WH Dep Press Secretary on Fox News Refuses to Deny Buzzfeed Story that Trump Told Cohen to Lie

Posted by on January 18, 2019 at 12:23 pm. 2 Comments :

Thursday night saw the release of one of the most devastating stories about Donald Trump to date. Buzzfeed reported that Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, was directed by the President to lie to Congress about plans to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. If confirmed, that would be an airtight case against Trump for suborning perjury and obstructing justice – both impeachable offenses.

Donald Trump

So on Friday morning Trump dispatched his Deputy Press Secretary, Hogan Gidley, to what he surely assumed was the friendly territory of Fox News. However, his interview went skidding of the rails when the Fox co-hosts uncharacteristically asked him some probing questions. In the process, Gidley conspicuously avoided answering those questions and refused to even deny the allegations in the Buzzfeed report. This exchange is going to leave some visible bruises on Trump – and perhaps on Gidley as well after Trump sees it (video below):

Sandra Smith: The story coming from Buzzfeed on the President ordering Michael Cohen to lie…sources two law enforcement officials. This is the headline. Breaking: President Trump personally orders his longtime attorney, Michael Cohen, to lie to Congress about negotiations to build a Trump Tower in Moscow in order to obscure his involvement. How is the President responding to that report this morning?
Gidley: This is absolutely ludicrous that we are giving any type of credence or credibility to a news outlet like BuzzFeed. They are responsible, totally and completely, for the release of a discredited, disproven, false dossier. And now the author of the piece that you’re talking about went on air this morning and said he couldn’t corroborate any of his own evidence. He ran it anyway. This is quite frankly the problem with the press and why the President continues to call them ‘fake news’ repeatedly. There is nothing in that piece that can be corroborated.

First of all, notice that this reply was not a denial. Also, Gidley is incorrect that Buzzfeed was responsible for the infamous Steele Dossier. They simply published it after it had already circulated through the White House and the Department of Justice. And he’s lying as to the dossier being disproved. Nothing in the Dossier has been proven false, while much of it has been confirmed.

Furthermore, the Buzzfeed author didn’t say that he couldn’t corroborate his story. He only said that he didn’t see the corroborating documents, a point that Fox’s Bill Hemmer made saying that “I think the way it was characterized – the reporter did not see specifically see the evidence, but relied on one or two sources that they had trusted to this.” Gidley fumbled in an attempt to form a coherent reply and settled for just saying that “That’s not news,” and resorting to Trump’s catch phrase about “the fake Witch Hunt Russia investigation.” So Hemmer pressed him to give a more direct response to the original question about whether Trump ordered Cohen to lie:

Hemmer: You’re saying the President did not tell Michael Cohen to do that?
Gidley: I’m telling you right now this is exactly why the President refuses to give any credence or credibility to news outlets. Because they have no ability to corroborate anything they’re putting out there. Instead they’re just using innuendo and shady sources.
Hemmer: That was not a denial of my question.
Gidley: No. But the premise is ridiculous.

Once again, Gidley evaded the question. And even after Hemmer called him out on it explicitly, Gidley outright admitted that he was not offering a denial. Then he segued to a strategy of smearing his accuser, saying that Cohen is a liar and a felon. That’s true, but what Gidley isn’t saying (or denying) is that Cohen lied under orders from Trump. And then he is given one more opportunity to defend the President and deny the allegations against him:

Smith: But the headline in that report is the President personally directed his longtime attorney Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about negotiations involving that Trump Tower. Is that true or false?
Gidley: Right. But the President’s attorney has also addressed this. I’m not gonna give any credence or credibility to Michael Cohen who’s a convicted felon and an admitted liar.

So Gidley’s response to whether the Buzzfeed story is true or false is “Right.” Really? When the President’s own spokesperson resorts to dodges like “I’m not gonna give any credence,” to charges that the President suborned perjury and obstructed justice, there’s a good reason. And it’s usually because the story is true. But let’s not be too hard on Gidley. After all, his boss couldn’t even deny the allegations in his response on Twitter:

For as long as Trump has been under investigation for what he calls “this Russia thing,” he has behaved exactly the way you would expect a guilty person to act. The same is true for his defenders in the White House and the media. So there’s no reason to expect them to act any differently now. And judging by this pathetic performance by Gidley, they aren’t. With each passing day, and with each new revelation, it becomes increasingly clear that Trump is headed for prosecution and impeachment. And it can’t come too soon.

