Another Case of Ignoring That the Emperor is Naked

“Power has to be protected from scrutiny. That's the principle of every dictatorship, of every autocracy.” - Noam Chomsky

It isn’t clear why Donald Trump stubbornly insisted Alabama was in line to be impacted by Hurricane Dorian.  The National Weather Service days earlier had already altered the trajectory of Dorian that initially included Alabama and confirmed that the state was no longer under the hurricane’s threat.

Was the man-child merely creating some kind of smoke screen to conceal the fact that after he cancelled a trip to Poland to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s invasion, supposedly to show concern for Dorian’s devastation, only to be discovered playing golf over 8 hours for two days at his private course in Northern Virginia?

What’s extremely sad about this whole bizarre action is that Trump’s staff, as they do so often, failed to discourage the so-called leader of the free world from participating in a series of lies just to sustain the illusion that he’s never wrong.    Or were his underlings just trying to cover themselves for their utter failure to make the president understand the seriousness of Dorian’s destructive impact on our Caribbean neighbors?

Upon hearing from so many many Alabamans  who were reacting fearfully to Trump’s bogus forecast, the National Weather Service office in Birmingham felt compelled to tweet that Alabama would “NOT see any impacts from the hurricane.”  But then, rather than being dedicated to supplying the public with the most accurate weather information available, “a top NOAA official warned its staff against contradicting the president.”  A disguised threat that seems to have come via Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to deter those NOAA staff who dared to correct Trump’s Alabama snafu, now being tagged as “Sharpiegate”.

That people charged with the public safety would diminish their role to protect the delusions Trump frequently creates for himself is scary to say the least.  It’s a frightening prospect to consider that the man who’s ultimately responsible for our national security seems more captivated with a fantasy world than the reality the rest of us exist in.

Former White House communications director and Trump ally, Anthony Scaramucci, recently suggested that “the president is now surrounded by people that are not going to tell him the truth, and they’re gonna confirm his biases, which may not be correct” saying that this could be “a recipe for disaster."

"The president likes to double down on stuff and he never likes to apologize ...”, Scaramucci said.  Does this not strongly suggest someone who is out of control and whose staff live in fear of speaking out when they see the error of the President’s comments?  This is the kind of behavior we expect from autocrats in countries like North Korea, Russia and Saudi Arabia where criticism of any kind could result in execution or imprisonment.

Fortunately, for now, we still have the rule of law that blocks any attempt by a would-be dictator to eliminate his adversaries.  But if Trump had his way, would locking them up be more than just a crowd chant at a Trump rally aimed at Hillary Clinton?  Would most major news sources be shut down?   The Republican National Committee itself is being hijacked by Trump operatives revealed recently by Greg Sargent of the The Washington Post.   Even Trump-friendly FOX news is being chided for stories that give the president bad press

How the hell did this country allow someone like this to hijack the once prestigious office of President of the United States?