Quote of the Day - Sen. Mary Landrieu: I'll Still Punch Bush

Considering much (not all) of this WAS the local Mayor and Governors fault, I think she better start putting on her boxing gloves... Hey, I just criticized the local officials... Come and get me Mary, I can use the money! One note, the local people who DID do the rescuing are heroes ms. Landrieu, but your Mayor and Governor got some splainin to do!


Reprinted from NewsMax.com

Saturday, Sept. 17, 2005 9:44 a.m. EDT
Sen. Mary Landrieu: I'll Still Punch Bush


Sen. Mary Landrieu refused on Friday to withdraw or apologize for her threat to punch President Bush if he criticized Louisiana officials - despite Bush's magnanimous speech Thursday night and a federal downpayment of more than $60 billion dollars to rebuild her state.

"I do not take it back, I don't apologize for it. I said I would punch anybody, including the president," she told the Chicago Tribune.

"Though threatening the president is a crime," the Tribune noted - "the Secret Service took it as a joke and the White House brushed off her remarks."

Standing in the Capitol, however, Landrieu made it clear she wasn't joking.

"These local officials were heroes," she contended, before saying she meant every word of her threat.

Appearing on ABC's "This Week" four days after Katrina's floodwaters swamped New Orleans, Landrieu complained: "If one person criticizes [Louisiana], or says one more thing, including the president of the United States, he will hear from me - one more word about it after this show airs and I - I might likely have to punch him - literally."

After saying she stood by her ugly comments, the Louisiana Democrat also offered praise for the president on Friday, saying the Katrina reconstruction plan he outlined in his speech was "innovative and bold."