Sep 5th, 2005

Who Taught This Guy English?

Here's another quote from the AP... this is from the head of Homeland Security.

"Earlier in the day, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff had declined to estimate the death toll, but conceded that an untold number of people could have perished in swamped homes and temporary shelters where many went for days without food or water.

"I think we need to prepare the country for what's coming," Chertoff said. "What's going to happen when we de-water and remove the water from New Orleans is we're going to uncover people who died, maybe hiding in houses, got caught by the flood, people whose remains are going to be found in the streets. ... It is going to be about as ugly of a scene as I think you can imagine.""
DE-WATER??? De-water? Oh, fuck me. What's wrong with the word "drain"? Is it too much of a reminder that the city is sunk?

My friendgirlfriend tells me that's the word (as well as "un-water") that's all the buzz on CNN.

Drain. If you empty the water from a basin, you are draining it. They didn't de-water the swamp to build on it, they drained it. (And we all see how well that works.)

And don't even get me started on the new reports that are focusing on all the dying, starving animals.

There isn't enough Prozac and alcohol in the world to numb my senses enough to listen to the news.