Month: August 2017

In the Wake of Terror in Barcelona, Trump Repeats 6 Month Old Pants on Fire Lie

Posted by on August 17, 2017 at 4:05 pm. 2 Comments :

Thursday afternoon the world was stunned by another terrorist attack on innocent civilians. This one took place on a popular street in the heart of Barcelona, Spain. Authorities are still investigating the circumstances and possible suspects. At this time there appear to be twelve fatalities and dozens more injured.

Donald Trump

Compounding this tragedy is the callousness of America’s pathologically dishonest president, Donald Trump. Shortly after the news broke, Trump rushed to the situation room – scratch that – to his cell phone to comment on Twitter:

This tweet was posted without the slightest bit of irony in recognition of the events of the past week. It took him only a couple of hours to publicly declare this unfolding incident a terror attack. Contrast that with the two days it took for him to condemn the white supremacist perpetrators of terrorism in Charlottesville. Does he care more about the victims in Spain than does about those in the United States? Or do white terrorists get a pass from Trump? And what about his insistence that “Before I make a statement, I need the facts. So I don’t want to rush into a statement.” That was his excuse for not speaking out sooner about the murder of Heather Heyer. But today facts seem to have gone out of favor in this White House.

To make matters worse, Trump’s cell phone fingers were still twitchy. Only forty-five minutes later he posted another tweet:

Trump is offering good advice by encouraging people to study. He ought to take that advice himself. Because the incident he’s alluding to never happened. It concerns a hoax that General Pershing had dissuaded Muslim opponents in the Philippines by executing them and burying their bodies with dead pigs. This is a lie that Trump has told before. In fact, in February of 2016 he was awarded one of his many “Pants-on-Fire” ratings from PolitiFact. At that time PolitiFact consulted actual historians and concluded that the incident Trump describe never took place:

“Of the eight historians we checked with, all were at least skeptical that what Trump said actually happened, and some expressed disbelief even more forcefully than that. The only evidence of something approximating what Trump said stems from one letter documenting a different scenario written by a veteran more than a half century after the fact.

“Perhaps more important, the historians took issue with Trump’s suggestion that the tactic — if it was even used at all — actually worked to end tensions, noting that unrest persisted for years. In all, Trump’s claim is ridiculous, so we rate it Pants on Fire.”

This is typical of Trump’s deliberate perversion of the truth to suit his own propaganda needs. He seems to have no shame in repeating falsehoods that have been unambiguously debunked by experts. The only thing he cares about is the promotion of his own interests. He is very likely only exploiting the tragedy in Spain to distract from the mess he created here at home. And if keeping his glassy-eyed disciples neck deep in lies is the result, that’s their tough luck. Remember, he loves the poorly educated, and this is one reason why.

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

Profiles in Cowardice: Republicans Are Refusing All Interview Requests to Defend Trump’s Bigotry

Posted by on August 17, 2017 at 1:23 pm. NO Comments :

On Thursday morning Donald Trump tripled down on his support for the Confederacy and the bigotry it fought to preserve. His latest tweetstorm gushed over the “beauty” of the statues of traitors that he says “will be greatly missed.” And he’s right. They will be missed by the white supremacists and racists who have been applauding Trump’s advocacy of their cause.

Shepard Smith Fox News

However, outside of the alt-rightists and Klan members that have rallied around his pro-Nazi remarks, Trump has garnered scant support from his own Republican colleagues. Many have taken to putting out their own condemnations of the violence instigated by bigots in Charlottesville. They include GOP leaders like House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Unfortunately, in most cases they merely express opposition to racism without holding their president accountable for exacerbating the hate.

These weakly conveyed messages of tolerance demonstrate the fear that Republicans have of directly countering Trump. They remain committed to his presidency and his agenda. They just can’t bring themselves to utter his name in conjunction with the division he is fomenting.

