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NYTimes Uses Hurricane Sandy to Bash Mitt Romney: ‘Big Storm Requires Big Government’

Oct. 30, 2012 10:50am Mytheos Holt

The New York Times’ editorial page is well known for its left-leaning bias. The paper itself is often criticized for ignoring stories that are embarrassing for Democrats (Benghazi-gate being the most recent). Yet for all these flaws, the paper has retained the image of some slight shred of dignity among members of the media, given its long history and previously august status.

However, today’s editorial on the federal government’s response to Hurricane Sandy might be seen by observers to remove that slight shred. Why? Because the paper uses it to do something that both sides of the political spectrum seem to have mutually agreed is bad taste – namely, politicizing the storm response by using it as an excuse to attack GOP nominee Mitt Romney, in an editorial entitled “A Big Storm Requires Big Government.”

Romney’s alleged crime is that he has said (in the past) that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) should have some of its power transferred to the states and the private sector. As to how the Times interpreted this suggestion, it must be read to be believed:

Mr. Romney not only believes that states acting independently can handle the response to a vast East Coast storm better than Washington, but that profit-making companies can do an even better job. He said it was “immoral” for the federal government to do all these things if it means increasing the debt.

It’s an absurd notion, but it’s fully in line with decades of Republican resistance to federal emergency planning. FEMA, created by President Jimmy Carter, was elevated to cabinet rank in the Bill Clinton administration, but was then demoted by President George W. Bush, who neglected it, subsumed it into the Department of Homeland Security, and placed it in the control of political hacks. The disaster of Hurricane Katrina was just waiting to happen.

The agency was put back in working order by President Obama, but ideology still blinds Republicans to its value. Many don’t like the idea of free aid for poor people, or they think people should pay for their bad decisions, which this week includes living on the East Coast.

Yes, that’s right. According to the Times, because Mitt Romney and the Republican party believe that the private sector can do something better than a federal agency in Washington, they must want poor people to go without aid and suffer for having the audacity to live on the East Coast. Really, what other motive could there be?

The Times’ accusation that Republicans disapprove of emergency aid has not correlated very well with the response of actual Republican officeholders. Consider New Jersey Republican Governor Chris Christie’s recent heaping of praise on President Obama for apparently handling the crisis well in Christie’s state of New Jersey:

In TV interviews and on Twitter, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a staunch backer of Mitt Romney, was effusive in his praise on Tuesday for President Barack Obama’s handling of Hurricane Sandy.

“It’s been very good working with the president,” Christie said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “He and his administration have been coordinating with us. It’s been wonderful.”

On NBC’s “Today,” Christie said the president had been “outstanding” and FEMA’s response has been “excellent.”[...]

Christie said he spoke with Obama three times on Monday, including at midnight, when Obama agreed to speed along an major disaster declaration for New Jersey without all the “normal FEMA mumbo jumbo.” The declarations for New Jersey and New York were issued this morning.

One presumes Christie’s denunciation of the “normal FEMA mumbo jumbo” must upset more than a few editorial writers at the Times, to say nothing of President Obama’s apparent agreement with Christie that a bureaucratic organization like FEMA might be ill-suited to act quickly in situations like this. Nevertheless, perhaps articles like this will compel critics to give the Times credit on one point: They may well be an authority on what does and does not count as an “absurd notion.”

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Comments (94)

crazyrightwingmom
Posted on October 30, 2012 at 11:36am
FEMA is not hands and workers…those are local people!!
And rescue people hate FEMA!

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- MittensKittens
  Posted on October 30, 2012 at 12:02pm
  I was praying that the NY times was washed away with the hurricane…darn it.
  
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- CatB
  Posted on October 30, 2012 at 12:09pm
  Agree .. community is what comes together and works after a disasster .. NOT GOVERNMENT .. look at all the government FEMA $$$ that got thrown at N.O. and YEARS later they were still waiting for someone to come and do it for them! I live in a community that had a major hurricane the year before (Charley) and the COMMUNITY rebuilt! We didn’t sit around and take the money and wait for others.
  
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- doomytram
  Posted on October 30, 2012 at 12:20pm
  Laughable MSM Obozo surrogates like the NYT are owned by Carlos Slim right? Obozo….he is fan-fekking-tastic. The biggest natural disaster on earth since the big bang. The disastrous Obozo is on fire and he is burying the middle class.
  
