I’d like to tell a story about the Blizzard of 1977 that hit Buffalo. To date, still the worst the city has ever seen. It should serve as a reminder that when anybody says a “federal office holder can’t help re a state issue” that they’re full of BS. #CruzToCancun
My late father was an aide to Senator Moynihan in his Buffalo office. The blizzard hits and dad knew right away the city was in trouble. This was no ordinary storm. He calls the Mayor of Buffalo and goes how can we help? Mayor says we need Fed aide now.
Twenty-Seven year old Tim Russert calls up Senator Moynihan. Implores him to get to Buffalo as soon as it is safe to do so. Moynihan calls the Mayor and says he will promptly ask with President Carter for federal emergency assistance. It happens, help is on the way.
Throughout the process dad is giving updates to Moynihan about the situation on the ground. People trapped in their homes, hospitals shut down, babies being born in bath tubs, people starving etc. Moynihan remains in contact with the feds and Gov. Help is targeted.
Once storm has passed through. Moynihan arrives in Buffalo. He is driven around by dad. Shown the worst areas & introduced to the community leaders. Moynihan realizes the city will need a lot of help going forward. This isn’t a one off-Moynihan makes sure the Fed help is there.
Dad drives Moynihan to the airport. The Senator says, “You’re coming with me. I need a guy like you in DC.” The rest is history. Moynihan wins big in ‘82, highest margins in history, especially around Buffalo. People remembered who stood by them in a time of crisis.
The great @Lawrence told this story way better than I did a few years back: msnbc.com/the-last-word/…
In conclusion, when you’re an elected leader, your first responsibility is the well-being of your constituents. That is literally you’re only job. It doesn’t matter if you’re the neighborhood council or President. You serve the people. Get your ass home and do your job.
Yes, this is personal as my aunt and cousins near Plano have been through hell since the weekend. They’re #BuffaloStrong but seriously people are dying and the Senator who represents 30 million wants to slam all inclusive margaritas in a foreign country during a pandemic. Enough!

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Luke Russert

Luke Russert Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @LukeRussert

6 Feb
One month ago today, a murderous terrorist mob sacked the Capitol at the behest of the previous president & his Congressional allies. To date, not a SINGLE politician who encouraged violence against their colleagues and a coup against 🇺🇸 has faced any serious consequences.
The insurrection leaders in the U.S. Senate, from Texas & Missouri wear their role in the coup attempt as a badge of honor. The House Minority Leader literally has to balance the views of the terrorist sympathizers against the “normals” in his conference.
It seems the Senate Minority Leader is fine with no punishments in the name of “process.” Calls for unity remain hallow as one party complains that they can’t bring guns on the House floor & literally instills fear in their colleagues targeted by the terrorists.
Read 5 tweets
19 Jan
The ENTIRETY of the American experiment is predicated on a functioning multicultural liberal democracy. This is embarrassing to West Point, Harvard and America.
America was NEVER not multicultural. Let’s set aside slavery and immigrant labor, there from the start...there was literally multicultural WHITE society from day 1–British, Scots, French, Dutch, Spanish etc.
Under Pompeo’s theory, he is spawn from late arriving Italians. Does that qualify as a “REAL” American. But wait...after enduring Sacco and Vanzetti...the Italians assimilated into...American society...multicultural enough to accept them! lacucinaitaliana.com/trends/news/mi…
Read 4 tweets
13 Jan
My first go at the 18 #GOP needed for impeachment. There looks to be a path if McConnell wants it. Prognosticate!
Should clarify this is for conviction which needs 2/3. That’s 66 now with Ossoff not yet seated. My guess is it comes from this list. But I’m washed up and out of the game. Just speculating.
I’d think Hoeven & Cramer are maybes. They opposed challenging the election results. 🤔
Read 6 tweets
8 Jan
I cannot stop thinking about how close the 1-2-3 in the line of presidential succession, VP-Speaker-Pro tempore came to being physically harmed on Weds. The terrorists had operable bombs, killed an officer and ransacked difficult to access areas of the Capitol. We need answers.
Few Capitol Police fired shots when the force was totally justified—why? National Guard was slow walked as Leader Hoyer called Gov Hogan of Maryland pleading for help-why? Why was the Capitol deliberately left so vulnerable? We were such important leaders left on their own?
If NYT reports are accurate, that some Capitol Police willfully gave the terrorists directions to Leader Schumer’s office, that is appalling. If WaPo report that off duty police were flashing their badges as they stormed the Capitol and let through is accurate, that is appalling.
Read 6 tweets
12 Aug 20
I wouldn’t have a problem with the antiabortion zealots if they spoke up in support of the rest of the Catholic teaching playbook—like climate change, social justice, immigrant rights, ending poverty & the throw away culture. But they mostly don’t. They’re Cafeteria Catholics.
I want one bishop to deny communion for a climate change denier or a Catholic that supports putting kids in cages, then I want the media to run that on a loop.
Read 4 tweets
29 Jul 20
Whether you think Bezos is a legendary American titan or a ruthless vulture—it’s absurd that he’s appearing before Congress for the FIRST time just in 2020.
The man totally upended the U.S. economy in the last decade. Is arguably the most powerful non-elected American in the world. Yet only today it’s worth getting his two cents?
Amazon has a million employees. States begged for HQ2, gave Amazon tons of data. Amazon defacto funds the postal service. Amazon could very well create a new postal service one day. But yeah nothing to ask about...
Read 5 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!