Federal Weather Workers 'Shocked' and 'Irate' by NOAA Backing Trump, Union Head Says
Source: The Daily Beast
The head of the union that represents federal weather workers said Friday that his members are shocked, stunned and irate that the federal agency whose workers they represent put out a statement siding with President Trump in the increasingly bizarre dispute over whether Hurricane Dorian was on track to hit Alabama.
Never ever before has their management thrown them under the bus like this, said Dan Sobien, president of the National Weather Service Employees Organization, which represents 4,000 employees under the umbrella of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
These are the people risking their lives flying into hurricanes and putting out forecasts that save lives. Never before has their management undercut their scientifically sound reasoning and forecasts, Sobien told The Daily Beast.
Sobiens reaction is the latest development in a storm-fueled sideshow that has consumed the president for much of the week and been dubbed Sharpie-gate.
It began Sunday, when President Trump tweeted out that Dorian was expected to hit Alabamaand the NWSs Birmingham office posted a correction:Alabama will NOT see any impacts from #Dorian. We repeat, no impacts from Hurricane #Dorian will be felt across Alabama. The system will remain too far east, the tweet said.
Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/noaa-left-federal-weather-workers-shocked-and-irate-by-backing-trump-union-head-says
The next swipe will be trump hacking NWS FY20 budget. Nothing should surprise or shock us anymore If it does, you have not been paying attention.
madaboutharry
(40,201 posts)He is poison to truth and integrity.
Kurt V.
(5,624 posts)Mc Mike
(9,111 posts)MBS
(9,688 posts)... scientists, and denying their own agencys data, really crosses a line. Im shocked and irate myself.
Please make this STOP.
delisen
(6,042 posts)underpants
(182,733 posts)For god's sake man you screwed up, don't keep bringing it up.
paleotn
(17,902 posts)after all this walking dumpster fire has done, this might be his undoing among Republicans who aren't deep cult followers or avowed white supremists. Those who voted for Cruz, sleepy Ben, Kasich, etc. in the '16 primaries. The proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. Anecdotal, but I've heard rumblings among those I know who weren't his fans in 2016, but fell in line like the good authoritarians they are.
underpants
(182,733 posts)Even his supporters just shook their heads.
paleotn
(17,902 posts)Locking kids in squalid cages didn't upset them. But messing with weather maps? That's going too far.
BumRushDaShow
(128,732 posts)the caged children are "other". Not "human". Brown people who have already been thoroughly dehumanized by the GOP.
elleng
(130,834 posts)RobinA
(9,888 posts)if my favorite Trump traits. Hes pathetically unable to cut his losses. Its a good thing he doesnt gamble, because he would have lost everything the first time he ever tried it.
The Wizard
(12,541 posts)that goes in the "not to be trusted" category. Why did it take 5 days for them to take this position? Given Trump's history, they were waiting for the bribe check to clear. This one could carry serious consequences as the majority of Americans do not trust Trump, and could reasonably ignore warnings coming from NOAA.
and people wonder why all the belief in woo woo science etc.
Part of it's because the "official" or "serious" organizations are no longer trusted because of crap like this.
Javaman
(62,510 posts)You say this and I wont cut off funding
pangaia
(24,324 posts)Or even better, it is just how authoritarians work.. And get your own 'people in every position possible.. control every department and agency everywhere..
Javaman
(62,510 posts)And now Im a bit unnerved. Why?
Because if he has NOAA under his thumb, that means he now can control the narrative on climate change to the general population.
Its this kind of shit that makes me sick to my stomach
progree
(10,901 posts)pangaia
(24,324 posts)that is how authoritarians control a population....
Example- once they gain control of the internet.
good bye DU..
Sad....
yardwork
(61,588 posts)bluestarone
(16,894 posts)When we get control.
elleng
(130,834 posts)and 'reward,' by keeping them on, those who wouldn't do so.
extvbroadcaster
(343 posts)Trump has a personality disorder and the starts of dementia. His fixating on the hurricane path is early dementia, his unwillingness to admit a mistake is personality disorder. Nothing new here. Ask any caregiver, with a dementia patient it is often the simplest and best path to simply ignore things. Or distract the patient until they forget about the fixation. Some people around Trump do this. Others suck up to him for the power he provides. This is similar to people that try to get old people's money. And still others are followers, they will assume anybody with a position of power knows what they are doing and will follow them. You see this in work places all the time. Management is incompetent but employees follow them off a cliff. But in the end, you have a President that is totally unfit. Cross your fingers that several things happen. First he is voted out. Next, that he leaves relatively quietly. If Trump goes bonkers, says the election is a fraud, and he will remain President then all hell breaks loose. And some people will resort to violence and follow him off the cliff, and others will stick by him knowing that once he is an ex-President he will have no power.
dalton99a
(81,426 posts)usaf-vet
(6,178 posts)With Trump, we never know which scandal is the worst of the day. Anyone of his scandals would have been enough to impeach Obama.
