Election

The Twitter Feed Of Donald Trump Reeks Of Racism And Misogyny

Posted by on January 28, 2016 at 8:11 pm. 3 Comments :

Tonight Donald Trump is holding a cynical counter-event to the Fox News Republican primary debate where he is insulting America’s veterans by using them as political props. He even admitted that he doesn’t really care about veterans when he walked out onto the stage and the first thing he said was “I didn’t want to be here.” Gee, thanks, Donnie. [And for the record, of the alleged six million dollars raised, four million came from one million dollar donations from four of Trump’s wealthy pals. That’s two-thirds of the total that Trump raised with four phone calls that he could have made at any time, but never bothered. So he didn’t need to stage this phony event at all]

That’s typical of his ego-soaked personality that is only concerned with what advances his interests. And it is expressed frequently in his Twitter feed. Just today there were a couple of tweets that deserve some special recognition due to their grotesque nature. These tweets are emblematic of Trump’s racism and misogyny. And they both attack Fox’s Megyn Kelly, proving that his claim that she had nothing to do with why he skipped the debate was an outright lie.

First there was this tweet that shows Megyn Kelly with Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal. It’s purpose is to create a negative association between Kelly and Fox News with Arab royalty, and a Muslim, as if that by itself were some mortal sin. Alwaleed is minority shareholder of 21st Century Fox, the parent corporation of Fox News.


Donald Trump Tweet

There are, however, a couple of problems with that tweet. First of all, it is a fake. Kelly was photoshopped, badly, into the picture. Another problem with it is that @BradCross4, who originally posted the picture, is a raging and unabashed racist whose twitter account is full of repulsive bigotry. Apparently that didn’t bother Trump as he retweeted it. That is something he does frequently. He recently retweeted another racist meme that made ludicrous assertions about African-American crime statistics. Then there was his retweet of an image by someone called @WhiteGenocideTM. It’s hard to pretend he didn’t know what that was about.

Finally, Trump’s complaint about Fox News having a business relationship with Alwaleed is hypocritical in the extreme. Trump has many such relationships with Muslims, which he often brags about. As one example Trump, bought the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan in 1988. After suffering serious financial difficulties he was forced to sell it just seven years later at a loss of nearly 40% to – yep – Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal. So in addition to being a huuuge hypocrite, this also reveals another example of his poor business skills.

[Update: Alwaleed replied to Trump’s tweet with one of his own saying “Trump:You base your statements on photoshopped pics?I bailed you out twice;a 3rd time,maybe?” Alwaleed noted the Plaza Hotel deal where he paid off Trump’s debt. He also revealed that he bought Trump’s yacht after it had been turned over to creditors]

The other tweet that Trump promoted today was this one that featured Megyn Kelly from an article in GQ. News Corpse reported on these photos at the time and how inappropriate they were for someone purporting to be a news professional. It not only diminished her as a journalist, but it demonstrated how Fox exploits the women they put on air as sexual objects.

Donald Trump Tweet

The problem with Trump weighing in on this is that it is blatantly hypocritical. The tweet refers to Kelly as a “bimbo” and, therefore, unfit to moderate a debate. However, Trump doesn’t seem to have the same opinion of his wife and daughter, whom he says are both businesswomen deserving of respect. Even though they both have their own photo spreads.

Donald Trump Wife Daughter

These tweets are just further evidence that Donald Trump is a boorish, hypocritical, bigoted cretin whose wealth has never enabled him buy an ounce of integrity or class. The fact that there are people who seriously regard this neanderthal as presidential material is a sad commentary on that small and repugnant sector of America. And don’t forget, Donald Trump wants to bang his daughter, as the video below makes clear.

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

Donald Trump Proves He’s Lying About The Fox News Debate Boycott

Posted by on January 27, 2016 at 4:15 pm. 2 Comments :

Ever since Donald Trump announced that he was too scared of Megyn Kelly to participate in the Fox News debate, he has been attempting to tweak his story to make himself look less like a weasel. That effort has been a hysterical series of blatant lies and distortions. In the process he provided the best evidence that the image he is trying to present is utterly false.

Donald Trump Megyn Kelly

The basis for this feud lies entirely on Trump’s whining about having been asked a question by Kelly about his past derogatory remarks about women. It’s a question that would have come up in the campaign at some point whether by Kelly or a Democratic opponent later on. So Kelly actually gave Trump an opportunity to respond in a friendly environment. However, his gargantuan ego prevented him from seeing the reality of the situation and he has been lashing out at Kelly, with varying levels of profanity, ever since. This culminated with his demand that Fox remove her as a moderator of the upcoming debate.

Fox had no intention of sidelining their anchor and that led Trump, who isn’t accustomed to being told “no,” to throw his hissy fit and bow out of the debate. Today on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Trump‘s campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, was asked to be specific about why Megyn Kelly “rattles Donald Trump’s cage unlike anybody else?” He said that…

“This has nothing to do with Megyn Kelly. What this is about is Fox News, which is making tens of millions of dollars off the debate. It’s Roger Ailes, it’s Fox News, they think they can mess with Mr. Trump. Mr. Trump doesn’t play games.”

