Election

While America Hunkers Down, Trump Exploits the Crisis to Campaign for Reelection

Posted by on March 22, 2020 at 1:33 pm. 4 Comments :

Remember back in the olden times when there were Democratic primaries that dominated the news? There was a “Super” Tuesday and people were anxiously and excitedly exercising their civic duties to vote for the candidates of their choice. That all seems like so long ago. And now they are anxious for a completely different reason.

Donald Trump Virus

The remaining candidates in the Democratic presidential race – Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders – have purposefully put the brakes on their official campaign activities. That’s the responsible thing to do when a global pandemic has erupted and is spreading rapidly throughout the nation and the world. However, while the Democrats are acting responsibly, Donald Trump has chosen to behave in a manner that is consistent with his narcissistic psychoses. Even while the entire country is focusing on how to survive during these challenging times, Trump is focusing on himself and his own best political interests.

Let’s face it, Trump’s presence is utterly irrelevant at the daily Coronavirus Task Force briefings. He has no useful knowledge or experience to offer. To the contrary, he most often unleashes blatantly false “information” that his own advisers have to later refute. He wastes valuable time either attacking legitimate journalists who are asking pertinent question, or embracing propagandists whose questions are nothing more than overt suck ups. Much of his comments are simply boasting about what he asserts are unprecedented accomplishments and victories that exist only in his self-serving imagination. And he insists on presenting an absurdly rosy scenario that ignores reality and dangerously understates the risk we all face. It’s one thing to offer hope, but another to deliberately mislead.

There is only one reason that Trump is showing up at these briefings, and that is to advance his reelection prospects. He has turned what should be a vital information channel into a crass campaign PR affair. That’s why he avoids any discussion of the hardships that the American people are enduring. and it’s why he so brazenly exalts himself and his phony achievements. These are nothing but extended political ads for Trump. They are also Trump’s replacement for the cult rallies that he can no longer have.

In addition to Trump’s cynical commandeering of the press briefings, he has likewise devoted his Twitter account to his reelection effort. In the past week Trump has tweeted hundreds of times. The vast majority of those have been retweets of two varieties: Fox News bootlickers lavishing undue praise on him. And messages from his Republican Senate comrades (more than 50 in three days). It is impossible to miss the fact that Trump incessantly retweets only GOP members of Congress bragging about legislation to address the health – physically and financially – of the American people. It’s as if there aren’t any Democrats working on these bills, despite the fact that they authored most of them.

The lengths that Trump is going to to make Democrats invisible is further evidence of his politicization of this crisis. He will need a Republican majority in congress if (gawd forbid) he is reelected in November. So these retweets are another thinly veiled campaign tactic on Trump’s part. Virtually every reference to Democrats on his Twitter feed is negative. That is not how a conscientious leader would work to bring the nation together in turbulent times.

The bottom line is that Trump isn’t interest in bringing people together. He’s only interested in extending his power and disparaging his perceived enemies. He may think he’s clever by trying to disguise his political ambitions in staged press briefings and innocuous tweets, but the only people he’s fooling are his glassy-eyed cult disciples and – unfortunately – some members of the press.

If the media were living up to the principles that govern a free press, they would cease to cover his briefings live. There would be nothing lost by taping the events and spending a few minutes fact-checking before putting them on the air. But it would prevent more disinformation from being disseminated to the public. And it would stop Trump from unscrupulously hijacking otherwise vital communications to get free ad time.

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

And then there’s this…..

Fox News and Trump are Infecting America with Lies About Viruses and Economics

Posted by on March 9, 2020 at 1:51 pm. 9 Comments :

Just at the time the country needs a steady hand to guide it through difficult times, we are unfortunately stuck with Donald Trump, an ignorant, narcissistic, sociopath, who is more concerned with his public image than with the lives of the American people. A budding pandemic is threatening to engulf the nation, and simultaneously collapse an economy that is already on thin ice.

Donald Trump, Fox News

Trump has been mishandling the Covid-19 (coronavirus) outbreak from the first days it was identified. He has stubbornly tried to downplay the seriousness of its impact on both people and economics. And he continues to this day trying to dismiss the risks that we are facing. Especially among his own supporters who are the most vulnerable to his alternative facts.

