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“Where the Sidewalk Ends”

October 10, 2024 By Debbie Young

Key West, Where the Sidewalk Ends …


Helene, a Political Opp for Biden/Harris

One purpose of government is to help protect citizens in times of distress. Hurricane Helene was the deadliest storm since Katrina, and thanks to the Biden administration’s incompetence, many citizens were left facing Helene’s devastation alone. And now the State of Florida is facing Milton, barreling into Florida with horrific force.

While Helene was active, Joe Biden was holed up in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Where was his VP, better known now as presidential candidate Harris? Flying between ritzy California fundraisers and hobnobbing with celebrities. Even Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was missing. Mr. Mayorkas was in Los Angeles, presiding over an awards ceremony, reports J.D. Vance in the WSJ:

Deployment delays (of active-duty military personnel) became severe enough that North Carolina Sens. Ted Budd and Thom Tillis issued a joint statement on Oct. 4 calling for “an active-duty military leader who has extensive experience with operations of this magnitude to lead moving forward.” The statement seemed to have an effect: The rest of the active-duty forces were deployed by the evening of Oct. 6, and the Pentagon authorized an additional 500, including advanced command-and-control resources.

Military personnel are trained to handle disasters. Among the first lessons learned is that every second counts. A week after Helene hit, citizens in SC were still without the equipment needed and soldiers to help save lives. “A competent leader,” fumes Sen. Vance, “would have ordered those men and women into motion earlier, bureaucracy be damned. Ms. Harris and Mr. Biden treated the situation like a public-relations disaster instead of a real one.”

“A Tree House, a Free House”…

Dick and I experienced the ramifications of Irma in Key West, Florida, in 2017. We were grateful for real-world responses and help from FEMA. We also had help from a competent entrepreneurial Key Wester. Without their help, we might still have the monstrous banyan tree lying across our Conch cottage, preventing the replacement of just-replaced sewer lines, reattaching a front porch, and dealing with the general upheaval. We were among the lucky ones, though. Our neighbor, the home of the late Shel Silverstein, author and songwriter (“Where the Sidewalk Ends,” “A Boy Named Sue”), wasn’t so much. The front garden Banyan tree, the twin of our own, sliced the lovely home in half. Shel’s former home was eventually torn down and rebuilt, but never again was it “a secret you and me house.” I suspect the owners received a lot of help from FEMA, but Key Westers, it is not to be understated, were grateful to experience FEMA’s support and leadership during this stressful period.

FYI: Shel wrote A Girl Named Sue for Jonny Cash, who sang it at San Quentin Prison in 1970

Thanks, Irrma. Debbie and Dick’s Key West Home, 2017

JD Vance argues that he and former President Donald Trump are realists. Regardless of how it is planned, there is no perfect answer to how to handle storms like Irma or Helene. But, argues Vance, the response to Hurricane Helene, especially in North Carolina and parts of Florida, is not what Americans deserve.

“As Hurricane Milton barrels toward the Florida coast and Secretary Mayorkas claims FEMA is running out of disaster funds, it’s time the Biden-Harris administration got its act together.”

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Debbie Young
Debbie Young
Debbie, our chief political writer of Richardcyoung.com, is also our chief domestic affairs writer, a contributing writer on Eastern Europe and Paris and Burgundy, France. She has been associate editor of Dick Young’s investment strategy reports for over five decades. Debbie lives in Key West, Florida, and Newport, Rhode Island, and travels extensively in Paris and Burgundy, France, cooking on her AGA Cooker, driving through Vermont and Maine, and practicing yoga. Debbie has completed the 200-hour Krama Yoga teacher training program taught by Master Instructor Ruslan Kleytman. Debbie is a strong supporting member of the NRA.
Debbie Young
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