Then Trump himself said the same thing in a tweet:

“It was the childishly written & taunting PR statement by Fox that made me not do the debate, more so than lightweight reporter, @megynkelly.”

Nothing to do with Megyn Kelly? That’s a stretch for most people, but Trump is a world-class liar. Trump’s camp is attempting to shift this from the original source of the dispute to a broader field of enemies in order to keep from looking like a big weenie who is afraid to answer questions from a mere woman. It’s going to be difficult for him to escape the truth considering how well documented the record is.

It’s also going to be difficult when he is contradicting himself within a few hours of his claim that it’s Fox, not Kelly, that he is boycotting. That contradiction came today with the notice that he will be a guest on Bill O’Reilly’s program tonight. If his problem is with Fox News, then why he is gracing the O’Reilly Factor, Fox’s top-rated program, with his presence, but he’s still skipping the debate? If he’s upset with the network, shouldn’t he stay off of it? Obviously his anger is not directed at Roger Ailes or the network, it’s directed squarely at Megyn Kelly, the debate moderator.

What’s more, the reason for his original outrage was Kelly’s question that called on him to answer for his fits of misogyny. Well today he added to that record by calling Kelly a “bimbo,” albeit in a classically passive-aggressive manner. Trump tweeted…

“I refuse to call Megyn Kelly a bimbo, because that would not be politically correct. Instead I will only call her a lightweight reporter!”

Of course, in that comment he is indirectly calling Kelly a “bimbo” as well as undoing his carefully crafted image as an opponent of political correctness. Notice that he is not refusing to use the term because it’s wrong, but only because it would not be politically correct. So he obviously believes that shes a bimbo, but is too wimpy to say so. Will his followers stand for that? [Note: His followers will stand for anything, including seeing him commit murder. That’s how stupid he thinks they are, and they even stand for that]

Another example of hypocrisy occurred when Trump said that you can’t mess with him, that he doesn’t play games, and that Fox’s PR statement was “childish” and “taunting.” Then he posts his own childish and taunting tweet in a response to Ted Cruz’s offer to debate one-on-one. Trump said “Ted Cruz wants to debate me again. Can we do it in Canada?” That’s so mature.

So where will Trump be during the debate? He is saying that he might hold a fundraiser for veterans at the same time. As much as some veterans are in need of assistance, it is just disgusting that Trump would use that as a political retaliation. If he sincerely cared about the welfare of veterans why didn’t he schedule a fundraiser last week or last month or at any other time unrelated to this dispute with Fox? Why doesn’t he give some of his billions to them without making it part of his tantrum? The vets should be insulted that he is using them as political props.

Trump is also whining about how the ratings for the debate will suffer without him. That’s probably true, but it demonstrates that all he is interested in is the commercial viability of the event. He doesn’t care about the democratic process, the free press, or accountability to voters. It’s all about money and ego to Trump.

And then there’s this: Trump was interviewed by Megyn Kelly about a debate that he was trying (and failed) to put together with Newsmax in 2011. At that time he could not have been more effusively complimentary to Kelly.

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

Here’s Your Chance To Vote Donald Trump Off Of The Fox News Debate [UPDATE: He’s Out]

Posted by on January 26, 2016 at 3:06 pm. 4 Comments :

[UPDATE: Trump and his campaign are now saying that he will definitely skip the debate. Of course, that may change, but for now he is out. Further updates included below]

ORIGINAL POST: Donald Trump has been been whining about Thursday’s GOP debate on Fox News because he’s afraid to face Megyn Kelly. For the past couple of days he has been hinting that he might boycott the debate unless Kelly is dropped. And today on Twitter he is asking people to vote on whether or not he should show up. This is where you come in.


Fox News Donald Trump

Well now Trump and his campaign are saying that he is definitely out and that it is not negotiable. Assuming that he sticks to this (which is not a particularly solid assumption) Fox News will probably suffer a dip in the ratings for the program. However, they will also have a better chance to produce a more substantive, informative debate (although not much more).

Upon hearing this news Ted Cruz also chided Trump for being afraid of Kelly. Then he challenged Trump to a one-on-one debate with different mocerators. He suggested Mark Levin, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, and/or Glenn Beck. Now that would be a real hoot.

There’s just one little problem. The RNC has stated that the candidates may not participate in any debates other than those that they have sanctioned. The consequences if they do include being prohibited from any other sanctioned debate. So we’ll see where that goes.

The Back Story: Recently Trump tweeted this about Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly: “Based on @MegynKelly’s conflict of interest and bias she should not be allowed to be a moderator of the next debate.” He seems not to know what a conflict of interest is, but as for bias, he is simply referring to his objection to an entirely appropriate question she asked him in the first GOP debate. She asked him to explain his many derogatory references to women. He dodged the question and complained about political correctness, and after the debate he accused Kelly having been hormonal. That led to a prolonged series of attacks on her.

