Scandal, Skin Color, and Coverage

The New York Times, five days removed from Katrina, was giving detailed coverage of what it assumed were George W. Bush’s failures. The victims were disproportionately black and the people in charge were white.

In North Carolina, the victims are mostly white. The press has moved on. Using all the conspiracies and lies as an excuse to claim all is actually well, the New York Times went back to January 6th coverage.

We should not be afraid to point out the racial angle here.

The black boy tragically shot through the door by the old white man in Missouri got multiple days of media coverage and a presidential phone call. On the same weekend, a white girl was killed by an old white man and it got barely a mention, along with a mass shooting at a birthday party in Alabama that was all black victims and black shooters.

The press, like the president, favors equity, and that means overplaying stories of white aggressors and non-white victims.

But when it is the white people in rural North Carolina, no one needs to ask tough questions.

The toughest question that should be asked is this one: if federal military resources had been scrambled sooner for rescue, how many more people would be alive?

I suspect if George W. Bush or Donald Trump were President, the media would spend some time exploring this question. The bulk of the storm damage began overnight on September 26th and roared through on the 27th. The FEMA declaration was not issued until September 29th. The 82nd Airborne at Fort Bragg was not activated until October 2nd.

Likewise, military rescue personnel at Ft. Bragg and elsewhere were not in the air until at least a day later. That’s four days after disaster. How many people died because the experts in rescue were not in the air for four days?

A further mobilize for search and rescue did not come until October 5th.

Y’all this is the United States of America. We have address listings for every American. It is not a difficult lift to get the voter registration database from the North Carolina Secretary of State or the DMV list and divide up groups of National Guard soldiers to go door to door in rural areas to make sure people are okay.

But it is far easier for the press corps to waive their hands and dismiss it all because too many people online are offering conspiracy theories and FEMA funding, FEMA arrests, etc.

Because the urban and suburban areas are accessible and easy to report on, God forbid one might venture further into the mountains to tell that story.

The one documented instance of a helicopter pilot claiming a near arrest was actually local police authorities near Lake Lure. The man said on the video that it was the federal government, but local officials at Lake Lure now confirm it was them and because the skies were so crowded and the man was not following the procedures put in place for all the pilots to coordinate with each other.

Even the closure at Asheville, NC’s airport has been misconstrued. They had to restrict take offs and landings because they had more aircraft than they had spacing available on the ground and in take off and landing patterns.

How easy was it to navigate? A friend in Florida had a friend at a church with a plane ready to go with supplies. He asked me if I might have a contact to give them permission to land in Asheville. I texted a friend who got me the phone number of a lady named Allie who is coordinating take offs and landings. I got it back to my friend and they got in the cue and took off. It took less than fifteen minutes in text messages to make it happen. And it helped Asheville space out flights and space on the tarmac.

But there are real stories that are really happening that the conspiracy theories are distracting from.

FEMA is taking years to process claims, hurting both local citizens and local governments. FEMA is also prioritizing equity over need, so harder hit areas are being helped at a slower pace if they are too white.

FEMA is actually stopping volunteer resources headed into the disaster areas and seeking to catalogue all equipment being taken into the disaster areas. Part of this is trying to manage an overflow of people trying to get into dangerous areas to prevent overcrowding. Part of this is professional bureaucrats insistent they are smarter than the ordinary Americans trying to help.

A public health official north of Greenville, SC demanded a local shelter stop letting storm refugees take hot showers unless they were wearing flip-flops. A local volunteer group rounded up thousands of flip-flops for distribution.

In multiple areas, when government relief shows up, instead of working with the individual volunteers already clearing debris, the government is asking the locals to stop so the government can take over — instead of just jumping in and helping.

Bureaucrats are not waiving ordinary rules for the emergency. The professional bureaucracy assumes they know best and the local people who know the land are being slowed from rescuing the stranded and dying.

Military search and rescue needlessly delayed getting in and once in, pushed out competent private operators who were already doing the work.

In parts of North Carolina and Virginia, the federal government has banned all hunting and fishing on federal lands. Mountain folks use those lands for winter food and survival. There are certainly seriously damaged areas, but instead of just those areas, they closed off the whole.

