the Loser vs. FEMA

[malaise]

1. Would you trust this man in a hurricane?

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/04/trump-hurricane-dorian-alabama-sharpie-map

Trump shows fake hurricane map in apparent bid to validate incorrect tweet

To the annals of American political scandal, we must now add Sharpiegate.

In the Oval Office at lunchtime on Wednesday, Donald Trump held a briefing on Hurricane Dorian. At one point, the president held up a National Hurricane Center (NHC) map from 29 August, displaying the hurricane’s track and intensity.

Bizarrely, someone had apparently used a Sharpie, a kind of marker pen, to add a black loop falsely extending the hurricane’s path from Florida to Alabama. It was apparently a belated effort to justify Trump’s previous baseless claim that the latter state could be affected.

The hamfisted, homespun addition triggered uproar on social media and a frenzy of speculation over whether the president himself, or perhaps some lackey eager to impress, was responsible.

Altering official government weather forecasts is against the law.

Trump denied all knowledge. According to the Washington Post, when he was asked about the doctored map later on Wednesday, Trump said his briefings had included a “95% chance probability” that Alabama would be hit.

Asked if the chart had been drawn on, he insisted: “I don’t know, I don’t know.”