Trump is saying he might hold his own televised townhall to compete with the debate. Fox is, so far, refusing to capitulate saying “Sooner or later Donald Trump even if he’s president, is going to have to learn that he doesn’t get to pick the journalists. We’re very surprised he’s willing to show that much fear about being questioned by Megyn Kelly.” Fox deserves credit for standing firm, and it’s pretty cagey of them to accuse Trump of cowardice. Fox is also responding to Trump’s Twitter poll with this:

“We learned from a secret back channel that the Ayatollah and Putin both intend to treat Donald Trump unfairly when they meet with him if he becomes president — a nefarious source tells us that Trump has his own secret plan to replace the Cabinet with his Twitter followers to see if he should even go to those meetings.”

Trump’s response to this:

“I didn’t like the fact that they sent out press releases toying, talking about Putin, and playing games. I don’t know what games Roger Ailes is playing, but what’s wrong over there. Something’s wrong. But when they sent out that press release, … I said, ‘Who are these people playing games?’”

Really? Donald Trump, who has been the biggest clown in the GOP’s circus suddenly doesn’t like playing games? This just keeps getting funnier and funnier. The falling out between Trump and Fox News can only be positive. Let’s hope they keep this feud going.

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

ANOTHER UPDATE: Trump is saying that he might hold a fundraiser for veterans during the debate. As much as some veterans are in need of assistance, it is just disgusting that Trump would use that as a political retaliation. If he sincerely cared about the welfare of veterans why didn’t he schedule a fundraiser last week or last month or at any other time unrelated to this dispute with Fox? Why doesn’t he give some of his billions to them without making it part of his tantrum?

Trump is also whining about how the ratings for the debate will decline without him. That’s probably true, but it demonstrates that all he is interested in is the commercial viability of the event. He doesn’t care about the democratic process or accountability to voters. It’s all about money and ego to Trump.

And then there’s this: Trump was interviewed by Megyn Kelly about a debate that he was trying (and failed) to put together with Newsmax in 2011.

Donald Trump: If I Told My Followers To Drink Poisoned Kool-Aid They Would Do It

Posted by on January 25, 2016 at 8:37 pm. 21 Comments :

In the course of his seven month campaign for the Republican nomination for president, Donald Trump has insulted all of his rivals, most of the media, and a fairly comprehensive assortment of religious and ethnic minorities. The only significant group that has escaped his bug-eyed rage has been his own constituents. Until now.

Donald Trump Kool-Aid

This weekend, in an attempt to brag about how loyal his followers are, he maintained that even if he were to commit a cold-blooded murder, his supporters would continue their worshipful admiration. What he said exactly was…

“I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters. OK? It’s like, incredible.”

There is so much wrong with this statement that it’s hard to know where to begin. First of all, it is a nauseatingly egotistical remark that affirms that he is suffering from an acute case of Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Secondly, he chose to use decidedly violent imagery to illustrate how much he thinks he is loved. But most importantly, this comment is a scathing insult to his supporters. He is asserting that they are such blindly indiscriminate meatheads that it wouldn’t matter to them if the object of their adoration were a homicidal maniac.

Sadly, Trump may be right about his glassy-eyed followers. They have already dismissed so much about his onerous character that would have driven a normal, decent human being away in disgust. They don’t care that he is a flagrant racist who has demonstrated his prejudice against African-Americans, Latinos, Muslims, and women. They aren’t put off by his promises to commit war crimes against women and children in Syria and Iraq. They let slide that he isn’t bothered by being compared to Hitler. And no matter how much he lies they just brush it off and keep applauding like slap-happy seals (See the Trump Bullshitopedia)

However, despite the evidence that Trump’s Troopers are imbeciles, they probably don’t regard themselves in that light. So why aren’t they offended when Trump characterizes them that way? This isn’t the first time either. Trump’s whole campaign insults the intelligence of anyone listening by refusing to tell them anything of substance. Instead he focuses on making nasty comments about others and boasting about his showing in the polls. It’s apparent that he doesn’t believe that his minions need to know, nor would they understand, any of those complicated details of governing. And they apparently agree.

This is the making of a potential disaster. Trump’s followers are so zealous and undiscerning that he could tell them to burn down a church and they would comply. He could tell them to block access to polling places. He could tell them to steal the coats of protesters and throw them out into the cold. Oh wait, he actually did do that. And just maybe, he could tell them to drink cyanide-laced Kool-Aid and they would raises their glasses to toast him before chugging down the poisonous cocktail.

