Fox News Guest Dinesh D’Souza Honors the Humanitarian Slave Owners of the Old South

Leave it to Fox News to find the bright side of slave owners. While the rest of the civilized world condemns human trafficking, the “Curvy Couch” potatoes of Fox and Friends managed to produce a segment that highlighted the freedom loving Confederates on the old plantations of Dixie.

Fox News, Dinesh D'Souza

Co-host Steve Doocy interviewed one of Fox’s favorite shameless disseminators of flagrant lies, confessed felon Dinesh D’Souza. Earlier this year Donald Trump pardoned D’Souza for the federal crime that he had pleaded guilty to. The Fox segment began as an attempt to mock Democratic congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for what they asserted was a gaffe. It wasn’t. She tweeted that:

Ocasio-Cortez was replying to a tweet that noted that two recent presidents who lost the popular vote have put four justices on the Supreme Court. Doocy then asked D’Souza “Why does the Electoral College matter,” and “what do you think she was talking about?” D’Souza’s reply began by mansplaining what Ocasio-Cortez really meant (video below):

“Well, first of all, I think she’s confusing the Electoral College with the “three-fifths” laws. The three-fifths laws was about slavery, and it had to do with an argument between the North and the South over representation. Ironically, the North, which was the anti-slavery side, wanted blacks to count for zero because they wanted to reduce the representative power of the slave states. The South wanted blacks to count for a full person. So the three-fifths laws which was usually presented to show that the founders didn’t consider blacks to be fully human, doesn’t actually show that at all.”

D’Souza is almost right. The problem is that he leaves out the fact that the South only wanted to count slaves because it gave the region more clout in the federal government. Slaves would still be denied any rights and considered to be property. The South wanted it both ways: to own blacks like chattel, but count them to increase the political power of their white masters. Then D’Souza swung back around to the Electoral College:

“Now the Electoral College was a different matter. The Electoral College emerges out of this contest between the large states and the small states. Not an antiquated issue. We have that now. We have large states, we have small states. And if we had a system that gave power only to the large states, the small states would essentially be unrepresented. The whole point, remember, the core of our founding is the consent of the governed. So to create the union the founders needed the consent of the large states and the small states. The Electoral College is a part of that arithmetic.”

Once again, D’Souza os only partly correct. Much of the dispute between the large and small states was still a matter of north and south. The population of the North far exceeded that of the South. So Ocasio-Cortez was correct in associating the Electoral College with slavery. What’s more, D’Souza is wrong in stating that smaller states would be unrepresented without the Electoral College. Their representation in Congress would be identical. The only difference would be in presidential elections.

However, that difference has become a useless and undemocratic anachronism. Given the boundaryless mobility of the modern U.S., we should not still be electing the president by states, but rather by voters. There is no coherent reason why the tiny populations of Idaho or Wyoming should have a greater say in presidential elections than the vastly more numerous populations of California or Texas. And it’s fair to say that there are a lot of former residents of Idaho and Wyoming who now live in California and Texas. Should their votes be diluted simply because they moved?

Ocasio-Cortez is right to raise the issue of eliminating the outdated Electoral College. It should have been done long ago. Hopefully her colleagues in Congress join her in that initiative when she gets there in January. In the meantime, Fox News needs to stop hosting racists who talk down to women and demean them personally as incapable of grasping these issues. But then they would have hours and hours of dead air.

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

The Trump/Fox News Revolving Door Spins Again as Hope Hicks Takes PR Post at State TV

For the past two years there has been an unprecedented embrace between a media organization and the presidency. Donald Trump’s close association with Fox News began well before his election in 2016, when he had a regular segment on Fox and Friends called “Mondays with Trump.” And throughout his occupation of the White House that relationship has only grown stronger.

Hope Hicks

On Monday morning it was announced that Trump’s former communications director, and official Trump Whisperer, Hope Hicks, was appointed the executive vice-president and chief communications officer for the new Fox, the remnants of the conglomerate that weren’t sold off to Disney earlier this year. It includes Fox News and Fox Business, two cable “news” networks that are conspicuously friendly to Trump and the Republican Party.

Hicks role at Fox won’t be especially different from her role at the White House. She will continue to promote Trump and the agenda of the ultra-rightist GOP along with her new colleagues at Fox. Those new colleagues include former Trump staffers Sebastian Gorka, Anthony Scaramucci, and Sean Spicer. However, they are all on-air contributors, while Hicks will be a top executive. And her appointment comes just as Fox News and the President are gearing up for the presidential election in 2020.