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- SquidVetOhio
  Posted on October 30, 2012 at 12:35pm
  Are they talking about all the government offices that are closed in the NE today? Freaking morons.
  
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- WarMunger_Al
  Posted on October 30, 2012 at 12:38pm
  Bid storms don’t require Big government. They require a responsible local government and a prepared populace. The problem is, most American communities are filled with useless sheep.
  
  Report this comment
- GETLIFE
  Posted on October 30, 2012 at 12:42pm
  A big storm requires reliable information.
  It has become a ridiculous notion to equate the NYT, FEMA, or the WH with “reliable information.”
  We have come a long way, actually.
  
  Report this comment
- Individualism
  Posted on October 30, 2012 at 2:12pm
  Romney is a big goverment fascist like Obama, so FEMA would stay.
  
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- HKS
  Posted on October 30, 2012 at 5:00pm
  Looks like the times has several more credibility issues against Romney. They are as big a liar as Obama and that is saying something. The times should be so proud.
  
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charliegirl4u
Posted on October 30, 2012 at 11:20am
Typical, O Bite Me AMA and regime will use anything to sensationalize and glorify themselves and ride it straight on in to election….he is a little boring parasite and the N.Y. Times love him..
I Do not Read the N.Y. times at all !
Romney/Ryan

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Detroit paperboy
Posted on October 30, 2012 at 11:17am
I read an article yesterday about the Chinese daily news, referring to the New York Times as
“”"” A GOVERNMENT PROPAGANDA OUTLET “”". Even the Commies know……….

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65Mustang
Posted on October 30, 2012 at 11:17am
The New York Times…I think of New York as a place similar to Sodom and Gomorrah, maybe the NYT will go up in flames as it should along with the other degenerates that occupy New York. I feel sorry for all that are experiencing the pain of this disaster…it was not a result of global warning.

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chkiaar
Posted on October 30, 2012 at 11:17am
It’s still OUR hands that do the clean-up and rebuilding, NOT the government. Unless you’re on the government teet and just sit back and wait for other people to come in and do it for you…which seems to be the new American way-

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Ilikepeople
Posted on October 30, 2012 at 11:14am
It’s funny that people don’t realize they all worship the same God no matter their religion. Even in the Books of Moses when Jacob goes to the land of Pharaoh, and Jacob tells Pharaoh that Jacob’s wife is Jacob’s sister, then Pharaoh feels God against Pharaoh, and Pharaoh ridicules Jacob for not telling Pharaoh that she was Jacob’s wife. Same God, but different interpretations, just as much as a family will have one dad, and several children will have different interpretations of the dad.

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- M13
  Posted on October 30, 2012 at 12:38pm
  Tell that to the Muslim jihadists.
  
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justangry
Posted on October 30, 2012 at 11:13am
So why bash Romney if they want a big government other than to make conservatives think Romney is a conservative?

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- 13th Imam
  Posted on October 30, 2012 at 12:08pm
  You being a Romney Bashing DEMOCRAT, why don’t you let us know. It’s become obvious, you are a Barry supporter.
  
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- justangry
  Posted on October 30, 2012 at 12:28pm
  Yes 13th, all the hip Democrats support laissez faire capitalism, a constitutionally restricted federal government, sound money and individualism these days.
  
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Karla Sofen
Posted on October 30, 2012 at 11:13am
The government workers stayed home and private power company employees doing all the work.

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Gary_K
Posted on October 30, 2012 at 11:10am
the new york times is still in print?

Who knew?

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LOJ
Posted on October 30, 2012 at 11:10am
Man is such a troubled lot. Unbelieveable how we are going to our doom and these people are too hateful and self absorbed to see it. Haggai ch. 2 says: The Lord foretold through the Hebrew prophet that he would shake all the nations of the world in the last days. “For thus says the Lord of hosts, “Once more in a little while, I am going to shake the nations and the earth, the sea also and the dry land. I will shake all nations…I am going to shake the heavens and the earth. I will overthrow the thrones of kingdoms and destroy the power of the kingdoms of the nations.. verses 6-7 21-22. We are being shaken physically, financially, socially, spiritually, politically and in numerous other ways, and we can expect this to accelerate and intensify in the years to come. Is America Babylon?
Whirlwind: The imminent Judgement of Babylon..America….Are we the Great harlot who sits on many waters with whom the kings of the Earth have committed fornication and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication?….described in Revelation 17 and 18

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charliegirl4u
Posted on October 30, 2012 at 11:08am
Well that is one reason I Do NOT read the New York Times !!
One sided and twisted, absolutely pathetic …O Bite Me AMA and crew will do anything to sensationalize and use to their advantage !! Just read the article ….. He will ride this (aftermath) of Sandy on in until Election Day … ;(
Romney/Ryan

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toomuchgovt
Posted on October 30, 2012 at 11:07am
Let the politicking begin. On Yahoo, if you click a story about Sandy a auto anti Romney ad starts that you can’t turn off, mute or turn off.

