I live in East Tennessee and our Republican Governor refused to declare a state of emergency before the storm. He didn’t do so until last Friday night, after the storm had already wreaked havoc up here in Appalachia. So FEMA is just now arriving and taking over the largely volunteer and wholly inadequate recovery efforts that have been h…
I live in East Tennessee and our Republican Governor refused to declare a state of emergency before the storm. He didn’t do so until last Friday night, after the storm had already wreaked havoc up here in Appalachia. So FEMA is just now arriving and taking over the largely volunteer and wholly inadequate recovery efforts that have been hobbled together over the past week. When asked by a local reporter why he didn’t declare the emergency before the storm like our neighboring states, he replied “You don’t declare a state of emergency when there is no emergency yet.” He literally said that. Presumably he and his administration didn’t know about the impending disaster because they embrace Project 2025 which would eliminate NOAA and its storm-predicting functions because they are too focused on climate change. (You can’t make this stuff up smh). The Biden Administration, to its credit, said earlier this week that it had prepared to help those of us who hadn’t asked anyway, in anticipation of when that inevitable call for help would come. People up here in Appalachian Tennessee are suffering greatly, but I can guarantee that those who need help the most—the majority of them anyway—are the same ones who two weeks ago wanted to eliminate the federal government because Fox News and OAN and NewsMax told them to. And they will no doubt blame the Biden administration for the slow response, and the state and local governments will not contradict them.
I don't get why the two are, apparently, mutually exclusive? Why can't you pray and fast while accepting help graciously from your neighbors? That's all that federal agencies and tax money is, after all - neighborly assistance in need.
I agree that volunteers have really held everything together here in TN and throughout the affected states. No argument there. They’ve saved lives and donated food and supplies and taken in neighbors and hauled water and so many other things. But they can’t rebuild the roads and everyone’s homes, and shouldn’t be expected to. It’s the job of the government to plan for those things and provide the resources and carry them through.
Indeed you CAN pray and fast, and I did. But before and during the storm I prayed while I took steps to prepare, which is what my prayers led me to do. Also, my prayers revealed to me the need for gratitude for our government.
I was wondering the same thing Lynn when I first read it.
Yesterday, I was on about, the lack of logic in the MAGA and white Christian Nationalist world. This is a great example of a logic flaw as you point out.
I can come to no other conclusion after years of reading everything I can in order to understand the underpinnings of this mess we are in....they are all nothing but an organized crime syndicate wearing the costume of religion for cover.
Pretty stupid! Guess prayer didn’t work for Mother Nature. We go back to the saying that god helps those who help themselves. Hmmmm….yeah that works so well.
Both a bit above in a separate comment from you, and here, on your idiot MAGA governor.
Love especially your link to all the MAGA idiots and now their fawning for the even greater stupidity and malice their Project 2025 aims at the U.S. It recalls Heather's in her para 2 today, on America's enslavers who "rejected the self-evident truth in the Declaration of Independence that all men were created equal. Instead, they intended to rule over the nation’s majority, whose labor produced the capital that southern leaders believed only elites should control."
You've got it exactly true, Abby, as to the equal madness and arrogance of today's MAGA followers of their fat orange convicted criminal. And you nab it perhaps best in your parenthetical remark as to how "You can't make this stuff up."
You, Abby, Heather, Liz, Kamala -- so many fine, decent American women in the midst of so many mad males forming today's version of those former elite enslavers.
It will help people understand the magnitude of the damage Trump and MAGA Republicans want to do to our country. It is a resource that will enable responsible citizens across the political spectrum to educate themselves and ground their discussions with other voters in what the document actually says.
Double sigh. First, Abby, my condolences and hopes that you and your family (if any) are well. Disaster really sucks (I've been thru a few earthquakes here in California). I do hope at least a few people in Tennessee are paying attention.
They're part of a cult of personality and will die for their leader. We have to write them off until they can be convinced that leader unworthy. Perhaps, when he's finally behind bars.
Or simply die off and wait and see if a younger generation will come to their senses. The old white guys who thought they were kings are the super racist race are dying out.
I remember thinking in the 70’s that same thing about civil rights. “When these old racists die-off, we will have put systemic racism behind us.”It came roaring back. We must be vigilant and elect Kamala Harris, and continue to fight injustice wherever it raises its ugly self.
