Month: July 2016

Chicken-Sh*t Trump Already Trying To Weasel Out Of Debates With Clinton

Posted by on July 30, 2016 at 5:20 pm. 9 Comments :

Now that the general election scorecard is filled and the major party conventions are history, the next big events in the election cycle will be the highly anticipated Clinton/Trump debates. While the conventions are usually seen as self-serving infomercials, voters often regard the debates as critical opportunities to assess the candidates and make a decision.

Donald Trump

Well, it didn’t take twenty-four hours for Donald Trump to start whining about the debate process and laying the groundwork to slither away without having to confront Hillary Clinton face to face. Last night he summoned up the courage to venture out onto the Twitter machine and post this:

As usual, Trump and the GOP are trying to hide their fear by accusing everyone of conspiring against them. Trump’s paranoia is sending him into delusional fits that are precursors to a cowardly retreat, just like when he skipped out on a Fox News debate because he was too scared to face Megyn Kelly. Clearly he has a problem with strong women.

For the record, neither Clinton nor the Democratic Party had anything to do with the debate schedule. The Commission On Presidential Debates (CPD) has been managing these affairs since 1988. It is run by former members of both parties who have no affiliation with any candidate. The current schedule was released nearly a year ago (September 23, 2015), before any of the candidates were chosen. And it would be nearly impossible to find broadcast dates that didn’t coincide with a popular television program, whether it be the NFL or Law & Order or America’s Got Talent.

Trump has already demonstrated his tendency to provoke melodrama with regard to candidate debates. He turned the GOP primary debates into feral spectacles of crass immaturity and avoidance of substance. His tantrums succeeded in forcing the Republican National Committee and the media to capitulate to his will, forcing out networks or media co-sponsors that he didn’t think were sufficiently deferential to him.

What Trump means by “Unacceptable” is unclear. Is he declaring now that he is refusing to participate in the debates? Is he demanding that other terms agreeable to him are implemented? Or is he preparing his excuse for when he fails to show up like every other presidential candidate has done for over half a century? In any case he is revealing that he is a sniveling coward who would be knocked senseless were he to step into the ring with Hillary. And he knows it.

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

So look for Trump to continue his whining up to, throughout, and following the debates (if he even shows up). And watch him try to blame his failures on the legions of imaginary enemies who are amassed to bring him down. Donald Trump is a walking psychosis who is frantically searching for a way to avoid being humiliated by an uppity woman. At times like these you realize that there just isn’t enough popcorn in the world.

UPDATE: Lyin’ Don told George Stephanopoulos on This Week that the NFL sent him a letter saying that “This is ridiculous. Why are the debates against us?” But an NFL spokesman quickly denied it tweeting “While we’d obviously wish the debate commission could find another night, we did not send a letter to Trump.”

Democrats’ Message Of Hope THRASHES Republican Fear Mongering In TV Ratings

Posted by on July 30, 2016 at 9:40 am. NO Comments :

Now that both of the presidential nominating conventions are over, we can take a look at how the American people felt about the proceedings with respect to their television viewing. The Nielsen ratings are in and they tell a story that may have an impact on the election and its results in November.

Clinton Trump

From the broadest perspective the Democrats scored a significant victory (which may explain why Donald Trump is now pretending that he had nothing to do with his own convention). The cumulative total viewers for all four nights, across ten broadcast and cable networks, during the Democratic National Convention (DNC) was 116.7 million. For the Republican National Convention (RNC) it was 100.7 million. The Democrats outright won the first three nights by at least five million viewers. On the fourth night Trump’s acceptance speech outdrew Hillary Clinton’s by a small margin of 1.6 million.

DNC RNC
Day 1 28.4 23.0
Day 2 28.0 23.0
Day 3 27.0 19.8
Day 4 33.3 34.9
116.7 100.7

The fourth night of the DNC event requires some additional analysis. It is fair to say that the night when a candidate is making their acceptance speech has particular significance. They are the star attraction at these shows and the impressions they make can have a substantial impact. Consequently, it should raise one’s curiosity as to why the Democrats won every night except the one when Hillary Clinton was making her big speech.

