snip
...
The federal response to Hurricane Helene has drawn bipartisan praise, with Republican governor Henry McMaster of South Carolina thanking Biden by name for what McMaster called a “superb” response.
But on Sunday, September 29, two days after the hurricane hit, the right-wing organization started by anti-immigrant Trump loyalist Stephen Miller posted: “Billions for Ukraine. Billions for illegal aliens. And what for the Americans? Reprogram every single dollar that FEMA has dedicated to support illegal aliens to go towards Americans who are facing unprecedented devastation!”
Yesterday, in Saginaw, Michigan, Trump echoed Miller, claiming that the Biden administration is botching the hurricane response because it has spent all the money appropriated for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on “illegal immigrants.” “They spent it all on illegal migrants.… They stole the FEMA money just like they stole it from a bank, so they could give it to their illegal immigrants that they want to have vote for them,” he said. Today, he claimed that “a billion dollars was stolen from FEMA to use it for illegal migrants, many of whom are criminals, to come into our country.”
Early this morning, X owner Elon Musk posted to his more than 200 million followers: “Yes, they are literally using YOUR tax dollars to import voters and disenfranchise you! It is happening right in front of your eyes. And FEMA used up its budget ferrying illegals into the country instead of saving American lives. Treason.” On Wednesday, Dana Mattioli, Joe Palazzolo, and Khadeeja Safdar of the Wall Street Journal broke the story that Musk has been financing groups with ties to Miller since 2022.
But of course, it is NOT happening in front of anyone’s eyes.
On Wednesday, Alejandro Mayorkas, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security in which FEMA is housed, told reporters that FEMA’s disaster relief fund is adequately funded for current needs. But, he warned, “extreme weather events are increasing in frequency and severity,” and we are not yet out of hurricane season. If another emergency hits, FEMA’s disaster relief fund will be stretched thin.
...
And human rights lawyer Qasim Rashid on the feuding issue - the House Republicans refused to adequately fund FEMA. Many of the MAGA Republicans in the hurricane impacted states voted for FEMA funding.
snip
...
Well, anyone condemning FEMA for running out of funds this Hurricane season should know three things:
This has happened now two years in a row. FEMA ran low on funds in 2023 and now again in 2024.
As any basic civics lesson should teach you, the House controls the purse strings. Therefore, whatever budget FEMA has, is due to the GOP led House—which ultimately controls FEMA budgeting. Therefore, FEMA being short on funds is a result of House Republicans refusing to adequately fund FEMA. This could be because MAGAs don't understand how finances work, or because they don’t believe in climate change, or likely a combination of both. Either way, Republicans seem to always find money for tax cuts for billionaires, private school vouchers for the wealthy, and subsidies for Big Oil and Big Pharma. But apparently funding disaster management during a climate crisis is just too difficult.
The reason why Mayorkas doesn’t mention the funds spent on migrants is because $640M is only 2.1% of FEMA's nearly $30B budget. Imagine believing that FEMA is out of money because 2% was spent on migrants—and not because the House GOP which controls the purse strings did not properly fund FEMA now two years in a row.
...
digging deeper into christian nationalism
It goes much deeper than what's seen on the surface
snip
...
If we are to diminish this movement’s forever-war on democracy, it is important to know something about its organization, psychology, and the ways in which it mobilizes millions.
What exactly is Christian nationalism? As a preliminary, let me say that I am referring to a political phenomenon, more specifically a political movement, and not just to an ideology or to a religion – because the movement contains a multitude of denominations and doctrines, not all of them mutually consistent. While the movement has changed significantly from the old days of the religious right and the Moral Majority, our understanding has not always kept up. So, I am going to draw some sharp – perhaps too sharp – distinctions for the sake of highlighting key aspects of this transformation.
First, this is a political movement, not just a social movement. I remember once a wealthy progressive asked me, “What if we just give them abortion—will that make them calm down?” Set aside for a moment the sad idea of trading away women’s rights for temporary political gain. What struck me was that my friend was working with an outdated understanding about the religious right. The common assumption is that this movement came together as a grassroots response to certain social issues, like abortion or gay marriage. It didn’t. This is a movement that came together when a set of reactionary political and religious leaders discovered the power of dividing the population by promoting these issues.
Today’s leaders of the Christian nationalist movement seek political power and the perks that it brings. Many of them speak explicitly of using that power to impose their vision on every aspect of government, society, culture, and education. Abortion politics is just one means to an end; give up on reproductive rights, and the movement leadership will quickly pivot to something else.
...
05:51 in Current Affairs, General Commentary, history, Religion | Permalink | Comments (0)