On Monday morning he posted several tweets intended to pacify the public with phony platitudes. In one tweet Trump compared the coronavirus to the flu. “At this moment,” he tweeted, “there are 546 confirmed cases of coronavirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!” Having thought about it, it’s apparent that Trump can’t do math, because that data shows that the coronavirus, which is just beginning to spread, is 200 times more lethal than the flu. That isn’t exactly comforting.

Of course, Fox News has Trump’s back. They are promoting equally as troubling distortions of reality that are intended more to boost Trump’s polling than to protect people’s lives. Devoted Trump-fluffer Jeanine Pirro unleashed an extended rant that also used flu data to diminish the potential harm from the coronavirus (video below):

“Now they say the mortality rate for coronavirus is higher than the flu. But consider, though, that we have a flu vaccine, and yet in 2019, 16,000 Americans died from the flu. Imagine if we did not have the flu vaccine the flu would be a pandemic. So all the talk about coronavirus being so much more deadly doesn’t reflect reality. Without a vaccine, the flu would be far more deadly.”

How does someone this stupid get their own TV show? The mortality rate for the flu would not increase were there no vaccine. Pirro seems think that the mortality rate is based on the percentage of deaths from within the entire national population. Actually, the base is just those infected. So without a vaccine there would surely be more deaths, but they would likely occur at the same percentage rate. Pirro is also assuming that the coronavirus isn’t going to infect more people than the flu. At this time there is no way to predict that. And the fact remains that the mortality rate for the corona virus remains far higher than for the flu.

As for Trump, he is spinning furiously to avoid any negative repercussions from the dramatic drop in the stock market. He is alternately blaming it on coronavirus panic, the media, oil prices, Democrats, and probably Hillary Clinton’s emails. He’s frantic because he knows that a faltering economy will be the death knell for his reelection hopes. But he was never a particularly good market analyst. Just two weeks ago Trump tweeted that…

Everything about the tweet is utterly and painfully wrong. The coronavirus was hardly “very much under control.” on February 24. There were only a handful of confirmed diagnoses – and zero deaths – in the U.S. then. There over 600 known infections now, and 26 deaths.

Trump’s remarks about the stock market were triggered by a 1,000 point drop that day. But if anyone took Trump’s advice and acted on what he thought was a market that looked good, they took a considerable beating. The market has declined another 3,500 points since Trump’s grossly miscast, optimistic tweet. In fact, the market has declined to a level last seen in November of 2017. So anyone who invested in the last two years has lost money. And the more recent their investments, the more they lost.

With the challenges facing the nation today, it would helpful if we didn’t have to rely on a president who has been documented lying more than 16,000 times. It would also be nice if we didn’t have a propaganda outlet like Fox News covering up Trump’s failures, falsehoods, and mental infirmities. Getting through the next few months would be hard enough under normal circumstances. Remember “normal circumstances?” Yeah, those were the days.

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

PRIORITIES: Trump’s Rage-Tweets Focus on Bashing Democrats, Ignore Coronavirus

Posted by on March 4, 2020 at 2:49 pm. 0 Comments :

The importance of the Super Tuesday primaries cannot be overstated. It’s results have reshaped the Democratic race to be the party’s nominee for president. But that is surely not the only story with national significance. The nation – and the world – continues to be threatened by an emerging health crisis that has the potential to be become a pandemic.

Donald Trump, Toilet, Bathrobe

These situations require the thoughtful and forthright attention of our leaders, from local medical facilities right up to the White House. So this would be a good time to see how Donald Trump is spending his precious time at this hour of need.

While news reports confirm that both infections and fatalities in the U.S. are increasing, Trump seems unperturbed by these developments. His Twitter feed on Wednesday morning consists of fourteen tweets, and not a single one addresses the coronavirus. Instead, Trump appears to be fully consumed by the drama in the Democratic presidential primary. Fully half of his tweets were attacks of one sort or another on the Democrats vying to oust him in November. And the majority of those were missives aimed Mike Bloomberg, who Trump derisively refers to as “Mini.” For instance…

It’s pretty hysterical that a pretend billionaire like Trump, whose bankruptcies and other business failures are legendary, attacks Bloomberg for not “having what it takes.” Bloomberg is worth over $58 billion. Also, Trump is lying about what Bloomberg spent on his campaign. But even if it were true, it would be less than 2% of of his wealth. And Bloomberg has promised to spend “whatever it takes” to defeat Trump.

