Month: August 2016

The Trump For President Hour: Brought To You By Sean Hannity And Fox News

Posted by on August 22, 2016 at 4:50 pm. 11 Comments :

The Republican shills at Fox News are becoming increasingly unhinged as their anointed candidate falls farther behind in the polls. Donald Trump’s new “presidential” persona isn’t helping him attract voters. In fact, his appeal to African-Americans actually offended many with his stereotyping of them as poor, unemployed, and uneducated. Not to mention his backhanded slam that they are gullible waifs being duped by the evil Democrats.

Trump Hannity

So what is a blatantly biased GOP PR machine to do when their electoral messiah falls off the cross? Nail him back up, of course. And that’s what Fox is doing with yet another primetime special produced and hosted by their Senior Trump Fluffer, Sean Hannity. Last week Hannity held a Trump infomercial in Milwaukee that was billed as a town hall. Following that The Donald’s ship hit another iceberg as his campaign staff fell apart. The leadership void was filled by the chairman of Breitbart News, Stephen Bannon, a favorite of the American white nationalist movement.

All of that bad news took some of the punch out Hannity’s promo. Consequently, he’s scheduled another town hall for tomorrow night in Austin, TX, to make up for it. Apparently this is a new weekly series offered by Fox News featuring the wingnut duo “Donny and Seany” (Marie is busy selling diet shakes). On the nights when Trump is not a guest, he will still be the main attraction. Hannity already spends every episode reciting love poems to Donny and attacking his nemesis, Hillary Clinton. And he’s getting lots of help from Fox News on that score.

UPDATE: This is even worse than I thought. The town hall in Austin will be a two night affair (Tuesday and Wednesday).

Hannity’s involvement with Trump’s campaign is growing more complex. He’s always been the top provider of airtime to Trump, and now reports say he is also serving as an adviser. Media analyst Jim Rutenberg writes in the New York Times that:

“Mr. Hannity uses his show on the nation’s most-watched cable news network to blare Mr. Trump’s message relentlessly — giving Mr. Trump the kind of promotional television exposure even a billionaire can’t afford for long.

“But Mr. Hannity is not only Mr. Trump’s biggest media booster; he also veers into the role of adviser. Several people I’ve spoken with over the last couple of weeks said Mr. Hannity had for months peppered Mr. Trump, his family members and advisers with suggestions on strategy and messaging.”

Sean Hannity has already announced on the air his endorsement for Trump and intention to vote for him. Now it appears that he is also working for the campaign as a political operative (along with his ex-boss Roger Ailes). And Fox News permits this flagrantly biased behavior. There is no precedent for a news network turning over so much of its schedule to one candidate. It is wholly inappropriate and a breach of journalistic ethics. As noted previously, if the Federal Elections Committee had any integrity they would cite Fox for violating campaign finance laws. They should be forced to declare this an in-kind contribution to Trump’s campaign.

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

Many people are speculating that Trump’s presidential ambitions have been a scam from the start. Media watchers from Vanity Fair to the New Yorker say that his real goal is to launch his own cable network. That may be true, and he has been assembling a team (Ailes, Bannon, Hannity) that could serve as a starting roster. However, there is a far greater likelihood of failure than success for such a venture, as I detailed here two months ago. Trump would just be adding to the list of his business debacles should he attempt this. Therefore, he has my blessing.

Rudy Giuliani Goes INSANE On Fox News Over Hillary Clinton’s Mental Health

Posted by on August 21, 2016 at 2:36 pm. 19 Comments :

As Donald Trump’s campaign continues to implode, his surrogates are stepping up the effort to make him look less like a narcissistic imbecile. They have their work cut out for them. Even though he has embraced the TelePrompter that he once said should disqualify any candidate, he is still embarrassing himself in a very public manner. Consequently, the clean up crew has to get ever more creative.

