if you were wondering if the attacks on San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz were spontaneous, no they were not, they were scripted and planned. White House Homeland Security Advisor Tom Bossert admitted it. Axios:
I recommend that today and tomorrow we use the general theme of supporting the governor and standing with the people of Puerto Rico to get them food, water, shelter and emergency medical care. Monday and Tuesday we can pivot hopefully to a theme of stabilizing as we address temporary housing and sustaining the flow of commodities and basic government services, including temporary power. After that we focus on restoration of basic services throughout next week and next weekend. Then we start a theme of recovery planning for the bright future that lies ahead for Puerto Rico. Planned hits, tweets, tv bookings and other work will limit the need for reactionary efforts.
The storm caused these problems, not our response to it. We have pushed about as much stuff and people through a tiny hole in as short a timeframe as possible.
In mid October, Mick and Marc will lead the effort to the Hill for more funds for emergency work, recovery programs and other offsets, and to replenish and hopefully reform the flood insurance program. In the meantime, we have plenty of ready money and another $6+ billion will be released to FEMA October 1st as part of our last supplemental deal.
Thank you, keep it up!
If you read the full memo, Bossert freely admits that only 45% of the people of Puerto Rico have drinking water and that only one hospital on the island is fully functional. Despite that, he paints a picture of “themes” and pivoting from theme to theme, including “planned hits” on individuals who don’t see the Puerto Rico recovery situation in quite the same cheery light as he does. No problem, just do a “hit” on anybody who complains, be sure to limit the need for “reactionary efforts” by the people ostensibly in charge.
While Bossert brags about how full the coffers are, people are literally starving:
We found Mayor Luis “Rolan” Maldanado at the Coliseo Raul Feliciano, a basketball arena that is serving as the center for emergency operations in Ciales. He said that almost every section of the town had been hit hard in some way and that he was trying to stretch the town’s meager resources. “We are working with what little resources we have to attend to everyone,” he said.
Maldanado said that he had been promised things a satellite phone to stay in touch with the governor, but it never arrived. He told us that when he gets diesel fuel, which is very hard to obtain on the island right now, it gets stolen at night, and that he has only 14 municipal police and 24 Puerto Rican police to manage a town of nearly 19,000. He showed us the meals he says the National Guard gave him to distribute to residents seeking food. Each one-day ration comprised a small fruit cup, a 7.5-ounce can of Hormel Corned Beef Hash, four small cookies, and a pack of peanut butter and cheddar crackers.
Near the edge of Ciales, we found Paula Santos Pérez, an older woman with short hair and a soft voice, standing outside her sister’s house. Their other sister, who was off waiting in a line for gasoline at the time, used to live in a small house in the back of the property. That house was mostly washed away during the storm.
“I have no words,” she told us and started to cry. When we asked about help from the federal, island-wide, or local government, she quickly said, “nada, cero”—nothing, zero. She told us that if government officials were standing in front of her, she would tell them that her family feels that “they only have help from God.”
So there you have it, Tom Bossert’s make believe world of rescue and heroism and the real world of post-Maria Puerto Rico. Woe betide anybody who complains too loudly because another “hit” can be “planned” that much is certain.