Month: May 2020

PITY PARTY? Trump Clown Show Mocks Americans Suffering in Coronavirus Depression

Posted by on May 11, 2020 at 1:17 pm. 3 Comments :

As if it weren’t enough that Donald Trump neglected to act for two months as COVID-19 (coronavirus) spread throughout the nation – or that he trivialized it’s impact as being “totally under control” and that cases were “going down to zero” very soon, or that he blamed Democrats, China, and anyone but himself for the tragedies resulting from his incompetence – it’s agonizing to watch him continue to put the lives of more Americans at risk because his ego won’t permit him to take responsibility and act responsibly. Even worse, he actually brags about his flagrant failures.

Donald Trump, Pennywise

Trump’s rush to send Americans back into a still dangerous workplace has the stench of hypocrisy. He can’t even keep the coronavirus out of the White House with daily testing, but he expects average folks to become the “warriors” in his battle to save corporations and the stock market. And they won’t have the testing, protective gear, or medical care that he and his comrades have.

In this environment of blatant privilege for the wealthy and the politically connected elite, Trump has proven that he just doesn’t care about the hardships of others. So he sent Peter Navarro, his advisor on trade and manufacturing, out to mingle with the Trump-fluffers at Fox News. Navarro’s visit with the “Curvy Couch” potatoes of Fox and Friends (video below) was jam-packed with the sort of happy-talk propaganda that totalitarian regimes are so fond of.

Navarro lead off with a callous characterization of the hard times that most Americans are struggling to cope with. He referred to the criticism of Trump’s dreadful mishandling of the deadly coronavirus pandemic with this tone-deaf phrasing: “That was a pity party yesterday on the Sunday shows.” Of course. Because what’s a more self-indulgent demonstration of whiners feeling sorry for themselves than a population ravaged by a fatal and infectious virus? Particularly one that has resulted in the deaths of more than 80,000 people, many of which were preventable had there been competent leadership. Navarro elaborated saying that…

“This is not the Great Depression. Anybody that thinks this is the Great Depression doesn’t understand either history or economics. […] Here’s what we have here. We have President Donald J. Trump who built up the strongest and most beautiful economy in three and half years. And then the Chinese communist party dropped a virus on the world that, within sixty days, has temporarily shut us down. And all we need to do here is focus on the mission, the original mission of Donald J. Trump […]

Now it’s gonna be a long process because of the structural adjustments that are gonna take place as we adapt to the virus socially, culturally, and economically. But this Great Depression pity party stuff I saw yesterday, this aint that..”

For an economic advisor, Navarro sure sounds a lot like a PR shill. He begins by failing to grasp that the economic decline, the collapse of markets in equities and bonds, and the 20+ million Americans who are now unemployed, actually fit the definition of a depression with painful precision. And he dresses up his fan fiction in tributes to Dear Leader Trump, who he believes has that divine gift of being able to do no wrong. Naturally, he adopts his master’s habit of shoveling any and all blame unto others, in this case China. And while China shares it’s measure of blame, it was Trump who praised President Xi saying that “I think he’s handled it really well,” and that his management of the budding pandemic was “strong, sharp and powerfully focused.” Trump effusively complimented Xi well into February.

Now, suddenly, it’s all China’s fault, Trump’s lazy and lethal disregard is being ignored, and the White House rhetoric is simultaneously insisting that our tribulations are both temporary and “a long process.” The confusion emanating from the Trump administration is indicative of their utter lack of any idea of what to do. They are paralyzed by ignorance and their desperation to avoid any political fallout, especially with regard to the presidential election in November, which currently has Joe Biden beating Trump nationally, as well as in many of the crucial swing states.

Nevertheless, Navarro thought it would be a good idea to go on Fox News and demean Trump’s critics – which includes the majority of American voters – as a pity party. It’s a pity that these cretins don’t have more sympathy for the sick and the scared and the families of the deceased. But then heartless narcissism has been the Trump brand from the very beginning of his occupation of the white House. And there’s no reason to expect that to change.