Death is sometimes the 'only way' for change to move forward. I remember in my reading of the history of science, eg the 19th century, this was almost an adage as prominent scientists refused to part ways with their espoused theories. 'til death do us part'...
Good point Frank. Unfortunately, the Catholic Church has never "died", although several harpoons have damaged it over the years. Translating the Bible into German and English exposed the heresy of many of the priests, bishops, cardinals and even the pope. And Martin Luther and others pointed out the hypocrisy of the church. By allowing his fellow ministers and himself to marry and have children he opened the door for women to move into positions of prominence. It has indeed been a very slow process, and the Catholic Church still stands in the way of women everywhere.
Catholic charities have done many great things to help the poor, but the actions of hundreds of priests have gone unpunished. The church's idea of punishment is to move them to another parish.
The Catholic Hospital that refused treatment of a woman that was hemorrhaging is being sued. May they pay dearly.
It is dangerous to try, convict and sentence any organization in totality. I work at a Catholic institution. I was raised as a Catholic and have been around Catholics my whole life. I am a Buddhist today not in a reaction to Catholicism but as a matter of preference.
As in any organization there exists a whole spectrum of sinners to saints. As thinking people and participants of the "big tent" Democratic Party we risk becoming like those we judge so harshly if we begin to close ranks in self- righteous judgement of others.
I was raised Catholic and still consider myself one. I worked for a bishop who was corrupt and self-serving, along with many dedicated priests. Nevertheless, after seeing the institutional church and my treatment as a professional woman by the bishop and his “leadership,” I’ve walked away.
Right. I’m in California and work in healthcare. We have a big problem here of large Catholic hospitals buying up hospitals and doing shitty things like what St Joe’s/Providence did in Humboldt county, making a woman drive to a community hospital 20 minutes away while she was hemorrhaging. The Guardian article said a nurse gave the woman a bucket of towels in case something happened. This should be illegal. What it means to me is that Catholic healthcare must be tightly
Monitored and also community hospitals must be robustly supported to expand
Fortunately, it's not always like that. For instance, Dignity Health in San Francisco, which was a large Catholic hospital institution, was recently purchased by UCSF which is a state-run University medical school. So Dignity Health, which continues to be staffed by nuns is now providing services in the same way that UCSF has provided them at its other hospitals. So things can move forward, but it takes time.
In TN, that generation is led by Justin Jones, Justin J Pearson, Aftyn Behn, Gloria Johnson, et al. (Dems, btw). There are several more running this year and Blue TN is helping them financially. In a state that is 80% rural and districts can be miles and miles long, they have lots of acres to cover.
I think some of this is a matter of perspective, with fanatic being used by one party to describe what the other party considers its heroic virtues or principles by which it stands or falls. Terrorism is a similarly laden word, where one calls terrorist what the other calls freedom fighters. I dont think for a moment that a typical pro life evangelical is less sincere than a pro choice supporter of abortion rights , regardless of the perceived merits of the case. Tough business, but this is where irreconcilable differences have driven a lot of American politics.
I keep it way more simple that your comment. Any intensity of negativity towards a person or group is a signal to me to get my act together. It informs me that I need to take a step back and calm down.
Abby, I’m sorry that you’re stuck with a governor that likes hurting his constituents with dress rehearsals for dealing with disasters without federal help to make a point. Reagan started that with his assertion that the nine worst words are “I’m from the government and I’m here to help”. I was raised with the maxim “God helps those who help themselves” and “I can walk and chew gum at the same time”. Hopefully, eventually, the people who are exposed to relatively unbiased news (HCR, AP, Reuters, PBS) will prevail.
Jeremy Faison deceitfully commented “it was about time” when Biden approved aid. The TN leg worries constantly about “strings” attached to federal help (e.g., education) tho they cannot, when asked, tell anyone what those “strings” are. Lee is obsessed with one thing: vouchers.
A group of us this year started Blue TN (www.bluetennessee.org) to help fund dem opposition in previously unopposed red districts. We have a number of Dems running for the first time in Nov, with our assistance. Join us!
It will help people understand the magnitude of the damage Trump and MAGA Republicans want to do to our country. It is a resource that will enable responsible citizens across the political spectrum to educate themselves and ground their discussions with other voters in what the document actually says.
