“It's not a lie…if you believe it."

So said George Constanza while coaching Jerry on how to trick a polygraph during a 1995 episode of Seinfeld. But little did Americans cackling at the pathetic piece of advice know that in less than 25 years it would define the entire existence of the leader of the free world, a man for whom reality is whatever happens to be most advantageous to his ego at any given moment in time.

On Sunday, it happened to be that Hurricane Dorian was going to hit South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama "(much) harder than anticipated." The only problem with the president's warning was that there were no models showing Alabama in the storm's path. The National Weather Service confirmed the state was not in danger shortly after Trump's tweet. "Alabama will NOT see any impacts from #Dorian," wrote NWS Birmingham. "We repeat, no impacts from Hurricane #Dorian will be felt across Alabama. The system will remain too far east."

It's unclear exactly why Trump decided to go ahead and include Alabama on the list of states in the storm's path, but it probably had something to do with his perverse need to dramatically exaggerate the size and scope of any natural disaster befalling the United States on his watch. The bigger they are, the more significant they are, and Trump's brain for some reason conflates this with his own significance.

He did it last September when he giddily described Hurricane Florence as "the wettest we've seen, from the standpoint of water." He did it this week when he said claimed he'd "never heard" of a Category 5 hurricane, despite having discussed Category 5 hurricanes at several other points throughout his presidency in similarly record-breaking terms.

Trump was caught lying about Hurricane Dorian's death march to Alabama, but it didn't matter. Like any good Constanza disciple, he believed it. Thus, Dorian was indeed heading toward Alabama, and anyone saying otherwise was Fake News. On Monday it was ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl.

Two days later, the White House tweeted a video of Trump updating reporters on the status of the hurricane from the Oval Office. When discussing "all of the other states" the storm was projected to hit, the president held up a blown-up map detailing the storm's path. A white line representing the reach of the storm curves through the Florida panhandle and up into Georgia, but does not reach as far west as Alabama. What does reach into Alabama is a black line, which appears to have been drawn onto the map with a magic marker.

Check it out:

When Trump was asked to explain why the map was altered, he said: "I don't know, I don't know, I don't know." He also maintained that "many models" showed lines going "directly through" Alabama. "[It] was going to be hit very hard," said the president.

George Constanza would be proud.

Ryan Bort, Rolling Stone, September 4, 2019

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September 5, 2019

Voices4America Post Script. The WH double down that Dorian was expected to hit Alabama is proof that Trump is crazy. Who but a madman makes up where a hurricane is heading. Who but a madman feels the need to keep this going? Plus there are his enablers too!

For now, some may be amused at his madness. Later, there may be serious consequences.

Here is more madness. Dumb and crazy.

By the way, (It is a violation of federal law to falsify a National Weather Service forecast.)

#25thAmendmentNow #BlueWave2020Later