Surfside Condo "Delay" Narrative is Beyond Deplorable
Using a tragedy to score political points is not just deplorable, it symbolizes the sacrifice of all that was once sacred and beyond tribalism's corrupting touch.
Those on the left, still suffering Trump-Derangement Syndrome, see Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Trump ally and likely 2024 Presidential Candidate, as one they must take a shot at whenever possible - even if that means distracting from on-going search and rescue efforts for victims of the Surfside (Miami Beach) Condo collapse.
Woke Twitter tried to score by whining that FEMA wasn't immediately called (or more misleadingly that FEMA was "denied" ), or that DeSantis took too long to declare an official emergency. Both these statements ignore the reality of how emergencies work.
I've worked for over a decade with local government, including time before I was a lawyer, so I have significant experience with local, state and federal disasters. In addition, as a resident of Miami-Florida, who lived through several disasters, including Hurricane Andrew (the most damaging hurricane to South Florida in recent history) - I can say decisively that our emergency response and preparedness is top notch. Miami has issues, but disaster response is not one.
The first thing that left Twitter fails to understand is simply that FEMA are NOT first responders. There are no firetrucks, ambulances or police cars that show up marked FEMA - all of the equipment belongs to the local government (whether city or county). FEMA is really only useful for it's money - which often takes FAR too long to be disbursed to local governments (typically 1-3 years for hurricane damage).
Which leads to the second misrepresentation of Twitter - Emergency Declarations. Once a local or state government declares an emergency, it opens that jurisdiction up to receive local, state and federal (FEMA) funding. As I mentioned, that funding is NOT arriving quickly. But whether or not the declaration is made, in the case of an emergency like the Surfside condo collapse, the first responders WILL be there. They aren't going home because DeSantis has not yet declared an official emergency, they aren't sitting on the sidewalk saying "oh sorry not offical, we can't work", they ARE risking their lives and health going into a dangerous disaster site for the hope of saving lives.
These first responders are heroes. To pretend that they aren't responding because DeSantis didn't beg Biden for help not only is a lie, but corrupts some of the last existing true acts of heroism in our fractured Republic.
https://www.local10.com/news/local/2021/06/27/mother-of-surfside-building-collapse-victim-lashes-out-at-desantis-for-not-doing-enough/
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