We could very well be watching the most disastrous flood event in US history unfold. Some spots may see 60" rain by Wed. in SE TX. #txwx
— Texas Storm Chasers (@TxStormChasers) August 27, 2017
Meanwhile, thanks to the cupidity and stupidity of the Republican Party…
HISTORIC rainfall in Houston, and all over Texas. Floods are unprecedented, and more rain coming. Spirit of the people is incredible.Thanks!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 27, 2017
Many people are now saying that this is the worst storm/hurricane they have ever seen. Good news is that we have great talent on the ground.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 27, 2017
If Obama were tweeting this way during a natural disaster, there'd be pundit apoplexy now and Congressional hearings on Monday morning. https://t.co/YrXyMHM1PL
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) August 27, 2017
While Houston is under water, Trump tweets about the wall—which he'd proposed paying for by making massive cuts to FEMA. pic.twitter.com/7MEn1KLfcK
— Hanna Brooks Olsen (@mshannabrooks) August 27, 2017
trump's acct all day today has been: wowweee wheee look at this, while the journalists he hates and ordinary citizens say "help"
— Oliver Willis (@owillis) August 27, 2017
The hurricane is highlighting how limited his verbal repertoire is and how ingrained his weird tics are. https://t.co/NSx9fDHVNJ
— Jacob T. Levy (@jtlevy) August 27, 2017
The crazy thing is it seems that FEMA's response is professional, so Trump had to go out of his way to make himself look bad this morning.
— Schooley (@Rschooley) August 27, 2017
Major Major Major Major
Didn’t the guy who ghost-wrote The Art of the Deal say that trump has a functional vocabulary of 400 words or so? Wonder if I somebody has done a lexical analysis of presidents’ extemporaneous vocabularies.
Off-topic: Went to the Museum of Anthropology at UBC today and wow! That was, in terms of the execution of the craft, hands-down the finest museum I have ever been to. Thanks so much to all who recommended it. Here are pictures in the round of one of the collection’s jewels, Raven and the First Men. One interesting tidbit that I picked up from a passing tour: the piece is actually installed on top of an old WWII gun emplacement, and once she said that I realized that the concentric pedestal and whatnot looked EXACTLY like the ‘ruins’ at Baker Beach in SF and was, indeed, a WWII coastal gun.
Eljai
The stories and video coming out of Texas today are heartbreaking. It’s just downright painful to see this asshat tweeting. He’s broken every norm for all time.
joel hanes
Wonder if I somebody has done a lexical analysis of presidents’ extemporaneous vocabularies
I’ve noticed that he very seldom employs similes or metaphors, even the common idiomatic ones.
WaterGirl
I have always loved the water, and I remember thinking when I was about 7 years old how cool a flood would be. You could just swim everywhere! In my little 7-year-old version of the flood, the sun was shining and the water was all perfectly clear like a pristine swimming pool. At least I had an excuse; I was only 7.
Trump is really not a well man and it’s terrifying.
WaterGirl
@Eljai: You said it perfectly:
WaterGirl
@Major Major Major Major: Was that the museum that was maybe going to require an hour of travel each way? It sounds like a fabulous experience. Enjoy the rest of your trip!
Major Major Major Major
@WaterGirl: no express buses on the weekend, yeah–but I convinced my husband to come so we cabbed it :)
Gemina13
I have a good friend who’s been incommunicado since last night. She’s legally blind, and she last emailed that she and her husband were stranded in their Houston home, with water having already caused damage. A bunch of us have tried to reach her. So far, the prevailing hope is that emergency services have gotten the two of them out, and they just left their cell phones behind.
And now I read Trump’s tweets.
Fuck him and every single scumbag that voted for him.
Major Major Major Major
@Gemina13: oh dear. Hope it all turns out well.
Major Major Major Major
@WaterGirl: oh, and the two hours round trip was only an issue because this is only a weekend trip, we leave first thing in the morning, so the museum would be a fair chunk of my time here! (Edited for math)
seaboogie
@Major Major Major Major: Did you love the “Spirit of the Haida Gwai” statue in the airport-and the burnished spots where people reach out to touch it?
mouse tolliver
Thanks? Who was he thanking? Is he thanking God for drowning the immigrants he wants to deport? That tweet makes no sense. When you imagine a president saying those words in the middle of a disaster it seems even worse.
eclare
@Gemina13: Oh gosh, how awful. Hope they are found safe and soon.
Major Major Major Major
@seaboogie: hmm, I’ll keep an eye out. I haven’t left yet :)
Eljai
@Gemina13: I thought I heard earlier that cell networks were having issues with outages along the Texas coastline. I hope your friends are safe.
