crews had been covering them for *days*; the *first* they heard about conditions at either site was when they were asked what they were going to do, directly, by journalists interviewing them. If I were able to go into the area devastated by Katrina, I would damned sure make sure I had somebody with me to document what I would see!
Note that neither of those points require knowing what the truth about Penn's activities in New Orleans is -- just the ability and the will to think through an assertion made by a third party.
There is also a statement, ostensibly from Rolling Stone magazine's Matt Taibbi, that he accompanied Penn to New Orleans. This has only appeared in the blogosphere and is thus far unverified (I suppose I could call up the RS offices myself; even if I got an answer, though, from Taibbi or whoever fields calls for him, it would still be just another blogger making a claim that can't be verified via hyperlink...) but, if it really is him, Taibbi explains why Penn went to NOLA, the situation with the boat, and why the widely-reprinted Herald-Sun article differs so much from what really happened:
"He did not bring a personal photographer. He came with me and his friend, a New Orleans writer named Douglas Brinkley, and the reason he came was because a friend of his had asked him to help him find a family member still stuck in her house. He did not consent to any photographs taken. The boat did spring a leak, but only at the end of the trip, after one of the people we pulled out of the water kicked the plug out by accident. The articles you probably based your reports on came from an Australian writer who was angry that Sean had declined an interview."
And here is where I had stopped and set aside the draft of this post Friday, to work on more important updates. I've since found a copy of an interview Penn gave CNN's Soledad O'Brien (still no luck finding anything about the Greta van Susteren interview at FOXNews) -- not by searching CNN's own site, which I tried fruitlessly *after* finding the video, but via the Google-cached copy of this page at a Canadian site. CNN still has the video on their servers, but you literally have to know the right URL to find it. Click here to view video of Soledad O'Brien's 4-minute interview with Sean Penn and Doug Brinkley, which will open in a pop-up window once the linked page loads. (This may be tricky for folks with pop-up blockers -- it was for me, thanks to Firefox -- but it can be done. Also, a brief advertisement runs before the interview; be patient. And laugh if it's the National Guard recruiting spot.) There doesn't seem to be any way to save the video file, unfortunately.
Needless to say, there are no transcripts up yet, or if they are neither Google nor I have found them. The most salient point of the interview was Penn's call for more private-citizen volunteers to help with house-to-house searches for survivors. He pointed out that many of those still in the city a week ago were elderly or ill and unable to reach roofs or even windows, and that rescue officials simply did not have enough helicopter crews to effectively search the entire city even where helicopter rescues are most feasible. (There are actually two video clips in the file, split-screened; beside the interview plays footage of one airlift rescue being conducted, clearly a difficult and time-consuming process, if also clearly the best way out for those unable to climb down into a rescue boat.) He then clarified that an influx of people "from all over the country" would probably get in the way, but that anyone close to the flooded area who had access to a boat could make a real difference. Brinkley, the author, perhaps said it best: "There's still a lot of people in this town who need to be saved."
One last thing. I want to reiterate that, according to Penn, he spent eight hours in the toxic, stinking waters of New Orleans on Monday, trying to help. No one has disputed Penn's claim directly. NO ONE. That is not a 'photo op.' When George W. Bush makes a 'photo op' appearance, as we know, he's there briefly, makes speeches for the cameras, and then is gone -- often taking the apparent help which accompanied him to the site away with him.
If Penn's motive really was publicity for himself, he could easily have granted more interviews, or even just had his publicist contact various media outlets with his side of the story and/or mentions of the couple of interviews he did give.
Why, in the end, should we care about Penn's reputation or even his motives? Actually, Penn's story merely provides an instructive example to illustrate my true point in making this post: Clearly it's not yet time for us to relax and trust the mass media to be sure they have the truth before giving us the news, about Katrina or anything else, even well after the fact.
* I had seen either this article or another of the very few articles which contained these two sentences, either Monday or Tuesday, while perusing Katrina information. The fact that the article mentioned Penn had declined comment at the time stuck in my mind and, when I went looking specifically for first-hand accounts, I thought to see if he was ready to tell his story yet. And thus my quest to rescue this poor story suffering from national indifference began.
Before last week, I wouldn't have called myself a Sean Penn fan... and I still don't, actually. I'm old enough that, no matter how many accolades he may receive for his acting, regardless of how I feel about his acting, he'll always, first, be that guy who beat his then-wife Madonna and had a habit of breaking photographers' cameras. But I don't think I had a thought *about* Penn in the last ten years, except maybe fleeting impressions based on previews of films he's been in. I just wanted to get that out of the way.
