...if the Democrats are successful in removing the President from office (which they will never be), it will cause a Civil War like fracture in this Nation from which our Country will never heal." Pastor Robert Jeffress, @FoxNews
A tweet from Donald J. Trump, President of the United States.
That particular tweet from The Don was the third in a series of four. In the first he claims democrats are trying to impeach him because they know they can't beat him in 2020. In the second he says democrats don't care if they, "burn down and destroy the nation in the process." He also states he has never seen evangelicals so mad. In the fourth he wrote--as always referring to himself in the third person--Trump's only impeachable offense was to beat Hillary Clinton in 2016. It is unclear if DJT continued quoting Jeffress' words, or was using his own during the other three tweets. It was probably a mish mash of both.
Indeed, even as Trump and his supporters insist impeachment will help his re-election it is becoming apparent panic is spreading through the halls of the west wing of the White House. Think not? Last week Rep Adam Schiff made a minor screw up when he, "paraphrased," Trump's phone call to Ukrainian President Zelensky during a committee meeting.
The gaffe was all Trump needed to justify a tweet this morning which read, "Rep. Adam Schiff illegally made up a FAKE & terrible statement, pretended it to be mine as the most important part of my call to the Ukrainian President, and read it aloud to Congress and the American people. It bore NO relationship to what I said on the call. Arrest for treason?"
Yesterday the President demanded Schiff be, "questioned at the highest level for Fraud & Treason." He also called Schiff's words, "sinister." This comes after The Big Orange Guy wistfully remembered a time when we executed spies and traitors during a meeting with American staff members at the U.N.
Of course Trump also wants to personally interview the unnamed whistle blower, a person he has called, "almost a spy," and presumably those White House officials who talked to him.
The insanity is spreading. Purportedly right wing internet trolls have put a $50,000 reward out there for anyone who identifies the whistle blower. In addition Geraldo Rivera went on the air and expressed his desire to, "beat the son of a bitch up." Presidential advisor, Stephen Miller claimed the whistle blower is, in fact, "a deep state operative." Even the Russians jumped into the maelstrom. They issued a statement saying they had the right to approve the release of any phone conversations between Trump and Vladimir Putin before they are made public--you know, just in case anyone was thinking about it.
South Carolina Senator, Lindsey Graham has condemned the impeachment inquiry because the whistle blower's evidence is based on, "second and third hand," information. Well yeah, Lindsey, except the second and third hand information has proven to be true. All you have to do to figure that out is read the fucking rough draft of the phone call.
Over at FOX News another civil war of sorts has broken out. Former House Speaker Paul Ryan, who now sits on the board of the company, is advocating for it to bail on Trump. Ryan claims he never liked Trump to begin with and the guy knows nothing about how government works. Meanwhile journalists Chris Wallace and Shepard Smith are waging a continuing battle of words with the propaganda wing headed by Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity.
Late last week republican Senators had a unique way of dodging the whole issue. Over a dozen of them claimed they were so busy they hadn't had the time to read the whistle blower's full complaint--an excuse akin to the old, "the dog ate my homework," line used by desperate teenagers everywhere.
Finally there are right wing complaints the whistle blower is obviously a democrat who doesn't like the President. As one wag put it, "That's like saying if you witness a person you don't like rob a bank, the police should ignore the evidence he did."
And the evidence is there. No matter how often El Don and his followers try to deflect the public's attention toward Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Adam Schiff, and devious spies, this affair is solely about Donald John Trump, what he did, and what he was attempting to do.
sic vita est
9-30-19
Monday, September 30, 2019
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Then, Donald Trump Said, "I Would Like You to do Us a Favor..."
First off the White House did not make public a transcript of Donald Trump's little chat with Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky. As the disclaimer on the release said, "A Memorandum of a Telephone Conversation (TELECON) is not a verbatim transcript of a discussion. The text in this document records the notes and recollections of Situation Room Duty Officers and NSC Policy Staff assigned to listen and memorialize the conversation in written form as the conversation takes place..."
What the statement tells us is there could be more to what was said between the two national leaders than we will never know.
That being the case, here is part of what Situation Room Duty Officers and NSC Policy Staff did take down.
President Trump: (speaking about the lack of European aid to Ukraine..."but the United States has been very very good to Ukraine. I wouldn't say it is reciprocal necessarily because things are happening that are not good, but the United States has been very very good to Ukraine."
Zelensky immediately agreed. "Yes," he said, "You are absolutely right. Not only 100%, but 1000%..." He went on to complain about the lack of western European help in general and more specifically when it came to enforcing sanctions leveled at Russia.
Then Zelensky said, "I would also like to thank you for your great support in the area of defense. We are ready to continue to cooperate for the next steps, specifically we are almost ready to buy more Javelins from the United States for defense purposes."
The key word there was, "almost." Zelensky used it because he was waiting for American cash to assist Ukraine in buying the armaments. For those confused, there is an old American tradition going back to WWII which says, We won't simply give you arms, but we'll loan, or grant you the cash to buy them from us.
Donald John Trump, President of the United States responded to the Ukrainian head of state by saying, "I would like you to do us a favor though because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it..."
Trump then asked, Zelensky--a guy whose nation's very existence is dependent on U.S. military aid--to track down the Democratic National Committee's computer servers which, according to conspiracy wankers, are located in Ukraine. The servers, which Trump has fixated on for years now, reportedly contain 30,000 emails to and from Hillary Clinton. You might remember her. She ran against Trump in 2016 and won the popular vote, but lost the electoral college. Nearly three years later his obsession with, "enemies," is so great he is still trying to dig up dirt on a political opponent he not only defeated, but is now retired from the game. He also told the President of Ukraine, he would have the U.S. Attorney General assist in the investigation.
A few moments later Zelensky, during a cloying cascade of compliments and reassurances, told, Trump, "I will personally tell you that one of my assistants spoke with Mr. Giuliani just recently and we are hoping very much that Mr. Giuliani will be able to travel to Ukraine and we will meet once he comes to Ukraine."
Until that moment in the conversation, Rudy Giuliani's name had not come up. In other words, this phone call either wasn't the first conversation he'd had with Zelensky about all this shit, or the President of Ukraine was under the impression Giuliani is the American A.G.
Mr. Trump then boasted about the talents of his personal lawyer and again promised Attorney General Bill Barr would help in the investigation. He also praised the former Ukrainian chief prosecutor and roundly dissed the sacked American ambassador to the country. It was at that point he told Zelensky, "The other thing, there's a lot of talk about Biden's son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great. Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you can look into it...it sounds horrible to me."
