{"id":11562274,"date":"2025-07-16T14:17:30","date_gmt":"2025-07-16T18:17:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/?p=11562274"},"modified":"2025-07-16T14:17:30","modified_gmt":"2025-07-16T18:17:30","slug":"tom-zirpoli-we-get-the-government-we-vote-for-commentary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/2025\/07\/16\/tom-zirpoli-we-get-the-government-we-vote-for-commentary\/","title":{"rendered":"Tom Zirpoli: We get the government we vote for | COMMENTARY"},"content":{"rendered":"

The U.S. government does a great deal of good for ordinary Americans, even saving lives. When the government is hindered from doing its job, bad things happen. An elderly person may not receive their Social Security check. A veteran may not get the treatment he\/she needs from an injury sustained in Afghanistan. A child may not receive an important vaccine to protect her from getting measles, or the danger of significant flooding may not be communicated to the public, leaving them unaware of the need to avoid low-lying areas along a river with a long history of flooding.<\/p>\n

As outlined by Robert Reich on Substack, \u201cThe United States government is no longer able to protect us from real hazards, such as flash floods, because it\u2019s shifting funds to take hazards, such as a non-existent immigrant crime wave.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flood victims in Texas will have less support from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) because the Trump administration has diverted congressional funds designated for FEMA to building immigrant detention centers in the Florida Everglades. Good luck to the people of Florida when hurricane season arrives. Perhaps when their homes are destroyed, they can take refuge in one of FEMA\u2019s detention centers.<\/p>\n

The media has adequately outlined the number of missing personnel \u2014 a senior hydrologist, a staff forecaster and a meteorologist \u2014 at the National Weather Service San Angelo office near the Texas flooding. The National Weather Service office in San Antonio has also been without a warning coordination meteorologist and science officer, as stated by Reich, \u201cwho are supposed to work with local emergency managers to plan for floods, including when and how to warn local residents and help them evacuate.\u201d All of these open positions are a result of people being fired or encouraged to retire by the Trump administration.
\nMaxine Joselow, writing for The New York Times, reported that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem did not renew contracts with four companies that FEMA uses to answer calls for victim assistance, resulting in hundreds of contractors being fired and leaving many flood victims without anyone\u00a0to call for five days. As a result, \u201cFEMA did not answer nearly two-thirds of calls to its disaster assistance line,\u201d according to Joselow. And CNN reported that FEMA did not deploy search and rescue teams from around the nation\u00a0to help local first responders for 3 to 4 days after the flood.<\/p>\n

Trump is hiring 10,000 more ICE agents while reducing the number of staff supporting our nation\u2019s air-traffic control system, cutting staff at our National Parks during peak tourist season, eliminating experts at the National Weather Service, and reducing the number of disaster experts at FEMA. He has reduced the number of Social Security offices and support staff, making it more difficult for seniors to access services or information about their benefits. His Medicaid cuts \u2014 which he promised not to make \u2014 will result in the reduction of hospitals and nursing homes in our rural communities over the next several years. Yet, he is spending $45 billion to build immigrant detention centers that look like concentration camps. None of these cuts will make us safer or stronger as a nation. They will, however, make life more difficult for ordinary Americans and leave many, such as those in Texas, vulnerable to national disasters.<\/p>\n

MaryAnn Tierney, writing for The New York Times, has worked under both Democratic and Republican administrations for the past 25 years in emergency management and served as a former deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. She says that \u201cthe National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, now warns of \u2018rapid intensification,\u2019 when tropical systems quickly escalate from mild to major hurricanes in a matter of hours. That compresses the time emergency managers have to evacuate communities, marshal resources, and respond. It leaves less room for error and demands more from the systems that protect us. And yet, the very system designed to meet this moment is being hollowed out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u201cuncomfortable truth is this,” writes Tierney, \u201cWith each passing day, the federal government is becoming less prepared to face the next big disaster. And as the risk grows, the ability to deliver on its vital disaster response mission is shrinking.\u201d<\/p>\n

We all sympathize with the victims of the terrible flooding in Texas. But we can\u2019t help but shake our heads as we realize that they are also victims of the local, state and federal government they voted for. In 2014, the Texas Republican Party declared that \u201cClimate change is a political agenda \u2026 we urge government at all levels to ignore any plea for money to fund global climate change initiatives.\u201d As a result, local officials refused to use the billions of dollars the Biden administration provided for an early warning system along the river.<\/p>\n