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

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Big Baby Trump’s Infantile ‘Payback’ Accidentally Affirms that Pelosi Was Right To Delay the SOTU

Posted by on January 17, 2019 at 1:10 pm. 2 Comments :

One of the enduring personality traits of Donald Trump is his knee-jerk compulsion to retaliate against his perceived foes in a manner that best suits a cholicky infant. Trump’s massive and fragile ego demands that he slap back at anyone who he thinks has wronged him. And he doesn’t seem to care if his vengeance winds up boomeranging on him and hurts him more than his intended victim.

Donald Trump

On Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi informed Trump that the State of the Union address should be rescheduled due to the Trump Shutdown which has resulted in the furlough of hundreds of thousands of federal workers, including Secret Service and other security personnel. The situation would place an unusually difficult burden on those responsible for maintaining the safety of the annual speech before Congress. Pelosi wrote that:

“Sadly, given the security concerns and unless government re-opens this week, I suggest that we work together to determine another suitable date after government has re-opened for this address or for you to consider delivering your State of the Union address in writing to the Congress on January 29th.”

The initial response from the White House and other Republican politicians was to castigate Pelosi for making what they asserted was a purely political move in order to embarrass the President. Setting aside the fact that Trump doesn’t need any help embarrassing himself, Pelosi’s action was entirely reasonable and responsible. No one from the White House could offer a direct criticism for Pelosi’s justification for her action. And contrary to the claims of her critics, she was not preventing Trump from delivering the address, either in an alternative venue, or at a later date.

Now Trump has made his first official response to Pelosi. But consistent with his childish temperament, he didn’t address the matter directly. Rather he retaliated by postponing a diplomatic trip that Pelosi had planned with other members of Congress. The purpose of the trip was to meet with allies in Brussels and Egypt, as well as to visit troops in Afghanistan. Trump wrote in his letter to Pelosi that:

“Due to the Shutdown, I am sorry to inform you that your trip to Brussels, Egypt, and Afghanistan has been postponed. We will reschedule this seven-day excursion when the Shutdown is over. In light of the 800,000 great American workers not receiving pay, I’m sure you would agree that postponing this public relations event is totally appropriate.”

BOOM! Trump sure showed her. If Pelosi wasn’t going to let Trump disgorge predictable cliches, platitudes, and self-serving lies a room full of politicians, then he wasn’t going to let her engage in diplomacy with our foreign counterparts. And he obviously didn’t mind publicly disclosing a foreign trip by U.S. officials that was supposed to be secret for security purposes.

The problem with Trump’s choice of vengeful payback is that he has inadvertently affirmed Pelosi’s reasons for delaying the State of the Union address. In fact, his reference to the 800,000 unpaid workers was the very same language that Pelosi used when explaining to the press why she had sought the delay. So now Trump can no longer complain that Pelosi’s rescheduling of the State of the Union was inappropriate, since he adopted the same reasoning to delay the congressional mission.

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

Even though Trump’s speech is a pro-forma ritual that serves no productive purpose, while a congressional fact-finding and diplomatic trip is essential to foreign relations, the argument Trump is making completely shields Pelosi from any further criticism regarding the State of the Union. But don’t expect that logic to register with Trump. He will likely continue to harague Pelosi even though it undercuts his own actions. After all, this is the same guy who promised to take full responsibility for the shutdown and swore that he wouldn’t blame Democrats. That lasted about two days.

And Pelosi’s office responds:


Donald Trump and Fox News Advocate for a Global Prison-Like “Walls Around the World” Agenda

Posted by on January 16, 2019 at 1:36 pm. 1 Comments :

On the twenty-sixth day of the Trump Shutdown, Donald Trump and congressional Republicans continue to refuse to allow the government to reopen and let hundreds of thousands of Americans return to work. Speaker Nancy Pelosi advised the White House that there will be no State of the Union address on Capitol Hill as long as the Secret Service is hamstrung by the shutdown and working without pay. And the every poll shows that voters are staunchly opposed to Trump and his stonewalling on the matter.

Fox News, Lou Dobbs

So naturally Fox News has leaped to the rescue of their president with a brand new line of attack that blazes new trails of absurdity while obliterating any semblance of logic. On Tuesday’s episode of Lou Dobbs Tonight (video below), the Fox Business host (and undisputed “Most Deranged Host on Fox”) sought to shore up Trump’s argument for his idiotic vanity wall with statistics that were unattributed to any source. Dobbs asserted that there have been “at least 77 barriers built across the globe.” And that “45 countries have proposals for border walls.” And that “since 2015, over 800 miles of barriers have been built in Europe.” He also said that:

“It’s now day twenty-five of the shutdown and President Trump continues to fight for the $5.7 billion to secure our southern border. And make no mistake, walls do work. And other countries all across the world are using them battling their own influx of migrants or to stave off terrorists.”

