Because Florida is in the news , we have to do this again .
With Hurricane Ian devastating Florida this workweek , folks across the political spectrum are using the storm to nock easy points . Before the tempest even arrive , conservative medium made a mountain over the fact that President Bidenneglected to call Florida ’s Gov. Ron DeSantis(he eventuallydid make that phone call ) . Meanwhile , after Biden granted Florida emergency brake aid , Democrats smugly gasconade how the President was apparently limit aside political differences to begenerous to his competition — and remind audiences how DeSantis , who was then in the House , voted against aidfor Hurricane Sandy in 2013 . One comic ribbed ( in a since - deletedtweetthat hasspawnedseveralcopycat jokes ) that we should name to Ian with they / them pronouns “ to annoy DeSantis , ” whileseveralotherusers flat - out said that Floridians “ deserved ” what was coming to them .
This is not a new phenomenon . Whenever a instinctive catastrophe hits a state whose political relation are dominated by Republicans , Dems are quick to head out the obvious link to clime variety denial . I can remember opinion about how Texas deserved clime destruction come on from some Democrats in 2017 , when Hurricane Harvey strike Houston , and in 2017 and 2018 , when back - to - back hurricanes bump off Florida , and also last year , when a freak wintertime storm knocked out Texas ’s power grid . While correct - wing Twitter is its own mess of hypocrisy , there ’s always a curious element of ‘ I - tell - you - so’-ism from some factions of the left when a climate crisis hits a scarlet country , especially one that ’s been in the news late for terrible political leaders . It ’s not whole surprising that people on the odd react this way , given how Donald Trump ’s administration made mood alteration and rude disasters a political punching bagful , or how Republicans in Texas sharply — and falsely — spread the idea thatwind energy was responsible for the blackoutslast class .
Boats washed up onto a causeway in Fort Meyers, Fl. by Hurricane Ian.Photo: Joe Raedle (Getty Images)
Florida ’s political leaders is implausibly cruel — no question about it . The antic about pronouns for the hurricane is base on the terrific campaign that right-hand - wing politicians have been waging against faggot and trans multitude ’s right wing to exist ; Florida has been a leader in get this happen , magnificently exceed its “ Do n’t Say Gay ” card this twelvemonth and fomenting a slew of otheranti - queerandanti - transregulations and sentiment . The commonwealth ’s current leaders has also had aseriously interracial grip on climate policies , despite being on the front lines of clime change , and DeSantis last yearpassed a lawrequiring that cities keep using fossil fuels . I ’ve write before about howLGBTQ+ rights , miscarriage right , and progress on combat climate change are per se linkedby the same dark money ; in Florida , those force have found a firm beachhead .
But the melodic theme that an full state , filled with millions of various hoi polloi , somehow deserves to be in the path of a major disaster cut the basic fact that climate disasters are always most harmful to the poor , the marginalized , and mass of gloss — disregarding of how those people vote . Frankly , even the mass who do support DeSantis and his horrible policies — the voter who avail elect climate denier politicians , the voter who believe homophile people like me are somehow a menace to society , even the voters whose money may fund politicians push those policies — don’t “ deserve ” to be in the path of a tragedy like Ian .
Wishing harm or some kind of lesson - find out about clime disaffirmation among multitude in the path of climate disaster only belies a shortsightedness in savvy that the damage is amount to us all . mood insurance is inherently political , and perhaps it ’s naive of me to expect people not take the brassy scene when it ’s present to them . But climate disasters do not discriminate , and part of working to protect our Earth from the worst impact of mood change means realize the humanity of everyone hold out in it — even if those people are function against the same visual sensation of the hereafter .
Yes , it ’s infuriate to see DeSantisaccept aidwhile pushing clime self-renunciation policy and making his state unlivable for queer hoi polloi like me . It sucks to be the bigger somebody , but here we are . We still do n’t know the full legal injury from Hurricane Ian , which is still unfolding . All we can do is help those affected , and keep working for a better world .
BidenDonald TrumpFlorida RepublicansJoe BidenPoliticsSandy
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