Thread by @FreedomFriesInc

(1) I'm reluctant to start another thread today but this is important. NBC has openly tried to underestimate the severity of hurricane #Florence, which is something meteorologists, officials and hurricane watchers object to, whoever does it.

(2) Now, it could be just one NBC reporter with a bad case of #TDS writing a tweet without knowing that entire careers have been built on campaigning for SAFER and more accurate weather reporting by media.

But if that were the case, NBC would have retracted it by now.

(3) I want to thank the meteorologists who called out NBC for their reckless tweet about #Florence. Most science professionals don't like Trump but they're not about to try to get people killed for political gain.

They have a soul.

(4) As I reported a few hrs ago, #Florence already re-strengthened by 5mph once today, which was a surprise. None of these up or down maximum sustained wind speeds (that mean Cat 1-5) tell you how severe the real risks are from this particular hurricane, which is often the case.

(5) NBC's tweet is false and dangerous in any major weather event but particularly this storm, and particularly today. I'd like to see professional meteorology bodies denounce NBC publicly, in due course.

In the meantime, a few words about the distress caused by such events.

(6) I'm not referring to the normal distress caused by major emergencies, which is bad enough. I'm referring to the dismay I felt when I realized what NBC had done.

NBC and other MSM networks have been doing this for years, but it is now brazen, driven by desperation.

(7) News of NBC's dangerous politicization of #Florence just hours BEFORE landfall, came in as I was learning of the major incident North of Boston involving the gas supply and a number of home fires. The risk of mass emergencies in the US atm is high, for several reasons.

(8) All serious people in politics agree that large portions of private and public infrastructure are not currently in a state of adequate safe operation. Who is to blame matters less than the urgent need to properly #prepare, #respond, & #recover.

(9) Then there are the risks of natural disasters: seismic, volcanic, weather-related, pandemic, and so on. Biological, chemical, explosive, vehicular, and other forms of terrorism will always be with us, though we can reduce the threats.

(10) It used to be that the private companies of the media industry would use common sense, ethics, and humanitarianism to resist the urge to use a mass emergency for financial, political or other gain.

This time they have gone too far.

But then I remembered there is hope.

(11) It's going to come down to the character of individual Americans to withstand these ongoing assaults. So many people in the US (and elsewhere like me) have realized what media companies like NBC are doing. That even talking down a deadly hurricane is permissible, to them.

(12) We, (humans with a soul) will survive this. Like America survived the 1860s Civil War. And Pearl Harbor. And 9/11. Obviously nothing has happened on that scale YET.

It often feels closer than it did during my 1970s childhood, though.

(13) The day after the Las Vegas shooting on 10/1/17, the President included these words in his remarks, before holding a moment of silence on the South Lawn of the White House.

(14) Offering words of comfort and hope at critical points in the life of the nation is the core business of a POTUS. (Warning people to take a dangerous hurricane seriously is, too.)

The quote about the love and courage of the American people really helped me that day.

(15) The choice to murder anyone is an evil thing, and often there is no way to comfort the bereaved, or even help the anxious onlooker to feel less so.

But on that occasion, hearing this President talk about "the love and courage of the American people" did reduce my anxiety.

(16) America is so successful because of its immense natural and human resources, which include the character and commitment of so many Americans. Some choose not to show character or to fight to keep the rewards of freedom... that's on them.

The silent majority have power.

(17) I choose to have faith in Americans. Actually I find it easy to do, once I reflect on history and the incredible talents and integrity of those I admire.

Anti-Americans will always try to take America down. They haven't succeeded yet.

END

(18) ADDENDUM: I'm just going to leave a few of these here. NWS vs NBC.

https://twitter.com/NWS/status/1040370048022577152

(19) Holy crap! This morning President @realDonaldTrump retweeted 17 tweets with info & warnings about #Florence, from official sources. Great to see!

That's the highest number of disaster related tweets he has sent in one morning.

He's getting in ahead of "NBC vs Humanity."

(20) " We see weakening of the hurricane however, the overall size and energy of the storm has increased."

Officials have been saying this throughout, including at the time NBC tweeted in response to POTUS saying the exact same thing. #ScienceMatters

https://twitter.com/NASAHurricane/status/1040581082733789184

(21) No serious person involved in disaster communications is referring to #Florence as "downgraded" today. That is a TOXIC word to use in this context. Florence has grown bigger, stronger, & more damaging over the past week, & this is a marathon, not a sprint. Stay focused.

(22) THIS is the appropriate way to report the change from Hurricane to Tropical Storm #Florence. It's interesting that Twitter, NBC, & others who deliberately talk down the severity, are Left-leaning organizations. Discussed above in this thread.

https://twitter.com/WeatherNation/status/1040702571831128064

(23) Even AFP did better than NBC: "Florence smashed into [NC] Friday w howling winds, torrential rains & life-threatening storm surges... Forecasters warned of catastrophic flooding & other mayhem from the monster storm, which is only Cat 1 but physically sprawling & dangerous."