That’s why Trump is so scared. He knows that Bloomberg has the resources to bury him politically. And whether Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders is the beneficiary of those funds, and Bloomberg’s digital operations, they will create the sort of “wall” that Trump can only dream about.

Trump fired off three other tweets about Bloomberg that were equally as insulting and devoid of substance. But he also went after Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. He continues to spin a deranged conspiracy theory that everyone in the Democratic Party is plotting to “crush Bernie Sanders.” And Trump is positioning himself as an advocate for Sanders, who he claims is the victim of a rigged system. Obviously Trump loathes everything about Sanders. So this dishonest expression of concern is rooted in something more sinister. As Trump tells it…

So what’s Trump’s game? He wants us to believe that he considers Sanders an easier opponent to beat. However, he didn’t come to that conclusion on his own. It also happens to be the view of his pal, Vladimir Putin. The Russian campaign to sow discord and chaos within the Democratic Party has been in operation for months. Sanders was notified of it earlier this year. And virtually everything Trump is doing and saying is aligned with the Russian agenda. It is no coincidence that Putin’s perspective and Trump’s are so tightly bound.

In addition to those anti-Democratic tweets, Trump also posted what amounts to a confession that he intended to obstruct justice when he appointed Jeff Sessions to be his Attorney General:

It’s hard to be any clearer that Trump expected Sessions to terminate the Mueller investigation. And when that didn’t happen, he fired Sessions and installed a more obedient lackey, Bill Barr. Now Trump is celebrating Sessions’ difficulties in winning back his old senate seat. And the reason that Trump believes Sessions is getting what he deserves is that Sessions wasn’t sufficiently loyal. Of course, that isn’t in the job description of the Attorney General. What Trump is looking for is a bootlicking sycophant, which is also not in the job description of the Attorney General, or any other cabinet position.

The larger problem that all of this represents is that, while America is worried about the emergence of a potential pandemic, Trump is obsessed only with his prospects for retaining power. That may not be news to anyone who has been paying attention to our Narcissist-in-Chief, but it is nevertheless troubling. The United States is presently burdened with a self-absorbed, wannabe dictator who is content to allow millions of Americans to suffer rather than fulfill the obligations of his job. And therein lies the most urgent reason to make sure that Trump’s presidency ends as soon as possible.

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

Donna Brazile Tells Trump-Fluffing GOP Chair to ‘Go to Hell’ Live on Fox News

Posted by on March 3, 2020 at 11:30 am. 1 Comments :

The Republican Party’s penchant for hypocrisy is legendary. They profess to advocate family values while supporting Donald Trump, an adulterous president who is on his third wife, all of whom he has cheated on. They disingenuously embrace patriotism while enabling Trump’s treasonous aiding and abetting hostile foreign governments that attack our democracy. They claim to have faith while idolizing an irreligious narcissist who calls himself “the Chosen One.”

Donald Trump

On Tuesday morning Republicans were apoplectic over a segment on Fox News where Donna Brazile lashed out at the GOP for interfering in Democratic politics. That’s something that Trump himself has been spending a remarkable amount of time on (mostly advancing the mission of Vladimir Putin). Never mind that no one takes his inane analysis of Democrats seriously. And why should they? His rancid animosity toward fellow Americans who don’t happen to worship him is the core of his moronic commentary.

So on Fox’s America’s Newsroom co-host Sandra Smith prefaced her question for Brazile by playing a clip of Republican National Committee Chairwoman, Ronna Romney McDaniel, speculating about how the Democratic primary is progressing. McDaniel said that…

“It’s leading toward a brokered convention which will be rigged against Bernie [Sanders] if those super delegates have their way.”

Following that clip, Smith threw the question to Brazile for her response. And it was a doozy:

“First of all, I want to talk to my Republicans. Stay the hell out of our race. I get sick and tired of listening to Republicans tell me and the Democrats about our process. They don’t even have a process. They are canceling primaries. They have winner take all. They don’t have the kind of democracy that we see on the Democratic side. And for people to use Russian talking points to sow division among Americans, that is stupid.

“So Ronna, go to hell! We are not trying to prevent anyone from becoming the nominee. If you have the delegates to win, you will win. This notion that Democrats are somehow out there trying to put hurdles or road blocks before one candidate, that’s stupid.

“I know what’s going on. They are scared of Democrats coming together to defeat Donald Trump. They need to be focusing on what we’re focusing on in the Democratic Party. And that is preventing foreign interference in our elections. And stop using Russian talking points, Madame Chairwoman.”