The answer is not especially surprising. When the numbers are broken down by network, you’ll find that Trump drew a massive 9.4 million viewers for his speech on Fox News alone. The following week, by contrast, Clinton was watched by only three million viewers on Fox. There was no similar disparity on any other network.

Clearly the people who watch Fox News were inclined to tune in to see their favorite candidate, Donald Trump. And when it came time for Hillary Clinton to speak, Fox viewers simply tuned her out, preferring to remain steeped in their own partisan stupidity. Absent this warped variable, the average viewership of the convention’s fourth night again shows a healthy lead for the Democrats.

More importantly, it shows a decidedly unhealthy tendency for Republicans to deliberately shelter themselves from the real world and wallow in a pool of purposeful ignorance. This isn’t a new development. A couple of years ago Gallup conducted a study that identified the political leanings of the viewers of each network. It showed that fully 94% of respondents identified as Republican or leaning Republican said that Fox News is their main source for news. Conservatives chimed in at 79%. And a whopping 97% of those who do not approve of President Obama pledged their allegiance to Fox. None of the respondents on the left came within 30 points of that level of extreme partisanship.

What this tells us is that Fox News is virtually irrelevant to the political debate in America. They cater to a uniform community of right-wing zealots whose opinions are locked in place. So it makes no difference that Fox viewers didn’t watch Clinton’s speech because they wouldn’t vote for her anyway. In fact, they may have just been following orders from their master. Yesterday Donald Trump sent an email to supporters telling them not to watch Clinton on Thursday:

“Unless you want to be lied to, belittled, and attacked for your beliefs, don’t watch Hillary’s DNC speech tonight.”

That’s the sort of advice that you give to juveniles you can’t trust to make their own decisions. It’s advice that cripples ones ability to understand the world around them and makes them incapable of knowing how to respond to information that isn’t pre-chewed for them by autocratic demagogues. In other words, it’s advice that Fox News viewers would rush blindly to follow. And what makes this even more ludicrous is that Trump himself declined his own advice. After earlier saying that he was not going to watch Clinton’s speech, he confessed to an audience at a rally today that “I shouldn’t be telling you this, but I watched it.”

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

Of course he did. How else would he know what lame insults to tweet in response? Trump’s ego would never permit him to avoid anything that someone might say about him, particularly if it’s critical. As an insecure bully he needs to have constant control of his surroundings so he can strike back when he feels he’s been maligned. These ratings results prove that he’s one of the losers he’s constantly accusing his opponents of being. But don’t expect him to acknowledge it. He’s probably preparing some tweets right now to smear the lefty radicals at Nielsen who he surely believes are deliberately sabotaging his campaign.

Lyin’ Donald Trump Now Pretends He Had Nothing To Do With His Own Disastrous Convention

Posted by on July 29, 2016 at 4:19 pm. NO Comments :

From the commencement of Donald Trump’s journey to the Republican nomination for president he has bragged about his super-awesome skills in television production and media spectacles. To be sure, he’s had some experience in these areas with his glitzy beauty pageants and schmaltzy Apprentice programs (although it’s unclear what his producing role was in either).

Trump Convention

Prior to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Trump touted his alleged showbiz cred to build anticipation for a glossy entertainment-rich extravaganza. Last April he told the Washington Post that it was his intention to produce a “monumentally magnificent convention” that is “brilliantly staged.” As it turns out, he was only able to coax D-List talent like Scott Baio and Duck Dynasty’s Willie Robertson. Contrast that with the Democratic Convention’s roster of Meryl Streep, Paul Simon, Alicia Keys, and Katy Perry.

On the political front, Trump’s party has kept its distance from him with both of the former GOP presidents (Bush and Bush, Jr.) staying away, as well as both of the previous GOP nominees for president (McCain and Romney). Only two of the seventeen 2016 contenders bothered to show up, and John Kasich, the governor of the state that is hosting the convention refused to step foot inside of it. While at the DNC affair they exhibited Democratic star power like Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, Bill Clinton (of course), Joe Biden, and Michelle and Barack Obama.