They also can’t bring themselves to defend him on television. Every cable news network is complaining that their efforts to book Republicans to defend the President are coming up empty. This is an astonishing turn of events. Publicity-hungry politicians are actually declining to appear on TV to promote their party and president. Here are some examples of the media response to this unprecedented situation:

Chuck Todd, MSNBC: We invited every single Republican senator on this program tonight, all 52. We asked roughly a dozen house Republicans including a bunch of committee chairs and we asked a half-dozen officials. And none of them agreed to discuss this issue with us today.

Wolf Blitzer, CNN: We did reach out to Republican leaders throughout the day. They all, at least for now, refused to join us. But the invitation is clearly still very much open.

Shepard Smith, Fox News: Our booking team reached out to Republicans of all stripes across the country today. Let’s be honest. Republicans don’t mind coming on Fox News channel. We couldn’t get anyone to come and defend him here. We thought in balance, someone should do that. We worked very hard at it throughout the day. We were unsuccessful.

That’s right. Even Fox News, the PR division of the Republican Party, is unable to convince a single Republican to go on the air to support their leader. They can still book GOP advocates of nuking North Korea or throwing millions of Americans off of their healthcare plans. But asking them to backup the President’s recent cheerleading for neo-Nazis is apparently where they draw the line.

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 long they can hold out. Trump is already tweeting attacks on party mates who dare to criticize him. Thursday morning he unleashed his typically infantile insults on Senators Lindsay Graham and Jeff Flake. Expect those Twitter tantrums to continue as Trump’s ultra-sensitive ego is bruised by others disloyal to Dear Leader. Before long the only people willing to defend Trump on TV will be David Duke and Ivanka. And I’m not all that sure about Ivanka.

Morally Bankrupt: Fox & Friends Host Couldn’t Mute These Moving Repudiations of Trump

Posted by on August 16, 2017 at 1:21 pm. NO Comments :

There’s an old saying that offers this common sense advice: If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. Apparently Donald Trump hasn’t heard that saying. Or maybe he just doesn’t think it applies to people who are perfect and rich and certain of their superiority. Consequently, he continues to dig himself deeper into the cesspool of white supremacy advocacy.

Fox News

On Tuesday Trump held an impromptu press conference that quickly devolved into a nauseating defense of neo-Nazis and the racism embodied by the KKK and other hate groups. He was roundly chastised by Americans from across the political spectrum. Democrats and Republicans alike are distancing themselves from his overt bigotry. A new poll shows that more people believe that Trump supports white nationalism than think that he opposes it. The fallout from his disastrous performance was nearly universal.

One area of respite for the President was, of course Fox News. With virtually every program they aired came a vigorous defense of Trump’s allegedly unyielding love for all mankind. Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson led the way in white-washing his rancid prejudices. At the same time they sought to smear those who oppose the racism espoused by Trump and company. But there were a few moments when real emotions were displayed that better represented the nation’s revulsion of Trump’s bigotry.

On Fox and Friends, co-host Abby Huntsman interviewed Johns Hopkins professor Wendy Osefo and Republican political analyst Gianno Caldwell. Her mission was clearly to guide the discussion into a redemption from Trump’s latest debacle. Prof. Osefo provided an excellent definition of the terms of the debate (video below):

“This is about hatred. It’s about white supremacy. And to have Heather Heyer killed on U.S. soil by a Nazi, Deandre Harris beaten and bludgeoned by Nazis. This is not talking points here. This isn’t partisan. This is human life. And as a mother, to hear the President of these United States not sit here and condemn what has happened. As a black woman of two black boys, my heart bleeds. This is not talking points here. This is personal. And we as a nation, as a country, have to do better.”

Huntsman’s reaction completely ignored this heartfelt plea for Trump to change course. She made a pathetic attempt to steer the conversation back to territory that was advantageous to Trump:

Gianno, to you. Do you agree with that? There are good people on both sides of this debate. We talk about keeping these statues up. People that I talk to say that this is about history. How do we move forward. How do we learn from those mistakes if we just tear everything down?

