Month: March 2019

Trump Babbles From His Bunker as FOX News Poll Blisters Him on Mueller, the Border, and More

Posted by on March 24, 2019 at 12:11 pm. 1 Comments :

The report by special counsel Robert Mueller has been delivered to Attorney General William Barr. None of it has been released to the White House, the Congress, or the people. But that hasn’t stopped feverish exclamations by devoted Trump-fluffers who insist that Trump has been exonerated despite the fact that they know no more today than they did yesterday.

Donald Trump, Fox News, Fake

The Trump cult is already making ludicrous demands for apologies to the President who is still facing criminal investigations from at least seventeen separate agencies. Never mind that it is Mueller who deserves the apology from Trump, who has been viciously maligning him for the past two years. Mueller, however, has not been intimidated. He has secured dozens of indictments, and seven guilty verdicts from among Trump’s closest associates.

In the meantime, Trump has burrowed himself into his Mar-a-Lago bunker with wealthy comrades and bootlicking politicians (Lindsey Graham) and celebrities (Kid Rock?). He didn’t even tweet for forty hours (a new record?) following the completion of the Mueller probe. And then he just seemed to have a fit of MAGA Tourette’s Syndrome with a cognitively detached, all-caps shout of his branded slogan, “make America great again.”

Trump’s Twitter silence signifies that something extraordinary is afoot. Either he knows that the Mueller report contains more incriminating revelations, or he dropped his phone in the toilet while attempting to rage-tweet about “fake news.” Or maybe he got an early warning about the new poll by his favorite cable news network, Fox News. Because the results from that survey are devastating.

The least surprising data from the poll is that Trump continues to languish as the most unpopular president in modern times. His approval rating is a dismal forty-six percent, with a majority fifty-one percent who disapprove. But when we dig deeper into other opinions and policies, things get even darker for Trump.

Fifty-one percent of Americans are against Trump’s idiotic vanity wall on the southern border. And his declaration of a phony national emergency to fund it has a disapproval of fifty-nine percent, with only thirty-six percent in favor That’s a twenty-three percent deficit.

With regard to the Mueller investigation, a majority of fifty-two percent approve of it, and a whopping eighty percent want it to be released publicly. The American people have far greater trust for Mueller (45%) than for Trump (29%), even after his prolonged campaign of character assassination. And a plurality of forty-four percent believe that Trump conspired with Russia, while an outright majority of fifty-two percent say that he has obstructed the investigation.

Once again, this is the latest poll from Fox News! Trump has also been faring poorly with his approval rating at the ultra-biased, right-wing pollster, Rasmussen Reports where he now sits at a pitiful forty-five percent. A month ago he was bragging about Rasmussen’s approval rating, but it’s unlikely he’ll be doing that now.

With the Mueller report still under wraps, the undisguised glee among the StormTrumpers is both puzzling yet typical of a community of cult followers who only see the good in their Dear Leader and dismiss reality when it doesn’t conform with their delusional world view. The actual report may indeed provide some relief to the President. However, no one but Mueller and AG Barr know that at the moment. And a better analysis of the situation was offered by Rep. Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, who said that:

“There’s a difference between compelling evidence of collusion and whether the special counsel concludes that he can prove beyond a reasonable doubt the criminal charge of conspiracy.”

So even if Mueller’s conclusions fail to suggest that an indictment would be warranted, there is still plenty of cause to continue investigating and even to consider impeachment, which relies on a completely different set of standards. And the woefully premature celebrations by Trump’s wingnutty disciples just seem to be more worthy of ridicule with each passing hour. Ironically, it’s Trump who is demonstrating the appropriate measure of discretion by keeping his mouth shut – for a change. But don’t expect that to last.

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

Who’s Sorry Now? Trump-Fluffers Want an Apology From Mueller, But It’s Mueller Who Deserves One

Posted by on March 23, 2019 at 8:58 am. 3 Comments :

On Friday afternoon the long-awaited report from special counsel Robert Mueller on Donald Trump’s collusion with Russia to steal the 2016 presidential election was released to Attorney General William Barr. Early reporting suggests that there are no further indictments expected, at least from the Office of the Special Counsel.

Robert Mueller Trump

That doesn’t mean that there aren’t potential crimes that Trump can still be charged with by a U.S. Attorney, a state prosecutor, or Congress. Only that Mueller has chosen not to pursue them himself. And that may just reflect Mueller’s strict adherence to Justice Department guidance that a sitting president may not be indicted. Even though that’s not a law and isn’t legally binding.

