The meme above showed up in my social media feed the other day, in anticipation of what Hurricane Ian was going to do to Florida. Yesterday Governor Ron DeSantis was getting some front-page attention on The NY Times electronic edition with an article noting:
The Florida governor, who as a congressman opposed aid to victims of Hurricane Sandy, is seeking relief from the Biden administration as Hurricane Ian ravages his own state.
As a freshman congressman in 2013, Ron DeSantis was unambiguous: A federal bailout for the New York region after Hurricane Sandy was an irresponsible boondoggle, a symbol of the “put it on the credit card mentality” he had come to Washington to oppose.
“I sympathize with the victims,” he said. But his answer was no.
Nearly a decade later, as his state confronts the devastation and costly destruction wrought by Hurricane Ian, Mr. DeSantis is appealing to the nation’s better angels — and betting on its short memory.
“As you say, Tucker, we live in a very politicized time,” Mr. DeSantis, now Florida’s governor, told Tucker Carlson on Wednesday night, outlining his request for full federal reimbursement up front for 60 days and urging the Biden administration to do the right thing. “But you know, when people are fighting for their lives, when their whole livelihood is at stake, when they’ve lost everything — if you can’t put politics aside for that, then you’re just not going to be able to.”
emphasis added
Shamelessness is their superpower. Reality is their Kryptonite.
President Biden has not gone out of his way to score any political points with Ian — as the former guy would have done if the tables were turned.
The president and the governor have each made a point of saying publicly that they and their teams are in touch. “He complimented me. He thanked me for the immediate response we had,” Mr. Biden said on Thursday, suggesting that any political conflicts with Mr. DeSantis were irrelevant in these times. “This is about saving people’s lives, homes and businesses.” (In February, Mr. DeSantis baselessly said Mr. Biden “stiffs” storm victims for political reasons, insisting that the president “hates Florida.”)
emphasis added
Actually, political conflicts are f*cking well relevant in these times.
If Ian has wreaked record havoc across Florida, it’s due in part to the impact of global warming — something Republicans like Governor DeSantis deny and have obstructed efforts to address for years. Rick Scott, the Florida Senator proposing to sunset Social Security and Medicare, as former Florida Governor banned state employees from using the words global warming and climate change. It's a wonder Tucker Carlson hasn't yet accused Biden of using chemtrails to steer Ian at Florida.
Not that long ago, Republicans in North Carolina passed a law that blocked the state from acknowledging sea level rise in planning. Then Governor Bev Purdue, a Democrat, chose not to veto the law. Would the state be better prepared today for Hurricane Ian if she had?
If Governor DeSantis is grateful NOW for Federal help, it’s in strong contrast to the usual Republican attitudes towards the Federal government (when they don’t control it). Ask people still waiting for Republican states to accept Federal money for Medicaid expansion.
Republican worship of ‘free markets’ will do nothing to help Florida rebuild — except in a way that would make the highest profits for the people with the leverage to exploit the disaster. The politics of recovery are going to be a strong temptation for Disaster Capitalism — the strategy to push through changes that benefit the few at the expense of the many during a time of chaos. (As in New Orleans after Katrina.)
As Florida rebuilds, who is going to get they help they need? That’s inherently political. Aid can be used or misused with long term effects on who has power and who doesn’t. Just ask Mississippi and Bret Favre.
If the recovery process in Florida does not go smoothly, what will the presence of so many people with guns who strongly believe in their right to use them do if unrest breaks out and frustrations rise? How will DeSantis be able to handle mobs of people Republicans have been arming and making angry for years?
One of the lessons of Hurricane Andrew was to require stricter building standards for homes in Florida. Ian is going to force a reassessment. (And what would have happened if it had hit the High Rises of Miami Beach?)
What will rebuilding look like — will there be any long-term strategy to rebuild for the climate crisis with adaptation and resilience? For economic justice? For sustainability?
There is a presentation on using Landscape Architecture that would be an invaluable blueprint for rebuilding: Robert Colón on Solutionary Rail and Harmonizing Urban & Rural Landscapes in Florida. How likely is it that Free Enterprise/Anti-Regulation Republican ideologues would support it, let alone be able to execute something like it?
There is a partisan divide in America today, one that puts Republicans on one side against the rest of America. One side is exclusionary to the point of racism. One is anti-democratic to the point of Fascism. One is anti-science to the point of irrationality. And if you don’t know which side that is, well...
The destruction in Florida is a tragedy, one that is going to be repeated again and again as the Climate Crisis progresses. (Which it already is - remember Puerto Rico and Fiona? Maria?) We risk disaster fatigue as we are overwhelmed by new climate events if we don’t establish what a response should look like.
Now is the time for what is effectively Disaster Socialism. (Interesting discussion from Australia on what that might be and how it would work.) We can use the disruption caused by Hurricane Ian to Build Back Better — not just infrastructure, but also the social, economic, legal, and political fabric that Republicans have been corroding away out from under us. People resist change — but a crisis can force it.