Three things happened in that paragraph. First, the President, for the second time, openly asked the head of a foreign state to dig up dirt on a domestic political opponent. (whenever Trump says, "a lot of people," he means himself) Second, he praised a deposed Ukrainian prosecutor who had, before Joe Biden's intervention, dropped the investigation into Hunter Biden's energy company. He was a man, in fact, so personally and profoundly corrupt that besides Biden, then a representative of President Obama, all of western Europe was demanding his removal. Third, he promised that the United States of America's Justice Department would actively aid Ukrainian efforts to discredit the democratic party's possible nominee.
When the phone call took place American military aid to Ukraine, to the chagrin of even Congressional republicans, not to mention the Ukrainians, had been inexplicably delayed. After Zelensky's assurances and fealty was received--at one point he made sure to tell the President that during his last visit to the U.S. he stayed at a Trump owned hotel--the aid was released.
No, The Don didn't openly ask for a quid pro quo. He is too much of an accomplished felon to make that sort of mistake. And in truth he didn't need to. Zelensky isn't a fool. He's been dealing with Putin, for God's sake and understands perfectly when his country is being leaned on by a mob boss. Hell, the only thing missing in the scene was Trump sitting in a leather chair petting a purring cat during the conversation.
As reprehensible as all this was we aren't at the bottom of it yet. Think about it. The Trump people released this exercise of clear criminal extortion because in their amoral brains the boss didn't do anything wrong. Ponder that mindset as you speculate about what is in the whistle blower's report which they still refuse to release.
Ladies and gentlemen, this constitutional nightmare is just beginning.
9-25-19
What the statement tells us is there could be more to what was said between the two national leaders than we will never know.
That being the case, here is part of what Situation Room Duty Officers and NSC Policy Staff did take down.
President Trump: (speaking about the lack of European aid to Ukraine..."but the United States has been very very good to Ukraine. I wouldn't say it is reciprocal necessarily because things are happening that are not good, but the United States has been very very good to Ukraine."
Zelensky immediately agreed. "Yes," he said, "You are absolutely right. Not only 100%, but 1000%..." He went on to complain about the lack of western European help in general and more specifically when it came to enforcing sanctions leveled at Russia.
Then Zelensky said, "I would also like to thank you for your great support in the area of defense. We are ready to continue to cooperate for the next steps, specifically we are almost ready to buy more Javelins from the United States for defense purposes."
The key word there was, "almost." Zelensky used it because he was waiting for American cash to assist Ukraine in buying the armaments. For those confused, there is an old American tradition going back to WWII which says, We won't simply give you arms, but we'll loan, or grant you the cash to buy them from us.
Donald John Trump, President of the United States responded to the Ukrainian head of state by saying, "I would like you to do us a favor though because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it..."
Trump then asked, Zelensky--a guy whose nation's very existence is dependent on U.S. military aid--to track down the Democratic National Committee's computer servers which, according to conspiracy wankers, are located in Ukraine. The servers, which Trump has fixated on for years now, reportedly contain 30,000 emails to and from Hillary Clinton. You might remember her. She ran against Trump in 2016 and won the popular vote, but lost the electoral college. Nearly three years later his obsession with, "enemies," is so great he is still trying to dig up dirt on a political opponent he not only defeated, but is now retired from the game. He also told the President of Ukraine, he would have the U.S. Attorney General assist in the investigation.
A few moments later Zelensky, during a cloying cascade of compliments and reassurances, told, Trump, "I will personally tell you that one of my assistants spoke with Mr. Giuliani just recently and we are hoping very much that Mr. Giuliani will be able to travel to Ukraine and we will meet once he comes to Ukraine."
Until that moment in the conversation, Rudy Giuliani's name had not come up. In other words, this phone call either wasn't the first conversation he'd had with Zelensky about all this shit, or the President of Ukraine was under the impression Giuliani is the American A.G.
Mr. Trump then boasted about the talents of his personal lawyer and again promised Attorney General Bill Barr would help in the investigation. He also praised the former Ukrainian chief prosecutor and roundly dissed the sacked American ambassador to the country. It was at that point he told Zelensky, "The other thing, there's a lot of talk about Biden's son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great. Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you can look into it...it sounds horrible to me."
Three things happened in that paragraph. First, the President, for the second time, openly asked the head of a foreign state to dig up dirt on a domestic political opponent. (whenever Trump says, "a lot of people," he means himself) Second, he praised a deposed Ukrainian prosecutor who had, before Joe Biden's intervention, dropped the investigation into Hunter Biden's energy company. He was a man, in fact, so personally and profoundly corrupt that besides Biden, then a representative of President Obama, all of western Europe was demanding his removal. Third, he promised that the United States of America's Justice Department would actively aid Ukrainian efforts to discredit the democratic party's possible nominee.
When the phone call took place American military aid to Ukraine, to the chagrin of even Congressional republicans, not to mention the Ukrainians, had been inexplicably delayed. After Zelensky's assurances and fealty was received--at one point he made sure to tell the President that during his last visit to the U.S. he stayed at a Trump owned hotel--the aid was released.
No, The Don didn't openly ask for a quid pro quo. He is too much of an accomplished felon to make that sort of mistake. And in truth he didn't need to. Zelensky isn't a fool. He's been dealing with Putin, for God's sake and understands perfectly when his country is being leaned on by a mob boss. Hell, the only thing missing in the scene was Trump sitting in a leather chair petting a purring cat during the conversation.
As reprehensible as all this was we aren't at the bottom of it yet. Think about it. The Trump people released this exercise of clear criminal extortion because in their amoral brains the boss didn't do anything wrong. Ponder that mindset as you speculate about what is in the whistle blower's report which they still refuse to release.
Ladies and gentlemen, this constitutional nightmare is just beginning.
9-25-19
Saturday, September 21, 2019
Storming Area 51 and Other Moments of Note in American History
Americans are a weird and violent lot. We're also proud of our nation to the point of sin. So much so many of us are convinced no one else in the world can out match us in fields such as justice, science, medicine, education, and productivity. In many of those areas statistics and results demonstrably prove us severely out done by loads of other nations, but pointing those facts out in certain venues will draw protests and charges of being anti American.
A lot of it stems from our history of immigration. From the very beginning of the republic people from Europe and other continents have come here in droves seeking a better and safer life. This continuous flood of immigrants has convinced many of us we are not only the greatest nation in the history of the world, but everyone on the planet wants to live here. The fact that billions don't stuns and confuses scads of Americans to no end.
That includes the rabidly xenophobic crowd now in charge who want to severely limit immigration from places where the population is, let us say, non Caucasian.
However, we shouldn't get bogged down with the immigration question at the moment, or our taste for brute violence which is well documented. Given what went down in the Nevada desert yesterday we should probably focus on the weird part of the American psyche.
