Context is everything.

[elfs]

If a Muslim in America killed 40 people, the right would claim it was because of Islam, and the government wasn't doing enough to keep "dangerous Islam" out of our country.

If a Christian in America killed 40 people, the right would claim he wasn't a true Christian, and if he attended a church it was only a stealth campaign on his part to discredit Christianity.

If a hurricane killed 40 people, but only in New York City, the right would claim the government hadn't done enough to get people out of harm's way.

A hurricane killed 40 people, but none in a major media market. Therefore, the threat was oversold and the government's efforts to get people out of harm's way were a waste of time and effort.

Comments

It certainly worked about the Christian in Norway

[shunra.livejournal.com]

That's pretty much what was claimed about Breivik.

[fayanora.livejournal.com]

Time to return this "Republican Party" to the store. I hope we can find the receipt.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_candide_/]

I live in the Mid-Hudson Valley. All of the counties around mine got pummeled. The 15-mile radius around where I live was pretty much spared the worst of Hurricane Irene.

Our friends who are farmers lost almost all of their produce. All of their farmers-market income for the rest of the year? Gone. Their apple orchard is/was their main crop, but as of last week, they hadn't tallied their losses there.

And they were lucky. Their farm is more or less atop a hill. Our friends told us that they had to talk one of their neighbor-farmers out of committing suicide.

I heard about another local farmer (RSK Farm in Prattsville, NY) who's farm is, well, gone. All of his topsoil washed away, down to the bedrock in some places.

And Vermont got it even worse than that.