May 30 Open Thread: Trump’s Katrina That Wasn’t

When Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, I thought it would do to Trump what Katrina did to Bush — reveal to the broad public the incompetence of a crony-coddling administration. The incompetence was there, and it’s been coupled with a disgusting level of disaster profiteering, but the public barely noticed. Unless the power on the entire island goes out again, as it does periodically, the story is ignored.

In a just world, yesterday’s release of a Harvard study that estimated a death toll of more than 4,000 from the storm would bring international attention to this humanitarian disaster. It got the attention of some pundits, but I fear this will be forgotten by the weekend.

Donald Trump held a Nuremberg-style rally in Tennessee last night, highlighted by call-and-response routine consisting of chants of “MS 13” and “animals.” Gee, I wonder if they’re racist?

Roseanne Barr is back to making people laugh — she blamed her ugly “joke” about Valerie Jarrett on “Ambien tweeting.” The drug’s manufacturer responded that racism is not a recognized side effect of the memory-disabling sleep medication.

Remember when Delaware toyed with offshore wind power? Sometimes it’s not good to be first. What Delaware couldn’t accomplish is now happening in New England. Truth be told, Delaware doesn’t actually like being first. Our lawmakers prefer other states to road test the ideas before we’ll put our money down.

Speaking of money, word of a proposed $210 million settlement of a shareholder lawsuit against Wilmington Trust is good news for anyone who got stuck with the bank’s stock when it plummeted, a group that includes lots of former employees.