After the weather took a turn for the worse in Texas, I was reminded of statements Ron Paul made about flooding and freedom years ago. He looked so dear on the stage with all the Republican bulls in the 2012 presidential campaign, like a sleepy elf who forgot he wasn’t still chained to the water heater in the basement. From May 2011, poor ol’ Wolf Blitzer did his best as Paul tilted at the windmills of his mind.

Blitzer: “And if there’s a disaster, like flooding or an earthquake or Hurricane Katrina, what’s wrong with asking fellow Americans to help their fellow citizens?”

Paul: “Nothing. And I think Americans are very, very generous and they have [been] traditionally. The big problem is Americans are getting poor and they’re not able to voluntarily come to the rescue. But to coerce people, to ask them to help, that is fine and dandy. But when you bankrupt our country and nobody has a job and then they say, well, FEMA needs to bail out everybody, then all we’re doing is compounding our problems.”

Thankfully, there are times when Americans cut the partisan crap and get things done. When America acts as a “we,” it is truly an amazing thing to see. Those who say how interesting it is that Texans aren’t talking about secession since Harvey came to town, or bringing up the hypocrisy of some GOP members’ resistance to giving financial aid to places affected by Hurricane Sandy, can shove it.

Harvey is an emergency situation that should be free of political entanglement.

There are thousands of good people who have been left stranded because of Harvey. It’s an emergency situation that should be free of political entanglement. I know it pains the small gov folks that there are a lot of things the U.S. Gov does very well. As bad as things are for Harvey-hit areas, survivors are in no better location to benefit from the incredible capability of American government, the one that Paul and Reagan would have let be dismantled and field-stripped by privatization.

In a way, the multiyear reconstruction to bring back areas devastated by Harvey, which will carry a cost of billions of dollars, is the least of comrade Trump’s problems. This is because there are agencies such as FEMA and the Red Cross in place who know what they’re doing and are on site, working nonstop, so Trump can get by with a brief visit with some people displaced by the storm, come away with some truly odd conclusions and impart some really weird shit.

“We saw a lot of happiness. It’s been really nice. It’s been a wonderful thing. As tough as this was, it’s been a wonderful thing, I think even for the country to watch it, for the world to watch. It’s been beautiful.”

Yeah, well, you know that’s just like, your opinion, man. But then there are all those Dreamers who are wondering what will happen to their bright American futures. Trump has decided to end DACA but is delaying action for six months. I think he doesn’t really want to kill it and is buying some time.

Texas, Arkansas, Alabama, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia have all threatened to sue if Trump stands up for the DACA kids. I think for many of the crackers who want to send these amazing young people back to the countries they’re only technically from, deep down they know that the Dreamers are often more educated on America’s history, more conversant in constitutional matters and more patriotic than they’ll ever be. And they can’t handle it.

I don’t think Trump holds any animosity toward the Dreamers. He saves all that for Mueller and all those accountants who very well might be finding out that he isn’t anywhere close to being a billionaire. But within six months, Trump will have to put on his big boy pants and be the decider on DACA.

North Korea’s recent rumblings give “If you hear any noise, it’s just me and the boys” a whole new meaning. When Trump was asked if he had plans for attacking North Korea, he said, “We’ll see,” which I think means he has no plan whatsoever. In one of his more dipshitted tweets from Sept. 3, he accuses South Korea of failing to stand up to North Korea, not taking into account that the two countries are separated only by a border (and a lot of anti-tank and anti-personnel landmines), and any attack on the North is essentially an attack on themselves.

Trump takes Seoul to school: “South Korea is finding, as I have told them, that their talk of appeasement with North Korea will not work, they only understand one thing!” That’s one more thing than Trump understands.

General Kelly, please get control of the president. He’s in way over his head. Some of his pals might be in trouble with this whole Russia thing, and one of them might flip. If that happens and some incriminating facts come to light, he’ll start booking more rallies. I know you’re kicking yourself for taking the job, and while you just incinerated your reputation, you have to see the bigger picture and put deferment boy in check to keep him from trying to find a military solution where there simply isn’t one.

Suddenly, Trump’s leadership capabilities are going to be tested. For all those who say, “Not my president,” I understand your frustration. But the results are in, and he is.

Can Trump handle any of the challenges he currently faces? Of course not. But thankfully, those who came before us realized that checked power cuts down on the potential danger of only one person in charge of everything. It’s time for all senators and representatives to act their age and not the number of years before their next election campaign.

Look for your weekly fix from the one and only Henry Rollins right here every Thursday, and come back tomorrow for the playlist for his Sunday KCRW broadcast.

More from the mind of Henry Rollins:
Make America Filthy, Hungry, Broke and Stupid Again
Ask Yourself What Side of History You Want to Be on
Don't Let the Trump Show Distract You From What's Really Going On

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