Tropical Storm Harvey has brought out the best in many people, not only from Texans helping one another but people from outside the Lone Star State flowing in to render as much aid as they can. The Cajun Navy from Louisiana has performed epic feats of rescue in the lake that Houston has become, even as some criminals fire on them to try to steal their boats. Even Mexico has sent a relief convoy from across the border. For most people, all controversies have been forgotten.
However, it cannot be said that all people have no regretted old slights.
From the governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, to a College Professor in Florida, some folks have taken the opportunity to snark on social media.
Revenge for Hurricane Sandy funding controversy?
Some northeastern politicians are still smarting over a controversy surrounding relief funding for Hurricane Sandy which ravaged New Jersey and New York in 2012. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, for example, called the Texas congressional delegation “hypocrites” for asking for Harvey relief when they had initially voted against money for Hurricane Sandy. Christie forgets that the initial bill had been larded up with unrelated spending, the theory being that it was a must-pass bill. Eventually, Sandy relief was approved, with the Texas delegation having voted for it.
Rep. Pete King, R-New York snarked that even if Senator Ted Cruz had “abandoned” his state, he would not abandon Texas. ‘
Payback for voting for Trump?
Meanwhile, a University of Tampa professor named Kenneth Storey took to social media with his ruminations on Harvey. “I don't believe in instant Karma but this kinda feels like it for Texas.
Hopefully this will help them realize the GOP doesn't care about them.” Storey later deleted the tweet and then offered an apology, but the damage had been done. The idea that a hurricane was somehow a partisan issue and was proof that one political party didn’t care about people is a strange notion indeed.
The University of Tampa was obliged to issue a statement condemning Storey’s tweet and expressing solidarity with the people of Texas.
It should be noted, apropos of nothing, that Florida went for Trump in the last election as well. In any case, no one in the Harvey strike zone has been asking for a voter ID card before air lifting them from their flooded homes and taking them to a dry, warm place to ride out the disaster. A time and a place exist for political bickering, and a disaster that has turned the fourth largest city in America into a sixth great lake is not it.