Among other Katrina-related posts I've made recently, I pointedly sought out first-person accounts of what's been going on 'on the ground' for those affected by the storm and its aftermath. In researching that post, it puzzled me that I could not find an official statement by actor Sean Penn, even though, as most of us have heard, the actor went to New Orleans early last week -- to help, Penn himself has said; or as an ill-thought-out publicity stunt, as is now predominantly being reported by our news media. But as with many Katrina-related disputes of fact vs. spin, the timeline tells the tale.
(Readers are welcome and encouraged to go to http://news.google.com, search for '"sean penn" katrina', click the 'Sort by date' link at the upper right corner of the first results displayed, and page back to where the earliest reports of Penn's arrival and activities in Louisiana appeared -- page 55 of the results, as of Thursday morning when I first began hunting for the article I remembered seeing Monday, no doubt rather further back now. See for yourself.)
According to Google's timestamp-sorting, the first mention of Penn's visit appeared in this article in the Pensacola (FL) News Journal, attributed to Dan Turner and Gannett News Service. Published *on* Sunday 4 September, the article -- entitled "Missing people, emotional trauma are part of storm’s legacy" -- encapsulates a variety of Katrina-related news items, including Governor Blanco's actions over the weekend, and comments by Louisiana Senator David Vitter and Representative Charles Melancon regarding the lack of federal assistance and the important work being done by people in the area who often acted after attempts at delay from FEMA officials higher up in the bureaucracy, as well as comments by New Orleans City Councilman Oliver Thomas regarding mischaracterisation of evacuees as dangerous and examples of the federal government playing semantics games instead of getting disaster relief personnel and equipment where it was needed. The only mention of Penn, in fact, is in these two sentences: 'Actor Sean Penn beat Bush to Baton Rouge, showing up at the state Office of Emergency Preparedness about 6 p.m. today [Sunday] before departing to see the damage in New Orleans for himself. He declined to be interviewed.* Why did Penn decline to be interviewed at the time? Maybe because his concern was to get to where he could do something to help, and do it. Many have come up with other theories about Penn's motives. But if all he cared about was personal publicity, it seems likelier that he would have stopped to give at least a short speech about his plans.
The Turner/Gannett article also appeared in the Shreveport (LA) Times, a short while later.
But immediately after those two sites' articles, the next (online) media mention of Penn's journey into New Orleans appeared at allheadlinenews.com (according to AHN, posted just before 8pm last Sunday) -- and the tone was very different. The spin began before Penn had even left the city. Attributing the piece to AHN Staff Reporter Douglas Maher, the site stated, as do myriad news outlets which have also picked up this version of the story, Penn had planned to rescue children and adults in the flood waters, but apparently forgot to plug a hole in the bottom of the vessel, which began taking water within seconds of its launch. The article ends, as do most of the verbatim copies at other sites, with the allegation 'that one bystander taunted the actor saying, "How are you going to get any people in that thing [referring to the leaking boat]?"' (The original source of this version of the story appears to have been an article in Australia's Melbourne Herald Sun.)
I cannot for the life of me figure out why there are only a handful of sites -- less than ten -- reporting that Penn did successfully rescue several New Orleans residents stranded by Katrina despite the mechanical failures of his rescue vessel. It's this version of the story which actually names a witness -- Johnnie Brown, 73, a retired custodian, rescued from a flooded building by Penn -- and the other with its 'taunt' attributed to an unnamed 'bystander' is perhaps unverifiable, unless the reporter who first filed that story is forthcoming with details. (What kinds of 'bystanders' were hanging around in the poisonous flooded streets of New Orleans? I have to ask.)
I cited one site which mentioned Penn's successful rescues before the leaking boat forced him to abandon further attempts above, news.webindia123.com (About Webindia123.com).
And I said there were fewer than ten such sites, by my count. Here are the rest.
Two: Teentoday.co.uk (billing itself as 'the uk's best teen site* (*probably)')
Three: South Africa's tonight.co.za ('Tonight -- Your entertainment guide from Independent News and Media' -- apparently when they say 'independent' they really mean it)
Four: sify.com, another site based in India (About Sify corporation)
Five: newkerala.com, a third site based in India ('Online Newspaper since 2001')
Six: monstersandcritics.com, actually a UK-based site (more about Monsters and Critics)
Seven: ThisIsLondon.co.uk, also from England (an online service of London's Evening Standard newspaper) This article specifically mentions that "Penn said he had spent nine hours on Monday searching the water for people" -- so much for his having to give up and be rescued when his boat allegedly began leaking "within seconds."
Barely more than a half-dozen sites telling the other side of this story.
(I did not count at least one article which briefly mentioned the actual rescues but mainly repeated, and emphasised, the text of the article criticizing Penn and quoting the alleged 'taunt.' Because that *doesn't* count.)