OUCH! That is precisely how Democrats should reply to the preposterous analyses that Republicans put out about Democrats. Brazile hit every salient point. The GOP is canceling primaries because they seem to be afraid that some of their cult members will wander off and vote for Bill Weld. Fox News has, to date, refused to even interview Weld. Trump is exposing his weakness. Brazile also noted that McDaniel was parroting Russian talking points. Actually, they are more than talking points. They are part of an orchestrated strategy to create discord and chaos. And Brazile forcefully defended the Democratic Party’s neutrality. The main proponents of the conspiracy theory that the primary is rigged are Trump and Putin.

This attempt by Fox News to ambush Brazile is just another reason why Democrats should never appear on Fox. They have only one objective, and that is to harm Democrats. In this case it backfired on them in a big way. But it is still giving Fox and their Trump-fluffing surrogates the opportunity to condemn Brazile for her alleged incivility. But just to put that hypocrisy in context, see the video below that compiles Trump’s frequent use of profanities that apparently doesn’t bother the pure as virgins GOP or Fox News.

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

With a Global Pandemic Looming, Trump Becomes Putin’s Political Pundit

Posted by on March 2, 2020 at 2:01 pm. 5 Comments :

The reports of coronavirus infections continues to grow both in the United States and internationally. Six deaths have now been confirmed in the U.S. And most epidemiological experts are warning that it is impossible to know how many Americans are affected because tests have not been been conducted. Those tests number in the tens of thousands in China and South Korea, but only about 500 in the U.S.

Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump

So what is our Commander-in-Chief doing to mitigate the harm and protect the American people? He’s politicking, of course. That behavior is taking the form of bragging about himself and what he asserts is a perfect response to the crisis. He is also whining about criticism he has drawn from Democrats and public health professionals. Of course, none of that is helping to get the nation through this budding pandemic. But to Trump the only thing that matters is how it affects him personally.

For instance, on Monday morning Trump posted about three dozens tweets. Two dozen of those were promotions to elect Republican members of Congress. By contrast, he posted only two tweets wherein he directly addressed the coronavirus. In one he announced that he was meeting with pharmaceutical companies to discuss the development of a vaccine, which is something they were doing anyway without his interruption. The other complained that he was was criticized by Democrats for his ineffective response. Once again, none of that advanced the fight against the coronavirus.

Aside from hyping GOP candidates and whining about being a victim, Trump has also been tweeting up a storm about the Democratic presidential primary. And virtually every comment he has made has been taken straight out of the Vladimir Putin playbook to sow discord and create chaos. More than anything else, Trump has been pushing the conspiracy theory that the Democratic Party is trying to rig the election against Bernie Sanders. Does anyone really believe that Trump cares about Sanders and whether or not he is treated fairly by the party that Trump maligns as all “do nothing, radical socialists”? Of course not.

What’s interesting is that this is precisely the tactic that Putin is pursuing to get Democrats to fight among themselves. It could not be more obvious that Trump is acting on behalf of Russia to advance his own reelection prospects. It’s so conspicuous that when Trump was asked directly what his comment to Putin would be about interfering with the election, he replied completely off-topic that “They ought to investigate Adam Schiff,” and then he pretty much denied that any interference was taking place.

So what’s the point of Trump’s malicious and intellectually vacant attempts at punditry? Clearly no one is taking his analysis of the Democratic primary seriously. Why should they? He has only hostile intentions. It would be like asking a snake the best way to avoid getting eaten by it. Trump should be literally the last person whose opinions of the Democrats would be sought.

The only purpose for Trump is to try to stir up trouble and distrust in democracy. Which, not coincidentally, is Putin’s purpose. And the American people – Democrats, Republicans, and Independents – must not allow them to succeed. We must all rise up in unity to renounce Trump’s cynical and un-American ploy. We must respect one another and remain loyal to the the principles that actually do make this country great. And we must come together to make sure that the traitor in the White House is evicted. That means vigorously supporting whoever the eventual Democratic nominee is and working for their victory.

We don’t have the luxury of holding out for whoever is your favorite candidate. If Biden is the nominee, then Bernie bros need to get behind him. If Bernie is the nominee, then those with irrational fears of “socialism” need to set that aside. Whatever one perceives as the negatives of one candidate or another, they are not nearly as destructive or catastrophic as another four years of Trump. So suck it up, America. We have one job to do now. And that’s the complete, unambiguous ouster and humiliation of Donald Trump. For America’s sake.

