Alabama is a perfectly nice state.
So, how did it become the symbol for what just might forever be known as
a bridge too far?
To understand the situation you have to look at the time line for all of the weeks
unfolding events surrounding
Sharpie Gate.
One would think that someone in charge of the running of the country, wouldn't have a whole lot of time for all the self inflicted drama around something so seemingly inane.
But if we know nothing else about Donald Trump, by now everyone should be aware that the guy can not let anything go.
And so...
he doubled down.
What's remarkable -- and telling -- about the now days-long saga over Alabama and Hurricane Dorian isn't that Trump didn't tell the truth initially. Or even that he continued to double and triple down on the falsehood.
It's this: Trump is so obsessed with being right that he blocks out any and all other responsibilities or duties as President to pursue that goal.
While the doctored map incident might not have convinced anyone Trump was correct in his assertion, it was effective in getting himself in the news during a period when most media coverage would be focused on the storm.
Donald Trump, whose career has been dedicated to the motto that there is no such thing as bad publicity, shows no signs of wanting the media storm to dissipate.
Spending a fifth day on Thursday repeatedly tweeting his defense and calling Fox News reporter John Roberts into the Oval Office to make his case.
And he re tweeted a storm readiness message from the Alabama National Guard — one from before Labor Day weekend. "I was with you all the way Alabama. The Fake News Media was not!" he said.
Even as Hurricane Dorian finally weakened, the clouds inside the Oval Office only darkened — and with his map, a fresh flood of defiant tweets and his staff's support, Trump spent days making a hurricane story about himself, positioning himself as a victim at the center of the week's main news event.
This may all seem small and petty and perhaps trivial, but is it really?
Is it petty and small that we now have someone in the White House who will do and say
whatever
need be to convince anyone who will listen that they are right no matter what the consequences, no matter what the damage?
Or might this be just a little too small and petty?
Something so brazenly absurd that it actually makes a difference for once?
Stay tuned...
Have a great weekend!
Noodle and crew