Of course, revolving doors spin all the way around. And it isn’t coincidental that many Fox Newsers have made the switch to the Trump White House. They include National Security advisor John Bolton, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert, and Director of the National Economic Council Larry Kudlow. Even Fox’s former president, Bill Shine, is now working for Trump as his Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications. In a less official capacity are Trump’s “Shadow Cabinet” consisting of Sean Hannity, Jeanine Pirro, Lou Dobbs, and the “Curvy Couch” potatoes of Fox and Friends. So the marriage of Fox News and the Trump administration is now sealed and consecrated before Rupert Murdoch.

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

Just prior to her resignation from the White House, Hicks testified before a closed session of the House Intelligence Committee regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election. She admitted to telling “white lies” for Trump. In her new position her ability to lie will be unfettered by even the lax standards imposed by Trump’s White House. So going forward we can expect a new rainbow of lies that are consistent with the total absence of standards at Fox News.

Fox News Was Born 22 Years Ago Today to Corrupt the Free Press and Become State TV

It seems like only yesterday that America had a president who didn’t shout rhetoric he stole from Stalin that the media is “the enemy of the people.” But those days are long gone and have been replaced by a loudmouth ignoramus who hates the Constitution and does everything he can to turn his cult followers against it.

Fox News Lies

It was twenty-two years ago that Fox News made its debut on cable TV promising to “change the way you look at the world.” And if what they meant was that you would now look at it through the lens of lies and ultra-partisan right-wing dogma, they were right. The network was the brainchild (i.e. Rosemary’s Baby) of an Australian newspaper baron (Rupert Murdoch) and an American media consultant for the Republican Party (Roger Ailes). It took about five years before the cable channel caught on, but once it did it corralled all of the nation’s conservative viewers into a single pen where they could happily wallow in the mud of a deliberately dishonest perversion of journalism.

Today Fox News has morphed into what can only be described as the State TV arm of Donald Trump’s White House. It is a co-conspirator in his efforts to turn the United States into a dictatorship that serves the wealthy and corporatist classes of the country. And its programming appeals to a audience that has been expressly dumbed-down by two decades of pablum and soap opera style melodrama.

So Happy Birthday Fox News. And may there NOT be many more to come. The past twenty-two years has already inflicted more than enough damage on the nation and the viewers/victims (mostly our grandparents and high school dropouts) who became virtual fake news zombies. They are lost to us now, but with each new generation comes hope for a clear-thinking, propaganda-free future.

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

Trump Implores His Deplorables to Vote for Republicans to Defend ‘Everything We Hold Sacred’

The confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the newly “Supine” Court represents just how dangerous Donald Trump’s rule of ignorance and hostility can and will continue to be. Along with his accomplices in the Republican controlled Congress, America is becoming more divided and less free. And given the opportunity to demonstrate leadership by uniting the nation after his ill gotten victory, Trump chose rub salt in nation’s wounds.

Donald Trump Messiah

Immediately following the Senate’s confirmation vote, Trump boarded Air Force One, headed for yet another of his cult rallies, this time in Kansas. It’s what he promised Sean Hannity he would do a couple of months ago, despite railing against such flagrant and wasteful abuse of the taxpayer when President Obama did it:

Trump told Hannity that “I am going to work very hard. I’ll go six or seven days a week when we’re sixty days out.” Of course Trump has never worked hard in his life, and he isn’t starting now. While he has been doing a lot of these cult rallies, it’s been nowhere near six or seven days a week. But they have all been nearly identical presentations of Trump’s “Golden Shower of Hits,” including “Build the Wall,” “Lock Her Up,” and the epic “Witch Hunt.” They have been so tediously repetitive that even Fox News has cut back on airing them live. But that’s probably just to protect him from the increasingly embarrassing and stupid things he says. Plus, their regular cast of sycophants do a better job of fluffing him than he does.

At the Kansas “Take our Country Back – to 1860” revival meeting, Trump did his best to alienate everyone in the nation that isn’t sufficiently worshipful of him. In particular, the opponents of Kavanaugh’s confirmation who are mostly women who are sick and tired of being abused and ignored, and the men who care about them. He told his dimwitted disciples that Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, and the other women who came forward, were liars and that the Democrats in the Senate who supported them were bent on destroying the country. He also maligned protesters as an “angry mob” of professionals who were paid by George Soros. And as a bonus treat for this news cycle, Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, called Soros the Anti-Christ.

