Election

If You Think Donald Trump’s Supporters Are Ignorant Asses, Guess What? Trump Agrees!

Posted by on December 5, 2015 at 3:12 pm. 7 Comments :

Let’s face it, there cannot be an any more willfully ignorant constituency in America than the pinheads who have pledged their allegiance to Donald Trump. They continue to support him despite his failure to offer any specifics on how he would govern. Even worse, they continue to support him even when he is caught brazenly lying.

Donald Trump

For instance, he grossly mimicked a disabled reporter, then claimed that he didn’t despite the video evidence. He said that he personally saw “thousands and thousands” of Muslims in New Jersey celebrating the collapse of the World Trade Center on 9/11, despite the absence of any corroborating video which would have been everywhere if it existed. He claimed to have met Vladimir Putin during a 60 Minutes interview and “got to know him very well,” even though they were interviewed on separate occasions, thousands of miles apart. [See the Trump Bullshitopedia for many more documented lies]

Generally when a candidate is proven to be a pathological liar, rational voters will slink away repulsed and a bit ashamed for having been fooled. But for some reason Trump, an elitist, narcissistic billionaire, born into wealth and privilege, inspires a demented loyalty on the part of his glassy-eyed disciples. In fact, the more blatant and bizarre his lies, the louder they cheer.

As an illustration of just how eagerly Trump-pods lap up his empty rhetoric, observe this exchange with a supporter at a rally yesterday in Raleigh, North Carolina:

Question: I want to know what you would say to President Obama.
Trump (interrupting): You’re fired.
[Isn’t that cute? He used the lame catchphrase from his old TV show to make an impotent threat that he has no power to carry out]

Question: I was wondering what you would say to President Obama now that we’ve had a terrorist attack right here in our country, in California. that I’m sure they did everything they could to try to cover that up. But it has been stated today that it is and it was a terrorist attack. How would you handle that?
Trump: I would handle it so tough, you have no idea.
[That’s right. Because you never say what you would do about anything]

Trump (cont’d): You don’t want to hear, you don’t even want to hear. You don’t want to hear how I’d handle it.
[Of course they don’t. It might hurt their feeble brains. This is where Trump acknowledges that his supporters are mindless devotees who aren’t interested in his plans, only his cult of personality]

Trump (cont’d): I would get myself in so much trouble with them (pointing to the media). We are going to handle it so tough. And you know what we’re going to do? We’re going to get it stopped.
[Oh! That’s how you’re going to stop terrorism – by stopping it. Why hasn’t anyone else thought of that?]

Throughout this surreal dialog the audience was clapping like trained seals. They actually think this was a substantive discourse on national security. They also think that Trump will save the economy by saving it, fix healthcare by fixing it, and that Climate Change is a hoax because it’s cold where they are right now. [Also great news: World hunger is over because I just ate. h/t Stephen Colbert]

Donald Trump is the perfect manifestation of the idiocy of his audience. His inability to articulate a coherent policy matches their inability (and disinterest) to grasp one. The frightening thing is that the rest of the Republican field is jockeying to attract these same dimwits. So even when the Trump bubble deflates, the eventual GOP nominee will have adopted his crackpot platform. Trump is the lowest common denominator of the Republican base (with an emphasis on base). He is an egomaniacal wannabe despot who thinks he’s a savior. He has such delusions of grandeur that he thinks (via tweet) that the parody video below was “Done by a real fan!” Yeah, sure it was.

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

If Elected President Donald Trump Promises To Commit War Crimes

Posted by on December 2, 2015 at 3:16 pm. 8 Comments :

The unlikely candidacy of Donald Trump for the Republican nomination for president just keeps getting more bizarre with each new day. This is a candidate who has already insulted Latinos as rapists and murderers, described women as stupid and ugly, he’s cheered on supporters who assaulted African-Americans and the homeless, proposed forcing Muslims to wear IDs and be tracked in databases, and has lied so often that it’s getting hard to keep track of it all (see the Donald Trump Bullshitopedia for an ongoing attempt to catalog).

Donald Trump

Today Trump hit another new low. While discussing the conflict with ISIS on Fox & Friends this morning, Trump enthusiastically bragged about his ideas for defeating the terrorist group. He told the kids on the Curvy Couch that…

“When you get these terrorists, you have to take out their families. They care about their lives, don’t kid yourself when they say they don’t care about their lives. You have to take out their families.”

No doubt this display of false bravado will delight his dimwitted disciples. There is nothing they like more than reckless calls for indiscriminate violence and mayhem against manufactured foes. And consistent with his flagrant ignorance on pretty much any subject, Trump is once again proving how disastrous a Trump presidency would be.

The problem with targeting the families of suspected members of ISIS, aside from the obvious moral depravity, is that it is against international law. The Geneva Convention, a treaty developed to set standards for humane treatment of people caught up in hostilities, and to which the United States is a signatory, addresses this specifically (Article 3:1(a)) saying that…

“Persons taking no active part in the hostilities…shall in all circumstances be treated humanely […] To this end, the following acts are and shall remain prohibited: Violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture.”

Consequently, Trump is proposing to commit war crimes by deliberately targeting non-combatant family members. He regards this as a justifiable alternative to complying with the principles of the Geneva Convention, which he characterizes as too “politically correct.” But in addition to making the United States a practitioner of crimes against humanity, Trump is also validating the tactics of the terrorists who routinely target non-combatants. This would give the terrorists justification for their evil acts and remove any moral high ground we might have otherwise had. That plays into the hands of the terrorists who could then use it as an effective tool for recruiting more terrorists.

Coming from Trump, this idiocy further establishes that he is utterly incapable of governing the country. It is further proof that he is nothing but a diplomatic neanderthal who would insult and alienate our allies and foes alike. He recently expressed his support for waterboarding, an interrogation technique that the rest of the world regards as unlawful and inhumane torture.