For example — flood zone maps are way out of date across the U.S. because weather events are seeing record rainfall events. DeSantis has already referred to Florida as having been hit with a 500 year flood. Federal aid should be aimed at helping people relocate out of flood-prone areas and adapting infrastructure to be more flood resistant. That is something that can be done through FEMA.
With thousands of buildings damaged and power lines down, now is the time to make solar panels part of rebuilding — including changes in local building codes and how utilities must incorporate them into a more resilient grid. (Give DeSantis credit for vetoing the bill that would have been a gift to utilities and hurt solar efforts.)
America has done it before — that’s what the New Deal was after all. Republicans are still working on rolling it back. It’s why they have worked so hard to kill the Green New Deal — which increasingly looks like a necessary road map to survival AND could be a net gain rather than an expense if we get serious about it. Recovery in Florida can become a template for responding to the inevitable climate events to come.
Political parties offer choices to people on how they would use government to shape their world; which choices get made end up being political. There is no way to avoid it. Complaints from the Right that Biden and Democrats will be politicizing disaster recovery in Florida to carry out a partisan agenda are inevitable — and pointless malarkey.
This is a huge opportunity to push back against the Republican war on government. People need to see and know that government isn't the problem — government is the answer to dealing with problems that transcend party and politics. In the age of climate disasters, the era of big government is coming back — because the challenges are only going to get bigger.
Republicans have nothing to offer that works. (How soon before DeSantis starts talking about permanent tax cuts as part of disaster recovery?) Democrats do — and had damn well better not be ashamed to insist on it. This is a job for Dark Brandon.
Friday, Sep 30, 2022 · 2:00:05 PM +00:00 · xaxnar
UPDATE: Just a thought in response to several comments. What if we openly start referring to disaster relief efforts in Florida and the Carolinas as Socialism — government coming in and actually doing stuff to make people’s lives better because nothing else is going to get the job done?
Not blind reliance on tax cuts, deregulation, and market forces — government action that provides a framework to systematically address problems and use whatever tools are needed to address them. (Including those three where appropriate.)
Republicans love to tell horror stories about Socialism — so what do they do when we start using the “S” word with things people can see are actually making a difference in their lives? How do they deal with that? It’s why they refuse to take money to expand Medicaid.
We really need to think about how to frame this, or else Republicans will do it for us, and it won’t be good. If we can make Dark Brandon a thing, maybe we can do the same with Socialism. Just off the top of my head, try this.
“Now some people may call giving people free stuff Socialism and say we can’t afford it. I say government coming in to help people in real trouble for no fault of their own is government doing exactly what it is supposed to do.
If simply helping people get back on their feet when disaster strikes so they can take control of their lives again is being called Socialism by some people, well it's what America needs no matter what we call it. We are all in this together, and it’s that kind of effort that truly makes America great.”
Friday, Sep 30, 2022 · 9:19:07 PM +00:00 · xaxnar
UPDATE: Leave it to Charlie Pierce to bring the good stuff.
Things were a bit different back in July. From Orlando Weekly:
Continuing to target what he calls “woke” corporations, Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to prohibit state investments that use “environmental, social and governance” ratings, which can include taking into account impacts of climate change.
DeSantis plans to have the State Board of Administration, which oversees investments, direct pension-fund managers against “using political factors when investing the state's money.” So-called ESG policies have drawn criticism from Republicans across the country. “We want them (fund managers) to invest the state's money for the best interests of the beneficiaries of those funds, which is, again, the people that are retired cops and teachers and other public employees,” DeSantis said Wednesday during an appearance at Harpoon Harry's Crab House in Tampa.
Things were a bit different last year. From the Orlando Sentinel:
As reported by Laura Cassels in the Florida Phoenix, DeSantis — while speaking in Pinellas County on Dec. 7 — referred to climate change as “left-wing stuff” and neglected to even use the word, “climate change.” He said, “What I’ve found is, people when they start talking about things like global warming, they typically use that as a pretext to do a bunch of left-wing things that they would want to do anyways. We are not doing any left-wing stuff.”
That’s not “left-wing stuff” in the streets of Tampa, and Naples, and what used to be the streets on Sanibel Island. It’s the damn Gulf of Mexico. For a tinhorn politician with lofty plans for the future, DeSantis has been handed some actual governor-ing to do, now and for at least the next year, right up into the festivities in Iowa and New Hampshire. He has to admit by deed, if not by word, that he needs help from the big, bad Washington government headed by President Joe "Open Borders" Biden. He has to answer questions about why, when he was merely a Tea Party nuisance in Congress, he voted against similar relief for the victims of Superstorm Sandy. He has to confront the fact that it cost the state $12 million for his little stunt with the asylum seekers, which is $12 million it doesn’t have now to help the citizens on his state’s west coast.