On June 27th of this year a guy named Matty Roberts set up a Facebook, "event," titled, "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us." Area 51 is, of course, a secret Air Force facility so enigmatic it is at the center of a huge swirl of conspiracy theories. For years those barely on the fringe of normal thought and behavior have claimed it houses the wreckage of not only other worldly spacecraft, but the remains of extra terrestrials who piloted them. The hyper strict security surrounding the site only compounds these wild speculations.
Much to Roberts' surprise within weeks two million people posted they would attend his, "event," and another million and a half said they were interested in attending. The media at large took notice and suddenly hordes of yahoos storming Area 51 seemed an actual possibility.
The Air Force was concerned enough to issue a statement saying people shouldn't attempt to enter the secure facility because, you know, every sign on its perimeter not only says entrance is not permitted, but also, the use of deadly force to carry out the order is. Two different Nevada counties prepared emergency declarations in case they were overwhelmed by huge crowds. A stunned Roberts went online to assure everyone, especially the authorities, his event was meant to be a joke and he was not going to be responsible if anyone was injured, or shot while trying to pull off the stunt.
Luckily for him and whatever monetary assets he might have, practically everyone who said they would attend were in on the joke. Yesterday, D-Day at Area 51, was attended by just a few hundred strange souls, many of them clad in cheesy costumes, but all of them demonstrating safely outside the gates. Less than six were arrested. One for urinating in public, two others, somewhat perplexed Dutch students, for trespass after they actually did make it onto the grounds.
Unfortunately Americans haven't always been in on the joke. In October, 1938, Mercury Theater on the Air ran an adaptation of H.G. Wells, "War of the Worlds." The format of the show, an orchestra concert interrupted periodically by realistic news bulletins of increasing mayhem, threw thousands into panic. Police arrived in force at the CBS studios in New York. The phone switchboard lit up with people in a panic wanting to know where and how fast the Martian military was advancing. Producer John Houseman later talked about how silly it was. He pointed out it took the Martians only 45, or so minutes of air time to launch from their planet, land on earth, and mount an attack to which American forces, after a cabinet meeting, responded en masse.
In 1999 millions of Americans began to stockpile food, water, and--you guessed it--ammunition in advance of the Y2K millennium bug. The thinking was, because computer programmers everywhere had fucked up, as soon as clocks turned 12:01am on New Years Day every computer system on the globe would crash. Midnight came and the world rolled on without a hiccup. One Russian observer noted, only Americans had the time and money to worry about such things.
Then in the late aughts places like cable TVs History and Travel Channels came alive with broadcasts ominously warning us the Mayan long count calendar was ending on December 21, 2012. This, many a commentator postulated, meant the world was done. Hollywood responded with a big budget movie about the impending apocalypse which was released in 2009. We were in Belize, which is home to the southern part of the Mayan empire, in January, 2012. We asked the locals about this. The impending doom was news to descendents of the Mayans. In their minds any American who thought it true was nuts. December 21st came and went and as we can see, nothing catastrophic happened, at least not until November, 2016.
Given all this nonsense is it any wonder certain people and powers know how easily we are manipulated. They understand far too well we're a nation of media driven hysterics who will jump into any wildly insane theory then obsess on it until it is time to move onto some other outre happening.
And those happenings don't have to be about downed ETs, invading Martians, or Mayans. Sometimes they simply have to involve those who have different religions, political beliefs, and skin tones from ourselves.
Yes, it is sad, but given our history, deep down, we all know it is true.
sic vita est
9-21-19
A lot of it stems from our history of immigration. From the very beginning of the republic people from Europe and other continents have come here in droves seeking a better and safer life. This continuous flood of immigrants has convinced many of us we are not only the greatest nation in the history of the world, but everyone on the planet wants to live here. The fact that billions don't stuns and confuses scads of Americans to no end.
That includes the rabidly xenophobic crowd now in charge who want to severely limit immigration from places where the population is, let us say, non Caucasian.
However, we shouldn't get bogged down with the immigration question at the moment, or our taste for brute violence which is well documented. Given what went down in the Nevada desert yesterday we should probably focus on the weird part of the American psyche.
On June 27th of this year a guy named Matty Roberts set up a Facebook, "event," titled, "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us." Area 51 is, of course, a secret Air Force facility so enigmatic it is at the center of a huge swirl of conspiracy theories. For years those barely on the fringe of normal thought and behavior have claimed it houses the wreckage of not only other worldly spacecraft, but the remains of extra terrestrials who piloted them. The hyper strict security surrounding the site only compounds these wild speculations.
Much to Roberts' surprise within weeks two million people posted they would attend his, "event," and another million and a half said they were interested in attending. The media at large took notice and suddenly hordes of yahoos storming Area 51 seemed an actual possibility.
The Air Force was concerned enough to issue a statement saying people shouldn't attempt to enter the secure facility because, you know, every sign on its perimeter not only says entrance is not permitted, but also, the use of deadly force to carry out the order is. Two different Nevada counties prepared emergency declarations in case they were overwhelmed by huge crowds. A stunned Roberts went online to assure everyone, especially the authorities, his event was meant to be a joke and he was not going to be responsible if anyone was injured, or shot while trying to pull off the stunt.
Luckily for him and whatever monetary assets he might have, practically everyone who said they would attend were in on the joke. Yesterday, D-Day at Area 51, was attended by just a few hundred strange souls, many of them clad in cheesy costumes, but all of them demonstrating safely outside the gates. Less than six were arrested. One for urinating in public, two others, somewhat perplexed Dutch students, for trespass after they actually did make it onto the grounds.
Unfortunately Americans haven't always been in on the joke. In October, 1938, Mercury Theater on the Air ran an adaptation of H.G. Wells, "War of the Worlds." The format of the show, an orchestra concert interrupted periodically by realistic news bulletins of increasing mayhem, threw thousands into panic. Police arrived in force at the CBS studios in New York. The phone switchboard lit up with people in a panic wanting to know where and how fast the Martian military was advancing. Producer John Houseman later talked about how silly it was. He pointed out it took the Martians only 45, or so minutes of air time to launch from their planet, land on earth, and mount an attack to which American forces, after a cabinet meeting, responded en masse.
In 1999 millions of Americans began to stockpile food, water, and--you guessed it--ammunition in advance of the Y2K millennium bug. The thinking was, because computer programmers everywhere had fucked up, as soon as clocks turned 12:01am on New Years Day every computer system on the globe would crash. Midnight came and the world rolled on without a hiccup. One Russian observer noted, only Americans had the time and money to worry about such things.
