Letters to the Editor: ‘Sharpiegate’ is just the beginning. Orwell’s ‘1984’ is here
![President Trump holds a chart doctored to show that Hurricane Dorian posed a threat to Alabama.](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/3da4e92/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5088x3392+0+0/resize/1200x800!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F84%2F51%2Ff61127eb4558a329754a5ad47239%2Ftrump-06216.jpg)
To the editor: George Orwell’s novel “1984” is being used by President Trump as a playbook. As “Sharpiegate” shows, the president is distorting reality to convince the population that indeed, two plus two equals five. (“‘Sharpiegate’ is nothing to laugh at. It’s one more example of Trump’s unchecked presidential powers,” Opinion, Sept. 7)
Orwell wrote the book as a warning of what a totalitarian state of the future could do if left unchecked. The fact that American scientists are being told in no uncertain terms not to contradict the president is proof that we are actually living in the world of “1984.”
The question is, what if anything we can do about it? It’s obvious that the Trump administration is a disaster for our nation and the planet, and every day it is in power we inch closer to point where we start believing war is peace, ignorance is strength, and Hurricane Dorian is about to hit Alabama.
David Milton, Laguna Beach
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To the editor: As we continue to watch the mental decline of Trump, Sharpiegate has taken on a more dangerous tone and brings it to a new level of concern.
What Trump’s altered weather map demonstrates is that in the future when there’s an event like Hurricane Dorian — where people’s lives are on the line and they’ll need to know they’re getting accurate information to protect themselves — they cannot believe the president, and they cannot believe the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Why? Because Trump is a liar, and the NOAA is one of his many enablers.
Wilma Tracy Nadeau, Los Angeles
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