Chapo pointed out that Mayor Secretary Pete's response was even worse- Biden spokespeople got out and said "train derailments happen all the time and nobody complained when Elayne Chao was in office". They're literally saying "Look we know you're in the middle of a cancer supersite but look how *bad* Mayo Pete has it".
And you don't get to make fun of big macs and bottled water unless you're *doing more to fix the situation*.
It's legitimately moments like this that make me stop and think "JFC we're doomed". The Democratic party is in a fucking rebuilding season that will last 20 years that we don't have. I don't know if Biden is a tyrant or if the Democrats are this spineless. Nobody in his administration seems to have any ambition or drive, except maybe ex-DOE scientist Sam Brinton who apparently is a compulsive luggage thief. Why do you even try to get to the top of the political mountain if you don't want to deal with stuff like this?
I get that it might be tough legislatively to get bills changed, especially with this congress, but you know what? The exectuive has the bully pulpit and if they can't do anything legislatively they should be out there vilifying the fuck out of Norfolk Southern Rail Company until Disney makes villains in their cartoons mimicking them. Audit the shit out of every single business decision they make that can be done.
I read that the chemical spill is now going to work it's way down to Texas. There will be a political bloodbath as that happens and the Democrats are going to go all pikachu face when it happens. And as it happens people and animals will die and water will become poisoned and NSRC will get off with a slap on the wrist.
The Democrats are the party of "We've done nothing and we're out of ideas!" and I'm so tired of it. They occasionally trip and fall into some decent legislation and then spend the next 2 years pretending like it didn't happen instead of building on inertia.
And we're stuck with them because the alternative is fascists and religious states.
I was there last night covering a town hall that featured Erin Brockovich. There were so many Trump hats an overwhelmingly white population but you know what else I saw? I saw little kids and babies, I saw elderly people. I saw people who were just told that, due to their high water table, the municipal drinking water is already contaminated. I saw a town and entire county that should be evacuated by the government. I wanted to cry so many times. When the feelings overwhelmed me, sadness and anger, I lifted my camera and looked at their faces. I got to drive home last night and sleep in some relative safety. I say relative because I'm in Pittsburgh and we were in the plume from the "controlled burn" and because my mom lives down river from EP.
I think I'm angrier than anything else. Norfolk Southern has one derailment every 3 days - EVERY THREE DAYS! They need to be nationalized and their leadership should be forced to be the only people left living in EP.
You have so perfectly captured the absolute tragedy of seeing good people with bad beliefs who all deserve so much better than they get. It's inexcusable
They're normal folks who're in a place where, due to a lack of opportunity and diversity, they're more susceptible to the lies that the right tells them. They're angry and bitter and hurt. They feel abandoned. Are they racist and problematic? A bunch absolutely are. They're also utterly powerless and they feel that deeply.
Erin told them last night that they need to stick together, they need to refuse to be divided. She introduced them to some ladies from Flint and told them how they were here to help them. Working people can be brought together. The power and anger of the working class can be used to make change but it's taking tragedies like these and will likely take even more than this to get them to see how community and working class unity are the key to forcing change at the corporate and governmental levels. I hope that it's possible and I hope it doesn't take another Flint, Jackson, East Palestine, or wherever the next greed-induced disaster occurs.
My blatant attempt to make lemonade out of hazardous chemicals: perhaps this will be the nail in the coffin of the Mayor Secretary President Pete dream. Hmmm, adding sugar doesn't help; it's still toxic.
My heart goes out to the people who will suffer for this, and considering the chemicals involved, that may be everyone.
It’s no fun reading about how badly your team has f##ked up. This is the kind of thing that Biden is personally good at relating to, but the rest of the Dem leadership has lost any connection to average Americans. The MAGA faithful have divided Americans into us and them, and the people running the Democratic Party are all too willing to go along with that. Writing off red state voters as ignorant, racist rubes is not much different from telling people of color to “go back where they came from.” Too much of today’s Democratic Party is absorbed by “inside baseball,” and ignores even the blue cities in “flyover country.” Patriotism means supporting all Americans, not just the 51% that vote for you.