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

And if all of that isn’t enough evidence that Trump is downright dangerously inept, then consider his interview this morning with conspiracy nutcase Alex Jones. Trump spent most of the interview hawking his book and effusively praising Jones. You might wonder which of Jones’ theories Trump likes best. Is it that 9/11 was an inside job; or that Hurricane Katrina was a test run for FEMA concentration camps; or that the government is using chemicals to create gay people; or that Obama is the devil?

The question that really needs to be answered is: What chemicals are causing people to support Donald Trump for president? And is there an antidote?

Criminal Crony Ted Cruz Says Most Violent Criminals Are Democrats

Posted by on December 1, 2015 at 3:15 pm. 8 Comments :

In what can only be described as an episode of acute dementia, Sen. Ted Cruz made an allegation so bizarre that Donald Trump may sue him for infringing on his trademarked persona. Speaking to right-wing radio hack, Hugh Hewitt, Cruz embarked on a rant wherein he claimed that most violent criminals identify as Democrats.

Cruz: Here is the simple and undeniable fact – the overwhelming majority of violent criminals are Democrats. […] The Democrats know that convicted felons tend to vote Democrat. The media never reports on any of that.

Ted Cruz

Cruz never explains how he ascertained the voting habits of America’s violent criminals. As “facts” go, his are neither simple nor undeniable. Rather, it is downright loony. Particularly the part where he asserts that by an “overwhelming majority” “convicted felons tend to vote Democrat.” How Cruz determined that is a mystery since most states have some sort of restriction on voting at all for persons convicted of a felony. What’s more, there are no studies that breakout the voting preferences of felons who are violent.

It is possible that more total felons lean Democratic simply because of the demographics of the prison population. More people who are poor or minorities are sent to prison after arrests and convictions. Often it is for non-violent crimes like marijuana possession or shoplifting. In those cases it is backwards to say that upon release these felons vote as Democrats. It is more correct to say that these Democratic leaning offenders are more often subject to prosecution and incarceration by a prejudiced justice system. If bankers, lawyers, stockbrokers, corporate executives, and offenders from wealthy families were arrested, convicted, and incarcerated at rates relative to their criminal activity, the situation would be very different.

What Cruz was attempting to do with these remarks was to exonerate violent conservative criminals like Robert Dear, the anti-abortion, Obama-hating wingnut who just murdered three people, and wounded nine others, at the Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood facility. Dear is another in a long line of right-wing Christianists who have engaged in violence to advance their radical agenda. And rather than address this weekend’s tragic events, Cruz sought to deflect with a ludicrous accusation against his political foes.

If Ted Cruz is really concerned about violent felons, he might want to stop associating with them. Shortly before the Planned Parenthood attack, Cruz was bragging about having received an endorsement from an activist who has called for the “execution” of abortion providers. Troy Newman, president of the far-right anti-abortion group Operation Rescue, has not only called for such executions, but has come to the defense of several radical Christianists who were convicted of bombings, shootings, and other violence against doctors and clinics. Operation Rescue was founded by Randall Terry, himself a convicted felon.

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

As it turns out, Donald Trump isn’t the only Republican candidate that is saying ridiculous and unsupportable things without consequence. The so-called “liberal” media is utterly useless when it comes to holding people accountable for spewing blatant lies. Ted Cruz should not be able to get away with his hostile rhetoric and his evasion from firmly condemning the domestic terrorism against women’s rights and the senseless violence that took the lives of a police officer, a veteran, and a young mother.

Roger Ailes Ponders Which GOP Loser Fox News Will Hire After The Election

Posted by on November 30, 2015 at 9:41 pm. 5 Comments :

Adweek just named Fox News CEO Roger Ailes their Media Visionary of 2015. Presumably he earned that honor by presiding over a cable “news” network best known for being the mouthpiece of the Republican Party and a purveyor of radical right-wing propaganda.

In an interview of Ailes he was asked “which of the GOP candidates would be a good fit as a Fox News analyst?” Ailes’ response first noted that “half of them” had already worked for Fox. Actually it was just four: Ben Carson, Mike Huckabee, John Kasich, and Rick Santorum. But that’s still a record number of presidential candidates who were former employees of a news network.

Returing to the question, Ailes cited Chris Christie as someone who is “good on TV. I think he’s gotten a bum rap in this race.” That vote of confidence isn’t surprising since Ailes tried unsuccessfully to recruit Christie to run for president in 2012.

Chris Christie

Ailes also praised Carly Fiorina about whom he said she “has been on the stage with 15 men twice and she’s beat them, twice. That’s pretty good.” But somehow, I think Ailes is missing the obvious choice for a Fox News personality from among the GOP’s losing candidates.

Fox News Donald Trump

Donald Trump has proven to be a huge ratings draw for Fox. The first Republican debate that featured Trump saw their audience swell to a record 24 million. Although the appeal is of the same sort that causes people to gawk at gory traffic accidents, ratings are ratings. Trump has experience on television hosting a show that was called “reality” but was actually total bullshit, pretty much like everything on Fox News now. And the Fox News audience loves to be lied to, a big advantage for someone like Trump who is a pathological liar (see the Trump Bullshitopedia for a collection of his numerous lies).

There’s just one little problem. While Ailes says that he has a cordial relationship with Trump, he’s about the only person at Fox who does. In the past few weeks Trump has burned just about every bridge he’s crossed. He said of Megyn Kelly that she “is the worst” and has a “terrible show.” He called Karl Rove a “total fool” and “a biased dope.” He said that George Will is a “broken down political pundit” and “boring.” Chris Stirewalt was deemed “one of the dumbest political pundits on television.” Trump laughed off Charles Krauthammer as “a totally overrated clown,” “a loser,” and “a dummy.” And wrapping up the whole network for his disapproval, he tweeted that he was “having a really hard time watching Fox News.” Then he called on his followers to boycott the network. And for good measure, Trump took a swipe at the Fox family’s newspaper saying that the writers at the Wall Street Journal are “dummies.”

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

Perhaps Trump’s childish outbursts might not be a problem after all, They might instead be the sort of moronic melodrama that ignites small minds and makes stars of Kardashians. But notwithstanding his gross vulgarity, Trump would fit right in at Fox. He is a bombastic, liberal-hating, misogynistic, racist who has no problem fertilizing the ignorance of his audience with his own pitifully stupid and dishonest world view.

