Editorial: Texas camp tragedy brings out best & worst of us

Tragedies bring out the best in people — at least that’s the assumption of a decent society. For some, however, the misfortune of others prompts them to unleash the most vile and abhorrent of screeds. When torrential rains in central Texas caused the surging Guadalupe River to flood Friday morning, the swift, deadly waters washed away much of Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian summer camp. According to reports Monday, at least 91 were killed, including 27 girls and counselors at the camp. Jenna Bush Hager, 43, talked about the devastation on “Today.” “My mom was a counselor there, but also so many of my friends were raised at this camp,” said Bush Hager. “Texas camps are institutions, as you just heard, where many family members, generations — this camp was 100 years old — so grandmothers, mothers, kids, have all gone there.” The phrase “a parent’s worst nightmare” has been used, but the horror, grief and fear among those still waiting for their daughters to be found or who have learned their children are dead is beyond words. Prayers for those killed and missing and words of empathy have poured in. Then there are those who exploit the pain of others for their own agendas. They lack a conscience, but they have social media accounts. Houston pediatrician Dr. Christina B. Propst posted this under her old Facebook username, Chris Tina, according to Mediaite: “May all visitors, children, non-MAGA voters and pets be safe and dry,” Probst wrote. The post went viral after a screenshot was shared by Libs of TikTok. “Kerr County MAGA voted to gut FEMA. They deny climate change. May they get what they voted for. Bless their hearts.” There was well-deserved backlash, lots of it. Propst deleted the post, but she couldn’t delete the consequences. Blue Fish Pediatrics, her employer, announced that “the individual is no longer employed” there. “As we previously mentioned in our original statement, we strongly condemn the comments that were made in that post. That post does not reflect the values, standards, or mission of Blue Fish Pediatrics,” the company said. Propst wasn’t the only one scraping moral bottom. As searchers worked tirelessly,  a former Houston mayoral appointee raged that Camp Mystic was “white-only.’’ “I know I’m going to get canceled for this, but Camp Mystic is a white-only girls’ Christian camp. They don’t even have a token Asian. They don’t have a token Black person. It’s an all-white, white-only conservative Christian camp,” Sade Perkins said in a video on her private TikTok account. She was appointed to the city’s Food Insecurity Board by former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner in 2023, the New York Post reported. That term was up in January — and Houston Mayor John Whitmire said Sunday that he has no plans to reappoint her, particularly after her “deeply inappropriate comments.” Part of social media’s appeal is the chance it offers for anyone, famous, infamous and unknown, to voice their views on current events, whether they have followers in the millions or dozens. All too often it’s a megaphone for the morally bankrupt. It’s also, as Propst and Perkins are to discover, forever. Nothing really goes away on the internet, especially scandals. Their reprehensible posts and videos will always be there, thanks to screenshots, and searchable by, say, potential future employers, neighbors and friends. We have no sympathy for them. Editorial cartoon by Joe Heller (Joe Heller)