Immediately following the RNC debacle Trump tweeted that it was “One of the best produced, including the incredible stage & set, in the history of conventions. Great unity! Big T.V. ratings!” That was before the reviews came in that were almost unanimously negative. Even prominent conservatives were bad-mouthing the event. For example:

As the reality set in that the GOP convention was a national turn off, Trump ran for cover, afraid of being associated with the losers responsible for it (i.e. himself). As reported in the New York Times:

“The Times asked Trump about why his convention seemed haphazardly thrown-together, unlike the very coordinated and on-message Democratic convention and unlike Republican conventions of the past. ‘I didn’t produce our show — I just showed up for the final speech on Thursday,’ he responded.”

If it’s true that Trump just showed up to give his speech, then he abdicated his responsibilities as the leader of his party. Every nominee owns their convention and campaign. Trump is saying that he was no more than a hired spokesman for the most important event in the entire campaign process.

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

That’s the sort of dishonest buck-passing that we could expect if Trump were to prevail in November. His notoriously thin skin, and his infamous narcissism, would never allow him to take responsibility for anything that had the taint of failure. Before it was apparent that the Republicans threw an epic dud, Trump was boasting that it was all his doing. Now he can’t run away fast enough. And it’s significant that the failures of the GOP convention were specifically in the areas that Trump claims to excel. It would be funny if the consequences weren’t so serious.

Muslim Father Of A Fallen Hero Shames Donald Trump: You Have Sacrificed Nothing

Posted by on July 29, 2016 at 9:09 am. 2 Comments :

The final night of the Democratic National Convention had many memorable moments including speeches and performances by notables like House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Katy Perry. And of course, the headliners for the evening, Chelsea Clinton introducing her mother Hillary Clinton.

However, what may be remembered as the most moving address of the week was the touching story of a grieving father whose misfortune hasn’t dampened his patriotism.

Khizr Khan

Khizr Khan is the father of U.S. Army Capt. Humayun Khan who was killed serving his country in Iraq. Mr. Khan addressed the delegates after a video wherein Clinton paid tribute to the fallen soldier. His comments were brief and to the point, beginning with his description of his family as “patriotic American Muslims with undivided loyalty to our country.” He was clearly moved by Clinton’s tribute to his son. And he was equally repulsed by Donald Trump’s campaign of bigotry and intolerance:

“Hillary Clinton was right when she called my son the best of America. If it was up to Donald Trump he never would have been in America. Donald Trump consistently smears the character of Muslims. He disrespects other minorities, women, judges, even his own party leadership. He wants to build walls and ban us from this country.

“Donald Trump, you’re asking Americans to trust you with their future. Let me ask you, have you even read the United States Constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy. In this document look for the words “liberty” and “equal protection of law.”

These poignant remarks perfectly illustrate what’s so hurtful and un-American about Trump’s efforts to demonize Muslims and other immigrant families. Trump regards the differences in people as threats to be quashed. He has no ability to recognize the shared values of diverse people who love freedom. That’s why he views refugees as disguised terrorists rather than victims who despise terrorism more than anyone. And it’s why Mr. Khan went on to beseech Trump to educate himself on the subject of true sacrifice:

“Have you ever been to Arlington Cemetery? Look at the graves of brave patriots who died defending the United States of America. You’ll see all faiths, genders, and ethnicities. You have sacrificed nothing and no one. We cannot solve our problems by building walls, sowing division. We are stronger together.”

Don’t hold your breath waiting for Trump to accept this challenge. He’s too busy pretending to care about veterans while ripping them off. And the last thing he wants is to abandon his campaign strategy of spreading fear and hatred. Because that’s literally all he has. And you know Khan’s remarks were powerful and effective because Fox News declined to air them, instead running an anti-Clinton commercial about Benghazi.