Then in the late aughts places like cable TVs History and Travel Channels came alive with broadcasts ominously warning us the Mayan long count calendar was ending on December 21, 2012. This, many a commentator postulated, meant the world was done. Hollywood responded with a big budget movie about the impending apocalypse which was released in 2009. We were in Belize, which is home to the southern part of the Mayan empire, in January, 2012. We asked the locals about this. The impending doom was news to descendents of the Mayans. In their minds any American who thought it true was nuts. December 21st came and went and as we can see, nothing catastrophic happened, at least not until November, 2016.
Given all this nonsense is it any wonder certain people and powers know how easily we are manipulated. They understand far too well we're a nation of media driven hysterics who will jump into any wildly insane theory then obsess on it until it is time to move onto some other outre happening.
And those happenings don't have to be about downed ETs, invading Martians, or Mayans. Sometimes they simply have to involve those who have different religions, political beliefs, and skin tones from ourselves.
Yes, it is sad, but given our history, deep down, we all know it is true.
sic vita est
9-21-19
Wednesday, September 18, 2019
4Chan and 8Chan: The Art of Going All Mr. Hyde
It's a mixed up, muddled up, shook up world...
Ray Davies
It is indeed and one of the people leading the charge in that direction is a guy who may, or may not be named, Christopher Poole. In 2003, Poole, working out of a bedroom in his parent's house, came up with the idea of 4Chan. The imageboard site was actually based on the Japanese imageboard, 2Chan. Like 2Chan, Poole's original purpose was to feature examples of and discussions about the Japanese art form known as Anime and comic books which roughly translate as Manga. To this day it still has message boards which focus on the medium.
Beyond Japanese art work there were some other things Chris Poole was passionate about. One was privacy. Even though he was the creator and started out as the head administrator of 4Chan he was known only as, "moot." It wasn't until 2008 The Wall Street Journal revealed to the world, moot, was in fact Christopher Poole. Others, including The Washington Post, weren't so sure. The Post reported the name Christopher Poole, "could be a big hoax, a gotcha."
Whatever his name, moot's obsessive desire for privacy migrated directly to 4Chan itself. On the site everyone was anonymous. Moot was also all in favor of users employing multiple identities when posting--a concept which has spread far and wide across the internet.
He was also a, "free speech," advocate. In short, you could say, or post anything you wanted on a 4Chan message board. Whether he really understood what some people considered free speech, or not is up to debate. The site quickly became riddled with photos, GIFs, and videos of hard core porn. So much so, moot, who was still living at home with Mom and Dad, didn't let them know what he was up to for several years.
The porn, however, was just the start of the depravity. 4Chan also became a nesting place for all manner of the politically insane. Nazis, other white supremacists, and wild eyed conspiracy aficionados found a it a safe home for their bat shit crazy rants and vile racism.
It still wan't enough for some. In 2013, a programmer named Fredrick Brennan, came to the conclusion 4Chan was sinking into the abyss of, "authoritarianism," while the rest of the internet was increasingly being censored by government and corporate interests. To battle these insidious threats he came up with 8Chan.
In 2014, during the height of what came to be known as, "gamergate," Poole seemingly proved Brennan right when 4Chan banned all mention of the ugly affair. Briefly, gamergate was a rebellion of internet game players who were pissed at a female computer game designer. They charged she and her supporters were trying to feminize the testosterone infused and highly sexist world of internet gaming. In order to stop this creeping girlification of their fantasy life they bombarded the designer's social media accounts with brutal threats including rape and murder. During the evil nonsense her home address and phone were published on line, as were those of others who backed her.
As a result of 4Chan's action radical misogynists and others neck deep in the dark swamp of lunacy swarmed Brennan's site like locusts. In their minds 4Chan had become a place for wimps. Besides the usual racist slugs and porn mongers another class of free speakers came along. Let's just describe them as admirers of children. That's right, at the same time some 8Chan users were raving about run amok democratic and Hollywood elite pedophiles all they had to do was switch to another message board, or link on the site to find down loadable images of child pornography.
When questioned about the site's political and, anatomical, content Brennan stated that while he found some of it reprehensible he would always stand behind his users right to post their opinions and predilections.
Poole bailed on 4Chan in early 2015. He handed over administration of his imageboard to three anonymous users. In September of that year the site was sold to Hiroyuki Nishimura who also controls Japan's 2Chan. It is still up and running and remains chock full of ultra right wing bullshit and porn, which, if you think about it, are pretty much the same thing.
Brennan sold 8Chan in 2015, but continued to work there until 2018. After three different mass murderers posted their, "manifestos," on the site in 2019 it suffered a much deserved death. If it does exist you have to get to, "the dark web," to find it. Proving everyone can have a change of heart, especially if there is the possibility of criminal charges, Fredrick Brennan issued a statement afterward saying he was glad his creation was gone.
The internet might be the greatest invention in the history of the world. The trouble is too many of us, when hiding behind the mask of anonymity, go all Mr. Hyde, turning corners of this incredible source of news and information into so much rancid, sometimes deadly, muck.
And, honestly, you don't need a message board to figure that out. Simply log on and go to the social media site of your choice.
9-18-19
Ray Davies
It is indeed and one of the people leading the charge in that direction is a guy who may, or may not be named, Christopher Poole. In 2003, Poole, working out of a bedroom in his parent's house, came up with the idea of 4Chan. The imageboard site was actually based on the Japanese imageboard, 2Chan. Like 2Chan, Poole's original purpose was to feature examples of and discussions about the Japanese art form known as Anime and comic books which roughly translate as Manga. To this day it still has message boards which focus on the medium.
Beyond Japanese art work there were some other things Chris Poole was passionate about. One was privacy. Even though he was the creator and started out as the head administrator of 4Chan he was known only as, "moot." It wasn't until 2008 The Wall Street Journal revealed to the world, moot, was in fact Christopher Poole. Others, including The Washington Post, weren't so sure. The Post reported the name Christopher Poole, "could be a big hoax, a gotcha."
Whatever his name, moot's obsessive desire for privacy migrated directly to 4Chan itself. On the site everyone was anonymous. Moot was also all in favor of users employing multiple identities when posting--a concept which has spread far and wide across the internet.
He was also a, "free speech," advocate. In short, you could say, or post anything you wanted on a 4Chan message board. Whether he really understood what some people considered free speech, or not is up to debate. The site quickly became riddled with photos, GIFs, and videos of hard core porn. So much so, moot, who was still living at home with Mom and Dad, didn't let them know what he was up to for several years.
The porn, however, was just the start of the depravity. 4Chan also became a nesting place for all manner of the politically insane. Nazis, other white supremacists, and wild eyed conspiracy aficionados found a it a safe home for their bat shit crazy rants and vile racism.
