Qualcomm vs. the Superdome

RUSH: Jimmy in Lafayette, Louisiana, you’re next on the Rush Limbaugh Show. Hello.

CALLER: Good afternoon, Mr. Limbaugh.

RUSH: Hi.

CALLER: I just wanted to make a comment. I think to compare the situation in Qualcomm Stadium to what happened at the Superdome, I think those two are not comparable. I think if you go to Qualcomm Stadium and you cut off the electricity, cut off the phone service — including cell phone service — cut off the plumbing, and put about 12 feet of water in about a two-mile area around there, and then maybe you have something to compare.

RUSH: I made this point yesterday, that Qualcomm Stadium didn’t spring a leak that the Superdome did. I think the comparison that you’re hearing people make is not between the two structures and the circumstances, but rather the attitudes of people. The big difference in the two, Jimmy, is that the local officials in New Orleans were derelict in getting the need out there, and saying that what Qualcomm Stadium represents is an evacuation of the danger area. In New Orleans, people were evacuated within the target area, with the hopes that the structure would hold. They had all those school buses to get people out, and they didn’t. That’s the real difference. Whether people wanted to leave or not, you know, the evacuation plan was not put into place. There were way too many people still left in because once the storm hit and you talk about that 12 feet of water and the floods and the levees and so forth, there was no way out anyway even if you did have vehicles. It was up to the National Guard and their helicopters and boats — and, by the way, they did more rescues in Hurricane Katrina than in any other disaster. It was a great performance by the Coast Guard. It’s been overshadowed and ignored by a lot of people. But, no, you have valid points there.

CALLER: Okay.

RUSH: Good.

CALLER: Well, that really was my point.

RUSH: Are you reacting to people you’ve heard on the phone today?

CALLER: Right. Right. Well, not only on the phone today, but in the media coverage on television of the events, they’re trying to compare the two tragedies, and, to me, there is no comparison.

RUSH: Well, I know what you’re saying.

CALLER: Yes.

RUSH: The media is doing this? I know Katie Couric gave Qualcomm Stadium a big plug, as though it — an inanimate object — is responsible for doing a good job, not the people there.

CALLER: Right.

RUSH: But the Dome, it was overwhelmed by the storm.

CALLER: Right. Right. Okay.

RUSH: All right.

CALLER: Thanks for taking my call.

RUSH: Jimmy, it’s a pleasure to have you on the EIB Network.