It also reminds me of a situation we had here in Australia a few years back. Massive bushfires, lots of people lost their homes. The PM was in holiday. “I don’t hold a hose, mate”, etc.
Guy is eventually shamed into coming home. When he belatedly showed his face on the ground, the locals were enraged.
Lots of money allocated to rebuild. Most of it never spent. People still living in tents and caravans...
That clown lost the next election. Not the only cause, but emblematic of the behaviour that got them booted out.
Biden’s excuse for not showing up himself earlier is better than Morrison’s was, but reckon he’s risking a similar outcome.
Probably a stupid question, but isn’t providing assistance in a situation like this a thing FEMA is for? Why didn’t Biden at least make that happen once it became clear this wasn’t just a minor derailment?
Comparing the treatment of this and the way Obama rushed to the scene of Sandy is illustrative of... something.
The horrifying thing I learned today is that FEMA can only go in if there's property damage. No significant property was damaged, just animals and humans, so no big deal
I’ve read that FMEA couldn’t go in because Gov Mike DeWine wouldn’t declare the accident a disaster. That would explain why there was no automatic federal response, but not the radio silence from Biden and Buttegieg.
It really hurts to read this, and you're 100% correct. I don't know what to do. It's scary, knowing that I'm in bed with people who would be okay with my quiet death if I were trapped in a Red state. It's scary knowing that the people putatively on "my side" are just as tribalistic and cruel. And I don't know what to do. I don't know why I'm writing this either, honestly, I don't expect you to have answers, and I shouldn't. I'm just scared. Thank you for writing this.
I think that's what the pukes are hoping we think. I have heard the real axis is elsewhere. Wish I knew more about it so I could put some meat behind it. Got any coordinates? My hunch is it may be what the mystics call WITHIN, but there are no maps and no coordinates.
I didn't want to read this but I did,I don't want to acknowledge the truth but I will, this is correct and it makes me angry and upset.
I don't want it to be true either, it's infuriating and tragic and I had to record the voiceover twice because I shouted too much the first time
Chapo pointed out that Mayor Secretary Pete's response was even worse- Biden spokespeople got out and said "train derailments happen all the time and nobody complained when Elayne Chao was in office". They're literally saying "Look we know you're in the middle of a cancer supersite but look how *bad* Mayo Pete has it".
And you don't get to make fun of big macs and bottled water unless you're *doing more to fix the situation*.
It's legitimately moments like this that make me stop and think "JFC we're doomed". The Democratic party is in a fucking rebuilding season that will last 20 years that we don't have. I don't know if Biden is a tyrant or if the Democrats are this spineless. Nobody in his administration seems to have any ambition or drive, except maybe ex-DOE scientist Sam Brinton who apparently is a compulsive luggage thief. Why do you even try to get to the top of the political mountain if you don't want to deal with stuff like this?
I get that it might be tough legislatively to get bills changed, especially with this congress, but you know what? The exectuive has the bully pulpit and if they can't do anything legislatively they should be out there vilifying the fuck out of Norfolk Southern Rail Company until Disney makes villains in their cartoons mimicking them. Audit the shit out of every single business decision they make that can be done.
I read that the chemical spill is now going to work it's way down to Texas. There will be a political bloodbath as that happens and the Democrats are going to go all pikachu face when it happens. And as it happens people and animals will die and water will become poisoned and NSRC will get off with a slap on the wrist.
I just... god damnit.
Jesus Christ
The Democrats are the party of "We've done nothing and we're out of ideas!" and I'm so tired of it. They occasionally trip and fall into some decent legislation and then spend the next 2 years pretending like it didn't happen instead of building on inertia.
And we're stuck with them because the alternative is fascists and religious states.
And yes this duo-party nightmare is not working.
I was there last night covering a town hall that featured Erin Brockovich. There were so many Trump hats an overwhelmingly white population but you know what else I saw? I saw little kids and babies, I saw elderly people. I saw people who were just told that, due to their high water table, the municipal drinking water is already contaminated. I saw a town and entire county that should be evacuated by the government. I wanted to cry so many times. When the feelings overwhelmed me, sadness and anger, I lifted my camera and looked at their faces. I got to drive home last night and sleep in some relative safety. I say relative because I'm in Pittsburgh and we were in the plume from the "controlled burn" and because my mom lives down river from EP.
