May I just say that the stupidest, most despicable, most self-defeating political “tactic” in our present hyper-partisan climate is the accusation that victims of today’s horrific wildfires, floods, and such are getting what they deserved because of their political views.

Start with this month’s catastrophic floods in Appalachia. If you’ve never had a river gushing into your home and town, you can’t imagine the destruction, muck, stench, injuries, death, and despair. Yet, various numbskulls who profess to be progressive have posted taunts online, chortling that these devastated victims are red-state, small-government Trump voters who don’t deserve government’s helping hand in their time of dire need.

Likewise, right-wing MAGA squads, including some GOP congress critters, routinely jeer at wildfire victims in blue states and cities, gloating that hellfire is righteous punishment for “ungodly” people who oppose Trump’s “divine mission.”

Hello—this is not politics, it’s disgraceful inhumanity. And those who engage in it are skuzz, insults to America’s democratic ideals of the Common Good.

Happily though (even as divisive and violent political rhetoric is being spewed by some of our highest officials), the ingrained ethic in practically every community is to rush to the aid of anyone and everyone in times of disaster. I saw this up close when Hurricane Harvey slammed Houston in 2017. Washington officials played politics for weeks as the city was drowning—but hundreds of working people showed up, even from far away states, bringing their small boats and power tools to organize ad hoc rescue teams, not asking anyone their party affiliation.

This is Jim Hightower saying… That’s our truest selves—and it’s why it’s essential to swat down the malignant ethic of anyone who tries to pervert fundamental humanity into their red-blue morass.

This post from No Elegy Needed was part of the inspiration for this commentary, and they’ve shared resources where you can support the people affected by this latest round of climate disasters:

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