Washed Away ⛈

The Texas floods took 135 lives. The political spin and noise started before the search even ended.

Just two weeks ago, flash floods devastated Camp Mystic and Central Texas.

The rain dumped so hard and fast that the campers did not have time to evacuate.

Children. Teenagers. Adults. Gone. 🖤

135 lives lost. Over 100 still missing.

Families shattered.

I can only imagine, and I don’t want to, what it would be like if my sons were just… washed away. 😢

It should be a time to grieve. Instead, the political spin began to rush in as fast as the floods.

Some blamed the DOGE cuts.

Some blamed the Biden administration.

Some blamed reductions to the National Weather Service.

Some blamed FEMA.

Commentators. Politicians. Social media takes. Everyone has a theory, a target, a timeline.

But few ask how the survivors were doing.

How is this possible? 😑

We are so quick to rush to blame and judgement in this country.

While rescue teams were still searching for survivors, another wave of flooding hit.

Yet, there was more blame, spin, and distraction.

FULL STOP!

Stop spinning people’s suffering for political leverage!! 🔊

Let people grieve more than 2 weeks. Families are still trying to identify loved ones. Some are still waiting for news. This is not a time for political statements or strategy.

It’s a time for space.

Grief does not run on the news cycle. It does not care about Republican or Democrat agendas.

And when we use grief for attention or political gain,

we dishonor the survivors and those who died. 😞

This is where stigma creeps in.

Not all stigma sounds like judgment.

Sometimes it sounds like analysis or spin.

Like political theater.

Like people talking around pain instead of to it.

When grief becomes political content, survivors hear the message loud and clear:

They are just another headline. Stay quiet.

 So, they do.

They stop reaching out.

They tell themselves their pain is too messy, too much, too inconvenient.

And the silence grows.

But that silence doesn’t mean healing.

It means shame has moved in.

It means trauma is being carried alone.

The flood line isn’t just water.

It’s the invisible mark left behind.

And when others manipulate that mark, something is buried.

Where someone stops asking for help.

Where grief becomes a private burden instead of a public responsibility.

Where stigma takes root.

What You Can Do

• Redirect the conversation.

When others start pointing fingers about who’s to blame, bring it back to care for the survivors.

• Support the disaster response.

Donate to recovery efforts through Team Rubicon (https://teamrubiconusa.org). If you are not aware of Team Rubicon, it’s a veteran-led organization that helps with disaster relief.

Or the American Red Cross (https://www.redcross.org/donate/donation.html).

• Honor the grief.

Say less. Listen more. Let people be devastated without trying to explain it away.

This isn’t about politics. It’s about people. If you care about mental health, stop turning tragedy into political theater.

Sit with the pain. Honor the silence.

And let grief have the final word, not another talking head. 🗣

I cannot believe there are nearly 300 of you good people who have subscribed. Thank you! And if you’re able, please send this newsletter to one person in your life who may want to learn how to crush the stigma of mental health.

Until next Friday morning just before⏰9:00am, come back…be here. 📥

Keith