Month: February 2017

Thank You Fox News: Trump Thanks Fox And Friends For Making Him President (No, REALLY!)

Posted by on February 28, 2017 at 2:04 pm. NO Comments :

It’s hard to believe that it’s already been a month of the embarrassment that Donald Trump has inflicted on America. With all of the fumbling, lying, and childish insults, it seems like a year. Now, as he prepares to give his first address to a joint session of Congress, Trump took a moment to show his appreciation for those responsible for his ascendancy to the seat of power.

Donald Trump Fox News

In an interview with Fox & Friends, Trump courageously faced the notorious suck ups on the curvy couch. The inquisition began with the hard-nosed Steve Doocy introducing Trump by saying:

“Mr. President, thank you very much for the invitation. And, by the way, thank you very much for the shout-out you gave at your press conference about ten days ago.”

Doocy was referring to Trump’s praise of Fox & Friends during a press conference on February 16. In response to a question about leaks and fake news, Trump wondered completely off topic. Instead of answering the question, he ranted about the “hatred and venom” coming from Don Lemon at CNN. In the process he also slobbered all over Fox & Friends saying that:

“Fox & Friends in the morning, they’re very honorable people […] they have the most honest morning show.”

Of course they do. They spend three hours a day fluffing The Donald’s ego and inventing scandals about his critics and opponents. And don’t think that the President hasn’t noticed. He expressed his gratitude to his “Friends” and let them know exactly how much they meant to him:

“You have treated me very fairly. And I’ve been a friend of your show for a long time. Remember those call-ins, right? Maybe without those call-ins, someone else is sitting here.”

Indeed. Trump had a regular weekly segment on Fox & Friends called “Mondays with Trump.” He would phone in his incoherent opinions on whatever was the outrage of day. It surely had an impact on the Fox audience and juiced them up for his eventual candidacy. Combine that with the non-stop coverage of his stump speeches (by all the cable news networks), and their relentless defense of everything from pussy grabbing to Russian election tampering, and Fox’s designation as the PR division of The Trump Organization is irrefutable.

It’s not surprising that Trump would thank Fox News for getting him elected. He’s been haranguing the media as “fake news” and even worse, as “the enemy of the American people,” for months. But he’s been careful to keep Fox out of the line of fire. In the same interview that he thanked Fox, he also said this of the media in general:

“When they make stories up, when they create sources, cause I believe that sometimes they don’t have sources, you know, the sources don’t exist, sometimes they do exist, I’m not saying all sources, but I do believe that a lot of the sources are made up. A lot of the stories are made up. I believe a lot of, the stories are pure fiction, they just pull it out of air.”

Never mind that he has no evidence of any of those accusations. Fake or nonexistent sources would be a fireable offense at any credible news organization. What’s more, he said the sources for stories about former NSA director Michael Flynn didn’t exist. But that didn’t stop him from firing Flynn based on facts revealed in those stories.

If Trump is going to assert that stories are made up, he should be required to present examples. Don’t hold your breath. His idea of fake news and honest news is warped beyond repair. That explains how he can lash out at CNN for telling the truth, but praise Fox & Friends as honest.

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

WHIPLASH: Trump Flips On Poll Because It Said Something Nice About Him

Posted by on February 27, 2017 at 7:12 pm. 2 Comments :

Trying to keep up with Donald Trump’s lies, insults, and hypocrisies is a full time job. His talent for deception and self-flagellation often exceeds the ability of honest observers to stay current. He’s off onto new falsehoods while analysts are still assembling the proof debunking his last three.

Donald Trump

Monday evening Trump fired off another tweet that makes one’s head spin. He sought to celebrate the allegedly positive position of the Republican Party:

First of all, this is the same Donald Trump who doesn’t believe in polls. Especially those conducted by the “fake news” media. He generally dismisses them as “rigged.” Unless, of course, they say something nice about him. That’s the case with this new poll by NBC and the Wall Street Journal. But before we we get into the substance of the poll, here is what Trump had to say about these specific pollsters in the past:

Nevertheless, the President now thinks these pollsters are the epitome of virtue and respectability. Consequently, he can cite them with pride. However, he may have wanted to look past the single data point that some aide probably passed to him in a crayon scribbled note.

