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
I simply don't know what to say, I'm out of words.
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