Friday, September 6, 2019

Living With Dorian

As I write this on Thursday night, Hurricane Dorian has mosied up to North Carolina, just off the coast near Wilmington. While the Fortress of Ineptitude, ensconced in the Piedmont is beyond most of Dorian's reach, Andrea and I are still following the course of the storm with concern. 

In the southeast corner of the state, I have family and property about 50 miles from Wilmington. 

And our daughter Randie is in college about 120 miles from the Outer Banks which is where Dorian is heading next.  

But the big story seems less about where Dorian is and where it will go next and more about where it didn't go. 

Specifically Alabama.

Back on Saturday, Donald Trump sent a tweet urging caution and safety for those in Dorian's path in Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas and Alabama. 

20 minutes after he sent that tweet, the National Weather Service had to issue a statement that Dorian would not have an impact on Alabama's weather. 

Which hasn't stopped Li'l Donnie who refuses to back down. Damn it, Alabama was in danger from Dorian. 

Trump went has far as to present a weather map that had been altered with a Sharpie to include Alabama in Dorian's path. 

The origin of Trump's latest debacle seems pretty straightforward to me. 

Trump is notorious for not listening to briefings or reading briefing papers. He is noted for paying attention to colorful charts.

Trump saw a chart showing Dorian going across the Bahamas and heading straight for Florida. It seems like an obvious assumption that Trump just mentally drew a line across Florida and saw it hitting Alabama. 

And that stuck.

Once something is stuck in Trump's head, it will stay there.  

I'm not surprised if Trump was caught off guard by the hurricane making a northward turn. He didn't listen to that part. He didn't read that part. 

He only remembered the colorful chart and his own simplistic assessment of the storm's path.  

And over the intervening days, Trump has doubled down on his view that Alabama was in danger.  

Sigh.

When will this Trumpian nightmare ever be over? 

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