Less than two weeks ago a devastating wildfire engulfed the Hawaiian island of Maui, particularly the historic city of Lahaina.
Over one hundred people are confirmed dead, and more than a thousand are still missing. Blackened earth and soot scar what was once a beautiful and tropical paradise.
Error has compounded error in disaster response, with people on the ground still unable to return and discover what remains of their homes.
A lack of transparency, and the stonewalling of outside observers has led to appropriate suspicion about how high the blame goes.
I’ll let former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who is currently activated on reserve duty, explain more. She told Glenn Beck on The Blaze:
“It’s unfortunate there has been so little communication going through official channels…there’s been a vacuum of communication and as you know in that vacuum a lot of questions and a lot of fears and concerns arise.”
Furthermore, she told Laura Ingraham on Fox News:
“I’m in constant touch with these community members and leaders, they are still not seeing response from the county, the state, the federal government to be able to go out and help them. The community support hubs that they have are 100% community led, volunteer supply collections, conducting all of these coordinations on their own. They feel like the government doesn’t care about them.”
My entire team at Bring Our Troops Home is praying for recovery in Maui and for the wonderful people of Hawaii.
Former Democratic State Rep. Dale Kobayashi was a sponsor of our Defend the Guard legislation, and vocally supported turning our government’s attention to problems at home for reasons and emergencies just like this.
Unfortunately, his wisdom isn’t shared by the administration in Washington DC.
Since the start of the disaster, President Joe Biden has gone on two beach vacations and barely spoke a word to the press about what’s happening right here in our country. Finally, under immense pressure, he finally graced the island with his presence yesterday.
Maybe if Maui was called Kherson or Sevastopol, Joe Biden could be bothered to hold a press conference when Americans were losing their homes and families.
Biden has never hesitated in promising American military and financial support to the Zelensky regime for “as long as it takes,” and verbally committing our country to permanent hostility with Russia (including regime change).
But while Ukraine can receive over $100 billion to fight a war they can’t win and let their oligarchs line their pockets with our money so they can go on vacations like Biden, FEMA has promised the wildfire victims a one-time $700 check.
Furthermore, the White House has instructed Congress that any supplemental funding bill to increase this aid must be paired with billions more aid for Ukraine.
$700 to rebuild your life from scratch, and Joe Biden is holding every extra penny hostage until Kiev gets its cut of the federal budget.
This is the cost of empire. For Washington DC, Hawaii is just another province like Kiev or Baghdad. Why should one matter more than the other when we’re all treated as subjects instead of citizens?
National Guardsmen have been mobilized to respond to the wildfire and assist with recovery. I can testify from my own experience in the Guard, including leading a truck convoy down from Idaho to Louisiana in response to Hurricane Katrina, that they’re acting professionally, capably, and the best that anyone could ask.
But would our government’s response to the Maui wildfire have been more robust if our government wasn’t distracted by endless war in Ukraine and the Middle East, and if we were led by people with an America First attitude instead of globalist priorities?
I don’t see any other way to look at it.
