| | | | Why Chris Christie is right. And Ted Cruz is wrong. | | Back in the fall of 2012, as Superstorm Sandy ravaged the New Jersey coastline, a whole lot of political myths got started.
One was that Gov. Chris Christie's hug of then-President Barack Obama amid the crisis was somehow the linchpin to Obama's re-election. (It wasn't. And Christie didn't even really hug Obama.)
The second was that the disaster relief package for Sandy became a congressional Christmas tree -- decorated with every little pet project that any member wanted, all under the guise of helping New Jersey.
That second myth is why so many conservatives who represented areas not affected by Sandy voted against the disaster relief bill -- insisting, as Texas Sen. Ted Cruz did at the time, that it was nothing more than a giant spending bill in which most of the money wouldn't actually go to urgent needs in New Jersey.
(The Sandy money fight happened in 2013, after Cruz got elected. In the House, 67 members -- all Republicans -- voted against it. In the Senate, 36 -- again all Republicans -- opposed the package.)
Which brings us to Wednesday morning when Christie blasted Cruz's call for emergency disaster relief for Texas in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. "I have no sympathy for this -- and I see Sen. Cruz and it's disgusting to me that he stands in a recovery center with victims standing behind him as a backdrop," Christie told "New Day" host Chris Cuomo.
Cruz didn't directly respond to Christie's attack but on Monday he had, again, insisted the situations were totally different. "It was simply local members of Congress spending on their pet projects and two-thirds of what was spent in that bill had little or nothing to do with Hurricane Sandy," Cruz told CNN's Jim Acosta.
But that's not accurate, according to the Washington Post's Fact-Checker -- which awarded Cruz's claims about the Sandy bill three out of a possible four Pinocchios, meaning that it contained "significant factual error and/or obvious contradictions."
Concluded the Fact-Checker: "The vast majority of the spending was for Hurricane Sandy, including elements (such as Smithsonian repairs) that some lawmakers incorrectly believed were unrelated to the storm."
The big difference in Cruz's view then and his view now is one of geography (and politics).
Sandy was happening far from Texas and carried very little political danger for Cruz to oppose. In fact, it was in his political interests to oppose it -- especially given that he worked to cast the disaster relief spending as nothing more than pigs at the government trough.
Harvey hit right in Cruz's backyard -- literally and politically. Which makes helping to secure the likely billions needed to rebuild from the damage done a political necessity for the Texas senator.
I'm not sure Cruz is "disgusting" -- as Christie labeled him. But his flip-floppery on disaster relief is, without question, driven by politics and very much worth noting.
-- Chris | | | CNN's Ryan Struyk writes: It's no secret that President Donald Trump has some loud critics. But a new Pew Research Center poll shows a majority of those critics literally can't think of one positive thing to say about what he's doing as president so far.
A broad 58% of people who disapprove of Trump's job performance either say there's nothing they like about what he's doing, named specific things they didn't like instead or, getting a little snarky, said they liked that his presidency has been ineffective so far. Another 23% of people didn't answer the question. The poll was conducted from August 8-21 among 1,893 adults. The margin of error among all adults is ±2.6 percentage points.
Read more in Ryan's full story here. | | CNN's Kaitlan Collins reported Wednesday that former White House press secretary Sean Spicer's last official day at the White House is tomorrow.
From the article: "His White House colleagues will throw him a 'farewell party' Thursday night as they bid him adieu, according to two White House officials."
Guess it's time for us to also bid farewell -- to our favorite Spicer GIF. | | | Ed Sheeran's "Give Me Love" live is a good listen. H/t CNN's Leigh Munsil for pointing it out to Saba. | |  | | Photo credit: Screenshot/Snapchat Discover
"Trump Rat" popped up in Dupont Circle in D.C. on Tuesday, which led to many creative Snapchats and Twitter posts. The inflatable 15-foot figure is part of an art installation that was funded by a Kickstarter earlier this year. Creator John Post Lee tweeted the deflated rat to tease its arrival. "Mr. Rat goes to Washington," he wrote. The Washington Post interviewed Lee about his art installation. | | ALSO SPOTTED: DINOS IN DC | |  | People dressed as dinosaurs protested in front of the White House on Wednesday as part of the "Stop National Service Extinction" campaign.
"Extinction [protest theme] makes the most sense given that there are 1 million people who have done AmeriCorps over the past 20 years," Aly Ferguson, the director of communications for the nonprofit Service Year Alliance, told DCist.
Photojournalist Harrison Jones captured the protest and shared some photos on Twitter. Service Year also made a video starring the dinos roaming the city. | | New York Times' California Today newsletter led Wednesday's edition with an interesting politics story from the Golden State.
