Trump’s behavior toward
Puerto Rico “fails even the most basic test of humanity”
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| Trump: These people want us to do everything for them. |
Excuse me, Mr.
President but your Saturday morning tantrum tweet storm this morning attacking
the mayor of San Juan, a fellow American citizen dealing with a real-time life
and death struggle for hundreds of thousands of her constituents on an island
of millions in crisis, is not only far below the dignity of the office you
hold. It fails even the most basic test of humanity.
Did she have harsh
words for your Administration's response to the aftermath of Hurricane Maria?
Yes.
It's called a reality
check, and one that conforms to every firsthand account coming out of Puerto
Rico no matter how much you try to deflect with your "Fake News"
epithets.
To take this
personally is to put ego before country.
And you also blame the
Puerto Ricans themselves? That they want "everything done for them"?
No. They just expect to be treated as any other American would.
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| Meanwhile, taxpayers paid $330,000 for Eric Trump's ski trip to Aspen. |
I have seen more than
my share of wretched desperation over the course of my career.
I have reported from
crisis zones where matters of life and death hang moment to moment in the
balance between action and inaction, where communication is limited, and the
sense of panic is building.
I have seen the most
steadfast of leaders feel the crushing weight of responsibility as they survey
a landscape of almost incomprehensible need.
It does not take a
saintly amount of compassion or empathy to feel for those who are struggling to
stay alive, who are worried for the fate of family and friends, and who have
seen so much that they have known and loved blown and washed away.
You swore to
"faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States" and
that means a responsibility to look out for all Americans, even if they live on
an island in the ocean, or look different or even speak a different language
than what you think is America.
I worry that whoever
has your ear has not adequately impressed upon you the gravity of this
situation, or even the political price you are likely to pay (although that can
be nowhere near the top concern at the moment).
Or perhaps you have
been told and haven't listened.
Regardless, what
Puerto Rico needs now is not rhetoric but help, not a bumbling response, but
the precision and competence we expect of our government.
I do not believe
"blame the victim" is what Americans expect of their president.