Day: 4/17/2018

REALLY? Anderson Cooper Filets Wingnut Rep Who Never Heard Trump Tell a Lie

Posted by on April 17, 2018 at 7:20 pm. 14 Comments :

There is a devoted congregation of Donald Trump cultists whose ability to discern fiction from reality is severely deficient. That’s why so many of them are oblivious to the fact that Trump lies multiple times nearly every time he speaks. And the lies are not merely innocent misstatements of fact. They are often so far removed from reality that only someone who has given up on the real world could believe him.

Donald Trump Messiah

The real tragedy of this is that some of those cultists are currently members of Congress. One them, Freedom Caucus leader Jim Jordan (Nutcase, OH), was interviewed by CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Monday and demonstrated what a wholly consumed StormTrumper looks and acts like. Consider this exchange (video below):

Cooper: You’ve got to admit, this president has said things which are just demonstrably not true time and time again. The list is a very long one, almost on a daily basis.
Jordan: I think Andrew McCabe has said things that weren’t true and was fired because of it.
Cooper: So you’re very bold in calling out Andrew McCabe, not so bold on the president of the United States. You haven’t heard the president lie?
Jordan: I’ve not heard the president … He’s always been square with me.
Cooper: But what about the American people?
Jordan: The American people elected him President of the United States.
Cooper: But have you ever heard the president lie? That’s what I’m asking you.
Jordan: I have not. And the American people feel like what the treatment he has received from the top…
Cooper: I’m asking you, just yourself, have you heard the president lie?
Jordan: I have not.
Cooper: Really? So when the Washington Post counts hundreds and hundreds of times, none of those are believable to you?
Jordan: I’ve not seen what the Washington Post reported.

Jordan has not seen anything that interferes with his preconceptions. And he is apparently unaware that Trump has been “honored” with PolitiFact’s “Lie of the Year” award twice – in 2015 for his accumulated misstatement of facts, and just last year in 2017 for repeatedly calling the Russian interference with the election a hoax.

Jordan went on to say that he doesn’t know of any incidence of Trump lying, but that everyone says things from time to time that are inaccurate. Which is not the same thing as lying. Cooper replied that if he ever said anything inaccurate he would note the error and apologize. Then he asked if Jordan ever heard Trump apologize. Jordan replied that “I don’t know that he’s said something wrong that he needs to apologize for.” That was right after he said that everyone one does it. So he must think that his Messiah Trump is the one infallible life form on the planet. Which, coincidentally, is the same vision of holiness that Trump has of himself.

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

Fox News is Totally Cool with Sean Hannity’s Unethical Shilling for His Lawyer Michael Cohen

Posted by on April 17, 2018 at 2:18 pm. 2 Comments :

On Monday a shocking courtroom drama played out during a hearing for Donald Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen. After previously refusing to disclose the name of one of his clients, he relented and announced that the secret client was Fox News host Sean Hannity. After those in attendance regained their composure, the media lit up with tales of the obvious violations of ethics from everyone involved.

Fox News Sean Hannity

It took Fox News another day to come up with a response to this calamity. But the extra time they devoted to it didn’t seem to help them manufacture a satisfactory excuse. All they could muster was a weak attempt to hold themselves blameless and free pass for Hannity to continue being a complete sleazeball. They said that:

“While FOX News was unaware of Sean Hannity’s informal relationship with Michael Cohen and was surprised by the announcement in court yesterday, we have reviewed the matter and spoken to Sean and he continues to have our full support.”

Let’s break that down. First of all, Fox News is admitting that they have no idea what Hannity is up to. Obviously he never bothered to tell is bosses that he was in violation of common principles of media ethics. That failure to alert the executives in charge was, by itself, a fireable offense. No media enterprise should ever be “surprised” like this.

Secondly, what Fox is so cavalierly looking the other way about is a complex web of immorality and deceit. Cohen told the court that Hannity is his client. Hannity denied that. In effect, he is calling Cohen a liar. Plus, Hannity insists that Cohen isn’t his lawyer, but still says he should have attorney-client privileges. For that privilege to be in effect, there has to be an attorney and a client. Also, Hannity said that he never paid Cohen anything for his advice. Well, except for the time he slipped him ten bucks to invoke the privacy of an attorney-client relationship that he said he didn’t have. But what is he trying to keep private if the only thing he said he ever discussed with Cohen was real estate?

And why did Cohen try so hard to keep Hannity’s name a secret at the hearing? Does it have anything to do with Cohen’s specialty of facilitating hush money payoffs to mistresses of his famous clients? Or could there be some connection between Hannity and Cohen’s other client, Donald Trump, that they need to keep on the down low? Or maybe even some link between Hannity and Russia? Who knows?

Certainly not Fox News. At least they didn’t know before, and if they know now they aren’t saying. They also aren’t doing anything about it despite all of the blatant misbehavior noted above. Never the mind the beating they are taking in the press. For instance, the Washington Post published an article saying that it’s “Time for Fox News to investigate Sean Hannity.” Time Magazine is asking “Can Sean Hannity and Fox News Cover Michael Cohen Fairly?” Even Trump defender Alen Dershowitz called out Hannity on his own show saying “I do want to say that I really think that you should have disclosed your relationship with Cohen when you talked about him on this show.”

Fox News has already lost too many top prime time stars to take a chance with their current ratings king. Bill O’Reilly was fired due to his serial sexual harassment and abuse. Megyn Kelly ditched Fox for NBC in part due to O’Reilly and other Fox perverts. Laura Ingraham is currently suffering a hemorrhage of advertisers after she attacked David Hogg, the high schooler who survived the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida.

Hannity would be getting off scot-free in under any circumstances because Fox is a den of iniquity and doesn’t care if their standard bearers are slimeballs. But he’s also benefiting because Fox is running out of replacement shills. If they were smart they’d give Hannity the heave-ho – not just because he committed unforgivably unethical acts – but because he’s losing to MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. That should be the biggest embarrassment to Fox News that you would think they wouldn’t tolerate. They must really be hard up to let that go by.

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

It’s Tax Day and Donald Trump is Tweeting Up a Storm to Celebrate, But…

Posted by on April 17, 2018 at 11:12 am. NO Comments :

Never one to care anything about facts or truthful dialogue, Donald Trump is attacking the arrival of Tax Day with a celebratory zeal that is entirely out of whack with reality. So what else is new?

Donald Trump

Trump’s day always begins with his most pressing presidential duty: post nonsense and/or rage on Twitter. This Tuesday morning is no different. So here is what the Tweeter-in-Chief is obsessing over while waiting for his tee time in Palm Beach:

Indeed, everybody is talking. Unfortunately for Trump, they are mostly saying that his tax scam bill isn’t helping to do anything but blow up the federal deficit. A poll by NBC and the Wall Street Journal show that a pitiful twenty-seven percent think Trump’s tax bill is a good idea. Another poll by Gallup puts those who disapprove in the majority at fifty-two percent. And an analysis by Bloomberg shows that Republicans are going to find it difficult to run on the tax issue in the 2018 midterms.

So happy tax day everybody. We may have a bill that is only benefiting the wealthy, but it is also likely to throw the members of Congress who forced it on us out on their asses.

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