Hurricanes Are Not Political.
Remember when Donald Trump slammed FEMA for its underwhelming response to recent hurricanes? Trump claimed that the fed’s response was lackadaisical because those suffering were in heavily Republican areas.
Oh, the outrage that followed. The smug fact checkers. Fuming FEMA officials. Indignant bootlicking newspaper columnists.
Like this one in the LA Times by Robin Abcarian:
You’ve all heard the phony claims about how terrible the federal government’s response to the recent hurricanes has been, right?
Former President Trump has lied repeatedly about the effort. He’s spun a preposterous tale about the feds abandoning hard-hit parts of western North Carolina because they are majority Republican. He says the government has redirected billions of dollars meant for disaster response to “housing for illegal migrants, many of whom should not be in our country.”
Ugh.
Such malicious lies from our increasingly unhinged former president are not harmless. They tie up resources, enrage and distract elected officials, demoralize workers who are struggling to restore roads, electricity and water, and, inevitably, invite threats of violence.
Naturally, the president joined in.
President Joe Biden said the "irresponsible and relentless promotion of disinformation and outright lies" about the government's hurricane response is "undermining confidence" in rescue and recovery efforts, even as Hurricane Milton heads towards Florida, reported the BBC.
(Hurricane Milton was the storm that followed the more devastating Hurricane Helene.)
More than a month after the storms struck we learn that a FEMA official has been fired for instructing her crew that was canvassing a hard-hit part of Florida, to skip houses with Trump signs.
Marn’i Washington was sacked last week after she was caught directing her crew - in writing - to avoid houses with trump signs.
Wait. They said Trump was making it all up.
While FEMA insisted she was acting on her own, Washington insists she was being scapegoated. You know what the left says: Believe all women!
According to ABC News: “A woman who was fired by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) after instructing workers to avoid the homes of President-elect Donald Trump’s Florida supporters revealed Monday that the agency also practiced “avoidance” in the Carolinas.x”
Apparently the emergency workers were afraid that Trump supporters might give them an earful. Boo hoo. People who have watched their children die in floodwaters tend to be a little emotional. Deal with it, FEMA.
This is unthinkable. Florida Gov Ron DeSantis agrees and immediately launched an investigation into the behavior of FEMA in his state. No word on whether North Carolina - with a Democrat governor - will do the same. Unlikely.
If there is one instance when politics should not matter it’s during a natural emergency. Hurricane-force winds and storm surges don’t discriminate between Republican and Democrat homes.
Neither should the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