Tech billionaire Timothy C. Draper wants there to be three Californias. And per NYT's MIke McPhate, Draper has already "submitted paperwork that would put the question before voters in 2018."
"No one can argue that California's government is doing a good job governing or educating or building infrastructure for its people," Draper told the TImes. "And it doesn't matter which party is in place."
The proposal, per the newsletter: "A state of Northern California would include almost the entire upper half of the state, including San Francisco; a Southern California would contain most of the rest. A third state, called simply California, would fold in Los Angeles and extend up the coast to Monterey."
Wonder what Calexit supporters think of this idea... | | USA Today reporter Jefferson Graham wrote an analysis on how tech leaders could fare in a White House race, using pros and cons to rank each tech leader rumored to run in 2020. Some highlights from his piece: - Apple CEO Tim Cook -- "Pro: brilliant when it comes to manufacturing. Con: When Tim Cook said he was 'proud to be gay,' in 2014, he was the highest profile CEO at the time, and since, to come out. While American voters' attitudes towards gay rights have changed considerably over the years — witness the legalization of gay marriage — recent events in Charlottesville and elsewhere show bigotry is alive and well."
- Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg: "Pro: Zuckerberg's genius is growing the world's largest social network and tapping into what people want to talk about, and keeping several steps ahead of competitors ... Con: No elective office and a background that isn't exactly uplifting — he was accused of stealing the idea for Facebook from the Winklevoss brothers."
- Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg: "Pro: She's the Facebooker with actual government experience, serving as chief of staff to then-Treasury Secretary Larry Summers during the Bill Clinton administration ... Con: ..while she has a huge public platform, and is highly knowledgeable, we haven't seen the kind of barnstorming from her that are bread and butter for politicians."
- Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos: "Pro: ...The Seattle-based CEO, 53, figured out how to get packages to us at breakneck speed, developed the idea of drones for delivery, bought the Washington Post and turned it into an editorial, money-making powerhouse ... Con: Running for elective office would open Bezos up to stinging criticism from the retail concerns he's demolished, put Amazon's workplace history — employees are said to be subject to tough conditions — into the open arena, and he's never run for anything before."
| | CNN's Brenna Williams highlights a relatively less well-known moment in US history. She writes:
On this day in 1979, the world found out about the rabbit "attack" on former President Jimmy Carter after his press secretary Jody Powell casually mentioned it to the press months after it happened. The Washington Post ran a piece on August 30, 1979, with the headline "Bunny Goes Bugs." Then-AP reporter Brooks Jackson is now my personal hero for leading with: "A 'killer rabbit' attacked President Carter on a recent trip to Plains, Ga., penetrating Secret Service security and forcing the chief executive to beat back the beast with a canoe paddle."
Carter recounted his side of the story in an interview with CNN in 2010. "I was fishing one afternoon," Carter said." And a rabbit was being chased by hounds ... he jumped in the water and swam toward my boat. When he got almost there, I splashed some water with a paddle." As a proud rabbit owner, I can attest that they're objectively the cutest, sweetest, most talented — who knew rabbits could swim?! — animals in the world. But how did this relatively tame encounter become the stuff of legend? Per Carter, his press secreatry apparently told the tale while at a bar with reporters and "after a lot of drinking had gone on." But Powell, who passed away in 2009, wrote in his book " The Other Side of the Story" that he told the rabbit anecdote to Jackson over a cup of tea. One thing we know for sure: It takes more than a bunny to scare off Carter. | | Remember the photo that circulated on Twitter earlier this week of senior citizens sitting in a nursing home with rising floodwaters in Texas? Well, CNN reported Tuesday that the nine flooded senior citizens are now dry and safe at a new Houston-area nursing home, after the National Guard arrived in trucks to help save the residents. Just another act of heroism during Hurricane Harvey (Another recent example: CNN's own Drew Griffin rescued a man mid live-shot).
A reminder: For ways to help the victims of Hurricane Harvey, visit CNN Impact. | |  | | H/T Brenna, who is trying hard to get bunnies in The Point more often. | | | Give The Point as much attention as you would to the adorable Marlon Bundo Pence (featured in the GIF above). Tell people you know to subscribe. | | We'd love to share our other newsletters with you. Follow this link for daily coverage of the world's top stories, savvy market insights, an insider's look into the media, and more. Our authors for The Point are Chris Cillizza and Saba Hamedy. Send your tips and thoughts via email to Chris or Saba. Follow on Twitter: Chris and Saba. | | | Get the Nightcap, a comprehensive summary of the most important political news, delivered to your inbox daily. | | | | | |
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