Donald Trump’s Bullshitopedia: An Ever Expanding Catalog Of Lies

Posted by on November 29, 2015 at 8:40 pm. 54 Comments :

When Donald Trump announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president, he embarked on a mission that immediately sought to exalt himself, insult and disparage his critics, and reduce the intellectual tenor of American politics to the level of remedial third grade bullies.

Donald Trump

Now, after five months it has become clear that, more than anything else, Trump seems determined to break all records for blatant dishonesty and promulgation of outright lies. The sheer quantity of falsehoods, whether born of purpose or ignorance, has shattered any previous attempt to mislead by a political charlatan. There is a distinct pathological urgency to his disgorging deceptions. And his refusal to ever concede a point or to apologize, even when confronted with irrefutable evidence, is a reflection of his tunnel-blind, Olympic-grade Narcissism.

As a result of the rapidly expanding incidence of Trump’s daily forays into fiction, it has become necessary to initiate a catalog in order to keep track of his doublespeak. It is a formidable task considering the breadth of his deceit. But without such a resource it will be impossible to manage. Hopefully this will be useful for those wishing to document the brazenly disreputable utterances of The Donald. It will be appended as necessary, and contributions are welcome in comments. So without further ado, let’s dig into Trump’s lies, lies, and ever more lies.

Donald Trump’s Bullshitopedia

  1. JUST ADDED: Continuing his attacks on the media, and especially CNN, Trump tweeted that their “Ratings [are] way down!” In fact, the network has been scoring record high ratings.
  2. Frantically defending himself from the investigation into his collusion with Russia, Trump charged that Robert Mueller’s staff hires are “all Hillary Clinton supporters.” This is blatantly and provably untrue.
  3. In his statement withdrawing from the Paris Accords on Climate Change, Trump said that we can’t build [coal] plants, but [China] can. But there is nothing whatsoever in the agreement that even hints at that.
  4. Trump told the New York Post that he didn’t know Steve Bannon prior to his joining the campaign. But Trump actually knew him for many years by his own admission and he was a frequent guest on Bannon’s radio show.
  5. Blaming a “lousy process,” Trump said that he has 100’s of people awaiting confirmation. Actually it’s just 2. And he’s only nominated 24 of 533 posts.
  6. Trump claimed that his CPAC speech was “packed, there are lines that go back six blocks and I tell you that because you won’t read about it, OK.” But the reason you won’t read about it is because it wasn’t true.
  7. At CPAC, Trump said that Obamacare covers “very few people.” However, 20 million more people are covered now than prior to the Affordable Care Act. Repealing it would result in an increase of 32 million Americans without health insurance by 2026.
  8. Trump denied in a January interview that he or anyone on his campaign had any contact with Russia prior to the election. However, The New York Times and CNN both reported that Trump campaign officials and associates “had repeated contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials” before Nov. 8.
  9. Trump said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was “cut off” on CNN for “using the term fake news the describe the network.” But the senator was obviously joking and was not cut off, as the video shows.
  10. Trump took credit for Ford’s decision not to open an auto factory in Mexico and instead expand its Michigan plant. However, the company said Trump was not responsible for its decision.
  11. Trump claimed the murder rate is the highest it’s been in 47 years. The murder rate rose 10.8 percent across the United States in 2015, but it’s far lower than it was 30 to 40 years ago.
  12. Trump said the Obama administration “agreed to take thousands of illegal immigrants from Australia.” The deal actually involved 1,250 refugees – no illegal immigrants.
  13. Trump took credit for cutting $600 million from the F-35 program. But Lockheed Martin already had planned for the cost reductions for the next generation fighter plane.
  14. In remarks with business leaders at the White House, Trump said, “I’m a very big person when it comes to the environment. I have received awards on the environment.” There is no evidence that Trump has received such awards.
  15. During his speech at CIA headquarters, Trump claimed the media made up his feud with the agency. In fact, he started it by comparing the intelligence community to “Nazi Germany.”
  16. Trump said that it stopped raining “immediately” when he began his inauguration speech. But it rained throughout the address.
  17. [Terrorism] “has gotten to a point where it’s not even being reported.” Unless, of course, you count all the times it’s been reported.
  18. Trump (at press conference): “You know, the only one that cares about my tax returns are the reporters, okay?” Not according to every poll on the subject.
  19. A huffy Trump whined that he would have won the popular vote if “if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally.” But there’s no evidence of even a handful of illegal votes, much less millions.
  20. In a tweet, Trump claimed that “I worked hard with Bill Ford to keep the Lincoln plant in Kentucky. I owed it to the great State of Kentucky for their confidence in me!” However, the Ford plant was never even considering relocating to Mexico or anywhere else.
  21. “You know [Clinton et al] came up with the term ‘alt-right.” However, the term has been in use for years and promoted by Trump’s campaign chief at Breitbart News.
  22. In a futile bid to scam African-American voters, Trump said that“Inner-city crime is reaching record levels.” However, that’s “Not even close,” according to PolitiFact who gave him his 43rd Pants-on-Fire lie.
  23. At a rally Trump baselessly accused Obama of paying a ransom to Iran for the release of American prisoners. Even worse, he said that he had watched a video showing the cash being unloaded from a plane in Iran. No such video exists and Trump later admitted it wasn’t true.
  24. Lyin’ Don told George Stephanopoulos on This Week that the NFL sent him a letter about the scheduling of the presidential debates saying that “This is ridiculous. Why are the debates against us?” But an NFL spokesman quickly denied it.
  25. Trump tweeted “Not one American flag on the massive stage at the Democratic National Convention until people started complaining-then a small one. Pathetic.” But reality differs.
  26. Attacking Sen. Tim Kaine, Trump said that “Bob McDonnell took a fraction of what Kaine took.” Only if a fraction is the same as three times as much.
  27. For no imaginable reason, Trump insisted that it was he who directed the RNC to choose Cleveland as its convention site. But the site was chosen two years ago and long before Trump ever considered running.
  28. For his 34th “Pants on Fire” lie, Trump said that “The Obama administration was actively supporting Al Qaeda in Iraq, the terrorist group that became the Islamic State.”
  29. In another display of manifesting his delusions, Trump told Bill O’Reilly that “somebody called for a moment of silence” for the man who killed five Dallas police officers. There is, however, no evidence that that ever happened.
  30. In a spittle-inflected rant against Hillary Clinton, Trump accused her of taking $58,000 worth of jewelry from the Sultan of Brunei. In fact, the gift was accepted on behalf of the State Department and turned over to the General Services Administration, as per the routine for such diplomatic gifts.
  31. Citing the wingnut Breitbart website, Trump accused Obama of “actively supporting Al Qaeda in Iraq,” a claim that earned Trump his 31st Pants-on-Fire lie from PolitiFact.
  32. Notching another “Pants on Fire” lie, Trump said in a speech that “crime is rising.” But that has not been true for twenty-five years.
  33. Trump tweeted “WHERE IS THE REPORTING @realDonaldTrump < most VOTES FOR PRESIDENT IN HISTORY OF USA." First of all, he has received zero votes for president, just votes for the GOP nomination. Secondly, Hillary Clinton received 2.4 million more votes than he did.
  34. Just two months after Trump said that countries like Japan and Saudi Arabia should get their own nukes, he denied having said it and called Clinton a liar for bringing it up.
