Well, the 1600 Crew will always seek some way to let their cronies make a buck off you, or your corpse. Apparently the company that has extensiv e ties to the 1600 Crew, Service Corporation International, (SCI), is handling the bodies in Louisiana. SCI has an agreement through FEMA and the state of Louisiana, so you have to wonder what Kathleen Blanco is thinking, signing up with a company that has a track record of some not-so-savory practices.
In other words, FEMA and then Blanco outsourced the body count from Hurricane Katrina -- which many believe the worst natural disaster in U.S. history -- to a firm whose parent company is known for its "experience" at hiding and dumping bodies.
The Menorah Gardens cemetery chain, owned by SCI, desecrated vaults, removed hundreds of bodies from two cemeteries in Florida and dumped the gruesome remains in woods frequented by wild hogs, investigators discovered in 2001. In one case, a backhoe was used to crack open a vault, remove corpses and make room for more dead bodies.
SCI paid $100 million to settle a lawsuit filed by outraged family members of the deceased.
A secretary at the lawfirm that sued SCI over the Florida cemetery scandals gasped when informed that FEMA had outsourced handling of Katrina victims' bodies to an SCI subsidiary.
"Oh, good lord!" she said.
SCI was also involved in another scandal while Beloved Leader was the Goobernor of Texas.
SCI was also involved in an earlier scandal in Texas. Eliza May, former Texas Funeral Service Commission Director, filed a lawsuit accusing George W. Bush, then Governor, of obstructing an investigation into SCI license violations. May was fired following a dispute with Waltrip.
Waltrip and an SCI lobbyist met with Governor Bush's chief of staff, Joe Allbaugh (Allbaugh was later appointed head of FEMA after Bush became President, but left to become a lobbyist representing Halliburton, among other corporate clients).
According to Newsweek, Bush stopped by and said to Waltrip, "Hey, Bobby, are those people still messing with you?"
May, a Democrat, sought to force Bush to testify in the case, but in August 1999, a Texas judge tossed out a subpoena issued by May's lawyers for Bush to give a deposition. Bush, who was not a defendant, called May's claims "frivolous" and denied knowing the circumstances of her ouster.
In 1999, when Bush was gearing up to run for the presidency, Texas Governor Rick Perry approved a settlement for May. SCI paid $55,000; the state of Texas shelled out the balance without admitting wrongdoing in May's termination.
That was almost a "forgotten scandal" that the Multmillionaire Pundits could have pursued, had they not been so interested in making fun of Al Gore and whether or not his socks matched his pants or the other world-shaking shit they were cackling about in their self-centered little jokes.
I do wonder if Governor Blanco is even aware of the problems that SCI has had, and its reputation from some of the things that have happened.