Rudy Giuliani

This morning on Fox News Sunday, Rudy Giuliani made the curious assertion that Hillary Clinton wasn’t campaigning (video below). So host Shannon Bream asked him a darn good question: “Then why is she doing so well in the polls?” He delivered a nearly incoherent response mainly blaming the so-called “liberal” media that “constantly demonizes Donald Trump.” Never mind the recent Harvard study that proved “Clinton had by far the most negative coverage of any candidate.” But Giuliani went off the rails when he ventured into conspiracy theories about Clinton’s health:

“[The media] Fails to point out several signs of illness by her. All you got to do is go online … Go online and put down ‘Hillary Clinton illness’ and take a look at the videos for yourself.”

Is he friggin’ serious? Giuliani’s authoritative approach to clinical diagnoses is to consult – Google? First of all, none of the “doctors” practicing on the Internet have examined, or even met, Clinton. Secondly, the medical opinions you’re likely to encounter online come from such experts as Alex Jones of Infowars, the Drudge Report, Glenn Beck, and of course, Fox News. What brain disease would cause Giuliani to think that Googling “Clinton’s illness” would validate his ludicrous claims?

As for Fox News, last week Sean Hannity slandered Clinton with a week-long extravaganza of factless blather and made up health crises. Steve Doocy of Fox & Friends called her prescription glasses “a sign of brain damage.” Trump spokesperson Katrina Pierson baselessly alleged that Clinton has dysphasia. Not to be left out, Trump has lately been saying that Clinton “lacks the mental and physical stamina to take on ISIS.” It’s clear that Trump’s “brain” trust has opted to surrender the policy debate and attack Clinton’s health instead.

For the record, Clinton’s actual doctor released a statement saying that “Secretary Clinton is in excellent health and fit to serve as president of the United States.” Now that’s pretty good, but it doesn’t compare with the note from Trump’s doctor declaring that he will be “the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency.” How he knows that without having examined every other president was not explained. However, it sounds very much like something Trump himself would say. Could he be pretending to be his own doctor like he pretended to be his own publicist?

Giuliani’s confidence in the Internet’s infallibility is reminiscent of Trump’s similar reverence for online truthiness. A couple of months ago Trump appeared on Meet the Press where anchor Chuck Todd pressed him to acknowledge that a video that he posted on Twitter was a hoax. Trump squirmed uncomfortably while seeking a plausible denial, finally settling for this lame disavowal: “All I know is what’s on the Internet.”

From a Commander-in-Chief perspective, that’s an awfully low standard for knowledge, but it seems to be a recurring pattern with Trump and his cohorts. In the absence of facts to support their increasingly deranged allegations, they settle for fantastical fables they find online. It’s a de facto admission that they simply don’t care about truth anymore. Not that they ever did.

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

Ex-Spokesman For Trump’s New Campaign Chair Endorses Hillary Clinton

Posted by on August 20, 2016 at 2:15 pm. 2 Comments :

There are very few opportunities to watch a presidential campaign implode in full view of the public. However, that’s what is happening right now to Republican nominee Donald Trump’s crusade of vitriol and petulance. In the past few days his campaign morphed into a white nationalist movement lead by a radical ultra-rightist.

Donald Trump

Breitbart News Chairman Stephen Bannon has taken the reins of the campaign (for now) as Trump’s polls sink to historic lows. Bannon’s contribution is expected to be an embrace of Trump’s worst traits and most extreme positions. Which is good news for Hillary Clinton because no one benefits more from the “let-Trump-be-Trump” strategy than Democrats.

Confirming the impending meltdown of TeamTrump, the former spokesman for Brietbart News, Kurt Bardella, has been making the media rounds to supply some insight into Trump’s suicide squad. He appeared on Fox News Friday asked by host Heather Nauert if they are “now on track with their campaign?” Bardella’s response was that:

“I think at the end of the day one speech on message doesn’t make an entire campaign, and certainly doesn’t erase an entire year’s worth body of work.”

Perhaps that’s a bit too complex for a press corps that seems to think a candidate-hyped pivot represents real change. They have spent the last 48 hours swooning over Trump’s wishy-washy regrets that were written by hired hacks. Bardella went on to discuss how Trump’s “regrets” were quickly shoved out of the media spotlight by his clumsy announcement that his skeevy campaign manager Paul Manafort had resigned:

“That’s just another example of the Trump team not really having their act together. […] They stepped on their own news cycle needlessly.”