It’s impossible to confirm any of this because Dobbs failed to provide any source for his assertions. But if it’s anything like the rest of what Fox News reports, it was made up by Fox or some right-wing think tank they employ. The segment featured a graphic with a headline blaring “Walls Around the World,” as if that description of worldwide bondage was a good thing. It’s also impossible to assess whether any of these alleged “walls” were built for reasons that had anything to do with the immigration concerns expressed by Trump. The situations in other countries are not necessarily applicable to those of the United States. But that didn’t stop Trump from straight-up copying the Dobbs data and pasting it into a morning tweet:

This is just the latest example of Trump getting his “intelligence” from Fox News and passing it on to his Deplorables without admitting where he took it from. And Trump, like Fox, didn’t bother to cite any reputable source for the info. But there’s something else about this argument that is peculiar.

Trump is now making the point that, if Europe and the rest of the world is allegedly building walls to prevent migration, then the U.S. should be doing it too. But since when has Trump ever cared what the rest of the world was doing, other than as an example of what the U.S. should avoid? America First! And if what the rest of the world is doing is now setting the example for America, then Trump should be fighting for universal healthcare, because every single industrialized nation on the planet already has it. Likewise, just about every country in the world is signatory to the Paris Accords on Climate Change.

Once again, Trump is demonstrating two of his most prominent characteristics: He never has an original thought, or one that didn’t begin at Fox News. And his ability to form a logical argument is nonexistent. All he is doing is throwing mud at the wall and hoping it builds up enough to form a barrier at the southern border. Either that or that it sticks to the insides of the empty craniums of his cult followers. Either way he is proving again that he is dishonest, incompetent, and unfit to serve as president.

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 Vainly Pretend that Polls Support The Border Wall and the Trump Shutdown

Posted by on January 15, 2019 at 3:39 pm. 1 Comments :

Desperation drives people to extreme and untenable measures. And that must be where Donald Trump and Fox News find themselves today as they try in vain to spin reality into something that resembles support for their positions on the Trump Shutdown and his idiotic vanity wall. With public opinion veering off into a bruising opposition to the Trump agenda, they are purposefully lying about recent poll results.

Donald Trump

On Tuesday’s episode of Fox and Friends, co-host Steve Doocy introduced a segment about the border/shutdown with a reference to a new poll by Quinnipiac University. He was almost giddy about reporting the good news that this poll allegedly propped up the President and his standing in the eyes of the American people:

“There’s a Quinnipiac poll that essentially supports what the President has been saying all along for about the last month. And that’s fifty-four percent of you, according to Quinnipiac, say ‘yes,’ there is a crisis at our southern border.”

So there you have it. The debate can now be put to rest and the Democrats in Congress should immediately surrender and give Trump everything he wants. Right?

Well, no. Because the poll had some additional insights that make this tidbit fairly irrelevant. For instance:

“American voters support 63 – 30 percent a Democratic proposal to reopen parts of the government that do not involve border security while negotiating funding for the Wall, according to a Quinnipiac University National Poll released today. Every party, gender, education, age and racial group supports this idea except Republicans, who are opposed 52 – 39 percent.

“Voters oppose 63 – 32 percent shutting down the government to force funding for the Wall, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University National Poll finds. Again, Republicans are the only listed group supporting the shutdown, 67 – 24 percent.

“The GOP is losing the battle as 56 percent of American voters say President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress are responsible for the shutdown, while 36 percent say Democrats are responsible.

“Voters remain solidly opposed to a wall on the Mexican border, 55 – 43 percent, and reject every argument for the Wall.”

The poll also revealed that fifty-nine percent say that the wall “is not a good use of taxpayer dollars.” Fifty-five percent say that it “would not make the U.S. safer.” Fifty-nine percent say that “it is not necessary to protect the border.” And fifty-two percent say that it “is against American values.” What’s more, the fifty-four percent who agree that there is a crisis at the border may not be in agreement with Trump’s definition of “crisis.” They may be concerned about the welfare of the refugees who are seeking asylum, and the children who were separated from their parents by the Trump administration.