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

You really have to wonder if there is something that Trump could do that would go too far for his cultish disciples. It wasn’t advocating databases to track all the Muslims in the country, who he would also require to wear ID badges. It wasn’t praising foreign dictators like Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-Un. It wasn’t re-tweeting white supremacists. It wasn’t lying about his faith, mangling the Bible, and declaring that he has never had to ask God for forgiveness. So far, there has been nothing that Trump’s followers find revolting enough to cause them to step back. That, all by itself, considering how grotesque Trump has already been, is a pretty scary thought.

Feel The Bern: Wall Street Exec Blames Bernie Sanders For The Stock Market Decline

Posted by on January 24, 2016 at 8:25 pm. 3 Comments :

If you’re looking for signs that establishment players are getting nervous about the possibility that the privileged classes may soon have to share the wealth and be held accountable for their crimes, then watch for them to develop a paranoia about the fall of Western civilization and blame it people who advocate for fairness and equal opportunity.

sanders-fear-the-bern

This week Stephen Schwarzman, the CEO of Blackstone Group, a global private equity and financial advisory firm, was interviewed in Davos at the annual World Economic Forum. When the subject came of the recently volatile stock market, Schwarzman offered his opinion that it was caused by three factors. The first was his assessment that the U.S. economy is slowing a little and concerns about China, which he said were overdone. The second were destabilizing world events including international hostilities and terrorism. And then there was . . .

“The third reason that we have unsettled markets is the fact that Bernie Sanders has become a viable candidate, at least in Iowa and New Hampshire. And the reason why that’s troubling is that he’s really on the far left, and we have a Republicans, on the other hand, who don’t inspire enormous confidence in terms of their ability, perhaps, to handle that job. So all of a sudden – and it really keys on this market collapse with Bernie rising as a viable candidate – that the rest of the world looks at America not the way America looks at America. For us it’s a local election. For the rest of the world it’s a global election. They depend on America to do the right thing.”

So it’s Sen. Sanders who is exerting his omnipotent control over the world economy? This feat of dominance is occurring even though not a single vote has been cast in the Democratic primary. That is a truly impressive demonstration of power. Who knew that an obscure senator from Vermont could wield such commanding control over the captains of industry and finance?

Apparently all it takes to roil the markets, according to Schwarzman, is a champion of average Americans becoming a “viable” candidate for president. Why that is perceived as such a destructive force wasn’t clearly explained. It seems to me that a world that depends on America doing the right thing would appreciate someone who wants to expand prosperity to as many people as possible. Although Schwarzman may have a point about Republicans that aren’t able to handle the job.

Sanders was asked about this revelation of his heretofore unknown dominion over the financial universe by Martha Radditz of ABC News. He literally laughed at the question and said…

“The reason that I am laughing is I fully admit to having a big ego, like many other politicians. But the idea that Bernie Sanders’s candidacy, because it has growing support all over this country, is unsettling world markets is absolutely absurd.”

Indeed it is. There are many reasons that the stock market has been antsy in the first weeks of this new year. What most credible economists cite is the dropping price of oil, a commodity whose value is determined by worldwide supply and demand. In that regard, what I have heard nobody mention, is what a great decision it was to decline to approve the KeystoneXL pipeline. The project’s advocates claimed that it would have substantially boosted the production of oil. That, we know now, would have exacerbated the current situation wherein there is a glut of oil that has caused the price to tank. So Keystone would have made things even worse.

What’s more, those who are panicking about what they regard as a stock market collapse are failing to put it into perspective. Even after the declines (of about 8%) in the past couple of weeks, the markets are still twice what they were when President Obama took office. That’s typically referred to as “correction” territory and not a crisis. Unless there is a Democratic president and Fox News is reporting on it, in which case it is a full-blown catastrophe.

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

The Wall Streeters may actually have something to worry about if Bernie Sanders is the next President of the United States. For that matter, they should worry about Hillary Clinton too. But their worries should have nothing to do with whether the world economy is going to crash. The truth is, as Clinton said recently, “The economy does better when we have a Democrat in the White House. That’s just a fact.” And therein lies the problem. Republicans are, by nature, averse to facts. They are far more likely to explain things by ascribing supernatural powers to their villains as well as their heroes. Maybe they should start a draft Voldemort campaign. Or maybe not. They already have Donald Trump.

The Republican Party Is SCARED WITLESS Of The Donald Trump-enstein They Created

Posted by on January 23, 2016 at 5:46 pm. 3 Comments :

From the earliest planning stages of the 2016 Republican primary, the party has demonstrated a foreboding fear of the public finding out anything useful about their candidates. To the contrary, they are more worried that what voters might learn will only make them nauseous. So the party honchos severely shortened the debate schedule and limited media access to friendly venues, particularly Fox News which was given more of the debates (five in all) than any other network. Additionally, the other networks were required by the Republican National Committee to include conservative co-sponsors and moderators, a requirement to which Fox was not held. This is the unmistakable behavior of a party that’s afraid of American voters.

