Wednesday, August 30, 2017

In the Face of Crises Like Hurricane Harvey, Recent American Leaders Have Tradition of Being Part of the Problem

Parts of Texas have received more rain in the last four to five days than has any other part of the contiguous United States ever has. 

That's right. That is how enormous and unprecedented this storm is.

And yet, it somehow feels familiar, does it not? We saw it in New Orleans and in some other Gulf region areas in 2005. And we saw it in New York and New Jersey in 2012. 

Indeed, it all seems a bit too familiar to us as a nation. Strange weather, and the frequent occurrence of these strange, "once in a century" or "once in a generation" weather phenomenon makes you wonder if we are not seeing climate change right before our eyes. But I am not a scientist, and cannot say definitively if there is a clear link between these storms and climate change.

However, what I can say with absolute certainty is that our reaction politically as a nation has been absurd. 

Case is point, Senator Ted Cruz, who was Trump's last and strongest opponent during the Republican presidential primary last year.  Most of us can see Cruz for what he is, and it is certainly not impressive, although there are clearly some people who cannot see, and think that this guy has some real answers. But his hypocrisy was thrown into the spotlight recently. 

Cruz is asking for money for relief efforts in his home state of Texas, although he was reminded by MSNBC's Katy Tur that he himself opposed funds for victims of Hurricane Sandy five years ago.

Cruz answered:

“Well, you know, look. There’s time for political sniping later. I think our focus needs to be on this crisis.”

Tur was not dissuaded, and did not let Cruz off the hook that easily:

“It’s not really political sniping, Senator. These are people who needed money and who needed funding right after that storm. I covered those people. Many of them, just like those in Houston, lost absolutely everything they owned.” 

Cruz answered back, saying that he did support a bill for Sandy relief efforts, and that disaster relief has always been a vital role for the federal government, although he did not delve into his own role in delaying that relief because of what he described as "political unnecessary pork spending.”

He also conveniently left out the fact that politicians from some states, like Texas, wanted some of that money for themselves at the time. Forbes reported at the time:

“Why, you might ask, would the Senate be packing billions of taxpayer dollars for these areas of the country that are nowhere near the devastation brought about by superstorm Sandy into a bill designed to bring relief to those suffering from the storm that ripped the northeastern part of the nation? The answer can be found in a quick review of the states that are set to benefit from the Senate’s extra-special benevolence—states including Alabama, Mississippi, Texas and Louisiana.”

And whether or not these super storms, or this particular super storm, can or cannot be definitively linked to climate change, it should be part of the discussion. But the climate in this country right now is that all environmental issues are basically under gag order, so long as President Trump is in office. This is, after all, the only world leader who pulled his nation out of the Paris Accord because he does not believe in climate change, and has called it a hoax invented by the Chinese. 

Because frankly, it is not a laughable notion that these kinds of storms, or the massive drought experienced out West until earlier this year when precipitation finally came, or the record heat experienced in the desert southwest earlier this summer. And let us remember that there were other heat records established in Australia and the Arabian peninsula in the last couple of years, and record heat in blazing hot deserts like these is saying something! All of that is not even mentioning the other disasters of epic proportions that we seem to be seeing with an alarming regularity in recent years, and that this is exactly what scientists warning about climate change have predicted. 

Right now, the city of Houston is under water, and boats have to traverse streets that, at least for the moment, look more like streams or rivers. There are cars floating. 

Of course, this is the product of a hurricane, and this hurricane will go away, eventually. However, there are parts of Louisiana that have already largely disappeared because of flooding, and Miami seems to have regular problems with flooding. and we have seen other regions near the Gulf and along the Mississippi River have problems with flooding fairly regularly, as well. 

In short, this is not a problem that is likely to go away, and the reason, regardless of whether Trump or other "leaders" want it to be true or not, is quite possibly, even likely, related to climate change. That is why trying to silence anyone who speaks about climate change is so wrong, as to be nearly criminal, frankly. This was a trend started by Florida Governor Rick Scott, and which President Trump has now emulated on a national level. But having the power to do this, to essentially silence free speech about a pressing topic, does not make it right.  

So, on top of the problems caused by super storms like Harvey, we also seem to have a problem with our "leaders" attempting to silence any debate. And here I should note that, on this subject, there really is no debate, because scientists have, for decades, consistently warned of the dangers of climate change. It has been politicians in this country in particular who continue to challenge the legitimacy of what these scientists are arguing, and watering down their message, turning their warnings into a political mockery. We have supposedly responsible Congressmen, even leading figures like Boehner and Inhofe, openly mocking climate change and environmental issues. we had President George W. Bush undermine climate change by citing "new evidence" as the basis to get rid of the cap on carbon emissions within a couple of months of taking office. Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney mocked President Obama's emphasis on tackling climate change during the closing moments of his acceptance speech in 2012. And now, we have President Trump, who outright does not believe in climate change, and apparently thinks he knows better than experts in the field. 

The problem is not Trump, or these other politicians. The problem is us. The problem is we Americans as a nation, for continuing to engage in practices that accelerate climate change, such as driving oversized SUV's and claiming expertise on this issue that we have no right to claim, and generally mocking this issue. The problem is in our acceptance of "leaders" like Governor Scott and President Trump, who outright have taken the fascist light approach by placing a gag order on anyone who wants to address climate change issues as a real threat to our nation, and something which we should do something about. 

In short, the problem is us. 

That said, I need to mention that the response from regular Americans - not politicians - has been typically impressive. Rescue workers have flocked fearlessly into the storm to help out. There is video footage of trucks with boats lined up on the highways, heading towards Houston. There is video footage of people helping out other people, and yes, rescuing animals, as well. People who care are coming out in droves, and doing their part.

The problem is not in an unwillingness to help. Hell, it is not even with duplicitous and, frankly, despicable politicians like Cruz or Trump. The problem is in why we collectively continually allow these kinds of politicians to represent us, and to disgrace and embarrass us internationally. The rest of the world understands that we have a problem, that we seem to be addicted to petty and scornful politicians with narrow minds and even narrower agendas, who shrewdly manipulate those who, let's face it, are willing to be manipulated into believing things that they should know better than to believe. Whether it's the legendary liar with every hair and every word in place like Bill Clinton, or the grimacing Dick Cheney and his Halliburton ties leading us into invading a sovereign nation and destabilizing a whole volatile region in the process, or whether it's the poster child for con artists who managed to lie his way into the Oval Office, we have to start growing serious about those we call our leaders. 



Ted Cruz Falls Apart As MSNBC’s Katy Tur Calls Out His Disaster Relief Hypocrisy By Jason Easley on Mon, Aug 28th, 2017:




We've Failed Houston Because We've Failed Our Democracy by Charles P. Pierce, Aug. 28, 2017:

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