Herman: Trump’s second visit to Texas better than the first.
I heard from some of you last week when I lambasted President Donald Trump for his failure to show empathy during his first visit to the Texas flood zone.
Some readers asked if it is possible for me to ever say anything nice about our president. One asked, “What’s wrong with you left-wing subversive loons at the Statesman?”
So let’s see if this particular left-wing subversive (who votes in the GOP primary) can say something nice about our president. Fact is, he made it easy during his Saturday visit to Houston when he served as the consoler-in-chief needed by a nation that all too often, be it after a natural disaster or an unspeakable shooting at a school, needs consoling.
Unlike the Aug. 29 visit, during which he didn’t find time to express sympathy for victims, be they the suddenly homeless or the dead, including a Houston police officer, Trump hit all the right notes Saturday in Houston.
His first stop in NRG Center, a shelter for evacuees, was in the Kid Zone, where he bent over and sat with kids, at one time picking up and hugging a little girl who was delighted to see him. I also loved seeing
Gov. Greg Abbott wheeling himself around with a smiling little girl on his lap. There’s nothing like smiling kids — especially those smiling in the face of adversity kids never should face — to make us all feel better.
The report filed by the press pool traveling with Trump told us that Kevin Jason Hipolito, 37, an unemployed Houstonian whose first-floor apartment flooded, said Trump’s visit was perfectly on key.
“I’m a Democrat,” said Hipolito, who was rescued from atop his car. “It raises the morale. When he went to Corpus (Aug. 29), I was like, ‘Man, he just forgot about us.’ This shows a lot of support. It perks up morale.”
But nearby, construction worker Devon Harris, 37, was more skeptical.
“Is he going to help? Can he help? I lost my home. My job is gone. My tools are gone. My car is gone. My life is gone,” Harris said. “What is Trump going to do?”
Robert Hendricks, 48, an electrical engineer waiting in a lunch line for which Trump helped distribute boxed meals, seconded that emotion: “What’s he going to do, use us as props to serve us lunch?”
It’s easy to excuse skepticism among those whose lives were scrambled by the flood and, at this moment, see nothing but a long, hard road ahead.
But Hendricks acknowledged this about Trump: “It’s good that he’s showing his face.”
Good, indeed. Maybe even more than good.
Trump posed for selfies and asked people about their plight. In short, he offered comfort and hope, two things that can be in as short supply as boats and food in a time of such need.
At a Pearland church serving as a relief center, Trump said this of recovery prospects: “They say two years, three years. I think that, you know, because this is Texas, you’ll probably do it in six months. I have a feeling, right?”
Here’s hoping his feeling is right. In fact, here’s hoping everything Trump does and says about storm relief in the coming months is right.
There. I think somewhere in there I said something nice about our president.
But lest anyone accuse me of being too nice, let’s end by noting he still says weird stuff. To some, it’s part of his charm, kind of like when George W. Bush said weird stuff.
On Saturday, Trump said to Harvey victims bivouacked at the NRG Center, “Have a good time!”
For his overall efforts on this day, I’m giving him a pass on that weird comment.
On this day, our very non-Texan president tapped directly into the heart of Texas.