The local Republican government ignored the fact that thousands of children regularly camp in a well-known flood zone, with a long history of deadly flooding, while refusing to invest in an early warning system to protect them. The local government stated that the cost of the system, $500,000, was too high. Do the math: $500,000 divided by 200 deaths = $2,500 per life possibly saved.<\/p>\n

The people of Texas consistently vote for politicians who don\u2019t want to provide even the most basic service for their citizens: helping to keep them safe. That includes being safe from natural disasters, which is a far greater threat to Americans than hard-working immigrants who are picking our vegetables or putting asphalt roofs on our new homes in the hot sun.<\/p>\n

Republicans continue to vote for politicians who don\u2019t believe in investing in their communities, state or nation, but then wonder why they can\u2019t get the support and services they need when flood waters sweep away their home or when their children are drowned because an incompetent and careless government doesn\u2019t seem to value their lives.<\/p>\n

For many Republicans, no government is the best government, until they need help for themselves or their family. Then, they blame the government, the government they voted for, for not having the support and services they voted against.<\/p>\n

Trump has stated that he wants to defund FEMA because he believes state and local governments should be responsible for caring for their citizens after natural disasters. This is a traditional Republican philosophy, but local and state governments lack the resources or capacity to respond to a billion-dollar flood or a five-billion-dollar hurricane. States like Florida and Texas would have to significantly increase their state tax rates to cover these new costs. Currently, Florida and Texas have no state income taxes, leaving their citizens to fend for themselves or rely on the federal government \u2014 and the rest of us \u2014 to bail them out after each disaster. In addition, even in flood zones, Texans are not required to purchase flood insurance, according to a report from Bloomberg News. If FEMA is defunded, voters in Florida and Texas will get to test out the reality of their \u201cno government is the best government\u201d philosophy. Hurricane season should be interesting.<\/p>\n

Perhaps Trump is tired of bailing them out. As a citizen of a state who pays significant state income taxes to cover the services my family needs, I\u2019m beginning to see his point.<\/p>\n

Tom Zirpoli is the Laurence J. Adams Distinguished Chair in Special Education Emeritus at McDaniel College. He writes from Westminster. Email him at tzirpoli@mcdaniel.edu<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Americans will have less protection from disasters like the floods that struck Texas because of federal cuts, writes Tom Zirpoli.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":234,"featured_media":11553105,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"apple_news_api_created_at":"2025-07-16T18:17:35Z","apple_news_api_id":"a5ba2569-2ca0-4a5f-b533-a409fbdb8b3e","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2025-07-16T18:17:35Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/ApbolaSygSl-1M6QJ-9uLPg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"middle","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"subheadline":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[75,80,81],"tags":[],"feature":[],"location":[],"type-of-work":[],"coauthors":[23144],"class_list":["post-11562274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-carroll-county-times","category-cct-latest-headlines","category-cct-opinion"],"post_status":"","edit_last":0,"edit_lock":0,"highlights":"","original_byline":"","original_canonical":"","original_category":"","original_email":"","original_id":0,"original_pubdate":"","original_source":"","primary_section":"81","primary_tag":0,"print_workflow_body":{"deck_headline":"","print_title":"Tom Zirpoli: We get the government we vote for ","print_subheadline":"","print_priority":"","print_placement":"inside","print_planned_ready":"","print_pub_date":"1752724800","print_slug":"CCT-L-ZIRPOLI-0717","print_budget_line":"","print_excerpt":"Americans will have less protection from disasters like the floods that struck Texas because of federal cuts, writes Tom Zirpoli.","print_notes":"","photo_limits":"Photo limits are: 1 featured image, 5 featured gallery images, 5 embedded gallery images and 5 in-article embedded images. Articles that exceed these limits will not export. Please adjust images to reflect these limits.","print_featured_gallery_richtext":"","print_inline_galleries_richtext":"","print_inline_images_richtext":"","print_content":"

The U.S. government does a great deal of good for ordinary Americans, even saving lives. When the government is hindered from doing its job, bad things happen. An elderly person may not receive their Social Security check. A veteran may not get the treatment he\/she needs from an injury sustained in Afghanistan. A child may not receive an important vaccine to protect her from getting measles, or the danger of significant flooding may not be communicated to the public, leaving them unaware of the need to avoid low-lying areas along a river with a long history of flooding.<\/p>

As outlined by Robert Reich on Substack, \u201cThe United States government is no longer able to protect us from real hazards, such as flash floods, because it\u2019s shifting funds to take hazards, such as a non-existent immigrant crime wave.\u201d<\/p>

