Politicizing Tragedy – The Moore Tornado

While following the aftermath of the Moore tornado I was disgusted to see people using the tragedy to make political statements or to slam the political opposition.  Before all the debris had even fallen back down to the earth, Rhode Island Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse took the microphone on the Senate floor and lambasted Republican Senators for “denying man-made global warming.”  He laid blame for the tornado squarely at the feet of Republicans while the dying and injured were still being pulled from the rubble.

He was far from the only one to make partisan hay of the destruction in Moore.  Lizz Winstead, co-creator of The Daily Show sent out a tweet about the tornado which said, “This tornado is in Oklahoma so clearly it has been ordered to only target conservatives.”  And another which said, “How long has Obama known about this tornado?”  She later apologized after taking a beating on Twitter and claimed she didn’t know the devastation caused before sending the tweet.  Indeed, here in Oklahoma we know that most tornadoes are just fun to watch and never, ever cause death or destruction.  Natural disasters are just rife with humorous moments.

The media wasted no time in launching into Oklahoma Senators Coburn and Inhofe for their positions on funding disaster relief, reminding readers repeatedly that both voted against the relief funds for Hurricane Sandy.  Most articles I saw did not go into detail and include the reason why, which Senator Inhofe explained:  “They had things in the Virgin Islands. They were fixing roads there, they were putting roofs on houses in Washington, D.C.  Everybody was getting in and exploiting the tragedy that took place. That won’t happen in Oklahoma.”

Senator Coburn in particular has been castigated by the media and those on the left for seeking to ensure that any tornado relief funding in Oklahoma is offset by cuts elsewhere in the federal budget.  This has always been his position on disaster relief funding, going all the way back to the Murrah Building bombing recovery in 1995.  It would be hypocritical of him to change his long-held position when his home state is involved, but the media conveniently doesn’t mention that.

All over Twitter and article comments I have seen no end to the slamming of our politicians in Oklahoma, blaming them for the “global-warming-caused tornado”, not spending $500 million for shelters in schools, not calling out enough National Guard soldiers, calling out too many National Guard soldiers, kowtowing to President Obama to get a disaster declaration, not calling Obama fast enough, not ordering school cancelled when bad weather was predicted, expressing glee that the tornado happened to a red state…

And the citizens of Oklahoma were also recipients of leftist diatribe, calling us gun lunatics, right wing pathetic freaks, religious freaks, the conservative nut pool and deserving of the wrath of our “mythical God.”

Meanwhile, rescue workers still dig for victims, parents identify the bodies of their children and thousands of people look for new places to live with no more possessions than their clothes they have on.  Property has been lost on an unimaginable scale.  Lives are destroyed.  People are dead. 

To politicize such tragedy is the ultimate in antipathy.  It speaks to the visceral hatred of some on the left that they would seize the opportunity to lash out at those on the right or at Oklahoma itself, even before the first funeral is planned.  There is no rationalizing with such people.  No kind of mutual understanding that can be reached.  One could sooner haul back the tide than have a sensible discussion with such a person.

People with differing political views can agree to disagree and remain civil.  But apparently some cannot.  They have my pity because they fill their lives with hate instead of the joys that make life worth living.  And there are far more important things in life than politics.  Just ask the people in Moore.