Plan B Forum

Editorial: California burns: Where’s the president?

Chronicle Editorial Board Updated 5:16 am, Sunday, October 15, 2017


President Trump has tweeted on many issues this week — but not a single one about the deadly California fires.

As raging wildfires devour the lives, homes and dreams of Californians in an unprecedented scale, one voice has been conspicuously mute through day after day of crisis: President Trump.

This is not a man who is reticent to let Americans know what is foremost on his mind. He is also someone who should have learned by now — after devastating hurricanes and the Las Vegas massacre — that Americans expect their president to step forward with empathy and resolve in moments of national trauma.

Yet Trump has offered no more than a few perfunctory words about the Wine Country fires that have left at least 40 dead, consumed thousands of structures and stretched the physical and mental mettle of the dedicated firefighters and medical professionals to the edge of exhaustion.

On Tuesday, before welcoming the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins, Trump said he had spoken with Gov. Jerry Brown and that the federal government would stand with the “people of California and be there with you in this time of terrible tragedy and need.”

That’s it? No talk of visiting California? No expressions of appreciation for the first responders? No condolences for those who lost their lives, or the many more who lost their homes? No recognition or pledges of federal support for the monumental task of rebuilding the neighborhoods and business that were devoured in the fire?

Then again, how much is a Trump pledge worth, anyway? His typically rapid-fire succession of tweets this week included some that seemed to blame Puerto Rico for its post-hurricane financial crisis and a warning that “We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!”

This is a president who views tweets as his primary means of connecting with the people, without the media filter he loathes. Dare we suggest that forcing NFL players to stand for the national anthem — to name one of his recent obsessions — is not a life-and-death situation. The fires are.
And how many times has Trump tweeted about the fires since they were whipped by winds into life-threatening force early Monday: zero.

So how can it be that the loss of 40 human beings on American soil did not merit a single tweet? The most forgiving interpretation would be that Trump, along with the cable networks that seem to attract his laser focus and have not made this a huge story, have a case of disaster fatigue.

Perhaps the problem is that he hasn’t been blasted for his underwhelming response:

There is no surer way to provoke him to his phone. The most cynical speculation would be that he could not care less about a state that despises him like no other.

Devastated California awaits your leadership, Mr. President. Tweet up, if you care.

This commentary is from The Chronicle’s editorial board. We invite you to express your views in a letter to the editor. Please submit your letter via our online form:

none of the firefighting activities require presidential action.

Lord Jim wrote:So far, despite several dozen deaths, (a toll, given the fact that over 200 are missing is certain to rise) and over 3000 structures destroyed, The Dear Leader has only managed one short perfunctory statement...

Lord Jim wrote:

none of the firefighting activities require presidential action.

None of the police work in the wake of the Las Vegas massacre required Presidential action either, Darren...

As head-of-state, a President has an obligation to act as "consoler-in-chief" when large scale tragedies befall American communities, regardless of the nature of tragedy, and regardless of what direct responsibilities related to it that they have or don't have... (As Trump did appropriately after the Las Vegas shootings.)

So far, despite several dozen deaths, (a toll, given the fact that over 200 are missing is certain to rise) and over 3000 structures destroyed, The Dear Leader has only managed one short perfunctory statement...

By contrast, whether NFL players are allowed by the league to kneel during the national anthem certainly requires no "Presidential action", but he's found the time to be a non-stop chatterbox on that topic...

Burning Petard wrote:This morning POTUS just tweeted about Hillary 'lock 'er up' Clinton. This morning POTUS will have his cabinet meeting for the first time in a while with all present. But the important thing is that woman who lost the election a year ago.

Darren, I refer you to Trump's business record you cited. The fires in California have no impact on Trump. Those people did not vote for him.

snailgate.

Burning Petard wrote:Yes, it is all those foolish paparazzi in the mainstream media forcing our wise POTUS to make all those tweets.

later edit--addition from the newsroom of Gov. Brown:

10-14-2017

SACRAMENTO - Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced that the White House has approved California's request for direct aid to individuals and families in Butte, Lake, Mendocino and Yuba counties who have suffered losses due to the fires. The Governor yesterday announced the same assistance for residents of Napa and Sonoma counties.

Survivors who primarily reside in these six counties can apply online for federal Individual Disaster Assistance at http://www.DisasterAssistance.gov or by phone at 800-621-3362 or (TTY) 800-462-7585. Applicants who use 711 or Video Relay Service may call 800-621-3362. The toll-free numbers are open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week.

More information on the federal Individual Disaster Assistance program is available here. In addition to the individual assistance for families, California has also secured public assistance for the counties of Butte, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Nevada, Orange, Solano, Sonoma and Yuba to help those jurisdictions remove debris and take other emergency protective measures.

snailgate

I've always marveled at the hypocrisy of politicians that "announce" Look at me!

LordJim wrote:

Thank God we finally have a President who would never dream of trying to claim credit for something he didn't deserve, or exaggerate (or make up) his accomplishments, or boorishly run about tooting his own horn...

A more modest and self-effacing man you couldn't hope to meet...

Inside the 'adult day-care centre': How aides try to control and coerce Trump

Some Trump aides spend a significant part of their time devising ways to rein in and control the impetuous president, angling to avoid outbursts that might work against him, according to interviews with 18 aides, confidants and outside advisers, most of whom insisted on anonymity to speak candidly.

"If you visit the White House today, you see aides running around with red faces, shuffling paper and trying to keep up with this president," said one Republican in frequent contact with the administration. "That's what the scene is."


http://www.canberratimes.com.au/world/i ... z25hu.html

Gob wrote:

Inside the 'adult day-care centre': How aides try to control and coerce Trump

Some Trump aides spend a significant part of their time devising ways to rein in and control the impetuous president, angling to avoid outbursts that might work against him, according to interviews with 18 aides, confidants and outside advisers, most of whom insisted on anonymity to speak candidly.

"If you visit the White House today, you see aides running around with red faces, shuffling paper and trying to keep up with this president," said one Republican in frequent contact with the administration. "That's what the scene is."


http://www.canberratimes.com.au/world/i ... z25hu.html

Iran's Ayatollah says Trump is "foul-mouthed" and "pretends to be an idiot."

ex-khobar Andy wrote:A CNN headline this morning:

Iran's Ayatollah says Trump is "foul-mouthed" and "pretends to be an idiot."

To quote Meat Loaf, one out of two ain't bad.