Donald Trump GOP

Over the course of the campaign the RNC has repeatedly made decisions that affirm their state of fear. RNC chairman Reince Priebus admitted that the party was set on transforming what is supposed to be an open dialog that provides voters with an informative look at the candidates, into a PR vehicle that functions more like propaganda. If Republicans want a fully scripted television farce, they should be forced to buy the time like any other telemarketer. But Priebus was focused on producing GOP infomercials saying that…

“The thing that is ridiculous is allowing moderators, who are not serving the best interests of the candidate and the party, to actually be the people to be deposing our people. And I think that’s totally wrong.”

In his view the debates were there to serve the interests of the party, not the voters. Any attempt to draw out anything substantive from the candidates was frowned upon. That’s why after a contentious debate hosted by CNBC, the RNC revoked the only remaining debate scheduled for NBC. The party was punishing the network for doing its job.

This week National Review published a special issue entitled “Against Trump” that contained a series of short essays making the conservative case for ditching Donald Trump. The issue featured your favorite wingnut authors who were generally opposed to Trump’s lack of conservative credentials, principles, or any platform details. The issue opened saying that…

“Trump is a philosophically unmoored political opportunist who would trash the broad conservative ideological consensus within the GOP in favor of a free-floating populism with strong-man overtones.”

It’s somewhat disarming (and a little heartwarming) to see a right-wing publication describe their party’s front-runner as a strong-man akin to Stalin or Mussolini. But coming from a source with diverse conservative voices like Glenn Beck, Bill Krystal, Erick Erickseon, and John Podhoretz, didn’t stop the RNC from striking back and “disinviting” the magazine from co-sponsoring an upcoming debate with CNN. Since when does a party committee get to decide for a news organization who they partner with? This is an unprecedented intrusion into the jurisdiction of journalism, and CNN is just as complicit for capitulating. It makes you wonder if the RNC is also dictating who the moderators are and what the questions will be.

While the RNC was quick to dump the National Review, their inherent prejudice was illustrated by exempting their friends at Fox News from any retaliation. After all, four of the National Review essays came from Fox News regulars Katie Pavlich, Cal Thomas, Dana Loesch, and Brent Bozell. So if you speak out against Trump you can say goodbye to any debate participation – unless you’re Fox News.

The media is shamefully abdicating their role in these debates while the RNC is bending over backwards to placate one candidate to the detriment of all the others. National Review was jettisoned solely because of the perceived slight of Donald Trump. Trump was also a prominent objector to NBC hosting a debate. He was also the reason that the New Hampshire Union Leader was removed as a co-host for an ABC debate. Perhaps the RNC should change their name to the Trump National Committee. Or maybe the Republican National Wusses.

But that wasn’t the end of it. A few weeks ago Trump tried to get the RNC to cancel a GOP primary debate on Univision, which was a bold move considering that Univision was never scheduled to host one. Trump had already banned all Univision employees from his golf resorts, an optically disturbing action that prohibited minorities from his country clubs. What’s more, Trump has also threatened that if Telemundo was involved with a debate he would walk. It remains to be seen if he will follow through on that threat since Telemundo is currently listed as a co-host for CNN’s debate. If Trump succeeds in getting Telemundo axed there will be no GOP debates at all that included any minority news organization.

Most recently Trump tweeted this about Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly: “Based on @MegynKelly’s conflict of interest and bias she should not be allowed to be a moderator of the next debate.” He seems not to know what a conflict of interest is, but as for bias, he is simply referring to his objection to an entirely appropriate question she asked him in the first GOP debate. She asked him to explain his many derogatory references to women. He dodged the question and complained about political correctness, and after the debate he accused Kelly of having been hormonal. That led to a prolonged series of attacks on her. If Kelly worked for some other network it would probably have already been removed as a debate host. However, as established above, Fox News will not likely suffer any consequences.

[Update: Trump is hinting that he might boycott the upcoming GOP debate on Fox News unless they drop Kelly as a moderator. He’s saying he might hold his own televised townhall to compete with it. Fox is, so far, refusing to capitulate saying “Sooner or later Donald Trump even if he’s president, is going to have to learn that he doesn’t get to pick the journalists. We’re very surprised he’s willing to show that much fear about being questioned by Megyn Kelly.” Fox deserves credit for standing firm, and it’s pretty cagey of them to accuse Trump of cowardice, but don’t bet on Trump sitting this out. However, the RNC, which demanded the exclusion of the Union Leader in New Hampshire, has said they are keeping out of this dispute because – well, it’s Fox News]

What this tells us is that Reince Priebus is the weakest Republican Party chairman in decades. He is letting Trump dictate the terms of the campaign. And the other candidates are keeping their mouths shut. They are all too afraid to demand that their primary be conducted with neutrality and integrity. It is a pathetic display of cowardice by a party so feeble it’s at risk of blowing away. And the thought of facing aggressive questions, even from other conservatives, makes them scurry into the crevices in the floorboards like cockroaches surprised by the light.

