With all the national media attention focused on Houston during the flood Monday, it's no surprise that U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee popped up to call for a meeting to discuss the state of Houston's bayous and the installation of warning lights at flood-prone intersections around the city. After all, Jackson Lee comes running every time there's a chance to get her name in the papers serve her constituents.
No, what surprised us — but only a little, honestly — was something from the Chronicle's Eric Berger, who wrote a lot of the stories about the flood on the Chron's website Monday. On his blog, Berger tells about a copy of a letter from Jackson Lee to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff letting Chertoff know that Gov. Rick Perry might be asking for a disaster declaration for the Houston area. The letter, Berger points out, sounded oddly similar to one of the articles Berger posted on chron.com Monday afternoon.
Here's the text from Berger's article:
More than half a foot of rain fell across much of the greater Houston area between midday Sunday and today, with rainfall totals exceeding eight inches near downtown Houston and in east Harris County. But public officials were warily watching renewed thunderstorms firing to the west of Houston, which were expected to move toward the area this afternoon, possibly bringing another two to four inches of rain. Officials are concerned because the county's flood control system is near its maximum. At noon Monday more than 20 areas in Harris County officials reported bayous had exceeded their banks.
And Jackson Lee's version:
The National Weather Service has reported that more than half a foot of rain fell across much of the greater Houston area between midday Sunday and today, with rainfall totals exceeding eight inches near downtown Houston and in east Harris County. It is also being reported that additional thunderstorms may occur this afternoon, bringing as much as another two to four inches of rain. This is of particular concern because local public safety officials are reporting that the Harris County flood control system is near its maximum. Indeed, at noon Monday, bayous had exceeded their banks in more than 20 areas in Harris County.
Wait — so that "Fourscore and seven years ago" speech we heard Jackson Lee give the other day was actually written by someone else? Seriously, Berger says he's "not ready to accuse a U.S. Rep. of plagiarism." But the similarity between the two passages is, well, extraordinary. Sure, Berger and Jackson Lee (or Jackson Lee's anonymous staffer) could have used a lot of similar wording and put the information in exactly the same order, we suppose — that's entirely possible, as is Houstonist's winning the Powerball jackpot. (We're keeping our fingers crossed on that one.)
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I'll skip over my Sheila comments for now and focus on the flooding. Why is it that the city always seems to be reactionary instead of proactive on issues such as this? Also, why not fix these flood prone roads instead of just putting up warning signs? *Sigh*, I'll never understand how government doesn't work works.
And she's always wearing red, too!