............
Now here is my question to you (and anyone else who has read this so
far):

Why has the president not walked into the Rose Garden and
basically told everyone living that ham radio has been there when
everything else has failed. Is ham radio some kind of second-class
citizen that works when all else fails?
............

Politics.

Hams don't vote as a block.
Do hams come out in support of a particular canidate or donate
significant $$$$ as a group to an election campaign ?

First Responder union officials make a big stink on the TV news in
support of canidates. Big companies make significant donations.

That all means something.

As hams we can and do help provide communications infrastructure during
emergencies but this is back office work compared to fire, police, EMS,
and military.

Last year my ARES group activated for major flooding multiple times.
We had tons of thanks heaped upon us by the Red Cross and First
Responders. It felt good. There was a press conference and I know for a
fact the head of the First Responders personally thanked the hams for a
job well done.

The local newspaper said nothing about ham radio. Instead they just said
there were communications problems, cellphones would not work in the
area , and the problem was being looked at.

Geese..
N2UBP