Party like it's 1900

Bad timing alert!

Maybe the day that the entire east coast is flipping out over a slow-moving hurricane that's already shut down major cities is NOT the best time to declare that the Federal Emergency Management Agency isn't really something we need. People tend to be receptive to the "do I really need this?" thing when they're complacent, not when they're glued to the Weather Channel. But when has Rep. Ron Paul given a damn what I or anyone else thinks?

Following a fundraiser in New Hampshire (one of the states that's going to get at least some of Hurricane Irene's mess), Paul told CNN that FEMA gets in the way more than it helps. I think that reasonable people can debate how effective federal agencies are and whether they're necessary. But it's the evidence Paul cites in defense of his point of view that really gets me.

Citing the Galveston hurricane in 1900 that obliterated much of the Texas coast, the libertarian-leaning congressman said Americans were able to rebuild their cities and put up a seawall without the federal government's help.

"FEMA is not a good friend of most people in Texas," Paul said. "All they do is come in and tell you what to do and can't do. You can't get in your houses. And they hinder the local people, and they hinder volunteers from going in."

I wish CNN had posted the exact quote, because I'd really like to see for myself how Paul expressed this. The way this is written, he comes off somewhere between "Let them eat cake"-era Marie Antoinette and that kid who drove your high school teachers batty with his complete, almost willful inability to think critically.

As luck would have it, I'm rereading Isaac's Storm, an account of the 1900 Galveston hurricane, which I bought just before Hurricane Katrina and which I tend to reread whenever there's a big storm coming. (I'm weird that way.) If you're unaware, the Galveston storm was one of the deadliest hurricanes in American history. While the storm was powerful, it was so devastating because it was so unexpected. Had Galveston had the technology to see what was coming and - just spitballing here - help from a large, well-funded agency with the authority to evacuate the island, maybe so many people wouldn't have died.

Also, Galveston didn't recover fully from the hurricane. Ever. Before, it was one of the most important cities in Texas. After, the city took so long to get going again that shipping companies took their business to the port in Houston, which of course is now one of the biggest cities in the country. Oh, but Galveston rebuilt its seawall all by itself! ** I'm sure that's totally worth the permanent loss of their economy.

At this exact moment, the more than 7,000 people who work for FEMA are working with officials in my state to get our power back on, get our beaches cleaned up so we don't lose the Labor Day business. At this exact moment, FEMA is sheltering tens of thousands of Americans who left their homes and businesses, people who might've died today if they hadn't had somewhere to go. All week, FEMA employees have been helping the states further up the coast prepare for the storm, minimizing loss of life and property.

Progressives, myself included, frequently accuse conservatives of wanting to roll back the clock. But Ron Paul literally went there, didn't he? All the way back more than a century, in fact. When I see someone who wants to be my president saying, with a straight face, that he's totally ok with my state (which just fired several thousand public employees to balance the budget, by the way) just fend for itself, I get angry.

What I see is a guy who's wealthy enough not to ever have to worry about how long it's going to take for the overwhelmed insurance company to send the check. And hey, good for him. But most of us, if our homes were flooded and everything we owned destroyed, would need a little help. Someone who doesn't grasp that has no business running this country.

UPDATE
** ...except they didn't. According to this source, "The City's credit was shaky after The Storm, so Galveston County stepped up to sell the necessary bonds." SOCIALISM!