As if all of that deranged babbling weren’t enough crackpottery for one evening, Trump also unleashed a brief sermonette on the assholiness of his perversion of Republican Party politics. He ragaled his glassy-eyed followers with this divine declaration (video below):

“You have the power, with your vote, to defend your family, your community, your country – and everything we hold sacred and righteous and true. Loyal citizens like you helped build this country and together we are taking back our country. Returning power to every day great American patriots.”

In that pious pontification Trump clearly established his intent to sanctify the mission he believes he’s on. Now voting Republican isn’t merely an expression of preference for a set of political ideas. It’s the defense of your family and country. It’s a “sacred and righteous” obligation by all God-fearing patriots. And anyone not complying is in league with Satan.

This is a demagogic tactic that has been a favorite of dictators throughout history. They insist that supporting them isn’t a personal choice, but a demand by the Lord Almighty. And woe be unto anyone who defies these commandments. The fact that Trump issues these maniacal screeds is reason enough to be worried. But what’s worse is that there are Americans who buy into it like the “good Nazis” of the 1930’s and 1940’s. And those of us who still value little things like logic, reason, and liberty, must not allow them to prevail.

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

Trump Lawyer Rudy Giuliani Says George Soros is the Anti-Christ, Freeze His Assets

If you’re looking for more evidence of the civil libertarian bona fides of Donald Trump and his inner circle, you’re going to be looking for a long time. The brazen affinity that Trump has for totalitarian rule, however, just keeps being reaffirmed by his tweets and his sycophants. On Friday Trump-fluffer Sean Hannity proposed a prohibition on citizens access to their representatives in Congress. And today the devolution of American democracy continues courtesy of Trump’s attorney, Rudy Giuliani.

Rudy Giuliani

The saga of Giuliani’s gaffe prone advocacy of his presidential client is filled to the brim with embarrassing episodes that frequently incriminate Trump. Giuliani is the one who said on national television that Trump paid hush money to Stormy Daniels while Trump was denying it. And he once implied that the reason Trump can’t interview with special prosecutor Robert Mueller is that he’s either a liar or a mental defective. With friends like Rudy, who needs enemas?

Which brings us to Saturday morning’s Twitter romp with Rudy. In an attempt to shore up the hostility of the Trump Brigades, Giuliani retweeted the comments of a random Twidiot who had a perverse notion of how to combat anyone who protests against Dear Leader Trump: “Follow the money. I think Soros is the anti-Christ! He must go! Freeze his assets & I bet the protests stop.”

Let this sink in. Giuliani, a lawyer and former U.S. Attorney, thinks it’s acceptable to seize the assets of a private citizen who has done nothing illegal. He thinks that someone who donates money to legitimate non-profits and educational/activist organizations can have his funds confiscated only because they were given to groups that Giuliani opposes. So this is the President’s personal attorney who is advocating the sort of oppressive behavior of outright tyrants.

What’s more, Giuliani is promoting the lie that Soros is funding citizens engaging lawful protests. There is zero evidence of that, and it wouldn’t be illegal if he were. If Giuliani wants to support legislation to prohibit such funding, he would find significant support from progressives who are troubled by the financial gifts of the Koch brothers to right-wing people and issues. But that isn’t Giuliani’s goal. He wants to silence only the progressive voices in America.

Giuliani is not alone in attacking Soros. He has long been a regarded by the right as the supervillain behind everything that is wrong with America. Never mind that he is the model of the capitalist dream, a man who rose up from a childhood under Nazi occupation, to become one of America’s wealthiest citizens. That’s why he was recently attacked by Sen. Chuck Grassley, who charged him with backing Brett Kavanaugh’s protesters; and by Rep. Louie Gohmert who gave out a “Heil Soros” on Fox News; and by Trump himself in tweet that lashed out at him with no support for his claims.

And let’s not forget the part about the “Anti-Christ.” Of all the comments that Giulian might find to retweet, he picks one that calls a Holocaust survivor a name that’s akin to “Christ killer” and foreshadows the end of civilization. It’s a full blown dog whistle, nay fog horn, of the anti-Semitism and bigotry that is rampant throughout the Cult of Trump. And Trump’s glassy-eyed disciples will will eat it up like they do all the other racist tropes that spew from Trump and his shills.

