"Unseemly" is the word the The Wall Street Journal's Peggy Noonan used to describe President Trump's politicizing of Hurricane Maria hitting Puerto Rico last year. In the days leading up to Hurricane Florence hitting the Carolinas, the president through Twitter blamed the Democrats for inflating the number of deaths in Puerto Rico for the purpose of making him look bad.
The panel also talked about presidents having empathy, to which, again, Ms. Noonan explained the Mr. Trump doesn't have the normal presidential reactions. How about a decent human reaction - to feel for people whose lives have been shattered. PBS's Yamiche Alcindor said that it's like the president is saying the dead aren't dead. Words matter, and the president has to keep his eye on the ball and right now that is helping North and South Carolina mitigate the devastation and not just go down there for a photo-op. Having empathy or in other terms being the Consoler-in-Chief is a critical part of being president. Presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin explained that acknowledgement of error shows empathy and even strengthens a president's support. However, as we know all too well, not for this president. Mr. Trump will never apologize or admit fault, unless it is pointed in someone else's direction.
Brock Long, the FEMA Administrator, explained that the situation in the Carolinas is still unfolding and that life safety is the main concern right now for FEMA. Mr. Long described recovery efforts in terms of four legs of a chair - federal government, local government, private sector and the citizening - and that each leg had to be working to be effective. However, if the local government is incapacitated then it's up to FEMA to shoulder the responsibility and marshal and distribute the resources. That's what FEMA does for American citizens... All American citizens.
It's understandable that Administrator Long doesn't want to get into the politics as a FEMA administrator shouldn't, but he did say that the number for the death toll in Puerto Rico are all over the place, which they clearly are not. But in addition to that he said that he didn't know why the studies were conducted. What? This makes one question his ability to be the head administrator, seriously. These studies were commissioned by the government to determine what exactly happened and hence how your agency can improve in its response.
Whether admitted or not, we can only hope that Mr. Long has learned the lessons of Hurricane Maria and will do a better job for the people of North and South Carolina, while continuing to help Puerto Rico.
And speaking of help, President Trump is beyond it.
His former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, has flipped this week, something the ever-infuriating Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz even said was a terrible day for the president. Terrible, indeed. As Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA) said in his interview, the longer you wait the more time in prison you'll get. No doubt as Mr. Manafort waited too long and now he is trying to avoid prison before the day comes where he'll have to be fitted for adult diapers.
Mr. Manafort has come to realize that because of both the state and federal charges against him that a pardon by Mr. Trump will not get him out of jail time. And he's also understanding that as everyone knows, loyalty when it comes to Mr. Trump is a one-way street. As Ms. Kearns Goodwin explained, administration officials need to be loyal to their jobs, not to a single person. Yet for Mr. Trump, you have to give it personally to get it, but that you wait for the latter in vain. Now, special counsel Robert Mueller is 'inside' the room during the Trump Tower meeting with the Russians back in June of 2016. Also, there was seemingly a quid quo pro between Mr. Manafort and Oleg Deripaska, the Russian oligarch and close friend to Vladimir Putin, which Mr. Mueller's team will now have insight into the relationship.
The president's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, said Friday and yesterday that the cooperation of Mr. Manafort with the special counsel's office has nothing to do with the president or his campaign, which is yet to be seen. However, one should take heed of Ms. Alcindor's insight that it's more about the financials, specifically Mr. Manafort's and what he knows about Mr. Trump's financial ties to the Russians, which are substantial. That angle of the story seems to be somewhat off the radar, but it's likely to become one of the most significant developments in how Mr. Trump is beholden to Russian oligarchs and hence the Kremlin.
The most damaging information is yet to come, there is now little doubt.
Panel: Doris Kearns Goodwin, presidential historian; Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal; Yamiche Alcindor, PBS; Rich Lowry, The National Review
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