America


TOXIC Two months later, residents are still anxious about long-term health eff ects from the derailment of a Norfolk Southern freight train in East Palestine, Ohio. Of icials later carried out a “controlled burn” of chemicals leaking from the wreck.


Train Wreck Erodes Trust in Government


Bungled response showed once again that of icials don’t tell the truth.


T BY JAMES B. MEIGS


hey eventually wore Pete Buttigieg down. For weeks, the Transpor- tation Department secretary


resisted calls to visit the site of the East Palestine, Ohio, train wreck. He thought it best to “stay out of


the way” of National Transportation Safety Board investigators, he told CBS News.


Buttigieg — whose signature priori-


ties at the Department of Transporta- tion have been the removal of “racist” highways and the rollout of electric vehicles — at fi rst seemed annoyed at having to focus on a simple railroad accident; “There are roughly 1,000 cases a year of a train derailing,” he told one reporter. His implication was that a Trans-


portation secretary couldn’t be expect- ed to visit every podunk town where a train winds up in a ditch. But fi nally, on Feb. 23, he made time to travel to the blue-collar community where


18 NEWSMAX | APRIL 2023


a Norfolk Southern freight train had spilled toxic chemicals nearly three weeks before. Visiting the troubled region the day


after former President Donald Trump had passed out free Big Macs and bot- tles of “Trump Water” was less than ideal.


And Buttigieg, unlike Trump, hard-


ly looked happy to be there. Politico portrayed the one-time pres-


idential hopeful as the victim of unfair criticism: “Signs are growing that the Transportation secretary’s usual Eagle Scout patience is giving way to frustra- tion,” the publication reported. Of course, crises such as rail disas-


ters rarely occur on schedules conve- nient to political offi cials, but leaders are often judged, fairly or unfairly, by how they respond to unexpected chal- lenges or tragedies. On one level, there’s only so much


that offi cials can do in the aftermath of a major disaster: The mistakes have already been made, the damage done.


But the public doesn’t expect politi-


cal leaders and relevant agencies to roll back time and make a crisis disappear. What the public asks fi rst is that their leaders simply show up. People want their offi cials to dem-


onstrate focus, compassion, and a determination to get to the bottom of the problem. And they want the truth. During a crisis, the public craves clear, accurate information, not vague assur- ances or political spin. That ability to calm public fears


after a disaster turns out to be a surpris- ingly rare political talent. Buttigieg has established a ten-


dency to go AWOL whenever trouble erupts on his watch. But he is far from the only political leader who appears incapable of leading during a crisis. The Biden White House as a whole


seems both sluggish and prickly when confronted with unexpected inci- dents. Administration offi cials barely responded to the Ohio train crash until the political fallout began to intensi- fy. And their reaction in January to the China spy balloon crisis appeared weak and evasive.


TRAIN/AP IMAGES / MEASURE/US ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY / HANDOUT/ANADOLU AGENCY VIA GETTY IMAGES


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