Additionally, by a wide margin of 46-32 percent, voters said that Trump’s Oval Office address was “mostly misleading.” And they believed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Chuck Schumer more than Trump by 46-36 percent. Only 2 percent say Trump’s address changed their mind. Sixty-five percent of respondents disapprove of Trump’s threat to declare a national emergency to fund the wall. And yet Trump is just as deceitful about these survey results as Fox News is. He tweeted that:

As usual, Trump doesn’t provide any source for those fictional numbers. But if he bothered to do any research he would discover that every poll is pretty much in sync with this one from Quinnipiac. Even an op-ed on the Fox website noted Trump’s precarious standings and warned that he “needs to end the shutdown now” if he “wants to have even a chance of winning in 2020.”. And, of course, Trump is lying about Democrats not wanting border security. They just don’t want his stupid wall and, like most Americans, they know it won’t enhance security. Wouldn’t it be nice if the Russian asset in the White House would tell his followers the truth for a change?

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


Even Fox News Can’t Avoid How Badly the Trump Shutdown is Going Over with the American People

Posted by on January 14, 2019 at 6:55 pm. 2 Comments :

It’s day 24 of the Trump Shutdown, and no end is currently in sight. The ill effects of that are even being felt in the White House, where Donald Trump had to serve Big Macs and pizzas to the NCAA champion Clemson Tigers because much of the staff is furloughed. Trump says that he paid for the “feast,” but that really isn’t something to brag about. It’s a pretty lame “celebration” that’s catered by McDonalds.

Fox News Trump

In the meantime, millions of American families are struggling to make ends meet due to the furloughs of hundreds of thousands of federal workers. Who’s paying for their meals, or healthcare, or mortgages? The hardship that Trump has imposed on the nation is getting worse with each new day. And the American people know exactly who is at fault.

Despite Trump’s promise not to blame Democrats, he has been doing just that for the past couple of weeks. However, his broken promise isn’t being received well by the public. And even Fox News is unable to pretend that Trump’s shutdown strategy is working out very well. An article on the Fox website carries the headline “Trump doubles down on border wall, as polls show voters turning against his shutdown strategy.” And the article explains unambiguously how badly the polling on this issue is going for Trump and his Republican Nationalist Party:

“As the partial shutdown enters its fourth week and hundreds of thousands of federal workers miss their first paychecks, fresh polling suggests the president is losing the battle of public opinion.

“A Quinnipiac University poll released Monday found that 63 percent of voters agree with the Democratic proposal to reopen parts of the government that do not involve border security, with 30 percent opposed. The same poll found 63 percent also oppose using the shutdown to force wall funding, with just 32 percent supporting.

“The poll found that 56 percent of American voters blame Trump and Republicans in Congress for the partial shutdown, compared with 36 percent who say Democrats are responsible.

“An earlier Washington Post-ABC News poll also found more Americans blame Trump and the Republicans than the Democrats over the stalemate.”

This bad news is just a portion of what Trump is having to endure as this new year is barely getting started. Bloomberg reports that at least six polls show that America blames Trump for the shutdown and opposes his exploitation of it for a stupid vanity wall that nobody wants. Trump is also fielding questions about whether he is a Russian asset. If your president has to deny that he’s working for Russia, you need a new president. And it’s been discovered that he has been suppressing information about his private meetings with Vladimir Putin.

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

If Trump isn’t a Russian asset, he’s doing an awfully good imitation of one. That’s a far bigger problem than his poor showing in polls about the shutdown. But the nation’s mood isn’t going to be particularly forgiving to a president who is generally despised while also being suspected of selling out his country. This is the kind of political environment that lends itself to impeachment. Hopefully.


Trump Mindlessly Parrots Fox News’ Lies About Democrats ‘Having Fun’ During the Shutdown

Posted by on January 13, 2019 at 12:05 pm. 4 Comments :

The relationship between Donald Trump and his State TV media handlers, Fox News, has been a disturbing component of his presidency since before it even began. Trump, after all, had a regularly scheduled weekly segment on Fox and Friends called “Mondays with Trump” for years before his candidacy. And since his election he has given the vast majority of his interviews (40+ so far) to Fox News. That includes his latest on Saturday night with “Judge” Jeanine Pirro wherein she asked him if he has ever worked for Russia, and he conspicuously failed to deny it.

Donald Trump Fox News

On Sunday morning Trump rose early and immediately began work – or at least what he regards as the work of a Reality TV president. He grabbed his phone, ascended to his porcelain throne, and composed this inspiring message for posterity:

Poor Donnie is once again whining about his lonely confinement to that big, old, drafty, White House. However, his version of events is perversely distorted. This week the Democrats in the House of Representatives passed several bills to fund the government that is currently in the midst of the Trump Shutdown – the longest, bestest shutdown ever. It is Republican Leader Mitch McConnell who refuses to call the Senate into session and allow a vote on those bills.

