Craven natural-disaster blame games obscure the steps needed to keep Americans safe
America’s endless natural-disaster blame game is thwarting answers to life-and-death questions over worsening extreme weather crises.
Every time a hurricane, flood or wildfire strikes, political enemies heap knee-jerk blame on their foes – usually long before all the victims are accounted for.
This pattern was back on display after a horrific tragedy in Texas, where floods killed more than 100 people after raging through summer camps and July Fourth celebrations.
Some liberals whipped up viral social media posts claiming that Elon Musk’s DOGE budget cuts were directly to blame for extreme weather alerts not reaching those in the torrent’s way.
President Donald Trump on Sunday seemed about to pin the disaster on President Joe Biden before backing away. But his Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, https://slots-book-of.com/rebirth/ who is dismembering the Federal Emergency Management Agency, went on Fox to criticize the last administration. And her department, now an arm of the MAGA movement, accused the media of lying about what really happened.
The ugly partisan wars that broke out as parents face unfathomable loss are typical of a political culture that has severed itself from basic humanity. And they underscore that social media remains a Wild West of misinformation and spite that worsens malign political instincts.
Natural disasters are always perilous for those in power. But recriminations intensified after Hurricane Katrina. The 2005 monster storm hit New Orleans and the Gulf Coast and, along with Iraq, destroyed President George W. Bush’s second term. Beltway pundits now react to every act of God by predicting the current president’s "Katrina" is nigh.
Questioning what happened in the wake of a natural disaster and whether political failings at the local, state or national levels contributed to deaths and devastation is perfectly appropriate. Victims deserve accountability untainted by politics. It’s important to understand what went wrong in order to save lives in the future. But it’s increasingly rare in an age of partisan media on the right and left for activists to wait for the facts, or to accept outcomes that don’t fit their political goals.
It’s too early to say for sure whether Trump’s budget cuts to agencies like FEMA and the National Weather Service made the Texas disaster worse. Investigations will probe communications of the federal government and Texas authorities and the actions of local officials. There will be a focus on whether weather warnings were sufficiently specific or clear and whether infrastructure in Kerr County is up to the job of extreme weather situations. Kerrville Mayor Joe Herring Jr., for instance, told CNN’s Pamela Brown that he didn’t receive an emergency alert in the predawn hours of Friday when floodwaters arrived. There will also surely be questions over why children’s summer camps were sited in such a vulnerable area.
America’s endless natural-disaster blame game is thwarting answers to life-and-death questions over worsening extreme weather crises.
Every time a hurricane, flood or wildfire strikes, political enemies heap knee-jerk blame on their foes – usually long before all the victims are accounted for.
This pattern was back on display after a horrific tragedy in Texas, where floods killed more than 100 people after raging through summer camps and July Fourth celebrations.
Some liberals whipped up viral social media posts claiming that Elon Musk’s DOGE budget cuts were directly to blame for extreme weather alerts not reaching those in the torrent’s way.
President Donald Trump on Sunday seemed about to pin the disaster on President Joe Biden before backing away. But his Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, https://slots-book-of.com/rebirth/ who is dismembering the Federal Emergency Management Agency, went on Fox to criticize the last administration. And her department, now an arm of the MAGA movement, accused the media of lying about what really happened.
The ugly partisan wars that broke out as parents face unfathomable loss are typical of a political culture that has severed itself from basic humanity. And they underscore that social media remains a Wild West of misinformation and spite that worsens malign political instincts.
Natural disasters are always perilous for those in power. But recriminations intensified after Hurricane Katrina. The 2005 monster storm hit New Orleans and the Gulf Coast and, along with Iraq, destroyed President George W. Bush’s second term. Beltway pundits now react to every act of God by predicting the current president’s "Katrina" is nigh.
Questioning what happened in the wake of a natural disaster and whether political failings at the local, state or national levels contributed to deaths and devastation is perfectly appropriate. Victims deserve accountability untainted by politics. It’s important to understand what went wrong in order to save lives in the future. But it’s increasingly rare in an age of partisan media on the right and left for activists to wait for the facts, or to accept outcomes that don’t fit their political goals.
It’s too early to say for sure whether Trump’s budget cuts to agencies like FEMA and the National Weather Service made the Texas disaster worse. Investigations will probe communications of the federal government and Texas authorities and the actions of local officials. There will be a focus on whether weather warnings were sufficiently specific or clear and whether infrastructure in Kerr County is up to the job of extreme weather situations. Kerrville Mayor Joe Herring Jr., for instance, told CNN’s Pamela Brown that he didn’t receive an emergency alert in the predawn hours of Friday when floodwaters arrived. There will also surely be questions over why children’s summer camps were sited in such a vulnerable area.
