It was -28 degrees this morning where we live in Minnesota, not unheard of around here, but nonetheless very dangerous for many, especially the homeless and elderly who live alone.
Donald Trump, the President of the United States, used the occasion to embarrass the nation in front of the world once again, tweeting:
“In the beautiful Midwest, windchill temperatures are reaching minus 60 degrees, the coldest ever recorded. In coming days, expected to get even colder. People can’t last outside even for minutes. What the hell is going on with Global Waming? Please come back fast, we need you!”
First of all, he said “waming” instead of “warming,” and also incorrectly made “wind chill” into one word – “windchill.”
Those kinds of careless mistakes are embarrassing enough when they come from the President, but his statement about global warming was just plain stupid. My guess is, he wouldn’t know a Polar Vortex if he kicked him in his ####.
I suppose it’s possible that he was intentionally poking fun at those of us who believe global warming is a real and serious problem. If so, it wasn’t funny. I mean, what kind of President, indeed, what kind of person, thinks it is okay to make fun of circumstances that threaten people’s lives?
Adolescent boys might do that, or a redneck sitting at a bar somewhere, but not the President of the United States. Has he no sense of dignity at all?
People who know Trump personally say he has no capacity for empathy. A tweets like the one he made about the severe cold we are facing here confirms what they say.
At the very least it is disgusting that he would embarrass the nation so blatantly.
Then, again, he may have sent out the tweet because he just doesn’t know enough about global warming to understand that it is not about weather per se, it is about climate change.
That change includes swings from one extreme to the other, which is exactly what has happened in Minnesota this month. Earlier in January we twice set a record for high temperatures, and now we are coming close to setting record lows.
That is what happens with climate change because of the worldwide effects of global warming.
For the President of the United States to make public statements that suggest he doesn’t understand basic facts about global warming and climate change reflects badly on all of us as Americans.
That is one of the most damning things about this man having been elected. He tweets dumb stuff that demeans the office he holds in front of the entire world.
Obviously he doesn’t care as long as what he says appeals to his base.
But think about what that says about his base. Saying dumb and stupid things he knows will appeal to them makes it clear that he has a very low opinion of them and, yet, they are the only people who like him.
That doesn’t say much for them, but be that as it may, it is time for the rest of us, the 70% plus Americans who disapprove of the job Trump is doing, to take action. Here are some things we can do.
Email support to Senators (Democrat and Republican) who are demanding that Attorney General nominee William Barr give more assurances than he has that he will release the Mueller Report in full to the Congress.
Ignore Trump’s State of the Union address. It will be filled with lies and falsehoods so there is no point in listening in the first place. Make it the least viewed State of the Union in modern history. If you desire you can read it and read about it the next day.
Express disapproval of Trump in public opinion polls whenever we have an opportunity.
Express your views in public forums such as challenging fact denying comments on Facebook that support Trump.
Give money to political local, state, and federal candidates who oppose the Trump presidency.
Every time I drive to the airport I see a sign that says, “If you see something, say something.”
It’s time for all of us to heed that warning regarding Donald Trump. We see Trump saying and doing dumb, stupid, and inane stuff almost daily that constantly embarrasses our nation.
Now it is time for us – all of us – in big and small ways to say something.
We just might limit the number of days he has left to embarrass us again.
linnposts.com 
I just called my representative, Tom Emmer, urging that he support the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act. I also asked that he include more information in his email newsletters as to what he is doing to address global warming. I said that, despite record low temperatures in MN today, climate change is a serious threat with dire consequences for future generations, including my grandchildren and their children. I have little hope he will heed this warning, but I wanted to be on the record.
Way to go, Judy. It is what we have to do. Stay warm and let’s get together soon.
Absolutely dead on, Jan. The level of ignorance he demonstrates is appalling. Two years in and it just gets more and more embarrassing, and not just for him. The republican leadership is no better.
Wilbur, we keep waiting for Republicans to grow some spine, but I am pretty much convinced that it is not going to happen. We have to defeat them and Trump together.
State of the Union should be fascinating if we can stomach it.
We face a climate and moral emergency !
Stacey Abrams will knock it out of the park.
I can’t stomach it, Dixcy, but will listen to Stacey Abrams. I really do believe listening to him will be a waste of time because most of what he will say will be falsehoods, misrepresentations, and outright lies. Nothing else. Good lick.
I am embarrassed by the uncontaminated ignorance of the current occupant of the White House. He embarrasses us all before the world with his taunts and lies. Any scientist, any climatologist, any ecology teacher could explain – even to trump – how planetary warming has disrupted the cycles in the Arctic and that these vortexes we experience were predicted, expected, and promised. There will be more. They will be even more dramatic. Rather than be undone by the elected (electoral college only) leader of our benighted country, he has, in his total disregard of the facts and failure of understanding, helped prove their point. No one in any position of authority in any capacity has the right to express and flaunt such irresponsibility.Shame on him.
David, you said it perfectly. I could have posted what you wrote in place of what I said. Not surprised by that at all. Thank you!
We will be touring the renovated Academy Theater and having dinner after in a galaxy far far away from the tRump SOTU propaganda.