August 28, 2017

Hurricane Harvey could be Trump's lifeboat

located:	USA
editor:	Gurmeet Singh

Two people have died so far, as the tropical hurricane Harvey hit Texas over the weekend. Over a metre of rain has fallen on the hardest hit areas, causing immense damage and flooding. Houston, in particular, is being pummelled by the storm as I write - and the city is ill-prepared for such a catastrophe. Authorities expect the death-toll to rise.

The authorities are even considering such tactics as deliberately flooding some areas, in the hope of saving larger parts - a tactic generally only used when flood defences are breached in some serious way.

Hurricane Katrina, several years ago, served as a reminder of America's failure to serve its poorest citizens, and in a sense prefigured the violence against African Americans today. Where the State was shown to assist white victims of the flood, African Americans were in general left-behind, with many even facing active opposition from police and state forces, being treated as looters without evidence.

President Bush failed that test. One of many his administration couldn't handle. And yet, his administration was a machine. It was staffed with some of the highest calibre political professionals America had: Colin Powell and Condoleeza Rice, as well as more divisive figures such as Donald Rumsfeld (who is nevertheless highly competent). Trump's administration is a mess: he has surrounded himself, and subsequently alienated himself from all manner of political jokers - from Steve Bannon to Michael Flynn. And he has also offered a demonstrable boost to the Far-Right element in his country, this weekend pardoning Joe Arpaio, a former County Sheriff who was shown to engage in racial-profiling of police targets.

As such, it is unlikely Trump will be able to support the victims of Hurricane Harvey adequately. However, he could mobilise all the forces and resources he has at hand to offer a kind of 'over-determined' rescue to the victims: Sending in the army and navy and marines to help everyone, pump in millions to the local economy etc. He could basically use this disaster to show what a wonderful and able leader he is. It would obviously be no bad thing if he helped the victims of the hurricane; but I get the feeling once the storm has gone, this will all be about Trump and how he is such a great leader, a saviour, the best, the very best.