Everyone in Memphis is aware of the absolute destruction wreaked 10 days ago in northern Mississippi and central Tennessee by the ice storm connected to Winter Storm Fern. The images of broken and fallen trees and massive limbs that destroyed power lines, crushed roofs, and trapped people in their homes for days were unavoidable on local television and in social media feeds. The ice impacted hundreds of thousands of people; I-55 and I-22 in Mississippi were closed for days.
But what was big news in this area wasn’t on the radar for most of the country, so Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves got himself on Fox News to spread the word about the dire situation in his state. Unfortunately, he got, er, distracted.
Here’s what the governor said about his television appearance in a social media post: “Went on Fox this morning to discuss the historic winter storms in our state, but breaking news on the chaos and disorder caused by lawless hordes in Minneapolis pulled the focus. The mobs of anarchists and radicals who are terrorizing American cities need to go home, whether that’s just back to their mother’s basements or back to Mogadishu. … And let’s be grateful it’s just sleet and snow — and not Antifa — closing our streets.”
I’m sure the 300,000 people without power in Mississippi were truly grateful that their pandering clown of a governor was more concerned with ICE in Minnesota than with the ice paralyzing his own state. Sure, thousands of Mississippians were freezing and without shelter, food, and water but at least they could be reassured that ol’ Tater had the state’s rampant Antifa problem under control.
Reeves went on to disparage Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who’d called out his state’s National Guard to assist in controlling the situation there. (Just for fun, maybe Reeves should compare his state’s rankings for education, healthcare, income, and poverty level with those of Minnesota.)
But it’s not like Reeves did nothing. He did declare a state of emergency in advance of the storm and FEMA delivered $6.4 million to the state last week, which may seem like an amazingly quick response until you learn that it was funding allocated for debris removal in Walthall County for tornadoes that hit the area a year ago. Oops.
Anyone paying attention won’t be surprised to learn that the Federal Emergency Management Agency, under the direction of HHS Secretary Kristi Noem, is itself, well, a disaster area. The New York Times reported last week that more than $17 billion in federal disaster funds are being held up because of a June directive by Noem that any FEMA funding of $100,000 or more must be approved by her office to root out “waste, fraud, and abuse.” Much of that delayed funding had already been approved by regional FEMA offices for things such as debris removal and repairs to roads, bridges, and water and sewer systems, but now it’s back-logged in Noem-ville.
You’d think such delays in getting FEMA aid to his state would trouble Reeves, especially at a time when his constituents were in such distress, but his focus was “pulled” farther north and he had to get his MAGA licks in on Fox. ICE, ICE, baby.
Not to be outdone, one of Tennessee’s own pandering clowns — Senator Marsha Blackburn — also took the opportunity to politicize Fern’s horrific ice damage in a written statement criticizing Nashville electric utility (NES) and that city’s Democratic mayor: “The failure to adequately prepare for Winter Storm Fern is precisely the reason line crews are working overtime and citizens are clearing limbs and debris at great risk to their own safety to help friends and neighbors. … This disruption [the linemen] are working to correct reflects a failure of leadership and planning, one that could have been mitigated with thoughtful preparation ahead of the storm.”
Hmm. I wonder where this “concerned” Marsha was last year, when her beloved Trump turned his pal Elon Musk loose on FEMA, giving him free rein to cut thousands of jobs and regional offices. I also wonder why Blackburn wasn’t complaining to Noem about the lack of help from FEMA for her state. Seems like maybe it was “a failure of leadership and planning.” But that’s just me.
Blackburn has set her sights on becoming Tennessee’s next governor. If she wins, it appears she’ll get along swimmingly with her cohort to the south. Tate and Marsha, what a combo. What a clown show.