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

Trump is Whining (Again) About Fox News Poll Where He’s Losing to Every Top Democrat

Posted by on February 28, 2020 at 12:35 pm. 2 Comments :

There is one thing that can be reliably assumed about Donald Trump at any given moment in time. He is probably whining. That’s pretty much his resting state of mind. He is without a doubt the most cowardly crybaby ever to occupy the White House. He even admitted it on national TV in 2016, saying that “I am the most fabulous whiner. I do whine, because I want to win. I am a whiner and I keep whining and whining until I win.” Duh!

Donald Trump Pacifier Fox

So it shouldn’t surprise anyone that Trump is wailing about a new poll by Fox News that shows him losing to every top Democratic in the race. The poll has Biden beating Trump 49% to 41%. Sanders 49-42. Bloomberg 48-40. Warren 46-43. Buttigieg 45-42. And Klobuchar 44-43. Notice that Trump never scores higher than 43% in any of these match-ups. So an obviously rattled Trump pounded out this frantic tweet:

For the record, most of the 2016 polls, even those by Fox News, were pretty accurate. They showed Hillary Clinton beating Trump by about 3%, which is precisely what happened. Remember, these are polls of voters, not the electoral college, and Clinton won the popular vote by 3,000,000 votes. FiveThirtyEight rates Fox News pollsters (Beacon Research/Shaw & Co. Research) a respectable “A-“.

But none of that matters because Trump’s complaints aren’t rooted in reality to begin with. He has often criticized Fox News polling in the past when they delivered bad news. And he routinely complains that Fox has “always been terrible to me.” But he’s ignoring all the times he praised Fox for surveys that had more positive results.

RELATED: Are Trump’s Cult Rallies Breeding Grounds for the Coronavirus?

Trump’s perspective is always colored by whatever he views is in his best interest at the moment. It’s a bizarre psychosis that springs from his malignant narcissism. If someone compliments him, they are a rock solid ally. If someone criticizes him, they have always been a bitter enemy. He simply has no grasp of the nuances of fluid, human interactions. And he will use whatever data he finds most beneficial, even if he has to make it up. For instance, Trump also tweeted this Friday morning:

The problem with that is that it was a retweet that is several days old and does not reflect a “new” Rasmussen poll. In fact, the most recent Rasmussen poll has Trump at only 47%. What’s more, he has never had 95% GOP approval, no matter how many times he tweets it.

Despite Trump’s disappointment with Fox News, he just scheduled a town hall on the network for next Thursday. It will be one of the rare occasions where Trump will be interviewed on Fox by someone other than Sean Hannity or one of the other devoted Trump-fluffers. Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum will host the affair. However, their previous interviews with Trump were dominated by softball questions and no substantive follow ups.

What’s peculiar is why Fox News is having this town hall at all. Trump is running virtually unopposed, so what’s the point in providing a platform when there isn’t a primary contest in progress? The only plausible reason is that Fox wants to make sure that Trump isn’t overshadowed by the Democrats who are engaged in a heated primary. In other words, it’s free advertising for Trump.

What Fox isn’t doing is offering the same thing to Bill Weld, the Republican former governor of Massachusetts who actually is running against Trump in the GOP primary. Both Fox News and Trump are pretending that Weld doesn’t exist. The party has canceled several primaries so that Trump doesn’t have to face an opposing candidate. And Fox has refused to to even book Weld for an interview.

If Trump is as confidant of his 2020 prospects as he keeps insisting, then why is he suppressing this primary opposition? For the same reason he is whining about the Fox News poll. He is scared. He recognizes the political risk that he faces if the economy falters. And his moaning notwithstanding, he does realize that polls reflect the tenor of public opinion, and that opinion now is decidedly – and appropriately – anti-Trump.

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

Are Trump’s Cult Rallies Breeding Grounds for the Coronavirus?

Posted by on February 27, 2020 at 12:55 pm. 9 Comments :

On Wednesday Donald Trump held a press conference wherein he typically underplayed the risks of the spreading coronavirus (Covid-19). He repeatedly portrayed it as being effectively under control, which is not remotely true. He even contradicted the officials he introduced as the team he was putting in charge of the matter. With the exception of Vice-President Mike Pence, they were decidedly more cautious and stressed aggressive actions to confront the impending dangers. See the video below where Rachel Maddow breaks down this contradiction.