The questions in the poll that likely grabbed The Donald’s attention were related to the respondents views about the Republican and Democratic parties. While there was a slight advantage for the GOP, it was hardly anything to brag about:

  • On approval or disapproval of the Republicans in congress, the survey says: Approve 32 percent, disapprove 60 percent.
  • On approval or disapproval of the Democrats in congress, the survey says: Approve 31 percent, disapprove 58 percent.

So the GOP is approved by one percent more than the Democrats. But they are also disapproved by two percent more. And everyone is underwater. Then there’s this:

  • On having a positive or negative opinion of Republicans, the survey says: Positive 35 percent, negative 43 percent.
  • On having a positive or negative opinion of Democrats, the survey says: Positive 30 percent, negative 46 percent.

The GOP has a bit more of an edge in this contest, but still nothing to write home about and still more negative than positive. Still, this is what Trump thought was significant enough that his Twitter followers needed an alert. He is apparently jazzed that he holds a tiny lead that is within the margin of error. And, in any case, it still reveals that he’s hated pretty much across the board.

Finally, some of the other questions in the poll were not even mentioned by Trump. That’s probably because they show him profoundly behind on every one:

  • On Trump’s job approval rating, the survey says: approve 44 percent, disapprove 48 percent.
  • On Trump’s personal rating, the survey says: positive 41 percent, negative 47 percent.
  • On who should take the lead in setting policy, the survey says: Democrats 37 percent, Trump 33 percent, Republicans 19 percent.
  • On whether Congress should investigate Trump’s connections to Russia, the survey says: Yes 53 percent, No 25 percent.
  • On whether Congress should investigate Russia’s interference with the election, the survey says: Yes 54 percent, No 29 percent.

So perhaps we should thank Trump for bringing this poll to our attention. It reveals the depths to which he has sunk in the few long weeks he’s been in office. No doubt his glassy-eyed disciples won’t bother to click on the poll or review its findings in detail. But the results will be obvious to the rest of the nation and, hopefully, the media, or as Trump calls them, the “enemy of the American people”

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

Trump Whines That The Media Isn’t Reporting The Lies He Tweets From Fox News

Posted by on February 26, 2017 at 1:53 pm. 2 Comments :

It must be terribly frustrating being Donald Trump. Day after day, having to see the “fake news” ignore the critical issues he’s trying to resolve. How many people attended his inauguration? How much he would have won the popular vote by if not for all the illegal voters? His skyrocketing approval ratings the polls would show if they weren’t rigged? How unfunny Saturday Night Live is? You know, all the things that matter most to the American people.

Fox News Donald Trump

In addition to those presidential priorities, Trump frequently consults with his most trusted advisor – his television set – to shape his nascent agenda. Firmly planted in front of the Fox News channel’s blue glow, Trump obediently regurgitates what they broadcast into his mostly vacant cranial cavity. He has been caught repeatedly tweeting things that were on Fox News minutes prior to his tweet.

The latest example of this came in tweet on Saturday where Trump boasted about his awesome stewardship of the nation’s economy:

The reason the media hasn’t reported that might have something to do with the fact that it isn’t true. PolitiFact’s analysis of the claim concluded that it is “a gross misrepresentation of the state of the debt and the role the new president had in shaping the figure.” PolitiFact sought the opinions of experts who said:

“‘Considering that Trump hasn’t enacted any fiscal legislation, it’s a bit of a stretch for him to take credit for any changes in debt levels,’ Dan Mitchell, a libertarian economist and senior fellow at the Cato Institute, told us.” […and…]

“‘I wonder what he thinks he did to bring this about,’ said Harvard University government professor Jeffrey Frankel. ‘This one-month number is trivial in the long-run trend. The national debt will rise this year, and in future years. It will rise at a sharply accelerated rate if Trump carries out even half of his campaign promises for specific tax cuts (and specific spending increases).'”

