There once was a time whenever natural disasters inflicted grievous pain and suffering on Americans that the rest of the country would rally in force to offer their support and comfort in times of tragedy.
Those days are gone.
Sixty-seven Republican members of Congress – including Mac Thornberry of Clarendon – voted “no” on a bill this past week to send emergency aid to the folks in New Jersey and New York who were pummeled in October by Hurricane/Super Storm Sandy.
As New York Daily News columnist Mike Lupica noted (see link attached), these individuals “seem to have all the qualities of dogs except loyalty.”
The bill, which the House did approve, would spend federal money for flood insurance to aid the victims of Sandy. What’s especially galling is that some of the “no” votes actually came from Gulf Coast lawmakers who had their hand out when Hurricane Katrina shattered the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama more than seven years ago. They had no problem then asking for money, but when it came to delivering aid to someone else, well … that’s a different story.
This is the new age in Washington.
Remember the Joplin, Mo., tornado that ripped that city apart two years ago? Remember what House Republican Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia said at the time? He’d support aid to Joplin, but only if the House could find enough money to cut somewhere else to pay for it. Imagine if a tornado had obliterated his congressional district.
I’m still scratching my head over this. I kind of expected this kind of game-playing from the likes of Reps. Louie Gohmert of East Texas and Joe “You Lie!” Wilson of South Carolina. But not from Thornberry.
Don’t Americans rally to help each other during crises? Are we no longer a compassionate people capable of setting aside political differences when tragedy strikes?
All the individuals who said “no” to the Sandy relief money – and that includes Mac Thornberry – need to explain in detail why they have turned their backs on their fellow Americans.