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

UPDATE: Trump responded to Mr. Khan’s remarks by insulting him and his wife. He accused Clinton of having written his statement. He falsely implied that Mrs. Khan was not allowed to speak. And in an appalling display of insensitivity and conceit, he claimed to have made sacrifices on par with that of the fallen soldier. He cited as an example that he has hired a lot of people. Oh my, what a sacrifice. That must have been so terribly difficult for him.

8 Reasons Donald Trump Is A HUGE Hypocrite For Calling Obama ‘Ignorant’

Posted by on July 28, 2016 at 1:03 pm. NO Comments :

On the same day that President Obama delivered one of the most powerful and well received convention speeches since a younger Obama spoke at a convention in 2004, Donald Trump made a desperate attempt to steal the news cycle from the Democrats’ festivities in Philadelphia. And it wasn’t just his dangerous solicitation of hostile foreign nations to commit cyber-crimes against America.

Donald Trump

In the same press conference where Trump invited Russia to illegally interfere in U.S. politics by hacking his political opponent, he had the audacity to malign Obama as “the most ignorant president in our history.” Never mind that Obama graduated from Columbia University before getting his law degree from Harvard (magna cum laude), where he was editor of the prestigious Harvard Law Review, went on to teach constitutional law, got elected to the Senate, and became the President of the friggin’ United States.

What really makes Trump’s typically childish insult so absurd is that he himself has repeatedly demonstrated an affinity for idiocy that is unmatched in modern times. This may explain why he said in February that he “loves the poorly educated.” And while it’s tempting to smugly imply that they would be the only ones who would buy into his vacuous campaign, that would be unfair. After all, “poorly educated” doesn’t mean stupid.

What follows are just a few examples of the embarrassingly daft comments that have discharged from The Donald’s prodigious dispensary of dimwitticisms(™) in just the past few weeks on the campaign trail.

  1. Trump was asked in a debate about his priorities with regard to America’s “Nuclear Triad” And his answer revealed that he had no idea what it is.
  2. Prior to Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, Trump couldn’t answer a question about Brexit until the interviewer gave him an explanation.
  3. When asked whether he would defend Article One of the Constitution, Trump responded that he’d defend all the articles up to the twelfth. But there are only seven articles in the Constitution.
  4. Attempting to criticize Democratic VP candidate Tim Kaine, Trump said that he “did a terrible job in New Jersey.” The only problem is that Kaine is the former governor, and current senator, from Virginia.
  5. Trump was so upset that the man who shot Ronald Reagan was being released from the custody of a mental institution that he complained that “David Hinckley should not have been freed.” Hinckley’s first name is “John.”
  6. After being pummeled for not repudiating white supremacist David Duke, Trump asserted that he “didn’t know anything” about him. Which was not only an admission of ignorance, it was a lie.
  7. Pretending to be a devout Christian, Trump bungled the quotation he sought to recite from the bible in a way that brought laughter from a Christian university audience.
  8. Trump earned one of his many “Pants-On-Fire” lie designations from PolitiFact when he claimed that the Trans-Pacific Partnership “was designed for China” to “totally take advantage of everyone.” Except that China is not a part of the TPP.

To be sure, there are many other incidences of Trump’s flagrant ignorance, but these few paint a sorrowful picture of a willful aversion to the sort of knowledge and incentive to learn that is required of a national leader (or a CPA, or a pet groomer, or any citizen).

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

And yet Trump regards himself as the foremost authority on – well, everything. When MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski asked him who he consults with he responded “I’m speaking with myself, number one, because I have a very good brain and I’ve said a lot of things.” That’s when he isn’t consulting his other primary source of information that he identified when he said “All I know is what’s on the internet.” And if that doesn’t send shivers down the spine of America’s voters, they better see a neurologist stat.

Is This Treason? What Donald Trump Just Said Undermines American Democracy

Posted by on July 27, 2016 at 4:43 pm. 3 Comments :

It may be an Olympic-grade understatement to say that Donald Trump has done some god-awful things in his quest for the presidency. From mocking the disabled to ripping off veterans to insane proposals with regard to Muslims and immigrants. But he may just have outdone himself.