  35. In a display of hysterical hyperbole, Trump said that it “is Hillary Clinton’s agenda to release the violent criminals from jail. She wants them all released.” Which she never said or even implied.
  36. At the NRA’s annual convention, Trump falsely stated that “Hillary Clinton wants to abolish the Second Amendment. She wants to abolish it. Hillary Clinton wants to take your guns away and she wants to abolish the Second Amendment.”
  37. In 2011 Trump said that he would release his tax returns if President Obama released his birth certificate. Obama did release his birth certificate, but Trump reneged on his promise.
  38. Regarding convicted rapist Mike Tyson Trump said “I heard he endorsed me. I don’t know anything about his trial. I really don’t.” Except that he repeatedly advocated for Tyson during the boxer’s 1992 rape trial, blamed the victim, and insisted that Tyson had been “railroaded.”
  39. In a rambling, incoherent speech on foreign policy, Trump said that “ISIS is making millions of dollars a week selling Libyan oil.” But according to every expert, ISIS has never been able to seize, refine or sell any Libyan oil.
  40. Trump told NBC News that he believes in raising taxes on the wealthy. But his tax plan (on his website) calls for tax cuts that predominantly benefit the rich.
  41. After Trump was castigated for advocating punishment for women who get abortions, he issued a statement reversing himself to say that it’s the doctor who should be punished and that this was “the way I’ve always felt.” Except that on Meet the Press in 1999 he described himself as “very pro-choice.”
  42. Expanding on his abortion comment lie, Trump told Fox News that he was taken out of context and blamed MSNBC for what he called “a long discussion and they just cut it out.” NBC, however, issued a statement affirming that the Trump interview was aired in its entirety with no editing.
  43. Complaining about the U.S. participation in NATO, Trump said that “We can’t go around being the policemen of the world and supporting 73% of NATO.” But we are paying only 22% of the NATO budget.
  44. At the AIPAC Conference, Trump spoke about the U.S. giving Iran $150 billion, but it’s money that actually belongs to Iran that the U.S. unfroze in exchange for them dismantling their nuclear program.
  45. Trump accused protesters of being violent saying that “They are swinging, they are really dangerous and they get in there and they start hitting people.” Which never happened. Only his supporters have been violent.
  46. A speech intended to celebrate a primary victory turned into an infomercial for defunct Trump businesses selling wine, water, steak, magazines and more. Trump lied about all of them still operating when none of them are.
  47. In an interview with George Stephanopoulos, Trump pretended not to have heard about comparisons of him and Adolf Hitler. But just three months before he had the very same discussion with Stephanopoulos.
  48. In a CNN interview Trump claimed not to know anything about KKK leader David Duke, who has endorsed him. But he commented on him months ago.
  49. Trump replied to a charge that he had advocated military action in Libya to remove Gadhafi from power by saying that he had never even discussed it. Except that he posted on his own website that “We should knock this guy out.”
  50. During the CNN GOP debate in Houston Trump flatly denied ever saying that “the government should pay for everyone’s healthcare,” which is exactly what he said on 60 Minutes.
  51. After repeatedly claiming that he opposed the war in Iraq before it began, evidence has now emerged showing Trump in 2002 advocating an invasion.
  52. After falling behind Ted Cruz, Trump whined that “I never do well with the Wall Street Journal poll,” in which he led almost every time they ran one.
  53. During the GOP debate, Trump falsely said that he was “the only one on this stage that said, ‘Do not go into Iraq.” Which he never said
  54. Trump told CNN that “I never once asked that [Megyn Kelly] be removed [as debate moderator].” Except for that time that he did.
  55. During a debate Trump denied that he told the New York Times he would impose a 45% tariff on china saying “They were wrong. It’s The New York Times, they are always wrong.” They were right and have recorded evidence.
  56. On Meet the Press Trump told Chuck Todd that “you have 60, 70, 80 million people out there that want to work that aren’t getting jobs.” He’s only 75% off.
  57. Attacking Hillary Clinton on guns, Trump says that “I think, worse than Obama on the issue, frankly. She wants to take everyone’s gun away.” Which she has never said or even implied.
  58. Trump asserts that “[The 9/11 hijackers] put their families on airplanes, couple of days before, sent them back to Saudi Arabia for the most part. Those wives knew exactly what was going to happen.” Except only one of the nineteen hijackers was married.
  59. Trump said that 100 black pastors would endorse him. Pastors say not so.
  60. Trump said he didn’t mock, or even know, the reporter whose disabilities he mocked and knew for a decade.
  61. Says crime statistics show blacks kill 81 percent of white homicide victims. It’s more like 15%.
  62. Trump: “I watched in Jersey City, N.J., where thousands and thousands of people were cheering” as the World Trade Center collapsed – which he never watched because there is no such video.
  63. People on the terrorism watch are already prohibited from buying guns. Nope.
  64. Thirteen Syrian refugees were “caught trying to get into the U.S.” but actually surrendered at the border seeking asylum.
  65. Trump denied saying that he supported a database of Muslims, even though he said it more than once on video.
  66. The federal government is sending refugees to states with governors who are “Republicans, not to the Democrats.”
  67. The Trans-Pacific Partnership “was designed for China to come in, as they always do, through the back door and totally take advantage of everyone.”
  68. The Obama administration wants to admit 250,000 Syrian refugees. He’s off by 240,000.
  69. He was on 60 Minutes with Vladimir Putin and “got to know him very well.” Except that they were interviewed separately thousands of miles apart.
  70. Climate change is a hoax invented by the Chinese.
  71. Says his plan would cut taxes without increasing the deficit.
  72. “I never said that” Marco Rubio was Mark Zuckerberg’s personal senator.
  73. His criticism of Ford prompted the company to move a factory from Mexico to Ohio.
  74. Says Bernie Sanders is going to “tax you people at 90 percent.”
  75. Trump said that “We have the highest tax rate anywhere in the world.”
  76. Among Syrian refugees, “there aren’t that many women, there aren’t that many children.”
  77. The unemployment rate may be as high as “42 percent.”
  78. Trump: The birther movement was started by Hillary Clinton in 2008. She was all in!
  79. Said he was never interested in opening a casino in Florida.
  80. Says Mexico doesn’t have birthright citizenship, and Americans are the “only ones” to have it.
  81. Claimed he was talking about Carly Fiorina’s “persona” when he said “Look at that face. Would anyone vote for that?”
  82. Under the Iran deal: “If Israel attacks Iran … we’re supposed to be on Iran’s side.”
  83. Vaccines cause autism.
  84. He never said the stuff Megyn Kelly accused him of saying in the first debate.
  85. Trump says that “The Mexican government … they send the bad ones over.”
  86. The number of illegal immigrants in the United States is “30 million, it could be 34 million.”
  87. Trump: If you’re from Syria and you’re a Christian, you cannot come into this country” as a refugee.
  88. Says his book, The Art of the Deal, is “the No. 1 selling business book of all time.”
  89. Trump: The last quarter, it was just announced, our gross domestic product … was below zero. Who ever heard of this? It’s never below zero.
  90. Trump: The Islamic State just built a hotel in Syria.
  91. Says President Barack Obama’s recent New York fundraising trip cost between $25 million and $50 million.
  92. ObamaCare enrollment lie: Obama counts an enrollee as a web user putting a plan in ‘their online shopping carts.’
  93. President Obama has spent over $2 million in legal fees defending lawsuits about his birth certificate.
  94. Hey look, [the president] wrote a book when he was a young man and it said ‘born in Kenya,’ blah blah blah.
  95. The people that went to school with (Obama), they never saw him, they don’t know who he is.

