Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary, shot down criticism by Elon Musk on the government’s handling of Hurricane Helene relief efforts, accusing the SpaceX CEO of spreading misinformation.
Musk accused the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) of blocking his satellite internet company, Starlink, from delivering to parts of North Carolina decimated by the hurricane, a claim both Fema and Buttigieg said was false.
“No one is shutting down the airspace and FAA doesn’t block legitimate rescue and recovery flights. If you’re encountering a problem give me a call,” Buttigieg wrote. Musk replied that he had seen hundreds of such reports and would phone.
Yes, well done, “legitimate“. Who decides that then?
Who to believe?
FEMA, Bootyjudge and the guardian or Musk?
The definition by the Left of “legitimate” is “what we approve of”. See also “what we can get away with”…
Why would FEMA want to stop someone who is showing that the government isn’t the only way of assisting in natural disasters, I wonder?
Timely to remember the other powerful and influential people lining up to criticise Musk, such as Richard J Murphy.
“Nor will I acquiesce to his control by quietly slipping away. “No pasaran” is my cry. I will stay and say what I think is right. Musk can try to silence me. If he tries, I already have other outlets to comment on. His action would be noted.”
@BF: he sounds a little like the bullying ARP warden in Dad’s Army. But stupider.
I’m sure this is irrelevant, but these areas tend to vote Republican and this state teeters a bit.
If they have no roads or power (or food, or are just dead), it’s going to be hard for them to vote for Trump, and the state could go for Harris.
There’s obviously no conspiracy here, but coincidentally the mainstream media all seem to have collectively decided that the obstructive government response to this terrible event which has probably killed thousands of Anericans isn’t really a story (or they didn’t by the time Chris Bray wrote this: https://chrisbray.substack.com/p/the-thing-that-didnt-happen ).
I love the implicit menace in “His action would be noted”. “Show me your papers” says Murphy, wearing his black leather trenchcoat.
‘“legitimate“. Who decides that then?’
In my humble view, it’s the bloke sitting astride his barn above the floodwaters.
The last person you’d want determine “Legitimacy” is Pete Buttplug.
There are also anecdotal reports that Sheriff’s in the affected regions have threatened FEMA officials with arrest if they interfere with local relief efforts, including the ferrying in of supplies and equipment (like Starlink) from outside the zone.
I’m more ready to trust the locally elected Sheriff and his deputies than the politically appointed agents of FEMA.
@ Simon Neale
If I was sitting on a barn above the flood water I doubt I would be too worried about the internet. I would also be unlikely to want to dive under the water to try to plug it into the mains.
500 Starlink terminals is currently $150K at retail cost. Pretty cheap for an advertising budget.
Starlink mobile antennas being shipped to the disaster area can be run off a USB power pack or 12/24 volt battery with simple adaptor.
https://mobilemusthave.com/products/starlink-mini-portable-battery-dc-power-kit
I’m old enough to remember that the poor FEMA response to Kaytrina was because Bush hated black people in New Orleans
@BF
Is he still channelling “No pasaran”? Has he got the Che T-shirt as well? All very retro-70s. He’ll be growing a mullet next.
Legitimate search and rescue
“A large green cargo airplane was shot down over Raleigh this morning. The markings were unknown but the word ‘Thun…’ and the number 2 were clearly visible in the wreckage.”
I suppose there’s a theoretical case for restricting flights over the affected areas if there’s conflicts between government flights and private flights. E.g. if there were a government flight to pull people off a roof and the private flight tries to also pull them off.
I don’t hear anything about that; instead what I hear is there’s *no* or very little government search and rescue activity in the affected areas at all.
So naturally (given all the other government shenanigans we hear about) the mind turns to other explanations.
For example, these areas voted Democrat in the past but are not likely to now. So if the people are underwater they’re not likely to vote in person. So the mail-in Democrat ballots can’t be contested…
The word ‘misinformation’ there also has quite a musky odor. It seems that there is quite a lot of ‘misinformation’ that TPTB don’t want out there. But mustelidae must mustelid.
@ Gunker
*I* am old enough to remember that the Republican-governed States were much more successful at coping with Katrina and its aftermath than the Democrat-governed States.
All those Americans whose homes are destroyed are desperate for their federal government to come in and airdrop 20,000 hungry Haitians on them.
@John Galt
Good point. That makes them somewhat more useful.
I bet David Milliband is pissed.
“A large green cargo airplane was shot down over Raleigh this morning. The markings were unknown but the word ‘Thun…’ and the number 2 were clearly visible in the wreckage.”
The question there is… Who was pulling the strings?
Apparently Elon called Secretary Pete and there was some sort of SNAFU. Elon texted a thanks on X five hours later.
Pete Buttigieg is naive to have trusted FEMA. He should know that petty bureaucracies attract petty tyrants, who love nothing more than imposing petty rules on which flights are “legitimate”. In the private sector these people would be mobsters.
@john77
The issue, as Jerry Pournelle pointed out ad nauseum, was the F in FEMA. Too far away, didn’t know conditions, nor the people. Had no experience in actual emergencies, but a good sinicure to get and hence attracted the useless
One of Kamala Harris’s boasted new policies is an “anti-gouging” law which would apply in these disaster situations.
Meaning it’s FEMA or nothing.
Our generous host got a lot of vituperation and lost a good gig for pointing out how useful “gouging” was in such circumstances.