Month: March 2020

After a Plea to ‘Stop the Partisanship’ Trump Unleashes Partisan Attacks

Posted by on March 12, 2020 at 3:33 pm. 5 Comments :

On Wednesday evening, Donald Trump delivered an Oval Office address intended to inform and calm the public on the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. His demeanor was strikingly dour as he clumsily read his remarks from a Teleprompter. It is hardly comforting when a president sounds and looks sick while talking about a spreading sickness. To make matters worse, he repeatedly made comments that were untrue, which had to be corrected afterward.

Donald Trump

If Trump thought this speech would assuage the anxiety of nervous Americans, he was pitifully mistaken. He failed to offer a comprehensive plan to respond to the growing threat of widespread infections. His proposals mainly centered on travel restrictions and financial relief. And in that regard, his approach was not well received. During and after the speech the Dow Jones futures nosedived 800 points. And on Thursday the markets suffered an historic 10% decline, falling more than 2,300 points.

There were efforts in the speech to unite the country and seek common ground to face this challenge together. “We must put politics aside,” Trump said, “stop the partisanship, and unify together as one nation and one family.” That’s straight out of the Politician’s Book of Platitudes. And coming from Trump, who has distinguished himself as the most hostile and politically divisive president in memory, it seemed especially disingenuous. Not surprisingly, it took him less than twelve hours to abandon his calls for inter-party harmony.

In a pair of tweets Trump bitterly attacked Democrats that he regards as his natural enemies. In the first he complained that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wasn’t sufficiently deferential to his crisis strategy:

Note that Trump isn’t expressing his own opinion here, but that of his mouthpieces on Fox News. And in their notorious ignorance and dishonesty, they misrepresented Pelosi’s positions. When Pres. Obama proposed a payroll tax cut to remedy the economic collapse of 2008, it made sense because it would encourage people to go out and spend money. In today’s crisis that would be useless. We don’t have a problem with people not being incentivized to consume. The problem is that they are being advised to avoid markets, restaurants, entertainment, etc., where they would otherwise spend freely. So a few extra bucks in their paycheck would just sit in the bank. In the meantime, the Social Security Trust that payroll taxes fund would go into debt.

The other tweet that Trump posted reached back to his obsession with having been investigated and impeached:

This seems like a inopportune time to reanimate this monstrous conspiracy theory. Of course, Trump was never the victim of a “coup.” He was lawfully impeached according to the rules set forth in the Constitution, a document that Trump is woefully unfamiliar with. However, his anger over having been held accountable for his criminal behavior is still seething. And at a time that he was ostensibly seeking unity to combat the coronavirus, he chose instead to unload on his Democratic foes once again. There are even reports that Trump is still so bitter and hurt that he can’t bring himself to negotiate in good faith with Pelosi:

“Two senior Trump administration officials described a president who, out of an intense bitterness toward the House Speaker, has shuddered at the prospect of being in the same room with her during the ongoing public-health crisis and economic reverberations.”

What’s more, Trump answered a few questions from the press during a White House meeting with the Prime Minister of Ireland. When asked about the failure of his efforts to implement virus testing, he defensively shot back at his old nemesis, Barack Obama (video below):

“If you go back and look at the swine flu and what happened with the swine flu, you will see how many people died and how actually nothing was done for such a long period of time as people were dying all over the place. We’re doing it the opposite. We’re very much ahead of everything.”

Trump has a deep seated and deranged need to make everything a competition with Obama. In this case, as in pretty much all others, he is factually wrong. Obama declared a health emergency in April of 2009, shortly after the H1N1 virus became a known problem. He later declared a national emergency to free up additional federal funding and other resources. Trump’s lies were drawn directly from his pal Sean Hannity of Fox News.

This is how Trump behaves just hours after pleading for national unity and an end to partisanship. It is typical of his belligerent character and his malignant narcissism. Combined with his paranoia and his thirst for vengeance, it poses an imminent threat to the welfare of the nation at a perilous time. America has weathered bigger storms than this, but it has never had such an ignorant, sociopath at the helm. Our strengths are sufficient to overcome the weaknesses of one incompetent leader. But the sooner he is removed from office, the better off all of us will be.

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

Trump’s Paranoia Has Insiders Warning That ‘He’s Definitely Melting Down Over This’

Posted by on March 11, 2020 at 2:40 pm. 2 Comments :

The nation has been mired in uncertainty for several weeks now due to the (now official) COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. Americans are worried about their health and the health of their loved ones. And the economy is in a tailspin that was triggered by the pandemic news. But one thing that has been confirmed during this crisis is that Donald Trump is the most ignorant, self-obsessed, ill-prepared, and insensitive leader this country has ever had.