Good luck to them when they eventually face actual opponents in the general election. They will be utterly unprepared for battle having sheltered themselves in a cocoon of limp rhetoric that all stems from the same cultish mindset. That may be sufficient to draw support from Republican dimwits who thrive in those pools of ignorance, but it is a recipe for crushing defeat when the broader electorate votes in November.

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

So Now Donald Trump Is Re-Tweeting White Supremacists

Posted by on January 22, 2016 at 12:02 pm. 2 Comments :

Anyone who has been paying attention to the campaign of Donald Trump already knows that he is an unabashed racist who is supported by Ku Klux Klan groups and has white supremacists campaigning for him. Now we can also point to Trump himself re-tweeting his fellow white supremacists.

Donald Trump

The original tweet posted by a user named WhiteGenocideTM, said: “@WhiteGenocideTM: @realDonaldTrump Poor Jeb. I could’ve sworn I saw him outside Trump Tower the other day! “ So it was not exactly a secret that the tweeter was an openly racist douchebag. His Twitter page features incidents of various minorities assaulting white people. He is also promoting a pro-Hitler film.

There is simply no excuse for disseminating this sort of bigotry or engaging with its proponents. However, in context with Trump’s prior communications it is readily understood. News Corpse has previously reported that Trump is admired by KKK groups who see his candidacy as huge boost to their agenda:

“The Ku Klux Klan is using Donald Trump as a talking point in its outreach efforts. Stormfront, the most prominent American white supremacist website, is upgrading its servers in part to cope with a Trump traffic spike. And former Louisiana Rep. David Duke reports that the businessman has given more Americans cover to speak out loud about white nationalism than at any time since his own political campaigns in the 1990s.”

What’s more, white supremacist organizations are actively campaigning on Trump’s behalf. One group launched a robo-call operation to inform Iowans that Trump is their “Great White Hope” for 2016. The recorded message said…

“I urge you to vote for Donald Trump because he is the one candidate who points out that we should accept immigrants who are good for America. We don’t need Muslims. We need smart, well-educated white people who will assimilate to our culture. Vote Trump.”

This is the sort of environment that the Trump campaign is deliberately fostering. His theme from the day he announced was rooted in racial politics and division. The only predictable outcome was the mainstreaming of the views of white supremacists and the advancement of their cause. In that regard, Trump has become their Grand Wizard and the most openly racist major party candidate for president in modern times. And his supporters are as guilty as he is. That will be the enduring legacy of campaign.

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

Sarah Palin’s Disgusting Justification For Her Son’s Drunken Assault: It’s Obama’s Fault

Posted by on January 20, 2016 at 1:53 pm. 10 Comments :

Yesterday was a big news day for Sarah Palin. Not because this washed-up former reality TV character endorsed Donald Trump, a fellow former reality TV character, but because that well-staged political theater was interrupted by more troubling news about Palin’s famously dysfunctional family.

Donald Trump Sarah Palin

It was reported that Palin’s son, Track, was arrested for beating up his girlfriend and wielding an AR-15 rifle while intoxicated. But rather than going back home to attend to her families legal and emotional problems, Palin followed up her Trumpmania tour in Iowa with a another appearance in Tulsa, Oklahoma (video below). It was there that she brought up Track’s tribulations, without mentioning his name or his alleged crimes, as she sought to exalt her domestic abuser offspring as a hero saying…

“I can talk personally about this – I guess it’s kinda the elephant in the room – because my own family going through what we’re going through today with my son, a combat vet, having served in the Stryker Brigade, fighting for you all, America, in the war zone. But my son, like so many others, they come back a bit different, they come back hardened, they come back wondering if there is that respect for what it is that their fellow soldiers and airmen and every other member of the military so sacrificially have given to this country.”

It’s disturbing, to say the least, to hear Palin’s pontificating about the honor of America’s military in conjunction with the news that her drunken son punched and kicked a woman while brandishing a gun. That’s not exactly the best demonstration of military pride. And while it’s true that many veterans suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, that is not an excuse for domestic abuse. And it should not be used to callously dismiss violence in a stump speech at a political rally. But Palin wasn’t through, and it got much worse.

“It’s a shame that our military personnel even have to wonder if they have to question whether they’re respected anymore. It’s starts from the top. The question though that comes from our own President where they have to look at him and wonder ‘Do you know what we go through? Do you know what we’re trying to do to secure America and to secure the freedom that have been bequeathed us?'”

So it’s Obama’s fault that Track Palin got drunk and put his girlfriend in the hospital? Somehow, in Palin’s view, the President is to blame for every veteran’s psychological problems. And she also seems to think that PTSD is caused by not being respected enough on returning from a war, rather than by the horrific experiences inherent to war. Palin thinks that if everybody would just thank a vet, then coping with the nightmare of battle and seeing your buddies blown to pieces would be a cake walk. And she still wasn’t finished.

