In her column, Mona Charen says that Trump is lying about hurricane relief aid being sent to western North Carolina because the people there voted Republican (PDN, Oct. 4).
“As it happens, Asheville, one of the most devastated parts of North Carolina, is quite blue, but whatever.”
While it is true that the county in which Asheville is located did vote for Biden in 2020, the other 38 counties that the governor has also declared disaster areas all voted for Trump.
I would call Charon’s statement 1/39th true and 38/39ths lie. But whatever.
My parents spent several of their retirement years in Landrum, S.C., an hour south of Asheville. My wife and I got most of our education near Durham, N.C., which was spared from much of the damage.
But we drove into the mountains of western North Carolina on several occasions. We spent a summer near Spruce Pine, N.C., which we understand has been destroyed.
Hurricane relief is not reaching the people in the affected areas.
There are numerous reports that this is the case. I don’t know if that is due to governmental malice or incompetence.
I favor the latter.
Whatever the cause, the people there do not deserve what is happening to them, regardless of party affiliation.
Oh, did you know that FEMA’s Goal #1 in its latest strategic plan is “Instill Equity as a Foundation of Emergency Management”?
I am not making this up.
B. Dale Russell
Port Angeles