Donald Trump

While most Americans are struggling to cope with the rush of bad news, Trump is struggling to lather himself with praise, diminish the risks, and cast blame on his numerous perceived enemies. His desperation is unmistakable as his outbursts become ever more incoherent.

On Wednesday morning he fired off a flurry of panic-tweets that put these fears on display. In one tweet he bragged that “America is the Greatest Country in the world,” as if that sort of chest-thumping would frighten off the virus. In another he wrote that he’s working to “create a vaccine,” which in reality will take 12-18 months. In yet another, he blamed the Democrats in Congress for politicizing the virus, which is pure projection. But perhaps the most bizarre and revealing of his tweets was this:

Notice that Trump doesn’t bother explain what he’s whining about? He just unleashes his hostility and expects his glassy-eyed disciples to nod their heads in unison and agree. For the record, Trump is referring to this Vanity Fair article by Gabriel Sherman: “He’s Definitely Melting Down Over This”: Trump, Germaphobe in Chief, Struggles to Control the Covid-19 Story.” The article cites several sources within the administration who express concerns about Trump’s faltering mental state. They worry that he is losing faith in his own team. For example, he just fired chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and replaced him with former Rep. Mark Meadows (who is now self-quarantined because he came in contact with someone who tested positive at CPAC).

Trump’s psychosis prevents him from being able to deal with any situation wherein he doesn’t feel he is in control. And, of course, he cannot control a virus. So in public he resorts to frantic boasting and overt lies about how brilliant and effective he is. But in private he is said to be harboring acute paranoid fears. For example, Sherman’s sources tell him that…

“Stories about Trump’s coronavirus fears have spread through the White House. Last week Trump told aides he’s afraid journalists will try to purposefully contract coronavirus to give it to him on Air Force One, a person close to the administration told me. The source also said Trump has asked the Secret Service to set up a screening program and bar anyone who has a cough from the White House grounds. ‘He’s definitely melting down over this,’ the source said.”

So Trump thinks journalists are plotting to assassinate him with a virus. It’s hard to convey just how insane that is. For one thing, couldn’t they have done that two years ago? Trump is coming undone. Even his attack on Vanity Fair is evidence of derangement. However, it’s derangement that he has suffered from for years. This isn’t the first time that Trump has predicted the death of Vanity Fair:

    Oct 3, 2011: Sadly, Vanity Fair is a rapidly dying magazine.
    Apr 9, 2012: Vanity Fair Magazine, which used to be one of my favorites, is failing badly.
    May 24, 2013: Read this & you will understand why Vanity Fair is going down the tubes.
    Dec 8, 2013: Vanity Fair Magazine won’t be around much longer, it’s really in bad shape!
    Dec 28, 2017: Vanity Fair, which looks like it is on its last legs.

And it’s not just Vanity Fair. Trump has predicted the end of the New York Times on 39 separate occasions (Here’s one example). And then there’s this:

    Jun 26, 2019: CNN is dead as a door nail (no credibility), and MSNBC is dying fast.
    Dec 12, 2019: Fake News like CNN & MSNBC are dying.
    Dec 14, 2019: Both Commiecast MSNBC & Fake News CNN are watching their Ratings TANK. …. Don’t know why @FoxNews wants to be more like them? They’ll all die together.
    Jan 28, 2020: So, what the hell has happened to @FoxNews. Only I know! … Watch, this will be the beginning of the end for Fox.
    Feb 25, 2020: CNN & MSDNC are dying in the ratings!

At precisely the moment that America needs a steady hand guiding the course for the nation, we are stuck with a demonstrably demented character whose narcissism and paranoia are likely to result in far more misfortune than would otherwise be the case if a sane person were president. So for the time being the American people are going to have to rely on themselves and each other. Because the maniac occupying the White House is a basket case who can’t discern reality from the nightmares his mania manufactures. Good luck everyone.

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

Callous Fox News Anchor is Cool with Seniors Dying from the Coronavirus

Posted by on March 10, 2020 at 2:59 pm. NO Comments :

Donald Trump’s mishandling the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak continues to reap tragic consequences. While infections and fatalities increase, Trump is still downplaying the risk and trying to blame his failures on Democrats. He even tweeted his thanks to Republicans in the Senate for passing a bill to provide funding for coronavirus related projects. Never mind that it was an $8 billion bill (Trump asked for only $2 billion) that was authored by Democrats, who provided the majority votes to pass it.