“So when my own son goes through what he goes through coming back, I can certainly relate with other families who kinda feel these ramifications of some PTSD and some of the woundedness that our soldiers do return with. And it makes me realize more than ever, it is now or never for the sake of America’s finest that we have that Commander-in-Chief that will respect them and honor them.”

To Palin this is all about what her family “goes through.” Not once did she mention the victim and what she went through. Palin isn’t even denying what her son did. She is floating a possible insanity defense. In which case you might think she would have some sympathy for the victim. Instead, she ignores the battered woman, excuses her son’s violence, blames it all on the President, and closes with a brazenly political plea to vote for Donald Trump.

This sleazebag, with a son who is a divorced domestic abuser, a daughter with two out-of-wedlock kids from different fathers, a defender of the deviant Duggar family, a supporter of the racist Duck Dynasty Klan, and close friend of pedophile and advocate of presidential assassination Ted Nugent, presumes to lecture others on family values. And she campaigns for a racist, wannabe fascist tyrant who mocks the disabled even though she is the mother of a special needs child.

Has there ever been a more nauseating, heartless, self-promoting, ignorant, person in American politics? And yes, I’m talking about both of them – Palin and Trump. They are a perfect match of loathsome demagogues who feed off of each other and the dimwitted idolatry of their glassy-eyed followers. What a sick party the Republicans have devolved into.

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

Reality TV Romance: The Meaning Of Sarah Palin’s Embrace Of Donald Trump

Posted by on January 19, 2016 at 2:54 pm. 5 Comments :

Confirming rumors that Sarah Palin might crawl out from under her frozen tundra to endorse Donald Trump, the big moment came today in a statement from the Trump campaign. For Trump this means that his campaign has now been validated by perhaps the most comically ignorant mainstream politician in decades. He must be so proud. [Update: video of Palin’s endorsement speech added below]

Donald Trump Sarah Palin

Trump getting an endorsement from Sarah Palin is a fairly predictable turn of events. After all, both Trump and Palin are former reality TV characters who pretended to represent an entirely scripted version of their cartoon personas. Both of them are unashamed of displaying rank idiocy (and then defending it). Both of them are flagrantly racist, homophobic, and itching to declare war on any little country they think looked at us funny. Both of them support unfettered proliferation of guns in America, where more than 30,000 people die every year from gun violence. They even refuse to support legislation that would prohibit terrorists from getting guns. Both of them have a visceral hatred for President Obama and an unsettling infatuation with Vladimir Putin (Trump thinks they’d be best buds and Palin is hot for his bear-wrestling manliness).

Left in the lurch is poor, old, and universally disliked, Ted Cruz. Palin had previously backed Cruz’s senatorial campaign and they have been fast friends ever since. They also share a spiritual bond that Donald Trump, with his blatantly irreligious posturing, cannot possibly match. But getting jilted has inflamed Cruz to caution Palin that her endorsement of Trump would tarnish her reputation. Assuming for the sake of argument that Palin has a reputation capable of being tarnished, the gist of Cruz’s warning is that an association with Trump is a dirty affair. And Cruz knows dirty affairs as evidenced by his proud acceptance of an endorsement from Palin pal Phil Robertson of the Duck Dynasty (in the most bizarre political video I’ve ever seen).

The question now is: What can Trump expect to get from a Palin endorsement? Palin is a has-been political loser who resorted to trashy TV in order to salvage her floundering career and advance her greed and lust for attention. She was fired from Fox News (twice). Following that humiliation she launched an online video channel that went offline less than a year later due to lack of interest. Then she announced, with great fanfare, her hosting of a nightly program on the wingnut fringe “One America News” network. That lasted less than a dozen episodes. Notably, the second to the last episode was an interview of Donald Trump.

Palin’s most recent endorsement prior to this was of France’s Marion Maréchal-Le Pen, the leader of the openly fascist Front National Party (she lost). Palin praised Le Pen as the “It Girl” on whom she has a crush. Palin, Le Pen, and Trump all share the same ideology that advocates deporting all them evil foreigners, carpet bombing civilians, and imposing Christianity as the mandatory faith of their hoped-for theocracy. Then Palin could implement her plan to force everyone in the country to “speak American.”

And what’s in it for Palin? Well, Trump is easily the biggest spectacle in the GOP circus. Palin undoubtedly hopes that hitching her rickety wagon to Trump will get it rolling again. She has proven repeatedly that her primary motivations have always been promoting herself. Never mind that she is the mother of a special needs child who is embracing a man who callously mocked a reporter with physical disabilities. That’s not as important as getting a pitchman like Trump to raise your profile and hawk your books. Cruz would not be nearly as useful from that marketing perspective. Also, Cruz would not likely consider Palin for a cabinet post in his administration, while Trump has already speculated on it, specifically mentioning Energy Secretary.

What’s more, Palin’s base of support has dwindled severely. When was the last time anyone made reference to the Tea party in anything other than a joke? Palin even had a brutal falling out with Glenn Beck, who recently said that “I don’t care what Sarah Palin says any more. Sarah Palin has become a clown. I’m embarrassed that I was once for Sarah Palin. Honestly, I’m embarrassed.” Coming from someone that once described himself as a “rodeo clown,” that’s pretty scathing.