In a press conference this morning, Trump was asked about reports that Russia was responsible for the hacking of DNC emails. He has previously dismissed the charges as Democratic efforts to distract from the content of the stolen emails, despite the fact that it is the FBI and other intelligence agencies who identified Russia as the likely culprit.

Trump Putin

His response to today’s inquiries, however, introduced a new and deeply disturbing tactic on Trump’s part. He offered, without prompting, his interest in further exploiting the email theft to his advantage. In a direct response to a question on whether he would condemn the hacking he said “No, it gives me no pause,” and that:

“If Russia or China or any other country has those emails I mean to be honest with you, I’d love to see em.”

Let that sink in for a minute. Donald Trump, the nominee of the Republican Party for President of the United States, is affirmatively endorsing the notion of revealing private information that was stolen from Americans by a foreign and hostile government. That is an untenable and unpatriotic position that undermines the country’s interests as well as the principles of personal privacy and information security. But it gets even worse. Trump went on to say:

“Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing.”

In that statement Trump is literally soliciting Russia to commit cyber-crimes and espionage against fellow Americans. How is that not treasonous? He continued with a thinly disguised reference to Russia being “rewarded mightily” for their hacking. Is that an offer to compensate Russian hackers and spies for their efforts? Or is Trump simply implying that Russia would benefit from a Trump presidency and that he would make it worth their while were they to sabotage the campaign of Hillary Clinton? Either way he is taking up sides with an international foe against his own country. Now what is it that we call that?

In the press conference Trump flatly denied having any connection to Russian politics or business. That’s a lie. Has he already forgotten his Miss Universe Pageant he held in Moscow just three years ago? But his Russian ties go much deeper than that. As reported by Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo:

“At a minimum, Trump appears to have a deep financial dependence on Russian money from persons close to Putin. And this is matched to a conspicuous solicitousness to Russian foreign policy interests where they come into conflict with US policies which go back decades through administrations of both parties.”

Marshall’s article goes into extensive detail of Trump’s connections to Russian oligarchs and politicians. He makes the case that Trump’s chumminess with Putin is not coincidental. Marshall’s documentation is thorough and somewhat frightening. And if anyone wonders why Putin would favor Trump, look no further than Trump’s recent denigration of NATO and his reluctance to honor the agreement. That would be a huge advantage for Putin whose expansionism would be made much easier if he didn’t have to worry about the U.S. defending its NATO allies.

Another Trump lie in the press conference was his assertion that “I never met Putin, I don’t know who he is. He said one nice thing about me.” It is true, of course, that Trump never met Putin (although he once claimed to know him very well because they both appeared on “60 Minutes” in separate interviews, thousands of miles apart). But what are we to make of his claim that he doesn’t know who Putin is? Folks, we are treading dangerously close to mental incapacity here.

Trump’s VP, Mike Pence, issued a statement that appeared to distance himself from Trump’s perfidy:

“If it is Russia and they are interfering in our elections, I can assure you both parties and the United States government will ensure there are serious consequences.”

Pence might want to confirm that with his boss who is promising that the perpetrators would be rewarded mightily. And contrary to his suggestion that both parties will ensure that there are consequences, the Republican Party has yet to make any public statement repudiating Trump’s remarks or even the more general issue of the hacking of the DNC. Contrast that with the statements from the Democratic side including:

Hillary for America Senior Policy Advisor, Jake Sullivan: This has to be the first time that a major presidential candidate has actively encouraged a foreign power to conduct espionage against his political opponent. […] This has gone from being a matter of curiosity, and a matter of politics, to being a national security issue.

Former CIA Director Leon Panetta: “I find those kinds of statements to be totally outrageous because you’ve got now a presidential candidate who is in fact asking the Russians to engage in American politics. I just think that’s beyond the pale. […] I think that kind of statement only reflects the fact that he truly is not qualified to be president of the United States.”

