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The political war over Hurricane Helene is heating up. Elon Musk is accusing FEMA of blocking his attempts to deliver Starlinks to areas affected by the disaster. Right-wing Twitter/X is full of talk about various incidents in which purportedly people coming to the area to try to help and/or deliver supplies are being turned away by FEMA. Also full of talk about FEMA using money to support illegal immigrants. Some people are pushing theories that FEMA is deliberately withholding help.
How credible is any of this?
My guess is that FEMA is a typical semi-competent government agency that makes many blunders. It might be bad at coordinating with random people who want to help but are not government employees and it might thus institutionally prefer to just block off the area and try to handle everything without random people's assistance. This policy then causes the various incidents that are being talked about.
I doubt that FEMA is deliberately withholding aid, if for no other reason than that I do not see how withholding aid would benefit the Democrats politically.
What do you make of it?
As Alejandro Mayorkas warns that FEMA doesn't have enough funds to last through Hurricane season, a reminder that the Jewish Lobby's campaign to secure over $300 million for federal handouts to Jewish synagogues and NGOs comes from the FEMA budget.
Well thanks for the reminder, pointed as it ever is lol.
Yeah the Jewish lobby is super powerful. Not surprised, seems like most well funded and well connected lobbying groups are able to just raid the budget indiscriminately at this point.
Well, in the media this has been thoroughly debunked, is the thing. I've seen several 'fact checks' about it in the last day or two. So SS up there is right to point it out.
Does this still move the truth needle for you? Because it doesn't for me at all.
I'm not claiming that SS is correct, or even that they are posting in good faith. But you seriously can't consider the media "debunking" something to matter at all in 2024.
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