Starting at 2:18 PM ET every working cell phone in America will emit an insanely loud alarm and vibrate like crazy, while receiving a text message as part of a test of what is being called the Presidential Alert System – and many Americans are furious. That is, many liberals are furious. Conservatives are thrilled, mostly because liberals are furious.
So, what can you do?
Nothing.
According to FEMA, which responded to my tweet expressing my dismay over Trump being able to send these messages, it is not possible to opt-out of presidential alerts. But they promise “Presidential Alerts will ONLY be used for national emergencies affecting public safety.”
So, why is this happening?
In 2006 a Republican Congress, and a Republican President, passed and signed into law the WARN – Warning, Alert and Response Network – Act, as FEMA notes.
Fast forward to 2013, when Americans began to actually get the alerts. President Barack Obama was in the White House, so naturally conservatives were furious about getting AMBER and emergency alerts – which you can easily opt-out of.
Jim Hoft, of the Gateway Pundit (aka “the stupidest man on the internet“), went nuts, as the Maddow Blog reported:
Just in case you want more Obama in your life…
AT&T is loading iPhones with emergency alerts from Barack Obama…
That you can’t switch off.
He added: “So now Barack can track your calls and send you messages, too.”
Here’s the difference.
You cannot opt-out of presidential alerts.
The problem, given the current White House occupant’s less-than stellar reputation, disregard for the truth, and flat-out lies, is who is going to believe him if he says “take cover,” or, “we’re under attack”?
These alerts should not come from a political entity.
FEMA or Homeland Security should be the only ones with the ability to send a dire warning to every cell phone in America, a warning that likely will scare some half to death – if only because the alarms are so loud.
UPDATE: