By
Harry C. Blaney III
The people of Texas deserve to have the full support of the federal and State and local governments in a time of unmitigated disaster. If only their president had not proposed cutting disaster assistance, striped federal experts assessments on the impact of climate change and taken down EPA and NOAA data on climate change from their web sites and put in charge of EPA and Energy agencies those that at war with science and truth. Sad also that the Texas Governor Greg Abbott has been a disaster as a governor denying essentially climate change and not prepared his state for its likely impact and supported a candidate for president who cares not a wit for those most in need and denies climate change.
Trump should be ashamed (he is likely beyond that emotion) of his actions in gutting all the programs that he now needs to help Texas and Louisiana recover from this ununprecedented catastrophe. How will he pay for recovery which will take perhaps a trillion federal dollars? Will it be from cutting programs for the middle class and poor, or increasing as he should taxes on the extraordinarily rich and the many loopholes for the very rich? Or will it be cutting the trillion dollars proposed for new nuclear weapons our nation does not need? This will be decided when the Congress comes back in September. Watch them closely!
Texas is and will be a “disaster” for itself due to its blind politics of science denial and indifference, but the “least among us” do not deserve to be in danger or lost without help. Not all local governments were in fact for the polices of the State run by a GOP right-wing Governor. Houston is run by a Democratic Mayor who clearly is overwhelmed but fully engaged and caring. Trump on the other hand could is directly responsible for what we see, not least by proposing to cut funds in 2018 for FEMA the key agency for the federal response to catastrophes.
As with much of our other major challenges, this “un-natural act” and its impact on our citizens needs compassion and wise heads that truly understand how dire are the risks to our nation and the world of ignorance, and indifference to human needs. Our people have rallied to Harvey’s destruction and affected people, but only the federal government has the resources to make whole the tragedy of this situation. The test will be in two-three years from now if the feds will still be in “full court press” to help recovery?
At this dark time I think of the great Italian poet Dante’s images in his epic “Divine Comedy,” for him the bottom of Hell was a very cold place, not hot, for the coldness of the heart’s of those doing truly evil and traitors to their Lords…as it seems Trump is to our Constitution, laws and values and to those most in need.
We welcome your comments!!!
Rethinking National Security 