The grotesque politicization of Hurricane Ian By Brad Polumbo
Hurricane Ian ravaged Florida this week and caused enormous suffering. Hundreds have possibly died, a tragic toll that will most likely continue to grow. Millions are without power. The scope and scale of property destruction are impossible to put into words. And while many are stepping up to provide aid and support charitable efforts , much of the country is descending into political squabbles and partisan combat over it all.
The grotesque politicization of Hurricane Ian has come in two primary forms.
The first is a concentrated effort to exploit the natural disaster to push a Green-New-Deal-esque climate change agenda. The most prominent example of this blatant politicization is a now-viral interview in which CNN host Don Lemon repeatedly attempts to get an expert to blame Hurricane Ian on climate change.
When the expert calmly explains that no single disaster can be directly blamed on climate change, Lemon doesn’t accept this answer and asks again. (Now, another guest will apparently be going on to provide a more politically satisfying version of the “science.”)
More commentary in this twisted genre implicitly or explicitly victim-blames supposed Floridian Republican rubes for failing to embrace the progressive climate change agenda. The tenor of this commentary essentially is: “I’m not saying they deserve it, but.”
This is sick. We should be able to support our fellow Americans as they face a life-threatening natural disaster without blaming them or immediately jumping to push a political or ideological agenda.
Others have quite explicitly tried to use this tragic moment to bash elected Republicans, such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida’s two Republican senators, Marco Rubio and Rick Scott.
These are just a few examples of many.
To their credit, both DeSantis and President Joe Biden have seemingly taken nonpolitical approaches to the disaster response and are working together to help those in need. They’re both leading by example here. The fact that so many people seemingly cannot put partisanship aside in a moment of national tragedy reveals something deeply sick about our society.
Hurricanes and natural disasters are not a red or blue issue. Neither DeSantis nor Biden is to blame for them. They always have been and always will be a life-threatening problem in many parts of our great country.
If in the aftermath of such a tragedy, you find yourself leaping to demonize your partisan opponents or emphasize an ideological narrative, you desperately need to take a moment and engage in some critical self-reflection. Some things are bigger than politics, and we must never lose sight of our common humanity.
Brad Polumbo ( @Brad_Polumbo ) is a co-founder of Based-Politics.com , a co-host of the Based Politics podcast , and a Washington Examiner contributor.
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