Go Fox Yourself

Considering the gravity of the issues at hand, the press is generally taking care to offer useful information and a realistic presentation of the facts, without causing undue alarm. However, on Fox News they have a different philosophy of journalistic responsibility. Predictably, they are serving as Trump’s mouthpiece to trivialize the matter so as not to negatively impact his polling and reelection prospects. and to both Trump and Fox News, those are the most important considerations.

To that end, Fox News anchor Ed Henry interviewed Florida’s Republican Senator Rick Scott. And from the outset it was clear that the segment was intended to prop up Trump’s management of the crisis. Henry prefaced his first question with a brazenly leading slant saying that he was just “adding this important context” (video below) …

“In your state there have been 18 cases of COVID-19, two people, sadly, have died, but both of those residents were elderly and had traveled internationally. So when you hear the context, it’s not quite as scary”

“Not quite as scary” to whom? Certainly seniors who travel would be shaken by these statistics. Henry is saying explicitly that the deaths of a few old folks don’t really matter, and the rest of the American people can comfortably ignore the loss of these doddering old coots. He apparently believes that fewer elders don’t really figure in the big picture. Just put it into context, and who really cares?

Let’s set aside the abhorrent insensitivity of Henry’s comments for a moment look at the sheer ignorance he is displaying. Henry is oblivious to the fact that the coronavirus can attack anyone. And even if the victims are younger and have stronger immune systems, they can pass it on to others with greater vulnerability, including children with respiratory ailments, young adults with diabetes, cancer patients, etc. And all of these potential victims likely have families that would be devastated by losing a loved one. So Henry also belittling the suffering of those indirectly affected.

Twenty-six Americans have already died from this budding pandemic. Over 700 have been diagnosed as infected. And considering that the U.S. is woefully lagging in testing, there could be thousands more. That could translate into hundreds more fatalities. Among those exposed (so far) are six members of congress, five of whom are Republicans. There may actually be a greater risk for the GOP and Trump supporters due to Trump’s purposeful and self-serving deceit. Trump himself interacted with someone infected at the recent Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). And let’s not forget that he is one of those disposable elderly folks. As are the majority of Fox News viewers.

Henry’s gross disregard for the lives of seniors is a new low for Fox. There is simply no excuse for this sort of callous thoughtlessness. But for Fox News it is far too common. They have never been especially concerned about humane policies, whether addressing healthcare, taxes, climate change, immigration, or guns. Now they are simply fulfilling their mission to serve up Trump-fluffing propaganda without regard for the truth or the well being of the American people. Because that’s the position of Trump. And Fox is, as always, committed to echoing Dear Leader’s cruel and inhumane approach to governance.

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

Fox News and Trump are Infecting America with Lies About Viruses and Economics

Posted by on March 9, 2020 at 1:51 pm. 8 Comments :

Just at the time the country needs a steady hand to guide it through difficult times, we are unfortunately stuck with Donald Trump, an ignorant, narcissistic, sociopath, who is more concerned with his public image than with the lives of the American people. A budding pandemic is threatening to engulf the nation, and simultaneously collapse an economy that is already on thin ice.

Donald Trump, Fox News

Trump has been mishandling the Covid-19 (coronavirus) outbreak from the first days it was identified. He has stubbornly tried to downplay the seriousness of its impact on both people and economics. And he continues to this day trying to dismiss the risks that we are facing. Especially among his own supporters who are the most vulnerable to his alternative facts.

On Monday morning he posted several tweets intended to pacify the public with phony platitudes. In one tweet Trump compared the coronavirus to the flu. “At this moment,” he tweeted, “there are 546 confirmed cases of coronavirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!” Having thought about it, it’s apparent that Trump can’t do math, because that data shows that the coronavirus, which is just beginning to spread, is 200 times more lethal than the flu. That isn’t exactly comforting.

Of course, Fox News has Trump’s back. They are promoting equally as troubling distortions of reality that are intended more to boost Trump’s polling than to protect people’s lives. Devoted Trump-fluffer Jeanine Pirro unleashed an extended rant that also used flu data to diminish the potential harm from the coronavirus (video below):

“Now they say the mortality rate for coronavirus is higher than the flu. But consider, though, that we have a flu vaccine, and yet in 2019, 16,000 Americans died from the flu. Imagine if we did not have the flu vaccine the flu would be a pandemic. So all the talk about coronavirus being so much more deadly doesn’t reflect reality. Without a vaccine, the flu would be far more deadly.”