Huntsman’s pivot included the White House talking points that both sides are to blame and that there are good Nazis. She also revealed the narrow scope of people that she talks to. This isn’t about preserving history, which is well documented in libraries full of historical literature. The people Huntsman talks to actually want to preserve the honoring of traitors. But her other guest wasn’t distracted by this tactic:

“You know, I come today with a very heavy heart. Last night I couldn’t sleep at all because President Trump, our president, has literally betrayed the conscience of our country. The very moral fabric on which we’ve made progress on race relations. He’s failed us. And it’s very unfortunate that our president would say things like he did in that press conference when he said that “There’s good people on the side of the Nazis. They weren’t all Nazis. They weren’t all white supremacists.” Mr. President, good people don’t pal around with Nazis and white supremacists.”

Remember, Caldwell is the Republican on the panel. And he expressed what every decent Republican ought to admit. Republicans in Congress need to renounce Trump’s bigotry and defense of the alt-right white supremacists. His cabinet must demand he reject racism and fire those on his staff who embrace it (Bannon, Gorka, Miller, etc.). Absent that, they must resign themselves.

Caldwell concluded his remarks with a shot aimed directly at Huntsman and Fox News:

“For anyone to come on any network and defend what President Trump did and said at that press conference yesterday is completely lost and potentially morally bankrupt.”

That’s something that all politicians, pundits and journalists need to take seriously. This isn’t about talking points. It’s about human decency. And there aren’t two sides to that.

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

Fox News ‘Reporter’ Exalts White Supremacist Killer in Charlottesville as a ‘Vigilante’

Posted by on August 15, 2017 at 3:17 pm. 3 Comments :

It’s been three days since the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville. The deliberately hostile affair claimed the life of Heather Heyer, a counter-protester, and injured dozens more. Donald Trump distinguished himself as a Nazi-sympathizer by refusing to condemn the hate groups that organized the event in his first public comments. It took him two more days to say anything remotely critical of the perpetrators of the violence.

Fox News

In the meantime, Fox News went to work covering for the callousness of the President. They made excuses that stretched the limits of credulity. Fox and Friends worked overtime to portray Trump as calm and restrained during his first non-comment, and bold and decisive after the second. Trump-fluffers Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson labored to turn him into a statesman who embodied harmony and fellowship.

For his part, Trump maintained his well-known posture of arrogance and bigotry. He posted tweets blaming the media for the public’s repudiation of his insensitivity. He also retweeted a comment by a known alt-right conspiracy monger that sought to shift the debate to evil black folks. And to top it off, he retweeted another Fox and Friends story (the 18th time this month). This one was about his consideration of a pardon for the racist former Arizona sheriff, Joe Arpaio.

It’s no secret that Fox and Friends, Hannity, et al, are opinion-based programs masquerading as news. But Fox’s Washington D.C. correspondent, Doug McKelway, seeks to present himself as an actual journalist. Which makes his report on Tuesday all the more troubling (video below). The segment began as a story about activists taking down statues that honored confederate traitors. But it quickly derailed into propaganda of the worst sort. McKelway’s commentary completely twisted the narrative into right-wing bullshit juxtaposing…

“…those who find the system of slavery to be so abhorrent that we should have no memories of it whatsoever to those who believe that what their great-great-great-great granddaddy did in the Civil War should be remembered and preserved.”

Is McKelway arguing that slavery was not really that abhorrent after all? Also, he apparently thinks that commemorative statues are the only way to record history. Maybe he should read a book. No one is suggesting that the memory of slavery be wiped out. Just that the memory be held in the context of its inhumanity, rather than being honored in bronze. And if anyone wants to preserve what their confederate forefathers did, let it be preserved as the treason and brutality it actually was.

But McKelway wasn’t through. It wasn’t enough that he wanted to remember the civil war slave states fondly, he implied that any other recollection was a communist plot:

“And then, this ventures into the area of airbrushing of history. A tactic of totalitarian governments, a common practice in the former Soviet Union where people who fell into disfavor in the government were literally airbrushed out of history.”