What’s more, Trump’s misrepresentation of President Obama’s debt management is equally gross. Early in the Obama administration the debt increased because of a stimulus package that Congress had approved before he had even been sworn in. And the nation was still recovering from the worst recession in nearly a century. Subsequent to that, Obama’s economic policies produced a historic period of growth while cutting the deficit by two-thirds.

Which brings us back to where Trump got the notion expressed in his tweet. PolitiFact covered this as well, noting that:

“The tweet mirrors an article posted on the Gateway Pundit website a few days earlier. It was repeated by conservative pundit Herman Cain on Fox News shortly before Trump’s tweet.”

In fact, Herman Cain made the exact same claim on Fox & Friends less than an hour before Trump’s tweet:

So the Gateway Pundit (aka Jim Hoft, a notoriously unreliable source) was wrong. Consequently, Herman Cain on Fox News was wrong. And not surprisingly, Donald Trump was wrong again. Hopefully his relentless dishonesty, and unsavory connections to Russia, will seep through to his followers. To be sure, there’s gonna be demand for a lot of Kool-Aide antidote, but the effort must be made if America is going to survive the Era of Trump.

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

Chickensh*t Trump Blows Off White House Correspondents Dinner: Paging Alec Baldwin

Posted by on February 25, 2017 at 5:23 pm. 4 Comments :

Donald Trump has been fighting a bloody “War on the Media” for months now. His recent escalations included calling the “fake news” media the “enemy of the American people.” Shortly thereafter his press secretary, Sean Spicer, banned several news organizations from a White House briefing. The animosity from Trump gets more intense by the hour.

Alec Baldwin as Donald Trump

In his latest assault Gen. Trump has just announced that he will not be attending the White House Correspondents Dinner on April 29. The WHCD is an annual affair that is held to raise funds for scholarships. But apparently Trump’s anti-media obsession overrules any interest in helping a charity.

The truth is more likely that Trump is afraid of having a close encounter with the “enemy.” He has never been particularly good at laughing at himself. That’s a personality flaw that’s common among narcissists. So rather than fraternize with the media he so fervently hates, and being the butt of their jokes, he canceled.

What’s more, the presidential guest of honor is expected to perform his own comedy bit. Just imagine how hard he would fall on his orange, spray-tanned face if he was pressed into that situation. Actually, you don’t have to image it. He painfully bombed when he was asked to tell a few jokes at the Al Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner last October (video below). Guests at that event noted that, for the first time ever, the speaker was booed.

With Trump’s cancellation, this will be the first dinner in thirty years where a president was not in attendance. The last president to miss the dinner was Ronald Reagan. But he a darn good excuse. He was recovering from having been shot. Yet he still phoned in a joke. “If I could give you just one little bit of advice,” he said, “When somebody tells you to get in a car quick, do it.”

This may all be for the best. After all, polls show that the public overwhelming prefers the media to Trump. So the event could benefit by his absence. Parties who have been planning to bow out this year may change their minds and show up. Ratings for the TV broadcast could soar. And it might even help by increasing donations.

Additionally, the WHCA could send invites to Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton if they want some fire power on stage. Plus they could enlist an alternative Trump to sit on the dais. Something tells me Alec Baldwin would be available. And no doubt Trump himself would be home watching and tweeting about how horrible it is. SAD!

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

Watch Trump’s embarrassing “comedy” routine here:

Trump’s New National Security Advisor Rejects His ‘Radical Islamic Terrorism’ Hogwash

Posted by on February 25, 2017 at 12:46 pm. 2 Comments :

For most of the Obama administration, conservative pundits and politicians sang a common refrain to castigate his anti-terrorism efforts. They offered little of substance to alter or improve the situation, but they were convinced of one thing. Just saying “radical Islamic terrorism” would send the enemy scurrying away forever. They regarded it as a magic incantation that would result in a glorious victory. {See The Reverse Beetlejuice Doctrine). Never mind that most experts rejected such rhetoric as counterproductive. They knew that it would alienate the Muslims who are critical to any successful fight against terrorism.