More importantly, Bardella provided his unique insights into Bannon garnered from their two year working relationship at Breitbart News. As spokesman for the website he had unparalleled exposure to its inner workings. He resigned following the infamous episode when Trump’s then-campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, manhandled Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields. Bannon’s failure to support his own reporter against an abusive jerk repulsed Bardella and other Breitbrats who also bailed out. He held nothing back when the subject came up on Fox:

Nauert: What can you tell us in a fair fashion about what it was like working for [Bannon] and what we can expect from his leadership of the Trump campaign?

Bardella: Steve is someone who governs very much by fear. He’s a bit of a dictator of a character. He’s known for making latenight, profanity-laced tirade phone calls at his staff when things aren’t going the way he wants them to go.

Sounds like a perfect match for Donald Trump. The picture Bardella paints of Bannon as an authoritarian bully may jibe with Trump’s personality, but it can’t possibly help him to broaden support among voters. Trump already has the white supremacist and neo-fascist vote locked up. In fact, rational Republicans are more likely to be alienated by Bannon’s ideas and methods. Including Bardella who just wrote an op-ed for The Hill where he announced that he will be voting for Hillary Clinton:

“What eventually caused me to terminate my relationship with Breitbart was Steve’s guidance of Breitbart to become the de facto propaganda machine for Donald Trump. […] It is glaringly obvious that Donald Trump does not have the temperament or the judgment to occupy the Oval Office. This is one of those times where the best interests of the whole outweigh any partisan allegiances or any specific issue. It’s why I’ve made the personal choice to vote for Hillary Clinton in November. Donald Trump is dangerous for America.”

When you’ve lost the spokesman for Breitbart News, who served in the same role for wingnut Republican Darrell Issa, it may be time for an intervention. There’s a reason that former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke and other racial hate group leaders have endorsed Trump. Maybe the rest of his supporters would like to reconsider the measure of the man they are backing for president. Or more sickening, maybe they have and they’re cool with it.

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

Regrets My A$$: Lovesick Media Swoons At Trump’s Phony Non-Apology

Posted by on August 19, 2016 at 6:51 pm. 1 Comments :

For several months there has been breathless anticipation that the boorish and offensive personality of Donald Trump would vanish in a puff of smoke as he revealed his true graciousness and diplomacy. And the same people who believe that are still waiting for Santa to deliver their unicorn.

Donald Trump

In a speech in Charlotte, N.C., Trump recited the TelePrompted views that were prepared for him by the new regime managing his floundering campaign. For the most part it was typical Republican dogma with one new wrinkle. Reversing months of stubborn insistence that he has nothing to regret, Trump conceded that he does, indeed, feel some pangs for unspecified occasions when “you don’t choose the right words or you say the wrong thing.” But even he expressed skepticism of this new found contrition by prefacing his regrets with “believe it or not.”

Anyone who thinks that Trump is actually sorry has not been paying attention. He has unabashedly insulted Latinos, veterans, women, African-Americans, and the disabled. His rebukes of fellow Republicans during the primary were painfully immature. You can’t behave like that for nearly a year and then just turn around and issue a wishy-washy regret that was written by hired hacks. He never bothered to actually apologize or even show respect for those he demeaned by identifying them or what he said that was wrong. It’s fair to say that the only thing he really regrets about his comments is the extent to which they have hurt him.

What’s most disappointing about this is the ease with which the media is falling for Trump’s bad playacting. They seem to think that his “pivot” is a material transformation of his personality on the scale of a spiritual rebirth. In reality it’s a desperate political ploy to avoid a humiliating landslide loss in November. Is the media really so dense that they don’t see that?

