There is a well of infinite cruelty from which Republicans can never quench their immoral thirst to inflict pain and suffering on others. Take for example Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky. Paul decided to attack his opponent Charles Booker over — wait for it — helping to deliver supplies such as water to flood victims in eastern Kentucky.
Rand Paul knocks Charles Booker for traveling to flood-ravaged Eastern Kentucky
Republicans really suck when it comes to natural disasters. We have known this since George H.W. Bush. But here is what dear Rand Paul has to say about Charles Booker:
Republican Sen. Rand Paul and Charles Booker, his Democratic opponent this fall in Kentucky, traded shots at each other Monday involving each other's response to the deadly flooding that devastated several Appalachian counties last week.
Booker personally delivered a truck full of water and supplies to an emergency shelter at Letcher County Central High School in flood-ravaged Whitesburg on Saturday, with his campaign office in Louisville now full of more supplies that will be delivered soon after his call for supporters to provide donations.
But when asked by a reporter at his Monday press conference in Louisville if he felt like he was doing enough for the flood victims — and the optics of his opponent being there on the ground with his volunteer effort — Paul countered that politicians should stay out of the way.
“I think most people think that the people who should be doing the responding are the professionals," Paul said. "You know, politicians out there having their picture taken probably isn't that useful."
Paul added that what flood victims actually need are "monetary donations, as opposed to goods," saying that much of the goods collected for the Western Kentucky tornado victims in December "still sits in warehouses, and they're still trying to find somebody that could make use of it."
"I just don't like the images of politicians getting in front of a camera out where rescuers are trying to actually dig people out and try to save lives."
Paul said he would eventually visit the area and work with "the governor and the other elected officials to make sure that disaster relief is there for them. But in the immediate aftermath, we really would need to save lives.”
Sorry, I had to include all that for you all to read. My reply to Rand Paul is, “Who’s this ‘we’ white man?” I don’t see you out there saving anything. Which is why Paul gave this cruel and pissy response. He couldn’t be bothered to go to eastern Kentucky.
And I wouldn’t believe anything he says about stockpiles of items from the last disaster either. Paul is fast and loose with his “facts.”
Booker was way too classy in his response to Paul:
"He's talking like someone who hasn't been on the ground, because if he saw what I saw, he'd know that everyone's help is needed," Booker said. "If he actually listened to the people on the ground, he’d know they are asking for supplies to help with cleanup, hot meals, and debris removal. They're asking for help finding loved ones."
Since delivering a truck full of supplies to the emergency shelter in Whitesburg on Saturday, Booker says his campaign office "has received an overwhelming amount of donations and supplies for the impacted areas. We will be working with organizers on the ground to make sure they are distributed to those in need."
What gets me about all of this is that Booker is a real, compassionate human being. And Paul is selfishness and cruelty all rolled into one. In a world with any decency and justice, Booker should defeat Paul this year.
Tragically, we live in a world where my fellow Kentuckians will see a black man helping out during a disaster, and they will give him the middle finger come November. They will embrace the selfish, callous, and cruel white man for office because he is a white man. And it doesn’t matter that the pain, suffering, and cruelty is falling upon white people in Kentucky.
I will still send what little money I can spare to Booker’s campaign, and I will hope that voters in other states will send more Democrats to the U.S. Senate. Booker gives me hope in humanity, but white Kentuckians depress the living shit out of me.
Donate to Charles Booker.