Flood victims in Texas will have less support from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) because the Trump administration has diverted congressional funds designated for FEMA to building immigrant detention centers in the Florida Everglades. Good luck to the people of Florida when hurricane season arrives. Perhaps when their homes are destroyed, they can take refuge in one of FEMA\u2019s detention centers.<\/p>

The media has adequately outlined the number of missing personnel \u2014 a senior hydrologist, a staff forecaster and a meteorologist \u2014 at the National Weather Service San Angelo office near the Texas flooding. The National Weather Service office in San Antonio has also been without a warning coordination meteorologist and science officer, as stated by Reich, \u201cwho are supposed to work with local emergency managers to plan for floods, including when and how to warn local residents and help them evacuate.\u201d All of these open positions are a result of people being fired or encouraged to retire by the Trump administration.
Maxine Joselow, writing for The New York Times, reported that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem did not renew contracts with four companies that FEMA uses to answer calls for victim assistance, resulting in hundreds of contractors being fired and leaving many flood victims without anyone\u00a0to call for five days. As a result, \u201cFEMA did not answer nearly two-thirds of calls to its disaster assistance line,\u201d according to Joselow. And CNN reported that FEMA did not deploy search and rescue teams from around the nation\u00a0to help local first responders for 3 to 4 days after the flood.<\/p>

Trump is hiring 10,000 more ICE agents while reducing the number of staff supporting our nation\u2019s air-traffic control system, cutting staff at our National Parks during peak tourist season, eliminating experts at the National Weather Service, and reducing the number of disaster experts at FEMA. He has reduced the number of Social Security offices and support staff, making it more difficult for seniors to access services or information about their benefits. His Medicaid cuts \u2014 which he promised not to make \u2014 will result in the reduction of hospitals and nursing homes in our rural communities over the next several years. Yet, he is spending $45 billion to build immigrant detention centers that look like concentration camps. None of these cuts will make us safer or stronger as a nation. They will, however, make life more difficult for ordinary Americans and leave many, such as those in Texas, vulnerable to national disasters.<\/p>

MaryAnn Tierney, writing for The New York Times, has worked under both Democratic and Republican administrations for the past 25 years in emergency management and served as a former deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. She says that \u201cthe National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, now warns of \u2018rapid intensification,\u2019 when tropical systems quickly escalate from mild to major hurricanes in a matter of hours. That compresses the time emergency managers have to evacuate communities, marshal resources, and respond. It leaves less room for error and demands more from the systems that protect us. And yet, the very system designed to meet this moment is being hollowed out.\u201d<\/p>

The \u201cuncomfortable truth is this,\" writes Tierney, \u201cWith each passing day, the federal government is becoming less prepared to face the next big disaster. And as the risk grows, the ability to deliver on its vital disaster response mission is shrinking.\u201d<\/p>

We all sympathize with the victims of the terrible flooding in Texas. But we can\u2019t help but shake our heads as we realize that they are also victims of the local, state and federal government they voted for. In 2014, the Texas Republican Party declared that \u201cClimate change is a political agenda \u2026 we urge government at all levels to ignore any plea for money to fund global climate change initiatives.\u201d As a result, local officials refused to use the billions of dollars the Biden administration provided for an early warning system along the river.<\/p>

The local Republican government ignored the fact that thousands of children regularly camp in a well-known flood zone, with a long history of deadly flooding, while refusing to invest in an early warning system to protect them. The local government stated that the cost of the system, $500,000, was too high. Do the math: $500,000 divided by 200 deaths = $2,500 per life possibly saved.<\/p>

The people of Texas consistently vote for politicians who don\u2019t want to provide even the most basic service for their citizens: helping to keep them safe. That includes being safe from natural disasters, which is a far greater threat to Americans than hard-working immigrants who are picking our vegetables or putting asphalt roofs on our new homes in the hot sun.<\/p>

Republicans continue to vote for politicians who don\u2019t believe in investing in their communities, state or nation, but then wonder why they can\u2019t get the support and services they need when flood waters sweep away their home or when their children are drowned because an incompetent and careless government doesn\u2019t seem to value their lives.<\/p>

For many Republicans, no government is the best government, until they need help for themselves or their family. Then, they blame the government, the government they voted for, for not having the support and services they voted against.<\/p>

Trump has stated that he wants to defund FEMA because he believes state and local governments should be responsible for caring for their citizens after natural disasters. This is a traditional Republican philosophy, but local and state governments lack the resources or capacity to respond to a billion-dollar flood or a five-billion-dollar hurricane. States like Florida and Texas would have to significantly increase their state tax rates to cover these new costs. Currently, Florida and Texas have no state income taxes, leaving their citizens to fend for themselves or rely on the federal government \u2014 and the rest of us \u2014 to bail them out after each disaster. In addition, even in flood zones, Texans are not required to purchase flood insurance, according to a report from Bloomberg News. If FEMA is defunded, voters in Florida and Texas will get to test out the reality of their \u201cno government is the best government\u201d philosophy. Hurricane season should be interesting.<\/p>

