Puerto Rico: Storms, Stupidity and Trump

Tragedy is, and always will be, something which will always be exploited by opportunists.

Recently, we have witnessed some of the worst examples of opportunistic exploitation by any single human being in recent memory.

Yes, Donald Trump, President Donald Trump, has trivialised the Puerto Rican hurricane devastation and tried to turn it into a publicity stunt, starring himself, as usual.

His attitude to the crisis in Puerto Rico since Hurricane Maria hit and destroyed vast amounts of the US dependency has been nothing short of vindictive. He has consistently brought up the serious debt problems of the island, while doing very little to actually help the storm ravaged towns and villages.

Remember, this is a man who has been bankrupt on many occasions and has cheated other businesses out of millions of dollars. He, in fact, owes Puerto Rico thirty-three million dollars, due to his golf course failure there. The hypocrisy of this man knows no bounds.

In contrast, his response to the storms which hit Texas and Louisiana was one of concern. He couldn't stop tweeting about how well his government and himself were dealing with the situation. He told us he was personally donating one million dollars to help with reconstruction. Although I don't imagine this really transpired. He is best known for not living up to financial promises.

Puerto Rico was obviously a complete mystery to him. He had no idea where it was and less of an idea that it was a US territory. This ignorance is simply breathtaking for an American President. How could someone as asinine as this become the leader of the "free" world? He was similarly ignorant of the status of the US Virgin islands, telling people he had met the island's "President"! The stupidity just oozes from this idiot.

His notoriously thin skin had him involved in a slanging match with the mayor of San Juan, Carmen Yulin Cruz, over the amount of help they needed in city and surrounding areas. He hadn't been there at that point, but he said he knew better than someone respected and admired, on the ground.

His inability to understand anyone not agreeing with his opinion is quite astonishing. He has such a lack of grace or empathy, he cannot see that keeping quiet until he knows the facts, is the adult reaction. This is most evident in any major issues. North Korea is a prime example of his shooting off his mouth before listening to expert advice from people who have studied the country for decades. He really believes he has all the answers to all the questions, when he doesn't even know what the questions will be.

After all this time since Puerto Rico was hit by Hurricane Maria, the US government has made inroads into helping the people, but most of its infrastructure is still not up and running. A completely different situation to the same kind of damage done to mainland America. Huge resources were put in place to get essential services working again in Texas and Louisiana. Only a tiny percentage of that has been allocated to millions of US citizens, living in squalor in Puerto Rico.

This is shameful and a complete disgrace. A total disregard for human life. I can only presume this has something to do with an attitude of either racism, or possibly just donkey like stubbornness, in the face of reality. Donald Trump appears to have feet in both of these camps. His inability to change his position on any decision he has made, is costing vulnerable people in America their lives.

The disaster struck people of Puerto Rico deserve to be treated with as much dignity and care as any other person who is an American citizen. They do not deserve to be treated as if they have no value, by an inward looking, small minded, bigoted excuse for a President, they didn't get to vote into office.