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

The farce surrounding Trump’s candidacy just keeps getting more bizarre. His pathological lies (see the Trump Bullshitopedia), his noxious bigotry, his unabashed ignorance, are setting new lows for a Republican Party that was already underwater. And now he’s excited about an endorsement from a washed up grifter whose public profile has been in a steep free fall for the past few years. She didn’t help John McCain get to the White House at the height of her popularity, so there’s no reason to think she would be much help to Trump, the guy who insulted McCain as not being a war hero because he had been captured and held as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for five and a half years. And there’s something else That Trump and Palin have in common, a complete lack of any sense of loyalty.

Here’s a heaping serving of Palin’s Word Salad.

[Addendum:] Last night Sarah Palin’s eldest son, Track, was arrested for punching his girlfriend and brandishing a gun while drunk. So while her son was facing multiple violent criminal charges in Wassilla, the Grizzly Mama was partying with Trump. It’s funny that a woman whose son is a divorced domestic abuser, and whose daughter has two out-of-wedlock kids, is constantly lecturing other people about family values.

Donald Trump’s Mind Is Going – No, Really

Posted by on January 18, 2016 at 7:54 pm. 11 Comments :

The notion that Donald Trump is losing his mind is immediately suspect because it requires the presumption that he had a stable one to begin with. There is substantial evidence that Trump’s mental deficiencies have plagued him for decades, particularly the likelihood that he is suffering from Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD).

Donald Trump Lizard

Bobby Azarian, a cognitive neuroscientist at George Mason University, makes the case for Trump’s NPD in an article that delves into Trump’s psychosis. He warns of the potential risks of giving someone exhibiting such symptoms control over our nuclear codes:

“While a narcissistic personality might be one of the traits that allowed Trump to be such a successful businessman and reality TV star, it is also the trait that makes him potentially dangerous as a political leader.”

However, Trump’s cognitive failures extend beyond his obvious egomaniacal tendencies. He also appears to be exhibiting symptoms of dementia and severe memory impairment. Never mind that he repeatedly asserts that he has “one of the best memories of all time,” his recent lapses tell a different story. For instance…

On January 14, 2016, at the GOP debate, Trump spoke about the controversy over whether Ted Cruz is eligible to run for president under the constitutional requirement of being a “natural born citizen” (a controversy that Trump himself incited).

“You have great constitutional lawyers that say you can’t run. If there was a – and you know I’m not bringing a suit. I promise. But the Democrats are going to bring a lawsuit, and you have to have certainty.”

Then, just three days later, Trump apparently forgot his promise and, when George Stephanopoulos suggested that he might have the necessary legal standing to bring a lawsuit, Trump said…

“Wow, that sounds like a very good case. I’d do the public a big favor. It’s a good idea. Maybe I’ll talk to them about it.”

That’s a three day turnaround from swearing on national TV that he wouldn’t file a lawsuit, to being highly interested in the idea. Another example that also involves Trump’s current closest rival for the GOP nomination, Trump responded in December to talk about a growing rift between him and Cruz:

“I really like Ted Cruz a lot. He’s doing well. I’m doing well. It’s not a contest between the two of us.”

Then, the following month, he once again was asked about their souring relationship, and he gave a very different response:

“He’s a nasty guy. Nobody likes him. Nobody in Congress likes him. Nobody likes him anywhere once they get to know him.”

It didn’t take long to go from liking Cruz a lot to Cruz being “a nasty guy” who nobody likes. This is reminiscent of Trump’s stated feelings regarding Hillary Clinton. A couple of years ago he said that she was a “terrific” woman and a great Secretary of State, who he liked a lot (Bill too). These days he is saying that she was the “worst Secretary of State in history.”

On another occasion, Trump disgustingly mocked a reporter with disabilities. When he was challenged for such an obnoxious portrayal, he insisted that he wasn’t mocking anyone and that he didn’t know the reporter. But the reporter was able to prove that they did meet numerous times as he covered Trump’s business activities.

In addition to these lapses in memory, his broken mind also creates memories of incidents that never occurred. The most blatant example is his insistence that he personally saw news video of “thousands and thousands” of Muslims in New Jersey celebrating the fall of the World Trade Center towers on 9/11. Of course, there were no such celebrations and, therefore, no such videos. He also claims to have seen videos showing that Syrian refugees are almost entirely young men. In fact, the overwhelming majority of refugees are women and children.

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

Donald Trump is a man that is clearly having difficulties discerning reality from fantasy. He cannot even recall things he said just a few days prior. When these incidents occur independently they may seem harmless and unimportant. But when viewed as a collection of recent cognitive failures, it is apparent that a real problem exists. Not only should he not be running for president, he should be getting medical attention under close observation.