What’s more, contrary to Trump’s fictional account, most of the Democrats are in Washington working. But Trump, who is obviously paying more attention to Fox News than his presidential duties, found a story he could use to falsely malign Democrats as loafers. The article on Fox’s website is titled “Democrats At Play,” with a lede that says “As shutdown drags on, pols take chartered jet to Caribbean, see ‘Hamilton.'” So in that brief headline Fox crammed in a array of criticisms from their portrayal of this as recreation, to neglect of the shutdown, to elitist travel arrangements, to exotic locales, to exclusive theatrical events. Not bad.

The only problem is that none of that is true. The delegation consisted of members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. They were visiting a part of the United States that has recently suffered a catastrophic natural disaster to assess recovery progress. They were in constant contact with D.C. in the event there was a breakthrough in shutdown talks. And the performances of Hamilton were being staged to raise donations for local Puerto Rican organizations still struggling in wake of Hurricane Maria. Also, that chartered jet was laden with 250 pounds of donated medical supplies.

So that’s what Trump and Fox News are characterizing as a vacation with lobbyists on sun-drenched Caribbean beaches. Meanwhile, Trump continues to refuse to open the government, or to ask McConnell to hold a vote. He continues to threaten to declare a national emergency so that he can act out his tyrannical aspirations. It’s funny that this “emergency” is so lacking in urgency that Trump can posture over it for weeks as he seeks to make political points. It’s also funny that Republicans aren’t aghast at the prospect of setting a precedent that would permit a Democratic president to declare a national emergency to address healthcare or climate change – two very real crisis situations.

What isn’t funny is Trump’s disingenuously referencing that “people await their pay” as this shutdown drags on. He has proven that he couldn’t possibly care less with his comments about them “adjusting” or his administration’s advice that they barter with their landlords, or take up babysitting and dog-walking, to make ends meet. And he pours salt in the wounds by baselessly asserting that the suffering federal workers support his idiotic vanity wall. They don’t.

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

All Trump has to do is sign the funding bills that he previously agreed to sign, and that the GOP Senate passed unanimously. But instead, he chooses to obey the dictates of his masters at Fox News and regurgitate their callousness and lies on his Twitter feed for his Deplorable cult followers who will believe anything, except the actual facts that expose Trump as a narcissistic charlatan and a stooge for Russia.

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Poor Donald Trump is Crying Into the Void: There’s Almost Nobody in the White House But Me

Posted by on January 12, 2019 at 2:06 pm. 1 Comments :

Is this a cry for help? Donald Trump is plaintively wailing about his lonely bondage in the purgatory of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. He would rather be at his luxury golf resort in Palm Beach, but he’s suffering the hardship of languishing in the big, old, drafty White House alone, frightened, and depressed by his sad misfortune.

Donald Trump

After firing off a tirade of tweets about how he is being attacked from all directions by the media, law enforcement, and the people’s representatives in Congress, Trump immediately descended into the depths of despair and desolation. And all because the Democrats on the Hill refuse to play with him. This new Twitter tantrum is rife with the melancholy of a nasty playground bully who can’t understand why he is being shunned.

Take a look at what poor Donnie tweeted out in a fit of misery and abandon. Play close attention to the parts that read like the forlorn passages from a morose teenager’s angst-ridden diary, and try not to weep: “I am in the White House waiting for you!” – “Democrats come back!” – “Democrats could solve the Shutdown in 15 minutes!” – “There’s almost nobody in the W.H. but me.” – “You would have to understand the fact that I won the election.” – “I am in the White House ready to sign!”

Democrats should come back to Washington and work to end the Shutdown, while at the same time ending the horrible humanitarian crisis at our Southern Border. I am in the White House waiting for you!

3% of Federal inmates are illegal immigrants. Border arrests are up 240%. In the Great State of Texas, between 2011 & 2018, there were a total of 292,000 crimes by illegal aliens, 539 murders, 32,000 assaults, 3,426 sexual assaults and 3000 weapons charges. Democrats come back!

Democrats could solve the Shutdown in 15 minutes! Call your Dem Senator or Congresswoman/man. Tell them to get it done! Humanitarian Crisis.

I just watched a Fake reporter from the Amazon Washington Post say the White House is “chaotic, there does not seem to be a strategy for this Shutdown. There is no plan.” The Fakes always like talking Chaos, there is NONE. In fact, there’s almost nobody in the W.H. but me, and…

….I do have a plan on the Shutdown. But to understand that plan you would have to understand the fact that I won the election, and I promised safety and security for the American people. Part of that promise was a Wall at the Southern Border. Elections have consequences!

