‘Bizarre, and Cruel’

January 9, 2019

(Illustration: Vincent van Gogh’s ‘Old Man in Sorrow (On the Threshold of Eternity)‘ found here).

Worse than vile, or just an asshole motherfucker — the T-Rump tweeted this morning:

Billions of dollars are sent to the State of California for Forest fires that, with proper Forest Management, would never happen. Unless they get their act together, which is unlikely, I have ordered FEMA to send no more money. It is a disgraceful situation in lives & money!

And the pure incompetent bullshit is obvious, and there’s chaos (The Mercury News this afternoon):

It was unclear Wednesday whether Trump had actually cut any promised FEMA funding for California, or to what extent he could do so.
It’s not the first time he’s threatened to cut various funding to California in disputes ranging from immigration to university free-speech policies.
There was no official statement from the White House press office, which did not respond to questions Wednesday morning.
FEMA also did not respond to questions — on Tuesday the agency invited California fire victims on Twitter to “meet with our mitigation specialists” for “advice in repairing and rebuilding stronger.”
Brad Pierce, FEMA’s external affairs advisor based in Sacramento, said Wednesday that “we here at this office are waiting for additional guidance same as everyone else.”

What a freakin’ mess…

An idiot who doesn’t give a fat-rat’s ass about anything. In November, he came out to California just in the wake of our most-biggest wildfires ever — the T-Rump toured Paradise, a small community down in Butte County, where the infamous Camp Fire wildfire just about destroyed it. The blaze killed at least 86 people, and destroyed 14,000 homes in Paradise and nearby communities in the Sierra Nevada foothills.
And, of course, the Trump proves a piece-of-shit (People magazine six weeks ago):

Remarking on the destruction, Trump said that until his visit, it was impossible to truly understand “the gravity” of the wildfires.
“I mean, as big as they look on the tube, you don’t see what’s going on until you come here. And what we saw at Pleasure, what a name, right now,” he remarked, before repeating his mistake again in a matter of seconds.
“We just left Pleasure,” he continued, before California Gov. Jerry Brown, who looked uncomfortable with the mistake, and those around him corrected the president, interjecting that the town is called “Paradise.”
Without apologizing for his error, Trump continued with his speech.
“Or Paradise. And what we just saw in Paradise is just — you know, it’s just not acceptable,” he remarked.

Along with Brown, the T-Rump’s touring bunch included then governor-elect Gavin Newsom — both carried nauseous expressions in news videos and photos, a sign anyone with any-kind-of sense would present when having to get near the orange turd.
And worse — finally from Vox, also this afternoon:

While it’s true that active forest management is something many land managers have called for to reduce fire risk, Trump is utterly off base in claiming the fires in California “would never happen” if the state used federal funding for “proper forest management.”
Wildfires are a natural and integral part of Western forest ecosystems.
In fact, decades of fire suppression is part of the reason why fuel has accumulated so much, increasing the risks of major fires.

It’s notable that US Forest Service is part of the US Department of Agriculture, which is currently shut down.
The forest service in recent years has spent more than half its budget fighting fires, leaving little leftover for fire prevention and forest management.
The Trump administration has proposed cutting the forest service’s budget, including zeroing out critical fire research programs.
Also, it’s bizarre, and cruel, to link FEMA aid with federal forest management.
Trump has already issued a disaster declaration for the 2018 wildfires in California, and FEMA is managing relief operations for the thousands of people left homeless, providing emergency housing, food, and water.
The town of Paradise, California, once home to 26,000 people, was almost completely destroyed.

And so it goes…

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