McMaster Trump

Among the chorus of wingnuts was our now-President, Donald Trump. Throughout his campaign he employed the mindless chant. He used it this week in his speech to CPAC. “We are going to keep radical Islamic terrorists the hell out of our country,” he ranted. True to form, he never explained how he would do that.

One of Trump’s first appointees was Gen. Michael Flynn as the National Security Advisor. Flynn lasted all of 24 days in the job. He was fired by Trump after news broke that he had inappropriate discussions with Russian agents during the campaign. Making matters worse is that reports reveal that Trump knew about Flynn’s activities but still made him the fall guy.

After a couple of respected national security experts declined Trump’s offer to replace Flynn, Trump got Gen. H.R. McMaster to accept the position. McMaster is considered to be a warrior-scholar with an independent streak. And he’s already displaying a profound measure of independence. According to the New York Times:

“President Trump’s newly appointed national security adviser has told his staff that Muslims who commit terrorist acts are perverting their religion, rejecting a key ideological view of other senior Trump advisers and signaling a potentially more moderate approach to the Islamic world.”

McMaster, reportedly told his new staff that the label “radical Islamic terrorism” was not helpful because terrorists are “un-Islamic,” That’s a direct repudiation of the position of Trump and senior aides such as Stephen Bannon. Not to mention virtually every Republican in Congress. The only question is whether Trump will respect the advice of a bona fide expert, or rely on partisan political hacks and propagandists. If the past is any indication, Trump is not going to be easily persuaded. Last year he tweeted:

Hopefully someone in the “fake news” will ask Trump to reconcile that statement with the views of his new National Security Advisor. McMaster’s position is one that has broad agreement in the security community. They recognize that saying “Radical Islamic Terrorism,” or otherwise associating the entire Muslim faith with the acts of violent extremists, is unwise and dangerous. We need to preserve our ability to form coalitions with Muslim nations in the Middle-East. Their cooperation is required to prevail against ISIS. And broadly demeaning their faith works against that objective. But it’s more than that. Accepting the terms and definitions of the terrorists is tantamount to acting as their PR department. They desperately aspire to be regarded as the legitimate voice of Islam. So why would Trump and his GOP cohorts insist on granting the terrorists that victory?

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

It remains to be seen how Trump will respond to McMaster’s comments. It is also notable the McMaster doesn’t share Trump’s opinion of Russia. He is unequivocal about Russia being an unfriendly adversary. Trump, on the other hand, is eager to cozy up to Putin. Under the circumstances, McMaster’s tenure as NSA might not last much longer than Flynn’s, but for entirely different reasons.

Trump’s CPAC Speech: Narcissistic Blather And Incoherent Attacks On The Media

Posted by on February 24, 2017 at 5:23 pm. 22 Comments :

The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) for 2017 is currently in progress. And on Friday it featured its star attraction, President Donald Trump. Trump could have stayed home and just delivered a video from any of his campaign stump speeches. His speech (transcript) was entirely devoid of any new thoughts he might have had after being president for a month. Of course, that’s presuming he ever has any new thoughts.

Donald Trump CPAC

Trump began with a familiar topic: himself. He rambled aimlessly for several minutes about whether he had just received a standing ovation. And of course he rattled off false statistics about his allegedly record setting electoral achievements. Then, after a few minutes of right-wing boot-licking, he bragged about how much he is loved by the CPAC crowd. One of his boasts concerned how well he did in polling after his previous CPAC speeches. The truth, however, is that he lost most of the CPAC straw polls bigly. In 2015 he registered a pathetic eigth place finish with only 3.5 percent of the vote. Last year, with the presidential campaign in full swing, he finished a distant third with 15 percent.

Trump did manage to stuff in the usual conservative issues and wingnut applause lines. He promised to fight terrorism, repeal ObamaCare, deport Mexicans, cut taxes, and build a wall. And he would preside over the biggest military buildup ever, and spend a trillion dollars on infrastructure, while eliminating the national debt. As usual, he provided no details as to how he would accomplish any of those fantastical goals.