Almost simultaneous to the report’s release, right wingers and Trump supporters began their woefully premature celebration, believing naively that the whole affair was over. In fact there are at least seventeen other active investigations in progress. But chief among the plaintive cries of Trump’s adoring cultists is a bizarre demand for an apology from – well, they don’t really say. Presumably Mueller, or the Democrats, or the media, or the Guardians of the Secret Society of the Deep State.

But of course, investigators who successfully filed hundreds of valid charges, resulting in thirty-seven indictments, and obtained seven convictions of high profile Trump associates, don’t owe anyone an apology. Most of those convictions came from guilty pleas by Trump’s inner circle comrades like his National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, his campaign chairman Paul Manafort, and his personal attorney Michael Cohen.

But that hasn’t stopped the flurry of furious apology seekers. It began shortly after the news that Mueller had given his report to AG Barr. The first question asked of Sen. Chuck Schumer was if Trump is owed an apology. Schumer replied that “we should wait for the full report to be made public.” Kimberley Strassel of the Wall Street Journal wondered “when Americans can expect an apology from all those who spent two years getting it breathlessly, abjectly and irresponsibly wrong.” Which is an assessment that is completely removed from reality. The Washington Times seemed troubled that “Adam Schiff makes no apologies for investigating Trump.” Which might be because his investigations are still proceeding. In a segment with Lou Dobbs of Fox News, Tom Fitton of the ultra-rightist Judicial Watch was elated that “the long national nightmare is over.” He opined that the Mueller report should include an apology to Trump. There were even a couple of loopy twidiots who proffered that it’s Russia who is owed an apology.

However, there is one party to this matter who was conspicuously out of line and thoroughly insulting and defamatory. One person whose boorish behavior and deliberate lies demands he be required to apologize. And that’s Donald Trump. For nearly two years Trump has maligned Mueller in the most intimidating and disgraceful manner. Typical of his abuse was this frantic tweet:

Trump squeezed pretty much every one of his tediously robotic whines into that one onerous outburst. But there were many more than one. Trump has tweeted relentlessly on this subject with bitterly personal disparagements of Mueller and his team. For instance:

  • There were thirty-eight tweets referencing the allegedly “angry Democrats” who Trump believed were engaged in “presidential harassment” (aka accountability).
  • There were thirty more mentioning a “Witch Hunt.”
  • He connected Hillary Clinton to the probe twenty times.
  • Trump alleged that Mueller was “conflicted” sixteen times.
  • And that his probe was “illegal” ten times.
  • James Comey’s role was mentioned eleven times.
  • The infamous Steele dossier got nine citations.
  • And on nine other occasions Trump just called the whole thing “disgraceful.”

Robert Mueller, is a life-long Republican and a true American hero. He was a Marine enlistee who served with distinction in Vietnam. He was awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, two Navy Commendation Medals and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry. All the while Trump was struggling to obtain five draft deferments and suffering from alleged “bone spurs” that no doctor has confirmed. Mueller then spent the majority of the rest of his career in public service and law enforcement as an attorney in the Department of Justice and Director of the FBI.

That’s the man that Trump slandered as a conflicted, illegal, disgraceful, witch hunter. And now that Mueller has delivered a report that doesn’t exhibit any signs of being “rigged” or tainted by bias of any kind, shouldn’t Trump apologize to him for two years of smears and character assassination, all fabricated to cover up his own criminality? Will Trump express any regret or ask for forgiveness.

Well, he never apologized for his racist lies about President Obama’s birth, or his insults to Sen. John McCain for having been captured in Vietnam, or for assaulting at least sixteen women, or for failing to condemn neo-Nazis. So it would not be advisable to hold one’s breath in anticipation of an apology for this. Trump just doesn’t have the character or morality to ever do the right thing.

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

Whut? Fox News Joins Donald Trump in Promoting the Deranged QAnon Conspiracy Crackpottery

Posted by on March 22, 2019 at 12:53 pm. 1 Comments :

The husband of Donald Trump’s senior counsel, Kellyanne Conway, recently posted a tweet with the psychiatric definition of Narcissistic Personality Disorder. The nine enumerated criteria are a frighteningly perfect match for the obvious character flaws of our mentally infirm president. But can a cable television “news” network also suffer from this mental illness?

Fox News, Pepe

Fox New seems to be trying its darndest to prove that it is just as psychologically diseased as Trump, the president they created and adore. A recent poll revealed that Republicans who watch Fox News are mind-melded to Trump with near unanimity on policies and opinions. It’s an ideological embrace that exists only in cults wherein the followers are forced to believe everything – and only the things – that their leader tells them to.

