Winds Rains Waves ... Floods and Flying Refuse

I met so many white people after Hurricane Katrina who told me they would never vote Republican
again.
I think Chris Christie should get a break for acknowledging the leadership he'd said the President lacked just a week before the hurricane.
After Sandy hit, the Governor had a different constituency than the
average right-wing Republican to consider. He knew he'd put his foot in his mouth for Mitt Romney's sake, and he did not want that to factor in any way into the President's response to New Jersey's sudden trouble.
We don't have a President who would neglect storm victims. Those victims were the President's
responsibility as well.
But Christie may have had a somewhat knee-jerk reaction because the Republican response to Katrina was so very awful that it may be in the American consciousness forever. Besides-
Governor Christie had an awful shock last year when he called for help as Hurricane Irene blew
into New Jersey.  Eric Cantor, of  all people, seemed to believe the Irene hit Jersey so he could decide to delay help until ways to pay for the aid were solidified.
Governor Christie rightly blew a gasket, citing emergencies are not times to enact topically irrelevant ideologies. Good for him.
My heart has been hurting for our east coast since Sandy hit. Homes at the shores and along the coast
have been slipping into the sea by inches and feet, losing possibilities for insurance for years now.
Now apparently the slippage has turned into kilometers per storm.
At least two toddlers have died in this storm.
An elderly couple drowned on the first floor of their home.
What happened to those people who may have gotten a toothache or abscessed tooth the night before the storm?
What happened to the babies whose fevers may have spiked that evening?
How did diabetics get their medicine if the pharmacies were unavailable and the post offices were too
compromised to function?
How did elderly people in wheelchairs and on walkers manage?
People could not shower or drink the water, or bathe their babies or flush their commodes!
We have flip top cans now; but utensils couldn't be safely rinsed.
Many people who did survive got  injured without reasonable possibility of medical intervention.
People who may have had money had to find a way to get to it, and an intact place to spend it.
Funeral homes and cemeteries were probably terribly impacted; so the families they were serving
were further traumatized.
Elected officials can often remind us that some political realities intersect human reality, thereby illustrating the urgency of linking events to personal, individual lives.
I remain bewildered by Republican reactions to Governor Charlie Christ, former (BP) governor of Florida, (Are storms attracted to names?) when he expressed a warmth of gratitude to President Obama for his firm response insisting BP clean up their own mess. I''m also a bit amazed the Obama 2012 campaign didn't trot out our President's response to that travesty, but since it was oil, maybe "drill baby drill" people would have found too much to complain about had democrats had stood up for our President's strong response to the struggle gulf coast states all suffered from that spill.
Boston didn't mention it either; so oil was obviously off the table for campaign talk this year for good
or for ill.
Any truly responsible coastal Governor would have panicked at that oil spill. Governor Christ obviously made the mistake of showing how relieved he was to know his government's response to
his state's principle economic income source was optimal.
The other two governors in the area showed him up in a way by behaving as though their politics
outweighed the heft of the sudden suffering in the average person living and working in their states.
Governor Jindal behaved as though he was being potty trained, holding on to his opposition
to government help for as long as he possibly could. Since I understand he has environmental
degrees under his belt, he should have responded as though he understood the quicker the environment gets help in a disaster, the better. Instead, he obstructed the President as much as he could, even knowing how much Louisiana needed the assists President Obama was attempting to
put in place there.
Next the President headed for Mississippi to discuss the concerns of the people and
economies there with Governor Hailey Barbour.  Governor Barbour left the state. Nice.
I am certain Governor Christie did not want to risk thinking the President felt he'd encounter another
Jindal or Barbour response in this Sandy nightmare. In spite of the portion of the political calculus
spent not wanting to risk anyone ignoring  any of the enormity in any amount of the possible increasing tragedy in his state, Governor Christie seems to have pre-emptorily rejected delays and personality conflicts over ideology as parts of the final calculus for solving the known New Jersey cataclysm.
His was the head wearing that particular crown.; but no one can blame him for getting the POTUS response he needed, got, and as he well knew, might one day need again. Since the President did
respond well to him, the Governor now likely has an interstate-intergovernmental storm response coalition behind him whenever anything else might happen. He has done the right things.
Now why would he want to be a turn-off to white people who obviously would not admire
the neglect of any citizens in trying times?








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