Monday Open Thread | Puerto Rico is still in the 19th Century. This Administration’s Response Is Horrifying

Posted on October 16, 2017 by rikyrah

I honestly never thought that I would live through another Katrina.
But, this is so much worse. The problem in Katrina was getting the government’s response there. Once there, we sighed relief.
Not in this case. The incompetence of this response combined with the racism, is KILLING AMERICAN CITIZENS.

NEVER BEFORE
Have I heard a President talk about the cost of a hurricane, AS IF the hurricane were the victim’s fault
Have I heard a President talk about the economic problems of a place that suffered a hurricane.
Have I heard a President say that hurricane VICTIMS – WANT THE GOVERNMENT TO DO EVERYTHING FOR THEM

I just haven’t.

But, we’ve heard ALL of this from the malignant incompetent in the White House now.

 

 
I watch, as Rachel Maddow has a tv crew, traveling up clear roads, to rural towns that have been devastated. And, the first question the journalists are asked is

ARE YOU FROM FEMA?

Maddow does her report, and FEMA gets back to her.
That IT’S NOT THEIR JOB TO GET THE SUPPLIES TO THE TOWN.
THAT’S THE MAYOR’S JOB.

SINCE WHEN IS IT NOT FEMA’S JOB TO GET THE SUPPLIES TO THOSE THAT NEED THE HELP?

Puerto Rico has a population a little larger than the state of Iowa.
You mean to tell me, if Iowa was devastated, and thrust back into the 19th Century, and, if the devastation were in those rural towns, far from Des Moines and Iowa City..

That ANYONE would purse their lips to say that the MAYORS of those rural towns, were responsible for getting to the major cities to get supplies to take them back to their rural towns?

REALLY?
SERIOUSLY?
IN WHAT WORLD?

You want to know what’s going on in Puerto Rico . Here is a tweet story from a journalist on the ground – this came out last Thursday.

David Begnaud‏Verified account @DavidBegnaud

Let me tell you what just happened as we walked into a neighborhood hospital in Canóvanas, Puerto Rico: the lights went out. (1/14)

(2/14) @drcarlosmellado welcomed us … patients sat, mostly silent, in the dark. The pharmacy, near the entrance, is running low on insulin

(3/14) 3 pharmacy techs are using flashlights to fill prescriptions. As we move thru another room, patients are sitting by candle light

(4/14) people smile as we walk by. Younger patients are using light from their iPhone to wave. Dr. Mellado takes us to the X-ray room.

(5/14) the door is locked. He’s explaining that they don’t have the sufficient power (even w/ a generator) or WiFi needed to perform X-rays

(6/14) he wants to show us the generator that @fema provided. We walk thru dark halls out into the back lot of the hospital.

(7/14) 3 men are standing out the generator. One of them is using a hose to pump diesel out of a barrel and into the generator.

(8/14) Dr. Mellado helps to hoist the barrel to get the last bit of diesel into the generator. It spills. His hands, lab coat are soiled

(9/14) He walks always, his head shaking. Another Dr. says the hospitals generator was bypassed by FEMA when it delivered the ‘bigger one’

(10/14) So, now there’s no back up. The generator is full but another doctors says it’ll take 1 hour to start. Dr. Mellado take us to the ER

(11/14) He washes his hands. There’s an annoying alarm. It’s an indicator that medical equipment has lost power. Staff is working diligently

(12/14) Patients are unfazed by our camera. But 2 ask not to be filmed. We thank @drcarlosmellado for his time & ask 4 more questions

(13/14) 1 of them: “what frustrates you the most?” – I “expected more of the federal response,” he said, but “we’re doing what we can.”

(14/14) 22 days post Maria most everyone needs more diesel, as well as food, water, & power. See what we saw, tonight on the @CBSEveningNews

I don’t believe it was an accident. When you have Dolt45 officials CHANGING THE OFFICIAL TOTALS DOWN IN PUERTO RICO, and then deny that they did it…
There are career folks that ARE PATRIOTS and give us the truth:

Pentagon accidentally included reporter in Puerto Rico spin talks
By Joe Concha – 10/13/17 10:07 AM EDT

Officials at the Department of Defense and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) accidentally included a Bloomberg climate reporter on an internal email distribution list that included discussions on how to present Puerto Rico recovery efforts to the media.