To be continued…

These are not differences of opinion. They are outright, provable falsehoods. Not a single one is remotely true. And even when Trump is shown the proof he insists that he is right and that reality is wrong. And as Stephen Colbert told us, “Reality has a well-known liberal bias.” That’s the only possible explanation for Trump’s relentless lying.

Ironically, Trump is fond of calling others liars. He even called into question Ted Cruz’s faith due to his frequent falsehoods, which has an irony all its own (See The Immaculate Birther). But when Trump was interviewed by Greta Van Susteren of Fox News he told the biggest lie of all when he said “I don’t lie. In fact, if anything, I’m so truthful that it gets me in trouble. They say I’m too truthful.” Obviously everything above negates that delusional self-appraisal.

Donald Trump Lies

The fact that Trump still manages to attract supporters who are willing to look past his shameless mendacity, and worse, to revere him as a quasi-savior, is a frightening testament to the decline of American democracy. These are people who not only submit blissfully to being lied to, they embrace a philosophy of bigotry, division, fear, and the authoritarian strains of fascism. They have abandoned whatever tendencies they may have had toward freedom, in favor of a despot who reeks of false and unattainable promises of security and prosperity. It is the behavior of cultists who have surrendered to mindless discipleship and have lost the ability to discern fantasy from reality. It’s a learned response that has been ingrained from watching way too much Fox News.

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

[Notes: Many of the links above are from PolitiFact. They maintain a file on Trump that presently shows he has 233 “mostly false,” “false,” or “Pants on Fire” statements. That represents 70% of the total statements reviewed by PolitiFact. Of the total number of Trump’s statements 4% are deemed to be “true.”]

His Majesty Donald Trump Uses Threats To Gain Superiority Over Politics And The Press

Posted by on November 24, 2015 at 3:29 pm. 6 Comments :

The media is pouncing on Donald Trump today for his blatantly false claims to have seen “thousands and thousands” of Muslims celebrating the fall of the World Trade Center towers on 9/11. What he says he personally witnessed never actually happened and PolitiFact, among other fact checkers, rated it a “Pants on Fire“ lie. He is also taking heat for re-tweeting a racist graphic of homicide statistics that were completely made up (probably by a neo-Nazi). And then there’s the episode at his rally where he encouraged his supporters to beat up a protester, later saying that he deserved it.

Donald Trump

However, there was another newsmaking event that took place that isn’t getting much play from the media. Trump’s bullying of the press has devolved into severely oppressive tactics that reflect his tyrannical tendencies. He and his campaign aides have taken steps to punish, muzzle, and otherwise suppress the First Amendment rights of the reporters covering his campaign. It has gotten so bad that media organizations that normally compete with one another are meeting to discuss the matter and to formulate a response. The Washington Post reports that…

“According to people at multiple networks, senior managers from the five leading TV news networks — ABC News, CBS News, CNN, Fox and NBC News — will discuss their response in an effort to push back against what they deem harsh and restrictive behavior by Trump’s managers, including his top aide, campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.”

