Go to this diary by FishOutofWater to follow the major tornado outbreak happening right now across the Midwest.
I'm not mad, or seething, or any of those snappy adjective that folks, including myself, frequently overuse. No, I'm disappointed. Disappointed that on a liberal website I see people advocating we willfully withhold aid from our fellow Americans because of the politics of where they live. Disappointed that my fellow human beings are advocating that we withhold aid from other human beings in spite.
That isn't who we are, and especially as liberals/progressives, this kind of thinking cannot stand.
I've never written a response to a diary before, but I've never been this disappointed in a diary before. A user posted a diary this afternoon advocating for those states affected by the tornadoes this past weekend not receive any Federal aid because of what their governors say. States like Texas (with Gov. Perry), Mississippi (with Gov. Barbour), Alabama (with Gov. Bentley), and Virginia (with Gov. McDonnell) were hammered this past weekend by an historic tornado outbreak that will go down in the record books as one of the worst outbreaks since we began using advanced tornado detecting technology in the 1970s.
I don't care if Rick Perry wants to secede from the United States. I don't care that Robert Bentley signed some 10th amendment pledge or whatever. I don't care that Bob McDonnell hates everybody. I don't care. All I care about is the safety and well-being of my fellow man. That's why I do these tornado diaries. That's why I post 20 Facebook status updates in 10 hours about tornadoes around my area. That's why I track this stuff incessantly. It's not only because I like the weather, but it's also because I care.
I made a comment along these lines in that diary, and the responses were even more disappointing: "use it as a teaching moment," "they can't have it both ways," and so on.
I care when someone in Oklahoma loses their home. I care when everything -- belongings, lives, homes, cars...everything -- gets wiped away. I care about people. I don't care about their politics when they're in need. To use natural disaster to "teach people a lesson" or to "make a political point" is nonsense. Some conservatives do this, yes, but that doesn't mean we need to as well. Liberals and progressives care about humans. We don't stoop to the level of spiting people for where they live or for whom they voted. That's not the liberal way. That's not the human way.
There are people in need. Put aside your politics for 10 minutes to help them. Do unto others as you want done unto you isn't a religious thing or just a saying old women use, it's true. You'd scream and holler if someone spited you over your politics, and hell, it might have already happened to you. Don't pay someone back for it. Set an example, do the right thing.
American Red Cross
Salvation Army
Another way to show you care about your friends and loved ones is to buy them a weather radio. Each home should have a smoke detector, fire extinguisher, and weather radio.