Again, no one is airbrushing anyone out of history. Patriotic Americans very much want to maintain the historical record of the civil war. Including the parts that document the barbarous agenda of the South. But to smear those who advocate an accurate retelling of history as totalitarians and commies is just plain nauseating. In fact, it is a tactic of totalitarians and commies. McKelway believes that slave owners have simply been unfortunate to have fallen out of favor. Poor babies.

And if you thought that was the end of McKelway’s atrocities, you’re not giving him and Fox News the credit they deserve. He closed the segment with a note regarding the funeral service for Heather Heyer. But in doing so he elevated her murderer to a status that is utterly offensive:

“We’ve also learned when the funeral service will be held for Heather Heyer, the young woman, the 32 year old that was killed by the white vigilante who mowed down people in downtown Charlottesville on Saturday.”

Vigilante? For the record, a vigilante is someone who has decided to take the law into his own hands. It is itself against the law. It is generally undertaken when the perpetrator believes that legal authorities are deemed inadequate or unresponsive. And the victim is someone who is thought to be guilty of a crime, at least in the eyes of the vigilante. It’s wrong and indefensible in civil society, and often leads to innocents being targeted and harmed. But some crackpots believe that it’s justifiable and romantic.

That said, what crime does McKelway think that Ms. Heyer committed that would make her fair game for a vigilante? The driver of the car that killed her, James Alex Fields, had only one motive: To do harm to innocent people who opposed his racist ideology. That is not a vigilante. It’s a cold-blooded murderer and a radical right-wing terrorist. McKelway really needs to adjust his definitions, as well as his heinous biases as a person and a so-called reporter.

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

Donald Trump’s Dementia Kicked in Bigly in This Bizarre Exchange with CNN (VIDEO)

Posted by on August 14, 2017 at 4:36 pm. 6 Comments :

Last Friday Donald Trump promised that he would be holding “a pretty big press conference” on Monday. Since then there was a violent march of white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia, a murdered counter-protester, and a tin-ear statement by a president who is too cowardly to upset his racist supporters.

Donald Trump

Monday morning Trump finally got around to addressing the continuing controversy surrounding Charlottesville and his appallingly callous response. However, he spent the first several minutes exalting himself and his alleged accomplishments in office. Then he made a statement that was an emotionless recitation of a script crafted to mitigate the withering criticism he has suffered for the past two days. He reluctantly spat out the words he seemed forced to utter, then left without taking a single question.

Shortly after that, Trump appeared at a photo-op to hype a vague proposal related to trade with China. When finished, he turned to leave but stopped to respond to a question from CNN’s Jim Acosta. That led to this bizarre exchange (video below):

Acosta: Mr. President, can you explain why you didn’t condemn those hate groups by name over the weekend?
Trump: They’ve been condemned. They have been condemned.

Notice that Trump did not answer the question he was asked. Acosta inquired as to why Trump didn’t condemn the hate groups prior to Monday’s statement. That was completely ignored. So too was the fact that every comment Trump made about the violence in Charlottesville included a qualification that spread blame to “other” unidentified groups. And then Acosta asked:

Acosta: Why are we not having a press conference today? You said on Friday you’d have a press conference.
Trump: We had a press conference. We just had a press conference.

What the fig is he talking about? There was no press conference, as Acosta noted. Unless Trump thinks that any gathering that includes reporters and photographers is press conference even if no questions are allowed. That’s a photo-op, not a press conference. However, Acosta took him up on the notion:

Acosta: Can we ask you some more questions then?
Trump: It doesn’t bother me at all. But, you know, I like real news, not fake news. You’re fake news.
Acosta: With all due respect, Mr. President, haven’t you spread a lot of fake news yourself sir?

First of all, if it doesn’t bother him, then why didn’t he stick around and answer some questions? There were plenty of reporters there and some recent newsworthy subjects to discuss. Even if he didn’t want to engage with Acosta, he could have replied to other reporters and fulfilled his promise to hold a press conference. And secondly, Trump’s tiresome whining about fake news has never been supported by facts. But Acosta gave the perfect response. There is abundant evidence that Trump is the biggest purveyor of fake news who has ever occupied the White House.