Here are some examples compiled by Media Matters of how the press has taken up Trump’s narrative without a lick of critical analysis:

On Fox & Friends, host Steve Doocy said of Trump’s address that it was “one of the best speeches Donald Trump has ever given.” That was seconded by correspondent John Roberts who added that “he completed his pivot to the general election campaign.”

MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Scarborough exclaimed “Wow. You have the reset button ready? Reset.” Guest reporter Katty Kay agreed saying “Yeah. That’s the kind of Trump that will make the Clinton campaign wake up.”

Christine Romans of CNN’s New Day marveled that it was “something I think six months ago we never thought we would have seen.”

On CBS This Morning host Margaret Brennan said “it may indicate a change in approach.” Her colleague Dean Reynolds called it “almost startling.” That was after he highlighted Trump’s “promise never to lie to voters.” They may want to take a look at the Trump Bullshitopedia to see the dozens of documented lies that are already on record.

Back on Fox, Chris Stirewalt declared it “a signal moment.”

The Washington Examiner’s Byron York gushed that we are seeing a “Very new Trump.”

The Daily Caller’s Vince Coglianese seemed relieved saying that “if we’ve been waiting for a pivot, this week is the one you should mark on the calendar.”

On NBC’s Today Hallie Jackson reported that this was “something we’ve almost never heard from him,” and that Trump sounded “strikingly more humble.”

These people are either terminally naive or too gullible to be living outside of an institution. The only sane response to Trump’s disingenuous attempts to appear remorseful is to throw right back at him the innumerable abusive and slanderous remarks he has unleashed and make him answer for each one individually. Short of that he deserves no praise for pasting a band-aid over the scars he has left on so many innocent people. And he certainly should not be taken at his word that he is regretful after all the times he swore to the contrary, even saying that “I like not to regret anything.” Here is some of the evidence in a four-video YouTube playlist:

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

UPDATE: The Clinton campaign weighs in with an awesome video on this subject: No Regrets. It’s a MUST see.

Q: Is Donald Trump ‘Sick And Tired Of Winning’ Yet? A: See Video

Posted by on August 18, 2016 at 12:14 pm. 2 Comments :

Donald Trump’s campaign is scrambling to regain its footing following a precipitous plunge that accelerated after a disastrous convention. However, his latest moves have only made things worse. Few observers have found much merit to putting racist and misogynist media moguls at the helm of his nationalistic crusade. Even his own surrogates are struggling to remain positive, more often devolving into the delusional (#Says who?).

Donald Trump

Trump’s cartoonish self-confidence early in the campaign manifested in prideful comments like “If I don’t win I’ll consider this a total and complete waste of time.” And who can forget when he bragged that “We’re going to win so much, you’re going to be so sick and tired of winning.” Apparently Trump has reached that apex of winning. Having become sick and tired of it, as he predicted, he has abandoned it in favor of losing more pitifully than any presidential candidate before him. He’s bound and determined to be the best loser with the hugest, most tremendous losses ever. Losing “big league,” you might say.

Which brings back memories of an appearance last October on Meet the Press where Trump had this exchange with host Chuck Todd (video below):

Todd: You said something the other day that caught me off-guard. You said you’re not a masochist, and if you start falling in the polls you’ll go back to your business. What does that mean? Are you not in this for the long haul?

Trump: A lotta people have asked me that question. Number one, I’m not a masochist. And if I was dropping in the polls where I saw that I wasn’t gonna win, why would I continue? And it’s funny. Maybe it’s, like, not like me because it’s the power of positive thinking. I’m a very positive person, I’m a positive thinker. But the truth is, I’m a realist.

I believe in polls. How many elections do you see where the polls were wrong? Not that many. Okay. You see ’em, but not that many. If I were doing poorly, if I saw myself going down, if you would stop calling me ’cause you no longer have any interest in Trump because “he has no chance,” I’d go back to my business. I have no problem with that.