How does someone this stupid get their own TV show? The mortality rate for the flu would not increase were there no vaccine. Pirro seems think that the mortality rate is based on the percentage of deaths from within the entire national population. Actually, the base is just those infected. So without a vaccine there would surely be more deaths, but they would likely occur at the same percentage rate. Pirro is also assuming that the coronavirus isn’t going to infect more people than the flu. At this time there is no way to predict that. And the fact remains that the mortality rate for the corona virus remains far higher than for the flu.

As for Trump, he is spinning furiously to avoid any negative repercussions from the dramatic drop in the stock market. He is alternately blaming it on coronavirus panic, the media, oil prices, Democrats, and probably Hillary Clinton’s emails. He’s frantic because he knows that a faltering economy will be the death knell for his reelection hopes. But he was never a particularly good market analyst. Just two weeks ago Trump tweeted that…

Everything about the tweet is utterly and painfully wrong. The coronavirus was hardly “very much under control.” on February 24. There were only a handful of confirmed diagnoses – and zero deaths – in the U.S. then. There over 600 known infections now, and 26 deaths.

Trump’s remarks about the stock market were triggered by a 1,000 point drop that day. But if anyone took Trump’s advice and acted on what he thought was a market that looked good, they took a considerable beating. The market has declined another 3,500 points since Trump’s grossly miscast, optimistic tweet. In fact, the market has declined to a level last seen in November of 2017. So anyone who invested in the last two years has lost money. And the more recent their investments, the more they lost.

With the challenges facing the nation today, it would helpful if we didn’t have to rely on a president who has been documented lying more than 16,000 times. It would also be nice if we didn’t have a propaganda outlet like Fox News covering up Trump’s failures, falsehoods, and mental infirmities. Getting through the next few months would be hard enough under normal circumstances. Remember “normal circumstances?” Yeah, those were the days.

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

Trump’s Lawsuits Against the Media Could Produce an Avalanche of Evidence – Against Him

Posted by on March 8, 2020 at 12:40 pm. 5 Comments :

This election year has seen norms in political activity be swept away by Donald Trump’s continued rejection of decency and honesty as he tweets his way through a failing presidency. The observations that Trump is either pitifully ignorant and/or severely demented are impossible to dismiss. His symptoms range from bizarre assertions about windmill cancer and toilet flushing, to intense paranoia, delusions of grandeur, and authoritarian aspirations.

Donald Trump, Constitution

In recent weeks Trump has also been escalating his war against the media that he repeatedly refers to in Stalinist terms as “the enemy of the people,” which he did once again Sunday morning. Now Trump has set out on a path of litigation that is rooted in hostility and vengeance against the constitutional protections of a free press. This is behavior that reeks of fear, desperation, and the all-consuming mania of an unbridled persecution complex. It began with the announcement a week and a half ago that his campaign is suing his perennial nemesis (in his diseased mind), the New York Times for defamation. And in the short time since then, Trump has announced additional lawsuits against a couple of other perceived foes, the Washington Post and CNN.

Virtually every legal analyst who has commented on these lawsuits considers them not only frivolous, but dangerous. They are intended to inhibit free expression and punish those who dare to criticize Dear Leader. It’s a pure dictatorship play by a president who has repeatedly expressed his admiration for tyrants like Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, and Xi Jinping. Each of these suits explicitly attack published opinions articles, not hard news. For instance, these are the specific citation in Trump’s legal complaints that he is alleging are defamatory:

New York Times
“There was no need for detailed electoral collusion between the Trump campaign and Vladimir Putin’s oligarchy because they had an overarching deal: the quid of help in the campaign against Hillary Clinton for the quo of a new pro-Russian foreign policy, starting with relief from the Obama administration’s burdensome economic sanctions. The Trumpites knew about the quid and held out the prospect of the quo.”

Washington Post
The lawsuit cites a June 13 opinion piece by Greg Sargent that said Trump “tried to conspire with” a “sweeping and systematic” attack by Russia against the 2016 U.S. presidential election. It also cites a June 20 opinion piece by Paul Waldman that asked “who knows what sort of aid Russia and North Korea will give to the Trump campaign, now that he has invited them to offer their assistance?”

CNN
“The Trump campaign assessed the potential risks and benefits of again seeking Russia’s help in 2020 and has decided to leave that option on the table.”

