The things I and many simultaneously believe to be true:
- I wish Renee Good and Alex Pretti were still alive. They were people made in God’s image whose lives had value, and their deaths are tragic
- I still am unclear about the true story surrounding Pretti’s killing
- I am not sure DHS messaging on Pretti’s death has been completely accurate or helpful
- The chaos that led to their deaths is in large part due to local law enforcement refusing keep the public from impeding ICE and local politicians stoking the flames by calling ICE “Gestapo”
- ICE and border patrol agents, by and large, do a good, compassionate job that is very difficult. Like any group - teachers, pastors, social workers, etc - there will be those who are corrupt or bad at their jobs, and it’s ok to acknowledge that if apparent
- ICE’s job is necessary and good. Removing illegal aliens, including those who have committed heinous crimes against American children, should be able to be done without conflict. This is normal business that has been conducted in similar ways under both R and D administrations. The chaos is not caused by Trump. It is caused by those who hate Trump
- America, like every country, has the right and responsibility to defend its borders, protect citizenship, and enforce immigration law. This is necessary for national sovereignty. This is not “kidnapping,” and it’s not just violent criminals who need to be deported.
- Lots of overlap between those decrying ICE and those who: never said a word about immigration enforcement under Biden & Obama, have never expressed concern about the lives lost because of illegal immigration, support abortion, or accused Charlie Kirk of racism in the days following his murder. I am 100% uninterested in what these people have to say about morality or justice.
Okay. Let’s talk some facts.
The Camp Mystic flood disaster in Texas is very unfortunate, and I hope that all of the missing girls are found.
The usual suspects are exploiting this tragedy to score political brownie points. Some left-wing activists are blaming this flood on “climate change,” others are blaming the deaths and missing persons on inadequate warning caused by low staffing at the National Weather Service (NWS) caused by Trump administration federal RIFs. ✂️
First of all, staffing cuts played no part in this tragedy. 🙅♂️
The NWS issued a flood watch for Kerr County more than 12 hours ahead of the flood. They also issued a flash flood warning for Hunt and Ingraham THREE HOURS before the Guadalupe River began to climb. There was plenty of lead time with respect to the forecast and issuance of warnings.
The flood was caused by the remnants of Tropical Storm Barry becoming embedded into a broad mid-level trough over central Texas. These remnant lows are typically slow-moving and drop heavy rain over a large geographical area where the troposphere destabilizes. 🌧️
This particular one stayed quasi- (fairly) stationary, and caused massive flooding along the Guadalupe River, something that has happened many times before. In 1987, a flash flood on the same river killed 10 teenage campers from the Pot O Gold Christian Camp, with another 33 swept away who survived. 🏕️
🔗 https://t.co/j4YWLPCheO
Camp Mystic is built on a floodplain. It is on sediment that has been deposited by hundreds, if not thousands of floods over the last millennium.
The event has nothing to do with climate change.
And, the tragedy had nothing to do with DOGE cuts.
If you are someone who has exploited this catastrophe because you just don’t like Trump, you need to take a serious look in the mirror. 🪞
#OnThisDay – April 19, 1995 – A bomb exploded in a Ryder truck parked outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City—killing 168 people & injuring approx. 850.
30 years later, #WeRemember those who were killed, those who survived, & those changed forever.