Thursday, October 13, 2016

Matthew's a Disaster, But Pat's a Catastrophe

Seeing news of the flooding caused in North Carolina by Hurricane Matthew, I was instantly reminded of my experience of Hurricane Irene- two of the buildings on my jobsite were flooded hours after the storm passed, when the small river on site crested and overtopped its banks. It was sunny at the time, and I and the one human co-worker on site really thought we were out of the 'soup' so to speak... until we saw the crest of dirty, debris-laden water. I can totally understand the disconnect inherent in seeing flooding occur on a beautiful, sunny day.

Seeing the pictures of the devastation wreaked by Matthew, a storm which right-wingers had poo-poohed, I have to ruefully note that North Carolina governor, bigot, and asshole Pat McCrory raided his state's disaster relief fund in order to defend his homophobic HB2 legislation. Looking at the pictures of flooded out homes and ruined towns, I have to sigh in relief, "At least a transwoman isn't peeing in a women's public bathroom in Asheville." Priorities, people.

While I don't object to federal aid for the people of North Carolina, not a single dime should be given to the state until it replaces the funds transferred to the HB2 defense fund. Republicans have a knack for creating fake problems and allowing real problems to go unaddressed. In the meantime, McCrory is facing an uphill re-election slog... it's time for his opponent, state attorney general Roy Cooper to hammer him on his proposal to waste a half-million earmarked for disaster relief to defend an indefensible bill which has already cost his state hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue. Hurricane Matthew was a disaster, but it pales in comparison to the damage inflicted by bad Republican governance.

3 comments:

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

"My dog is so interested in where others pee, she could be governor of N.C."
~

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

Theda's smarter than McCrory, as well as more empathetic.

mikey said...

The problem with your position here, Mr. Bastard, clearly correct though it might be, is that you have to remember that a large portion of American citizens do not agree with you, are frightened and angered by people with your (or my) opinions, and much of their life's veiwpoints are structured on a solid platform of hatred, bigotry, tribal fear and religious mythology.

In NC and similar places, the harder a candidate pushes back on these kinds of conservative touchstones like who pees where, the more they stand to lose people who might recognize the economic failures of a conservative state government but are not willing to allow gays/trans people or people of color share equal status under any circumstances...