We have a massive Humanitarian Crisis at our Southern Border. We will be out for a long time unless the Democrats come back from their “vacations” and get back to work. I am in the White House ready to sign!

First of all, it should be noted that the Democrats are in Washington and passing bills to reopen the government. They’ve passed several already, but the likelihood that they will ever reach the President’s desk is small because his toady in the Senate (Mitch McConnell) won’t allow them to come up for a vote.

Secondly, Trump isn’t helping his cause when he deliberately misstates the federal statistics on crime and immigration. He is only making Democrats less interested in working with him because they know he can’t be trusted to deal in good faith or even use verified facts in his arguments.

Trump’s is complaining that the press is misrepresenting his administration as “chaotic.” But his explanation for why that isn’t true is that he’s alone in the White House. How is that better? A president who can’t keep his staff around while the government is supposedly in crisis is arguably a bigger problem than chaos.

Trump claims to have a plan to end the shutdown, but doesn’t say what it is. Although he does say that it only has meaning if you “understand” that he won an election two years ago. Well, that clears it up. And never mind that he lost an election two months ago, with Democrats making historic gains in the House. He continues by noting that during his campaign he promised to build a wall. But he seems to have forgotten that he also promised that Mexico would pay for it. He never promised to shutdown the government unless American were forced to pay for a wall that most say they don’t want.

Finally, Trump again implores Democrats, who are in Washington now, to “come back from their vacations” because he is “ready to sign!” Well, he also said he was ready to sign three weeks ago when the Senate passed a bill by unanimous voice vote. The House was about to pass the same bill, when Trump watched a report on Fox News that criticized him for not standing tough on the wall and changed his mind about signing anything.

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

If this pathetic melodrama didn’t bring you to tears, nothing will. Trump’s wretched fate is nearly as pitiful as that of the federal workers that he has driven from their jobs in order to force his idiotic vanity wall down America’s throat. His loneliness and abject fear of what he delusional imagines is an empty city is heart-wrenching. The sad shadow he casts could be brightened if only he would agree to reopen the government without making ridiculous and ego-driven demands. But alas, he is too stupid and vain to realize that.


Donald Trump’s Latest Psycho Tweetstorm: The Best Reason Yet to Invoke the 25th Amendment

Posted by on January 12, 2019 at 11:05 am. 1 Comments :

The rapidly declining mental state of Donald Trump has been the subject of untold numbers of articles and analyses, including by professionals who view the President as a malignant narcissist who is a danger to the nation and the world. But there is no better indicator of the hazards Trump’s psychoses represent than his own frenzied ravings on Twitter.

Donald Trump, Padded Cell

When Trump gets a full head of steam, it’s nearly impossible to keep up with the tsunami of lunacy that he unleashes. It’s pointless even to try. Take for example his outburst on Saturday morning. He was triggered by a report in the New York Times (which isn’t failing, it’s enjoying record success) that disclosed the existence of an FBI investigation into whether Trump was/is an asset of the Russian government.

There is abundant evidence to support that contention. Including his open infatuation with Vladimir Putin; his attacks on the media; his maligning of our allies in NATO and the European Union; his opposition to sanctions on Russia; his rejection of American intelligence in favor of information from Putin and the Kremlin; his refusal to accept that Russia interfered with the 2016 presidential election; his firing of FBI Director James Comey and others; his chumminess with Russian operatives in the White House; his threats aimed at his own cabinet for pursuing legitimate investigations into Russian espionage against the U.S.; and so much more.

However, to hear Trump tell it, it’s all a paranoid conspiracy against the greatest president of all time who who is being attacked for his awesomeness and purity of heart. After reading the article in the Times (or having excerpts read to him), Trump mounted his Twitter machine and disgorged a steady stream of manic gibberish, almost all of which he has previously unfurled in numerous episodes of derangement. But reading it all of a piece is shocking, and not a little frightening. So buckle up:

Wow, just learned in the Failing New York Times that the corrupt former leaders of the FBI, almost all fired or forced to leave the agency for some very bad reasons, opened up an investigation on me, for no reason & with no proof, after I fired Lyin’ James Comey, a total sleaze!

…Funny thing about James Comey. Everybody wanted him fired, Republican and Democrat alike. After the rigged & botched Crooked Hillary investigation, where she was interviewed on July 4th Weekend, not recorded or sworn in, and where she said she didn’t know anything (a lie),….

