(Oh, boy, this is going to go well, I can see that already.)
I have a lot of compassion for Staten Islanders (good so far) who got destroyed by the hurricane, and have gotten screwed out of FEMA’s attention–residents of the beleaguered borough are only just now complaining about their dire needs from the Red Cross, the federal government, the city of New York, as they ought to. These folks need help in the worst way, and they need it NOW. (This is a pitting?)
BUT (uh-oh) since Staten Island (technically a part of NYC, but very suburban–it’s literally an island 5 miles south of Manhattan by ferry, and connected to Brooklyn and NJ by bridges) is easily the most Republican-voting borough of the city, I’m sure that one or two of the people I saw and heard on TV this morning complaining about the government’s poor response to their desperate needs were people who, if you asked them last week, if they support Romney’s plans to cut FEMA (or make it a state operation) or if they support massive governmental budgets designed to respond quickly to disaster relief or if they prefer federal aid over private charities, or anything of the kind, were exactly the kind of heartless people who would have spoken angrily against freeloaders on their tax money, and all that TP rot.
So I’m pitting one or two Staten Islanders I saw on the TV this morning, and those aligned with them politically–no help for anyone, except me when I need it.
I don’t think I’ve ever run a Pit OP without a ferocious counter-pitting, so I think I’m safe in anticipating one where I’m Pitting people who’ve lost their homes, loved ones, valuables, etc.
I mean, even I’m thinking “Man, what a total douche-nozzle that PRR is, as usual…” this time.
Staten Island has a long history of being a forgotten borough, pumping tax money into city coffers but getting proportionately poor services in return (notably during snowstorms, when its streets are typically plowed last). It has threatened (and actually once voted for) secession from the city, getting mollified after a previous vote (as I recall) by promises of better service.
Now there is a mayor who is hot to run the NYC marathon (starting on Staten Island), but apparently the Island is getting the short end of the stick again when it comes to getting its massive storm damage attended to.
As a native Islander myself, and on behalf of the rest of the borough - to prr, who makes unwarranted assumptions about how Islanders feel about FEMA and disaster relief based on the Island’s being more politically conservative than the rest of the city - you are a dipshit who knows jack about the situation.
Ah, that’s more like it. Thanks, Jackmannii, for getting the party started! I’m sure there isn’t a single Staten Islander who supports TP principles, such as they are, who isn’t aggrieved at the lack of massive federal aid this morning. I’m sure all those complaining on the news this morning were liberal wussies who vote “D” or “C” (for “communist”) all the time. I apologize for being such a total dipshit.
I’m not going to say anything putting down Staten Islanders. I was appalled to find out that there had been Sandy-related deaths there, and quite a lot of damage.
I just wanted to join the general comments about the weirdness of Staten Island’s being part of New York State, let alone the city. A glance at the map shows that it’s vetrtually New Jersey, separated from New Jersey proper only by the relsatively narrow Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull. Its closest approach to any part of New York (aside from some small islans) is across the Verrazano Narrows. They had to build what was the Longest Suspension Bridge in the world at the time to span that gap. It’s still the only physical link between it and the rest of the City. That they could have considered this and the rest of New York part of the same political entity in colonial times, when the connection and commnications were even more difficult, boggles the mind.
When you’re on the Island, it even feels more like New Jersey than New York. It’s completely unlike the other boroughs.
Yes, it’s terrible to complain about the services you pay for. And state agencies can often me more flexible than Federal ones, particularly when it involves local feet on the ground. Just because one advocates smaller or at least more efficient government it does not mean one wants to disavow all government aid particularly when they likely have paid for it (my guess is that SI pays a disproportionate amount in taxes).
Yeah, I grew up on the other end of that Bridge–it was the destination of the walks I took with my dad when I was young, and many of my high-school friends are now prosperous Staten Islanders. It’s hard NOT to have sympathy for these suffering people–why, you’d have to be practically inhuman not to have your heart go out to all Staten Islanders today.
I just can’t help but think of those demanding federal aid who opposed it with every fiber of their being before they were the ones in need.
So, you are pitting people based on your impression of what they might have said under different circumstances? I’m not gettign the point - shouldn’t you be pitting your prejudging of these victims instead of the victims themselves?
or is this one of those “I’m a Democrat, and therefore I am morally superior to those people” things?
The OP likes to treat his assumptions as if they were reality. Not a smart thing to do on a message board filled with people who like to fight ignorance.
It would be one thing (still stupid, but at least marginally defensible) if the OP were slamming hypothetical people who fit his profile. But no, he has to zero in on specific people he saw interviewed this AM and slam them because he’s “sure” that some of them are Romney Republicans.
This seems like codespeak for, not wanting to do away with FEMA, so much as ensure reaction times can be manipulated to favour the ‘paying more’ group. Y’know more ‘efficiently’.
It well reflects the divide between ‘pay to purchase’ thinking, concerning resources, and ‘triaged’ based on need. People accustomed to ‘paying to purchase’ access, never want to see resources shifted to ‘triaged’ by need.
(That said, I’m sorry there are people suffering there and hope they are now receiving the aid they require!)
Don’t know if this is true or not, but didn’t they do a mandatory evacuation? And the people currently on that island are the ones who pretty much snubbed their noses at the authorities?
If that’s true, some of this is their own damn fault.
You can repeat the same undocumented assumptions over and over, and it still makes you a dipshit.
S.I. is considered conservative mainly in comparison to the rest of NYC, not because it is an enclave of flaming Tea Partiers. The Island voted for Gore in 2000, barely went for McCain over Obama in 2008 (52-48%) and for many years had a Democratic congressman (until that unfortunate Abscam thing). I suppose by your calculus, all those Democratic voters can sit in their flooded, power-less homes and quit complaining.
Actually you’re not a dipshit - you’re a serial asshole.
WTG, Jackmannii!!! Keep pouring it on, and don’t forget to repeat yourself, a few times, redundantly, making the same point over and over–can’t get enough of your self-righteous blather.
Of course, if there is no Staten Islander who actually falls into my category–a right-wing nut opposing any and all “handouts” to “freeloaders” on the federal tax dollar extorted from their hardworking pockets, bbbyyy, etc. angrily seeking public assistance now that they need it themselves–then I must apologize for suggesting that such a person exists, which I do sincerely and humbly.
I was waiting for **Clothy **to show up and blast me for suggesting that anyone on Staten Island thinks the way I think they do.
Can I get some more confirmation of your cluelessness from other tighty-righty future recipients of welfare if you should need it? Shodan? John Mace? Let’s have a party! I’ll bring the s’mores.
I lived in Staten Island for a few years. Some of the islanders are right wing assholes. Most of them are ordinary working class people who want a house with a backyard and access to Manhattan. None of them deserved to lose their homes or lives in a nasty storm. You really ought to reserve your ire for the one percenters who have real power not the local firefighter or sanitation worker.