Donald Trump Virus

Around the world there are preventive measures being taken to mitigate the risks. International conferences and festivals are canceling their events. Amusement parks, concert and sporting arenas, schools, and other locations that attract large gatherings are closing down to reduce the potential for exposure and infection. But despite these precautions being undertaken by concerned operators, there is a conspicuous enterprise that is thumbing its runny nose at the advancing virus: The Donald Trump Reelection Campaign!

That’s right. Trump is continuing to schedule and host the rallies that assemble thousands of his cult followers in sweaty, confined venues where they are tightly packed and subject to precisely the sort of transmission conditions within which the virus proliferates. None of these StormTrumpers are screened for symptoms, and their anonymity would make it impossible to trace infection origins should some of them later be diagnosed with the virus.

Ordinarily this might be regarded as an alarmist position considering the low (at this point) infection rate in the United States. And one could reasonably complain that the same concerns should be raised about Democratic political events. However, there is a profound difference that makes the prospective perils entirely dissimilar.

By belittling the scope of the coronavirus threat, Trump is actually increasing its potential for harm. And the Trump-fluffers in the press (especially Fox News) are making matters even worse by not just undercutting responsible warnings, but actually advancing conspiracy theories that assert there is no threat whatsoever. Rush Limbaugh told his listeners that the virus was nothing more than the common cold, and that it was being hyped by Democrats to hurt Trump.

This campaign of trivialization is insuring that it is Trump’s supporters who are the least informed about the reality of this budding pandemic. They are, therefore, the most likely to dismiss the risks and behave in ways that could escalate the incidence of infection. So while supporters of Democratic candidates may gather in public, they are likely to be heeding common sense advice to wash their hands, use sanitizers, cough or sneeze safely, and even stay home if not feeling well. But the Trump cultists who aren’t buying the seriousness of the outbreak, will be more likely to ignore such precautions. Consequently, they will be more likely to transmit and acquire the infection.

This is by no means a call for all Americans to cower in their basements like doomsday preppers awaiting Armageddon. But it is a warning that there are real concerns and that some simple measures can be taken to mitigate risk. But if any community of people are dismissive of the facts that are available, those communities should be avoided. Suffice to say that you are likely to be safer among a crowd of cautious Democrats who trust science, than a swarm of oblivious Republican Trumpsters in denial.

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

Trump Refuses to Pledge Not to Accept Foreign Assistance in His Campaign

Posted by on February 25, 2020 at 2:31 pm. 2 Comments :

For the second presidential election in a row, Donald Trump is thumbing his nose at the law and political morality. He is openly announcing his willingness to accept the help of hostile foreign nations in his quest to retain power at all costs. Never mind the Constitution or the welfare of american democracy. To Trump the only thing that matters is what Trump wants.

Donald Trump

In 2016 the Russians orchestrated an exhaustive scheme to benefit Trump’s candidacy for president. Trump even abetted that plan by inviting the Russians to hack the emails of Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee. After the election Trump conceded in an interview with George Stephanopoulos that he would do the same thing again. Recent reports indicate that the Russians are also anxious for another go round. And Trump is effectively greenlighting their renewed intentions.

The repeat of this partnership between Trump and Russia should worry every patriotic American. Unfortunately, Trump’s glassy-eyed cult followers, and his bootlicking sycophants in the Republican Party, are all to happy to embrace this evil cabal. Consequently, Trump is becoming evermore daring with regard to accepting such tainted assistance. And he proved that in an exchange on Tuesday with CNN reporter Jim Acosta (video below):

Acosta: Can you pledge to the American people that you will not accept any foreign assistance in the upcoming election?
Trump: First of all, I want no help from any country, and I haven’t been given help from any country. And if you see what CNN, your wonderful network, said, I guess they apologized in a way for – didn’t they apologize for the fact that they said certain things that weren’t true?

Notice that Trump’s response said only that he doesn’t “want” help and isn’t getting any. We know the second half of that comment is a lie because his own Office of the Director of National Intelligence recently briefed Congress on Russia’s ongoing election tampering on Trump’s behalf. Therefore, the first half of Trump’s comment can also be presumed to be a lie (which is the case with pretty much everything Trump says).