It is incomprehensible that a candidate for the nation’s highest office is articulating activities that amount to aiding and abetting foreign enemies. Trump’s comments should be investigated by the FBI and his connections to Russian economic and political players should be thoroughly examined. As for Trump’s supporters, they need to reassess their allegiance to him, because if he can’t be trusted to act in the best interests of the nation, he surely should not get the vote of any patriotic American.

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

What Samantha Bee Said About Fox News Is Hilarious And True And Definitely NSFW

Posted by on July 26, 2016 at 3:21 pm. 1 Comments :

In the middle of perhaps the most bizarre presidential campaign ever, the primary communications vehicle for the Republican Party, Fox News, suffered a massive blow to its propaganda infrastructure. Last week Fox’s chairman and CEO, Roger Ailes, was unceremoniously cast unto the garbage heap of perverted executives after numerous allegations of sexual harassment emerged.

Samantha Bee

The hostile work environment for women at Fox is reflective of their editorial bias against women, socially and politically, and the issues that impact them most. Reproductive rights, family leave, and gender discrimination, are all areas in which Fox has taken stances in opposition to the best interests of women. So while Ailes (and certainly others at Fox) is an abusive slimeball, we must not forget that Fox is still a thoroughly dishonest purveyor of right-wing disinformation.

Samantha Bee hit on both of those themes in last night’s “Full Frontal” in a segment that took apart the network and its commitment to unabashed misogyny and conservative mythologizing. Her monologue was a tightly knit excoriation of the network’s mission to objectify women while spreading lies and exalting Republican politicians and pundits. For instance:

“Fox News is the only 24 hour news network to feature a strategically placed leg cam to showcase the most qualified body parts of its female contributors. Plus the daily women’s show trading on the titillating tension between owning a harem and fear of emasculation. So yeah, turns out the guy who runs that network is kind of a creep. Who would have guessed?”

That bit about the “leg cam” was not a comic device. Reports from insiders have revealed the existence of an actual camera for that specific purpose. News Corpse reported this two years ago along with an analysis of the nexus of porn and politics that is integral to the culture at Fox News. It’s a network that serves its viewers as their orgasm channel in more ways than one. Bee went on to say that:

“Roger Ailes made Fox News an unstoppable powerhouse by discovering the secret to big ratings. What viewers really want is to be furiously angry while also having a boner. The anger part of the arousal was achieved through Roger’s uncanny ability to take a thing that may or may not exist, put an ominous spin on it, and then force feed it to us all day like a foie gras goose until we were terrified. Fox News was his masterpiece. A right-wing nightmare factory powered by white resentment and relentless misinformation, churning out propaganda 24/7 and making family Thanksgivings unbearable for 20 years.”

That’s as accurate an appraisal of Fox News as any ever published by an academic journal or media analyst. It captures Fox’s reliance on titillating the passions of their wingnut viewers, and lord knows their viewers want their wingnuts titillated. As an extra added benefit, she’s funny as hell.

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

Fox ‘News’ Reports That ‘Obama Endorses Trump’ But Leaves Out Some REALLY Important Details

Posted by on July 24, 2016 at 5:05 pm. NO Comments :

The week-long Republican National Convention is over and what most people will remember from it is that Melania Trump is plagiarist and that Donald Trump thinks the America is in the grip of a dystopian nightmare. There is little evidence that the typical polling bump that these events generally produce will occur. That is in large part due to the fact that depressing harangues intended to frighten voters are more likely to alienate than inspire. That’s why Ronald Reagan’s campaign slogan was “Morning in America” and not “Mourning in America.”

Consequently, Fox News has had to scramble to manufacture anti-Democratic plot lines in advance of the Democrat’s convention this coming week. So far they have latched onto the story about the hacked DNC emails implicating the party in efforts to undermine the Bernie Sanders campaign. It’s rather humorous to see Fox, and their roster of right-wingers, feigning concern for the unfairness shown to Bernie – as if they care.

In the absence of any other news with which to malign the Democrats, Fox News began running a story that they got from their sister publication, the New York Post. It is a trivial bit of tabloid gossip that Fox is elevating to scandal status via brazenly misleading promos. The phony Fox headline is “Obama Endorses Trump.”