It still wan't enough for some. In 2013, a programmer named Fredrick Brennan, came to the conclusion 4Chan was sinking into the abyss of, "authoritarianism," while the rest of the internet was increasingly being censored by government and corporate interests. To battle these insidious threats he came up with 8Chan.
In 2014, during the height of what came to be known as, "gamergate," Poole seemingly proved Brennan right when 4Chan banned all mention of the ugly affair. Briefly, gamergate was a rebellion of internet game players who were pissed at a female computer game designer. They charged she and her supporters were trying to feminize the testosterone infused and highly sexist world of internet gaming. In order to stop this creeping girlification of their fantasy life they bombarded the designer's social media accounts with brutal threats including rape and murder. During the evil nonsense her home address and phone were published on line, as were those of others who backed her.
As a result of 4Chan's action radical misogynists and others neck deep in the dark swamp of lunacy swarmed Brennan's site like locusts. In their minds 4Chan had become a place for wimps. Besides the usual racist slugs and porn mongers another class of free speakers came along. Let's just describe them as admirers of children. That's right, at the same time some 8Chan users were raving about run amok democratic and Hollywood elite pedophiles all they had to do was switch to another message board, or link on the site to find down loadable images of child pornography.
When questioned about the site's political and, anatomical, content Brennan stated that while he found some of it reprehensible he would always stand behind his users right to post their opinions and predilections.
Poole bailed on 4Chan in early 2015. He handed over administration of his imageboard to three anonymous users. In September of that year the site was sold to Hiroyuki Nishimura who also controls Japan's 2Chan. It is still up and running and remains chock full of ultra right wing bullshit and porn, which, if you think about it, are pretty much the same thing.
Brennan sold 8Chan in 2015, but continued to work there until 2018. After three different mass murderers posted their, "manifestos," on the site in 2019 it suffered a much deserved death. If it does exist you have to get to, "the dark web," to find it. Proving everyone can have a change of heart, especially if there is the possibility of criminal charges, Fredrick Brennan issued a statement afterward saying he was glad his creation was gone.
The internet might be the greatest invention in the history of the world. The trouble is too many of us, when hiding behind the mask of anonymity, go all Mr. Hyde, turning corners of this incredible source of news and information into so much rancid, sometimes deadly, muck.
And, honestly, you don't need a message board to figure that out. Simply log on and go to the social media site of your choice.
9-18-19
Friday, September 13, 2019
The Democratic Debates Part Three: Beto Finally Scores and Health Care Becomes the Great Divide
A couple of things happened last night in the third democratic presidential debate. First, former Congressman Beto O'Rourke finally proved he belonged on the stage with everyone else. It was a refreshing change from his two previous performances which, at best, could be described as dreadfully lacking.
When the topic turned to gun control, O'Rourke awoke from his stupor and whacked a dinger out of the park.. After relating a story about a woman who watched her 15 year old daughter bleed out during the Midland/Odessa, TX mass shooting--there were so many wounded the limited number of ambulances in the area couldn't get to everyone--an impassioned O'Rourke told the crowd, "So hell yes, we're going to take your AR-15, your AK-47. We're not going to allow it to be used against fellow Americans any more."
Obviously O'Rourke was talking about banning only assault weapons with high capacity magazines. Unfortunately there isn't a right wing chingado out there who didn't translate his promise into meaning all guns. Not that it matters, because even banning military assault weapons is going too far for many.
Overnight Texas state representative Briscoe Cain sent a tweet to the candidate saying, "My AR is ready for you Robert Francis." It was pretty obvious, Mr. Cain didn't mean it was available for pick up by the authorities. O'Rourke shot back, so to speak, telling Cain his sort of vile and threatening behavior is exactly the reason assault rifles should be off the market and out of homes.
O'Rourke's sudden burst of honesty aside, what became strikingly clear last night was the sharp divide between progressives and moderates on health care. The candidates had sparred ever so lightly on the issue in the two previous debates, but Thursday, at least at times, it became a full fledged gang fight.
Accusations flew back and forth about the taxpayer cost of mandatory universal medicare and the ramifications of eliminating all private health care benefits. This as opposed to the private costs and coverage of different versions of public options, all of which sounded like Obamacare on steroids. To say things became heated is a tad understated.
In fact the argument became so out of hand at one moment, Julian Castro seemingly accused former VP Joe Biden of suffering from creeping senility. During an exchange between the two, Castro shouted, "Can't you remember what you said just two minutes ago?" The flare up came as Castro claimed Biden's had, moments before, admitted his plan would force several million poor and elderly citizens to pay for health coverage. Unfortunately for Castro, who ended up having his poorest outing of this pre election season, Biden hadn't said anything of the sort.
When the smoke cleared, to these eyes anyway, it seemed clear why Biden, despite his gaffes, remains in the lead over Sanders and Warren. Health care is a lightening rod to the entire electorate and there are huge numbers of voters, especially older ones, who don't believe the two senators can pull off universal medicare in either practice, or the way they propose to pay for it.
So, how did they do? Warren was sharp and steady as always. She also let Sanders take much of the heat on health care, an issue they basically agree on. The Senator from VT appeared worn down by his own outrage and slightly out of sorts. Booker was eloquent and sharp witted. He looks to be headed toward a possible Vice Presidential spot. If Biden does win--and he looked good early on, although he faded a bit toward the end--we now know Julian Castro is off his short list for that spot. Harris, who spent much of the evening attacking the elephant in the room, Don Trump, for the first time was a non factor. O'Rourke scored points, but the thinking here is it's too late. The same for Amy Klobuchar. Andrew Yang promised ten lucky winners a boat load of money out of his campaign fund, which might be illegal. And, Pete Buttigieg proved once again when it comes to sheer brains he is the class of the lot, although being smart hasn't helped him all that much in the polls.
In the end, the big winner was Barack Obama. After seeing his legacy attacked, especially from the left during the first two debates, almost all the candidates praised him last night. Not a bad idea when you consider his approval rating among democrats is something like 90%.
Or, as a comic book fan might say, when you are facing Doctor Doom next year, it's best not to piss off Mr. Fantastic now, because you are going to need him.
sic vita est
9-13-19
When the topic turned to gun control, O'Rourke awoke from his stupor and whacked a dinger out of the park.. After relating a story about a woman who watched her 15 year old daughter bleed out during the Midland/Odessa, TX mass shooting--there were so many wounded the limited number of ambulances in the area couldn't get to everyone--an impassioned O'Rourke told the crowd, "So hell yes, we're going to take your AR-15, your AK-47. We're not going to allow it to be used against fellow Americans any more."