But it’s also notable that Trump did not directly answer the question by affirmatively pledging not to accept any such assistance, whether he wants it or not. By not making that pledge, Trump is effectively admitting that he will accept assistance from Russia, which he has done before. In addition to dodging the pledge, Trump also sought to attack the reporter and the question:

Trump: Tell me, what was their apology yesterday? What did they say?
Acosta: Mr. President, I think our record on delivering the truth is a lot better than yours sometimes, if you don’t mind me saying.
Trump: Let me tell you about your record. Your record is so bad you ought to be ashamed of yourself. You have the worst record in the history of broadcasting.
Acosta: I’m not ashamed of anything, and our organization is not ashamed.

Of course, the apology Trump is referring to exists only in his warped imagination. CNN’s reporting was accurate and corroborated by other news outlets. Trump is fond of inventing phony apologies to himself that never actually occurred. It’s how he satiates his narcissistic appetite for fawning worshipers. But Acosta’s response rattled Trump. It forced Trump to confront the reality that he is a pathological liar. So naturally Trump affirmed that observation by lying about CNN’s record with factual reporting. And if anyone should be ashamed, it’s Trump. That is, if Trump had the human capacity to feel shame.

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

Trump Chokes When Asked ‘What’s Your Message to Putin’ on Election Interference

Posted by on February 23, 2020 at 1:25 pm. 5 Comments :

Democrats are currently engaged in heated primary season with multiple candidates still jockeying for position. And the media attention on this is having a severe effect on Donald Trump. Narcissists don’t like it when they are not the center of attention. Consequently, Trump is ratcheting up his psychotic outbursts in order to seduce the press to stay focused on him.

Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin

Trump’s latest plea for attention is a desperate and bizarre appeal for what he portrays as fairness for Bernie Sanders in the primaries. Of course, Trump couldn’t care less about how the Democratic primaries are conducted, other than to slather them with mud and lies. His phony concern for Sanders is actually a play straight from the Russian playbook and intended to sow discord and chaos. And running his defense is Fox News who are making ludicrous assertions that the media and Democrats are the “Agents of Russia.”

Recent reports revealed that American intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia is, once again, interfering with the presidential election. The reports detailed Russia’s efforts to tip the scales in favor of Trump and Sanders. Trump’s own Office of the Director of National Intelligence, led by Joe Maguire, sent a deputy to brief Congress about this a couple of weeks ago. This news made Trump irate. Not the news that Russia was attacking our democracy, but the news that Congress was told about it. So Trump fired Maguire and replaced him with Rick Grennel, a Trump toady who has no experience whatsoever in intelligence.

So with an impending national crisis involving a hostile foreign enemy attempting to subvert our election, Trump was confronted by a reporter who asked a simple, but significant question:

“Have you been briefed that Russia is trying to help Bernie Sanders and, if so, what’s your message to Putin?”

Pay close attention to that question, and then consider Trump’s reply (video below):

“Nobody said it. I read where Russia’s helping Bernie Sanders. Nobody said it to me at all. Nobody briefed me about that at all […] They leaked it. Adam Schiff and his group, they leaked it to the papers. And, as usual, they ought to investigate Adam Schiff for leaking that information. He should not be leaking information out of intelligence. They ought to investigate Adam Schiff.”

So Trump’s response to a question on what message he has for his pal Vladimir Putin, who is trying to foul our election is “They ought to investigate Adam Schiff.” Really? Trump had absolutely nothing to say to Putin. His only interest is in persecuting an elected member of Congress who is complying with his oath to protect and defend the Constitution. Putin, on the hand, is held harmless as he continues to attack this country. As long as Putin’s anti-American plots are designed to benefit Trump, Trump is content to allow them to proceed.

What’s more, Trump’s remarks are wholly unfounded and reckless. He has no evidence that Schiff leaked anything. It’s more likely that it was a Republican congressman (Devin Nunes?) who spilled to the press. And Trump doesn’t specify who he thinks should be investigating Schiff. Russia? Attorney Genuflect Bill Barr? Rudy Giuliani? Fox News? And if that’s not enough, Trump is also admitting his ignorance of Russian activity that everyone else already knows. Either his national security team is serving him poorly, or he’s lying (or both).

