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As a Louisiana resident I recall how so many liberals and Democrats mocked us and Texas during Hurricane Harvey saying why we would live on the Gulf coast, etc and that Houston shoudln't be rebuilt, and that New Orleans shouldn't have been rebuilt after Katrina (even though New Orleans and Houston are actually Blue cities located in Red states. NOLA in fact is a very liberal island). The liberal elites also have said the same about the Midwest after tornadoes.
So what about the liberals and why do they live in California where there are wildfires almost every year, and expect the rest of us to bail them out? And their recreational marijuana crops too? Or do they believe that even though there have always been wildfires in California, the ones now are due to global warming? No doubt FEMA will give the liberal elites all the money they need while they did almost nothing to help Louisiana after last year's floods and are acting very incompetnetly now in Texas.
I don't recall any liberals saying that NOLA shouldn't be rebuilt any of the things you are saying. I think you are focusing too much on politics in this one.
There were a$$holes who said those things. We don't know their political backgrounds for the most part. You should stop trying to insert politics in the opinions of people who are just plain old a$$holes.
It is astonishing how hateful and mean spirited the right has become in this country. They seem to hate everyone who is not them.
Part of the problem is that they project all of their hateful feelings on their opponents and create a fantastical liberal boogieman that doesn't actually exist (in any sort of meaningful numbers). They take a hand full of obnoxious Berkeley students and antifa nutjobs and use them to paint the entire American left as a straw man so they can justify hating all of us.
Huh??? I never heard anyone, of any political stripe, talking negatively about Harvey or Katrina victims. And if it's true, don't become what you hate, dude. If someone does something despicable, no need to do the exact same thing to them.
As a liberal, I respect the right of everyone to live where they can afford. As a scientist I also see that some places are far riskier than others. The East and Gulf Coasts are subject to fierce ocean storms. The Mississippi and its tributaries are subject to rare but devastating floods. The Great Plains get hammered by tornados and similar wind storms as well as grass fires. The West Coast is plagued with everything from earthquakes and drought to volcanoes and wildfires. Everywhere in the country is exposed to some environmental disaster or another.
I have no objection to anyone living there. What I do object to is having to subsidize their disaster insurance. If I live in any of those places I would expect to have to buy insurance so my mortgage bank will not loose any money in a disaster. Maybe the bank should insure its own loans?
On the other hand maybe it makes sense to have, like an ideal health care system, a uniform Federal disaster insurance like the Federal Flood Insurance program. AFAIK it charges rates in line with the risk. People in flood prone valleys pay more then homes on hilltops. Homes on offshore sandbars pay more as well.
I've never heard of liberals mocking Harvey or Katrina victims.
I think the OP heard one person mock Harvey or Katrina and automatically assumed it was liberal. Then by his/her logic all liberals mocked Harvey and Katrina.
As a Louisiana resident I recall how so many liberals and Democrats mocked us and Texas during Hurricane Harvey saying why we would live on the Gulf coast, etc and that Houston shoudln't be rebuilt, and that New Orleans shouldn't have been rebuilt after Katrina (even though New Orleans and Houston are actually Blue cities located in Red states. NOLA in fact is a very liberal island). The liberal elites also have said the same about the Midwest after tornadoes.
So what about the liberals and why do they live in California where there are wildfires almost every year, and expect the rest of us to bail them out? And their recreational marijuana crops too? Or do they believe that even though there have always been wildfires in California, the ones now are due to global warming? No doubt FEMA will give the liberal elites all the money they need while they did almost nothing to help Louisiana after last year's floods and are acting very incompetnetly now in Texas.
I live on the Gulf Coast where Harvey wreaked havoc. I'm very liberal and I only recall a couple of liberal idiots saying the things you accuse "so many liberals and Democrats" of. Most of the country showed kindness and compassion without identifying their political beliefs.
And I've heard only a few conservative idiots saying Californians deserved the fires, or whatever. Again, most people are compassionate and wouldn't wish that type of destruction on anyone.