Gemina13
I’m getting scared now. It’s been over 19 hours. :(
A friend shared a couple of stories that have me shaking my head, despite my intentions not to snarl about Texas politics or sheer arrogance. She related how one couple she knows decided not to leave Houston because (hah hah) they’re outdoors enthusiasts and thought their skills would help them. They have an 18-month-old child. Guess who’s stuck in their house with no way out?
Her second story concerned a knitting buddy’s father. In the last decade, the man has become a Fox junkie, drinking the Kool-Aid at an alarming rate. He heard the news reports about Hurricane Harvey, but dismissed it as “fake news.” Well, “fake news” turned his street into a river and his yard into a moat. Good times.
BethanyAnne
2 friends have been flooded out of their homes. I just realized a 3rd lives in a really hard hit area, no way he’s in his, either. Mom and I are still fine. I saw a thread on Reddit that looks handy for the flooded out here.
Amir Khalid
That damning photo of George Walker Bush contemplating a flood-devastated New Orleans from aboard Air Force One with that sucks-to-be-them expression was at least not accompanied by stories about Bush making inane and insensitive remarks. Any such words, if uttered in private, wouldn’t have been publicised. Trump, the loosest cannon in Presidential history, publicises his own inanity and insensitivity on Twitter with no one getting an opportunity to hush it up.
jl
I hope, and will pray, people on Gulf Coast stay safe.
I read someplace that the head of FEMA kind of had to be competent. After Katrina, Congress passed a law that required FEMA nominees to have 5 years experience in state level disaster management, or something equivalent. So, Trumpsters were forced to nominate an experienced person.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@jl: I believe he/she is required to renounce seedless watermelons.
Scamp Dog
@Major Major Major Major: I remember seeing that when I was visiting in 2001. Lots of good stuff in that museum!
Mel
@Gemina13 I hope you get news very soon, and that they are both safe and sound.
Mel
@mouse tolliver: That horrified me, as well. What in the hell is he talking about?
hellslittlestangel
@mouse tolliver: My guess is someone told him he has to be nice, so he said thanks because that’s a nice thing to say. He’s a fucking simpleton.
Sloane Ranger
@mouse tolliver: I have to seem to defend him but I read it as him thanking the people for their “incredible spirit”.
Origuy
@Major Major Major Major: Glad you liked it. I took a few pictures of the WWII gun emplacements in SF a couple of weeks ago, plus one of the Golden Gate Bridge I’m kinda proud of. I’ve been meaning to send them to Alain. One looks like the base of the Reid sculpture, I’ll be sure to include that.
Arclite
I understand that there’s at least someone with experience running FEMA?
So maybe there won’t be a “Brownie’s doing a heckuva job!” moment?
I hope everyone in that part of TX makes it out okay.
Anne Laurie
@Arclite: Yup:
Of course, Trump being Trump, there will probably be a ‘Heckuva job’ comment, but hopefully it won’t be Brock Long’s fault.
TriassicSands
@Major Major Major Major:
I was one of the people who strongly encouraged you to make the UBC MOA a priority. It’s an incredible museum; world class.
As I wrote in an earlier comment, The Raven and the First Men is one of the most moving and impressive works of art I’ve ever seen. I’m so glad you were able to get there. For me, once I’d been there, all I could think about was going back. Fortunately, I’ve been there several times times now, but it never gets old.
On such a short trip, with no car, the trip from downtown Vancouver is both good and bad. It eats up time, but it also gives you a chance to get a good look at the city and university, which is very nice.
Jack Canuck
@Major Major Major Major: Glad you got out there. It is a fantastic museum!
WaterGirl
@Gemina13: I read something here last night about the Cajun Navy coming to help in Houston – asking for specific location information of people who are stranded and need help. I got to that from a link here, but maybe you can google it.
Gemina13
@WaterGirl: Thank you. I’m going to try – it’s been over 24 hours now, and none of us have heard from her. I’ve gone from worried to scared.
WaterGirl
@Gemina13:I’m sure your friend will appreciate your looking out for him/her. If you give us a general address on BJ, maybe some Houston folks here might know how hard hit that neighborhood is? Have you tried social media? You might just save a life!
No One You Know
When Columbia SC went underwater a year or two back, their state police set up some information lines so that people could leave word about incapacitated or solitary people. Is there anything like that set up for Houston’s residents?
J R in WV
M^4,
Great photos of Raven and the First Men, a great, powerful sculpture.
Thanks!