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

Trump Flagrantly Lies About ‘Great Marks’ for His Catastrophic Coronavirus Failures

Posted by on May 10, 2020 at 2:31 pm. 3 Comments :

It gets harder every day to tell whether Donald Trump is simply the pathological liar he has been his whole life, or if he is suffering from acute delusional dementia. His relentless flow of bizarre commentaries on television and on Twitter are teetering ever more over the edge of sanity.

Donald Trump, coronavirus

On Sunday morning Trump unleashed his regularly scheduled tweetstorm of wild rants and bitter harangues. It consisted of 102 total tweets, including 83 retweets from notorious Trump-fluffers and Fox News bootlickers. The vast majority of these tweets (76) were focused on utterly fictional historical rewrites of Trump’s unsavory associations with Russia and his disgraced former National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn. These are Trump’s vain and transparent attempts to deflect from the devastating consequences of his negligence and incompetence that has taken the lives of nearly 80,000 Americans to date.

UPDATE: Trump eventually posted a total of 124 tweets for the day, marking a new record topping his (123 tweets on December 12, 2019. Many of his late-night tweets were bitter and dishonest attacks on President Obama. Trump just can’t contain his rancid jealousy.

It’s notable that in this avalanche of Twitter detritus there were only three tweets that referenced the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. And none of those expressed condolences for the sick or deceased. That’s three out of 102. Predictably, the only thing that Trump showed he had concern for was himself and his public image:

You have to wonder from whom Trump is getting those allegedly “great marks.” Could it be John Barron, his alter ego/PR agent? Or maybe Sean Hannity, who is himself a major source of infection and death? It certainly isn’t from any reputable source in the media or the public health community.

As he does ad nauseam, Trump praised his “BAN of people from China” which wasn’t actually a ban since some 40,000 people came in after it went into effect. It is also false that China was “the infectious source, entering the USA.” Epidemiologists have concluded that the coronavirus came to the U.S. via Europe. In either case, it spread unchecked for two months while Trump did nothing but insist that it was “totally under control” and would just disappear miraculously. In the meantime he bragged about his “ratings” and his polling.

As for Trump’s ludicrous comparison to how President Obama and Vice-President Biden handled H1N1 (Swine Flu), he is leaving out the fact that Obama declared a health emergency very soon after the virus was discovered in the U.S. There were a total of 12,469 deaths over the course of a year. Trump has bested that by being directly responsible for 80,000 deaths in only three months. And still, at the top of his mind is how Obama/Biden fared in the polls. His perpetually petty shallowness is stupefying. Here’s a more relevant comparison between Trump and Trump:

Finally, while most of Trump’s tweets this Sunday were self-serving, irrelevant to what America cares about today, and flagrantly dishonest, there was one that is troubling, but which might get overlooked. Trump tweeted simply that it’s “So great to see our Country starting to open up again!”

That’s right. While the nation and the world is living through a deadly pandemic, Trump took the time to use his official Twitter account to promote his own golf resort. That is not only insensitive, egocentric, and greedy, it is likely illegal. It is unquestionably unethical. Not that Trump has any qualms about that. Although this violation of law and ethics pales in comparison to Trump’s callousness with regard to the death toll that is ravaging America, it is emblematic of his tunnel-blind, narcissistic, sociopathic world-view. That is what’s getting so many people sick and worse. And he just doesn’t care.

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

In Deranged Tweets Trump Says that All California Votes ‘Must Not Count’

Posted by on May 9, 2020 at 11:17 am. 11 Comments :

The evidence of Donald Trump’s mental infirmity continues to pile up. On a daily basis he openly exhibits an unbridled rage at those he fears. He proclaims that he has the “total authority” of the tyrants he admires. With paranoid fervor he regards every critic as a “hater” who is out to get him. He ignores the suffering and death caused by COVID-19 (coronavirus) while focusing furiously on his abysmal polling. And he refuses to accept responsibility for any of his actions, while vainly shifting blame to others.

Donald Trump, Constitution

The psychoses of Trump could fill a textbook on sociopaths and narcissists. The latest example of the severity of his psychological degradation was displayed in another Twitter outburst on Saturday morning. This one was boiling over with fear and desperation as he lashed out incoherently at Americans who happen to live in California.