First of all, Trump was being uncharacteristically truthful when he said he’s not a masochist. He is, of course, a narcissist. More to the point, his contention that he would quit the race if he were “dropping in the polls” should be revisited. As of today Trump has trailed in 23 of the last 23 national polls taken. The margin of Hillary Clinton’s lead is as high fifteen points. The poll-of-polls average is about six points. Furthermore, Trump is behind in ALL of the critical battleground states. No candidate this far down has ever come back to win in November. And he can hardly whine about the polls being rigged after giving such a hearty endorsement to them (well, he can but…).

Trump, the realist, ought to live up to his promise. Rearranging the TrumpTanic’s deck chairs is not going to enhance his chances of victory. Particularly when his new campaign staff is comprised of the Internet’s fringe elite. Last month Trump tantalized his disciples with the prospect of launching his own cable network, an epically horrible idea as detailed here. But if he’s still interested, this might be a good time to ditch his futile presidential ambitions and concentrate on the premiere of the Trump Propaganda and Home Shopping Network. He can take his current campaign staff (including disgraced ex-Fox News CEO Roger Ailes and loony ultra-rightist Breitbart News chairman Stephen Bannon) with him, because they would be better suited to a media propaganda venture than they are to politics. And he would have the gratitude of a nation that would be able to turn on their TVs without seeing him throwing tantrums and denigrating America. Win/Win.

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

In Desperate Move Trump Taps Breitbart Exec To Lead His Floundering Campaign

Posted by on August 17, 2016 at 11:13 am. 1 Comments :

From the very start, Donald Trump has made “winning” a key part of his political branding. Early in his campaign he promised his supporters that “We’re going to win so much, you’re going to be so sick and tired of winning.” Now that Trump has been falling behind Hillary Clinton in most polls, it’s safe to say that his fans are indeed sick and tired, but winning surely isn’t the reason.

Trump/Bannon

The latest evidence of Trump’s waning electoral fate is yet another campaign shake up. It was just a few weeks ago that Trump sent his long-time campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, packing (he has since taken up residence at CNN) and brought in Paul Manafort to turn things around. Not only has Manafort presided over a continued and worsening slump, he has managed to find himself making news with his unsavory ties to foreign dictators and Russian-affiliated oligarchs.

Now Trump has brought in two familiar associates in an attempt to repair his sagging fortunes. The campaign’s new chief executive will be Stephen Bannon, currently the Executive Chairman of Breitbart News. Bannon has been an ardent advocate for Trump who turned the Breitbart organization into a virtual Trump PR machine. However, he has not been a unanimous favorite among his peers. Ben Shapiro, a former Breitbart editor, complained that Bannon had “shaped the company into Trump’s personal Pravda.” Glenn Beck joined in to compare Bannon to Joseph Goebbels.

Bannon will also be remembered (or not) as the the writer/director of the pathetic cinematic flop “The Undefeated,” a documentary about Sarah Palin that went straight to video despite heavy promotion from Fox News. With any luck he’ll bring that same ability and skill to Donald Trump’s campaign.

The other new campaign hire is Kellyanne Conway, who will become Trump’s campaign manager. Conway is the president and CEO of The Polling Company, a Republican outfit that conducts surveys and advises GOP candidates on strategy. She is also a commentator on CNN where she fiercely defends everything Trump does and says no matter how ridiculous or offensive. This puts CNN in the unique position of employing both Trump’s former campaign manager (Lewandowski) and his new one. If they have any journalistic integrity at all, Conway will be suspended immediately. But having hired Lewandowski when he is still being paid by Trump, and is contractually prohibited from criticizing him, CNN’s integrity is already suspect.

These additions to the Trump team follow by one day the news that ex-Fox News CEO Roger Ailes will be coaching Trump to prepare him for his debates with Clinton and providing other campaign advice. Ailes, you will recall, was forced into early retirement after numerous accusations of sexual harassment at Fox. It is not known whether Ailes played any role in the remaking of Trump’s campaign, but he does have history with Bannon. More recently, Bannon penned two defenses of Ailes for Breitbart News. One alleged that Gretchen Carlson’s sexual harassment lawsuit was meritless. The other that it is part of a broader liberal conspiracy against Ailes.