Trump is clearly losing whatever cognitive ability he had. He didn’t understand the question about condemning hate groups. He doesn’t know what a press conference is. And he is obsessed with falsely labeling reporters he doesn’t like as fake news. It seems with every day, Trump drifts farther from reality. And with his bellicose posturing toward North Korea, and a looming prosecution for collusion with Russia, his deteriorating mental state poses a grave risk for the country – and the world.

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

UVA Prof to Trump: Fire All the White Nationalists on [Your] Staff, Starting with Steve Bannon’

Posted by on August 13, 2017 at 12:11 pm. 1 Comments :

The tragedy that occurred in Charlottesville, Virginia on Saturday has ironically united the nation. Most decent Americans are repulsed by the bigotry espoused by the alt-right white nationalists who organized the event. Unfortunately, the President is not among them.

Trump/Bannon

Donald Trump’s initial response to the violence was to issue a mealy-mouthed statement that blamed “all sides.” But only one side engaged in deliberate hostilities that resulted in the death of a young woman. Trump’s callous and tone-deaf response was criticized by Republicans and Democrats alike. Reacting to that criticism, the White House put out an anonymous, unsigned statement that continued to ignore the reality of the tragic events:

“The President said very strongly in his statement yesterday that he condemns all forms of violence, bigotry and hatred. And of course that includes white supremacists, KKK, neo-nazi and all extremist groups.”

So now it “includes” white supremacists. Which, of course, is reaffirmation of his position that it also includes others. He is still trying to dilute the grotesque actions of the bigots who are unarguably responsible. And the process of dilution is being carried out by Trump’s surrogates. On CNN’s State of the Union, Tom Bossert had a peculiar excuse for Trump not identifying the racists. He said that the President didn’t want to “dignify the names of these groups.” That argument flies in the face of relentless insistence that Muslims had to be identified as “radical Islamic terrorists.”

On the Fox News morning program, Fox and Friends, co-host Pete Hegseth sympathized with the racists. He complained on their behalf that they feel like they’re being “treated differently” and have become “second-class citizens.” Poor privileged, snowflake, babies.

Consequently, it was encouraging to hear someone on TV tell the truth about the rioting white supremacists. On CNN’s Reliable Sources, University of Virginia professor Larry Sabato didn’t mince words. And he gave some harsh advice to the President who can’t seem to do or say anything right. Here is the exchange he had with host Brian Stelter (video below):

Stelter: Would what the President says in the coming days matter in Charlottesville? Would it actually help or affect the community?

Sabato: Thanks for asking that, Brian, because Donald Trump, of course, is very unpopular anyway here, but he missed his moment. He had the opportunity to do something when it mattered yesterday afternoon. And any of his predecessors in modern times would have had the good instincts to say the right things. He wouldn’t because he won’t denounce part of his base. They’re white supremacists. We know what they are. We know who they voted for.

So listen Brian, if he wants to do something to help us and everbody else, let him fire all the white nationalists on his staff, starting with Steve Bannon. Actions speak louder than words. Words written by his staff.

Stelter: You know Bannon would reject being described as a white nationalist?

Sabato: I don’t care. We’ve read all that we need to read. And there are others on that staff too. You know darn well there are.

Exactly! Prior to joining Trump’s campaign, Bannon was the chairman of Breitbart News. The website openly bragged that it was “the platform for the alt-right.” He now occupies an office down the hall from the Oval Office. And he is likely the author of the statements that tread so lightly on the hateful culprits of the violence in Charlottesville.

Sabato’s observance that there are others in the Trump White House who hold these disgusting views is indisputable. On an earlier appearance on CNN he named one of them. Sebastian Gorka is a special advisor to the President. He also happens to be a former Breitbart editor and is associated with known Nazi groups. But people like Bannon and Gorka are among Trump’s favorite advisers. He isn’t likely to fire them and piss off his base of supporters.

