It’s early days still, but we have a clear leader in the contest to determine who can most blatantly, sickeningly politicize the potential destruction and loss of life Hurricane Ian might cause in the U.S.: Sen. Amy Klobuchar.
I know, I’m as surprised as you. Usually, the Minnesota Democrat, now in her third term, is only good for relating every issue back to a folksy story about the kind of small-town Lake Wobegon-esque environment she only has to visit every six years when she’s forced to decamp from Washington to run for re-election in her home state.
Want to hear a canned anecdote about the summer her Uncle Fred couldn’t catch enough pike and how it proves we need more entitlement spending? She’s your gal.
But, no, enough with that Prairie Home Congresswoman pap. As Hurricane Ian approaches Florida and threatens lives and livelihoods, Klobuchar essentially made this insane pitch to Americans: Vote for Democrats and we’ll help prevent hurricanes.
Despite the fact hurricanes are a weather phenomenon that predates any possible influence by anthropogenic global warming by a period of millennia, and the fact that any evidence linking an increase in hurricane activity to climate change is tenuous or illusory at best, Klobuchar appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Tuesday to insist that Democrats have “got to win” in the midterms to prevent future Hurricane Ians.
“We just did something about climate change for the first time in decades,” Klobuchar said, referring to the green energy spending in the so-called “Inflation Reduction Act,” passed by the House and Senate and signed by President Joe Biden last month. (Yet more proof the bill had about as much to do with reducing inflation as candy corn has to do with actual corn.)
“That’s why we’ve got to win this as that hurricane bears down on Florida,” Klobuchar continued. “We’ve got to win in the midterms. We understand that.”
Again: There is no evidence that Hurricane Ian — which had intensified to a Category 4 storm as of Wednesday morning as it approached landfall in Florida, according to The Associated Press — would not have existed or would have been any weaker if the left wing of the Democratic Party had been allowed full rree over America’s climate and energy policy since the 1970s. Yet, here we have a sitting Democrat senator essentially promising Americans her party will prevent hurricanes if you don’t wipe them out in a red wave a month and a half from now.
Needless to say, this prompted plenty of social media mockery.
“Did Amy Klobuchar just suggest voting for Democrats will stop hurricanes?” the RNC Research account tweeted.
Did Amy Klobuchar just suggest voting for Democrats will stop hurricanes?
“We just did something about climate change for the first time in decades. That’s why [Democrats] have to win this as that hurricane bears down on Florida.” pic.twitter.com/F9cDc7QAr9
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) September 27, 2022
Yes, and in relatively explicit terms. Because that’s how desperate the left is, apparently.
“The new science: so the hurricane is punishing Floridians for voting Republican, not because it’s a seasonal event and has been since before this grift,” conservative radio host and gun rights advocate Dana Loesch tweeted.
“Nice sentiment @amyklobuchar as people are fleeing inland and praying they don’t lose their homes.”
The new science: so the hurricane is punishing Floridians for voting Republican, not because it’s a seasonal event and has been since before this grift. Nice sentiment @amyklobuchar as people are fleeing inland and praying they don’t lose their homes. https://t.co/f5TMTvdfDy
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) September 27, 2022
“Disgraceful comments from @amyklobuchar,” tweeted foreign policy analyst Nile Gardiner, a former aide to Margaret Thatcher and contributing writer with the U.K. Telegraph.
“The Left never miss an opportunity to sell their destructive agenda, even when a hurricane threatens millions of Americans.”
Disgraceful comments from @amyklobuchar
The Left never miss an opportunity to sell their destructive agenda, even when a hurricane threatens millions of Americans. https://t.co/3FQGJLhcIB
— Nile Gardiner (@NileGardiner) September 27, 2022
“Disappointing. I might have expected better from her,” wrote Clifford May, president of the non-partisan think-tank Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.
“She’s supposed to be one of the adults in the room. Fact check: Nothing Biden has done or is doing will have any measurable impact on climate change. This is not in serious dispute.”
Disappointing. I might have expected better from her. She’s supposed to be one of the adults in the room. Fact check: Nothing Biden has done or is doing will have any measurable impact on climate change. This is not in serious dispute. https://t.co/ujYhVmKTAM
— Clifford D. May (@CliffordDMay) September 27, 2022
The problem isn’t that Klobuchar isn’t one of the adults in the room, though. Instead, it’s that the adults on the blue side of the room realize that President Joe Biden’s unpopularity, combined with persistent inflation and continuing supply-chain shortages, mean Democrats will almost certainly lose one — and possibly both — houses of Congress in November.
Even with polling data looking marginally better for the left these past few weeks, things are still grim — and Uncle Fred stories aren’t going to cut it.
Then again, neither is tacitly promising to stop as many hurricanes as you can if your party is elected. Not only is that silly on its face — but, as GOP Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas pointed out, there’s another issue voters might be thinking about:
Since you can’t afford a home when Dems are in power, you won’t have to worry about flooding…. https://t.co/XKy1H64aXG
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 27, 2022
“Since you can’t afford a home when Dems are in power, you won’t have to worry about flooding,” Cruz tweeted regarding Klobuchar’s bold anti-hurricane stance.
Cruz’s tweet lays out the reality of the situation: All Democrats can promise Americans is energy austerity, higher prices and a lower standard of living. That may not stop a hurricane, but at least you won’t have to worry about it destroying quite as much.
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