Mr. Bill's A Prophet. Oh Noooooooooooo!
In early 2004, lovable, crushable clay animated figure Mr. Bill from Saturday Night Live starred in an ad to alert people to the problems with the wetlands in Louisiana. On Good Morning, America today, President Bush said, "I don't think anyone could have anticipated the breach of the levees." He was wrong. Mr. Bill already had.
Here's the transcript of the 2004 ad:
MR. BILL: Gee, kids, I'm not sure we can do our show today because it looks like Hurricane Sluggo is headed right for us here in America's wetlands.
WALTER WILLIAMS, MR. BILL CREATOR: That's right, Mr. Bill. And since New Orleans is below sea level, if a hurricane hit us directly, it could push the water over the levees and fill it to the top.
BILL: Well then we'd better leave.
WILLIAMS: Well it's too late to evacuate since all the roads are jammed and under water.
BILL: Then where can we go that's safe?
WILLIAMS: Here this should work.
BILL: Gee, I hope it doesn't get much higher.
WILLIAMS: Well, Red, the alligator, doesn't seem too worried.
BILL: Yes, that's because he can swim. You know I don't do that too well.
WILLIAMS: Well in that case, Red says he'll have one of his buddies come and give you a lift.
BILL: That's OK. Maybe you could mind the water wings or something. Oh, get me out of here! No, wait, no, no, ohhh!
WILLIAMS: Let's act now before it's too late.
posted by Dave Peyton @ 9:02 AM
1 Comments:
There's actually a difference between the 'topping', or overflow, of the levees, and an actual breakdown of the levees. The former causes flooding that ends (and gets pumped out) when the hurricane is over. The latter is a disaster that is difficult to fix. Mr. Bill, if one is to take him semi-literally, is predicting the former ("push the water over the levees"). When that happens, the damage is equivalent to the height of the levee (which is now working against you).
What actually happened was that the levee BROKE. Which no one (including Mr. Bill) predicted. In fact, the day it happened, those in the city were not immediately aware of it.
Sorry to show you up - but you are, after all, relying on advice from a cartoon character.
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