Bloomberg’s Christopher Flavelle said he repeatedly alerted officials at the Pentagon to the error but kept receiving emails for five days.

“Those messages, each of which was marked ‘unclassified,’ offer a glimpse into the federal government’s struggle to convince the public that the response effort was going well. That struggle was compounded by the commander-in-chief, and eased only when public attention was pulled to a very different disaster,” writes Flavelle in a Bloomberg story published Friday.

Flavelle goes on to share portions of the emails, which were sent between Sept. 28 and Oct. 2 and mainly focus on President Trump’s war of words with San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz over Hurricane Maria recovery efforts.

“Sept. 29: San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz criticizes Washington’s spin, calling Puerto Rico a ‘people-are-dying story,’ ” reads one passage. “The Government Message: FEMA talking points ignore Cruz, instructing its officials to say that ‘the federal government’s full attention is on Hurricane Maria response.’ ”

Another from Oct. 2 shows concern over “negative tonality” of press coverage regarding the government’s efforts in Puerto Rico.

“Oct. 2: The massacre in Las Vegas dominates the headlines,” a portion of the email reads.

On that date, Bloomberg reports “The Government Message” as, “The shooting ‘has drawn mainstream TV attention away from Puerto Rico response,’ FEMA says. Still, the roundup seems to have lost some of its previous optimism. It concludes, simply: ‘Negative tonality.’ ”

The powerful hurricane hit Puerto Rico three weeks ago and most of the island still remains without power.

Trump’s neglect has created ‘perfect storm of death, disease and decay’ in Puerto Rico
Newsweek
14 Oct 2017 at 16:12 ET

Excerpt:

Misty Richards, a registered nurse from Oregon who volunteered with the teachers union, worries there will be a slow increase in deaths, as people in rural communities lack medicine and nutrition.

Those with the money and resources to leave are able to head to the U.S. mainland, but not everyone is so fortunate. As well-off citizens leave the destruction behind, that leaves fewer people in the community to aid those who have nothing, creating a resource drain, Richards said.

“I wish I could say that I thought it wasn’t a socioeconomic caste system, but it absolutely is,” Richards told Newsweek. “These Puerto Ricans are being treated like they are disposable. It’s been inhumane.”

ANOTHER STORY.

https://twitter.com/DavidBegnaud/status/919218620130930688

When Maria hit PR, the power at Carmelo’s home went. A generator was found. But fumes were making Carmelo sick. So, he was moved (2/9)

Now, understand, that the USS COMFORT is in San Juan.
This massive floating hospital has beds, staff and state of the art equipment for 800 patients.

As of LAST FRIDAY, it had EIGHT PATIENTS.

EIGHT.

DA PHUQ?

AND, DON’T FORGET

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54 Responses to Monday Open Thread | Puerto Rico is still in the 19th Century. This Administration’s Response Is Horrifying

  2. rikyrah says:
    October 16, 2017 at 9:15 pm

    HOW DO YOU FORGET TO COUNT TWO BILLION DOLLARS?

    Trumps Commerce Secretary Left More Than $2 Billion Off Of His Financial Disclosure Report

    Source: uproxx

    Before Wilbur Ross was confirmed by the U.S. Senate with a vote of 72 to 27, the newly appointed commerce secretary told his committee inquirers, “I intend to be quite scrupulous about recusal and any topic where there is the slightest scintilla of doubt.” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) briefly protested the confirmation, telling his colleagues White House’s refusal to release some of Ross’ written answers to the Senate’s questionnaire was troubling. Even so, the matter was altogether forgotten in the ensuing rush of administrative scandals… until Forbes dug a little deeper into the secretary’s hidden finances.

    As it turns out, Ross “[left] more than $2 billion off of his financial disclosure report — and therefore out of the public eye” when he answered the Senate’s questionnaire and filed his paperwork in early 2017. And to make matters worse, the commerce secretary only revealed the existence of the missing assets to Forbes when the magazine asked him why the previously reported numbers didn’t match up with what “he had previously told the magazine he owned”:

    Reply
    • eliihass says:
      October 16, 2017 at 8:54 pm

      It’s the (very) fleeting and strange coalition of crooked, aged adulterous ATMs and their dubious 3rd wives..