"People ... in Appalachian Tennessee are suffering greatly, but ... those who need help the most ... two weeks ago wanted to eliminate the federal government because Fox News and OAN and NewsMax told them to. ...[T]hey will no doubt blame the Biden administration for the slow response[.]...[T]he state and local governments will not contradict them.
Tennessee Appall-achians: "We not only want a fascist dictatorship. We want a fascist kakistocracy! And who could be a better leader of a kakistocracy than the kakistocrat without peer, Donald J. Trump! We not only love what he says. We are wild about what he can't do! Which is everything. Except for running his mouth!"
Time to read, or re-read Michael Lewis' "The Fifth Risk."
A guide through the accomplishments of the Trump administration. For those who forget the history of 2017-2021. So long ago, eh?
Abby, I hope you are safe and doing as well as possible considering your circumstances. Do you think the people of TN would replace your Governor after this? I was curious how people took the Governor's speech to fast and pray before the storm hit? Did you all know he'd even said that?
I live in East Tennessee and our Republican Governor refused to declare a state of emergency before the storm. He didn’t do so until last Friday night, after the storm had already wreaked havoc up here in Appalachia. So FEMA is just now arriving and taking over the largely volunteer and wholly inadequate recovery efforts that have been hobbled together over the past week. When asked by a local reporter why he didn’t declare the emergency before the storm like our neighboring states, he replied “You don’t declare a state of emergency when there is no emergency yet.” He literally said that. Presumably he and his administration didn’t know about the impending disaster because they embrace Project 2025 which would eliminate NOAA and its storm-predicting functions because they are too focused on climate change. (You can’t make this stuff up smh). The Biden Administration, to its credit, said earlier this week that it had prepared to help those of us who hadn’t asked anyway, in anticipation of when that inevitable call for help would come. People up here in Appalachian Tennessee are suffering greatly, but I can guarantee that those who need help the most—the majority of them anyway—are the same ones who two weeks ago wanted to eliminate the federal government because Fox News and OAN and NewsMax told them to. And they will no doubt blame the Biden administration for the slow response, and the state and local governments will not contradict them.
Before calling in the emergency, he declared the day of the storm tobe "a voluntary day of prayer and fasting".
I don't get why the two are, apparently, mutually exclusive? Why can't you pray and fast while accepting help graciously from your neighbors? That's all that federal agencies and tax money is, after all - neighborly assistance in need.
Because they actually believe that praying can stop bad things from happening. Stupid is as stupid does.
Like offering prayers over children blown apart by their AR’s
That’s exactly what was going through my mind when I typed this.
They’re afraid the aid might come with “strings,” such as, you know, using it to help everyone, including democrats!
I agree that volunteers have really held everything together here in TN and throughout the affected states. No argument there. They’ve saved lives and donated food and supplies and taken in neighbors and hauled water and so many other things. But they can’t rebuild the roads and everyone’s homes, and shouldn’t be expected to. It’s the job of the government to plan for those things and provide the resources and carry them through.
Indeed you CAN pray and fast, and I did. But before and during the storm I prayed while I took steps to prepare, which is what my prayers led me to do. Also, my prayers revealed to me the need for gratitude for our government.
If you do both, you promote faith and common sense. I think that guy was only aiming for partisanship in a pious mask.
I was wondering the same thing Lynn when I first read it.
Yesterday, I was on about, the lack of logic in the MAGA and white Christian Nationalist world. This is a great example of a logic flaw as you point out.
Seems clear to me....politics above helping those in need in their state.
Where are all the Catholics in this picture?
I can come to no other conclusion after years of reading everything I can in order to understand the underpinnings of this mess we are in....they are all nothing but an organized crime syndicate wearing the costume of religion for cover.
And then the GOP blamed Biden for not getting relief to a red state.
Projection! They’re dirty, so everyone must be
I was thinking this exact thought. I feel for those who are the victims of this horribly selfish way of looking at the world.
He can't go in until he is asked. Dammed if you do, dammed if you don't.
Pretty stupid! Guess prayer didn’t work for Mother Nature. We go back to the saying that god helps those who help themselves. Hmmmm….yeah that works so well.
Love your writing today, Abby.
