All That Went Wrong Yesterday in Puerto Rico

This needs to be documented and spelled out because it is going to be part of legacy of US response to Puerto Rico disaster after Hurricane Maria.  This is emblematic of how the legacy of colonialism reigns supreme with regard to our treatment of Puerto Rico.  To have the President of the United States in a fun joking mood while touring devastation shows the level of disrespect to the US citizens living on the island.  We have never seen another President so cavalier, so loose with his language and so removed from the misery in all the history of the United States.  Can you imagine if George W. Bush stood on the stack of rubble of the World Trade Center and said, "You rescue workers have really thrown our budget out of whack, but that is fine we have saved a lot of lives?"  Or what if Bill Clinton had stood before cameras and said, "This assault on the Waco compound was an example of great law enforcement who did not play politics and the outcome was not as bad as the Pine Ridge Reservation assault."

Here is a run down of the fun one day outing for the Commander and Chief of the United States and his sight seeing tour of a Caribbean nation.

•  “Sixteen versus in the thousands,” was how 45 was quoted in the New York Times which went on to say that the President compared the storm’s certified death toll to the 1,833 killed in 2005 by Hurricane Katrina, which he described as a “real catastrophe.  You can be very proud of all of your people, all of our people working together,” he said. “Sixteen versus literally thousands of people. You can be very proud.”  This when sitting in a country that half the population does not have drinking water and people are certainly dying because they do not have power or water.  In fact, the reported death toll doubled within hours of the President leaving the island.
• “You were really generous,” 45 said to the non-voting member of Congress for Puerto Rico (a Republican),  “It’s so important when you have men and women that have worked so hard and so long, and many of them came from two other catastrophic hurricanes.” This contradicts what he said over the weekend.  He also heaped praise on US non-voting Representative Jenniffer González-Colón for praising him and federal officials last week.
• The leader of the Federal Government could not stay away from the debt issue and brought it up in the most condescending way, "Mick is in charge of a think called [sic] budget. [We are natives that only recently got a calculator on the island, please explain, Master...]  Now, I hate to tell you Puerto Rico, [no you don't since you tweeted this twice] but you have thrown our budget a little out of whack because we have spent a lot of money on Puerto Rico. And that is fine. We have saved a lot of lives," said the budget hawk who is known as a penny pincher.
• Comedians had a field day with the Leader of the Free World throwing out paper towels to a crowd of people in need like a free t-shirt at a basketball game.  There was much more at this same event to show his incompetence including not understanding that there were pills that you could drop in water to make the water safe for drinking or passing out flash lights but telling people,  "Flashlights! You don't need 'em anymore!" This in an island with only 5% having access to a power.  He also said, "There’s a lot of love in this room, great people,” which seemed out of place.
• The man with his finger on the nuclear codes kept getting distracted by the response to other Hurricanes.  "Well, you know in Texas, it came in, it did devastation, then went right out to the coast, it came in and out. It came in three times. It would load up with water and come in.  No one has ever seen water like that. And the Coast Guard would follow it...They saved 60,000 lives. Hard to believe." [Yes, very hard to believe since there is no way to verify this. He could have said any number and how could you fact check it? This is like Bush claiming that 332,000 people were saved in New Orleans because they did not drown.] This in a country facing weeks without power and an uphill climb to rebuild; residents don't care about how much better things are in Texas or Florida.
• When trying to wrap up the briefing and not having any more written statements, 45 said, "I appreciate your support, and I know you appreciate our support. Our country has really gone all out to help...Not only dangerous, its expensive, its everything. But I consider it a great honor. Maybe because I know so many people from Puerto Rico who are great people.  [Or maybe its because you are the President of the United States and it is your job?]
•  The focus of the whole day was to praise the Federal response and his own actions.  45 seemed to believe that if you say it enough times it will come true. “If you look at a real catastrophe like Katrina, and you look at the tremendous hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people that died, and you look at what happened here with really a storm that was just totally overbearing, nobody has seen anything like this,”said the President. 
• Before taking off for Puerto Rico, 45 praised the federal response at clearing the roads and said, “We need their truck drivers.  Their drivers have to start driving trucks. We have to do that, so at a local level they have to give us more help.”  Many roads in the interior of the island remain un-passable with some sections of the country still not accessible because houses have slid down the hills and onto the roads.  We saw a report on Telemundo while in Puerto Rico from truck drivers pleading for trucks to drive to get gas and supplies out, because their trucks were damaged or flooded. 
• An older couple poured out their heart to the leader of the Executive Branch about how their house had been destroyed and that is why they were staying in the shelter.  The President responded,  “have a good time" and “Great to see you.”  Was he not listening? Or did he not care?
• The President later claimed that “most of the hospitals” on Puerto Rico were open. He said “the job that’s been done” on the island “is really nothing short of a miracle.”  This was disputed by FEMA press releases which indicated only a small number of hospitals had full power restored most were still operating on diesel, especially outside of the city of San Juan.