All of these articles are expressing opinions that are rational, fact-based, and affirmed by authoritative sources. Some are even affirmed by Trump himself. After all, he did ask Russia to hack Hillary Clinton’s emails on national television. What’s more, an extensive investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller found that “Trump and his campaign welcomed & encouraged Russian interference.”

To this day, Trump continues to openly solicit political assistance from hostile foreign countries. And his actions prove that he is working in concert with our adversaries to boost his reelection prospects.

While Trump’s wrathful litigiousness is an assault on press freedom, and has an unambiguous chilling effect on journalists, there is a silver lining to his abhorrent conduct. Should any of these lawsuits ever see a courtroom, Trump will be obligated to comply with discovery orders to turn over documents relevant to his complaint. So the defendants can require him to produce materials that he has been refusing to provide to prosecutors and investigators in Congress. And should he do so, he will almost certainly reveal incriminating evidence that could subject him to criminal indictments.

Consequently, it is highly unlikely that Trump will pursue these lawsuits. He may try to use them for publicity for awhile, and to run up the legal fees for the defendants. But in the end he will probably run away (or try to), as he has done throughout his life. However, he may not be able to escape if the defendants countersue and seek a declarative judgment asserting their rights under the First Amendment. In which case, he might still be required to submit to discovery and even testimony. So even though his intentions are loathsome and anti-American, this could still wind up being kinda fun.

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

POLL: Trump’s Flagrant Coronavirus Lies Are Turning His Supporters Into Carriers

Posted by on March 7, 2020 at 10:42 am. 3 Comments :

The latest news about the spreading coronavirus crisis is producing a rather schizophrenic response from Donald Trump and his administration. On one hand he is desperately trying to suppress accurate information in order to prevent a negative impact on his public approval ratings and damage his prospects for reelection. On the other hand he is scheduling ever more public appearances with his virus task force in an effort to tamp down panic.

Donald Trump Virus

The problem with Trump’s Anti-Coronavirus, All Is Well, National Tour is that he continues to disseminate falsehoods regarding the spread of the virus and his pitifully ineffective response to it. On Friday he visited the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) where he dealt out numerous lies about the alleged containment and availability of testing. On the latter he rambled nearly incoherently, conflating fake virus data with the excuses he used to justify his attempts to solicit political dirt on Joe Biden from Ukraine:

“They have the tests. And the tests are beautiful. Anybody that needs a test gets a test. […] and the tests are all perfect, like the letter was perfect. The transcription was perfect, right”

Seriously? Trump is actually trying to employ the documented lies he told – that resulted in his impeachment – to validate his patently false claims that testing is widely available. In other words, he’s using his conviction to prove his innocence. But according to his virus team, those tests will still not be available in sufficient quantities for weeks. However, if they were to become available, the first place to distribute them should be at Trump’s cult rallies that are filled with supporters who believe his assertions that there is really nothing to worry about. As News Corpse noted last week…

“This campaign of trivialization is insuring that it is Trump’s supporters who are the least informed about the reality of this budding pandemic. They are, therefore, the most likely to dismiss the risks and behave in ways that could escalate the incidence of infection. So while supporters of Democratic candidates may gather in public, they are likely to be heeding common sense advice to wash their hands, use sanitizers, cough or sneeze safely, and even stay home if not feeling well. But the Trump cultists who aren’t buying the seriousness of the outbreak, will be more likely to ignore such precautions.”

A new poll by Reuters/Ipsos confirms the potential risks of associating with Trumpists. As a result of the President’s dangerously optimistic pronouncements, his supporters are less likely to adjust their behavior to conform with the recommendations of medical experts.

“Democrats are about twice as likely as Republicans to say the coronavirus poses an imminent threat to the United States, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted this week. And more Democrats than Republicans say they are taking steps to be prepared, including washing their hands more often or limiting their travel plans.”

This makes the possibility of exposure and transmission far greater among Trump supporters than other Americans. And the places where Trump’s followers gather in the biggest numbers is, of course, at his cult rallies. Trump was asked on Friday whether he was concerned about the potential risk of bringing people together for these events. He replied callously that it “doesn’t bother me at all, and it doesn’t bother them at all.”

Well, so long as Trump and his disciples are not “bothered,” everything should be okay. No one needs to worry that they might be a breeding ground for a pandemic viral infection that they could spread to their families, co-workers, neighbors, and even strangers at shopping malls, movie theaters, churches, etc.