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

Build the Wall? Sean Hannity Of Fox News Proposes Blockading Citizens from Their Reps in Congress

One of the most encouraging developments resulting from the Kavanaugh confirmation debacle is the manner in which Americans expressed themselves. There was an outpouring of opposition from across the country that shook the walls of Congress. Protesters spoke out with heart wrenching stories of personal suffering and with a profound determination to effect change.

Fox News, Sean Hannity

That it wasn’t enough is secondary to the fact that it was powerful and is continuing. The Old Guard that shielded Brett Kavanaugh, and the serial sexual predator (Donald Trump) who nominated him, got their way because they have the numbers – for now. But that’s not something they can count on going forward. The people will have their way in the future. And that’s what a democracy is.

However, the dinosaurs that protect the elitist Halls of Just Us are spitting fire. They saw the peasants rise up and it was a sight so frightening that they’re sending out their martinets to confront them. On Friday’s episode of the Sean Hannity Trump-Fluffing Hour on Fox News, the host spelled out the terms of the coming battle. He called the protests by concerned citizens “meanness, madness, [and] insanity.” Then he added that it was “despicably ugly and disgusting.” And to top it off he unleashed this un-American tirade (video below):

“Now let me say something. I really believe the people should be close to their elected representatives, and it’s sad what I’m about to say. Before somebody gets hurt or worse, these office areas of elected officials now need to be closed to the public. Sad. But it needs to happen. This is now dangerous and out-of-control.”

Really? You have to wonder what the basis was for that nonsense. There haven’t been any reports of violence or physical harm occurring in the congressional offices or hallways. What there has been is outraged citizens letting their representatives know how they feel. It’s the constitutional right to redressing grievances in action. And that is precisely what Hannity is objecting to. Heaven forbid that the people we elect actually do what we want. Had they done so, Kavanaugh would not be heading to the Supreme Court. He is opposed by most voters in every poll on the subject.

Hannity is parroting the view of his Dear Leader, Donald Trump. The President posted two tweets in two days that malign the protesters as “paid professionals” serving the the interests of that perennial right-wing boogieman, George Soros. Of course, he has zero evidence of his reckless and self-serving allegations. And he doesn’t bother to identify the funding sources of his own cult worshiping supporters who range from the Koch brothers and other billionaire corporatists to Vladimir Putin’s network of Kremlin oligarchs.

But never mind all of that. Hannity is convinced that the solution to the problem is to separate the people from their representatives. To make sure that those we elect are free from the burden of hearing what we have to say. Build a wall between us and them to prevent any of the unwashed masses from disturbing the peace of the congressional country club.

In other words, turn our legislative branch of government into something more like Russia’s State Duma: an exclusive body of fraudulently “elected” presidential sycophants. And supported by a State TV network (aka Fox News) that disseminates the Party Line agenda and calls for reforms – like the one that Hannity is now advocating – that divide the people from their government. This is their twisted version of patriotism, and it must not be allowed to prevail. So keep on doing what Hannity, and the government leeches he speaks for, are so afraid of, and do it right in their treasonous faces.

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

Donald Trump Can’t Silence the ‘Rude Elevator Screamers’ By Putting His Hand Over Their Mouths

Here’s another item for the “Just when you thought Donald Trump hit rock Bottom” file. As the battle for the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh stumbles drunkenly to a close, the President assumed his post at the Twitter machine to bellow like the old man shaking his tiny fist at the clouds. His latest display of social mediangst managed to squeeze a surprising quantity of ignorant hostility into a single tweet.

The inspiration for Trump’s twitteruption was, as usual, something he saw on Fox News. Their allegedly business host, Maria Bartiromo, was interviewing Chuck Grassley about the American citizens protesting Kavanaugh’s nomination when she asked him, “Do you believe that George Soros is behind all of this?” He isn’t. But Grassley obediently said that he does. More importantly, Trump posted this tweet a little more than an hour later:

If this appeared under the name of any other public figure you might be tempted to triple check that it wasn’t a satirical fake. But sadly for the nation, it fits Trump’s personality perfectly. He actually is the sort of tone deaf cretin who would call sexual assault survivors “very rude elevator screamers.” He has no perception that his characterization of women screaming might reflect on the real life reactions they have had to their violent experiences in their bedrooms, their offices, on street corners, in cars, and even in elevators. What on Earth was he thinking when he posted that?

