Thread by @mariliacout

1. About the seriousness and importance of GOP neglect in natural disasters - #TedCruz and beyond

Adding another tweet about how much of creep Cruz is adds zero content to the conversation.

2. The growing consensus that he was a creep, is a creep and will continue to be one is established.

nytimes.com/2021/02/19/us/…

3. The jokes about Cruz inverting roles with Mexican refugees is fine but inaccurate: he doesn't come from a privileged Mexican family. He comes from a privileged Cuban family, Batista people, complicit with the murder of the Cuban people.

4. Appealing to his origins won't accomplish anything at the base because the history of the Batista elite is lost for the younger generation.

There is one important story in all this, though: politicians are power-brokers.

5. They mediate negotiations, demands and interactions that cannot happen any other way. You can't pick up the phone and call @fema . The governor has to do that. And who puts pressure or negotiates a demand with the executive power?

6. The organized civil society and their elected representatives. For organized civil rights movements to directly impact policy, a major institutional crisis is required. Otherwise, no, the @ACLU won't get that phone call answered.

7. That is where elected officials play a role. And that is why Ted Cruz' trip to Cancun was outrageous: he refused to accomplish his role as a power broker, and that is his job.

8. When Oklahoma was hit by the ice storm, 300K people were left without power and with impaired roads. A non-negligible minority couldn't leave their houses due to broken trees.

9. We all had to spend money that several families with serious health issues didn't have. Yet, we didn't have any @fema support. OK is far too conservative and there wasn't enough pressure on elected officials. I wrote about it:

medium.com/this-side-of-t…

10. That is the context in which we should "read" Ted Cruz's flight from Texas. Not just lack of empathy - that doesn't cut it. Empathy is not a job requirement. Mediating the demands of his constituents is. And he failed to do his job.