He is the WORST president this country has ever had. With republican party ignoring everything he does no matter how egregious. It is going to get a lot worse before the 2020 election.
Back to the weather. Republicans have been trying for years to kill the NWS so they can privatize it.
Convincing his band of clowns that the NWS is putting out fake weather reports is a step in the direction of privatizing the National Weather System.
Watch this to see how privatizing began. Then ask yourself if this doesn't foretell (2009) where we continue to be pushed.
The Shock Doctrine [2009] Documentary by Naomi Klein
Think Puerto Rico and now the Bahamas.
Turbineguy
(37,312 posts)It's some wanker trump appointee at NOAA.
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,659 posts)mahatmakanejeeves
(57,376 posts)I looked up Dean A. Heyl of DOL at ProPublica yesterday afternoon.
Julie Roberts
Commerce (joined: Aug. 14, 2017)
Director of Communications | $128,000 | Financial Disclosure »
Bio, via LinkedIn:
In August 2017, I was named the Director of Communications for NOAA. My experience in emergency management and crisis communications provides me with the background to carry out this new challenging but exciting job. As people have reminded me NOAA's mission includes from the bottom of the oceans to the surface of the sun. In the first month on the job I've witnessed an eclipse, handled two major hurricanes, a geomagnetic storm, fires in the West, and a few fish stories to round out the month. I look forward to where this new job will take me and the people I will meet along the way. I have over fifteen years professional experience including emergency management, scheduling, event management, international trade, and government relations. My experience in building public-private partnerships includes state and federal government and the private sector. In June 2016, I coordinated a partnership between the Florida Division of Emergency Management, Jet Blue, Airbnb, and Uber to provide resources to the victims and families of the Orlando Shooting Event. For four years I worked in emergency management where my focus was on building a culture of preparedness for families, business and families with special needs. Kids Get a Plan focuses on education children and their families on how to prepare for disasters. I worked with the private sector to build a statewide re-entry program for the private sector after a disaster. The more people prepare for a disaster the less government will need to provide. I spend my free time volunteering to help others including multiple mission trips to Ethiopia, volunteering through the Junior League of Tallahassee, and serving as an Advisor to the Zeta Tau Alpha Chapter at Florida State University for nine years. It is our responsibility to find ways to give back to people to make this a better world.
Former Positions Outside Government
58th Presidential Inaugural Committee Deputy Director of Internal and Diplomatic
Donald j. Trump for President Advance for Vice Presidential Candidate
Former Compensation Sources
58th Presidential Inaugural Committee
Donald J. Trump for President
JHB
(37,158 posts)Link to tweet
@cmkinmia
A little somsom about the Director of Communications of #NOAA who sent out the statement backing up President Bonkers hurricane forecast.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ED3iuWFWwAERAug?format=jpg&name=small
She was one of the deputy directors for Trump's inauguration committee, and before that had been part of the Trump campaign as an advance man for Pence.
JAGC: Just another grifter crony
Maxheader
(4,371 posts)To place much faith in forcasts by the noaa....
Cryptoad
(8,254 posts)da Con written out with a Sharpie?
Dawson Leery
(19,348 posts)LiberalFighter
(50,832 posts)rocktivity
(44,573 posts)that demonstrated that tropical-storm-force winds from Hurricane Dorian could impact Alabama.
So what? They were right, and that's their job. But it is also NOAA's job to give the President and the public the most up-to-date and accurate information as quickly as possible.
President Twitter Tantrum wasn't wrong (OR lying) when he said Alabama COULD be hit, and NOAA was wrong or lying to tell him so. The problem is that Trump took NOAA's reversal as a deliberate personal insult that had "shown him up." So he retaliated while his fans cheered -- but not particularly well. He doesn't seem to have much experience in learning from his mistakes, but maybe that's because he's too rich and power to make them...
rocktivity