When Hurricane Milton's Extremes and Extreme Politics Collide
America in Turmoil, October 7, 2024, 29 days until E-Day
American politics are in turmoil, and so is the climate. While many months and billions of dollars will be needed to rebuild communities in several southeastern states after the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene, the next one is warming up to slam Florida.
Hurricane Milton is undergoing one of the most rapid intensifications ever observed in the Atlantic. It is now at 175 mph in the highest storm classification, while it was only two days ago forming as a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico. Some gusts are even reaching more than 190 mph.
Not a single weather model predicted that this storm would strengthen this fast. It's expected to hit the Tampa Bay area, and even if (and that's a big if) it loses some of its strength before making landfall, expect a destructive storm surge.
Climate science
These monster storms are not independent of the political storm blowing in the US. Populist politicians have for years denied climate science and refused to take responsibility for the people they represent. For example, Florida Republican Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna voted against 20 billion dollars for FEMA disaster relief funding last week. Her district will be one of the hardest hit by Hurricane Milton.
President Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden released a heartfelt message to the American people: "There are no red or blue states. No matter how you vote, we help each other when disaster strikes because we are one United States of America."
In striking contrast to these words of compassion and solidarity during a disaster that killed more than 200 Americans, Donald Trump posted this message:
Trump stormed out of a 60 Minutes interview after the very first question: "We have the pandemic, on your watch, we've had racial strife, we've had looting; why do you want this job? Why do you want to be president again?" It may have been his shortest interview ever—less than one of the 60 minutes. He left before being confronted with the fact-checking he fears so much.
Tonight, it is Kamala Harris' turn; she will face the tough questions and use the opportunity for the voters to get to know her and learn more about her economic plans.
Trump tried to spin his embarrassing behavior today. During a rally in Wisconsin with a devoted audience, he said he'd make 60 Minutes apologize to him. For what? For fact-checking his lies? For asking tough questions?
The political storm that is brewing in the US heats up as fast as Milton.
During rallies in the past few days, Trump suggested that "those who want to stop us" have impeached and indicted him and "who knows even tried to kill me." And: "We have an enemy from within". Lara Trump stirred up the MAGA crowd by saying this is no longer a fight between Republicans and Democrats but "good versus evil." Someday in the future, we will hear these exact words again when the question will have to be answered if these speeches were preparing the ground for violence.
When I walked the Camino and spoke nearly every day with Americans, I was surprised some of them referred to the possibility of civil war. I hadn't read about that in European newspapers; I wasn't even aware of any speculation about such a scenario, yet Americans mentioned it several times. Their words come back to me now that I see how hatred is planted and fueled.
The task for the Democrats and classic non-MAGA Republicans to get the whole nation back into a respectful, working democracy is immense. Phases of fascism are usually short-lived in history. They are intense, dangerous, and violent, and then they implode. Like Milton, who is rapidly getting more extreme, I note the same in the attitude of Trump and his supporters.
The New York Times has analyzed Trump's recent rally speeches with those of 2016. He now uses proportionally more all-or-nothing terms like "never" and "always." He also uses 32 percent more negative than positive words, more than the 21 percent of 2016. The use of swearwords has even gone up 69 percent. The NYT concludes, "his speeches have grown darker, harsher, longer, angrier, less focused, more profane and increasingly fixated on the past."
While on the ground, people unite and help each other after Hurricane Helene destroyed their towns, and while the government, FEMA, and other organizations work 24/7 to help the victims rebuild their lives, another dark storm is brewing—two storms, Milton and Trump.
It's a tale of two storms: it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
Yesterday, I wrote:
America in Turmoil: E-30
It was another week of chaos in the US, one deliberately created by Donald Trump and his MAGA followers, aided by the devastating impact of Hurricane Helene. This hurricane became so destructive because of climate change. Scientists noted that the extreme rainfall experienced during Helene wa…
Notes:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/06/us/politics/trump-speeches-age-cognitive-decline.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=c-cb
"While on the ground, people unite and help each other after Hurricane Helene destroyed their towns, and while the government, FEMA, and other organizations work 24/7 to help the victims rebuild their lives, another dark storm is brewing—two storms, Milton and Trump."
I am confident there are more good people than not. We'll get through both storms. Thank you for your fine observations.
Great analogy! Like the hurricanes, you can see the path of destruction left by Trump and his extremists. And you can literally see them creating turmoil with their speeches and rhetoric - it is pathetic and would almost be comical if it wasn’t so dangerous.