There have been numerous examples of Fox News adopting flagrantly dishonest conspiracy theories such as the PizzaGate nonsense that alleged that Hillary Clinton and her accomplices ran a child sex/slavery ring from the basement of a Washington, D.C. pizzeria. And there was the Seth Rich matter that fantasized that Rich was a “Deep State” operative who leaked Clinton’s hacked emails and was later murdered by her assassination squad.

These are the sort of ludicrous myths that have sprung up around the Internet cesspools of right-wing hysterics like Alex Jones of InfoWars. But they were also embraced by the hosts of Fox News primetime programs like Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity. And now Fox has taken another leap into the abyss of wingnuttery that proves they can never be considered a legitimate news network.

On Friday morning’s episode of Fox and Friends First, “reporter” Carley Shimkus read a tweet from the anonymous Twitter account of QAnon76. The tweet itself was rather innocuous, defending Trump’s Executive Order that ostensibly protected free speech on America’s college campuses (it doesn’t actually do anything, except to divert the news cycle from all the other bad news Trump generates). However, QAnon76 is part of the larger “QAnon” movement that believes there is a secret society, headed by Trump, that is organizing to destroy the anti-Trump “Deep State” factions burrowed into the U.S. government. The Twitter account has more than 160,000 delusional followers.

It is not plausible that Fox News didn’t know who this was when they filled the screen with a graphic clearly showing the name of the tweeter. So it has to be presumed that they did it deliberately to advance their screwy, cartoon agenda. And they would be aligning with their Dear Leader, Trump, in this endeavor. Just this past weekend, Trump retweeted a video that was originally posted by the Twitter account of “Deep State Exposed,” another confirmed QAnon disciple who also posts manufactured videos of Trump assaulting journalists. And Trump actually met with a QAnon figure in the Oval Office last August.

So for anyone who wasn’t convinced that the metamorphosis of the Trump White House into a full blown conspiracy theory factory wasn’t complete, we can put those doubts to rest. And the same goes for Fox News, who are now unashamedly coordinating their message and mission with the craziest freakazoids on the InterTubes. This could pass for one of the most hilarious bits from The Onion if it weren’t all true – and bone-chillingly scary.

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

POLL: The Fox News Audience is a Fanatical, Irredeemably Warped Cult of Right-Wing Extremists

Posted by on March 21, 2019 at 1:47 pm. 4 Comments :

A few weeks ago the Democratic National Committee chair, Tom Perez, announced that there would be no Democratic primary debates hosted by Fox News. There was considerable debate over whether this was a constructive policy, even though Fox News itself virtually validated it by repeatedly demonstrating their abject hatred for Democrats and their all-consuming adoration of Donald Trump.

Donald Trump, Fox News, Hate Again

Now a new survey affirms the decision to banish Fox News from the Democratic primary schedule. Navigator Research interviewed 1,000 voters to ascertain the ideological gaps between members of both parties and their viewing of Fox News. The results were published in their paper: “Stepping Inside the Fox Hole, The Media Echo-Chamber of Fox News,” It revealed stark differences that were directly attributable to frequent exposure to the propaganda on Fox. According to Navigator Research:

“There is an alternate reality in American politics, and it plays an outsized role in the way many experience and form opinions on the most important issues facing the country. Progressives should be mindful of the challenge from the Fox News echo-chamber and how it skews public perceptions. […] The influence of Fox News Channel is undeniable: from their audience to their biggest promoter, President Trump.”

The report went on to note that there was “near unanimity” between the Fox News viewing Republicans (what they call the “Fox Hole”) and the Trump world of “alternative facts.” These voters have opinions that are “vastly different from the rest” of the American people, and even from other Republicans who don’t watch Fox. For instance:

  • 90% of the Fox Hole approve of Trump’s job performance. Compared to only 71% of the non-Fox GOP and 10% of non-GOP, non-Fox viewers.
  • 89% of the Fox Hole approve of Trump’s tax reform. Compared to only 62% of the non-Fox GOP and 6% of non-GOP, non-Fox viewers.
  • 84% of the Fox Hole approve of Trump’s national emergency declaration to fund a border wall. Compared to only 50% of the non-Fox GOP and 7% of non-GOP, non-Fox viewers.
  • 89% of the Fox Hole agree with Trump’s claims of “fake news.” Compared to only 76% of the non-Fox GOP and 11% of non-GOP, non-Fox viewers.
  • 78% of the Fox Hole agree that Trump accomplished more than any other president in two years. Compared to only 49% of the non-Fox GOP and 4% of non-GOP, non-Fox viewers.
  • 78% of the Fox Hole that think that Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation should be shut down. Compared to only 60% of the non-Fox GOP and 12% of non-GOP, non-Fox viewers.