The deeper issue here is that decisions are being made by people far removed from the way we live and from the area they’ve made this decision about. We are reasonable people; we recognize that there are absolutely pockets of national forest that should be closed—those aren’t huntable anyway, as the destruction is too great in those areas. The Clinch Ranger District of the Jefferson National Forest, however, is no more damaged by this event than it has been by any other severe thunderstorm. In the Clinch District, we did not experience devastating floods.

They cite safety due to fallen trees. Perhaps you’re accustomed to pristine forests where no trees have ever fallen, but here in Appalachia, trees have always fallen in our forests. Many have questioned if it is because of downed power lines—power lines do not run through the forest; they run through cuts. Hunters do not hunt these cuts; they hunt the forest. Road closures? It is illegal to hunt from the road; hunters have always been required to hike in. Trail closures? We don’t hunt trails—trails are where people are.

But again, I actually genuinely and truly believe that much of the national press coverage and curiosity about allegations of government misfeasance, malfeasance, and nonfeasance would be handled differently if the bulk of the victims were black, instead of white, and not Trump leaning voters. Perversely, it makes it easier to spread the conspiracies and twists in facts because we all know the media has not just a political bias towards the left, but a racial bias against rural whites.

You’ll continue to hear about Asheville, NC long after you stop hearing about Spruce Pine, NC, not just because it is easier to get to, but because the national press corps is more likely to have been there and appreciates it as a Bohemian blue outpost among the MAGA red.

That again, though, is why all the lies and conspiracies circulating do not help. It makes it far easier for the press to wave it all away as just MAGA at war with the truth. When the truth is undoubtedly that government delays cost people their lives and even now the professional bureaucracy assumes the common American who lives in the area cannot be trusted to help.

Compounding all these problems, as recovery efforts were underway in North Carolina and people are already complaining about lack of funding, Anthony Blinkin was on Twitter excited about the millions of dollars being sent to Lebanon and Samantha Powers was on Twitter bragging about the millions of dollars being sent to Ukraine to keep their power on while much of Western North Carolina is in the dark.

The tone deafness of this Administration can only come because there is no real leadership at the top to set the tone. It is every man and woman for themselves and no clue that it might not be helpful for the Administration’s foreign policy goals to be bragging about how foreign aid is keeping the lights on in Ukraine and Lebanon when it is lights out in North Carolina.

And this is why we can’t have nice things.

Side note — I am increasingly suspicious even of some of the first hand videos out there. One, in particular, stands out. A lady insists she showed up at the Greenville, SC airport and FEMA was both blocking access and not doing anything. I happen to know a lot of people in Greenville, some of whom are participating in the rescue. They have all denied this was the case and assume it was a misinterpretation or misunderstanding. FEMA is not only not a first responder, but is assisting and not leading most coverage. To the extent it is blocking access, it is because it is preventing overcrowding, including on tarmacs.

This is not to excuse the problems FEMA is causing. It is causing problems. It is blocking people and slowing people down. Local health regulators are causing problems. There are problems. There was a delayed federal response that probably cost lives. But some of what we are seeing online is simply not true and the fake is providing a convenient excuse for the real stuff to be ignored.

For people on the right, maybe be a bit more skeptical about claims coming second and third hand from people who believed in FEMA camps and Jade Helm.

For people on the left, maybe be a bit more skeptical that a government struggling to perform core services like mail delivery is actually handling this as well as the government says it is.

For reporters, maybe get outside of the urban and suburban areas of North Carolina and wonder what the response would have been if the government were led by someone capable of being more hands on than Joe Biden.

For everyone, before you believe the video you see on Twitter of someone telling you something happened or did not happen, maybe ask why they themselves did not record it directly. The FEMA arrest stories are like Big Foot stories. We keep hearing about them happening, but in a day of ubiquitous camera phones, no one can seem to catch them on video.

Also for everyone, ponder how many people might be alive who are now dead because the government search and rescue effort was not off the ground immediately after the hurricane blew through.