Obama Endorses Trump

Any of the poor saps who were watching this story unfold on Fox & Friends discovered after the commercial break that the Obama referenced in the promo was not President Barack Obama, but his brother, Malik. Why this would be of interest to anyone is a mystery. The Obama brothers have not been close for many years and Malik has made a career out of exploiting his family ties and denigrating the President. Nevertheless, Fox found this to be a significant development and ran the story several times throughout the day.

What Fox failed to mention were the reasons that Malik gave for favoring Trump. The article in the Post says that Malik was “annoyed that Clinton and President Obama killed Libyan leader Moammar Khadafy, whom he called one of his best friends,” and that “what bothers him even more is the Democratic Party’s support of same-sex marriage.” The Post quoted Malik as saying that “I feel like a Republican now because they don’t stand for same-sex marriage, and that appeals to me,”

Malik Obama is such a strong advocate of “traditional” marriage that he has entered into it at least three times (and as many as twelve, by some reports). And unlike Trump, whose three marriages were consecutive, Malik’s are concurrent (i.e. he’s still married to all of them).

The Post also reported another part of Malik’s past wherein he created a dubious charity that ran afoul of the law, noting that it was “an off-the-books operation that hadn’t registered with the state of Virginia or, as it claimed, had tax-exempt status from the IRS.”

No wonder Malik Obama is a big fan of Donald Trump (And Trump is a fan of Malik too). They both collect wives for a hobby (and on top of that Trump is a serial adulterer who wants to bang his daughter). They both oppose marriage equality (although Trump has been known to swing both ways – on the issue, that is). They both admire brutal dictators (Trump has been known to praise Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-Un, and others). And they both make up charities that end up being exposed as self-serving scams.

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

The “Curvy Couch” potatoes of Fox & Friends never mentioned any of those things as they struggled to find relevance in this pathetic story. The only takeaway from this that has any import is that Malik Obama and Donald Trump were cast from the same loathsome mold. Other than that, this ludicrous story has no bearing on President Obama, Hillary Clinton, or the election. It is more a reflection on Trump and Fox News than anything else.

Donald Trump’s Latest Tweets Prove He’s A Whiny Brat Who Will Never Be ‘Presidential’

Posted by on July 23, 2016 at 5:28 pm. 6 Comments :

Throughout the Republican primaries Donald Trump has behaved like a colicky infant throwing tantrums and lashing out at opponents with insults that would make an eight year old wince with shame. He is easily the most profane, classless, cretin who ever ran for president. His remedial English, hollow policy pronouncements, and incessant boasting, are cartoonish in nature. Even Fox News mogul, Rupert Murdoch, agreed when he tweeted “When is Donald Trump going to stop embarrassing his friends, let alone the whole country?”

Donald Trump

Trump has spoken about “pivoting” to “acting” more presidential several times in response to reporter inquiries. Setting aside the absurdity that such questions need to be asked, he generally took the position that he would get around to it eventually and that it would be easy. That position is an admission that he is not currently acting presidential and that when he does so it would just be an act. rather than a genuine component of one’s character.

Now that he is the official nominee of the Republican Party, it might seem like a good time to make the pivot. Unfortunately, Trump doesn’t think so. He posted a could of tweets today that are typical of his childishness and evidence that he doesn’t have the temperament to be hall monitor, much less president. First he took a wild swing at Sen. Elizabeth Warren using one of his juvenile and offensive taunts to describe her:

There isn’t a single word in that tweet that is true. All of Warren’s public statements prior to Kaine’s selection indicate that she never considered herself to be a VP candidate. Following the Kaine announcement she responded directly to Trump with her own tweet saying that “I’m right where I want to be, @realDonaldTrump: Calling you out & holding you responsible for your reckless vision for America.” She has a close relationship Hillary Clinton who campaigned with her just last week. Trump assumes that everybody else harbors the same measure of hatred that he does. But no one has less insight into why Clinton chose Kaine than Donald Trump.