The abuses being suffered by the press include the Trump campaign threatening to pull the press credentials of reporters who dare to leave the “pen” provided for them by Trump’s handlers. His people even explicitly threaten to “blacklist” disobedient reporters. By disobedient they mean those who seek to interview people attending Trump’s events or to cover protests. In other words, those who are doing their jobs as reporters. In one case Lewandowski told another campaign staffer “Hey: Tell Noah [Gray of CNN], get back in the pen or he’s f—ing blacklisted.” WaPo further reported that…

“The campaign has also declined to give credentials to reporters from news organizations it has deemed unfriendly. The list includes BuzzFeed, the Huffington Post, Fusion, Univision and the Des Moines Register.”

This is unprecedented in a democracy that reveres freedom of the press. But worse, it is a preview of the sort of ham-handed censorship that a wannabe dictator like Trump would employ were he to hold any position of power. It has to have gotten pretty bad for competing media enterprises to come together in search of a solution. But don’t hold your breath waiting for the press to challenge Trump. They are more interested in the potential ratings they think he will draw than in their journalistic integrity.

It’s fascinating that his supporters, ostensibly conservatives who claim to favor small government and personal freedom, are still drawn to this budding despot who seeks absolute power and is proposing growing government in the most intrusive way: more federal agents to monitor churches, more security forces on the border, more surveillance of citizens and registries to track them. And his supporters are the same people who were so rapt with an irrational fear of President Obama’s imaginary “czars.”

In a separate example of the intransigent totalitarianism of Donald Trump, he is holding the Republican Party hostage with threats to bolt and run as an independent if they don’t squelch a growing contingent of critics who are uniting to produce and distribute anti-Trump ads. [This isn’t the first time he has threatened to break his pledge of party loyalty]. It’s called politics and every politician is aware of how it works. But for Trump, the notion that His Majesty would be the target of an attack is unthinkable. Reuters reports that…

“Donald Trump’s presidential campaign warned the Republican Party on Tuesday about donors pooling funds for attack ads, saying Republicans must treat him fairly if they want to keep him from launching an independent bid.

“Trump lawyer Michael Cohen told CNN that if Republican donors backing different presidential candidates come together for an anti-Trump advertising campaign, it would be a ‘bad, bad decision.’ […] ‘If they treat him fairly, he will honor the pledge because he’s an honorable guy. If they break that agreement with him, as they say ‘woe be on them,’ Cohen told CNN.”

“Woe be on them?” Trump is literally going Medieval on the RNC. Of course, the Republican Party has no control over Super PACs that are independent and free to pursue their own political missions. In Trump’s mind there is an overarching authority on whom he can force his will under threat of annihilation to any peasant who dares to defy his omnipotence.

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

The question is, will the RNC capitulate to Trump and forever be his bitch? Will the media surrender and allow Trump to dictate the terms of their coverage? Trump is an aspiring tyrant and the time to squash his power-mad dreams is now. Unfortunately, his party and the press may be too impotent to stand up for their own interests, and for those of democracy and America. If they had any integrity or guts the RNC would tell him to stop whining, honor his pledge, or take a flying leap, and the press would tell him go to hell and then cover him the way they would any other candidate. As it looks now, they are just preparing to embarrass themselves and let an ignorant, loudmouth, with delusions of grandeur run all over them.

Donald Trump: The Republican Party Is My Bitch – Threatens Independent Run

Posted by on November 22, 2015 at 10:03 pm. 6 Comments :

Observers of Donald Trump’s bizarre campaign for the Republican nomination for president have seen in just a few months the ugliness that he can present as he seeks to attract voters by appealing to their fear, hatred, and ignorance. And now they can also see how worthless his word is as he throws a temper tantrum over being attacked by his political rivals.

Donald Trump GOP

When Trump announced his candidacy in June, there was speculation that he would not remain a Republican candidate if he faltered in the campaign or failed to get the nomination. That controversy caused the GOP to insist that all candidates sign a “loyalty pledge” if they wanted to participate in party sanctioned debates or even get on the primary ballot in some states. The pledge required the candidate’s to…

“…affirm that if I do not win the 2016 Republican nomination for President of the United States I will endorse the 2016 Republican presidential nominee, regardless of who it is. I further pledge that I will not seek to run as an independent or write-in candidate nor will I seek or accept the nomination of any other party.”

It’s difficult understand how Trump could endorse other Republicans that he has already disparaged as weak, incompetent, corrupt, ugly losers, but under pressure from the party, Trump signed the pledge and tweeted how proud he was of the commitment. He further stated that “I will be totally pledging my allegiance to the Republican Party and the conservative principles for which it stands,” and that “I see no circumstances under which I would tear up that pledge.”

That was on September 3, just two and a half months ago. Today, however, Trump was interviewed by George Stephanopoulos on This Week and was asked whether a new ad by his opponents, characterizing him as dangerously inexperienced, might cause him to change his mind. Stephanopoulos also quoted from a Wall Street Journal article that described the Republican establishment as “increasingly alarmed by the enduring strength of Donald Trump’s presidential bid,” and said that they were “ratcheting up efforts to knock him out of the race.” So when Stephanopoulos asked Trump if he still intended to honor his pledge, he responded:

“I’m going to have to see what happens. I will see what happens. I have to be treated fairly. When I did this, I said I have to be treated fairly. If I’m treated fairly, I’m fine. All I want to do is a level playing field.”

Trump’s idea of fair treatment is when everybody stoops to kiss his wrinkled butt. Consequently, any pledges he makes are subject to cancellation at will. His stance now is to wait and see. That flip-flop demonstrates that he is someone who is not to be trusted, even after he has signed a written commitment. He played Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, for access to the debates that have raised his profile, and now he is threatening to ditch the party to boost his own super-sized ego.

The prospect of Trump mounting a third-party run would be great news for Democrats. But the really interesting part of this is how the GOP will react to Trump’s deceit. Will they bend over with lips puckered and beg him not to torpedo their 2016 presidential hopes? If so, that would make them look pretty impotent going into the general election. But do they have the guts to stand up to him and refuse to be bullied by a painfully stupid trust fund baby whose sense of entitlement could blot out the sun?