Seriously, we can get a list of every person in North Carolina with a voter registration card or drivers license. We know where they are. They can be arranged based on mail carrier routing. And immediately after the storm, there was no door to door effort to look for survivors.

How different would it be if the Commander in Chief of the American military were not suffering dementia, sitting on a beach as the storm came in? Perhaps no different, but you know damn well the press reaction would be different if the victims were black or the President were Republican.

The 82nd Airborne was not activated until five days after the hurricane. How many people died in those five days who could have been rescued? Yeah, please click to get one more understanding of what I’m talking about.

Today

I cannot leave this without noting that today is the one year anniversary of Hamas’s attack on Israel

It is unconscionable to me that there have been no American repercussions for Hamas killing American citizens.

But Israel is meting out justice. To my Israeli friends and readers, I stand with you. We cannot unwind time and go back to before October 7th. But those of us from the sidelines can support Israel’s fight to slay monsters. May the memories of the dead be a blessing and may the living slay dragons and find peace.

Passover lasts eight days and commemorates the Jews fleeing Egypt a few thousand years ago. A people still commemorating their flight from slavery thousands of years ago will remember one day, a year ago, when monsters came from the sky to kill.

The rest of us should remember too.

Twenty Nine Days

We have twenty-nine days until this infernal election is concluded.

It is not a good thing for Democrats, given 100% of Americans have an opinion about Donald Trump, that Kamala Harris is only tied with him. Democrats are starting to worry. She’s played it too safe.

She sat for an interview with the podcast “Call Her Daddy,” which is a podcast that has also done a “Slut Camp” for its listeners. She’ll also sit with Stephen Colbert who will fawn over her. Playing it safe is not a strategy for a tied race, as Trump barnstorms the country.

Also, Republicans are gaining ground in the Wisconsin and Pennsylvania Senate races as Chuck Schumer gives up pouring money into Texas and Florida in order to dump a ton of money into Ohio.

Look Here 👀

Keep an eye on this story. The rumor is the dead person was a Russian agent who the FBI had been tracking from Arkansas. The FBI engaged in a shootout with the man in a Super 8 Motel parking lot in Hernando, MS, south of Memphis.

This story isn’t making national news.

This comes two months after a soldier killed a Chechen near Fort Bragg in North Carolina. The Chechen was supposedly a refugee doing utility work, but the circumstances are suspicious, in large part because he wasn’t wearing gear nor did he had anything to clearly identify him as doing utility work.

Five Days

Did I mention it took five days for the President to mobilize the military? Just follow along with the highlighted portions below. Remember, the hurricane was October 27th.

Roughly 500 soldiers with the 20th Engineer Brigade, XVIII Airborne Corps and the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division left Fort Liberty on Oct. 3 for Asheville, the largest city in western North Carolina and part of Buncombe County, one of the most damaged parts of the country by Helene. They are conducting inspections of the roads in the region, as well as clearing debris and transporting supplies. Several aircraft were deployed with them for the mission. 

More than 500 soldiers with the 101st Airborne Division deployed to western North Carolina on Saturday, Oct. 5. They brought at least 60 Infantry Squad Vehicles, and more than 15 helicopters to the area as well, for troop transport and to move supplies. The soldiers with Task Force Falcon will be focused on a variety of roles, including search and rescue, traffic control and clearing roads of debris. The active-duty troops will also prioritize the last step of getting aid to communities, transporting it from staging areas to “the point of need,” according to the Department of Defense. 

Helene made landfall on Sept. 26 as a Category 4 hurricane and in the days that followed tore through the southeast, flooding communities, forcing large evacuations — including some at military bases along the path of the storm — and leaving a trail of destruction. 

September 26 — Helene Makes Landfall

September 27 — Devastation in North Carolina

September 28 —

September 29 —

September 30 —

October 1 —

October 2 — President Biden mobilizes the military

October 3 — Mobilization of 500 soldiers begins

October 4 —

October 5 — Mobilization of 500 more soldiers for search and rescue.

Those blank days are days when people were dying.

And the media tells us everything is fine.