Significantly, two of Trump’s top campaign operatives are now former media executives. That paints a picture of a campaign that is more interested in propaganda than politics. Expect Trump’s campaign to venture even further into attacks on the mainstream media and their plot to destroy Trump and, therefore, America. Simultaneously, they can be expected to exploit the media to amplify Trump’s voice and nationalistic fervor.

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

The value of these personnel moves seems underwhelming. Manafort, with all his baggage, will remain as the chairman of the campaign. And along with Bannon and Kelly they will continue to face the challenge of getting Trump to listen to anyone other than himself. However, their first duty will be to spin this latest campaign reinvention as further proof that Trump is winning.

Disgraced Former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes Is Now Advising Donald Trump

Posted by on August 16, 2016 at 4:52 pm. 1 Comments :

Well, this didn’t take long. Less than a month ago, Fox News forced its founder, chairman and CEO, Roger Ailes, into an early (and profitable) retirement. Ailes was escorted from the building following mounting accusations of sexual harassment by a couple of dozen women. Now, with legal proceedings still pending, Ailes is reportedly joining Donald Trump’s campaign as an adviser. Apparently Trump is looking to shore up his base of misogynist old white men.

Roger Ailes Outnumberd

The New York Times is reporting that four campaign insiders have affirmed that Ailes has been tapped to help prepare Trump for the presidential debates against Hillary Clinton. Because who better to coach Trump into becoming a fierce, woman-beating debater than the man who has already humiliated strong women like Megyn Kelly and Gretchen Carlson. The Times had a peculiar angle that saw the bright side of the alliance:

“For Mr. Ailes, being connected with Mr. Trump’s campaign could be a form of redemption after he was pushed out of the powerful network that he helped build. And for Mr. Trump, having Mr. Ailes taking a hand in his preparations for the debates adds immeasurably to the messaging and media expertise in his corner”

For Ailes, being connected to Trump’s floundering campaign hardly seems like redemption. However, Trump may indeed benefit from the advice of the architect of Fox’s propaganda machine. That’s if Trump would uncharacteristically take the advice. To date Trump has been lectured by everyone from the Wall Street Journal to his own daughter, but after promising to change he stubbornly returns to his profligate ways.

Trump’s camp is denying that Ailes will be providing any advice either formally or informally. His spokeswoman, Hope Hicks, dismissed the story in an email saying only that “Mr. Ailes and Mr. Trump have been friends for many years.” That’s the sort of denial that allows for significant wiggle room as the two “friends” may talk frequently about the campaign and how it should proceed.

What makes this relationship most disturbing is that Trump already has historically poor favorables with women. A Gallup poll earlier this year showed Trump with a 70 percent unfavorable image among women. That shouldn’t surprise anyone considering the open hostility he has expressed toward women like Fox’s Megyn Kelly, whom he accused of being belligerent due to “blood coming out of her – wherever.” Or Carly Fiorina, who he insulted for having a face no one would vote for. Or his abortion stance that called for punishing the woman. Or his promise to appoint judges who would overturn Roe v. Wade. Or his opposition to child care, family leave, and equal pay.

Now match Trump’s record with an association with a notorious misogynist who ran a “news” network where he required women to wear revealing skirts while a roving “leg cam” provided the audience with a voyeuristic angle. And forging this partnership while the allegations of workplace harassment are still fresh suggests a degree of tone-deafness that borders on the psychotic.

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

Whether or not Ailes is officially advising Trump, their friendship and shared malice toward women should be enough to scare away all conscientious voters. And the incestuous relationship between right-wing media and the political hacks they promote is evidence of their utter lack of ethics.

Donald Trump’s Hypocrisy On Tax Returns And The Media Just Went Stratospheric

Posted by on August 16, 2016 at 10:50 am. 3 Comments :

For weeks now Donald Trump has refused to release his tax returns. His obstinance flies in the face of modern political ethics. Every candidate for president for more than half a century has agreed that the public has a right to know about their prospective leader’s financial standing and relationships. But Lord Donald has designated himself as exempt from the burdens of his peasant predecessors.