Seriously, what on Earth is he ranting about? Californians have had access to mail-in voting for years. The only new twist is that Gov. Gavin Newsom just signed an executive order sending ballots to all registered voters in the state. They are not obligated to use them, but they have the choice. And that freedom, that makes voting easier for everyone, is what Trump believes is a “SCAM!” Consequently, in his diseased mind, all the votes of American citizens in California “must not count.” What sort of madness produces this disgustingly undemocratic – and un-American – idiocy?

Trump’s tweet also makes the bizarre assertion that a voting booth was just opened “in the most Democrat area in the State.” Does anyone know what he’s even talking about anymore? There are voting booths in every district. Does he think that predominantly Democratic districts shouldn’t have them? Is the prospect of Democrats voting the basis for his complaint that “It’s all rigged out there”?

UPDATE: In another tweet, Trump elaborated on his curious remarks about new voting booths. Apparently he thinks that voting in California is “supposed to be mail in ballots only.” He is wrong, of course. And he’s demonstrating how pitiful he is at comprehending what’s going on around him.

Trump continued to address the matter of mail-in voting in his very next tweet, which promoted a Republican candidate. Except in that tweet Trump completely reversed himself himself noting that in this special election there is mail-in voting and offering this reminder to his cult followers: “Mail in ballots, & check that they are counted!” Really? So for Republicans mail-in voting isn’t a scam and those votes should be counted? And a couple of tweets later Trump declares that the whole “CA25 is a Rigged Election.”

The question of mail-in voting is a touchy subject for Trump and all Republicans. They have always had a mortal fear of expanding the electorate. Trump recently said the quiet part out loud with a rant about mail-in voting wherein he whined that “They had levels of voting, that if you ever agreed to it you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again.” Trump is afraid because he knows that the more people who vote, the less likely it is that he will be reelected. Republicans at large have the same fear.

This fear is what is driving Trump’s assault on the U.S. Postal Service. His hostility to this agency, that is explicitly authorized by the Constitution, is rooted in his jealousy of and contempt for Jeff Bezos, a real billionaire and the owner of Amazon and the Washington Post. In a rancid screed last month Trump called the Postal Service “a joke,” and threatened to withhold funding if they didn’t quadruple their rates. That, of course, would put an enormous burden on every business, as well as every American wanting to wish their grandmas a happy birthday.

Trump’s nauseating attack on democracy must not be ignored or normalized. He needs to be called out for this obvious grasping of totalitarian rule. This week Trump appointed a new postmaster general who just happens to be a major Trump ally and donor. That confirms that he is serious about sabotaging the Post Office for his own nefarious political advantage. And we, the people, must not allow him to get away with it.

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

Trump’s Heartless Take on Dreadful Jobs Report: It’s Fully Expected and I’m Not to Blame

Posted by on May 8, 2020 at 12:47 pm. 2 Comments :

When the history of Donald Trump’s presidency is written, it will be difficult to find documentation of any genuine expressions of sympathy for the American people, whether those whose lives were upended by hurricanes, refugees from poverty and oppression, or the victims of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. Trump appears utterly incapable of having a human feeling for people who have suffered misfortune. Although he always seems to be pretty charitable toward corporations and the wealthy.

Donald Trump

On Friday morning the latest jobs report was released and it revealed a historic decline for the month of April. More than 20.5 million jobs were lost, a number not seen since the Great Depression. The unemployment rate tripled to 14.7%, which is likely an undercount because it doesn’t include those who are not currently looking for work due to the Stay-At–Home policies currently in effect.

Trump was being interviewed on Fox News by the “Curvy Couch” potatoes of Fox and Friends when the report became public. The program interrupted their predictable Trump-fluffing to announce the new data and get a response from Trump. So in keeping with his callously uncaring demeanor, Trump’s initial message to the nation was this:

“It’s fully expected. There’s no surprise. Everybody knows that. Somebody said, ‘Oh, look at this.’ Well, even the Democrats aren’t blaming me for that.”