What this tells us is what many of us have already known for years. Fox News viewers are a segment of the electorate who are almost completely unpersuadable on political matters. They are no more open to debate than members of a cult. Democrats appearing on Fox News have practically no opportunity to change the minds of anyone in their audience. It’s a total waste of time and resources.

That’s not to say that there aren’t minds in the country that can be changed, even among Republicans. However, Republicans who are not Fox News viewers can be reached on broadcast networks, local TV, or online news. And Fox News viewers who are not Republicans also watch other cable news sources and can be reached there.

But the Republicans watching Fox News – The Fox Holes – are cemented into their Trumpist mindset and are unavailable to Democratic arguments or ideas. So the DNC was right to reject Fox News as a primary debate host (although the general election debates are another matter). And Democrats should feel no need to accept invitations to be cannon fodder for biased and bigoted Fox News interrogations.

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

Hannity Worries as Fox News Insiders Complain ‘We’re Being Defined By the Worst People on Our Air’

Posted by on March 20, 2019 at 12:34 pm. 3 Comments :

There has been much speculation about the future direction of Fox News following Disney’s acquisition of most of the Fox entertainment assets. Rupert Murdoch remains at the helm of the cable “news” network, while his son Lachlan runs the new, shrunken Fox Corporation. Insiders are wondering about whether the network will continue to be the State TV division of the Donald Trump administration.

Fox News Sean Hannity

Now Gabriel Sherman of Vanity Fair is reporting that some changes may be in store for Fox News. Sherman has been a reliable source about what goes on behind the curtains at Fox. He wrote the definitive biography of the late, disgraced Fox CEO Roger Ailes, The Loudest Man in the Room. In his new article he sheds some light on the rumblings within an organization that has widely come to be seen as a propaganda mouthpiece for an authoritarian style White House regime:

“Donald Trump’s alliance with Fox News has been one of the few constants throughout his shambolic presidency. But in recent days, that bond has shown signs of fraying. […] Fox journalists, bristling at being branded an arm of the Trump White House, are lobbying Fox News C.E.O. Suzanne Scott and President Jay Wallace to rein in Fox & Friends, Sean Hannity, Lou Dobbs and Pirro. ‘Reporters are telling management that we’re being defined by the worst people on our air,’ a frustrated senior Fox staffer told me.”

Actually, most Fox News reporters are doing much of that branding themselves. While the primetime StormTrumpers set the tone for the network (with few signs that they are being reined in), the other hosts and contributors either back them up or decline to repudiate the lies and insults that are the red meat of Fox’s editorial mission.

Trump recently took a gentle swipe at Fox News for briefly suspending one of his favorite fluffers, Jeanine Pirro due to her virulently racist comments about Muslim representative Ilhan Omar. He also propped up Tucker Carlson following his offensive remarks on a shock-jock radio show, and gave what he must believe is the ultimate insult to Shepard Smith by saying that he belongs on CNN.

Sherman writes that the alleged “civil war” at Fox will be decided by Lachlan Murdoch, who is described as a “Libertarian conservative, not a MAGA diehard.” He suggests that the hiring of former DNC chair Donna Brazile signals a change in direction for Fox. That’s a weak argument considering that they also just hired the radical wingnut former congressman Trey Gowdy, who led the GOP-controlled committee that wasted years and millions of dollars on Benghazi hearings that produced nothing but ridicule for the Republican Hillary fetishists.

One of the most compelling disclosures in Sherman’s reporting concerned Sean Hannity, Trump’s shadow chief-of-staff:

“Sources said Hannity is angry at the Murdochs’ firing of Ailes and Bill Shine, Hannity’s close friend and former producer. Hannity believes the Murdochs are out to get Trump. ‘Hannity told Trump last year that the Murdochs hate Trump, and Hannity is the only one holding Fox together,’ a source who heard the conversation told me. Hannity has told friends that he intends to leave Fox when his contract expires in early 2021, two people who’ve spoken with him said.”

You have to wonder where Hannity would go if he left Fox News. Other Fox alum have not fared so well outside that fortress of rightist disinformation. For instance, where are Glenn Beck, Greta Van Susteren, Bill O’Reilly, and Megyn Kelly today? What’s more, Hannity’s egotistical opinion that he’s the glue binding Fox together is laughable. For one thing, he’s losing his time period to MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. For another, his Fox stablemate, Tucker Carlson, is outperforming him on Fox. And the network still has Laura Ingraham, Neil Cavuto, Jesse Watters, and the “Curvy Couch” potatoes of Fox and Friends slobbering all over Trump.