Much of the speech was focused on his infamous hatred for the free press, or as he calls it, the “fake news.” He opened this part of his address with a manic declaration. “I want you all to know,” he ranted, “that we are fighting the fake news. It’s fake. Phony. Fake.” Then he elaborated:

“A few days ago I called the fake news the enemy of the people. And they are. They are the enemy of the people. Because they have no sources, they just make ’em up when there are none. I saw one story recently where they said, ‘Nine people have confirmed.’ There’re no nine people. I don’t believe there was one or two people. Nine people. And I said, ‘Give me a break.’ Because I know the people, I know who they talk to. There were no nine people. But they say ‘nine people.’ And somebody reads it and they think, ‘Oh, nine people. They have nine sources.’ They make up sources.”

Indeed, Trump railed about the media as “the enemy of the American people.“ That’s a phrase that maligns the First Amendment, and has its roots in Mao’s China. But his mad ravings about the “nine sources” is especially puzzling. That’s because he’s referring to a story in the Washington Post about his former National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn. The Post reported that they had nine sources affirming that Flynn had inappropriate discussions with Russian agents during the campaign. As a result of that story, Trump fired Flynn. Is he now contending that he fired his top national security aide because of a fake story with no sources? Who knows? And it doesn’t get any more comprehensible from there:

“They’re very dishonest people. In fact, in covering my comments, the dishonest media did not explain that I called the fake news the enemy of the people. The fake news. They dropped off the word ‘fake.’ And all of a sudden the story became the media is the enemy. They take the word ‘fake’ out. And now I’m saying, ‘Oh no, this is no good.’ But that’s the way they are.” […]

“They shouldn’t be allowed to use sources unless they use somebody’s name. Let their name be put out there. Let their name be put out. ‘A source says that Donald Trump is a horrible, horrible human being.’ Let ’em say it to my face. Let there be no more sources.”

Huh? First of all, without any sources there wouldn’t be any stories. And anonymity is necessary at times when the source is threatened professionally, financially, or physically. And, of course, Trump’s administration has its own anonymous sources that pass information to the press. Will he identify them all now? The only part of that that made any sense was the part about him being a “horrible human being.”

As for Trump’s assertion that he specified only fake news as the enemy of the people, he’s right. But his assertion that reports left that word out is nonsense. In most cases cases they quoted his tweet verbatim and showed it on screen or in print. Furthermore, his tweet accusing the media of fakery was pretty broadly stated. He explicitly cited the New York Times, NBC, ABC, CBS, and CNN. Apparently, Trump regards only Fox News, Infowars, the National Enquirer, and Breitbart News as non-fake. And he still isn’t through:

“They say that we can’t criticize their dishonest coverage because of the First Amendment. You know, they always bring up the First Amendment. And I love the First Amendment; nobody loves it better than me. Nobody. I mean, who use it more than I do? […] So just in finishing, I say it doesn’t represent the people. It doesn’t tell the – never will represent the people. And we’re going to do something about it because we have to go out and have to speak our minds and we have to be honest.”

Who ever said that he can’t criticize the media? Are the voices in his head shouting louder than the Fox News blowhards on his TV? And for someone who claims to appreciate the First Amendment, he has a funny way of showing it. Friday afternoon his press secretary explicitly banned several news organizations from an informal briefing. After admitting right-wing propaganda outfits like Breitbart and the One America News Network, Sean Spicer shut the door. He refused entry to CNN, the New York Times, Politico, The Hill, BuzzFeed, the Daily Mail, BBC, the Los Angeles Times, and the New York Daily News. This is in direct contradiction of a promise he made last December that he would “absolutely not” ban any credentialed journalists. So much for fairness and transparency in the Trump press office.

So just in finishing, WTF does Trump mean when he says that the media “doesn’t represent the people” and that he’s “going to do something about it?” What exactly does he have in mind? And does he think it’s the job of the president to make the media represent the people, as he defines it?