An even more oddball standout in coverage of Penn's New Orleans rescue attempt, published in London, England's The Sun (online edition) no more than a day after AllHeadlineNews broke their version of the story, suggested that the bulletproof vest Penn was mocked for wearing and even the boat he ventured out in were supplied by other rescuers working in the area.
- Hollywood star Sean Penn joined the desperate search for hurricane survivors in New Orleans. The frantic actor begged rescue crews to take him out to a house owned by pals near the 17th Street Canal. He had not heard from them since the area was flooded by up to 20ft of water.
Mystic River hunk Sean, 45, refused to name his friends, but said he could not bear watching rescues from his San Francisco home, knowing they could be dying.
He said: "I'm really worried. I need to go out and find them."
Rescuers ferried him to the canal area.
They insisted he wear a bullet-proof vest -- fearing he may be shot by local gangs who refuse to be evacuated.
The Houston Chronicle reported on Monday 5 September that, earlier in the weekend, Sean Penn [had] arrived in Houston with ambitious plans to charter a jet to fly to New Orleans and aid in the rescue of evacuees. The Chronicle also noted that, prior to departing Houston, Penn had been observed meeting with FOXNews's Greta van Susteren, together with New Orleans author and historian Douglas Brinkley and a Houston businessman with ties to New Orleans, perhaps to plan or coordinate private rescue efforts.
Yet very few media outlets seem to be reporting what I found at the websites of Columbia, SC's The State newspaper (attributed to Maureen Ryan and the Chicago Tribune) and Buffalo, NY's Buffalo News newspaper (attributed to Maureen Ryan and Knight Ridder Newspapers): "having spent part of the Labor Day weekend in stricken Louisiana, he [Penn] phoned Greta van Susteren's Fox News show to note that the rescue workers he traveled with didn't have enough bullhorns and therefore found it difficult to get the attention of those in need of help." Ms Ryan also noted that though Ms van Susteren, like most journalists at FOXNews, has been known for her staunch partisan support of the Bush government (at least prior to Katrina), "It was a civil exchange between van Susteren, she of the flag-waving, right-friendly news network and he, honorary president of the Lefty McLiberal Memorial Hollywood Democrat Coalition."
You won't find any such description -- nor any mention -- of Penn's call at FOXNews's website, however; just another repeat of the allegation that Penn himself needed to be rescued.
In addition to being mocked for the way the boat he was in sprang a leak and had its motor fail, Penn was castigated for allegedly bringing a group of people with him, and for the inclusion of a photographer in that so-called 'entourage.' I can't end this section of my post without addressing these two points.
First: If you know you're going into a heavily storm-damaged area, and your priority is to help people who can't evacuate on their own for physical reasons, wouldn't it make sense to have more than one strong, healthy adult with you, to help lift elderly or disabled people from where they're stranded to a rescue boat? Heck, wouldn't you want more than one person to help you lift little kids... to maneuver your boat... to have an eye and ear out for people in need of rescue?
Second: If we have learned anything from this disaster, it is that getting the pictures out is *crucial* to getting the people out. The directors of FEMA and Homeland Security have admitted (this one I don't need to link to, it's everywhere) that they did not know about conditions at the Convention Center or the Superdome in New Orleans until after TV news crews had been covering them for *days*; the *first* they heard about conditions at either site was when they were asked what they were going to do, directly, by journalists interviewing them. If I were able to go into the area devastated by Katrina, I would damned sure make sure I had somebody with me to document what I would see!
Note that neither of those points require knowing what the truth about Penn's activities in New Orleans is -- just the ability and the will to think through an assertion made by a third party.
There is also a statement, ostensibly from Rolling Stone magazine's Matt Taibbi, that he accompanied Penn to New Orleans. This has only appeared in the blogosphere and is thus far unverified (I suppose I could call up the RS offices myself; even if I got an answer, though, from Taibbi or whoever fields calls for him, it would still be just another blogger making a claim that can't be verified via hyperlink...) but, if it really is him, Taibbi explains why Penn went to NOLA, the situation with the boat, and why the widely-reprinted Herald-Sun article differs so much from what really happened:
"He did not bring a personal photographer. He came with me and his friend, a New Orleans writer named Douglas Brinkley, and the reason he came was because a friend of his had asked him to help him find a family member still stuck in her house. He did not consent to any photographs taken. The boat did spring a leak, but only at the end of the trip, after one of the people we pulled out of the water kicked the plug out by accident. The articles you probably based your reports on came from an Australian writer who was angry that Sean had declined an interview."
