DONALD TRUMP, PUERTO RICO & THE US VIRGIN ISLAND

…Just one example of what Hurricane Maria did in Puerto Rico

 

Donald Trump continues to show his ignorance of the world

 

It is appearing that up until this week, Donald Trump did not recognize that those people living in Puerto Rico were American citizens.  And based on his latest comments, he just realized that, “Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands were nations on islands……in the middle of a very big ocean.”  He also said that “As a new Yorker, I knew many people from Puerto Rico….they were Puerto Ricans!”   REALLY?

 

As compared to the immediate response to the hurricanes in Texas and Florida, the president has been treating those Americans stranded in P.R. and in the US Virgin Islands, as if they were not part of the United States.  His comments about Puerto Rico were that they were also in deep trouble before Hurricane Maria hit with 200MPH winds.  And this wind was much stronger than the Harvey and Irma hurricanes that hit Houston and Florida.

 

 

Trump made it sound as if Puerto Rico’s problems were caused by themselves, not by a stage 4 hurricane.  Yes, it’s true that P.R. was in serious financial trouble and the nation’s infrastructure was in dire need of being fixed or replaced, but the local citizens didn’t cause the natural disaster that wiped out and devastated their island.

 

For a man that has gone bankrupt 4 times and was only allowed to start over due to the bankruptcy laws that allow a another chance, Trump sounded like he was saying “To bad, but we’ll give you a hand in due time.”  By that, it wasn’t until days after the hurricane, that Trump took to his Twitter feed about Puerto Rico.  And when he did, all he would say is that the US territory is “in deep trouble,” because of problems that pre-dated Hurricane Maria.  And these issues had nothing to do with a stage 4 hurricane.

 

Trump made this point by tweeting that Puerto Rico was already suffering from “broken infrastructure,” including an old electrical grid, which he said was “devastated” by Hurricane Maria, as well as P. R.’s  “massive debt.” “Food, water and medical are top priorities — and are doing well,” Trump said this in his series of tweets, which he did credit the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). He just had to note that, by contrast, Texas and Florida, hit by earlier hurricanes, “are doing just great.”  It came across as a snub against Puerto Rico, while giving some “atta-boys” for Texas and Florida.

 

This attitude is more than stunning. Trump is the American president and his administration is responsible for all US territories including Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.  His administration will be held accountable for on-going conditions on the islands.  The administration insists that its response has been “robust,” but Americans have been watching on TV the devastation, homelessness and the ongoing threat of flooding in Puerto Rico and the equally awful conditions in the US Virgin Islands.  It is very easy to conclude that the administration’s response has been lacking as the hospitals are running out of power, the communication has been cut off for most residents, and those conditions are creating life-threatening conditions on a massive scale.

Hurricane Maria whipped Puerto Rico with Irma-level winds, covered the island with Harvey-level flooding, crippled all local and international communications, leveled its buildings and damaged a dam that puts downstream residents at risk of another catastrophe, should it let go.

 

US help has been slow to come to these island communities where the devastation is described as “apocalyptic,” by both the officials and the residents.

 

Gov. Ricardo Rosselló said P.R. faces a serious humanitarian crisis. He urged Congress to approve a commensurate aid package as this US commonwealth was already hammered by a prolonged economic crisis, and it has tried to get back on its feet. The governor joined others in emphasizing that Puerto Ricans are American citizens.  But in contrast to the relief package for Texas that flew through Congress, aid for Puerto Rico is not expected to come up in Congress for weeks.  Why is that?

 

We all remember when Hurricane Katrina hit, and we recall the photo of President George W. Bush looking out the Air Force One window at the destruction below in New Orleans.   Even though he was trying to stay out of the way of first responders in New Orleans, Bush was consistently labeled as remote, cut-off and was even called a racist.  His presidency never really recovered.

                                  

But here we have the image of Trump shouting about NFL players at a political rally in Alabama, or a screen shot of his obsessive tweets and insults about athletes kneeling in a demonstration during the national anthem. His neglect of the Spanish-speaking American territory will most likely also be labeled as racist, and he surely has provided ample evidence of his lack of concern for anyone but his own base of primarily white American males.

 

President Trump is basically following the key things that he learned from his father, such as:  “When possible, take credit for other people’s work; Do not trust foreigners or Blacks; And all exposure is good promotion.”

Let’s face it, Trump cares nothing about history, or what is said in the books, only what is in front of his nose right at the moment and what’s on Fox News, which has so far been wall-to-wall with the NFL-protest coverage.

 

Trump’s obsession is a divisive culture war.  He cares not about governance, and that is exactly what matters in these moments of true crisis.

 

One can imagine that he had no real appreciation for the depth of the suffering wrought by Hurricane Maria, nor a political reason that the non-voting islands of foreign Americans should warrant his attention.

Trump had better focus and utilize every resource imaginable and stop engaging in the highly divisive NFL nonsense in lieu of proper response that a real US president would be doing with any and all natural disasters.

 

But will Trump actually recognize how Dubya Bush never recovered from his looking at Katrina from afar on Air Force One?

 

Nah, probably not.

 

Copyright G.Ater  2017