Trump followed up those remarks with a tweet that made things even worse:

Once again, Trump is baselessly accusing Schiff of leaking classified information. However, Trump also suggests that the “information” that Schiff allegedly leaked was made up. In which case, it wouldn’t be classified. But worst of all, Trump overtly threatens Schiff with being “caught” and suffering “a very unpleasant experience!” All without a hint of evidence that Schiff did anything wrong.

This is part and parcel of Trump’s psychopathy that drives him to seek vengeance and to persecute his perceived enemies. It’s a frightening descent into fascistic totalitarianism. And with each passing day Trump is less and less worried about exposing those tendencies and acting on them. This is precisely the behavior that many warned Trump would engage in if Senate Republicans didn’t have the guts to expel him from office. And as it worsens, the blame needs to be evenly spread around from Trump to the GOP to Fox News and the rest of the Reich-wing media.

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

PROOF: The Russian Plot to ‘Help’ Bernie Sanders is Being Led By Donald Trump

Posted by on February 22, 2020 at 1:43 pm. 4 Comments :

This week there were a couple of bombshell reports that revealed how alarmed the intelligence community is about Russia’s intentions to undermine this year’s presidential election. One report disclosed that the Acting Director of National Intelligence, Joe Maguire, a Donald Trump appointee, had briefed Congress on Russia’s campaign to repeat it’s 2016 mission to elect Trump. The other report disclosed that Russia has expanded their efforts in 2020 to include the promotion of Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary.

Donald Trump Vladimir Putin

These are perilous times for American democracy. Particularly since Trump has done nothing to protect the nation from Russia’s assault. To the contrary, he continues to deny that there was even any attack by Russia, and he supports the efforts of Senate Republican Leader, Mitch McConnell, to block bipartisan legislation to fortify our defenses. Nothing could be received with more gratitude by Vladimir Putin than Trump’s combination of calculated self-interest and willful negligence. And the differences between the responses to these news events by Trump and Sanders tell the whole story.

RELATED: Trump-Fluffers at Fox News Say the Media and Democrats are the ‘Agents of Russia’

Trump was very upset. Not because Russia was caught interfering in our election again, but because this information was given to the people’s representatives in Congress. He tweeted that “Another misinformation campaign is being launched by Democrats in Congress saying that Russia prefers me … Hoax number 7!” Never mind that this wasn’t launched by Democrats, but by his own intelligence chief. And it is neither misinformation nor a hoax, but the fully considered research of intelligence professionals.

Sanders, on the other hand, more appropriately directed his anger at our enemies saying that “I don’t care, frankly, who Putin wants to be president. My message to Putin is clear: Stay out of American elections, and as president I will make sure that you do.” Trump has never made a such a declarative statement admonishing his pal Vlad to stop interfering.

To be clear, Russia doesn’t really care who the Democratic nominee is. They only care about manufacturing chaos and discord. They are exploiting divisions among Democrats by pretending to support Sanders. Perhaps they believe that he would be easier to beat, or they just think he’s a better source for stirring up division. But none of that really matters. Russia will adjust their cyber-attack campaign to focus on whoever the eventual nominee happens to be.

In the meantime, Trump is executing the Russian playbook without much of an effort to disguise it. Sanders told reporters that he was briefed on the Russian plans to favor him about a month ago. And it was right around that time (January 17) that Trump began tweeting his “support” for Sanders. For instance:


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Does anyone believe that it’s just a coincidence that Trump began this Twitter campaign seeking “fairness” from the Democratic Party at precisely the same time that U.S. intelligence reached out to the candidate? Trump had not posted any tweets about the Democrats “rigging” the primary against Sanders for two years prior.

The very idea that Trump would care about the Democratic primary’s fairness is ludicrous. Since when has Trump been an advocate of election integrity? That certainly hasn’t been an issue in his own party. He and the GOP have been canceling Republican primaries across the country, despite (or because of) the fact that he has a credible challenger in former two-term Massachusetts governor, William Weld. Let that sink in. They haven’t been rigging their primaries. They have outright refused to conduct them.

Nevertheless, Trump has found the time and inclination to try to clean up the Democratic Party. But his efforts to do so have a distinct flavor that doesn’t really taste like concern for Democrats. In fact, his tweets look exactly like what you would expect from Russian agents tasked with creating a false promotion campaign for Sanders. If you didn’t know better (and even if you did), it would appear that Trump is the chief operative in Russia’s election corruption plot. Again!

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