Donald Trump

The unfairness of the privilege he granted himself was revealed yesterday following his mealy speech on “The Age of Terror.” Actually, it had nothing to do with the substance of the speech since there was little in it that could be called substantive. However, he also published the speech on his website with footnotes that tell the tale of his hypocrisy. Bear with me as this story unfolds.

At the point in his speech where the alleged billionaire harangues Hillary Clinton for having the audacity to want to make some money herself, Trump notes that:

“…as she threw the Middle East into violent turmoil, things turned out well for her. The Clintons made almost $60 million in gross income while she was Secretary of State.”

First of all, Trump’s faulty premise that it was Clinton who caused all the problems in the Middle East is ludicrous. Blaming his political opponent for the centuries of strife that have dogged the region is a display of his pitiful ignorance.

Secondly it’s rather offensive that a man who was born into wealth is so disturbed by the success of others. Especially when he used his family connections and skeevy ethics to swindle people out of their money. Neither of the Clintons came from well off families and their success was due to their own hard work. In Trump’s world the lower classes should know their place and stay there.

More to the point, his description of the Clintons’ good fortune needs to be fleshed out a bit. The $60 million the family earned over four years was divided between both Bill and Hillary. What Trump doesn’t tell you is that Hillary’s contribution during that time was only about $68,000, plus her State Department salary. Those earnings came from books that she wrote before becoming Secretary of State. Consequently, it was Bill’s speaking engagements and consulting that brought in more than 99 percent of the family’s income.

Which leads us to the revelation of Trump’s epic hypocrisy. Here is what Trump cited as his source for Clintons’ income in the footnotes of his speech transcript: “William J. Clinton & Hillary Rodham Clinton, 1040 U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, 2009 (and 2010, 2011, 2012).”

That’s right. Trump got the data from her tax returns. Tax returns that Clinton voluntarily released as part of her duty to the public she serves. Tax returns like those that Trump continues to refuse to make public. And yet, Trump still doesn’t get that releasing his tax returns is critical to understanding his fitness for office. There must be a serious cognitive disconnect in Trump’s brain if he can openly exploit the availability of Clinton’s tax returns without noticing the hyper hypocrisy of his own refusal.

And that’s not all. While perusing Trump’s footnotes for this article, another hypocrisy just screamed out for attention. Trump has made the media the prime target of his campaign vitriol. Particularly in recent days when he has taken to calling them “the worst human beings in the world.” Why then does he cite the mainstream media so much in his footnotes? Apparently the corrupt and dishonest scum at the New York Times are credible enough to cite fifteen times as support for his speech. CNN, a network he’s been boycotting since June, was cited thirteen times. The Washington Post, whose press credentials he has revoked, was cited eight times. For some reason his favorite news outlet, Fox News, only made the grade six times.

So on the one hand, Trump believes that these news organizations are lying heathens conspiring to destroy him. On the other hand, he considers them trustworthy journalistic assets that validate his claims. That’s just another of the contradictions that define Trump as a logic-challenged narcissist who will twist everything to his advantage no matter how absurd.

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

The bottom line is that when Trump needs information to malign his foes the availability of tax returns is essential. And when he needs the media to lean on for support or exposure they are his best friends. Otherwise tax returns serve no purpose and the media serve Satan. What this tells us is that Donald Trump resides in an egocentric world that depends on contradiction and hypocrisy to make any sense at all. Those aren’t exactly the sort of personality traits one looks for in a president or, for that matter, any other job.

Trump’s ISIS Policy Says Little About ISIS, But Would Ban Most Republicans From The U.S.

Posted by on August 15, 2016 at 3:33 pm. 3 Comments :

Last week Donald Trump sank to new lows in both presidential credibility and polling. So today he stepped up to his former enemy, the TelePrompter, to try to salvage his floundering campaign. He delivered what was pitched as a foreign policy speech that promised to enumerate the details of his plan to destroy ISIS. It didn’t.