It's not helpful to anyone to assign responsibility for stupid, hateful remarks by a few to huge populations of people.
You are not looking that the fine detail. And are ignoring the words that I wrote. I wrote, very specifically: "The rural areas, such as where these fires are hiting, are more conservative and Republican than the cities."
They are. Trump got twice the amount of % of votes in Sonoma county than he did in SF. He didn't come close to winning at the county level, but it is clear as day that there are MORE Republican voters there than in SF.
The majority of the voters live in the cities/towns, and when you leave these areas and look at the rural areas of these counties (where the fires are hitting very directly), you find that the voting changes dramatically. This is not a major surprise (rural areas have generally always been more conservative/Republican).
As well, there are many fires burning in other areas of the state, and many are in Republican-majority areas. Do people realize that when they wish "ill on the dirty libs" they many not actually be wishing ill on "libs"?
Are you trying to say that Sonoma County voted less for the Democratic nominee than one of the most D-leaning counties in the US? Yeah--Sonoma and every other county. There are more Republican voters in San Francisco county than Sonoma County due to population differences.
Santa Rosa is the largest city in Sonoma County. It leans very Democratic. The Tubbs fire hit Santa Rosa. Fires don't discriminate by political ideology, but the biggest and most destructive fires are in D-leaning areas. Zoom out your map a little and you'll see that the region is very Democratic, including the rural areas. I've spent a lot of time in rural Sonoma and Napa counties--and in Santa Rosa.
The Napa and Sonoma fires have been the largest and most destructive. The Mendocino & Humboldt fires follow (also very Democratic counties). Solano County is also affected by the Atlas Fire (very Democratic). Additional large fires are in Yuba & Butte counties (both Republican), with smaller fires in Santa Cruz & Nevada counties (both Democratic).
Why is it important for you that Trump voters be affected for the disaster to matter? Thousands have lost their homes, dozens have died, and over 100,000 have had to evacuate. These are human beings.
Are you trying to say that Sonoma County voted less for the Democratic nominee than one of the most D-leaning counties in the US? Yeah--Sonoma and every other county. There are more Republican voters in San Francisco county than Sonoma County due to population differences.
Santa Rosa is the largest city in Sonoma County. It leans very Democratic. The Tubbs fire hit Santa Rosa. Fires don't discriminate by political ideology, but the biggest and most destructive fires are in D-leaning areas. Zoom out your map a little and you'll see that the region is very Democratic, including the rural areas. I've spent a lot of time in rural Sonoma and Napa counties--and in Santa Rosa.
The Napa and Sonoma fires have been the largest and most destructive. The Mendocino & Humboldt fires follow (also very Democratic counties). Solano County is also affected by the Atlas Fire (very Democratic). Additional large fires are in Yuba & Butte counties (both Republican), with smaller fires in Santa Cruz & Nevada counties (both Democratic).
Why is it important for you that Trump voters be affected for the disaster to matter? Thousands have lost their homes, dozens have died, and over 100,000 have had to evacuate. These are human beings.
You are not telling me anything I do not already know. I've been directly affected by the fires here - and the smoke in the air is a constant reminder of what is happening north of me.
And it is not "important" to me who is being affected. I think it is terrible regardless of who it is affecting. You are quite correct in that these fires have not discriminated - they have targeted rich, poor, middle class, Democrat, Republican, and anything in between. Everyone deserves and should be getting all of the help that they need in this horrible event. I would never claim anyone should/should not receive help based on their political background (terrible!) - and that is a very important point.
If you want context for this general point, it is rooted in the narrative that these fires are somehow "targeting" liberals, and that they (liberals) "deserve" it. This narrative has been spewed multiple times here. If people REALLY want to think about it that way (which is a terrible way to think about it, of course!), they should at least know that CA is not a monolith. We have all types of people in this state. And the people they "wish ill" on may not even be the people they are thinking of (no, the entire state is not Hollywood or SF).
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