As a result, Trump will continue to get counsel from the worst of the worst. And it’s precisely what he asked for. This is not a case of clandestine fascists infiltrating the government. These are people that Trump selected with full knowledge of their resumes. And if he thinks he can paper over these abhorrent cretins and their hateful philosophies, he is going to be sorely disappointed. Americans will not long tolerate this. Trump already has the worst approval ratings of any president in modern history. Don’t look for that to improve anytime soon.

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

Trump Calls For an End to Violence in VA, But Doesn’t Condemn the White Supremacists

Posted by on August 12, 2017 at 2:24 pm. 2 Comments :

Anyone who thinks that white supremacists and the racism they espouse are a thing of the past can officially STFU. On Saturday a “Unite the Right” rally erupted into violence as they were met with counter-protesters. The rally was organized by avowed white supremacists seeking to preserve a statue commemorating Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Among their ranks were members of the KKK and the racist alt-right. They proudly expressed their bigotry with chants of “blood and soil,” “white lives matter,” and “Jews will not replace us.”

Trump Charlotsville

The event quickly degenerated into chaos as the marchers assaulted the counter-protesters. Peaceful citizens opposed to the hate groups were beaten with poles and, in one case, run over by a car. At the time of this writing there is one confirmed fatality.

The rioting racists continued their rampage for hours without any comment from Donald Trump. Despite the brazen acts of terrorism, Trump couldn’t tear himself away from his vacation at his luxury golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey, long enough to condemn the rioters. But when he finally did make a comment – on Twitter of course – it might have been better if he had kept his mouth shut:

That’s a very carefully crafted comment that fails to attribute responsibility to the hostile bigots who initiated the assaults. It’s a vague repudiation of violence that could be interpreted as directed at the counter-protesters. And it is abhorrent to suggest that America needs to unite with the sort of vile trash who advocate white supremacy.

If that weren’t bad enough, Trump appeared at a photo-op for a Veterans Administration announcement and made things even worse. In a brief statement he affirmed his position that the fault for the violence in Charlotsville should be assigned to both sides:

“We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry, and violence on many sides, on many sides”

Any moral observer of these events would recognize that there is only one side here responsible for the hatred and violence. But Trump is obviously afraid of offending his supporters among the white nationalist, alt-right crowd. He benefited from the support of racists throughout his campaign and well into his presidency. And he is too cowardly to risk losing their support by condemning the obviously guilty parties.

One of his staunchest supporters is David Duke, a former KKK Grand Dragon. Duke made an appearance at the Charlotsville event and had this to say about the riots and his hero in the White House:

“This represents a turning point for the people of this country. We are determined to take our country back. We are going to fulfill the promises of Donald Trump. That’s what we believed in. That’s why we voted for Donald Trump. Because he said he’s going to take our country back.”

https://twitter.com/jowrotethis/status/896392449760698368

That pretty much says it all. And Trump’s mealy-mouthed public comment is proof that Duke, and the rest of the right-wing hate mongers, got just what they voted for. They now have a president whose own bigotry and weakness allows prejudice to flourish. It’s a dream come true for haters, but a nightmare for Americans who care about one another.

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

Desperate President Tweets Threat to Republican Senators Who Are ‘Turning On Trump’

Posted by on August 11, 2017 at 1:06 pm. 2 Comments :

Apparently making reckless threats aimed at nuclear-powered madmen isn’t sufficiently fulfilling for Donald Trump. Perhaps his own reputation as a nuclear-powered madmen dilutes the effect. So Trump is now aiming his electoral weapons at his Republican colleagues in the senate.

Donald Trump

Included in his scheduled morning Twitter tirade was a retweet of his pals at Fox and Friends. [NOTE: Trump must be on the Fox News payroll as this is his 13th retweet of F&F so far this month, and the 121st since he launched his campaign] The article linked in the tweet was, of course, from Fox News. It dealt with the potential electoral tribulations of Republican senators who have had the audacity to be independent thinkers. In other words, they have disagreed with the wannabe dictator in the White House.