      Wilber Ross – 3rd wife

      Steve Mnuchin. – 3rd wife

      Buffoon. – 3rd wife.

      Republicans and their wonderful christian/family values..

      Reply
  9. rikyrah says:
    October 16, 2017 at 8:28 pm

    ‘A Soulless Coward’: Coach Gregg Popovich Responds to Trump
    In an exclusive here at The Nation, the Spurs coach speaks about Trump’s latest outrage.

    Coach Pop called me up after hearing the President’s remarks explaining why he hadn’t mentioned the four US soldiers killed in an ambush in Niger. Trump said, “President Obama and other presidents, most of them didn’t make calls, a lot of them didn’t make calls. I like to call when it’s appropriate, when I think I’m able to do it.”

    Maybe it was bald-faced nature of this lie. Maybe it is Pop’s own history in the military, but the Coach clearly had to vent. He said, “I want to say something and please just let me talk and please make sure this is on the record.”

    Here is what he expressed:

    “I’ve been amazed and disappointed by so much of what this President had said, and his approach to running this country, which seems to be one of just a never ending divisiveness. But his comments today about those who have lost loved ones in times of war and his lies that previous presidents Obama and Bush never contacted their families, is so beyond the pale, I almost don’t have the words.”

    At this point, Coach Pop paused, and I thought for a moment that perhaps he didn’t have the words and the conversation would end. Then he took a breath and said:

    “This man in the Oval Office is a soulless coward who thinks that he can only become large by belittling others. This has of course been a common practice of his, but to do it in this manner–and to lie about how previous Presidents responded to the deaths of soldiers–is as low as it gets. We have a pathological liar in the White House: unfit intellectually, emotionally, and psychologically to hold this office and the whole world knows it, especially those around him every day. The people who work with this President should be ashamed because they know it better than anyone just how unfit he is, and yet they choose to do nothing about it. This is their shame most of all.”

    Then he said, “Bye, Dave.” And that was it. Should be one hell of an NBA season.

    Reply
    • Ametia says:
      October 16, 2017 at 4:21 pm

      McTurtle has his nose so far up #45’s ass, he’s got pieces of his colon stuck in his teeth.

      Pandering to the racists, so he won’t lose his seat.

      Reply
      • eliihass says:
        October 16, 2017 at 9:21 pm

        Correction, he’s one of them..

        Besides, the minute his wife took that Transportation Secretary job, it was clear that they were very much part of the setup..

        And no way they’re giving up any of the perks…he and his wife are determined to keep enjoying every bit of their blood deal..

        Public humiliation be damned, Mitch and Ellen intend to cling on..

        Reply
  28. rikyrah says:
    October 16, 2017 at 12:39 pm

    Famed Chinese dissident: China and Russia are laughing at US under Trump

    Chinese dissident and artist Ai Weiwei said in a new interview that China and Russia are laughing at the U.S. under President Trump.

    https://twitter.com/politico/status/919865528944152576

    Reply
    • eliihass says:
      October 16, 2017 at 10:04 pm

      And terribly obvious too …whenever they showed up on television, we knew exactly who was auditioning and we knew who was singing for their supper… always..

      Reply
  36. rikyrah says:
    October 16, 2017 at 12:14 pm

    A story you may not have heard about:

    WASHINGTON ― A former Republican political candidate in Indiana who authored a right-wing blog was arrested this week for allegedly mailing a pipe bomb and a threatening letter containing a bullet to two of his political opponents. The pipe bomb exploded at a post office, leaving a pregnant postal worker with “cuts, abrasions and bruises to her head, legs, and feet.”

    https://twitter.com/ryanjreilly/status/919961310510702593

    Reply
  42. rikyrah says:
    October 16, 2017 at 2:49 am

    Good Morning, Everyone 😐😐😐

    Reply
    • Ametia says:
      October 16, 2017 at 7:37 am

      Good Morning, Rikyrah.

      It’s absolutely CRIMINAL what’s happening in PR. But then we have fucking criminals in our White House with #45 had the helm. Total INCOMPENTENCE & BIGOTRY

      Reply

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