Biden finally says he will visit Maui. But first, a six-day Lake Tahoe vacation
After public pressure and an ill-considered "no comment" when asked about the rising death toll in Maui, Joe Biden now says he will visit Maui in the wake of its catastrophic wildfires.
According to Joe Concha, writing at The Messenger:
Finally, on Tuesday — after six days of silence on the topic — Biden addressed the Maui disaster during a visit to Wisconsin to tout his economic record: "My wife Jill and I are going to travel to Hawaii as soon as we can. That's what I've been talking to the governor about," he said. "I don't want to get in the way, I've been to too many disaster areas, but I want to go and make sure they get everything they need. I want to be sure we don't disrupt the ongoing recovery efforts."
But first, another restful vacation in Lake Tahoe, California, reportedly for six days.
This follows his extended vacation in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where he was photographed catching rays and lounging on the shore as Lahaina burned to the ground. Seems one good vacation deserves another, and Joe has his priorities.
Not surprisingly, the New York Post just ran a piece about Maui's residents not wanting him there.
It's crap like this that makes Concha think this is Biden's "Katrina." He's been billed by Democrats as Mr. Empathy owing to his family tragedies, and it's natural for presidents to act as "Consoler in Chief," as Concha put it, but Biden comes off as a total jerk with little regard for anyone's comfort but his own. His poll numbers showed a negative public reaction to his failure to visit beleaguered Maui, so Biden looked up from his lounge chair and changed his mind about visiting.
Concha points out that even that is a "maybe." After sustained public pressure to visit East Palestine, Ohio, which endured a toxic train spill that largely emptied the town, Chernobyl-style, he promised to visit East Palestine, too — and didn't. We could add the same of the border.
But Joe goes on vacation faithfully — every single time.
Maui burned and Biden vacationed.
— Wesley Hunt (@WesleyHuntTX) August 15, 2023
East Palestine crumbled and Biden vacationed.
Kabul fell and Biden vacationed.
The border collapsed and Biden vacationed.
AMERICA LAST: Joe Biden. pic.twitter.com/RYdBHnSqph
He's actually spent 40% of his time in the White House on vacation. East Palestine? Not so much. And it remains to be seen if he gets around to visiting Maui, though I think he will.
That's because it's become so high-profile it would be insane if he didn't, and more to the point, because unlike East Palestine, or the border, he's got a lot of political friends in Maui, Democrats, who have demonstrated an amazing record of incompetence.
When and if Joe goes to Maui, you can bet he's going to be praising these guys, because he always praises government.
How incompetent are they?
Start with Hawaii's governor, Josh Green, who right out the gate explained the devastating wildfires away with an all-purpose global warming.
Climate change is here and it's affecting the islands, and I think that's what we're seeing with this fire.
Next up, the governor said it was ongoing water issues, adding to his excuse-making:
Asked about reports that firefighters didn't have enough water to tackle the blazes on August 8, the governor told reporters in a news conference Monday: "One thing that people need to understand, especially from far away, is there's been a great deal of water conflict on Maui for many years."
There was also him:
Maui chief doesn’t regret not activating sirens during wildfire: ‘We would not have saved those people’ https://t.co/0gMqt5vksp pic.twitter.com/sCtEmm2bgu
— New York Post (@nypost) August 17, 2023
He couldn't have...pushed a button? Just in case?
And don't forget this guy:
ЁЯЪиЁЯЪиЁЯЪиUnbelievable statement by a #Lahaina resident :
— Kevin - WE THE PEOPLEтЭдя╕П - DADЁЯжБ ЁЯРЙ ЁЯФе (@bambkb) August 16, 2023
“The police kept people inside a perimeter and were blocking them from leaving #Lahaina while the fires were spreading”ЁЯШ│ЁЯШ│
Do people now understand why ‘conspiracy theorists’ thought it was suspicious that this former, Las… pic.twitter.com/I8h8hrcHsp
I want to vomit over the stupidity, negligence, and evil authoritarianism imposed by this officer on the fleeing victims of #lahaina. Scores of people unnecessarily lost their pets, family, and their own lives because of his actions that day. pic.twitter.com/CoagEU6NBR
— TexasFreeze (@texas_freeze) August 16, 2023
There was more from this charmer:
Herman Andaya, Maui Emergency Management Agency administrator, defended not sounding the sirens during the fire.
"We were afraid that people would have gone mauka," he said, using the Hawaiian directional term that can mean toward the mountains or inland. "If that was the case then they would have gone into the fire."
More about him:
CBS News has learned Maui’s emergency operations chief had no background in disaster response. It’s his department that is responsible for setting off warning sirens, which rang silent during the fires. #maui #wildfires #Lahaina #MauiFire
— Norah O'Donnell ЁЯЗ║ЁЯЗ╕ (@NorahODonnell) August 16, 2023
And the incompetence extended:
ЁЯЪи THIS IS PURE EVIL!!! I Have Obtained New Footage From Maui Fire Ground Zero That Shows Hawaii Police Officer SHUTTING DOWN A CITIZEN DONATION CENTER FOR VICTIMS OF THE FIRES ЁЯЪи
— Matt Wallace (@MattWallace888) August 17, 2023
тЪая╕П The Officer Says (Not Knowing He is Being Recorded) THAT THE “POWERS THAT BE” ARE RESPONSIBLE тЪая╕П… pic.twitter.com/h90WAQle8d
It's no wonder the New York Post at least is reporting that Maui's residents don't even want Biden there to gush all over them.
The Post ran this late yesterday, citing several residents:
MAUI — Hawaiian residents are saying they don't want Joe Biden to visit them on Monday as the president continues to face backlash this week for appearing aloof following the state's largest natural disaster.
With pressure mounting for him to visit and discuss the federal government's response to the Maui wildfires, Biden announced Wednesday that he would visit the devastated island come Monday, much to the dissatisfaction of some island residents.
"I don’t want him here," Jay Awan, of Lahaina, told The Post Wednesday. "He's just coming to Maui to look good in front of the cameras."
Awan, 45, a cook and tiki carver, said nothing would be gained from the 80-year-old president's visit, as his town, a once-popular resort area, has been "burned to the ground."
That shouldn't be surprising. Biden is coming to Hawaii for the sake of Biden, not the Maui wildfire victims. They're going to need a lot more help than Joe's $700 checks, which many doubt they're going to get anyway. Their beautiful city is basically a victim of official incompetence, and there's no way Joe's going to ride herd on that problem. All he's thinking of is himself. It explains why his first priority is that six-day vacation in Lake Tahoe, with Maui just a side trip.
Image: Screen shot from Joe Biden via YouTube.