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

Finally, Sherman’s sources tell him that Fox News could be on the auction block. That would be an interesting development that would leave the Murdochs with just the broadcast entertainment network, their station group, and some cable sports channels. But even if Rupert were willing to let go (doubtful), who would buy Fox News? What media enterprise would benefit from owning a disreputable news outlet whose advertisers are fleeing in droves? Would the Murdochs (who are still the majority shareholders) allow a sale to Jeff Bezos? Or would they look for a conservative billionaire to ride up on a white (nationalist) horse? Time will tell.

Is Donald Trump the President of the United States, or of Fox News Marketing and PR?

Posted by on March 19, 2019 at 2:49 pm. NO Comments :

The torrid love affair between Donald Trump and Fox News has never been exactly secret. Fox has given him more free airtime than any other public figure. And he has granted them more interviews (40+) than all other news networks combined. And all of the exposure has been unceasingly adoring. Trump even had a weekly segment on Fox and Friends (Mornings with Trump) long before his presidential aspirations.

Donald Trump, Fox News, Fake

The recent article in the New Yorker by Jane Mayer neatly sewed together much of the evidence proving that Fox News is not merely a conservative leaning network, but a blatantly biased propaganda mouthpiece for the President. And to demonstrate that it isn’t a relationship they are ashamed of, both Fox and Trump have escalated their fetishistic fondness for one another since the article was published. Trump, in particular, has unleashed a rash of promotions of Fox News and the shills who call it home. Just in the last four days Trump has posted ten videos from Fox:

  1. Lou Dobbs on Trump’s phony national emergency
  2. Lou Dobbs with cartoon pundits Diamond and Silk
  3. Outnumbered ranting about a “Witch Hunt”
  4. Jason Chaffetz exhibiting his undying Hillary Clinton fetish
  5. Fox and Friends pushing Trump’s idiotic vanity wall
  6. Maria Bartiromo obediently maligning the FBI
  7. Mark Levin spending seven minutes fluffing Trump with Bill Bennett
  8. Tucker Carlson doing the fake history of the Russia “hoax”
  9. Sean Hannity lying about a Democratic conspiracy against Trump
  10. Sean Hannity succumbing to his ludicrous “Deep State” dementia

Remember, this is the president who says that he doesn’t have time to watch TV because of all the documents that he has to read (as if he can read). But not only does he have plenty of time to watch TV, he even has time to feverishly post tweets of his viewing. And this doesn’t even count the numerous textual tweets that reference things he just saw on Fox News.

Last week Trump’s viewing was sufficiently disturbed that he plaintively pleaded with Fox News to return Jeanine Pirro, who Fox briefly suspended due to her flagrantly racist comments about Muslim representative Ilhan Omar. He also stood up for Tucker Carlson whose past bigotry, and boorish profanity, was revealed in recordings from his radio guest spots with Bubba, the Love Sponge.

These promos for Fox News are pure puffery on behalf of the President for his favorite bootlicking broadcaster. It is wholly unprecedented in American politics. And the marketing executives at Fox News must be thrilled. The question is whether Trump is volunteering this assistance to Fox, or if Fox is directing it.

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

Flip-Flop: Glenn Beck Now Says that Not Reelecting Trump Would Be ‘The End of the Country’

Posted by on March 19, 2019 at 11:34 am. 4 Comments :

Rising from the ashes of his failing media dung heap, Glenn Beck has reemerged to prove that nobody is better at hyperbolic inanities than the once and future master of the blackboard arts. Best known as a conspiracy crackpot, Beck has faded into the ether while grasping desperately at straws to revive his joke of a career.

Glenn Beck

However, Fox News, the one platform that still honors the brand of idiocy that Beck excels in, has thrown him an anchor in the hopes of inflating the prospects of Donald Trump’s reelection. What could go wrong?

Beck appeared with Sean Hannity on Monday night and was characteristically Beck-ish. The key take-away from this love fest between two Trump-fluffers was Beck’s frantic assertion that “If the Republicans don’t win in this next election, I think we are officially at the end of the country as we know it.”

That’s a bold statement. Especially coming from someone who said that ObamaCare would be the country, and that Obama’s reelection would be the end of the country, and that gay marriage would be the end of the country, and that Common Core education reform would be the end of the country, and that fluorides poisoning our vital fluids (h/t Dr. Strangelove) would be the end of the country. Virtually everything that Beck ever mentioned would produce the onset of an apocalypse that would be unavoidable. Including Donald Trump.