This CPAC speech was another in long line of embarrassingly maniacal orations that have come to epitomize the Trumpian sermonizing. They are filled with lies, exaggerations, boasting, and malice toward many. And to the extent that they can be comprehended, they are almost entirely lacking in substance. Yet somehow, his glassy-eyed followers cheer wildly as if he said something that wasn’t gibberish. That may be the saddest – and scariest – part of the Era of Trump.

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

LOLOL: Poll Shows Majority Of Voters Trust ‘Fake News’ Media More Than ‘Lyin’ Donald Trump

Posted by on February 24, 2017 at 8:05 am. 7 Comments :

It’s going to take a long time for the American presidency to recover from Donald Trump. In one interminably long month he has already brought both failure and shame to the nation. And the nation has noticed. Trump is suffering the worst approval ratings of any president at this point in over half a century. Quinnipiac University’s survey shows that a majority of 55 percent of voters have a negative opinion of him. Only 38 percent view him positively. And those numbers are down from previous polls. It’s a downward spiral.

Donald Trump

However, there are other numbers in this poll that are likely to bother The Donald even more. His notoriously thin skin will crawl when he learns that he’s held in lower esteem than his worst enemy. The “fake news” media. To be fair, Trump recently tweeted that the media “is not my enemy. It is the enemy of the American People!” Although his administration has characterized the media as the “opposition party.”

The Quinnipiac poll asked “Who do you trust more to tell you the truth about important issues: President Trump or the news media?” Voters chose the media by a margin of 52 percent to 37 percent. Not surprisingly, Republicans had a contrary view. They overwhelmingly chose Trump (78/13). However, both Democrats (86/7) and Independents (50/38) chose the media. Apparently Trump’s smear campaign isn’t working.

Additionally, The poll found that 61 percent of respondents disapprove of the way Trump talks about the media. And when asked “How important is it to you that the news media holds public officials accountable,” 72 percent said “very/somewhat” important. Once again there was a partisan divide. Democrats (90 percent) and Independents (75 percent) favor accountability. While only 44 percent of Republicans do. So Republicans are actually comfortable with letting Trump get away with questionable, and even criminal behavior.

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

To be sure, the media has its share of problems. It often can’t tell the difference between “balance” and providing a platform for liars. It’s more interested in ratings and revenue than its core mission of informing the public. The corporations that control most of it wield too much influence and provide too little diversity. That said, there is still something unsettling about Trump’s cultishly devoted followers. Whatever one thinks about the media, it is a safer source of information than an emotionally stunted, billionaire, misogynistic, bigot who’s lived an ivory tower life of entitlement and privilege.

Bin Laden Ops Chief Calls Trump ‘The Greatest Threat To Democracy In My Lifetime’

Posted by on February 23, 2017 at 1:37 pm. NO Comments :

Last week Donald Trump outdid himself on Twitter. For someone who has a record of repulsive and ignorant outbursts, Trump achieved a new low when he tweeted that the media “is the enemy of the American People.” It was reflective of his authoritarian attitude and disrespect for American principles.

Ever since then Trump has been castigated as a wannabe dictator and a suppressor of the free press. This is nothing new for Trump. Organizations that advocate for the welfare of journalists universally condemned him. The Committee to Protect Journalists issued a warning that “A Trump presidency would represent a threat to press freedom in the United States.” The National Press Club released a similar statement condemning Trump’s anti-press tactics as “unacceptable and dangerous to our democracy.” The reporter who uncovered Watergate, Carl Bernstein, said Trump is “more treacherous than Nixon.”

McRaven

Now another critic has emerged with unique credentials to comment on this. William McRaven, Chancellor of the University of Texas system, delivered a speech in which the subject was addressed. It’s important to note that McRaven is also a retired Navy admiral. Among his military accomplishments is that he designed and oversaw the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. So what did this American hero have to say about Trump’s enemies list?

“The president said the news media is the enemy of the American people. This sentiment may be the greatest threat to democracy in my lifetime.”