Although, it is a bit comforting that despite Trump’s reckless indifference to spreading disease at his self-serving rallies, he presently doesn’t have any scheduled. It’s impossible to know whether that is because he secretly is concerned about contaminating his fans (or more likely, himself), or he just hasn’t settled on the specifics of his itinerary going forward. But in any case, it would still be wise to avoid any large assemblies of Trump supporters who aren’t taking common sense precautions because Trump, in his infinite wisdom, told them they don’t need to.

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

Trump Visits Fox News to Wax Idiotic About Both Economics and Pandemics

Posted by on March 6, 2020 at 12:32 pm. 2 Comments :

From the first days that the coronavirus was reported to be spreading throughout the world, including in the United States, Donald Trump has sought to minimize the risks and the potential that it could escalate into a full blown pandemic. He has understated the infection rate and the number of fatalities. And he has focused his attention on the economic impact, rather than the cost of human lives.

Donald Trump TV Set

On Thursday evening Trump appeared on Fox News for a town hall meeting. it was his second Fox News interview in as many days (the first being a suck up phone-in with Sean Hannity). The Fox News town hall was rife with the sort of lies and disinformation that is the hallmark of both Trump and Fox. For instance, Trump claimed that he would protect Social Security, even as he explicitly said he would be cutting entitlements. He also promised to provide “great healthcare,” despite never having offered any proposals, and actively fighting in court to kill Obamacare.

With regard to the coronavirus, which is currently the most pressing issue on the table, Trump continued his efforts to trivialize the very real vulnerabilities the nation faces. “I think we’re in great shape,” he lied, and “I think we made a great move. We closed it down. We stopped it.” Of course, he has not come close to stopping the coronavirus. It has actually spread to twenty-one states with over 225 cases in the U.S. And its containment is far from certain because we don’t even have enough test kits to identify those infected.

RELATED: Are Trump’s Cult Rallies Breeding Grounds for the Coronavirus?

However, perhaps the most troubling remarks Trump made were in connection to how the virus might impact the U.S. economy. He presented his deranged viewpoint that there is a fiscal silver lining to the suffering and death that the virus has already caused. Surely the families of the victims will be pleased to hear this (video below):

“A lot of people are staying here. They’re going to be doing their business here. They’re going to be traveling here. They’ll be going to resorts here. And, you know, we have a great place … we’re going to have Americans staying home.”

Virtually everything in that comment is patently false and without even a hint of factual basis. First of all, there is no evidence that Americans are traveling more within the U.S. To the contrary, more people are avoiding all travel, even domestically. Airlines are canceling flights due to the absence of bookings. As for doing more business, that too is unsupported by any data. Many Americans are staying home rather than risk exposure in public places like restaurants and theaters. Businesses themselves are canceling participation in conferences and trade shows, and they are limiting their employees’ travel.

What’s more, even if there were some sliver of truth to Trump’s bizarrely rosy scenario, it wouldn’t provide an economic benefit for the country. That’s because the U.S. makes more money from the spending by tourists coming here than it would lose from Americans going overseas. So there would be a net loss of revenue if Americans spend at home, while foreigners decline to visit.

There is also something notable about the alleged revenue that Trump falsely claimed would be realized by a virus-driven quarantine of travelers. Virtually all of it would come from businesses that Trump himself operates (hotels, resorts, etc.). How convenient! But the fact that the stock market has declined sharply indicates that most investors believe that the broader American business landscape is going to be hurt severely by the repercussions of this budding pandemic.

The impact on the economy by the coronavirus is really the only thing that Trump cares about. And even that isn’t because he’s concerned about people’s financial welfare. He’s only worried about how it will affect his prospects for reelection. Consequently, he needs to lie about both the inherent dangers the virus portends for human life, as well as how it influences the direction of the market. And anyone dumb enough to believe Trump’s self-serving blather is going to end up much sicker and poorer.

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

Trump’s Sanctuary City Funding Hold is Another Imminent Threat to Public Safety

Posted by on March 5, 2020 at 1:11 pm. 3 Comments :

Donald Trump is distinguishing himself as the most careless and reckless American president in history. His first term in office is rife with examples of how has acted in ways that are manifestly harmful to the American people. They range from assaults on access to healthcare, wherein he is still fighting to kill the Affordable Care Act, terminating insurance for millions of people, to tax reforms that increase the burden for the middle-class while cutting it for corporations and the wealthy.

