Dem. Senator, Others Use Okla. Tornadoes to Hit GOP Over Sandy Relief Bill, 'Climate Change

As emergency responders in Oklahoma work through the night tending to those whose lives have been shattered by Monday’s deadly tornadoes, a few individuals have seized on today's tragedy as an opportunity to take shots at Republican lawmakers.

Democrat Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, for example, while attacking the GOP on Monday for being “anti-science” and for being the party of “climate deniers” worked the Oklahoma tornadoes into his speech.

“So, you may have a question for me,” the senator said. “Why do you care? Why do you, Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat of Rhode Island, care if we Republicans run off the climate cliff like a bunch of proverbial lemmings and disgrace ourselves?”

He continued:

I’ll tell you why. We’re stuck in this together. We are stuck in this together. When cyclones tear up Oklahoma and hurricanes swamp Alabama and wildfires scorch Texas, you come to us, the rest of the country, for billions of dollars to recover.

And the damage that your polluters and deniers are doing doesn’t just hit Oklahoma and Alabama and Texas. It hits Rhode Island with floods and storms. It hits Oregon with acidified seas, it hits Montana with dying forests.

“So, like it or not, we’re in this together,” he added. “You drag America with you to your fate”:

Sen. Whitehouse wasn't the only one who criticized Republican lawmakers via the Oklahoma tornadoes . Indeed, several journalists used today's deadly events as an excuse to criticize the GOP for its opposition to the pork-stuffed Sandy Relief bill.

USA Today's Susan Davis thought this was a really great point that needed to be made:

[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/DaviSusan/status/336598530439397376"]

[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/DaviSusan/status/336598691051880451"]

Then there’s this from a Vanity Fair contributing editor:

[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/kurteichenwald/status/336632102852366336"]

The Nation magazine editor and publisher Katrina vanden Heuvel (i.e. the same media personality who openly admitted in February that her interns have no idea who Bob Woodward is) thought this was a point worth making:

[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/KatrinaNation/status/336654031399305216"]

POLITICO's Glenn Thrush wanted a piece of the action:

[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/GlennThrush/status/336666191814868993"]

And there's this from Roll Call’s Meredith Shiner:

[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/meredithshiner/status/336648788804501504"]

And let’s not forget the Huffington Post:

[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/HuffPostPol/status/336641279104544768"]

As of this writing, the death toll  from Monday’s tornadoes had surpassed 51.

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RELATED:

• DISASTER: At Least 37 People Dead After Massive Oklahoma Tornado, Death Toll Expected to Rise
• Watch: Unreal Time-Lapse Footage Shows Massive Tornado Tearing Through Okla.
• Okla. Mom’s Incredible Interview: I Prevented Tornado From Taking My Daughter by Holding on to Her Hair

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(H/T: The Daily Caller). Featured image Getty Images.