That’s typical Trump. No compassion for the people who are now unemployed. No concern for how they will pay for rent, groceries, medicine, etc. No acknowledgement of the stress and anxiety that millions of people are enduring. Nope. Trump can be relied on to always put his own interests above those of the nation or any of its citizens. And that is openly in play as he seeks to stem his personal financial losses by rushing to allow hotels and golf courses to resume operations. So naturally, Trump’s first thoughts upon hearing the jobs report were both egocentric and dishonest.

Trump’s malignant narcissism was on display in his first remarks when he complained about the prospect of being blamed for the pandemic and its consequences. That’s a key concern for Trump. Never mind that his documented negligence and incompetence has directly resulted in exacerbating the severity of the pandemic’s impact in the U.S. Trump relentlessly rejects any responsibility. He is so afraid of having to accept the blame he so richly deserves that he is pushing for a premature relaxation of business restrictions. That will undoubtedly result in even more illnesses and fatalities. And he keeps moving the goalposts on estimates of the dead. For weeks he “bragged” that it would be under 60,000 by August. Now that we are over 76,000 in May he has upped it to 110,000. Keep in mind that neither estimate is worth bragging about.

Trump lied by saying that he expected this catastrophic jobs market. In truth, he denied that there was any problem at all for the first two months. He insisted that it was fully “under control” and that the handful of cases would quickly “go down to zero.” Instead they went up to 1.3 million with more than 76,000 deaths. And contrary to his current position that he expected this, he literally said that “Nobody ever expected a thing like this” during a Fox News town hall two weeks ago. What’s more, his Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross, said this on January 30:

“I don’t want to talk about a victory lap over a very unfortunate, very malignant disease. But the fact is, it does give businesses yet another thing to consider … I think it will help to accelerate the return of jobs to North America.”

So not only was the Trump administration not planning for an employment debacle, they were actually looking forward to a jobs boom resulting from a rush by companies to relocate their manufacturing to the U.S. That turned out to be a figment of their overactive and self-serving imaginations. However, Trump did get one thing right during his segment with his Fox friends. “Next year,” he assured, “we’re going to have a phenomenal year. People are ready to go.” Indeed. President Biden will see to that. And the American people are surely “ready to go” to the polls to vote in November to oust Trump and his enablers in the Republican Cult.

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

HUH? Fox News Implies Barr’s Absolution of Flynn Invalidates the 2018 Election

Posted by on May 7, 2020 at 2:26 pm. 2 Comments :

The criminal administration of Donald Trump is frantically trying to slip through as many political atrocities as it can before it is swept out office next year. And they aren’t shy about hiding behind the tragedies of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic in order to achieve their nefarious goals. In fact, it almost seems like they are deliberately making things worse by prematurely “reopening” the country economically in order to better cloak their activities.

Donald Trump, Bill Barr

On Thursday Trump’s Justice Department led by Attorney General, Bill Barr, announced that they were asking a federal judge to drop the charges against Michael Flynn, Trump’s disgraced former National Security Advisor. Flynn had pleaded guilty to an array of charges including lying to the FBI. He also promised to cooperate with federal prosecutors until he abruptly reneged and hired a new team of lawyers. The charges against him were pretty airtight, which is why he originally admitted his guilt. But more recently he concluded that by hanging tough he would be able to secure a presidential pardon or a dismissal, which is what has now occurred.

Flynn was the poster boy for the corruption that infects every cell of the Trump regime’s body. He had unsavory relations with the governments of Russia and Turkey. He was considered dirty even before Trump was inaugurated. President Obama fired him and warned Trump to steer clear. Naturally, that probably had the effect of endearing Flynn to Trump. Birds of a feather, and all that. Just last week Trump unleashed a tweetstorm of 27 tweets supporting Flynn.