And if that weren’t bad enough, Trump also dismissed the horror these victims faced by calling them “paid professionals” without any evidence to support that charge. But he still wasn’t done making a total ass of himself. He then had to assert that the source of the alleged payments was George Soros, a Jewish holocaust survivor who suffered as a child under Nazi occupation. What might really upset Trump is the fact that Soros later went on to become a real billionaire whose assets are more than triple Trump’s. And the fact that he’s a philanthropist who dedicates hundreds of millions of dollars to making the world more free must really gnaw at Trump, who is famoulsy known as the world’s least charitable billionaire.

Finally, Trump’s tweet made a ludicrous point about the signs held by citizens at the Kavanaugh protests. Most of them were of the handmade variety, but there were some that had been provided by non-profit organizations opposing Kavanaugh’s confirmation. However, Trump focused on the pre-printed signs as a means of dismissing the genuine expressions of opposition to putting an accused sex offender, liar, and ultra-partisan fruitcake on the Supreme Court. He said that “professionally made identical signs” are somehow less sincere than the “signs made in the basement from love.” By which I assume he means these ones:

Donald Trump, Rally Signs

Don’t fall for it! Trump hasn’t said who pays for the signs at his cult rallies. Nor has he released his tax returns; or disclosed the funds he’s received from foreigners and special interest groups who stay at his hotels; or disputed the New York Times story about his decades of being a tax cheat. He hasn’t even come clean about all the money he’s paid to silence women that he has abused. But now he’s trying to put his hand over the mouths of the women finally speaking out about the epidemic of sexual assault. That’s something he probably learned from Brett Kavanaugh.

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

WINNING? Donald Trump Thanks Notoriously Biased Pollster for His Pitiful Approval Rating

Nothing is more predictable from Donald Trump than his knee-jerk tributes to himself and any “positive” news regarding him. Unfortunately, given his penchant for screw ups, gaffes, and policies that are roundly rejected by most Americans, he has precious few opportunities to boast. But that doesn’t stop him from doing it anyway, even when the news is bad.

Donald Trump Rasmussen

On Thursday morning Trump tweeted a valentine to himself in the form of a poll result that showed him with a fifty percent approval rating. To brag about a rating that only puts you at even illustrates just how desperate Trump is for anything upbeat he can promote to mitigate the tsunami of bleakness that surrounds him. But to rest his gloating on a poll by Rasmussen, the most disreputably partisan pollster in America, just makes him seem all the more pathetic. Particularly when that same poll shows Trump with a forty percent “strongly disapprove” rating and only thirty-seven percent “strongly approve.”

Trump frequently alerts his Twitter cult followers when Rasmussen spikes a bit. Never mind that the numbers always take a dive shortly thereafter. Here are some recent examples from just this year alone, including today’s:

Trump’s characterization of Rasmussen as an accurate pollster is wildly off the mark. The survey experts at FiveThrityEight give Rasmussen a C+ rating. They rank ABC/Washington Post at A-Plus. And in every case, the numbers celebrated by Trump above declined in the days following his boast. There’s no reason to think that they won’t do the same tomorrow.

For the record, the RealClearPolitics average poll of polls has Trump with a 43.8 percent approval. And excluding the Rasmussen outlier, the range is from forty-one to forty-six (with Fox News scoring the high end). That’s nothing to brag about. But Trump is determined to gaslight America with phony numbers and incoherent analyses. Just like his insistence that he had the biggest inauguration crowd in history, or the steepest tax cut ever, or big hands. Or even his “very, very large a-brain.”

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

‘Explosive’ Fox News Story on ‘Abnormalities’ of Russia/Trump Probe is a Fizzling Stink Bomb

The controversy over the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court has pretty much taken over the media for the past week or so. It’s an important story, but not the only one with profound implications for our nation’s future. For instance, remember that story about Donald Trump colluding with Russia to steal the 2016 presidential election and then obstructing justice to cover it up?

Fox News, Donald Trump

Apparently Fox News just recalled that story as well. So they had to find something – anything – to write about it to keep their spin on the matter fresh in the public’s mind. Just in case special counsel Robert Mueller happens to release any reports or new indictments. But the story that Fox came up with is a pitiful pile of nothing that only serves to advance the baseless ranting of a couple of ultra-partisan, extremist, Republican wingnuts.