Perhaps Trump is tired of bailing them out. As a citizen of a state who pays significant state income taxes to cover the services my family needs, I\u2019m beginning to see his point.<\/p>

Tom Zirpoli is the Laurence J. Adams Distinguished Chair in Special Education Emeritus at McDaniel College. He writes from Westminster. Email him at tzirpoli@mcdaniel.edu<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>"},"print_workflow_exported_ts":"1752689876","print_workflow_exported_username":"Philip Caldwell","print_workflow_shapes":"","print_workflow_side":{"print_section":"24225","print_status":"24232","add_export_buttons":"","print_endpoint":"tribune"},"really_short_title":"","short_title":"","syndication_source":"","market_neutral_title":"","social_title":"","dfm_hub_post_id":0,"paywall_level":"metered","featured_media_content":{"content_type":"image","content":{"id":11553105,"title":"APTOPIX_Texas_Floods_Extreme_Weather_46740_3e2b8b","filename":"APTOPIX_Texas_Floods_Extreme_Weather_46740_3e2b8b-1.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/APTOPIX_Texas_Floods_Extreme_Weather_46740_3e2b8b-1.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/2025\/07\/10\/texas-floods-power-of-water\/aptopix_texas_floods_extreme_weather_46740_3e2b8b\/","alt":"","author":"13","description":"","caption":"This aerial photo shows damage from flash floods along the Guadalupe River in Ingram, Texas, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo\/Gerald Herbert)\n","name":"aptopix_texas_floods_extreme_weather_46740_3e2b8b","status":"inherit","uploadedTo":11553102,"date":1752190640000,"modified":1752278932000,"menuOrder":0,"mime":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.svg","dateFormatted":"July 10, 2025","nonces":{"update":false,"delete":false,"edit":false},"editLink":false,"meta":false,"authorName":"gqlshare","authorLink":"","uploadedToTitle":"Breaking down the force of water in the Texas floods","uploadedToLink":null,"filesizeInBytes":4826869,"filesizeHumanReadable":"5 MB","context":"","height":4727,"width":7091,"orientation":"landscape","sizes":{"thumbnail":{"height":"150","width":"150","url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/APTOPIX_Texas_Floods_Extreme_Weather_46740_3e2b8b-1.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","orientation":"landscape"},"medium":{"height":200,"width":300,"url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/APTOPIX_Texas_Floods_Extreme_Weather_46740_3e2b8b-1.jpg?w=300","orientation":"landscape"},"large":{"height":683,"width":1024,"url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/APTOPIX_Texas_Floods_Extreme_Weather_46740_3e2b8b-1.jpg?w=1024","orientation":"landscape"},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/APTOPIX_Texas_Floods_Extreme_Weather_46740_3e2b8b-1.jpg","height":4727,"width":7091,"orientation":"landscape"}},"custom_caption":""},"data":[{"id":11553105,"title":"APTOPIX_Texas_Floods_Extreme_Weather_46740_3e2b8b","filename":"APTOPIX_Texas_Floods_Extreme_Weather_46740_3e2b8b-1.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/APTOPIX_Texas_Floods_Extreme_Weather_46740_3e2b8b-1.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/2025\/07\/10\/texas-floods-power-of-water\/aptopix_texas_floods_extreme_weather_46740_3e2b8b\/","alt":"","author":"13","description":"","caption":"This aerial photo shows damage from flash floods along the Guadalupe River in Ingram, Texas, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo\/Gerald Herbert)\n","name":"aptopix_texas_floods_extreme_weather_46740_3e2b8b","status":"inherit","uploadedTo":11553102,"date":1752190640000,"modified":1752278932000,"menuOrder":0,"mime":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.svg","dateFormatted":"July 10, 2025","nonces":{"update":false,"delete":false,"edit":false},"editLink":false,"meta":false,"authorName":"gqlshare","authorLink":"","uploadedToTitle":"Breaking down the force of water in the Texas floods","uploadedToLink":null,"filesizeInBytes":4826869,"filesizeHumanReadable":"5 MB","context":"","height":4727,"width":7091,"orientation":"landscape","sizes":{"thumbnail":{"height":"150","width":"150","url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/APTOPIX_Texas_Floods_Extreme_Weather_46740_3e2b8b-1.