Trump has already cowed two titans of the media. He made bitches of both Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes of Fox News, who scampered away in fear of offending The Donald. They let him make asses of them in order to preserve what they believed to be a ratings bonanza, but will prove to be a short-term blip. Will the Republican Party now follow in their baby steps and allow Trump to stomp all over them?

If the GOP/RNC has any guts they will demand that Trump reiterate his promise to endorse the Republican nominee and forswear a third-party run. They should force him to make a public proclamation of loyalty or face being booted from any future debates or, where allowed, access to state ballots as a Republican candidate.

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

The likelihood of that, however, is low. Republicans have not been known for their commitment to principle. And they have already demonstrated that they fear Trump more than they love their party or their country. Why else would they stand with him when he has insulted millions of minority voters, women, and seniors? And his recent fear mongering over refugees literally devolved into fascistic ranting that has no place in a free America. So It’s your move Republicans. What will you do with your treacherous Trump now that he is wiping your face in it?

Donald Trump Has Gone Full Nazi – And If The GOP Doesn’t Repudiate It They Own It

Posted by on November 20, 2015 at 8:34 am. 41 Comments :

If the Republican Party is ever going to wake up and shut down this misanthropic racist it had better be now. Donald Trump’s latest hateful howling has crossed a line of indecency that is impossible to ignore. And Godwin be damned, he is articulating Nazi rhetoric on a scale not seen since the originals.

Donald Trump

Just yesterday Trump told Yahoo News that he would support the development of databases and other systems to track and monitor people in the United States on the basis of their religion. He did not rule out forcing Muslims to have identifying papers or badges. Perhaps he would make them wear a star and crescent in the manner that Hitler’s Nazis made Jews wear the Star of David. From Yahoo…

Yahoo News asked Trump whether this level of tracking might require registering Muslims in a database or giving them a form of special identification that noted their religion. He wouldn’t rule it out.

“We’re going to have to — we’re going to have to look at a lot of things very closely,” Trump said when presented with the idea. “We’re going to have to look at the mosques. We’re going to have to look very, very carefully.”

This grotesque policy position fits nicely with his prior statement that he believes it may be necessary to close mosques in America. He said that “there’s absolutely no choice” because “some really bad things are happening.” Apparently one of the “really bad things” isn’t the assault on our Constitution’s First Amendment guaranteeing freedom of religion. But that’s not all, Trump also told Yahoo News that…

“We’re going to have to do things that we never did before. And some people are going to be upset about it, but I think that now everybody is feeling that security is going to rule,” Trump said. “And certain things will be done that we never thought would happen in this country in terms of information and learning about the enemy. And so we’re going to have to do certain things that were frankly unthinkable a year ago.”

So “security is going to rule.” And I’ll bet the trains will run on time. And speaking of trains, this is the same man who wants to round up 11,000,000 Latinos for mass deportation. How he proposes to do that is a mystery, but it wouldn’t be surprising if it involved boxcars and concentration camps. He approvingly cited the 1950’s “Operation Wetback“ as a model for his plan. That operation resulted in dozens of deaths and was abandoned as a failure that violated humane standards.

In the short history of Trump’s campaign he has gotten away with saying repulsive things and demonstrating overtly bigoted behavior. Even when he disparaged solidly conservative principles like the military sacrifices of John McCain, or making a mockery of the practice of Christianity, his supporters remained faithful. And despite all of that, he still clings to the top of the polls in the Republican presidential primary. There has been an astonishing and troubling loyalty by Republicans who seem unfazed no matter how disgusting or ignorant he gets. And it isn’t just his supporters. Other GOP voters, pundits, and candidates, are reluctant to take him on.

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

If that continues it will be impossible for the GOP to separate themselves from his repugnant views. And the same goes for Fox News, who flagrantly promote Trump’s campaign. They are already tied to him on most other issues with which they agree completely. But if they don’t want to forever be associated with the outright appeal to the policies of the Nazis, they need to renounce him and cease supporting him. If his polling isn’t hurt by this we’ll know for sure that a significant chunk of the Republican Party is cool with fascism.

Donald Trump’s Latest Bonehead Theory Is Custom Made For His Racist Supporters

Posted by on November 18, 2015 at 7:10 pm. 14 Comments :

The Republican Party’s front-runner for their presidential nomination, Donald Trump, continues to peel off nonsense of the most extreme variety. Just when you think he’s topped out at proposing to reprise the repugnant “Operation Wetback,” he reaches down deep to deliver something that far surpasses the idiocy of any ordinary mortal.

Donald Trump

Yesterday Trump was on Laura Ingraham’s radio show and had something to say about the Syrian refugee crisis that most of the civilized world is struggling to address. But his remarks were not about the human suffering or the logistical challenges or potential solutions. What Trump sought to add to the debate was a ludicrous and wholly unfounded conspiracy theory accusing President Obama of another dastardly deed.

Trump: They send [the refugees] to the Republicans, not to the Democrats, you know, because they know the problems. In California you have a Democrat as a governor. In Florida you have Rick Scott. So, you know, they send them to the Republicans because, you know, why would we want to bother the Democrats? It’s just insane. Taking these people is absolutely insanity. I don’t know if you know. They’re talking about hundreds of thousands potentially. Hundreds of thousands.

Where to begin. How about with the fact that Trump’s assertion is a bald-faced lie. His projection of the distribution of refugees based on the party affiliation of a state’s governor makes no sense whatsoever, and he doesn’t bother to provide any support for the wild claim. Even using the example that he provided, the facts show that California has already taken in 218 Syrian refugees this year (more than any other state), while Florida has taken only 104 (placing them down at seventh). What’s more, states with Republican governors can be expected to receive more refugees simply because there are more of them. Currently there are 31 states led by Republicans and 18 by Democrats.

Furthermore, Trump’s assertion that there are plans to resettle “hundreds of thousands” of refugees must have been pulled straight out of his ass, because there is no such estimate in reality. The federal government has committed to receiving about 10,000 refugees. So Trump is only off by at least ninety percent.