Both a bit above in a separate comment from you, and here, on your idiot MAGA governor.
Love especially your link to all the MAGA idiots and now their fawning for the even greater stupidity and malice their Project 2025 aims at the U.S. It recalls Heather's in her para 2 today, on America's enslavers who "rejected the self-evident truth in the Declaration of Independence that all men were created equal. Instead, they intended to rule over the nation’s majority, whose labor produced the capital that southern leaders believed only elites should control."
You've got it exactly true, Abby, as to the equal madness and arrogance of today's MAGA followers of their fat orange convicted criminal. And you nab it perhaps best in your parenthetical remark as to how "You can't make this stuff up."
You, Abby, Heather, Liz, Kamala -- so many fine, decent American women in the midst of so many mad males forming today's version of those former elite enslavers.
I gotta say Phil, I really LOVE all your comments tonight! Great work!
Thank you, Jon.
I've put together a collection of concept maps on Project 2025 (with page #s!) to help people understand the magnitude of damage MAGA wants to do.
https://fidlnfree.com/rwb.html
It will help people understand the magnitude of the damage Trump and MAGA Republicans want to do to our country. It is a resource that will enable responsible citizens across the political spectrum to educate themselves and ground their discussions with other voters in what the document actually says.
Please share the web link with everyone in your network and ask them to share with everyone in their network. Here's my post: https://substack.com/home/post/p-149586096?r=11kr2&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web. Thanks!
Double sigh. First, Abby, my condolences and hopes that you and your family (if any) are well. Disaster really sucks (I've been thru a few earthquakes here in California). I do hope at least a few people in Tennessee are paying attention.
They're part of a cult of personality and will die for their leader. We have to write them off until they can be convinced that leader unworthy. Perhaps, when he's finally behind bars.
Or simply die off and wait and see if a younger generation will come to their senses. The old white guys who thought they were kings are the super racist race are dying out.
I remember thinking in the 70’s that same thing about civil rights. “When these old racists die-off, we will have put systemic racism behind us.”It came roaring back. We must be vigilant and elect Kamala Harris, and continue to fight injustice wherever it raises its ugly self.
Death is sometimes the 'only way' for change to move forward. I remember in my reading of the history of science, eg the 19th century, this was almost an adage as prominent scientists refused to part ways with their espoused theories. 'til death do us part'...
Good point Frank. Unfortunately, the Catholic Church has never "died", although several harpoons have damaged it over the years. Translating the Bible into German and English exposed the heresy of many of the priests, bishops, cardinals and even the pope. And Martin Luther and others pointed out the hypocrisy of the church. By allowing his fellow ministers and himself to marry and have children he opened the door for women to move into positions of prominence. It has indeed been a very slow process, and the Catholic Church still stands in the way of women everywhere.
Catholic charities have done many great things to help the poor, but the actions of hundreds of priests have gone unpunished. The church's idea of punishment is to move them to another parish.
The Catholic Hospital that refused treatment of a woman that was hemorrhaging is being sued. May they pay dearly.
It is dangerous to try, convict and sentence any organization in totality. I work at a Catholic institution. I was raised as a Catholic and have been around Catholics my whole life. I am a Buddhist today not in a reaction to Catholicism but as a matter of preference.
As in any organization there exists a whole spectrum of sinners to saints. As thinking people and participants of the "big tent" Democratic Party we risk becoming like those we judge so harshly if we begin to close ranks in self- righteous judgement of others.
I was raised Catholic and still consider myself one. I worked for a bishop who was corrupt and self-serving, along with many dedicated priests. Nevertheless, after seeing the institutional church and my treatment as a professional woman by the bishop and his “leadership,” I’ve walked away.
Well said
Right. I’m in California and work in healthcare. We have a big problem here of large Catholic hospitals buying up hospitals and doing shitty things like what St Joe’s/Providence did in Humboldt county, making a woman drive to a community hospital 20 minutes away while she was hemorrhaging. The Guardian article said a nurse gave the woman a bucket of towels in case something happened. This should be illegal. What it means to me is that Catholic healthcare must be tightly
Monitored and also community hospitals must be robustly supported to expand
Fortunately, it's not always like that. For instance, Dignity Health in San Francisco, which was a large Catholic hospital institution, was recently purchased by UCSF which is a state-run University medical school. So Dignity Health, which continues to be staffed by nuns is now providing services in the same way that UCSF has provided them at its other hospitals. So things can move forward, but it takes time.
