In its continuous drive to re-elect President Trump in 2020, Politico has now run a cartoon so offensive to the victims of Hurricane Harvey that it will surely drive more Americans into Trump’s arms. Here it is, courtesy of left-wing artist Matt Wuerker:
This is the latest Leftist salvo against those in harm’s way — this week has been filled with hot takes from Leftists suggesting that Texans deserved the Hurricane because of Trump, or because of global warming, or because of the oil industry.
The cartoon is idiotic for a variety of reasons.
First, people in Texas pay taxes. They pay them to the federal government and the state government and the local government. The vast majority of the emergency response has been state and local. Texas could secede and still maintain disaster response.
Second, the anti-religious nonsense embedded here suggests that Texans are a bunch of bitter clinger morons who think that helicopters are angels. That’s the most rote, empty view of religious people imaginable. We believe that sometimes, human beings act as conduits for God’s grace — doctors do it routinely, emergency responders do, too. In fact, there’s a famous religious joke along these lines:
A religious man is trapped in a flood. He prays to God to help him. Soon, a motorboat sails past — and the man inside throws him a rope. The religious man says, “No, thanks, I’ve been praying to God, I’ll wait for Him to save me.” A few minutes later, a helicopter glides overhead, and rope is lowered. “No, thanks,” says the man. “I’ve prayed, and God will save me.” Sure enough, the man drowns. When he reaches the Pearly Gates, he approaches an angel. “Hey,” the man says, “what happened? I prayed and I prayed and God didn’t save me.” The angel replies, “He sent you a boat and helicopter. What else was He supposed to do?”
But according to the Left, religious people don’t understand that human beings help each other. We wait around like dolts, waiting for God to beam us into the sky.
This sort of out-of-touch commentary drives Americans into the arms of people who don’t despise them — people like Trump. Like Trump or hate him, at least he isn’t sitting around calling the hurricane victims a bunch of benighted rubes.