The news that Barr was dropping the charges broke pretty quickly as every news network interrupted their programming with special coverage. However, the coverage on Fox News stood out for its predictably biased slant, including bizarre opinions by their “straight” news anchors, Bill Hemmer and Bret Baier. They joined to imply that Barr’s dismissal of Flynn’s charges somehow reflected on the validity of the 2018 election (video below):

Hemmer: It begs the question, what was Bob Mueller doing all this time? And were they out there looking for something that never existed? Were they trying to find a crime were they could not find one?
Baier: We’re in the middle of dealing with COVID and all of the health crisis and the economic crisis, but if you look back and you realize when Bob Mueller and his team knew that there was nothing there there, it was before the midterm election. And that raises its own questions about where that investigation went and how it proceeded.

WTF? If these guys don’t know what Mueller was doing at this point, they are either too stupid to be allowed to function outside of an asylum, or they are brazenly lying in support of their extreme right-wing agenda. Hemmer’s “questions” as to whether a crime occurred is deliberate disinformation. Mueller’s report explicitly stated that he was not able to exonerate Trump. It also enumerated several instances of felony perjury. Plus, there were several indictments and convictions in addition to Flynn’s guilty plea. All of this has been on the record for years now.

As for Baier, his preposterous speculations expose him as a bitterly partisan political hack. He asserts that Mueller at some point “knew that there was nothing there there.” That’s a flagrant lie. When Mueller testified before Congress he said that “Trump and his campaign welcomed and encouraged Russian interference,” and that they “lied about it to cover it up.” Does that sound like he knew there was no there there?

What’s more, the contention that Flynn being let off the hook now has some bearing on the 2018 election cannot be squared with reality. First of all, how can a decision to allow an admitted felon to go free by a dishonest and devotedly loyal Trump Attorney General have any such effect? Barr’s decision doesn’t make Flynn innocent and it doesn’t alter the voters’ choices to sweep corrupt Republicans out of office. Flynn’s get-out-of-jail-free card only serves as a further indictment of the corruption in Trump’s criminal syndicate. If anything, it validates what voters did in 2018.

More importantly, Barr’s Trumpist puppetry will likely spark a new level of outrage among the majority of Americans who already want Trump, and his GOP confederates, gone in November. If they think that coddling traitors is going to translate into Republican votes, they are dumber than Trump looks. Flynn’s freedom will remind every American voter that Republicans are on the side of those who betray our country. The likelihood of a Democratic tsunami at the polls in November became greater today.

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

Trump’s Worst Nightmare: More Americans Believe CNN than the Liar-In-Chief

Posted by on May 6, 2020 at 12:28 pm. 9 Comments :

Each day that passes, Donald Trump appears to be sinking ever further into the Mariana Trench of desperation and deceit. His rapidly unraveling mental state becomes more critical and evident to all who are paying attention. It’s an unprecedented public display of an emotional breakdown playing out before millions, not unlike his old reality TV game show performances.

Donald Trump, CNN

Trump is frantically trying to buttress his disintegrating psyche by lashing out incoherently at his many perceived enemies. He is cowering in a bunker constructed by a diseased, fearful, and paranoid mind, and refusing to engage with the “haters” that he is convinced mean him harm. And he consoles himself with increasingly deranged reassurances that he is beloved by everyone.

The truth, however, is surely going to result in even more outlandish outbursts from the fragile ego of our defective “president.” A new poll by Monmouth University asked respondents this provocative question: If Donald Trump and CNN gave conflicting information about the coronavirus outbreak who would you be more likely to believe – Trump or CNN?

Trump has made a point of broadly disparaging the free press for the past three years. He does this, as he openly admitted, in order to discredit them so that they they won’t be believed when they criticize him. And he has frequently singled out CNN as one of the primary targets of his wrath, calling them “fake” news and lying about their ratings.

Consequently, Trump won’t be thrilled about the response to the question above. The poll found that a majority of 51% say they believe CNN more than Trump. A mere 38% said they would believe Trump more. That’s a number that aligns with his dismal approval ratings. And as an indicator of how mired in cultism Trump’s supporters are, 82% of Republicans believe Trump over CNN. They even opt for Trump over Fox News (66% to 20%). These results are in line with previous polls on the same subject. In March respondents said that they trusted CNN more by 48% to 35%. They also said they trust MSNBC more by 45% to 32%. And for good measure, Monmouth’s national survey of the presidential race finds Biden expanding his lead over Trump (50% to 41%).

