Here we go—again. Every time Donald Trump’s administration is pressed to explain why it is that the majority of Puerto Ricans are still without power 43 days after Hurricane Maria, they say the same thing—“it’s really, really hard.” While managing an emergency of this magnitude is indeed difficult, especially given the circumstances, this mantra should never be the default of the government of the self-proclaimed greatest country in the history of the world.
On one hand, it shouldn’t be surprising. Trump’s cabinet is filled with idiots and dangerous white supremacists who know absolutely nothing about governing. On the other hand, you’d think the ones who do have some political experience (even if they are incredibly dim-witted) would know enough not to say flat out “we don’t know how to do this job.” Enter Rick Perry—Trump’s highly unqualified Secretary of Energy. Perry thinks the administration’s efforts in Puerto Rico are going fine, all things considered.
“Puerto Rico is very, very different from any other natural disaster that I’ve seen in my 30 years of public service. Partly because it was an island,” Perry said at an event hosted by Axios.
“Their electrical system was bankrupt about seven, eight months before,” he said of the state-owned Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA).
Notice Perry using the same ridiculous talking points as his boss. “Puerto Rico is hard to get to because it’s an island … surrounded by water. Ocean water.” Followed by: “And they were broke to begin with, so basically it’s all their fault.”
Our government is being run by men who have the same level of analysis as toddlers in daycare.
“So, were we slow getting [electricity] back? Yes, I would suggest to you we were slow getting it back, if you use Florida and Texas as your model. Puerto Rico’s not Florida and Texas, for a lot of reasons.”
As of Thursday, 62.1 percent of Puerto Rico’s electricity customers don’t have power, 43 days after Maria hit, according to PREPA.
Slow isn’t exactly the right word, Rick. But what’s worse is that there are policies in place that are actually hindering Puerto Rico’s recovery. Even if this administration and government bureaucracy would allow for the progress necessary to save lives, it would only do but so much. The federal government is only permitted to bring Puerto Rico up to speed to a particular point. And in this case, that’s not good at all.
But the federal government’s role is limited, since the Stafford Act, which governs disaster recovery, only allows for government assistance to bring the area back to the state it was in before the storm, and the island’s electric grid was already in poor shape.
The recovery in Puerto Rico is literally a disaster all of its own, with one ridiculous thing leading to another. Excuse after excuse, bad policies, and a terrible colonial relationship between the United States and Puerto Rico, which after almost 120 years, has left the island bankrupt. Of course, Trump and friends want to keep bringing up the fact that the infrastructure in Puerto Rico was a mess prior to Maria and that the economy was in shambles. But no one wants to talk about how it got that way. At this point though, pointing fingers and assigning blame isn’t feeding Puerto Ricans who are running out of food and clean water to drink, nor is it addressing all the truly dire situations on the island. While the Trump administration can victim blame and pick on mayors on the island, they can’t seem to get things right because “it’s really just too hard.” Perhaps if it’s too hard, they should resign and let someone else take over. After all, this is the job they signed up for, even if the American people didn’t actually elect them.