  

  This is the law enforcement and military standing around 

  
  

• “I think she’s come back a long way,” he said. “I think it’s now acknowledged what a great job we’ve done.” The President gave himself an A+ for the federal efforts in Florida and Texas and said, "And I'll tell you what, I think we've done just as good in Puerto Rico and it's actually a much tougher situation."
• For some reason, the President went off topic as the Daily Mail summarized, "Praising the military, he mentioned the F-35 fighter. 'It's hard to fight a plane that you can't see right? But that's an expensive plane that you can't see. As you've probably heard we cut the price very substantially." He also misidentified a member of the US Air Force as a member of the Coast Guard. 
•  "Thank you very much. It was a great trip and a beautiful place.  I have been to Puerto Rico many many times, as I think most of you have known. I have always loved it.  Your weather is second to none, but every once in while you get hit. And you really got hit; there is no doubt about it" said Captain Stuebing of the Love Boat 1.  The people of Puerto Rico do remember his trips to the island.  He bankrupted a golf course which added to the debt of the island. 
• The leader of the United States had some problems with time of the Hurricane, "I was going to be here a week ago, if you remember, that was the day of the Hurricane...the second Hurricane." Hurricane Maria hit on Tuesday September 19, while the President was speaking on October 3.  One week ago was Tuesday September 26 and was a hot beautiful day in Puerto Rico with residents suffering because most people did not have running water.
•  According to the Daily Mail, "But he continued to heap praise on first responders and on FEMA. 'I will tell you, the first responders, the military, FEMA, they have done an incredible job in Puerto Rico,' Trump said." 
• In his own "Heck-of-a-job Brownie" moment, the President praised his cabinet and military response, but first dazzled the crowd with the size of the Hurricane.  "This has been a Category 5 which few people have ever even heard of...a Category 5 hitting land, but it hit land. Boy, did it hit land...I want to thank Elaine...Elaine, thank you very much...fantastic.  Acting Secretary Elaine Duke has been incredible.  [She was the person who said that Puerto Rico was a good news story that prompted Mayor Cruz to go off last Friday.]...And to all of my people, and I have to say General Buchanan got here a few days ago and there is no doubt about it you are a General. There is a reason you are a General, right?  He is no games..." 
• 45 praised the current Governor of Puerto Rico who has held his tongue and not criticized the administration.  Governor Ricardo Rossello has not complained that it took two weeks to get the airport up and running or the lack of food or water distribution throughout the island or the inept response that I saw on Puerto Rico. "Right from the beginning, this Governor did not play politics. He didn't play it at all. He was saying it like it was, and he was giving us the highest grades. [Not sure this is true. I guess complaining and criticism are considered political.]
  
  

CNN caught up with San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz after the briefing and she said, “The first part of the meeting was a public-relations situation.”  While she said the White House staff were helpful and receptive, Mr. Trump’s communications style sometimes “gets in the way. I would hope that the president of the United States stops spouting out comments that really hurt the people of Puerto Rico,” she said, “because, rather than commander in chief, he sort of becomes miscommunicator in chief.”  Cruz was criticized over the weekend on Twitter for speaking out against the slow federal response last week.

The one piece of good news from the day was that at the end he told Fox News that "We are going to have to wipe that out," when asked about the Puerto Rican debt.  I have no idea what this means and it could be bluster, but it was on piece of good news in a horrible, horrible day for Puerto Rico.

The President characterized all the negative coverage of his insensitive trip to Puerto Rico as "fake news" obviously.

by Brian Davis