Interesting. I did not know that. So much for the inquiring minds theory.
In TN, that generation is led by Justin Jones, Justin J Pearson, Aftyn Behn, Gloria Johnson, et al. (Dems, btw). There are several more running this year and Blue TN is helping them financially. In a state that is 80% rural and districts can be miles and miles long, they have lots of acres to cover.
Abby, the cognitive dissonance is astounding! 🤦🏻♀️
Both fanatics and people of principle resolutely "stand by their guns" or something to that effect
And it is extremely important that we do not become fanatics in our equal intensity but opposite views.
I think some of this is a matter of perspective, with fanatic being used by one party to describe what the other party considers its heroic virtues or principles by which it stands or falls. Terrorism is a similarly laden word, where one calls terrorist what the other calls freedom fighters. I dont think for a moment that a typical pro life evangelical is less sincere than a pro choice supporter of abortion rights , regardless of the perceived merits of the case. Tough business, but this is where irreconcilable differences have driven a lot of American politics.
I keep it way more simple that your comment. Any intensity of negativity towards a person or group is a signal to me to get my act together. It informs me that I need to take a step back and calm down.
Abby, I’m sorry that you’re stuck with a governor that likes hurting his constituents with dress rehearsals for dealing with disasters without federal help to make a point. Reagan started that with his assertion that the nine worst words are “I’m from the government and I’m here to help”. I was raised with the maxim “God helps those who help themselves” and “I can walk and chew gum at the same time”. Hopefully, eventually, the people who are exposed to relatively unbiased news (HCR, AP, Reuters, PBS) will prevail.
https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/presidents-news-conference-23
Jeremy Faison deceitfully commented “it was about time” when Biden approved aid. The TN leg worries constantly about “strings” attached to federal help (e.g., education) tho they cannot, when asked, tell anyone what those “strings” are. Lee is obsessed with one thing: vouchers.
A group of us this year started Blue TN (www.bluetennessee.org) to help fund dem opposition in previously unopposed red districts. We have a number of Dems running for the first time in Nov, with our assistance. Join us!
Thanks for that detail, Abby! Lee was enjoined by the other affected governors, in fact, the opposite.
Wishing you a speedy recovery.
Thank you
Sad but true……I hope that yall get some relief. I’ve lived thru hurricanes and damage here in SW Fla and its sucks
I've put together a collection of concept maps on Project 2025 (with page #s!) to help people understand the magnitude of damage MAGA wants to do.
https://fidlnfree.com/rwb.html
It will help people understand the magnitude of the damage Trump and MAGA Republicans want to do to our country. It is a resource that will enable responsible citizens across the political spectrum to educate themselves and ground their discussions with other voters in what the document actually says.
Please share the web link with everyone in your network and ask them to share with everyone in their network. Here's my post: https://substack.com/home/post/p-149586096?r=11kr2&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web. Thanks!
"People ... in Appalachian Tennessee are suffering greatly, but ... those who need help the most ... two weeks ago wanted to eliminate the federal government because Fox News and OAN and NewsMax told them to. ...[T]hey will no doubt blame the Biden administration for the slow response[.]...[T]he state and local governments will not contradict them.
Tennessee Appall-achians: "We not only want a fascist dictatorship. We want a fascist kakistocracy! And who could be a better leader of a kakistocracy than the kakistocrat without peer, Donald J. Trump! We not only love what he says. We are wild about what he can't do! Which is everything. Except for running his mouth!"
Time to read, or re-read Michael Lewis' "The Fifth Risk."
A guide through the accomplishments of the Trump administration. For those who forget the history of 2017-2021. So long ago, eh?
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1p0uHYsFaffPHNSUIek3yK5n6kUYJmHPx/view?usp=sharing
Abby, I hope you are safe and doing as well as possible considering your circumstances. Do you think the people of TN would replace your Governor after this? I was curious how people took the Governor's speech to fast and pray before the storm hit? Did you all know he'd even said that?
Somehow I'm sure most voters in TN will still vote to re-elect the Governor Bill Lee who is a partisan hack and still blame Democrats though.
Crazy
Propaganda works