Obviously O'Rourke was talking about banning only assault weapons with high capacity magazines. Unfortunately there isn't a right wing chingado out there who didn't translate his promise into meaning all guns. Not that it matters, because even banning military assault weapons is going too far for many.
Overnight Texas state representative Briscoe Cain sent a tweet to the candidate saying, "My AR is ready for you Robert Francis." It was pretty obvious, Mr. Cain didn't mean it was available for pick up by the authorities. O'Rourke shot back, so to speak, telling Cain his sort of vile and threatening behavior is exactly the reason assault rifles should be off the market and out of homes.
O'Rourke's sudden burst of honesty aside, what became strikingly clear last night was the sharp divide between progressives and moderates on health care. The candidates had sparred ever so lightly on the issue in the two previous debates, but Thursday, at least at times, it became a full fledged gang fight.
Accusations flew back and forth about the taxpayer cost of mandatory universal medicare and the ramifications of eliminating all private health care benefits. This as opposed to the private costs and coverage of different versions of public options, all of which sounded like Obamacare on steroids. To say things became heated is a tad understated.
In fact the argument became so out of hand at one moment, Julian Castro seemingly accused former VP Joe Biden of suffering from creeping senility. During an exchange between the two, Castro shouted, "Can't you remember what you said just two minutes ago?" The flare up came as Castro claimed Biden's had, moments before, admitted his plan would force several million poor and elderly citizens to pay for health coverage. Unfortunately for Castro, who ended up having his poorest outing of this pre election season, Biden hadn't said anything of the sort.
When the smoke cleared, to these eyes anyway, it seemed clear why Biden, despite his gaffes, remains in the lead over Sanders and Warren. Health care is a lightening rod to the entire electorate and there are huge numbers of voters, especially older ones, who don't believe the two senators can pull off universal medicare in either practice, or the way they propose to pay for it.
So, how did they do? Warren was sharp and steady as always. She also let Sanders take much of the heat on health care, an issue they basically agree on. The Senator from VT appeared worn down by his own outrage and slightly out of sorts. Booker was eloquent and sharp witted. He looks to be headed toward a possible Vice Presidential spot. If Biden does win--and he looked good early on, although he faded a bit toward the end--we now know Julian Castro is off his short list for that spot. Harris, who spent much of the evening attacking the elephant in the room, Don Trump, for the first time was a non factor. O'Rourke scored points, but the thinking here is it's too late. The same for Amy Klobuchar. Andrew Yang promised ten lucky winners a boat load of money out of his campaign fund, which might be illegal. And, Pete Buttigieg proved once again when it comes to sheer brains he is the class of the lot, although being smart hasn't helped him all that much in the polls.
In the end, the big winner was Barack Obama. After seeing his legacy attacked, especially from the left during the first two debates, almost all the candidates praised him last night. Not a bad idea when you consider his approval rating among democrats is something like 90%.
Or, as a comic book fan might say, when you are facing Doctor Doom next year, it's best not to piss off Mr. Fantastic now, because you are going to need him.
sic vita est
9-13-19
Tuesday, September 10, 2019
Dorian Redux: Donald, Alabama, Reverend Carl, and Wilbur
Millions of Americans have been mystified and exhausted by the tsunami of chaos which has swamped the republic the last two years and nine months. What they and the remainder of us must keep in mind is the current resident of the Oval Office is a mixed up, jumbled up, sort of guy. He is equal parts wheeler dealer, perpetual court room litigant, cheap jack used car salesman, self proclaimed martyr, accomplished felon, congenital liar and most of all, the owner of an ego which is beyond measure. Oh yeah, he's also a self possessed paranoid who suffers episodes of delusion and more times than not, believes himself to be infallible.
All of which brings us to last weeks manifestly insane hurricane debacle.
On September 1st, 2019 the President of the United States of America tweeted, "In addition to Florida--South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama will most likely be hit (much) harder than anticipated. Looking like one of the largest hurricanes ever. Already a category 5. BE CAREFUL! GOD BLESS EVERYONE!"
Within moments of the tweet hitting the internet the Birmingham, AL office of the National Weather Service began receiving phone calls from residents of the state who were concerned for their personal safety and property. However, the Birmingham weather service, as well as the scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration knew something Donald Trump did not. Several hours before the presidential tweet, Hurricane Dorian had begun to track northeast, away from Alabama, due to a high pressure system in the west. Because of the massive pocket of high pressure they had come to the correct conclusion there was no way Dorian would make a hard left turn.
The NWS office in Birmingham reacted quickly to correct the inclusion of Alabama in Trump's tweet. They jumped on Twitter and wrote, "Alabama will NOT see any impacts from #Dorian. We repeat, no impacts from Hurricane #Dorian across Alabama. They system will remain too far east."
On September 2nd, ABC's, Jonathan Karl reported Trump had misstated the storm's path, but was corrected by NWS Birmingham office. He then threw in a shot about the president playing golf during the crisis. That evening The Big Orange Guy sent out another tweet condemning Karl. The problem was, he misspelled his name and tagged #Jonathan Carl.
Jonathan Carl, with a C, is the pastor of a Southern Baptist church in Kentucky. At first Reverend Carl thought the mistake was funny. Then his twitter account began to be bombarded by Mr. Trump's rabid minions with all manner of hateful and obscene messages.
In the ensuing days the Trump administration released a couple of outdated maps, one ridiculously edited with a black Sharpie, to include a corner of Alabama. This as Trump doggedly stuck to his story and continued his never ending attack on the media.
On Friday afternoon the NOAA released an anonymous tweet saying the Birmingham office had been wrong to speak in, "absolutes," and the president was correct in his original tweet.
Yesterday, the New York Times reported multiple sources told them last Friday morning, the Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross had ordered NOAA head, Dr. Neil Jacobs to fix the problem with the NWS tweet which had contradicted Trump on Sunday.
No one knows if Ross did this on his own, (he was in Greece at the time) or was instructed to by Trump, or someone else high up in the administration. What we do know, thanks to The Times, is when Jacobs initially objected to the order, Ross told him he and the other political appointees at the NOAA would be canned if they didn't do something to reign in the Birmingham office. Ross can do it too, because the NOAA and therefore the NWS are both part of the Department of Commerce. The anonymous tweet from the NOAA appeared on line shortly after they got the offer they couldn't refuse.
The Times talked with a senior White House official who wished to remain unnamed. This official defended the tweet from the NOAA which accused the NWS of being wrong. Then, he, or she added, the feeling in the administration, (meaning Trump himself) was that the NWS had issued the, "Alabama won't be impacted," tweet not in the interest of public safety, but solely to embarrass Donald John Trump.