Glenn Beck, November 2016: “This guy [Trump] is dangerously unhinged. And, for all the things people have said about me over the years, I should be able to spot Dangerously Unhinged.”

So what might have brought about this 180 degree flip-flop on the part of Beck, who is ordinarily so stable and consistent (that’s sarcasm, btw)? Could it have something to do with the fact that his media empire is floundering? The guy who previously tried to rescue his sinking career by admitting that “So much of what I used to believe was … a sham,” has suffered an economic Armageddon of his own. His Blaze Media enterprise, which once boasted aspirations of being the next Disney, has run through a throng of executives and pallets of cash. Recently it agreed to a desperation merger with CRTV, a puny right-wing video blog run by Fox News’ Mark Levin.

Apparently, that wasn’t enough to save his sorry arse either. So he shows up Sean Hannity’s Trump Suck-Up Hour to try to reinvent himself once more in the mold of the neo-fascist demagogue he originally sought to be. But with an even more pathetic and subservient demeanor that kowtows to both Hannity and Trump. It would sad if it weren’t so gratifying that these jerks eventually get what they deserve.

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

Delusional Trump Desperately Embraces ‘Witch Hunt’ Poll that He Utterly Fails to Understand

Posted by on March 18, 2019 at 2:02 pm. 2 Comments :

It’s hard out here for a pompous narcissist. Donald Trump lives for positive validation from whatever ignorant or corrupt source he can scrape it off of – Vladimir Putin, Rush Limbaugh, white nationalists, etc. But given the massive failure of his bizarro administration, kind words and tributes are hard to justify unless you’re a dedicated Fox News Trump-fluffer.

Donald Trump

Consequently, Trump resorts to exalting himself every chance he gets. Much of that is done by posting videos by his favorite Fox News bootlickers and retweeting Pizzagate conspiracy crackpots who have an undying adoration for their Dear Leader.

Trump is also fond of spotlighting polls that he thinks put him in a positive light. More often than not, they don’t. For instance, Trump frequently boasts that the ultra-biased, right-wing pollster, Rasmussen, ranks his approval rating highly. But while Rasmussen’s results are always better for Trump than reputable pollsters, they are almost always below fifty percent. How is that brag-worthy?

On Monday morning Trump wandered off the ranch to find a poll by a source that he commonly refers to as “fake news.” The Suffolk/USA Today poll posted a result that tickled Trump’s ego bone. So he rushed to tweet out the news that he actually believes makes him look good:

Wow, indeed! The first thing of note about this is that it’s just one poll. Most other recent polls show that the American people trust Robert Mueller and believe his investigation is fair and warranted. They even believe convicted liar, Michael Cohen, more than they believe Trump. However, even with regard to this poll, Trump is reading it selectively and ignoring any part of it that doesn’t feed his monstrous appetite for acclamation. According to USA Today, the poll also found that:

“The survey shows a nation that remains skeptical of Trump’s honesty and deeply divided by his leadership. A 52 percent majority say they have little or no trust in the president’s denials that his 2016 campaign colluded with Moscow in the election that put him in the Oval Office.”

So a majority of respondents do not believe Trump’s denials of collusion. And the fifty percent who say that the Mueller probe is a “Witch Hunt” – versus forty-seven percent who say it isn’t – needs to be put into context. There’s a three percent margin of error, so the poll could just as likely be fifty percent saying they don’t believe it’s a witch hunt, and only forty-seven percent who do. Either way, an overwhelming majority of eighty-two percent say it is important that the report be made public. This is the report that Trump recently tweeted should not even exist.

The reason Trump is so afraid of the Mueller report is not because he knows what’s in it. It’s because he knows what he has done. And if the truth comes out, he knows he’s screwed bigly. So he latches onto these distortions of reality as a defense mechanism because, otherwise, he couldn’t face the harshness of the real world and its consequences for being a deceitful, corrupt, self-obsessed, aspiring tyrant. So he spins reality in a way that makes it possible for him to survive, while also giving his Deplorables their own mental life preservers. Welcome to the world of cult psychology.

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

Trump Confirms that Fox News is State TV in Bonkers Defense of Bigotry, Pirro, Carlson, et al

Posted by on March 17, 2019 at 12:07 pm. 5 Comments :

Now there can be no further dispute. Donald Trump has made it absolutely clear that Fox News is unambiguously State TV, and that the Trump White (Nationalism) House is inextricably intertwined with the network’s mission of propaganda and right-wing tyranny.

