by James A. Bacon

by James A. Bacon

It turns out that the “October surprise” of the 2024 election wasn’t some political machination but an act of nature — Hurricane Helene. Unprecedented flooding in the mountains of North Carolina and neighboring states (including Virginia on the margins) have created a Hurricane Katrina-scale disaster. Paralleling the political fallout from Katrina, the response of federal authorities is fast becoming a hot political issue.

When it comes to forming narratives, there are three important differences this time. First, the victims in New Orleans were overwhelmingly poor and Black; in the mountains of Appalachia they are overwhelmingly poor and White. Second, the president of the United States in 2005 was George Bush, a Republican. This time a Democrat, Joe Biden, is running the country. Third, the mainstream media monopolized the narrative in 2005; today, given the power of social media, it cannot.

Two things are predictable. The Mainstream Media will play a very different role than it did in Katrina. Back then it blamed the horrors of the hurricane aftermath on systemic racism, and it relentlessly criticized the response of the Bush administration. This time around, most victims are MAGA sympathizers, which will create cognitive dissonance in the MSM: what’s happening to those mountain people is tragic… but they’re not a “marginalized minority” so the disaster cannot be framed as a social-justice issue. Furthermore, the MSM can’t allow the horrors unfolding in North Carolina to harm Kamala Harris’ bid for the presidency, so the gut instinct is to quash critical “disinformation” and defend the Biden administration.

On the flip side, western North Carolina is red-state country. The users of social media have every political incentive to blame the horrors on FEMA and the inadequate response on federal authorities and senile Joe Biden. Take a look at social media, and that’s exactly what many are doing.

The truth is likely to be the first casualty.

Faith in the mainstream media has utterly collapsed across broad swaths of the country. The MSM pumps out 100 percent spin, 24-7. Unfortunately, while social media may be a great source of images and rumors, it is not a reliable source of verified news or balanced perspectives. The average Joes posting on X are not trained as fact checkers and they’re just as likely to have a political agenda as elite journalists.

But we do tend to trust people we know. Many Virginians have family and friends in North Carolina, and many more are responding to the crisis in the most admirable of American traditions by sending money and aid. I invite people to share stories in the comments of what they have personally seen and what they have reliably heard — ideally making every effort to separate fact from conjecture.

What are the conditions on the ground? How many people still remain to be heard from? What progress is being made in restoring roads, power, water, hospitals, and basic services? Which responders are doing the best job of getting aid to those who need it — friends, neighbors, churches, private industry, FEMA, the military? What are the bottlenecks and obstacles? What are the greatest needs that concerned Americans can help alleviate from afar?

If Bacon’s Rebellion readers want to donate money, where can they, in the immortal words of Nathan Bedford Forrest, get there the fustest with the mostest? The Red Cross might be the safe choice, but are there less cumbersome, less bureaucratic alternatives? Please provide your recommendations with names, addresses, and URLs.