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Crazyotto
Posted on October 30, 2012 at 11:07am
Romney is right a bloated FEMA is not equipped to handle disaster that impact local municipalities, States, or Regions. Even when a disaster is considered National in scope what can FEMA do other than to coordinate distribution of resources? It certainly cannot do a better job at fixing infrastructure.

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biohazard23
Posted on October 30, 2012 at 11:06am
People still read the Times? Or do they buy it to line their bird cages and other foul (fowl?) areas?

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Cavallo
Posted on October 30, 2012 at 11:05am
Pravda is more right leaning than the NYTs.

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HKS
Posted on October 30, 2012 at 11:05am
Did anyone notice any contrails moving about that storm system?

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judyaz
Posted on October 30, 2012 at 11:04am
Wow, they have electricity.

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Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on October 30, 2012 at 11:04am
Big government is not the answer, it is part of the problem. FEMA under Obama has become a means of control and parselling out government rewards and funding to his cronies and the areas of the nation where he needs the votes for his insane agenda to continue.

Look to history for many examples of disasters hitting our nation before FEMA-insanity began under Carter. Private investing and private business along with neighbor helping neighbor is the fastest way of prosperity returning to any area of a disaster hit land.

When FEMA shows up anywhere they immediately tell people “Me chief, you do as I say or go to jail” and they will back it up with force if pushed far enough. Our nation has come to rely far too much upon the federal government instead of seeking to help one another out in times of crisis.

Learn the lesson well, or the final providence of God will be withdrawn soon and the nightmare we will descend into will never end.

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- DOra Glasberg
  Posted on October 30, 2012 at 5:20pm
  Oh, I know.
  I always say if yer house get washed away just go to Home Depot and build a new one.
  And if the phone and electricity if off, light some fire and get to dixie cups and a string!
  
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HKS
Posted on October 30, 2012 at 11:02am
This paper is so biased no one can believe anything they say. It’s like, no credibility in anything, worthless, a non factor, a waste of time, a zero in the marketplace, get the point.

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RJJinGadsden
Posted on October 30, 2012 at 11:01am
This is funny. Before sometime in the 1930s there was no federal assistance during these disasters. Instead of siting on their haunches waiting for FEMA or others to assist, people used get together and fix it themselves. And, this was accomplished more efficiently then too. Today, it sounds like more threats from authorities you would expect to help, then a year or so later FEMA sues for much of their money to be returned. I wouldn’t take a dime from FEMA. I would rather rely on MY insurance, and MY efforts.

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Gunonesis
Posted on October 30, 2012 at 11:00am
Who reads that commie rag?

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Ilikepeople
Posted on October 30, 2012 at 11:00am
It does require big government that is the big government of the individual, because there is no bigger government than the individual. Want proof? Just look at all the big government throughout history that has been wrecked by just a handful of individuals, and it will just keep happening over and over again. I mean people can have a big central government, but as the government rapidly grows that is essentially God stepping on the gas pedal racing fast toward the destruction of that central government.

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term limits for congress
Posted on October 30, 2012 at 10:57am
Being a conservative in NY is like being a Christian in Egypt. I’d leave and let the muslim brotherhood take both.

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IMCHRISTIAN
Posted on October 30, 2012 at 10:55am
Big government is not needed – Good people are needed. People have always worked and helped those that are in need whether in natural disasters or other needs. Plenty have donated money, time and self in rebuilding structures and rebuilding lives. Government has always done there part but definitely has not done it all free of charge as other volunteers have.

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watashbuddyfriend
Posted on October 30, 2012 at 10:55am
Yes, New York Times, but with a competent leader!

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- watashbuddyfriend
  Posted on October 30, 2012 at 11:04am
  Yes, OMG, so Vote for Romney!
  
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