Donald Trump

During Trump’s regularly scheduled Sunday Tweetstorm, the President unleashed one of his most deranged outbursts of all time. It was a sustained assault on the free press, freedom of speech, the First Amendment, and a democratic government that honors individual freedom. While Trump has always been an opponent of the media – which he refers to in Stalinist terms as “the enemy of the people” – he has taken his hostility to a new low that provides incontrovertible evidence that his regime and Fox News are conjoined partners in undermining the free society principles that the United States were founded on.

Trump began his Sunday sermonizing with an attack on Saturday Night Live, which he seems to be unaware was a rerun:

That’s right. The flailing Snowflake-in-Chief is now spending his time barking at comedians, even though there supposedly a “national emergency” in progress. But even worse, he thinks that his government agencies should have the power to investigate these comics due to their having the audacity to make fun of him. If he doesn’t like it, he shouldn’t give them so much material. But his inclination to use oppressive state measures to silence them should worry every patriotic American. And it wasn’t the first time he’s done this either.

What’s more, his impotent swings at SNL also include crazy allegations that the funny folks on late night TV are the ones colluding with Russia, a nation not well known for its sense of humor. And he follows that up with the false assertion that he enjoys a fifty-two percent approval rating. He got that from an ultra-biased Rasmussen poll that is now a moth old. Rasmussen currently has him at forty-eight percent, while most other polls put him the thirties.

However, if you think any of that was proof that Trump has lost his mind, you might want to sit down. Because he was just getting warmed up. His next tweets contained more of his psychotic whining about a “Witch Hunt,” followed by a personal attack on John McCain’s intelligence. How utterly repulsive for Trump to go after a dead senator/veteran who can’t defend himself. Especially for something that Trump is notably lacking in. Trump even had his “fixer” threaten his schools to keep his records secret.

Finally, Trump disgorged himself with a what could only be described as a slobbering suck-up to Fox News, the network that defends his every atrocity and maligns his critics with outright lies. What triggered Trump was the news that one of his adoring bootlickers, Jeanine Pirro, was bumped Saturday for a rerun of a tabloid documentary. While Fox wouldn’t comment on the preemption, it has been credibly speculated that they didn’t want her program to air so soon after the massacre at Muslim mosques in New Zealand, because of her recent Islamophobic comments. Based on that, Trump went to work on behalf of his bosses at Fox News:

Holy Crap! Trump is totally confirming that he and Fox News are locked in a political/governmental embrace that this country has never seen before. Not that we didn’t already know that, but Trump is shedding any pretense of independence that either of them might have sought to convey. And this comes at a time when Fox News has been trying to convince people that they are a legitimate news network capable of hosting a Democratic Party primary debate. Well, that’s blown all to hell now, isn’t it?

Trump has taken on the role of chief PR and marketing president for Fox News. And he’s offering advice that they “stay strong and fight back with vigor. Stop working soooo hard on being politically correct.” When exactly have they ever done that? Trump implores Fox to “fight for our Country,” by which he clearly means to fight for him. And he warns them to “Be strong & prosper, be weak & die!” Obviously Trump sees this as a war, and he expects casualties.

As with his own delusional perception of his approval, Trump thinks that America is on the side of Fox News. But MSNBC has been beating them regularly for several months. Rachel Maddow is crushing her competition, Sean Hannity, nearly every night. And because of the obsessive bigotry of hosts like Pirro and the disgusting Tucker Carlson, Fox News is losing audience, advertisers, and revenue at an alarming rate.

If it wasn’t enough that Trump is virtually drooling over his Fox sycophants, he also found it necessary to bash the few people on the network that have a modicum of integrity:

For the record, Shepard Smith just won a First Amendment award from the Radio Television Digital News Association. And in his speech he gave a backhanded slap at the “opinion” hosts on the network that he fervently tries to disassociate himself from. But if you aren’t a fawning Trump-fluffer you can expect him to bring his tiny “mushroom” hammer down on you.

This Twitter tirade is the best evidence yet that Fox News cannot be taken seriously as a news network. They certainly cannot be trusted to host a Democratic primary debate. They shouldn’t even be considered as a platform for interviews by anyone but devout Trumpists. If Trump thinks that crazed outbursts like this are helpful to Fox News, he is, as usual, pitifully mistaken. It only certifies that Fox is a brazenly partisan mouthpiece for Trump and his Republican Nationalist Party.