Wow. That’s not a liberal journalist sitting in a New York TV studio. And it’s not some flaky leftist who sips lattes and coddles refugees. That’s the guy who led the Special Ops mission to get Bin Laden. It’s fair to assume that he’s encountered numerous threats to democracy in his lifetime. The fact that he is singling this one out as the greatest is significant – and frightening.

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

McRaven’s military career is not the only source of validation for his opinions on the press. In 1977, before his service and his chancellorship, he graduated from UT Austin with a degree in journalism. So what we have here is a man who has proven his patriotism and put his life on the line for it. And also a man with relevant knowledge of the media, its history, and its ethical practice. Sadly, many of Trump’s glassy-eyed followers will pay no attention to McRaven’s remarks. But maybe some of the less cult driven Republicans will listen and heed his warning.

The ‘So-Called’ Trump Presidency Is Crumbling Under The Pressure – And They Know It

Posted by on February 22, 2017 at 5:37 pm. NO Comments :

Since the day that Donald Trump was inaugurated, the American people have flooded the streets and town halls to express their opposition to his agenda. Unprecedented numbers of citizens turned out for the nationwide Women’s March on January 21. A week later, more protesters showed up spontaneously at airports to oppose Trump’s Muslim ban. Now town halls are being inundated by angry voters who won’t stand for Trump’s efforts to gut ObamaCare.

Mitch McConnell GOP Town Hall

These protests are having a profound effect on the Republican Party. Nervous GOP representatives in Washington, and across the nation, are running scared – literally. Many are avoiding their own constituents meetings for fear of encountering their wrath. And the ones that are going are being greeted by passionate advocates for progressive policies and values.

For those who are skeptical that these tactics are effective, set aside your worries. There is abundant evidence that they are working better than anyone anticipated. And the best proof of that comes from Republicans themselves. Take for instance the remarks by former GOP senator Jim DeMint. He is currently the president of the ultra-conservative Heritage Foundation. Tuesday night he was interviewed by Greta Van Susteren on MSNBC (video below). His intent was to vent his displeasure with citizens exercising their First Amendment rights. But he ended up validating the efforts of the citizens he hoped to discredit:

“It’s not really like the Tea Party. I was going through this document today, Indivisible. These folks are very well financed. Very well organized. They’re being bused around to go to these different town halls to disrupt them.”

First of all, he’s partially correct about the Tea Party. It was quite different in that it was bankrolled by the billionaire Koch brothers. The Indivisible Movement is a grassroots campaign whose partners are social activist organizations, not multinational corporations. However, DeMint’s assertion that protesters are being “bused around” is delusional. They would have to have thousands of buses motoring across the whole country at impossible speeds. But DeMint wasn’t finished:

“So it’s gonna be difficult for congressmen to go out and defend their positions. Because these folks who are coming are not coming to contribute. They’re coming to disrupt. So it’s an organized effort to make it hard for Trump and Republican congress to be successful.”

DeMint is admitting that the GOP’s position is difficult to defend. No kidding. Their platform calls for throwing twenty million people off of their health insurance plans. It proposes tax reforms that will shift the burden from the rich to the middle-class and poor. They are pushing bigoted immigration schemes that will ban Muslims and deport Latinos. And DeMint wonders why that might be difficult to defend? But here’s the best part:

“Hopefully they [Republicans] will continue to plow through. Although I’m concerned that all of this push-back has delayed the repeal of ObamaCare, and certainly other agenda items that need to be taken up.”

That’s right. It’s working. Keep it up. It is highly unusual for a right-wing political operative to concede that his opponents are winning. This admission ought to encourage every progressive to redouble their efforts to prevent the Trump agenda from being implemented. These actions are also being felt all the way up to the White House. They’re rolling out their talking points intended to portray the protests as “fake news.” Press secretary Sean Spicer (Fibby Spice) laments that “There is a bit of professional protester, manufactured base in there.” And Trump himself tweeted this:

We previously were warned about “so-called judges,” and now we have “so-called angry crowds.” Apparently our so-called President is living in a so-called reality where anything he doesn’t like is fake. SAD! It’s not surprising that he’s baffled by citizens “planning” their activities, rather than behaving erratically the way he does. Even worse, in a recent press conference Trump made it clear that he is not the president of all the people:

“We’ve begun preparing to repeal and replace Obamacare. Obamacare is a disaster, folks. It’s a disaster. You can say, oh, Obamacare — I mean, they fill up our alleys with people that you wonder how they get there, but they’re not the Republican people that our representatives are representing.”

