More red-state bashing in the wake of historic tornado damage

I wrote last week about how many urban dwellers and coastal elites are so angry at rural and red state folks that they don't even want to hear advice on how to get to them vote Democratic.  In fact, they just seem to want to flaunt their anger at these constituencies.   

Sadly, several responses to inappropriate and insensitive tweets have come across my Twitter feed since the string of tornados tore across six states Friday night, impacting mostly nonmetropolitan areas in Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky and Illinois.  (Read coverage here, here and here).  Also sadly, this is a redux of Twitter backlash to earlier red state disasters, like the power outages amidst record cold in Texas last winter, when I saw Tweets ridiculing people for choosing to live in Texas.  (I'll bracket for now any response to the notion that people truly have choice about where to live, especially if they are low income)

Here, I'm just going to post some of the rural pushback to the hateful tornado Tweets.  They speak for themselves, except that you can't always see the ugly Tweets that folks are responding to.  In any event, this seems to illustrate well the ways in which blue states are hating on red states--and urban is hating on rural of late.    

Screenshot from Dec. 12, 2021

Screenshot from December 11, 2021

Another Arkansan's response to the same tweet--or more precisely to the profile of the woman who sent the tweet, a Californian:

Screenshot from December 11, 2021

And that generated these responses:  

Some of the lefty Twitter anger was directed at Rand Paul, U.S. Senator from Kentucky, who had earlier opposed disaster aid to "blue states."  That anger seems appropriate because Paul is an elected official with some power to control resources--and because he has specifically opposed aid to places based on their political leanings.  And now, of course the shoe is on the other foot given Kentucky's enormous need.  

I also note that coverage of the tornados, which impacted many small cities and rural areas, like Mayfield (population 10,000) and Dawson Springs (population 2,500) in Kentucky, has included a lot of rhetoric about community solidarity and everyone knowing everyone (lack of anonymity), as well as the terrible blow this represents to not only to individuals, but also to the economies of counties and regions.  One interview with an elected county executive yesterday mentioned the need to rebuild economies--in addition to the obvious need to rebuild homes, churches, schools, courthouses and other destroyed buildings.  Just imagine, for example, the impact that loss of the candle manufacturer in Mayfield will have on the region; it employed hundreds of people in a place with a relatively undiversified economy.  A story from the New York Times yesterday hinted at that issue, with this quote from 25-year-old Dashawntrey Cooper, 

This is going to make or break Mayfield.  It's going to take more than just strength to come back from this.  

Postscript:  here's a Washington Post report on President Biden's December 15 visit to Mayfield Kentucky, the hard hit city in the western part of the state.  The story is by Matt Viser, and the headline is "In Trump country, a willingness to set aside politics as Biden visits."  A representative excerpt follows:

Cliff Giambrone most certainly didn’t vote for President Biden and, in fact, was outside the U.S. Capitol protesting the election results on Jan. 6. On the trailer hitch on the back of his van, he usually uses two 10-foot poles to fly a flag with a derogatory message aimed at Biden: “Let’s Go Brandon.”

But when the 67-year-old retired construction worker drove from his home in Hamburg, Pa., to help the recovery effort here, he made a conscious decision to leave that flag at home, bringing an American flag instead. “Believe me, part of me wants to wave that flag and smile when he looks at it,” he said. “But I don’t want to be that guy.”

Pausing in his search for a lost photo album in the rubble of a home, Giambrone added, “I am political, but there are times you have to set that aside. This is one of those moments. I hope it’s not temporary. I didn’t vote for him, but he’s still my president. I want to support him.”