A few hours later, Trump posts another petulant tweet aimed at the new Clinton/Kaine ticket:

First of all, Trump is ignoring the fact that ISIS has virtually endorsed his candidacy. And just as Clinton predicted, they are using him in their recruiting videos. But it’s his third grade level heckling that continues to prove that he is utterly incapable of even a hint of presidential bearing. The reason Clinton and Kaine don’t look presidential to him is that he doesn’t know the meaning of the word (literally).

Trump has called his own GOP colleagues “losers, weaklings, liars, and pussies.” Even if he were to start behaving like a princess at high tea, it would just be another facade that he could abandon when he no longer needs to pretend. And if you aren’t convinced that this behavior is cause for concern, Just imagine how Trump would deal with Congress, citizen groups, and foreign heads of state. It would not be merely embarrassing, it would be dangerous.

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

Watch Donald Trump being “presidential”

WATCH: Racist Icon David Duke Announces Senate Run With Praise For Donald Trump

Posted by on July 22, 2016 at 4:58 pm. 2 Comments :

Now that Donald Trump has officially become the nominee of the Republican Party for president, the election season can shift some focus to down ballot races for governors and Congress. One such race is the senate seat being vacated by prostitute patron David Vitter in Louisiana. Among the throng of hopefuls for the seat we can now add former Klan leader David Duke.

David Duke

What makes Duke’s candidacy notable is the inspiration he cites for throwing his white, pointy hat in the ring. In a video launching his campaign (below), Duke says “I’m overjoyed to see Donald Trump and most Americans embrace most of the issues that I’ve championed for years. My slogan remains ‘America First.’” His argument for electing him is that he would be the one person in Congress looking out for white, Christian Europeans. Well, except for the other 80% of the members of Congress.

The Louisiana Republican party said that Duke is “a hate-filled fraud who does not embody the values of the GOP.” However, there is no disputing that Duke is running on Trump’s coattails with a nearly identical platform. He has endorsed Trump for president and was impressed with his acceptance speech tweeting “Great Trump Speech, America First! Stop Wars! Defeat the Corrupt elites! Protect our Borders!, Fair Trade! Couldn’t have said it better!” That’s high praise. Trump must be proud that he is so perfectly articulating the hopes and dreams of one America’s leading white supremacists.

In addition to being inspired by Trump, Duke takes some credit for inspiring Trump’s ascendancy in the Republican Party. Earlier this month when he first floated his interest in running for office, Duke bragged that “I’ve said everything that Donald Trump is saying and more. I think Trump is riding a wave of anti-establishment feeling that I’ve been nurturing for 25 years.”

He may have a point. Trump is rather new to the bigots banquet, at least so far as assuming a public role in the movement is concerned. But he has risen rapidly and succeeded in corralling a broad measure of support from the racist rank and file. Last year Politico reported that:

“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.”

Indeed, Trump is making it easier for avowed racists to come out of the closet and profess their bigotry with pride. Let’s call it “The Trump Effect.” It begins with his willingness to retweet racist memes and comments from blatant white supremacists. And he scores more points for failing to disassociate himself from racist supporters, or for only doing so after being criticized. And even then without much conviction.

Trump, of course, denies that he is racist. But if you are being heralded by racists and neo-Nazis, at some point a conscientious person would want to know what it is they are doing that is attracting such a repulsive contingent of cretins. Trump’s supporters and the Republican Party ought to be asking themselves the same questions.

Having conquered the Republican primary, Trump has thrown the door wide open for racists who used to be reticent about going public to actually seek public office. They now have carte blanche to advertise their biases with some confidence that they can attract votes, at least within the GOP. That’s the distasteful opportunity that the Trump Effect has created for David Duke and others like him.

UPDATE: Trump just announced that he might vote for Duke:

“Mr Trump was asked if he would support a Democrat over Mr Duke if it was necessary to defeat him, Mr Trump replied: “I guess, depending on who the Democrat is.”

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