Raking the forest floors is the answer, Trump says

You have to see it to believe it, but still find yourself asking, “Is this real?”

California has been going through the worst wildfires in at least the last 100 years, maybe longer. More than half of the state’s 40 million residents live in extremely dry and vulnerable conditions.

In East San Diego County SDG&E officials turned off the power to thousands of people because the high winds (gusts up to 70 mph) could knock down live power lines which could then spark and cause a wild fire. Which is how the Camp Fire was started. Dry conditions, extremely dry conditions, the result of a long drought, that made vegetation in the state extremely vulnerable to sparks.

After a week of the fires devastating California President Trump arrived in the state to tour some of the areas around Pleasure … err, he means Paradise that were destroyed. Mr. Trump said a lot of things you expect presidents to say when touring disaster areas, but then utters things like, “Nobody would have ever thought this could have happened.” Nobody, except Californians who have seen many major fires since 2003.  Too many to count off the top of my head.

President Trump will just say things off the top of his head, on any topic. Like suggesting we Californians rake our leaves so the floor of these vast forests stay clear. Let that sink in for a minute … Trump spoke with the president of Finland, Sauli Niinistö and Trump claims Niinistö told him about crews that were raking the leaves.

Unsurprisingly, Niinistö can’t recall ever saying that to anyone, let alone our president. Yes, they did talk about wildfires and yes Niinistö told Trump they take care of their forests with surveillance teams that look for wildfires, but raking leaves? Nope.

So this president says stupid shit, implicates others in his stupidity, and goes on talking as if everyone is either agreeing with him or standing there totally amazed at what he believes is divine wisdom.

Meanwhile, the fires are still burning in Northern and Southern California, over 70 people are confirmed dead just in the Camp Fire with over a thousand people still unaccounted for — no firm numbers can be given because new remains are being identified every day and authorities are trying to see how many, if any, of the names listed as missing are duplicates.

Here in Southern California the Woolsey Fire has swept across north Los Angeles and Ventura Counties, destroying over 1,000 structures and killing three people. Looking through the Instagram posts we see countless photos, videos and stories of people helping to get their neighbors — total strangers — out of the fires’ progress, and helping to round up pets and livestock so they can get them to safety too.

There are photos of horses and camels — camels — tethered to lifeguard stands on the beaches of Malibu and Ventura. Today would be considered a nice beach day, except for the smoke created by the fires. Air quality is becoming deadly from Sacramento to San Francisco and the L.A. area is no picnic either.

Yet, the president won’t believe the science that says global warming is happening, one of the results being this long-term drought that has caused so many big and deadly fires, not just in California, but throughout the west. And they’re getting bigger and deadlier with each passing year.

Sea levels are rising throughout the world; the Atlantic Ocean is coming up through Miami’s drain system, flooding the roads at high tide. This is without any of the massive hurricanes Florida and the Gulf of Mexico have been known for in the past two decades.

“You have to show me the scientists because they have a very big political agenda,” Trump told Leslie Stahl on “60 Minutes.” She was asking Trump about the overwhelming number of scientists (97%) who have provided data and evidence to support the claim of global warming. Evidence that fossil fuels are primarily the cause of the accelerated warming of the planet.

The president doesn’t have to go far to see the scientists with the data and evidence that proves the planet is warming at a fast pace which is accelerated due to mankind’s use of fossil fuels and other manmade problems. Like deforestation in parts of South America and Africa. NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), NASA and the Pentagon have all produced studies that affirm this. Military leaders put out a report, about 12 years ago, that said global warming, or climate change if you prefer, is the greatest national security threat facing our nation.

Trump doesn’t want to believe all of those government scientists in much the same way he doesn’t want to believe the intelligence community when it tells him Russia meddled in our elections and did so to help Trump become president — with evidence to back it up — and now he doesn’t want to believe that the Saudi crown price he is so enamored with had anything to do with the gruesome murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

Some of what our president says and does is hysterically funny at times … until we’re reminded human lives are often involved with his ridiculous statements. Putting children in cages, or giving a pass to neo Nazis, lifting regulations that protect our air, water and land from pollution … and his ridiculous statements about climate change and telling Governor Jerry Brown, Governor-Elect Gavin Newsom and Paradise, CA Mayor Jody Jones raking the forest floors should be part of our land management regimen to prevent these brutal wildfires.

The man is a dangerous idiot.

Top photo is a YouTube screenshot of President Trump with
Governor-Elect Gavin Newsom, Governor Jerry Brown and Paradise, CA Mayor Jody Jones