He Couldn't Be Arsed

So this morning I woke to see Senator Ted Cruz of Texas heading to Cancun for a mini-vacation with his family as millions of Texans were without power and water after the failure of the power grid because of a serious winter storm. That was enough to be angry but what was amazing was the number of people in the right wing noise machine and their followers who made excuses for him leaving his state while there was an emergency. I couldn't help myself, as I thought about people burning their furniture to keep their children warm. I couldn't help but remind people that elected officials are public servants. So I started to list things on twitter about what exactly Senator Cruz could do. I was surprised that when late in the day I saw hundreds of people had retweeted and liked my little rage on line. It was kind of simple to come up with a few things to state.

1. A US Senator has contacts both within his state and the federal government. He can be on the ground to learn where there is more need and can help direct the agencies doing the work on behalf of the government to offer material support. While this could be done on the beach, it is much easier to learn about what is going on in Texas while in Texas.

2. He can show up at a shelter or food distribution center which would bring the media. He could do the photo op, but in doing so he brings attention to the severity of the problem. He could even choose to go to a grossly under served area to bring eyes to see that. Again he could then make calls to his connections to help bring what is needed to those places.

3. He could offer condolences directly to people who are hurting. This seems like an empty gesture by some but there is a reason that elected officials meeting with disaster victims is important. It brings hope. Listening to people interviewed on TV about the sense of abandonment is one of the worst parts of this tragic situation. A person coming to offer hope would go a long way.

4. When elected officials show up they bring attention and value to the victims. Too often people are devalued as statistics in these cases. We know from studies that when someone seen as having a valued social role takes an interest in those that may not, the value rubs off. Often subconsciously. Just showing interest in the plight of people will enhance the response.

5. He could stand in front of a power plant and discredit the lies of the state officials who are trying deflect the blame to renewable energy. The fact is that the main reason the storm was able to do so much long lasting damage is that the energy grid in Texas is independent of the national grids. That was to avoid regulations that would....have guarded against what happened. So now, while the fact is that the main cause of the problem is the failure of the gas and coal fired plants, the government is lying to its people that it is because of frozen wind turbines. True story, federal regulations would have helped to avoid that as well. Cruz could easily have become a hero and called for his state to reconnect to the federal grid and upgrade its infrastructure. He didn't.

6. Lastly, the idea of running off to a resort with your family as the people who elected you are suffering is just not a good look. How do I know this? When he got caught Cruz blamed his children for wanting to get away since the storm had closed school and he was there to help his wife fly with the kids. That lie not only shows how much of a useless politician he is but that he is so hell bent on power he is willing to throw his wife and children under the bus to keep it. He originally was going to return on Saturday, but changed his flight to today. All because he knows what he did was wrong, but will he apologize? No, my guess by Sunday it will somehow be Nancy Pelosi's fault.

There is no way to justify what has happened here. An elected official, who will soon seek the leadership of his party, when his state faced a crisis, he ran away. Unlike other members of Congress who are on the ground, talking with Texans, volunteering where they can and seeking out those who have no one, Cruz tried to live in luxury in another country to ride it out. While one member of Congress who had no power for days, was using his contacts to help people get to shelters and access to simple drinking water, Cruz was sipping expensive wine. As another member of Congress was trying to coordinate food deliveries so people didn't have to stand in the cold only to find empty shelves at the grocery, Cruz was enjoying a fine dining meal.

Let's face it. We know politicians are not going to be fitting pipes and pulling electrical cable. Most can't and wouldn't know how. But there is a lot they can do to make a dire situation a little less so. Cruz chose to let others handle it and take his family away from it all. As they say in Britain, he couldn't be arsed to help. So when he runs for President again, let's remember, that when the going gets tough, Cruz gets going, as far away from the problem as he can. We have seen this movie before, it didn't scream for a sequel.