LEARNING LESSONS
Easier for some than others
At the ripe old age of 16, I learned a very important lesson. As with most of my lessons at that age, I observed it from the “outside” looking in, but that didn’t make it any less essential or worthwhile to my development as a respectable adult.
A girl in my class noticed that her “very close friend” was being a little bit too flirty with a boy who was considered off limits. This ignited a need for vengeance. In retaliation, this girl reported the offender to a teacher, saying that she had cheated on a pop quiz. Well, there was all sorts of fallout onto this popular, pretty girl. A cheerleader, her pom poms were confiscated for a period of two football games. That’s moderately hefty sentence for a minimal crime. But I think everyone learned from it and I certainly did.
What that girl did to her supposed friend might be called mean. It could be called vindictive. I called it petty.
Enter Hurricane Ian and its’ impending landfall on Florida. As Ian inched closer and closer, it became clear that, not only would it hit the state, but that it would be stronger than originally thought, it would be slower moving, causing it to inflict damage over a longer period of time, and it would certainly hit populated areas and islands. As the story worsened, the governor of that state hastened to issue emergency orders. As early as 9/23 while Ian was still only a Tropical Depression, he had declared a state of emergency for the peninsula and Florida Keys. Every day thereafter, he was updating the state and the country on the progress of the storm and how the state was responding to the threat.
On 9/24 as the depression was upgraded to Tropical Storm Ian, Governor DeSantis requested an emergency declaration for the entire state of Florida and was granted this request by FEMA. The actions taken by the state at that time were voluminous and can be reviewed here.
By 9/26, the storm was upgraded to a hurricane and, although the path was a bit wobbly, it was clear that Florida was in the path. As Governor DeSantis continued to work tirelessly to issue orders, track the storm, and talk to FEMA, something strange was happening. Usually, when a state is in harm’s way, the President of the United States gives a callout to the governor to ensure that the full support of the federal government will be there to help in any way possible. And that communication will often continue throughout the emergency. But as the depression, the storm, the hurricane edged its’ way ever closer to the Floridian shores, that call didn’t come. Then, on 9/28, the president started making calls. But not to the governor of Florida. No. He started calling mayors in Florida. Now, I do not pretend to know what would be in his head to do such a thing. I do not think mayors are in a position to coordinate directly with the federal government. He made calls to Mayor Kevin Anderson of Ft. Myers, Mayor Erik Arroyo of Sarasota and Mayor John Gunter of Cape Coral. The only one to answer the phone was Anderson, a Republican Army vet who lives in Ft. Myers with his wife, Krista. The others, John Gunter who is on the November 8 ballot and Erik Arroyo, a Republican immigrant from the Dominican Republic and attorney, were too busy prepping for the storm to answer his calls. (Good for them.).
That brings us back to the lesson I learned at age 16. The more I see of our president, the less I like him. And that is saying something. I was disgusted when I watched him try to weasel out of the plagiarism charges that plagued his presidential campaign in the late ’80s. “It was a mistake”, “I misunderstood”, “I didn’t know”, “It wasn’t intentional”, and all of the excuses a child would make. But he was a grown man. I’ve watched him become belligerent as reporters ask him questions about immigration and the Afghanistan retreat and whether Putin will change his behavior. These are questions journos should ask, we deserve those answers and the president should be on the hook to respond. But, just like a kid being pressed to tell the truth when caught in a lie, he just snaps. More recently, he doesn’t take questions at all. He walks in, gives his pronouncements, looks around the room and laughs, and walks away with no questions taken. Again, a child’s response to a tricky situation. So, with these phone calls, I have to ask: Is he behaving like an adolescent girl and just being petty by not calling the governor but calling lesser officials? I think the answer is yes. I do think he is being petty. And I am not very comfortable having the leader of the free world engaging in petty political clashes when human life and limb are involved.
I live in hurricane country. Hurricanes are no laughing matter. Even though I don’t live anywhere near where Ian hit (1,000 miles away!) I had hurricane PTSD with Ian. I had to watch the landfall on TV. I worried about the people, the pets, other livestock, the homes, the displacement and the aftermath. That any of this would be approached with pettiness or anything less than extreme gravity makes me sad, furious and wanting to lash out somewhere. Either grow up, Joe, or go away. In fact, just go away. And your little VP too.