Trump Border Wall

Trump unveiled a laundry list of the same vagaries that he has been spewing on the campaign trail for months. There was not a single substantive proposal directed at defeating ISIS. However, he did repeat his racist calls to limit immigration based on religious grounds. In fact, nearly everything he suggested was related to immigration rather than confronting terrorists on the battlefield. And when he wasn’t talking about immigration he was reiterating his preoccupation with President Obama saying the words “radical Islamic terrorism.”

What stood out in Trump’s address was the ideological test he is now advocating for admission to the country. He stipulated that any aspiring immigrants must pass a test that certified their acceptance of the American values of equality. Among those are religious freedom, gender equality and gay rights.

On the surface that seems like a decent pivot for The Donald to a position of tolerance and inclusion. There’s just one problem: A fair number of his supporters, and most of the Republican Party, would fail the test. If the people attending Trump’s rallies were subjected to this criteria they might risk deportation under his rules.

The official GOP platform defines marriage as between a man and a woman. It rejects anti-discrimination laws to protect transgender individuals. Parents of LGBT children would be allowed to force their children into conversion therapy. These views are shared by Trump and a majority of the Republican Party. Consequently, party members would be excluded from entry into the U.S.

With respect to gender equality, the GOP has opposed fair pay laws for decades. They have voted down family leave proposals. Overturning Roe v Wade has been one of their highest priorities. In the meantime they have been legislating away women’s reproductive choice bit by bit in states they control. Defunding Planned Parenthood has become an obsession.

On the question of religious freedom, Trump and his party have used the issue as an excuse to discriminate against same-sex marriage. Only Christians are permitted to demand special rights to deny other Americans their constitutional liberties. And Heaven forbid if someone were to wish you a “Happy Holiday” in December. Republicans insist that Christians be allowed to practice their religious rituals in government facilities, but lobby to prevent Muslims from even opening a mosque in many communities.

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

What Trump delivered today was a speech that was stuffed with retreads from prior speeches. And when he wasn’t regurgitating himself, he was lambasting the President and Hillary Clinton, mostly for things they didn’t do, or for things Trump made up. But the lasting impression from this address is that under a Trump Administration he, his followers, and his follow Republicans would be turned away at his border wall for failing the bigotry screening he says he would impose. Come to think of it, that would actually make America great again.

Tweet-Storming With The Whiner-In-Chief, Donald Trump

Posted by on August 14, 2016 at 11:11 am. 2 Comments :

Nothing illustrates desperation more than the frantic whining of someone who knows he’s losing badly but refuses to admit it. Donald Trump is a textbook case of this. Ever since his disastrous convention, Trump’s prospects have been sinking like an elephant in a tar pit. According to Gallup, the Republican convention actually resulted in more people saying they are less likely to vote for him. That’s the first time that has ever happened since polling on that question began.

Trump Baby

As Trump’s popularity declines he is behaving more and more erratically. His deranged assertions that Obama “founded ISIS,” that the elections will be “rigged,” and shamelessly insulting a Gold Star family, paint a picture of a pathetically deluded loser. And now he is directing his impotent fire at the media:

Trump is getting increasingly unhinged (to the degree that’s possible). He has also taken to calling the media “the worst human beings in the world.” There may be some victims of terrorism who disagree with that. However, the media must be so proud for having overtaken Hillary and ISIS in the Race for the Worst in Trump’s deranged head.

Having an active imagination must bring Trump some comfort. Because that’s the only way he can believe that he would be beating Clinton by twenty percent, even with more friendly media. As for not being covered properly at his rallies, they generally point a camera at him and let him rant. That is SO unfair. Holding him accountable for the things he actually says is the ultimate dirty trick.

It’s funny that Trump is complaining that he is losing to someone who “is not a talented person or politician.” Think how badly he would be losing if Clinton WAS a talented politician. And by the way, it absolutely IS freedom of the press “when newspapers and others are allowed to say and write whatever they want.” That’s the definition of freedom of the press. Even if you don’t like what they’re saying. But keep it up, Donald. Because nothing solves a cratering campaign like whining.

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

Donald Trump Loser