Anyone who reads this site regularly knows by now that I don't think very highly of senator Chris Murphy from my state of Connecticut. He's an always-political blow hard who never seems to have an original idea. Today, Murphy hit a new low which surprised even me.
The subject of Murphy's latest mess is Puerto Rico and the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria. The situation on the island is terrible. There are shortages of food and water and very few areas with electric power. Nevertheless, there is a massive effort underway to bring relief supplies to the island. The national guard (including from outside Puerto Rico), the navy, the coast guard, FEMA and a great many NGO's are funneling aid where possible onto the island. There remains, however, a bottleneck because of the damage that closed airports, piers and other access to the island. Since there is such poor access to the island, there has been little direct media coverage of what is happening there. As a result, we are getting the usual fear merchants telling dire stories about the supposed horrors happening there. Remember what happened at the Superdome in New Orleans after Katrina hit? For days we heard that people who took refuge there were being raped and murdered by gangs in a lawless mess. There was mass outrage. Then the media finally got in and found that none of the story was true. Sure, there had been privation, but no crime wave; the people who took refuge had been quite well behaved. That's where we are heading now with Puerto Rico.
The sad thing is that senator Murphy has become one of the main sources for false rumors about events in Puerto Rico. Indeed, within the last hour, Murphy tweeted to President Trump that there are "people dying" on the island and Trump is ignoring them. It's a lie. Conditions are bad on the island, but help is getting through in ever increasing amounts as the airports and port facilities come back on line. No one is ignoring the people of Puerto Rico.
I understand that Murphy is trying to make political points with his lies. It's nothing new for him. The worst thing, however, is that many people with loved ones on the island cannot get any information from them. The phones are still mostly down. There's just no way to communicate. That means that when Murphy says people are dying, he is actually stoking the fear of those with family or friends on the island. It's disgusting that Murphy is willing to inflict all that unnecessary fear on people just to score a political point or two.
Rational and decent people would expect more from a United States Senator. Sadly, we never get that from senator Murphy.
The subject of Murphy's latest mess is Puerto Rico and the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria. The situation on the island is terrible. There are shortages of food and water and very few areas with electric power. Nevertheless, there is a massive effort underway to bring relief supplies to the island. The national guard (including from outside Puerto Rico), the navy, the coast guard, FEMA and a great many NGO's are funneling aid where possible onto the island. There remains, however, a bottleneck because of the damage that closed airports, piers and other access to the island. Since there is such poor access to the island, there has been little direct media coverage of what is happening there. As a result, we are getting the usual fear merchants telling dire stories about the supposed horrors happening there. Remember what happened at the Superdome in New Orleans after Katrina hit? For days we heard that people who took refuge there were being raped and murdered by gangs in a lawless mess. There was mass outrage. Then the media finally got in and found that none of the story was true. Sure, there had been privation, but no crime wave; the people who took refuge had been quite well behaved. That's where we are heading now with Puerto Rico.
The sad thing is that senator Murphy has become one of the main sources for false rumors about events in Puerto Rico. Indeed, within the last hour, Murphy tweeted to President Trump that there are "people dying" on the island and Trump is ignoring them. It's a lie. Conditions are bad on the island, but help is getting through in ever increasing amounts as the airports and port facilities come back on line. No one is ignoring the people of Puerto Rico.
I understand that Murphy is trying to make political points with his lies. It's nothing new for him. The worst thing, however, is that many people with loved ones on the island cannot get any information from them. The phones are still mostly down. There's just no way to communicate. That means that when Murphy says people are dying, he is actually stoking the fear of those with family or friends on the island. It's disgusting that Murphy is willing to inflict all that unnecessary fear on people just to score a political point or two.
Rational and decent people would expect more from a United States Senator. Sadly, we never get that from senator Murphy.
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