….the FBI was in complete turmoil (see N.Y. Post) because of Comey’s poor leadership and the way he handled the Clinton mess (not to mention his usurpation of powers from the Justice Department). My firing of James Comey was a great day for America. He was a Crooked Cop……

…..who is being totally protected by his best friend, Bob Mueller, & the 13 Angry Democrats – leaking machines who have NO interest in going after the Real Collusion (and much more) by Crooked Hillary Clinton, her Campaign, and the Democratic National Committee. Just Watch!

I have been FAR tougher on Russia than Obama, Bush or Clinton. Maybe tougher than any other President. At the same time, & as I have often said, getting along with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing. I fully expect that someday we will have good relations with Russia again!

Lyin’ James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Peter S and his lover, agent Lisa Page, & more, all disgraced and/or fired and caught in the act. These are just some of the losers that tried to do a number on your President. Part of the Witch Hunt. Remember the “insurance policy?” This is it!

This sounds more like a mental patient who has been hospitalized after running through the streets naked shouting at random cars and store mannequins, than a president. He is consumed with paranoia and a devout belief in his superiority and goodness. And his perceived enemies are unambiguously evil, omnipresent, and determined to destroy him. That isn’t the profile of a world leader. It’s the diagnosis for a psychopath. And for the sake of the nation – and the planet – Trump needs to be removed from office and placed in a facility where he can either get medial attention, and be punished for his obvious crimes.

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


Trump’s Braintrust (Fox News) is Pushing Him to Declare a National Emergency to Get His Border Wall

Posted by on January 11, 2019 at 12:07 pm. 4 Comments :

The presidency of Donald Trump has distinguished itself for its hostility to the media and the Constitution’s protection of a free press. His tedious whining about “fake news” and his Stalinist references to the media as “the enemy of the people” are evidence of his desire to poison the public’s minds in order to suppress criticism of him and his administration.

Donald Trump, Fox News

That said, no president has ever been more closely intertwined with a media enterprise than Trump is with Fox News. Before his election he was a regularly scheduled contributor to Fox and Friends with a segment called “Mondays with Trump.” He limits his interviews to Fox News on a nearly exclusive basis. His administration is infested with former Fox News staffers. They include: Deputy Chief of Staff, Bill Shine, who was the president of the network before being fired for mishandling incidents of sexual harassment; ambassador to the United Nations nominee, Heather Nauert, a former Fox host; National Security Advisor, John Bolton, an ex-Fox contributor.

In addition, Trump employs current Fox News anchors as his de facto cabinet, getting advice on everything from the economy to military engagements, to taxes and more. Sean Hannity is reported to talk with the President almost every night before bedtime. Lou Dobbs is often on conference call during Oval Office meetings. Jeanine Pirro is a favorite consultant on legal matters. And Trump is frequently live-tweeting whatever he happens to be watching on Fox, day and night.

Recently, Trump was prepared to sign a bipartisan bill to keep the government open. But when Fox Newsies heard that it didn’t provide funding for his idiotic vanity wall, they went berserk. Subsequently, Trump reversed course, and now we find ourselves in what is about to become the longest government shutdown in history. Which makes it all the more troubling that many of Trump’s Fox faves are now imploring him to declare a national emergency as a tactic to fund the wall that has nothing to do with any emergency, and that most Americans oppose. For instance, as reported by Media Matters:

Sean Hannity: So, with the president speaking, I’m guessing he’s going to declare a national emergency. […] victims of crime happening in this country, that should be enough of a national emergency.

Lou Dobbs: This is the president of the United States. He says a wall should be built; that it’s a national emergency. At that point, the nation should rally behind him. […] It is a national emergency, it is a crisis, and there could be no rational disputation of that.

Lou Dobbs (again): I really believe that the way forward here is for him to declare a national emergency, and simply sweep aside the recalcitrant left in this country.

Stuart Varney: I think this total refusal to negotiate has pushed the president to the point where he has to declare an emergency on the border.

Rush Limbaugh: And so they empowered the executive branch with the National Emergencies Act. He can confiscate private businesses, if he wants. All he has to do is declare it a national emergency.

Gregg Jarrett: The National Emergency Act authorizes the president to declare an emergency, and nobody can second-guess him. He has unfettered authority. […] he can use the military, redirect them for construction of an unauthorized project, whatever it is, the president wants it to be. That can be the barrier wall, and nobody can stop him from doing it.