If anything gets under Trump’s notoriously thin skin it’s the prospect that people might be less than worshipful of him. He demands total loyalty, devotion, and unflinching support for his every word and deed. Should anyone be even modestly critical he will go after them like a starving piranha. He demonstrated this viciousness in a recent rage-tweeting episode directed at the producers of an anti-Trump political ad.

However, CNN is not just a another source of aggravation for Trump. He regards them as a mortal enemy. He harbors a deep hatred for the network and every person associated with it. He lobs infantile insults at their reporters, anchors, and executives. He lies about their ratings and finances (which are both hitting record levels lately). He threatens them in a manner that is censorial and flagrantly anti-constitutional. And he is even suing them.

Trump despises CNN so much that he can’t help but watch it obsessively. He knows all their anchors and is on top of their breaking stories about him. He has tweeted derogatorily about them 17 times in just the past month. So discovering that the American people prefer CNN to Trump is likely to trigger an acute aneurysm that could result in severe brain damage. Not that anyone would be able to tell the difference.

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

CHOPPER TALK: Trump Whines About ‘Haters’ in Congress – Because He Hates Democracy

Posted by on May 5, 2020 at 12:38 pm. 7 Comments :

For the past six weeks Donald Trump has been unable to wallow in the glow of the glassy-eyed disciples who clamor to his cult rallies. Nor has he been able to hold his impromptu “Chopper Talk” sessions prior to jaunting off to some self-serving campaign junket. And he had to quit his Coronavirus Task Force briefings (aka Trump 2020 Reelection Campaign Infomercials) because even his friends recognized that they were deep sixing his approval ratings.

Donald Trump, Chopper Talk

But now, as Trump rushes to “reopen” the nation to ever more misery, exposing people to rapidly rising incidents of coronavirus infection and death, he is happy once again. He’s happy because he couldn’t care less about the suffering of the American people. The only thing Trump cares about is Trump. And the priority of our reality TV game show host president is that he has been sorely missing the feverish adulation from his deplorable fanatics and his rancid, lie-riddled verbal jousts with reporters.

On Tuesday morning, however, Trump got his groove back as he strutted in front of a waiting helicopter to harangue the assembled press. Why they still show up is mystery considering Trump’s open hostility to them. Among the questions he awkwardly avoided by dodging and deceiving was one relating to his recent and strikingly totalitarian command barring members of the Task Force from testifying before Congress.

It’s unclear whether Trump has the legal authority to issue such a prohibition, but it is unarguably an insult to the American people who rely on their representatives in Congress to conduct oversight of the Executive branch. Trump’s explanation for why he dictated this ban was an overt admission of his disrespect for the pursuit of truth and for democracy itself (video below). He ranted that…

“The House is a set up. The House is a bunch of Trump haters. They put every Trump hater on the committee. The same old stuff. They, frankly, want our situation to be unsuccessful, which means death. Which means death. And our situation is gonna be very successful. The House has put on an Oversight Committee of Maxine Waters and Maloney and the same people and it’s just a setup.”

So Trump is confessing that he is withholding the testimony of experts who work for the people because he’s afraid they might tell Congress the truth. The members he calls “haters” were overwhelming elected in 2018, when Democrats took control of the House of Representatives. So that would imply that it’s the people who hate Trump. Which, according to most polls, is correct. He’s also forgetting that there are Republicans on the Oversight Committee in the House, and Democrats on the Senate committee where Trump is allowing the Task Force members to testify.

More troubling is Trump’s aversion to democracy. Congress needs the testimony of experts and government officials in order to carry out their constitutional duties. But Trump seems to think he only needs to answer to the bootlicking sycophants who enable his criminal behavior. His obstructionism is more evidence of his cowardice. And that applies in particular to the women in Congress. We know that Trump is scared to death of Speaker Nancy Pelosi. But the only members of the committee whose names he mentioned were Maxine Waters and Carolyn Maloney. The men on the committee are surely feeling left out this morning.

