Witnessning the unraveling of the city, those of Harry Penn’s reporters who were not killed (as many of them were) returned toThe Sun to write about it. They sensed that this was the proper thing to do, even if everything else had gone to hell, because they knew enough to know that whenever the world ends it always manages to begin again, and they had no intention of being left out.
—Winter’s Tale, Mark Helprin
TheNew York Daily News is updating from a darkened newsroom. There are floodwaters in the subway tunnels and hospitals are without power. Various jackasses are making various kinds of jackassed remarks for which it is not only too soon, but will never not be too soon. And as always, there areacts of extraordinary bravery happening amidst the chaos.
Remember tonight that there is no part of America that America can live without. Donate to the Red Cross for disaster reliefhere.
A.
And if you run a SuperPAC, you might think about a six- or seven-figure gift to the Red Cross as well.
Lex, I thought the same myself. Then I started thinking that there may be laws limiting how SuperPac money is disbursed.
In any case, $ 5 k is a pittance for Romney; The way Romney grandstanded by sending people to buy faux tiffany lamps from Walmart and donate them (without even checking or thinking that the Red Cross could use cash better than hard goods) is outrageous.
The way he got people running around without finding out the facts first (Red Cross only accepts cash. Telling people to drive into the area where they will become a nuisance…) shows a terrible lack of judgement in that he doesn’t bother to find out nor check the facts.
As a businessman he should have been able to quickly figure out that it was easier for the disaster agencies to use cash rather than the logistics of trying to handle massive amounts of disparate hard goods.
As a businessman he should have known that the price of anything bought from the store includes both the cost from the manufacturer and the overhead of the business. Plus goods bought in bulk have a lower overhead. (Hey, who hasn’t figured out Sams Club and Costco which have lower prices by cutting theft and forcing bulk sales?) In short, a dollar spent at the local store is probably on a par with 33 cents sent to the relief agency.
None of these make Romney look like executive material
Forgot to include my point. Romney would have been much better putting a check, even with an undisclosed sum, to the Red Cross, Salvation Army, or other relief services.