Now if you’re wondering how Trump can get away with making such blatantly false comments and still retain his position at the top of the GOP primary contest, the answer is in the the type of voter to whom Trump is appealing. A new survey (pdf) by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) reveals that Trump’s supporters are fervently opposed to immigrants with 69% saying that “immigration is a critical issue to them personally.” That compares to only 50% of supporters of other Republican candidates. In addition, the survey found that…

Trump supporters are much more likely to express negative views of immigrants than the supporters of other candidates. Eight in ten (80%) Trump supporters say that immigrants today are a burden to the U.S. because they take American jobs, housing, and health care. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of Trump supporters say that it bothers them when they come into contact with immigrants who speak little or no English.

Never mind that it is completely untrue that immigrants are taking jobs from Americans or are consuming financial benefits. What’s most disturbing about these findings is the overt bigotry of the Trump contingent. But it gets even worse:

Trump supporters also express greater concern about discrimination against white Americans and white men in particular. Roughly three-quarters (74%) of Trump supporters — compared to 57% of supporters of all other Republican candidates — agree that, today, discrimination against whites has become as big a problem as discrimination against blacks and other minorities.

That must be why it’s so hard for white men to get jobs, or find housing. And it explains why so many of them are being killed while unarmed by police officers. [/snark] It would be bad enough if there were a significant portion of Trump’s supporters who held these absurd opinions, but these numbers are frighteningly high. It means that 75% of Trump’s followers are seriously deranged in a way that exposes the rancid biases of the Republican Party. Because in the end, Trump’s followers are GOP voters, and when he eventually flames out, the Party is still going to have to appeal to these same cretins to support their nominee.

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

The Wingnut Reverse Beetlejuice Doctrine: Say ‘Radical Islamic Terrorism’ Three Times

Posted by on November 15, 2015 at 2:18 pm. 14 Comments :

The warped philosophy of conservatives in America has long held that the primary reason for the persistence of terrorism is that President Obama and other Democrats are reluctant to utter the phrase “radical Islamic terrorism.” They somehow have concluded that those magical words are key to defeating groups like Al Qaeda and ISIS. And they wonder why we think they’re stupid.

Fox News Beetlejuice

Following the Democratic Debate in Iowa on Saturday, the call to cast the magic spell was once again made the centerpiece of rightist criticisms. GOP candidates, and right-wing pundits on Fox News and elsewhere, have uniformly adopted the fabled “Reverse Beetlejuice Doctrine” wherein you shout “radical Islamic terrorism” three times and ISIS disappears. Actually, it isn’t even required to shout it. You can just tweet it. For example:

  • Donald Trump: Why won’t President Obama use the term Islamic Terrorism? Isn’t it now, after all of this time and so much death, about time!
  • Jeb Bush: Yes, we are at war with radical Islamic terrorism. #DemDebate
  • Ted Cruz: We need a President who is unafraid to name our enemy — radical Islamic terrorism — and will set out to defeat it.
  • Rick Santorum: Yes, @HillaryClinton we are at war with radical Islam! You are not qualified to serve if you cannot even define our enemy! #DemDebate
  • Mike Huckabee: You’re all grown up now. You can do it. Three words. Ten syllables. Say it with me: “Radical Islamic terrorism.” #DemDebate
  • Carly Fiorina: We need a President who will see and speak and act on the truth…Hillary Clinton will not call this Islamic terrorism. I will.
  • RNC (Republican National Committee: Hillary refuses to say we are at war with “radical Islam.” #DemDebate
  • Todd Starnes (Fox News): If your #DemDebate drinking game words are “Radical Islam” — you’ll be going home cold sober tonight, folks.
  • Eric Bolling (Fox News): Just so all you vapid @HillaryClinton supporters know. She just said “we are not at war with radical Islam”. #parisisburning
  • Donald Trump (again): When will President Obama issue the words RADICAL ISLAMIC TERRORISM? He can’t say it, and unless he will, the problem will not be solved!

In addition to these individuals, conservative media is singing from the same hymnal. National Review, Breitbart News, Washington Times, Free Beacon, and the Daily Caller are among those in the choir. It’s clearly an obsession with these folks. They are convinced that babbling a few specific words is a better indicator of the determination to fight terrorists than actually fighting terrorists. So even though Obama ordered the successful assassination of Osama Bin Laden, and as Commander-in-Chief presided over the killing of thousands of terrorist operatives, including many of their leaders, he can’t possibly be serious about the mission until he recites the approved scriptural incantation.

For the record, just this week under the leadership of President Obama, missions were carried out that are believed to have resulted in the deaths of the ISIS chief in Libya and the infamous ISIS executioner known as Jihadi John. And all without invoking the magic spell.

At Fox News they are engaging in their standard game plan of distorting reality in a way that twists it to their far-right biases. Ed Henry, their senior White House correspondent, in a post-debate report told Sean Hannity that “At one point [Hillary Clinton] said ‘I do not believe we’re at war with radical Islam.’ The reaction to that online and overnight will be very interesting.”

Of course the most interesting part of that is that it is not what she said. What she said was “I don’t think we’re at war with Islam. I don’t think we’re at war with all Muslims. I think we’re at war with jihadists.” Nevertheless, Henry’s bastardization of her remarks is what will stick in the already gooey minds of Fox viewers. The cult simply will not permit free thought based on verifiable facts.

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

There are numerous reasons for declining to fall into the “radical Islamic terrorist” trap. News Corpse spelled them out early this year in some detail. The gist is that we have legitimate concerns regarding our ability to form coalitions with the Muslim nations in the Middle-East whose cooperation is required to prevail against ISIS. That is not helped by demeaning their faith. But it’s more than that. By accepting the terms and definitions of the terrorists, Republicans, Fox News, et al, are acting as the PR department for the terrorists who desperately aspire to be regarded as the legitimate voice of Islam. Why are they insisting on granting the terrorists that victory?

And here’s some perspective from Muslims on the anti-Islam extremists who pretend to be Muslim.