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

If Fox had any integrity they would repudiate Trump’s comments and insist that they don’t support such media bias. But don’t hold your breath waiting for that to happen. Fox News knows that their audience is comprised mainly by loyal Trump cultists and they aren’t going to do anything that might alienate them or the racist white nationalists and neo-Nazis who wallow in this filth. These are the core components of their wretched business model.

Trump’s Fox News Addiction is Eating Away at His (and All Fox Viewers’) Few Remaining Brain Cells

Posted by on March 16, 2019 at 11:56 am. 3 Comments :

It’s Saturday and time for another episode of The Donald Trump Weekend Tweetstorm. This is how Trump spends most of his time – Watching Fox News and posting only the most obsequious videos that mindlessly profess an undying adoration for Dear Leader.

Donald Trump, Fox News

This is the behavior of a malignant narcissist who is frightened and dependent on constant positive reinforcement to prevent him from suffering mental seizures that result in more all-caps rage-tweeting.

The morning began with a shout out to 2018’s undisputed “Most Deranged Lunatic on Fox News,” Lou Dobbs, who believes that the United Nations is trying to take over the world and that special counsel Robert Mueller is trying to kill Trump. In this clip Dobbs drools over the “emotional ceremony in the White House” where Trump vetoed the bipartisan bill to reject his unconstitutional declaration of a national emergency. His guest is a regular Fox Trump-fluffer who repeatedly exalts Trump as a “great president.”

That nauseating spectacle was followed by one that puts it to shame on the Nauseous Scale. Once again, it’s Lou Dobbs, but this time hosting those brilliant political gurus, Diamond & Silk. Does Fox really consider these helium-noggins to be legitimate news analysts? Dobbs lauds Trump’s signing of his first veto and then asks the pair of cartoonish crackpots for their loopy thoughts. This leads to a predictably smarmy display of cringeworthy bootlicking wherein Demean & Sulk lambaste the Republicans who voted against the national emergency hysteria as “swampettes.”

After that embarrassment, Trump interrupted his video montage with a dumbass statement all his own:

Note that Trump is actually bragging that he told Republican members of Congress to lie in order to “look good” since this constitutional issue is just a “game” to him. He’s also asserting that he has such complete control of his party’s congressional delegation that he can order them on how to vote. What’s more, he knew that his top sycophant in the senate, Lindsey Graham, was going to block the measure anyway when it reached that body.

So that brings us to Trump’s posting of a clip from the Fox News show they call “Outnumbered,” because it pits four ultra-rightist women against one equally wingnutty man. On this episode the token male was also a token Democrat, very rarely seen on this program. But no worries, because they wouldn’t even let him talk. And that was demonstrated in the video that Trump posted. He sat there smiling uncomfortably while co-host Kennedy ranted about the FBI not reviewing the contents of Hillary Clinton’s computers (which they actually did review).

Next up was a tweet that was just a propaganda photo-op of Trump signing his first veto. He surely regards this as a historical moment where he defies the will of the Congress and the American people who oppose both his idiotic vanity wall, and his phony national emergency to fund it.

Finally, Trump posted another video from Fox News (does he ever do anything else but watch Fox?) featuring Fox and Friends co-host Ed Henry and former GOP chair of the House intelligence Committee, Jason Chaffetz, who is now a Fox contributor. They ran through some of Trump’s favorite “Witch Hunt” fear mongering that imagined FBI conspiracies and returned to the undying GOP fantasy of Hillary Clinton’s evil empire that enabled her to escape prison. Even after hundreds of hours of hearings and testimony by Republican controlled committees, as well as the efforts of Trump’s own Department of Justice.

This avalanche of derp on an otherwise pleasant Saturday morning is further proof of Trump’s declining psychological state. Never mind that he insists the nation is in the midst of a national emergency due to an invasion at the southern border, that North Korea is ready to nuke us, that the Deep State is plotting a coup, or that white nationalists are murdering innocent churchgoers. These are the things that Trump is spending his time on. And these are the things that all Fox News viewers are being directed to pay special attention to.

It’s enough to convince you that there really is a national emergency, and that right at this very moment it’s laying in bed with a sweaty remote in one hand and a Big Mac in the other, trying to get Sean Hannity or Vladimir Putin on the phone.

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

LATE BREAKING: Trump dusted off his Twitter machine for one more comment that marks a new low, even for him:

So now he’s taking shots at a Senator/veteran who passed away and can’t defend himself. And what he’s upset about is the Steele dossier (much of which has been proven to be accurate), and John McCain’s principled vote to prevent Trump and the GOP from taking healthcare away from millions of Americans. You really have to try hard to be this disgusting.