The article is titled “Senators learn the hard way about the fallout from turning on Trump.” That’s a perfectly legitimate subject of discussion. And there are GOP incumbents whose seats are in jeopardy next year. Although that’s true for those still fluffing the unpopular president. However, by posting that article Trump is blatantly warning all Republicans to refrain from challenging him, or face his wrath. There is nothing subtle about promoting the perils of “turning on Trump.”

This heat-seeking rhetorical missile is meant to frighten Republicans who may be wavering in their otherwise unyielding adoration of the President. He demands constant support for everything he does and says. Any healthy expression of doubt or criticism is regarded as disloyalty. And the temptation to distance oneself from Trump’s toxicity will not be tolerated. That’s a harrowing dilemma for politicians attached to a president who can’t raise his approval ratings out of the thirties.

Trump has already made very public and embarrassing attacks on the GOP’s Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell. He has characterized McConnell as a weak loser who is responsible for Trump’s failing agenda. Never mind that Trump ran on the promise of his unparalleled negotiating skills and how easy it would be to achieve every goal he put forward. By now we should have defeated ISIS, repealed ObamaCare, cut taxes for the rich, locked up Hillary Clinton, and built a wall on the Mexican border. You know, made America great again.

Trump, however, has failed achieved to any of his campaign promises. Instead, he has brought the world to the brink of a thoroughly unnecessary nuclear conflict. His administration is a pitiful mess that has undergone unprecedented upheavals. And he is being investigated for financial corruption and collusion with Russia’s attacks on our democracy. Is this what he meant when he told his rally-goers that they would soon be “sick and tired of winning?”

So while Trump is playing nuclear chicken with Kim Jong-Un, he is also alienating his allies on Capital Hill. Previously loyal colleagues like Paul Ryan, Jeff Flake, Dean Heller, and John McCain are becoming more comfortable defying his authority. How he expects to shepherd his agenda through Congress without their help is a mystery.

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

Trump thought the presidency was like his family business where he was the king. But now he is discovering that his only tool is whining and bullying. And the more offensive he is toward his own party, the more likely they are to join in impeachment proceedings as his legal troubles continue to unfold. Keep in mind, Republicans in Congress have always preferred Mike Pence anyway.

Fox News Implies That Donald Trump is Just as Batty as Kim Jong-Un. Who Can Argue With That?

Posted by on August 10, 2017 at 4:35 pm. 3 Comments :

On Wednesday Donald Trump laid the foundation for a nuclear confrontation with North Korea. His brimstone laden “fire and fury” speech has brought new and unnecessary tensions to an already shaky relationship. It was an inevitable escalation of craziness from a narcissistic personality with a thirty-three percent approval rating. And of course, it didn’t take long for the media pundits to weigh in with predictably inane debates.

Donald Trump Kim Jong-Un

On Fox News Thursday morning there was a particularly confounding view offered by anchor Jon Scott. He wanted to know whether there was a “double standard among the press” for their criticism of Trump’s overheated rhetoric. He was puzzled as to why Trump was being criticized but “nobody seems to care all that much about the threats coming from Kim Jong-Un.”

Let’s be clear about this. Scott is making the absurd inference that the media should treat Trump’s statements with equal significance as a certified fruitcake. On the surface, I can’t really find any fault with that. Trump is at least as batty as Kim. However, when looked at as an American president vs. Kim, the distinction ought be huge. Under ordinary circumstances the U.S. should be regarded as far more serious and conscientious than raving madmen.

Unfortunately, these are not ordinary times. Hence the critique of the press by Scott, who thinks Trump should be regarded in the same league as Kim. But Scott’s guest, fellow Fox News anchor Chris Wallace, wasn’t having it:

“Well, look, we kind of expect crazy from Kim Jong-Un. As I said, he’s the head of the ‘Hermit Kingdom. He’s a pariah for almost the entire world. So, we don’t expect him to be judged the same standard as the president. […] I certainly hope we’re not judging Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un by the same standards.”

