A Moderate Viewpoint In a Conservative Desert

Using Tragedy to Gain Votes – Do we REALLY Want This in our President??

October 7, 2024 – Perhaps one of the most despicable lies being told in the current Presidential campaign are those about the tragedy of Hurricane Helene and the relief efforts taking place.  All the Conservative Republican radio commentators are spewing the same lies about the Biden/Harris Administration response to Hurricane Helene.  It is blatant manipulation of the truth in order to turn the voters of two major “swing” states against Harris.  Sean Hannity and Donald Trump began the lies and they have now been taken-up by all the Conservative media.

Where to start:

First, Hurricane Helene was a massive, record-breaking storm.  Just on the Florida Panhandle, six cities suffered their worst storm surge . . . EVER.  The storm made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane and has been named one of the worst hurricanes, only behind Katrina that hit only New Orleans/Southern Louisiana.  Parts of five States received over 10 inches of rain with Ashville, North Carolina receiving nearly 14 inches.  Helene was a massive storm, with a lot of rain that fell in a short period of time.  North Carolina received over six months of rain and this was after the ground had been saturated with previous rainfall.  This storm shattered rainfall and flooding records of the “Great Flood” of 1916.

In short, Helene was huge and impacted several states with record breaking rainfall and storm surge within just a few days.  Roads and bridges were wiped out, along with entire towns.  Hundreds of people have died and more, unfortunately are expected.  Just the storm impacted area in North Carolina is as large in area as the state of Massachusetts.

Some Facts:  Two Republican and one Democrat Governor have praised the response of the Biden/Harris Administration . . . publicly and repeatedly.  Senators from the affected states have also praised the response.  In a Press Release on September 28, Gov. Younkin of Virginia specifically thanked President Biden for the Administration response.  From CNN reports:  “Republican South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster said at a Tuesday press conference that federal assistance had “been superb,” noting that Biden and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg had both called and told him to let them know whatever the state needed.”

The US Military has been mobilized to provide troops, helicopters, transportation and equipment to support survivors and recovery efforts.  More than 4800 Federal Personnel have been deployed over the five affected states including over 1200 FEMA workers in North Carolina with more arriving daily.

FEMA diverted disaster money to illegal immigrants.  While FEMA has a fund of about $500 Million for immigrant services, this is separate from disaster relief and was previously approved by Congress to reduce impact of immigrant populations on cities as they await processing of their immigration claims.  Think of this what you will, but the claim of diversion is untrue. In fact, during the Trump administration in 2019, this program was established and funded. It was called the Emergency Food and Shelter program and was approved by Congress to address the needs of immigrants previously “encountered” by the Department of Homeland Security at the Southern border.  It was Trump who later did divert funds from FEMA Emergency relief to provide shelter, additional holding areas and hearing rooms to hasten processing of migrants.

In fact, this storm will cost BILLIONS of dollars for recovery.  FEMA has the money for Helene early disaster relief, but Congress must appropriate more.  REMEMBER, the money comes from Congress and they just kicked the can down the road with a continuing resolution,, denying FEMA’s request for additional funding until December.  Perhaps Congress should stop complaining and get back to work – especially now that we have an even larger hurricane bearing down on Florida.

Consequences:  The most unfortunate result of this despicable political posturing at the expense of hurricane survivors who need all the help they can get is many are reportedly afraid to contact FEMA for services because of all the lies, mis-characterizations, and just plain political BS that is being spewed by Donald Trump and the conservative media. And speaking of Presidential action during disaster relief, who can forget President Trump throwing rolls of paper towels to hurricane survivors in Puerto Rico while complaining about how much it is costing to provide any relief at all.  It’s nice seeing our current President acting like an adult . . . like all his predecessors . . . except for one:  Donald Trump.

Don’t believe them . . . check it out . . . and think seriously about whether you want this pack of liars leading the country.