# Trump and his "Cat License" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 5, 2019, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-his-cat-license/839713 "2019-09-05T00:17:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2019, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-his-cat-license/839713/81 "2019-09-06T14:46:06Z")
> [@Lance\_Turbo](#): > > Here’s a [timeline](https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/06/politics/fact-check-timeline-of-trumps-alabama-dorian-map-fiasco/index.html) of the Sharpie Saga. A couple of interesting things in that report. The spaghetti models are produced/updated every 15 minutes and are, specifically, not forecasts. They’re simply raw data that meteorologists use to make forecasts. Now, that’s a valid mistake, I wouldn’t have known that, but as I mentioned way upthread, I also wouldn’t have attempted to predict the path of a hurricane. At some point in there, in seems that Trump may have conflated hurricanes and tropical force winds. But that still means, especially in a case like this, he needs to listen to the experts and parrot what they say. We need to know what’s going to happen, not what he thinks might happen. People will likely be losing their lives and many will lose their homes as the hurricane hits land, it’s not the time for him to attempt to interpret raw meteorological data. Then there’s that last paragraph, about Coast Guard Rear Adm. Peter Brown (Homeland Security Advisor). I’m not entirely sure if Brown is trying to explain that Trump simply misunderstood the difference between the hurricane and tropical force winds (and their associated maps) or if he was thrown under the bus. We’ll have to see if Trumps tweets start to lay blame on Brown and/or if he still has a job in the near future. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2019, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-his-cat-license/839713/82 "2019-09-06T16:38:27Z")
> [@Lance\_Turbo](#): > > On September 4th he drew a line in sharpie that extended the NOAA forecast from the morning of August 29th into Alabama to back up his claim that on September 1st he had new information that Alabama was going to be hit. > > “And, I will say, the states – and it may get a little piece of a great place: It’s called Alabama. And Alabama could even be in for at least some very strong winds and something more than that, it could be. This just came up, unfortunately. It’s the size of – the storm that we’re talking about. So, for Alabama, just please be careful also.” > > The dates of these things matter. There was no forecast on September 1st showing a danger to Alabama. Altering a forecast from August 29th does not retroactively create a forecast on September 1st showing that Alabama was in danger. The funniest thing about the sharpie addition - IF the NHC were trying to forcast the future direction - the cone would not have gotten NARROWER at that point of the prediction - ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2019, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-his-cat-license/839713/83 "2019-09-06T17:23:11Z")
One of us needs a little assistance. Let me help. > [@Magiver](#): > > OK, I’ll play along. I’d like to dismiss this as another mindless political attack on the President. > > How did he fake a prediction last Thursday? Are you implying the NHC prediction was accurate? Because… it wasn’t. by a considerable amount. Not even close. All he did was extended it out a little further which is common sense. Did you think the NHC version was going to evaporate before Alabama. > > Since the NHC was wrong you must know something we don’t. Show your work. 😕😕😕😕😕😕😕 Whether Trump was “working” off a valid forecast _that was three days old_, or just misremembered a forecast _is irrelevant_. It would have been a big “nothing-burger” like Obama’s “57 states” or Biden’s “Dayton whatever.” What made Trump into an utter laughing-stock was his doubling-down. Instead of shrugging and saying “harmless gaffe. Ha ha!” he turned the mistake into Alabamagate by focusing attention on it. A real President would have made sure that victims in Georgia and the Carolinas were getting the help and moral support they needed. Trump preferred to make it his White House priority to churn out fake maps, and to call newspapers “fake.” Genuine suffering of hurricane victims was irrelevant, all he could do was play Captain Queeg and brag that he’d proved “with geometric logic” that the storm _might_ have impacted Alabama. To me, his performance during Alabamagate has seemed both hilarious and contemptible. Does your mileage vary on this, **Magiver**? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2019, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-his-cat-license/839713/84 "2019-09-06T18:10:37Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > One of us needs a little assistance. Let me help. > 😕😕😕😕😕😕😕 > > Whether Trump was “working” off a valid forecast _that was three days old_, or just misremembered a forecast _is irrelevant_. It would have been a big “nothing-burger” like Obama’s “57 states” or Biden’s “Dayton whatever.” > > What made Trump into an utter laughing-stock was his doubling-down. Instead of shrugging and saying “harmless gaffe. Ha ha!” he turned the mistake into Alabamagate by focusing attention on it. That’s his thing though. Back when he said “Tim Apple” instead of “Tim Cook” he could have just ignored it (and ignored all the questions about it). Instead, he later told people that he actually said Tim Cook [and] Apple, but said “cook” so fast that we just didn’t hear him. He later changed that story and told people that he said Tim Apple on purpose, to save time. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2019, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-his-cat-license/839713/85 "2019-09-06T18:30:18Z")