I think I'm angrier than anything else. Norfolk Southern has one derailment every 3 days - EVERY THREE DAYS! They need to be nationalized and their leadership should be forced to be the only people left living in EP.
You have so perfectly captured the absolute tragedy of seeing good people with bad beliefs who all deserve so much better than they get. It's inexcusable
They're normal folks who're in a place where, due to a lack of opportunity and diversity, they're more susceptible to the lies that the right tells them. They're angry and bitter and hurt. They feel abandoned. Are they racist and problematic? A bunch absolutely are. They're also utterly powerless and they feel that deeply.
Erin told them last night that they need to stick together, they need to refuse to be divided. She introduced them to some ladies from Flint and told them how they were here to help them. Working people can be brought together. The power and anger of the working class can be used to make change but it's taking tragedies like these and will likely take even more than this to get them to see how community and working class unity are the key to forcing change at the corporate and governmental levels. I hope that it's possible and I hope it doesn't take another Flint, Jackson, East Palestine, or wherever the next greed-induced disaster occurs.
My blatant attempt to make lemonade out of hazardous chemicals: perhaps this will be the nail in the coffin of the Mayor Secretary President Pete dream. Hmmm, adding sugar doesn't help; it's still toxic.
My heart goes out to the people who will suffer for this, and considering the chemicals involved, that may be everyone.
The best I've read on this subject. Excellent reporting and so clarifying!!!
It’s no fun reading about how badly your team has f##ked up. This is the kind of thing that Biden is personally good at relating to, but the rest of the Dem leadership has lost any connection to average Americans. The MAGA faithful have divided Americans into us and them, and the people running the Democratic Party are all too willing to go along with that. Writing off red state voters as ignorant, racist rubes is not much different from telling people of color to “go back where they came from.” Too much of today’s Democratic Party is absorbed by “inside baseball,” and ignores even the blue cities in “flyover country.” Patriotism means supporting all Americans, not just the 51% that vote for you.
It also reminds me of a situation we had here in Australia a few years back. Massive bushfires, lots of people lost their homes. The PM was in holiday. “I don’t hold a hose, mate”, etc.
Guy is eventually shamed into coming home. When he belatedly showed his face on the ground, the locals were enraged.
Lots of money allocated to rebuild. Most of it never spent. People still living in tents and caravans...
That clown lost the next election. Not the only cause, but emblematic of the behaviour that got them booted out.
Biden’s excuse for not showing up himself earlier is better than Morrison’s was, but reckon he’s risking a similar outcome.
Probably a stupid question, but isn’t providing assistance in a situation like this a thing FEMA is for? Why didn’t Biden at least make that happen once it became clear this wasn’t just a minor derailment?
Comparing the treatment of this and the way Obama rushed to the scene of Sandy is illustrative of... something.
The horrifying thing I learned today is that FEMA can only go in if there's property damage. No significant property was damaged, just animals and humans, so no big deal
I’ve read that FMEA couldn’t go in because Gov Mike DeWine wouldn’t declare the accident a disaster. That would explain why there was no automatic federal response, but not the radio silence from Biden and Buttegieg.
Well that’s a giant WTF!
It really hurts to read this, and you're 100% correct. I don't know what to do. It's scary, knowing that I'm in bed with people who would be okay with my quiet death if I were trapped in a Red state. It's scary knowing that the people putatively on "my side" are just as tribalistic and cruel. And I don't know what to do. I don't know why I'm writing this either, honestly, I don't expect you to have answers, and I shouldn't. I'm just scared. Thank you for writing this.
Just about impossible to even consider that "lesser evil" garbage again, ain't it?
push comes to shove I'll do it but I'm going to rage until then in hopes that we can have something less grim
I think that's what the pukes are hoping we think. I have heard the real axis is elsewhere. Wish I knew more about it so I could put some meat behind it. Got any coordinates? My hunch is it may be what the mystics call WITHIN, but there are no maps and no coordinates.