Donald Trump

On Thursday morning Trump announced via his Official Presidential Press platform (aka Twitter) that he is moving forward with plans to withhold federal funds from localities that are designated as “Sanctuary Cities.” These are cities and states that decline to cooperate with federal authorities to enforce immigration laws. Trump tweeted…

Trump is referring to a 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan that recently ruled that the Department of Justice could withhold funding from cities and states that refuse to assist Trump’s racist policy targeting undocumented immigrants. This decision by a three-judge panel of the Appeals Court came after multiple courts previously had ruled against the Trump administration on the issue. It will surely be appealed to the full court, and potentially the Supreme Court.

In the meantime, what Trump is proposing will only make things much worse for law enforcement in the places from which he denies funds. The money that the Justice Department distributes is used by local law enforcement agencies to finance critical measures to insure public safety. Without this funding the police and other services will be severely limited in their ability to perform necessary functions. The end result is that citizens will likely be vulnerable to greater risk of criminal activity.

Trump’s disingenuous argument against sanctuary cities is centered on the baseless assertion that undocumented immigrants are responsible for rampant commission of crimes. The truth is that they commit far fewer crimes than native born citizens. But even if Trump were right, how does withholding scarce funds from law enforcement help anybody? it can only make matters worse.

There are several good reasons why local officials object to being forced to cooperate with federal immigration agencies. For one thing, that isn’t their job. They have enough to worry about just fulfilling their obligations to their own community without being hamstrung by the feds. What’s more, the intimidating tactics of ICE inhibit the cooperation of undocumented locals in investigating crimes. They are reluctant to be witnesses against criminals if they believe that they, or their family, could be subject to incarceration and deportation. Finally, federal immigration agencies have terrible records of harassment and bungled operations that have resulted in the persecution of innocent people.

So Trump is reverting to his natural bullying tendencies to threaten localities with a funding drought that actually makes every citizen less safe. While he claims to be against protecting criminals, that’s precisely what his proposal ends up doing. And by trying to force his policies on these cities and states, Trump is violating their rights to govern themselves in their own best interests. If he gets away with this there will surely be more people suffering harm from crime. And Trump will have their blood on his hands.

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

PRIORITIES: Trump’s Rage-Tweets Focus on Bashing Democrats, Ignore Coronavirus

Posted by on March 4, 2020 at 2:49 pm. NO Comments :

The importance of the Super Tuesday primaries cannot be overstated. It’s results have reshaped the Democratic race to be the party’s nominee for president. But that is surely not the only story with national significance. The nation – and the world – continues to be threatened by an emerging health crisis that has the potential to be become a pandemic.

Donald Trump, Toilet, Bathrobe

These situations require the thoughtful and forthright attention of our leaders, from local medical facilities right up to the White House. So this would be a good time to see how Donald Trump is spending his precious time at this hour of need.

While news reports confirm that both infections and fatalities in the U.S. are increasing, Trump seems unperturbed by these developments. His Twitter feed on Wednesday morning consists of fourteen tweets, and not a single one addresses the coronavirus. Instead, Trump appears to be fully consumed by the drama in the Democratic presidential primary. Fully half of his tweets were attacks of one sort or another on the Democrats vying to oust him in November. And the majority of those were missives aimed Mike Bloomberg, who Trump derisively refers to as “Mini.” For instance…

It’s pretty hysterical that a pretend billionaire like Trump, whose bankruptcies and other business failures are legendary, attacks Bloomberg for not “having what it takes.” Bloomberg is worth over $58 billion. Also, Trump is lying about what Bloomberg spent on his campaign. But even if it were true, it would be less than 2% of of his wealth. And Bloomberg has promised to spend “whatever it takes” to defeat Trump.

That’s why Trump is so scared. He knows that Bloomberg has the resources to bury him politically. And whether Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders is the beneficiary of those funds, and Bloomberg’s digital operations, they will create the sort of “wall” that Trump can only dream about.

Trump fired off three other tweets about Bloomberg that were equally as insulting and devoid of substance. But he also went after Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. He continues to spin a deranged conspiracy theory that everyone in the Democratic Party is plotting to “crush Bernie Sanders.” And Trump is positioning himself as an advocate for Sanders, who he claims is the victim of a rigged system. Obviously Trump loathes everything about Sanders. So this dishonest expression of concern is rooted in something more sinister. As Trump tells it…

So what’s Trump’s game? He wants us to believe that he considers Sanders an easier opponent to beat. However, he didn’t come to that conclusion on his own. It also happens to be the view of his pal, Vladimir Putin. The Russian campaign to sow discord and chaos within the Democratic Party has been in operation for months. Sanders was notified of it earlier this year. And virtually everything Trump is doing and saying is aligned with the Russian agenda. It is no coincidence that Putin’s perspective and Trump’s are so tightly bound.