Ah yes, the deep state conspiracy was at work again, at least in the mind of the President. Indeed, the apolitical pros at the NWS didn't give a rat's ass about public safety. Their tweet was all about unseating Donald Trump. In other words it was and is always about him.
Pastor Carl finally got tired of the vile tweets he was receiving so he sent a letter gently rebuking the Donald for--not in his words, but mine--being fascist asshole. An investigation has begun at the NOAA to find out who caved and sent the tweet throwing Birmingham under the bus. Yesterday, acting Chief NOAA scientist, Craig N. McLean, called the decision to back Trump's tweet, rather than the one by the NWS, "a danger to public health and safety." Also, yesterday, National Weather Service Director, Louis W. Uccellini told attendees at a weather conference the Birmingham office issued their tweet, "with only one thing in mind, public safety." In response to the statement the crowd gave him a standing ovation.
As these words are being typed Donald Trump is still convinced he was right and the entire scientific community--at least that portion which retained their dignity and convictions--was wrong. Not to mention they are now a newly discovered part of the vast plot to get rid of him.
Thanks to his actions this past week, he may be finally right, at least on that last point.
9-10-19
All of which brings us to last weeks manifestly insane hurricane debacle.
On September 1st, 2019 the President of the United States of America tweeted, "In addition to Florida--South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama will most likely be hit (much) harder than anticipated. Looking like one of the largest hurricanes ever. Already a category 5. BE CAREFUL! GOD BLESS EVERYONE!"
Within moments of the tweet hitting the internet the Birmingham, AL office of the National Weather Service began receiving phone calls from residents of the state who were concerned for their personal safety and property. However, the Birmingham weather service, as well as the scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration knew something Donald Trump did not. Several hours before the presidential tweet, Hurricane Dorian had begun to track northeast, away from Alabama, due to a high pressure system in the west. Because of the massive pocket of high pressure they had come to the correct conclusion there was no way Dorian would make a hard left turn.
The NWS office in Birmingham reacted quickly to correct the inclusion of Alabama in Trump's tweet. They jumped on Twitter and wrote, "Alabama will NOT see any impacts from #Dorian. We repeat, no impacts from Hurricane #Dorian across Alabama. They system will remain too far east."
On September 2nd, ABC's, Jonathan Karl reported Trump had misstated the storm's path, but was corrected by NWS Birmingham office. He then threw in a shot about the president playing golf during the crisis. That evening The Big Orange Guy sent out another tweet condemning Karl. The problem was, he misspelled his name and tagged #Jonathan Carl.
Jonathan Carl, with a C, is the pastor of a Southern Baptist church in Kentucky. At first Reverend Carl thought the mistake was funny. Then his twitter account began to be bombarded by Mr. Trump's rabid minions with all manner of hateful and obscene messages.
In the ensuing days the Trump administration released a couple of outdated maps, one ridiculously edited with a black Sharpie, to include a corner of Alabama. This as Trump doggedly stuck to his story and continued his never ending attack on the media.
On Friday afternoon the NOAA released an anonymous tweet saying the Birmingham office had been wrong to speak in, "absolutes," and the president was correct in his original tweet.
Yesterday, the New York Times reported multiple sources told them last Friday morning, the Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross had ordered NOAA head, Dr. Neil Jacobs to fix the problem with the NWS tweet which had contradicted Trump on Sunday.
No one knows if Ross did this on his own, (he was in Greece at the time) or was instructed to by Trump, or someone else high up in the administration. What we do know, thanks to The Times, is when Jacobs initially objected to the order, Ross told him he and the other political appointees at the NOAA would be canned if they didn't do something to reign in the Birmingham office. Ross can do it too, because the NOAA and therefore the NWS are both part of the Department of Commerce. The anonymous tweet from the NOAA appeared on line shortly after they got the offer they couldn't refuse.
The Times talked with a senior White House official who wished to remain unnamed. This official defended the tweet from the NOAA which accused the NWS of being wrong. Then, he, or she added, the feeling in the administration, (meaning Trump himself) was that the NWS had issued the, "Alabama won't be impacted," tweet not in the interest of public safety, but solely to embarrass Donald John Trump.
Ah yes, the deep state conspiracy was at work again, at least in the mind of the President. Indeed, the apolitical pros at the NWS didn't give a rat's ass about public safety. Their tweet was all about unseating Donald Trump. In other words it was and is always about him.
Pastor Carl finally got tired of the vile tweets he was receiving so he sent a letter gently rebuking the Donald for--not in his words, but mine--being fascist asshole. An investigation has begun at the NOAA to find out who caved and sent the tweet throwing Birmingham under the bus. Yesterday, acting Chief NOAA scientist, Craig N. McLean, called the decision to back Trump's tweet, rather than the one by the NWS, "a danger to public health and safety." Also, yesterday, National Weather Service Director, Louis W. Uccellini told attendees at a weather conference the Birmingham office issued their tweet, "with only one thing in mind, public safety." In response to the statement the crowd gave him a standing ovation.
As these words are being typed Donald Trump is still convinced he was right and the entire scientific community--at least that portion which retained their dignity and convictions--was wrong. Not to mention they are now a newly discovered part of the vast plot to get rid of him.
Thanks to his actions this past week, he may be finally right, at least on that last point.
9-10-19
Friday, September 6, 2019
Donald, Dorian, Alabama, and Never Having to Say You're Wrong
Sometimes I wish Don Trump didn't exist. No, not for the reasons you think--well, okay those too--but because the vile fucker is the President of the United States and so mentally unbalanced it is incredibly hard not to write about him.
I search the internet far and wide five and six days a week searching for something, anything, besides Donald John Trump to write about. Sometimes I'm lucky, but more often than not I end up stuck with the son of a bitch. Hey, his lies, his overtly corrupt behavior, hell, his very being--it's all just too egregious to ignore.
The latest madness started innocently enough. On Sunday, September 1st at 10:51AM the President sent the second of two tweets concerning Hurricane Dorian. It read, "In addition to Florida--South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama will most likely be hit (much) harder than anticipated. Looking like one of the largest hurricanes ever. Already a category 5. BE CAREFUL! GOD BLESS EVERYONE!"
Now, your average person would assume he has more information available to him than say, WRNX's Billy Barue, the local Eye on the Weather guy in Crab Claw Shoals. Let's face it, he is the President for God's sake and he just said, "...and Alabama will most likely be hit (much) harder than anticipated."
The people at the National Weather Service certainly understood the ramifications and they knew at the time of the tweet, Dorian had already turned northeast and was headed away from Alabama. Exactly 20 minutes after The Big Orange Guy's warning showed up on the internet, the NWS Birmingham office issued a tweet of their own. It read, "Alabama will NOT see any impact from #Dorian. We repeat, no impacts from Hurricane #Dorian across Alabama. The system will remain too far east. #alwx."
