I didn’t think it was possible for me to be any more pissed than I was during the Republican National Convention when I heard Mitt Romney say the following.
If there’s any silver lining at all in what’s happening right now along the east coast, it’s that maybe, just maybe, people will begin to see Romney for the smug, entitled, pandering little anti-science asshole that he is. I cannot even begin to fathom how one of our candidates for the highest office in the country could stand on a stage, in front of millions, and suggest that caring about America’s families and caring about the effects of global climate change are somehow mutually exclusive. I wonder how the families of the 11 Americans already killed by Hurricane Sandy feel about Romney’s guffaw-inducing inference that our President was stupid and out-of-touch for wanting to see climate change addressed in a serious manner. I know that it may not seem like a big deal to a man with a diverse portfolio of homes, and access to private jets that can easily shuttle his family between them, avoiding the dangers brought on by rising tides, and the increasingly violent weather patterns that have become the new normal, but some of us actually have to stay in these areas ravaged by the extreme weather brought about by global climate change, and fight for our lives.
But, as I said, some sanity is beginning to peak through the dark grey clouds of anti-intellectualism. Just today, Republican Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie, knowing that his state is in serious peril, dropped his ‘we need to slash taxes and starve the federal government’ nonsense, and began praising the Obama administration’s preparation for the hurricane. “I appreciated the president’s outreach today in making sure that we know he’s watching this and is concerned about the health and welfare and safety of the people of the state of New Jersey,” he said… The lessons of Hurricane Katrina, it would seem, become a little less abstract when it’s your people facing the brunt of a hurricane’s destructive force.
Thankfully for Christie, Obama is the President right now and not Romney, who has gone on the record saying that we should eliminate, downsize or privatize the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Here, with more on that, is yet another piece of video of Romney.
And, before you say that he doesn’t really mean it, let’s remember what the Romney economic plan, as outlined by Paul Ryan, would do to FEMA. The following is from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
“States and local areas hit by natural disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, wildfires, and tornadoes often seek help from the federal government. In the immediate aftermath of a disaster, at a governor’s request, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) helps people affected by the disaster get food, water, and shelter, and can help with search-and-rescue missions and providing electric power. FEMA also helps states and local governments repair or replace public facilities and infrastructure, which often is not insured. This form of discretionary federal aid would be subject to cuts under the Ryan budget. If it were scaled back substantially, states and localities would need to bear a larger share of the costs of disaster response and recovery, or attempt to make do with less during difficult times. Federal discretionary funds also help states, cities, and other local governments hire police officers. Big cuts in funds to hire police officers would shift more of the cost of hiring these officers to state and local budgets.”
A Romney/Ryan budget means a return to the Bush policies that made the disaster of Hurricane Katrina possible. It means cuts not only to FEMA, but to federal organizations that track severe weather, so that we can better prepare for their impact. Is that the kind of future we want for America? I know that the Libertarian fantasy of the rugged individual standing up to such challenges unimpeded by ineffective government is an attractive one to some, but, at some point, we need to grow up and face the reality, as Governor Christie apparently has, that we created the federal government for a reason.
Romney friend and Republican anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist once famously stated, “I don’t want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.” Unfortunately, though, as Hurricane Katrina showed us, it’s not just the government that drowns these policies are put in place.
19 Comments
Better that Romney is exposed on this front now than next year at this time, as President. We lived though that with Bush, and I don’t want to do it again.
I have a rule that’s served me well over the years. When hiring potential employees, I weed out those individuals who express a desire to see my business fail. Romney has expressed again and again is dislike for government, and his intention, if given the opportunity, to not just slash it to the bone, but to tear its limbs off. As you point out, we saw that that looks like a few years ago, in New Orleans. I, for one, do not want to live though that again.
If you make donations, he will carry it to the affected areas on his bus. That’s really nice of him.
Everyone knows that the gays are responsible for Hurricane Sandy.
http://www.salon.com/2012/10/29/pastor_blame_gays_for_hurricane_sandy/
With an androgynous name like “Sandy” we should have seen this coming. Obviously the National Hurricane Center is promoting the Rom-bama gay agenda.
Climate change and even more general the stewardship of the planet should be one of the most important issues today even more important than gas prices and taxes yet it was barley an issue in this years campaign. This is a real shame.
Deny the scientific consensus if you want but one can not deny that we are still ravaging the planet with pollution, deforestation, mass species extinction, coral reef degradation etc. etc.
I also find it does not make sense how some of the religious types make such big deals about abortion but have zero concern for how we treat the planet as a whole. Is the planet not important to God as well?
You make me so proud, son. I’m just so very happy that God sent me to legitimately rape your mother that night.
Chris Christie was great on Fox and Friends thins morning. When the asked whether he’d be showing Romney around the hardest hit areas of New Jersey so that he could have Presidential looking photos taken, Christie said that he wasn’t the least bit interested. He said, “I could care less.”
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/10/30/christie-praises-obama-doesnt-give-a-damn-about-romney-photo-op/
Christie is pretty savvy – he’s smart enough to know that he’s at the head of the line with Rubio for GOP 2016 and he knows an opportunity to separate himself from the madhouse right when he sees one (even when he’s agreeing with them).
Oh, and @John Galt – the mandate came out last night – it’s no longer legitimate rape. We are to now use the term “surprise sex”.
Readers of MarkMaynard.com,
This is a serious storm, but we are going to do what it takes to keep people safe and secure, and make sure the communities affected get the assistance they need. FEMA is working with state and local governments to respond effectively. We all owe a debt of thanks to the first responders who will be dealing with the immediate impact of the storm.
If you live in the storm’s path, please listen to state and local authorities about where and how to take shelter and stay safe — and encourage your friends and family to do the same. If you are asked to evacuate, please take that seriously.
For more information on how to prepare for this storm, visit Ready.gov.
And if you’d like to find out how to support relief efforts where they’re needed most, please visit the Red Cross or your local relief organization:
http://my.barackobama.com/Red-Cross
Michelle and I are keeping everyone in the affected areas in our thoughts and prayers. Be safe.
Barack
Surprise fornication, legitimately conducted, for the glorification of our Lord.
Mike Tidwell in The Nation:
The article:
http://www.thenation.com/article/170894/we-are-all-new-orleans-now-climate-change-hurricanes-and-fate-americas-coastal-cities
Romney event in Ohio is introduced by a song with the lyric, “Knee-deep in the water somewhere.”
https://twitter.com/JFKucinich/status/263294428301627393
I am just waiting for someone who believes halloween is devil-workship to gloat that Sandy was their gods act to cancel the annual New York City Village Halloween Parade. If only New York would have had a “harvest festival” instead Sandy would have never happened – http://www.halloween-nyc.com/
“Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.”
Matt 10:29
God is real and your denial of Him in no way alters that fact.
Romney should watch _Surviving Progress_.
Hilarious, Mittens!
I just gets better and better:
“The Romney campaign bought $5,000 worth of food so that it would look like their supporters were bringing it.”
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2012/10/5000-shopping-run-walmart-turned-romneys-campaign-stop-relief-event/58529/
One man’s response to Mitt Romney after having lost his home in the storm.
http://youtu.be/D7kycr2sWh8
Mark, I think you’ll like this ad.
http://grist.org/politics/the-most-brutal-ad-youll-see-this-election/
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