The dude’s obsession with never being wrong _always_ backfires. It’d be pathetic and stupid, if it weren’t so pathetic and stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2019, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-his-cat-license/839713/86 "2019-09-06T19:43:46Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > [Report: WH Official Says Trump Drew Sharpie Bubble On Map](https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/trump-bubble-hurricane-dorian-map-alabama) > > “White House Official Says Trump Personally Drew Sharpie Bubble On Map” I liked this part: > [@](#): > > The President has insisted on drawing out the story, spewing tweets, sharing maps and even releasing a statement in his red-faced insistence that he was right. That’s really the story. So he screwed up, and said Alabama instead of Bahamas. Or he was recalling a part of a 3 day-old map. Big deal. Move on. But he could not move on. Trump himself is creating a mountain out of a molehill. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2019, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-his-cat-license/839713/87 "2019-09-06T20:15:36Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > I liked this part: > > That’s really the story. So he screwed up, and said Alabama instead of Bahamas. Or he was recalling a part of a 3 day-old map. Big deal. Move on. > > But he could not move on. Trump himself is creating a mountain out of a molehill. He can’t help himself - to the investors its a mountain, to the taxman, its a molehill. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2019, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-his-cat-license/839713/88 "2019-09-06T20:45:53Z")
The Orange-man who blew up a hill… Has he ever been on a horse? Then he’d have gotten off a mount still tanned. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2019, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-his-cat-license/839713/89 "2019-09-08T14:32:29Z")
Well this just went from “funny” to “scary”. Well, I mean, it was always pretty scary that the most powerful man in the world is so vain and narcissistic that he would consider this a sticking point, but now that fear has materialized in ways that could actually hurt other people, [as it so often does](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/salvadorhernandez/meteorologists-react-noaa-hurricane-alabama): > [@](#): > > But the president’s relentless arguments and memes trying to prove himself right reached a tipping point Friday when the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the federal agency that oversees the National Weather Service, issued a statement from an unnamed spokesperson backing up the president’s claim and casting doubt on a local weather service forecast office which had tried to reassure Alabama residents that despite the president’s tweet, there would be “no impacts” from the hurricane felt in the southern state. (The local forecast office proved to be correct.) > > […] > > For those in the field, the NOAA statement siding with Trump at the expense of weather service forecasters seemed to be the last straw in the fight. > > “There’s not many things you can get all people to agree on,” McNoldy said. “Everyone is against whoever that NOAA person is.” > > David Titley, NOAA’s former Chief Operating Officer from 2012 to 2013 called the agency’s statement an act of “moral cowardice.” So yes - the organization responsible for telling us about weather emergencies has bent the knee and put out false information in support of Trump. I should not have to explain why this is bad. ---
**Author:** ![jshore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-his-cat-license/839713/90 "2019-09-09T01:23:09Z")
Don’t worry, **BPC** , it gets [worse](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/noaa-staff-warned-in-sept-1-directive-against-contradicting-trump/2019/09/07/12a52d1a-d18f-11e9-87fa-8501a456c003_story.html): > [@](#): > > Nearly a week before the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration publicly backed President Trump over its own scientists, a top NOAA official warned its staff against contradicting the president. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-his-cat-license/839713/91 "2019-09-09T02:15:57Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > So yes - the organization responsible for telling us about weather emergencies has bent the knee and put out false information in support of Trump. I should not have to explain why this is bad. Let’s not blame NOAA, let’s blame some coward at the head of NOAA who caved in to Trump instead of spitting in his face and calling it an Alabama hurricane. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-his-cat-license/839713/92 "2019-09-09T03:53:35Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > Well this just went from “funny” to “scary”. > > Well, I mean, it was always pretty scary that the most powerful man in the world is so vain and narcissistic that he would consider this a sticking point, but now that fear has materialized in ways that could actually hurt other people, [as it so often does](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/salvadorhernandez/meteorologists-react-noaa-hurricane-alabama): This the real story. This isn’t Trump lying about the size of his inauguration crowd or something else that doesn’t really matter. This is Trump lying about the path of an approaching hurricane. (And even if his initial statement was a mistake, his follow-up statements were lies.) The President of the United States decided it was a higher priority to deny he made a mistake than it was to convey accurate information about a natural disaster which threatened people’s lives. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-his-cat-license/839713/93 "2019-09-09T12:02:22Z")
And to make it even worse…It’s not just that warning Alabama could cause them to panic and spend money preparing for no reason, it also means that the people in the actual path may be un/under prepared. Look at the sharpie map again. It shows the hurricaine hitting Northern Florida and then traveling West along the Northern coast of the gulf. If we assumed that was fact, people in the Carolinas and other places along the East coast of the US might breathe a sigh of relief as they see they’re going to be spared and go back to their normal lives. As I once heard someone mumble under their breath as a climate change denier made a comment about the cold weather we’re having, “that’s why you shouldn’t get your weather reports from a politician”. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-his-cat-license/839713/94 "2019-09-09T17:55:18Z")
_Are_ all _your hurricanes called Eric?_ ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-his-cat-license/839713/95 "2019-09-09T20:43:25Z")
Speaking of “cats”, Trump retweeted a video of him with the famous Sharpie poster and a cat sitting there while he moves a laser pointer and Yakety Sax plays in the background: > 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-his-cat-license/839713/96 "2019-09-09T21:27:26Z")
And now more details: apparently Wilbur Ross threatened to fire top NOAA employees for contradicting Trump. > Fucking hell. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-his-cat-license/839713/97 "2019-09-09T21:48:58Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > Speaking of “cats”, Trump retweeted a video of him with the famous Sharpie poster and a cat sitting there while he moves a laser pointer and Yakety Sax plays in the background: > > [https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1170546650651271169](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1170546650651271169) > > 😕 The cat is sitting on the CNN logo, so presumably the video means that Trump is leading CNN around wherever he wishes with the laser pointer/Sharpie poster. In other words, Trump is now openly admitting that he’s trolling like some basement-dweller. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![jshore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-his-cat-license/839713/98 "2019-09-10T00:38:15Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > And now more details: apparently Wilbur Ross threatened to fire top NOAA employees for contradicting Trump. > > [https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1171143914914484225?s=19](https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1171143914914484225?s=19) More precisely, what happened apparently was that Ross told the head of NOAA that if they didn’t issue a statement chastizing the forecasters who had contradicted the President, then he and the other political appointees at NOAA would be fired. So, basically, that statement that NOAA issued Friday night was made under duress. In [related news](https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2019/09/09/noaas-chief-scientist-will-investigate-why-agency-backed-trump-over-its-experts-dorian-email-shows/), the Director of the National Weather Service was at a conference where he broke with his NOAA bosses and commended the forecasters…In fact, he had all the NWS forecasters stand up and the crowd at the conference gave them a standing ovation. Also, the Acting Chief Scientist at NOAA basically said that the NWS Birmingham forecasters were correct and he is investigating whether NOAA’s statement saying otherwise violated NOAA policies and ethics. And, the Head of NOAA, who is himself a scientist, is scheduled to give a talk at that conference tomorrow. There is talks of protests to his speech. (I actually feel a little sorry for him…He did apparently try to push back against Ross’s demands until Ross lay down the law that he and his staff would be fired if they didn’t capitulate. And, now I bet he is regretting that he capitulated and trashed his reputation. This Administration is destroying the reputations of a lot of people.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-his-cat-license/839713.md?page=4)