Setting aside the odd reference to “alleys,” Trump just confessed that he’s only interested in what Republicans have to say. He continues to prove that he’s a divisive, partisan politician with no interest in having a productive dialog. The extremists in Trump’s administration are determined to steamroll their agenda of hate and elitism through a rubber-stamp congress. Unfortunately for them, the American people do not seem willing to allow it. And if we keep the pressure on, we can stop them in their tracks and replace them in 2018. Forward.

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

Tucker Carlson Of FAKE Fox News Debates Actor He Hired To Portray Anti-Trump Organizer

Posted by on February 21, 2017 at 5:45 pm. 4 Comments :

Monday night’s episode of Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight scheduled a discussion about the “Not My Presidents” Day demonstrations being held across the country. These events were an extension of the virtually non-stop demonstrations taking place since the election. They are attended by tens of thousands of Americans protesting Donald Trump’s extremist right-wing agenda.

Tucker Carlson Fox News

There was just one problem. Carlson tried to book an organizer of the demonstrations, but all of them refused to go on his show. That’s a wise decision considering his reputation for ambushing and insulting his guests. So how did Carlson respond after being rejected by the protests’ organizers? He booked an actor to portray an organizer and proceeded to debate him. Talk about fake news. The Daily Beast reported this comical perversion of journalism:

“Fox News’ Tucker Carlson had a hard time booking Olga Lexell, the creator and co-organizer of the nationwide Not My President’s Day protests on Monday. So, after repeated refusals, Carlson’s show instead booked Shane Saunders, a Los Angeles-based actor and casting agent, who Lexell said ‘was not affiliated in any way with our rallies and was not an organizer.'” […]

“For a man who knows nothing about the protests to go on TV unprepared, misrepresent our message, take credit for our weeks of hard work, and make us look bad – and for Tucker Carlson’s team to go along with it – is just disappointing.”

That’s putting it mildly. The whole segment was a farce, beginning with the false graphic describing Saunders as the “protest organizer.” Carlson began the segment by heralding the “virtuous” celebrations of Presidents Day. However, he immediately segued to the protests, implying that they were not virtuous, and asserting that they have no point. Saunders made an attempt to brush back Carlson’s premise with a listing of the achievements made by protesting. He concluded by noting that the protests were “getting to Trump” and that they have him “frazzled.”

Carlson’s next question was a perfect example of why he’s regarded as television’s stupidest pundit. First, he scrunches his face up into an expression that says he’s both bewildered and annoyed. It’s his trademark expression that he maintains throughout most of every show like a frozen mask. Either that or his unhinged cackling. Then he asked “So you want the President to be more frazzled?” Yeah, that’s it. After listening to numerous justifications for engaging in protests, that’s what Carlson thinks was the salient point. For the record, this president is naturally frazzled and doesn’t need any help getting there. It’s one of the symptoms of his malignant narcissism. Everything that isn’t overtly adoring and worshipful frazzles him.

Carlson spent the rest of the interview trying to get Saunders to comment on Trump’s anti-LGBTQ policies. That had nothing to do with the topic of the discussion, but Carlson pounced because he thought it would make a good distraction from the issue at hand. Saunders stumbled through the inquisition and was clearly unprepared. Perhaps because he was not a real organizer of the protests nor a spokesperson for gay rights.

What Carlson aired was a reality TV version of a news program. It’s participants were not experts on the subject matter. And the script simply called for empty conflict rather than useful information. It’s typical of Carlson’s on-air persona. He’s been fired from several networks for low ratings (CNN, PBS, and MSNBC). Now he may have found his audience on Fox News. Their viewers have considerably lower standards. They require neither a factual basis nor intelligence. Congratulations Tucker. You’re home.

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