While the media and other leftist elites ignore the millions of folks living in "flyover" states, they do so at their own peril; it was this silent majority that put President Trump in the White House. Each week, Liberty Nation gives voice to the hard-working heartlanders who are silent no more.
While the elitist liberal media spent countless hours blaming President Trump for the mass shooting in New Zealand and crowing over the amounts of campaign money that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and failed U.S. Senate candidate Robert “Beto” Francis O’Rourke have raised, it appears covering a national emergency disaster hasn’t cleared the producer’s desk.
In Nebraska alone, 88 cities, 74 counties, and four tribal areas are under water as heavy spring rains and snowmelt prompted already swollen rivers to breach banks and levees, overwhelming entire communities. The Missouri, Platte, and Elkhorn rivers all crested over the weekend to record-shattering levels in the aftermath of last week’s “bomb cyclone” — a perfect storm of sorts bringing high-speed winds, snow, and heavy rain to the region.
It is estimated that farm and ranch losses will easily exceed $1 billion.
But all we hear about is Beto’s poor poetry skills, Bernie’s seven stitches from bumping into a shower door, and Sen. Corey Booker’s (D-NJ) possible wedding plans.
What Americans haven’t heard is one peep from the declared Democratic presidential candidates about what they can do for the victims of flooding in the Midwest. The one who did speak out was none other than the frumpy millionaire-socialist-self-identifying-as-Independent Sanders, who – without a modicum of empathy for the folks in Nebraska – circled back to his environmental message, “Long-term, we must take bold steps to stop climate change, which makes extreme flooding much worse.”
No “Hey, are you alright? What can we do to help?”
Where is the Outpouring of Love and Support?
Lindsay Ogle Berlin, speaking for millions, sent a heartfelt message out on social media asking why no one cared:
“Dear friends outside of our Nebraska bubble: we are hurting. We are flooding. As in—half the state under water. Entire towns under water. Massive structures/bridges/roads are floating away. Dams breaking. Rivers jammed with and without ice are overflowing. In our town, we are an island. No ways in or out right now. And this is not a problem that only our town has—there are too many around us to mention. The devastation is simply indescribable. Lives are being lost. Livelihoods are being washed away.”
But conservatives do care. Vice President Mike Pence met Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts (R) in Omaha before surveying the devastation by air. And what they saw first hand was heart breaking – thousands of people stranded, some in shelters, and total devastation of farms and ranches with losses of livestock. They have pledged unlimited support for the citizens of Nebraska.
And there are also heroes coming to help – first responders and regular Jills and Joes. One such hero, Rachel Tiller, a local real estate agent from Omaha, saw a need and filled it. “There was nothing official about it, I shared a status on Facebook, asking pilots to donate their time, or people to donate supplies, and it blew up. People showed up at the airport wanting to help, supplies were being dropped off like crazy, and donations were being made from people that were too far to help physically.”
One volunteer pilot who answered Tiller’s call, Dale Mayfield, thought it was terribly important that Americans across the nation were aware of the suffering just a few states over:
“These are salt of the earth people that just lost all of their livestock, lost horses, houses, and farming equipment. These aren’t affluent people that live in these small towns … Life is already a struggle, so when you get hit by something like this, its devastating.”
Yes, that’s what folks in the flyover states do for family, friends, neighbors, and strangers.
Mayfield also took a swipe at the elite media outlets, “It’s not, quote unquote, a sexy story, which doesn’t drive traffic for large media companies.” Nothing is quite as salacious as a presidential candidate eating dirt while in a funk or old white guys competing for relevance in politics.
Yes, We Pray and We Believe
As Nebraskan Berlin’s message continued, it was clear that heartlanders were united – whether anyone in DC, California, or New York paid attention in between stories of Jussie Smollett and the latest ravings of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY):
“We are a ‘flyover’ state. We are the ‘deplorables.’ We are ‘not for everyone.’ We are not newsworthy and I have yet to see or read one article on national news about our devastation. That’s heartbreaking because I can’t begin to describe the stories of heroism of farmers trying to save their animals, strangers helping strangers, and rescuers fighting extreme elements to save lives. But I can tell you this, we are strong. We pray. We care about one another. We help our neighbors … The next few weeks and months will be rough and we can all really use your prayers and support.”
Perhaps those who are driving the latest in media commentary might take a moment to reach out to those people who are surviving one of the greatest disasters in recent history. But we all know that won’t happen – they never do and never will. Flyover folks will soldier on and get the job done with or without any help – or even prayers – from those self-important politicians who want to sit behind the Resolute Desk at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. But that’s okay, we’ve got this. We take care of our own.