It was at this point that someone with a normal adult brain would have issued a statement saying something along the lines of either, "I misspoke," or even, "The information I received was out of date, don't worry Alabama you are in the clear." If he had this entire crazed affair would have disappeared.
However, despite the NWS tweet, Trump, proved once more he is utterly lacking a normal adult brain. Later in the day he went on television and repeated the dire warning that Alabama was one of the places in Dorian's cross hairs.
On Monday, ABC's, Jon Karl reported Trump's error in storm tracking, saying Mr. Trump had, "...misstated the storm's possible trajectory," then added, the National Weather Service, "had corrected the President." Karl continued by pointing out Trump had canceled a trip to Poland in order to monitor the storm, but still found time to put in a round of golf at one of his country clubs.
That evening our man in the Oval Office was back on Twitter. His run amok ego was in overdrive and among other things he called Karl a, "lightweight reporter." The LA Times noted it was the first of nine tweets over the next four days which lashed out at Karl and the media, while totally ignoring the National Weather Service's correction. One of the tweets, referencing his on air remarks, read, "It was in fact correct Alabama could have received some hurt. Always good to be prepared! But Fake News is only interested in demeaning and belittling. Didn't play my whole sentence and statement. Bad people!"
Then came the map fiasco. And as the Times pointed out, late night comics rejoiced. On Wednesday the White House released a video which featured a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration map which forecasted the storm's projected track in white. It was dated, August 29th. Since it showed Dorian not quite reaching Alabama, someone, perhaps Trump himself, took what appeared to be a black Sharpie and expanded the possible path to include the southeastern corner of the state.
Trump told the cameras, "That was the original chart. It could've--was going toward the Gulf." The crudely drawn bubble extending the route into Alabama was impossible to miss.
Twitter went wild. #TrumpSharpie and #SharpieGate immediately exploded on the site. One of the hosts of television's "The View," Joy Behar wrote, "Just because Donald Trump slept with a porn star named Stormy doesn't mean he can predict the weather."
The administration responded with an even earlier map, one compiled in Dorian's infancy, which included dozens if not more computer projections of possible courses the storm might take. It was so old one of those strings included a track as far west as Louisiana.
Today is September 6th. Dorian has come ashore in North Carolina, yet the President of these United States still insists his warning to Alabama was valid and is claiming this entire affair is being kept alive only by the "fake news." Apparently he has no clue the real reason it won't go away is it's no longer about a minor and easily corrected mistake on Twitter. Now it is all about his refusal to admit he is capable of making one.
Ladies and gentlemen, is it any wonder the bar is now open? I didn't think so.
9-6-19
I search the internet far and wide five and six days a week searching for something, anything, besides Donald John Trump to write about. Sometimes I'm lucky, but more often than not I end up stuck with the son of a bitch. Hey, his lies, his overtly corrupt behavior, hell, his very being--it's all just too egregious to ignore.
The latest madness started innocently enough. On Sunday, September 1st at 10:51AM the President sent the second of two tweets concerning Hurricane Dorian. It read, "In addition to Florida--South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama will most likely be hit (much) harder than anticipated. Looking like one of the largest hurricanes ever. Already a category 5. BE CAREFUL! GOD BLESS EVERYONE!"
Now, your average person would assume he has more information available to him than say, WRNX's Billy Barue, the local Eye on the Weather guy in Crab Claw Shoals. Let's face it, he is the President for God's sake and he just said, "...and Alabama will most likely be hit (much) harder than anticipated."
The people at the National Weather Service certainly understood the ramifications and they knew at the time of the tweet, Dorian had already turned northeast and was headed away from Alabama. Exactly 20 minutes after The Big Orange Guy's warning showed up on the internet, the NWS Birmingham office issued a tweet of their own. It read, "Alabama will NOT see any impact from #Dorian. We repeat, no impacts from Hurricane #Dorian across Alabama. The system will remain too far east. #alwx."
It was at this point that someone with a normal adult brain would have issued a statement saying something along the lines of either, "I misspoke," or even, "The information I received was out of date, don't worry Alabama you are in the clear." If he had this entire crazed affair would have disappeared.
However, despite the NWS tweet, Trump, proved once more he is utterly lacking a normal adult brain. Later in the day he went on television and repeated the dire warning that Alabama was one of the places in Dorian's cross hairs.
On Monday, ABC's, Jon Karl reported Trump's error in storm tracking, saying Mr. Trump had, "...misstated the storm's possible trajectory," then added, the National Weather Service, "had corrected the President." Karl continued by pointing out Trump had canceled a trip to Poland in order to monitor the storm, but still found time to put in a round of golf at one of his country clubs.
That evening our man in the Oval Office was back on Twitter. His run amok ego was in overdrive and among other things he called Karl a, "lightweight reporter." The LA Times noted it was the first of nine tweets over the next four days which lashed out at Karl and the media, while totally ignoring the National Weather Service's correction. One of the tweets, referencing his on air remarks, read, "It was in fact correct Alabama could have received some hurt. Always good to be prepared! But Fake News is only interested in demeaning and belittling. Didn't play my whole sentence and statement. Bad people!"
Then came the map fiasco. And as the Times pointed out, late night comics rejoiced. On Wednesday the White House released a video which featured a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration map which forecasted the storm's projected track in white. It was dated, August 29th. Since it showed Dorian not quite reaching Alabama, someone, perhaps Trump himself, took what appeared to be a black Sharpie and expanded the possible path to include the southeastern corner of the state.
Trump told the cameras, "That was the original chart. It could've--was going toward the Gulf." The crudely drawn bubble extending the route into Alabama was impossible to miss.
Twitter went wild. #TrumpSharpie and #SharpieGate immediately exploded on the site. One of the hosts of television's "The View," Joy Behar wrote, "Just because Donald Trump slept with a porn star named Stormy doesn't mean he can predict the weather."
The administration responded with an even earlier map, one compiled in Dorian's infancy, which included dozens if not more computer projections of possible courses the storm might take. It was so old one of those strings included a track as far west as Louisiana.
Today is September 6th. Dorian has come ashore in North Carolina, yet the President of these United States still insists his warning to Alabama was valid and is claiming this entire affair is being kept alive only by the "fake news." Apparently he has no clue the real reason it won't go away is it's no longer about a minor and easily corrected mistake on Twitter. Now it is all about his refusal to admit he is capable of making one.
Ladies and gentlemen, is it any wonder the bar is now open? I didn't think so.
9-6-19
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