Bob Bianchi (Fox guest): To me, politically, it makes perfect sense. [for Trump to] invoke my powers as the president under the National Emergency Act and under one of these sub-acts that allows me to move funds around to build this border wall.

Tom Fitton (on Tucker Carlson Tonight): It is a national emergency when we have a thousand plus miles of unsecured border in our southern area without any ability to figure out who’s coming across. We know the terrorists are targeting [the] southern border.

Considering how gullible Trump is, and how easily influenced he is by his Fox News brain(?) trust, it’s a foregone conclusion that he’ll declare a national emergency. However, contrary to the ravings of Trump and Fox, he does not have unfettered authority to do so. It will undoubtedly be challenged in court. And since the facts don’t support any claim to a crisis, he’ll almost certainly lose. In the meantime, millions of people are hurt and the nation is stifled by Trump’s ignorance and ego. Hopefully that can all be avoided by Congress waking up and doing the right thing. But given the abdication of its civic duty, Mitch McConnell’s Senate has to be considered a long shot.

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


Trump’s Border Wall Scam: Who’s Benefiting from at Least Four Payments for the Same Wall?

Posted by on January 10, 2019 at 1:04 pm. 0 Comments :

There is a peculiar familiarity to Donald Trump’s pitch for his useless vanity wall on the southern border. Anyone who has seen a classic film about smarmy con artists will recognize the scheme that Trump is employing. Essentially he is seeking to get paid many times over for a single item. None of the victims of this scam will receive anything of value for their money.

Donald Trump, Border Wall

That’s precisely what Trump is doing. And he even reiterated it on Thursday morning as he left for a visit to the scene of the crime in Texas. His comments to the press swung between utterly dishonest and frighteningly incoherent. But in the end they were self-serving and disrespectful to the American people who suffer the burdens of his ignorance and hostility.

Notable in this tantrum were Trump’s denials that he ever said that Mexico would pay for the wall directly. He seems to think that because he didn’t specify that Mexico would pay by check, that he never meant that they would be responsible for paying directly at all. But when you repeatedly ask your cult rally followers “Who’s gonna pay for the wall?” and then join them in responding that “Mexico will pay for the wall,” that has only one meaning.

Additionally Trump actually did make statements that Mexico would pay directly. In fact, they are still on his website in a PDF position statement that says: “It’s an easy decision for Mexico: make a one-time payment of $5-10 billion to ensure that $24 billion continues to flow into their country year after year. There are several ways to compel Mexico to pay for the wall.”

More to the point, Trump has been making the case that the wall is either already being paid for by Mexico, or soon will be, for some time. In fact, he says explicitly that the wall is being paid for “many, many times over.” Let’s take a look at these alleged remittances:

Trump: “If we had the wall we would have tremendous savings. I really believe the barrier or wall would pay for itself every three or four months, and maybe even better than that.”

Here Trump is implying that savings from law enforcement activities amounts to payment for the wall. Of course those savings are in no way the result of any payments received from Mexico, directly or otherwise. What’s more, if Trump thinks that his wall is going to eliminate drug trafficking, and the costs associated with it, he’s dumber than we thought. After all, ninety percent of illegal drugs come into the country through legal ports of call. And by the way, so do most undocumented immigrants. His wall doesn’t address any of that. But then there’s also this:

Trump: “When I said Mexico will pay for the wall in front of thousands and thousands of people, obviously they’re not gonna write a check, but they are paying for the wall indirectly many, many times over by the really great trade deal we just made.”

No, they aren’t. That isn’t how trade deals work. Mexico pays nothing via these deals. It is the private businesses on both sides of the border who incur both the costs and benefits as stipulated in the agreement.

The problem with Trump’s arguments is that he’s admitting to financial fraud. It is illegal to request and receive payments from multiple sources for a single product. For instance, you can’t sell your car to six different people, collect all their money, and leave town. But the history of Trump’s remarks on payment for the wall indicate that he’s seeking compensation directly from Mexico, and also via law enforcement savings, and also by businesses engaged in trade. And finally by the American people, who he’s holding hostage to his ludicrous demands by shutting down the government.

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

That’s at least four payees for a single wall. How many times does he want to get paid for this boondoggle? And who’s getting all the extra money? And why is he even asking American citizens to foot the bill – and suffer the Trump Shutdown – when he says he has already secured payment?

The answers to these questions are likely out of reach because Trump will never provide them, or he will engage in a rambling, incomprehensible filibuster until people stop asking. But the bottom line is that, by his own admission, there is no need to get funds from taxpayers, and Trump’s efforts to do so are both immoral and unlawful.