While Sen. Ted Cruz was hopping off to Mexico for a family vacation, here's what a couple of real leaders were doing to address the crisis in Texas.
We made over 151,000 calls to senior citizens in Texas tonight. One of our vols talked to a man stranded at home w/out power in Killeen, hadn’t eaten in 2 days, got him a ride to a warming center and a hot meal. Help us reach more people, join us tomorrow: https://t.co/WOLn2HCrm1
— Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) February 18, 2021
GREAT NEWS: you made it happen! We hit our goal of $50,000 to support @FeedingTexas!
— Julián Castro (@JulianCastro) February 19, 2021
Let’s keep it going. Food banks need our help. We’re upping our goal to $100,000—can you help us reach it?
100% of contributions will go to food banks in Texas. https://t.co/vPDXxMArhj
Just sayin...
Vox had a write up on mutual aid groups helping out.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.vox.com/the-goods/22289581/mutual-aid-helps-texas-storm
As they noted:
"Samantha Montano, a disaster researcher and assistant professor of emergency management at Massachusetts Maritime Academy, tweeted that it’s surprising to witness how “mainstream messaging has shifted” from soliciting Red Cross donations “to local [organizations] and especially mutual aid funds in just a few years.”"
Wasn't it the Bush right-wing cronies who took over the Red Cross and ran it into the ground? Of course the Red Cross works with local gov't. to help man the worming centers and deal with disasters--so if the local gov't. won't or can't do anything, the Red Cross can't do much either.
And, it's right: both sides DON'T 'do it'. What Nancy's article above shows us is people in positions of responsibility taking responsibility and leading. This is what I expect of 'government' at every level, but I'm especially pleased to see coming from our new administration and from its leaders all along the line. Thanks for sharing these short articles; now, let's just share them with as many others as we can.
ReplyDeleteLast year Ted Cruz tweeted “California is now unable to perform even basic functions of civilization, like having reliable electricity. Biden/Harris/AOC want to make CA’s failed energy policy the standard nationwide:
ReplyDeletehttps://digbysblog.net/2021/02/it-finally-broke-under-predictable-circumstances/
Biden/Harris have already indicated full federal cooperation for Texas. AOC raised $2 million for Texas relief. California is sending bottled water. Ted Cruz vacations in Cancun while the guy he defeated in the Senate race works hard for Texas seniors without power.
Just say’in.
I'm still waiting for the NY Times to acknowledge this (and I haven't looked at other mainstream papers). There hasn't been an article or indeed a word about Beto's efforts. Just either (1) what a disaster! Or (2) how heartwarming, as ordinary people rise to the occasion.
ReplyDeleteNo doubt part of this is the inability to see past those two journalistic cliches. (How awful! What wonderful human stories!) But it's also an inability to feature Democratic leadership, especially if it means that then one side is to blame.