Obama Scorches Trump And His ‘Outright Wacky Ideas’ (VIDEO)

It isn’t often that politicians express personal opinions about their ideological foes. The demands of diplomacy overrule the fleeting satisfaction of rubbing some jerk’s face in it. However, there are circumstances that simply won’t allow the observance of customary protocol.

Barack Obama

President Obama encountered one of those circumstance yesterday when he was asked at a press conference about comments made by Donald Trump. The reporter cited Trump’s opinion that “Vladimir Putin has been more of a leader than you,” and that “you have reduced American generals to rubble.” In those two snippets of ignorance Trump managed to insult both America and its military. The reporter then asked Obama if he wanted to “defend his legacy.” The President’s first response was hearty laughter. Then he said this:

“As far as Mr. Trump, I think I’ve already offered my opinion. I don’t think the guy’s qualified to be president of the United States. And every time he speaks that opinion is confirmed. The most important thing for the public and the press is to just listen to what he says and follow up and ask questions about what appear to be either contradictory or uninformed or outright wacky ideas.”

There’s something uplifting about seeing your President righteously smack down a raging goofball like Trump. His ideas, while indisputably wacky, are actually much more problematic than that. They are also dangerous. It’s startling that anyone can take him seriously. Clearly our President doesn’t – at least so far as responding to his insipid blathering.

In the same forum where Trump confessed his affection for Russia’s dictator and his distaste for our generals, Trump provided details of his wackiness. For instance, he advocated taking Iraq’s oil. That would not only violate international law, it would incite a new generation of terrorists. He also affirmed his view that it should be expected that women in the military will be assaulted. And I can’t imagine that the intelligence agents who briefed him were thrilled to see him discussing it on television.

Obama further mocked Trump by noting that when talking about critical matters of national security “You actually have to know what you’re talking about.” And then he said:

“There is this process that seems to take place over the course of the election season where somehow behavior that in normal times we would consider completely unacceptable and outrageous becomes normalized.”

That’s actually not Trump’s fault. That’s something the media needs to address. It’s a journalistic travesty that Trump is treated as if his bullcrap is on par with analyses by seasoned experts with decades of experience. The press is too timid to tell the public when Trump is flagrantly lying. Likewise, they seldom expose his rants as merely word jumbles that have no meaning. And more often than not, Trump is either lying or babbling. Ethical journalists have a responsibility to point that out.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Trump And Fox News Buy Into Batsh*t Crazy Clinton Conspiracy Theories – Again

Here’s more evidence that the right is falling into an abyss of desperation. Donald Trump is clinging feverishly to national polls showing him as competitive. Never mind that they have no bearing on who wins presidential elections. It’s the states that deliver electoral votes and the presidency. On that scale Hillary Clinton is way ahead. The Trump camp knows this, though they will spend the next few weeks frantically trying to divert attention from it.

The latest diversions qualify as certifiably insane. Let’s begin with a charge that emanated from the bowels of Alex Jones’ InfoWars. Jones, you will recall, is a Birther, a 9/11 Truther, and believes that the children murdered at Sandy Hook were all actors. This morning he posted a story alleging that Clinton wore an “earbud” during the Commander-in-Chief Forum last night. She was supposedly being coached with answers from unseen aides off stage. The story was picked up and propelled by the Drudge Report and even Fox News who said that:

“[T]he buzz Thursday morning was more about a report claiming Clinton relied on a ‘micro’ earbud as she fielded questions about national security — a claim her campaign vigorously denied.”

Donald Trump, Jr. tweeted “We cant let Hillary get away with wearing an ear piece during tonights Veteran Forum#HillarysEarPiece#NBCNewsForum” And Fox’s Sean Hannity joined in with a post on the subject as well.

There is just one problem with this crackpottery. The video of the event contains numerous shots of both of Clinton’s ears that plainly have nothing in them. The entire fantasy was born from a single video still that had a random reflection. That was sufficient to set the wingnuts to drooling over the discovery of Clinton’s evil plot. But, see? No earbud!

Hillary Clinton

If that wasn’t enough, Fox News sought to invent another fantastical scandal involving Clinton. This one was from the warped imagination of Stuart Varney, anchor of Varney & Company on the Fox Business Network. He introduced a segment that anxiously wondered “Who is Clinton’s ‘mystery man?’” The report featured video of a well-dressed gentleman accompanying Clinton on the campaign trail. Varney asserted that social media was blowing up over who he might be. He expressed skepticism that he might simply be one of Clinton’s Secret Service agents:

“If he’s actually a member of the Secret Service detail guarding Hillary Clinton, why is he touching her, because he did, he came up on the stage the other night and put his arm around her, and then said ‘Keep talking.’ Surely that is not what the secret service is supposed to do is it?”

Varney’s guest was former Secret Service agent and frequent Fox contributor, Dan Bongino. He offered a theory from way out in right field suggesting that the “mystery man” was “responding to the stage when [Clinton] is in what may have been some kind of a medical crisis.” Varney joined in the wild speculation asking “Is he supporting her during a medical crisis?”

Judging from the video that Varney showed, the man was undoubtedly with Clinton’s Secret Service detail. And he and other agents sprung into action when something occurred in the audience. Clinton, the agent, and others on stage were all looking in the same direction into the crowd. No one appeared to be concerned with Clinton’s health by any stretch of the imagination. See for yourself:

By the end of the segment both Varney and Bongino were dismissing the whole thing as a conspiracy theory that they had just debunked. Which was nice of them after having also just invented it and broadcast it to an audience thirsty for scandal. Both surely knew there was nothing to this before they began, but they considered it too juicy not to plant in the minds of gullible Fox viewers.

Expect to see more of these nutcase studies in Clinton intrigue before the election is over. Fox and Trump will surely uncover evidence of Clinton’s involvement in the Kennedy assassination. Not to mention the Hindenburg crash and fake moon landing. This is all they have left since they nominated a narcissistic ignoramus who can’t go twenty minutes without embarrassing himself and his party.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Donald Trump On The Record: We Will Be One People Under One God

On Tuesday, Donald Trump delivered another of his infamous harangues. He was shooting for a theme of unity, but made a statement that is pointedly un-American and discriminatory.

“We will be one people, under one God, saluting one flag.”

Donald Trump

One God? And which God would that be? Trump is demonstrating his innate bigotry with the suggestion that there is a single faith in America that takes precedence over others and unites the whole nation. There may be some Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, and a vast array of Christian sects that disagree.

Once again he proves that he doesn’t understand America, its Constitution, or the principles for which it stands. Nor does he understand the religion he pretends to practice.