As Hurricane Ian rages through Florida with the possibility of being the most expensive storm in state history, both state and federal governments have been scrambling to handle the issue. Almost a tradition for the state of Florida as hurricanes destroy property and ruin lives, the governor has to deal with the issue. But as any public figure is criticized and ridiculed, Governor DeSantis has been a hot topic in American politics. DeSantis is a public figure in the Republican party and in the discussion for the 2024 Presidential race. He has been criticized in the past for his stance on "critical race theory", the "Don't Say Gay" law, and general pushback against President Biden's policies. All these past issues coupled with the national disaster of hurricane Ian have demonstrated the polarization of American politics in recent years between the two parties.
In preparation for the storm, DeSantis had warned specific counties to hunker down, in addition to declaring a state of emergency and preparing the Florida National State Guard, and the Emergency Operations Center. DeSantis believes that in times of national emergency politics should never come before aid and support. “My view on all this is like you’ve got people’s lives at stake, you’ve got their property at stake and we don’t have time for pettiness, we’ve gotta work together to make sure we’re doing the best job for them”
Before the arrival of the Hurricane on Tuesday President Biden had reached out to multiple Florida cities about the issue, but not DeSantis. In past cases like the Texas winter storms, the President has contacted state governors first to discuss federal aid and the issue at hand. When asked about not contacting DeSantis, Karine Jean-Pierre White House Press Secretary stated that "He really wanted to make sure that the mayors knew that he had committed the full force of the federal family". By Thursday Biden would meet with DeSantis, and although the full truth cannot be determined the situation demonstrates how politics and parties influence every decision a leader makes nowadays.
The current situation echoes some of the original founders' issues with political parties. People have fallen into supporting one party based on a few values and there only being two major ones. As a result, modern-day politics have become a war between the democrats and republicans for control, leaving the average citizen to suffer. Both parties have become so polarized in America the possibility of a President refusing to talk to a Governor of a different party during a time of emergency seems possible. Whether one agrees with DeSantis or not, he should have been contacted quickly regardless of his political party. The government's job is to protect and aid its citizens and when it would rather make the opposing party look worse than do what is essential for success speaks to the downfall of the American political system. The major American political parties need to do more to compromise and spend more time caring for the people rather than focusing on their political gains. The parties need to be able to work together to properly deal with the issues of today and prepare for the future.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/hurricane-ian-cuba-florida-1.6598339
https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/28/politics/desantis-hurricane-ian/index.html
https://nypost.com/2022/09/27/biden-calls-florida-mayors-but-not-desantis-as-hurricane-ian-nears/
1 comment:
I agree with your analysis about the clear division between the people of America due to the political party system. This reminds me of what Madison was talking about in Fed #10 about the dangers or factions, and this serves as a prime example. The Democratic and Republican party have been so bent on trying to look better than the other party that the common wellbeing of the people has been ignored, leaving them to suffer while the two parties continue to bicker.
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