In addition to those anti-Democratic tweets, Trump also posted what amounts to a confession that he intended to obstruct justice when he appointed Jeff Sessions to be his Attorney General:

It’s hard to be any clearer that Trump expected Sessions to terminate the Mueller investigation. And when that didn’t happen, he fired Sessions and installed a more obedient lackey, Bill Barr. Now Trump is celebrating Sessions’ difficulties in winning back his old senate seat. And the reason that Trump believes Sessions is getting what he deserves is that Sessions wasn’t sufficiently loyal. Of course, that isn’t in the job description of the Attorney General. What Trump is looking for is a bootlicking sycophant, which is also not in the job description of the Attorney General, or any other cabinet position.

The larger problem that all of this represents is that, while America is worried about the emergence of a potential pandemic, Trump is obsessed only with his prospects for retaining power. That may not be news to anyone who has been paying attention to our Narcissist-in-Chief, but it is nevertheless troubling. The United States is presently burdened with a self-absorbed, wannabe dictator who is content to allow millions of Americans to suffer rather than fulfill the obligations of his job. And therein lies the most urgent reason to make sure that Trump’s presidency ends as soon as possible.

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

Donna Brazile Tells Trump-Fluffing GOP Chair to ‘Go to Hell’ Live on Fox News

Posted by on March 3, 2020 at 11:30 am. 1 Comments :

The Republican Party’s penchant for hypocrisy is legendary. They profess to advocate family values while supporting Donald Trump, an adulterous president who is on his third wife, all of whom he has cheated on. They disingenuously embrace patriotism while enabling Trump’s treasonous aiding and abetting hostile foreign governments that attack our democracy. They claim to have faith while idolizing an irreligious narcissist who calls himself “the Chosen One.”

Donald Trump

On Tuesday morning Republicans were apoplectic over a segment on Fox News where Donna Brazile lashed out at the GOP for interfering in Democratic politics. That’s something that Trump himself has been spending a remarkable amount of time on (mostly advancing the mission of Vladimir Putin). Never mind that no one takes his inane analysis of Democrats seriously. And why should they? His rancid animosity toward fellow Americans who don’t happen to worship him is the core of his moronic commentary.

So on Fox’s America’s Newsroom co-host Sandra Smith prefaced her question for Brazile by playing a clip of Republican National Committee Chairwoman, Ronna Romney McDaniel, speculating about how the Democratic primary is progressing. McDaniel said that…

“It’s leading toward a brokered convention which will be rigged against Bernie [Sanders] if those super delegates have their way.”

Following that clip, Smith threw the question to Brazile for her response. And it was a doozy:

“First of all, I want to talk to my Republicans. Stay the hell out of our race. I get sick and tired of listening to Republicans tell me and the Democrats about our process. They don’t even have a process. They are canceling primaries. They have winner take all. They don’t have the kind of democracy that we see on the Democratic side. And for people to use Russian talking points to sow division among Americans, that is stupid.

“So Ronna, go to hell! We are not trying to prevent anyone from becoming the nominee. If you have the delegates to win, you will win. This notion that Democrats are somehow out there trying to put hurdles or road blocks before one candidate, that’s stupid.

“I know what’s going on. They are scared of Democrats coming together to defeat Donald Trump. They need to be focusing on what we’re focusing on in the Democratic Party. And that is preventing foreign interference in our elections. And stop using Russian talking points, Madame Chairwoman.”

OUCH! That is precisely how Democrats should reply to the preposterous analyses that Republicans put out about Democrats. Brazile hit every salient point. The GOP is canceling primaries because they seem to be afraid that some of their cult members will wander off and vote for Bill Weld. Fox News has, to date, refused to even interview Weld. Trump is exposing his weakness. Brazile also noted that McDaniel was parroting Russian talking points. Actually, they are more than talking points. They are part of an orchestrated strategy to create discord and chaos. And Brazile forcefully defended the Democratic Party’s neutrality. The main proponents of the conspiracy theory that the primary is rigged are Trump and Putin.

This attempt by Fox News to ambush Brazile is just another reason why Democrats should never appear on Fox. They have only one objective, and that is to harm Democrats. In this case it backfired on them in a big way. But it is still giving Fox and their Trump-fluffing surrogates the opportunity to condemn Brazile for her alleged incivility. But just to put that hypocrisy in context, see the video below that compiles Trump’s frequent use of profanities that apparently doesn’t bother the pure as virgins GOP or Fox News.

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