Wallace’s perspective is surely more coherent than Scott’s. But Scott’s is more prevalent on Fox News and throughout the right-wing mediasphere. Even Trump’s Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, said that Trump was using “language that Kim Jong-Un would understand.” When did lowering our communications skills to the level of babbling nutcases become the goal of American diplomacy?

Wallace deserves some credit for batting down Scott’s absurd allegation of a press double standard. But he still managed to live down to Fox’s low standards for misleading reporting. Woven into his remarks was this completely false observation of the fallout from Trump’s “fire and fury” speech:

“I don’t think anybody objects to the idea that the president was tough and sent a very stern message to the North Koreans.”

Oh really? You would have to be ignoring the letter from sixty members of congress fervently objecting to Trump’s war mongering. And you would also have to have missed the objections from Democratic senate leaders Chuck Schumer and Dianne Feinstein. Not to mention Republican senators John McCain, Dan Sullivan, and Jeff Flake. Trump’s off-the-cuff bluster was widely considered to be inflammatory and counterproductive. And Wallace’s attempt to soft-peddle the backlash only keeps Fox News viewers ill-informed. But then, that’s the mission of Fox News, so Wallace and Scott are just doing their jobs.

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

Lyin’ Trump Steals Credit for ‘Moderniz[ing] Our Nuclear Arsenal’ From President Obama

Posted by on August 9, 2017 at 4:37 pm. NO Comments :

As if things weren’t crazy enough. Donald Trump is now stirring up a nuclear crisis with his infantile feud with North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un. This whole affair isn’t much more than a battle between two narcissistic dictators. Unfortunately, the lives of millions of people who probably couldn’t care less about these maniacs rests in the unbalanced psyches of two emotionally stunted children of privilege.

Obama Trump Tweet

So what does Trump do after threatening to start WW III because he felt disrespected by Baby-Kim? Well, among other things he commences to puff up his chest with empty boasts that stink of lies. In this case, as is often the case, it occurred with the posting of comment on Twitter:

Anyone who is not in a vegetative coma recognizes how disturbingly delusional that is. Trump has only been in office for about six months. During that time he has been consumed with scandals related to his finances and his unsavory connections to Russia. One thing he certainly has not done, is anything related to the nation’s nuclear arsenal. There has been no legislation, no directives to the Pentagon, and no guidance to the Secretary of Defense. Nothing. Period.

Sometimes Trump makes unsupportable comments like this that rest on a kernel of truth that has been grotesquely mangled. But on in this instance there isn’t even an inkling into what he’s talking about. His bragging is purely self-aggrandizement based on nothing but his fertile imagination. You have to wonder what he thinks is different about our nuclear assets today than six months ago?

If you’re looking for any evidence of a presidential initiative to modernize America’s nuclear arsenal, you’d have to look at what President Obama did last year. Last October the New York Times reported that the “The U.S. is planning a trillion-dollar modernization of its nuclear forces over the next few decades.” So any progress in our nuclear defense profile is the work of Trump’s predecessor. And even that will be taking decades and likely shows no change during Trump’s brief and unproductive presidency.

Trump’s incessant self-glorification frequently borrows from the achievements of others. He pretends that the performance of the stock market is his doing despite not having passed any legislation that impacts the economy. He contends that higher wages came with his election. Although that was mainly due to increases in the minimum wage that he and Republicans opposed. Whatever positive movement has occurred in the past few months did so irrespective of Trump’s presence.

On the other hand, the failures that abound are easily attributable to him. Whatever weakness there are in ObamaCare are the result of his deliberate attempts to sabotage it. As the environment becomes ever more at risk, it’s due directly to his mismanagement of the EPA. And the war stance that is now threatening this country and the world was wholly manufactured by Trump himself. In fact, he even predicted it in this tweet from August of 2013:

That’s good advice. We should be prepared. And we should take whatever legal actions are available to us to mitigate the risks he is describing. They include congressional actions to restore the balance of power, indictments, and impeachment. The sooner the better.

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