And here is where I had stopped and set aside the draft of this post Friday, to work on more important updates. I've since found a copy of an interview Penn gave CNN's Soledad O'Brien (still no luck finding anything about the Greta van Susteren interview at FOXNews) -- not by searching CNN's own site, which I tried fruitlessly *after* finding the video, but via the Google-cached copy of this page at a Canadian site. CNN still has the video on their servers, but you literally have to know the right URL to find it. Click here to view video of Soledad O'Brien's 4-minute interview with Sean Penn and Doug Brinkley, which will open in a pop-up window once the linked page loads. (This may be tricky for folks with pop-up blockers -- it was for me, thanks to Firefox -- but it can be done. Also, a brief advertisement runs before the interview; be patient. And laugh if it's the National Guard recruiting spot.) There doesn't seem to be any way to save the video file, unfortunately.
Needless to say, there are no transcripts up yet, or if they are neither Google nor I have found them. The most salient point of the interview was Penn's call for more private-citizen volunteers to help with house-to-house searches for survivors. He pointed out that many of those still in the city a week ago were elderly or ill and unable to reach roofs or even windows, and that rescue officials simply did not have enough helicopter crews to effectively search the entire city even where helicopter rescues are most feasible. (There are actually two video clips in the file, split-screened; beside the interview plays footage of one airlift rescue being conducted, clearly a difficult and time-consuming process, if also clearly the best way out for those unable to climb down into a rescue boat.) He then clarified that an influx of people "from all over the country" would probably get in the way, but that anyone close to the flooded area who had access to a boat could make a real difference. Brinkley, the author, perhaps said it best: "There's still a lot of people in this town who need to be saved."
One last thing. I want to reiterate that, according to Penn, he spent eight hours in the toxic, stinking waters of New Orleans on Monday, trying to help. No one has disputed Penn's claim directly. NO ONE. That is not a 'photo op.' When George W. Bush makes a 'photo op' appearance, as we know, he's there briefly, makes speeches for the cameras, and then is gone -- often taking the apparent help which accompanied him to the site away with him.
If Penn's motive really was publicity for himself, he could easily have granted more interviews, or even just had his publicist contact various media outlets with his side of the story and/or mentions of the couple of interviews he did give.
Why, in the end, should we care about Penn's reputation or even his motives? Actually, Penn's story merely provides an instructive example to illustrate my true point in making this post: Clearly it's not yet time for us to relax and trust the mass media to be sure they have the truth before giving us the news, about Katrina or anything else, even well after the fact.
* I had seen either this article or another of the very few articles which contained these two sentences, either Monday or Tuesday, while perusing Katrina information. The fact that the article mentioned Penn had declined comment at the time stuck in my mind and, when I went looking specifically for first-hand accounts, I thought to see if he was ready to tell his story yet. And thus my quest to rescue this poor story suffering from national indifference began.
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I find myself so irritated with the biased reporting of all of this. And, quite frankly, while I do believe he did it because he believed that it was the right thing to do, even if he did go down there to get some publicity, he also went down to *help* and did manage to save people. I'm sure that the people who are now alive instead of having drowned in their homes won't begrudge him an interview or two.
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I can take a guess: the authorities don't want civilians undertaking rescue openrations--IMO because these citizens aren't under the direct control of those in charge. I recall reading all those accounts of trained rescue workers going to NO and being turned back or given a task like passing out pamphlets... incredibly inefffective.
Have you seen these?
197 pictures, in order, be sure not to skip around, and read all the captions. These were taken by a man named Alvaro, who lived and worked in New Orleans, and stayed behind to help work at his place of business, a hotel. They're amazing.
not a plublicity stunt?
(Anonymous) 2005-09-12 08:57 pm (UTC)(link)know if it was pro-Penn or anti-Bush he was shooting for but it was only a bass boat. If this
was a pro-rescuee mission, there would have been space to carry more than one
N.O. resident at a time.
no subject
So. End results, that we've heard of. Samuel Jackson rented a 100-unit apartment building so a hundred evacuee families in Memphis could get a leg up and out of the temp shelter. (That was overheard on The Daily Show; no external confirmation, but I'd wonder why he'd lie in front of the fans of TDS; we DO fact-check obsessively when we feel like it.) Also according to Jackson, Tommy Lee Jones in Texas has been holding 4,000-person "dinners" for the evacuees that hit Houston--was it Houston?--because he wanted to help in a concrete way.
There's that, and then there's Steven Seagal, who until tonight I had only a bare modicum of respect for. How'ver, tonight he shows up on MSNBC, trying to stay out of the light as much as possible. When Rita Crosby, the reporter "on the scene", managed to coax words out of him, he confirmed he was down there to "help out". The Jefferson Parish sheriff confirmed that he was down there to lend a hand, lend his support for "a few days", in part because of his previous SWAT certification.
I don't know how he got it--this was the first I've heard of it--but I had a former landlord who went from prison guard to SWAT commander, and it took him three solid YEARS of training. Not weekends, not months, YEARS. So Seagal had to put in the time.
And I've heard the Penn story, and seen pics, here and there.
So that's four.
Where's everyone else?