Despite being on different sides of the political spectrum, I don't like to think that my fellow North Carolinians are being made to suffer more because of politics. When I watch the television "news" I hear that everything is being done that can be for the people in Western NC. But then I learn that DHS has spent the money Congress appropriated for hurricane disaster relief on illegal aliens instead. Thus, the best it can do is to give the people who have lost everything $750. Elon Musk sends Starlink communications systems to help out people unconnected from the rest of the world and FEMA seizes the systems and puts them under lock and key. What gives? Private helicopter pilots rescuing people are told to stand down. Again, what gives? It seems the Federal government won't do anything, and the private sector is not allowed to help their neighbors.
At The Federalist today a retired Army Colonel who worked logistics for a number of humanitarian relief efforts including Hurrican Katrina tells us the different response to that hurricane and to Hurricane Helene. The article, by Cynical Publius (obviously a pseudonym) can be found at Comparing Helene to Katrina Suggest Americans Are Left to Die Because Democrats Run the White House
Cynical Publius first establishes his bona fides pointing out that he has been a logistics officer for the Army his entire career, and indeed was involved in the military's response to Katrina:
The devastation wrought across the American Southeast by Category 4 Hurricane Helene last week has naturally drawn comparisons to the 2005 Hurricane Katrina response. As a veteran of military logistics, I can confirm that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ response to this round of mass suffering has been orders of magnitude worse than federal actions taken after Katrina.
In August of 2005, I was a U.S. Army colonel serving on the Army staff in the Pentagon. Before Hurricane Katrina was even nearing landfall, I was detailed as a shift officer in the National Military Command Center (NMCC) for hurricane support operations. As a career logistics officer, this was the culmination of a noncombat mission I had been associated with since I was first commissioned: disaster relief and humanitarian support operations.
From the Yellowstone fires in 1988 while I was a mere first lieutenant, through Hurricane Fran while I was serving on Fort Bragg (now Fort Liberty) as a major in the 82nd Airborne Division, through the humanitarian missions the support battalion of the 82nd I commanded in Afghanistan accomplished, and through the many training events and “orders drills” I endured in this arena, this secondary mission of all logisticians was something that defined a substantial part of my military career. As such, I was privileged to be a part of the national support to Katrina.
Despite the misleading media reports of failure, as I served in the NMCC I was enthralled and impressed with the sheer power that was brought to bear by our military to support endangered Americans in Katrina. Nothing feels better than making a difference for your fellow Americans, and as such I (now a long-retired veteran) paid careful attention to Hurricane Helene, anticipating the same robust military and federal support. As you can imagine, I have been grossly disappointed with the delayed and inept nature of the federal response.
Getting suspicious, our Colonel and a group of followers on X noodled out what could be the reasons for the difference in response to a massive hurricane. You are encouraged to read the various theories which Cynical Publius has helpfully consolidated for the reader. Cynical Publius's readers think it is largely a matter of incompetence of the Biden-Harris administration combined with various previous deployed military units to hotspots around the world. But then there is this:
7. The Biden-Harris administration and/or the Democrat North Carolina governor are maliciously and deliberately denying or delaying the use of these assets for nefarious reasons only they know, such as, for example, making sure red counties in North Carolina cannot vote for Donald Trump.
As I said, I don't like to think that people would be so cruel to each other...but having read the Bible, I know differently.
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