"Boy oh boy, nbc sure is baiting the audience with this one"

[IDemo]

A commenter gets it right on this headline:Texas blast victims likely won't lean on government

And subsequent story: The Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the Knights of Columbus and the Veterans of Foreign Wars are all in West, Texas, to help victims of this month’s fertilizer explosion. They've collected tens of thousands of dollars, piles of clothes, toys and food.

It’s been almost chaotic, with volunteers piling in and shelters popping up everywhere. But instead of clamoring for the aid, many of the 3,000 or so residents of this small, central Texas town are instead fighting to help one another. That’s just as well in Texas, where the official government line is self-sufficiency.

“Right after the explosion happened that evening, there were shelters opened up all over the place,” said Ryan Adams, Grand Knight of the Knights of Columbus Council in West. “They originally evacuated the entire town. But those shelters were empty because we all help one another in our community. Most of the people that are displaced from their homes, being such a small, tight-knit community, they are staying with family. They are staying with friends.”

http://vitals.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/29/17975192-after-texas-fertilizer-blast-victims-rely-on-each-other?lite

[BeyondGeography]

1. Free lancing is what created the disaster in the first place

Time to celebrate the culture that made it all possible. Life as a cartoon, I guess. Meantime, there has been a similar outpouring for the victims in Boston, but that doesn't fit the red/blue narrative. What both incidents shed a spotlight on is our cruel and backwards health care system which the anti-gubmint crowd refuses to fix...

[Laura PourMeADrink]

2. That header headline is curious: ...won't lean on gov. when you go to the article itself the

article headline says ...."rely on each other". Which is much more accurate. Maybe NBC is trying to be the new Fox.

I think it has a lot more to do with the fact that it is a small, very close-knit, town, with generations of the same families going way back . "Everyone knows each other" is literally true here. It is an early Czech settlement. And people could literally walk from their damaged home to a friend's house three blocks away. Don't know of many small towns where the survivors would just let those people languish on the street.

While the words "lean on government" are inflammatory, I do believe there is some truth in the difference between states with low taxes and services and states with high taxes and more services. But, for the latter, I think it's better described as "taking advantage of benefits and services that they have paid for."

[GeorgeGist]

3. Obama Dispatches FEMA To Aid In West, Texas Relief

http://austinist.com/2013/04/23/obama_dispatches_fema_to_aid_in_wes.php

West can’t get more FEMA help without disaster declaration

The agency also has been authorized to cover 75 percent of costs local governments incur in responding to the explosion.




http://www.wacotrib.com/news/mclennan_county/west-can-t-get-more-fema-help-without-disaster-declaration/article_29d77f1f-b5e5-52ea-aae5-a6bb9d8436d0.html

[Myrina]

4. I KNOW!!

I saw that gynormous headline and thought

[Baitball Blogger]

5. Well, there goes the reliability of NBC.

They had it for a fleeting moment in Boston...and now, pheht, like that, it's extinguished.

News channels are like Project Runway contestants. One day you're in, and the next, you're out. It must suck to be them because they don't even get a kiss from Heidi Klum.

[Javaman]

6. Just wait, they'll change their minds.

after the Bastrop fires here a couple of years ago, "dyed in the wool" right wing nuts couldn't put their hands out fast enough for help. Suddenly they were all happy that the Feds were there to help.

Give it time.

[WinkyDink]

7. I guess in Texas the government isn't "us."