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","orientation":"landscape"},"medium":{"height":200,"width":300,"url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/APTOPIX_Texas_Floods_Extreme_Weather_46740_3e2b8b-1.jpg?w=300","orientation":"landscape"},"large":{"height":683,"width":1024,"url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/APTOPIX_Texas_Floods_Extreme_Weather_46740_3e2b8b-1.jpg?w=1024","orientation":"landscape"},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/APTOPIX_Texas_Floods_Extreme_Weather_46740_3e2b8b-1.jpg","height":4727,"width":7091,"orientation":"landscape"}},"custom_caption":""}],"rendered_content":"\"\""},"attachments":[],"authors":[{"ID":23375,"display_name":"Tom Zirpoli","description":"","first_name":"Tom","last_name":"Zirpoli","user_nicename":"tom-zirpoli","user_login":"tom-zirpoli","user_email":"","type":"guest-author","linked_account":0,"website":"","twitter":"","facebook":"","google_plus":""}],"taxonomies":{"category":[{"term_id":75,"name":"Carroll County Times","slug":"carroll-county-times","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":75,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":60243,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":80,"name":"CCT Latest Headlines","slug":"cct-latest-headlines","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":80,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":75,"count":7893,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":81,"name":"CCT Opinion","slug":"cct-opinion","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":81,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":75,"count":9929,"filter":"raw"}]},"featured_media_array":{"id":11553105,"title":"APTOPIX_Texas_Floods_Extreme_Weather_46740_3e2b8b","filename":"APTOPIX_Texas_Floods_Extreme_Weather_46740_3e2b8b-1.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/APTOPIX_Texas_Floods_Extreme_Weather_46740_3e2b8b-1.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/2025\/07\/10\/texas-floods-power-of-water\/aptopix_texas_floods_extreme_weather_46740_3e2b8b\/","alt":"","author":"13","description":"","caption":"This aerial photo shows damage from flash floods along the Guadalupe River in Ingram, Texas, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo\/Gerald Herbert)\n","name":"aptopix_texas_floods_extreme_weather_46740_3e2b8b","status":"inherit","uploadedTo":11553102,"date":1752190640000,"modified":1752278932000,"menuOrder":0,"mime":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.svg","dateFormatted":"July 10, 2025","nonces":{"update":false,"delete":false,"edit":false},"editLink":false,"meta":false,"authorName":"gqlshare","authorLink":"","uploadedToTitle":"Breaking down the force of water in the Texas floods","uploadedToLink":null,"filesizeInBytes":4826869,"filesizeHumanReadable":"5 MB","context":"","height":4727,"width":7091,"orientation":"landscape","sizes":{"thumbnail":{"height":"150","width":"150","url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/APTOPIX_Texas_Floods_Extreme_Weather_46740_3e2b8b-1.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","orientation":"landscape"},"medium":{"height":200,"width":300,"url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/APTOPIX_Texas_Floods_Extreme_Weather_46740_3e2b8b-1.jpg?w=300","orientation":"landscape"},"large":{"height":683,"width":1024,"url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/APTOPIX_Texas_Floods_Extreme_Weather_46740_3e2b8b-1.jpg?w=1024","orientation":"landscape"},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/APTOPIX_Texas_Floods_Extreme_Weather_46740_3e2b8b-1.jpg","height":4727,"width":7091,"orientation":"landscape"}},"custom_caption":""},"syndication_canonical":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/2025\/07\/16\/tom-zirpoli-we-get-the-government-we-vote-for-commentary\/","apple_news_notices":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/baltimoresun.com\/2025\/07\/16\/tom-zirpoli-we-get-the-government-we-vote-for-commentary\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Tom Zirpoli: We get the government we vote for | COMMENTARY","url":"http:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/2025\/07\/16\/tom-zirpoli-we-get-the-government-we-vote-for-commentary\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/2025\/07\/16\/tom-zirpoli-we-get-the-government-we-vote-for-commentary\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/APTOPIX_Texas_Floods_Extreme_Weather_46740_3e2b8b-1.jpg?w=150","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/APTOPIX_Texas_Floods_Extreme_Weather_46740_3e2b8b-1.jpg"},"articleSection":"Other","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tom Zirpoli"}],"creator":["Tom Zirpoli"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Baltimore Sun","logo":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/baltimore-sun-fallback.png?w=600"},"keywords":[],"dateCreated":"2025-07-16T18:17:30Z","datePublished":"2025-07-16T18:17:30Z","dateModified":"2025-07-16T18:17:30Z"},"rendered":"