The article’s provocative headline screams out “Top FBI lawyer Baker offers ‘explosive’ testimony on ‘abnormal’ handling of Russia probe into Trump campaign.” The gist of this yellow journalistic mush concerns testimony given to a closed-door congressional committee by former FBI lawyer, James Baker. Fox News asserts that the testimony revealed “explosive” information about how the Bureau acted in an “abnormal fashion” and engaged in “political bias.” But the sources for this scoop were House Crackpot Caucus leaders Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan. These paragons of rightist propaganda had this to say about the testimony:

“Some of the things that were shared were explosive in nature,” Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., told Fox News. […] We found the source to be pretty explosive,” said Rep. Jim Jordan.”

Well then, that settles it. You can’t argue with hardline, substantive facts like those. And that was literally all this pair of GOP gossips had to report. Yet somehow Fox News expanded it into a an article that even they couldn’t pretend had any meat to it:

“The lawmakers would not provide many specifics about the private transcribed interview, citing a confidentiality agreement with Baker and his attorneys. […] Meadows and Jordan would not elaborate on the source, or answer questions about whether the source was a reporter.”

So the entire body of evidence for this story was the unsubstantiated ravings of two notorious fake news disseminators who are frequent Fox guests. They offered no information that was either “explosive” or “abnormal,” other than in its utter uselessness as a news source. But it was enough to get Fox News to feature it with a boldface headline that advanced its empty premise. And that is exactly how deceitful State TV operations like Fox conduct business in totalitarian regimes like Russia and North Korea. Clearly Fox News is taking lessons from Trump’s pals. Or is it the other way around?

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

Sexual Predator Donald Trump Whines that ‘It’s a Very Scary Time for Young Men in America’

There are a lot things to be scared of in the Era of Trump. His presidency has been marked by disastrous decisions involving international conflict, climate change, economic meltdown, electoral espionage, and the ever present collusion with Russia and other foreign enemies. But Donald Trump isn’t worried about any of that.

Donald Trump

What is keeping Trump awake these days is the possibility that some man might be accused of sexual harassment or assault. And he should know, considering there are at least sixteen credible allegations pending against him. Never mind that the percentage of false charges is in the low single digits. Trump made a point of yammering to the press that:

Of course, no one is presuming the guilt of anyone. Trump’s tantrum was thrown because his nominee for the Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh, now has three women asserting that he has engaged in sexual misconduct. And due to that it is men who ought to scared, not women. Those poor, beleaguered men of America. In fact, Trump is so upset by this that he was comfortable mocking Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, a survivor of an alleged sexual assault by Kavanaugh, while his audience of Deplorables earned that nickname by cheering his mockery. Is this sort of presidential petulance supposed to make it easier for other victims to come forward?

Trump’s new found appreciation for due process should surprise people who have been paying attention for the past few years. Perhaps Trump will notify the Central Park Five that he now respects their civil rights. But don’t hold your breath. Trump has been crapping all over due process for years. Some recent examples of people that Trump has baselessly prejudged as guilty include (from his tweets):

The “man” who is now so distraught over ruining the lives of innocent people led an especially determined effort to convict Hillary Clinton despite the fact that she has been investigated for more than thirty years and never even been charged with an actual crime. But that didn’t stop Trump from attaching one of his infantile nicknames to her: Crooked Hillary.

However, if you are Republican, or Trump sycophant, any assertion of wrongdoing must only occur after conviction in a court of law. And even then only if you agree with the verdict. If you are Roy Moore or Rob Porter or Michael Flynn or Paul Manafort, you are pristine models of virtue no matter the strength of the evidence against you, or even if you confess and plead guilty.

The fact of the matter is that Trump is mostly afraid only for himself. And for good reason. Numerous women have come forward to accuse him of abhorrent, and perhaps illegal, behavior. He’s also being investigated for serious crimes against the country by special counsel Robert Mueller. The New York Attorney General is probing his corrupt foundation and other business entities. And most recently, Trump’s sleazy financial history has been exposed by a riveting story in the New York Times.

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

So when you hear Trump complain that so and so isn’t being afforded his due process rights under the Constitution, just replace whatever name he used with his own and you’ll have a better idea of what he’s ranting about. He’s never cared about anyone but himself, and he will use whoever is handy in order to get what he wants. And if that means maligning assault victims and honoring their tormentors, that’s just the Trumpian way.