Trump confirmed his misogyny at another morning affair when he complained that two female reporters, Weijia Jiang and Paula Reid, were not behaving like 1950’s TV housewives. “It wasn’t Donna Reed, I can tell you that,” Trump said in a throwback to an archaic era of television. Trump also went on to say that “Democrats should be ashamed,” because “they want us to fail so they can win an election.” That’s another example of how Trump employs pure projection of his own motivations onto others. Trump provided an example of his own interest in “success” when he replied to a question about whether he was concerned about increasing virus infections and death if states relaxed their guidelines too early by saying “No. They have to do it.”

So there you have it. You are commanded to return to work now, despite the risks, because Dear Leader says so. And it must be so comforting that he isn’t concerned about the heightened potential that you and your family might die. That’s not his problem. He needs to get the economy back on track before November or he’ll have no chance of being reelected (not to mention it’s costing him a small fortune). Although causing more Americans to get sick and die might also be drag on his get-out-the-vote effort.

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

JOURNALISTS BEWARE: Trump Admits that He Will ‘Use’ and then ‘Dump’ You

Posted by on May 4, 2020 at 3:12 pm. 5 Comments :

In seems implausible that anyone who has paid attention for the last three years could be surprised to discover that Donald Trump is a man utterly without honor. He behaves like a colicky infant, bragging undeservedly, insulting his perceived enemies, and lying about all things great and small.

Donald Trump, Snake Tongue

When this array of acute personality flaws are present in one demented and egocentric man-baby, the result can be catastrophic. And sadly, that’s precisely what we are suffering through now as Trump’s negligent and incompetent mishandling of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic has cost tens of thousands of American lives. The dire situation is actually getting worse according to the Trump regime’s own internal estimates that now predict the number of deaths could nearly double to 3,000 per day by June.

Despite these grim facts, Trump continues to flagrantly lie about the tragedies on the near horizon. He’s pushing to “reopen” the country to allow more businesses to operate in ways that will surely contribute to spreading the virus and increasing the death toll. And he persists with his propaganda and happy-talk in order to persuade his glassy-eyed cult followers that the worst is over and that those who still advocate caution are just trying to hurt him. In the end, all Trump really cares about is Trump.

On Monday morning Trump revealed just how afraid he is of his rapidly floundering approval, as well as his declining prospects for reelection. He tweeted one of the most repugnant and desperate comments that’s ever slithered through his Twittery fingers:

The sleazy reference that Trump is alluding to here concerns the death of an intern, Lori Klausutis, who worked in then-congressman Joe Scarborough’s office. Her death was attributed to a heart problem and the autopsy found that there was no evidence whatsoever of foul play. So Trump is reanimating this grotesque conspiracy theory in order to attack Scarborough who is now hosting a program on MSNBC. True to form, Trump resorts to childish insults, calling Scarborough “psycho” and his wife/cohost, Mika Brzezinski, “crazy.” Which are ironic choices for someone as mentally unstable as Trump, and who exhibits many of the symptoms of malignant narcissism and acute dementia. He also displays his perverse fetish with ratings, despite lying about about Morning Joe whose ratings are pretty good.

However, in addition to Trump’s nauseating rehashing of a two decade old intern conspiracy, Trump is also making an interesting confession in this tweet. He says of Scarborough and Brzezinski that he “used them beautifully in the last Election” and “dumped them nicely.” That’s an unambiguous admission of his intentional exploitation of journalists to achieve his nefarious ends.

It’s also a warning to all journalists that they should never trust Trump. Like all sociopaths, he is only in this for whatever benefit he can derive for himself. And he will roll over anyone who he regards as an obstacle. Even to the extent of slandering them with vicious lies. So the press better recognize that obsessive behavior and protect themselves from it.

Trump cannot be trusted and he must not be tolerated. In his own words he admits that it’s his intention to destroy the credibility of the press. As he told Lesley Stahl when she asked why he attacks the media, “You know why I do it? I do it to discredit you all, and demean you all, so when you write negative stories about me no one will believe you.” What more do you need to know?

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

While Americans Suffer, Trump is Laser Focused On – His Polling?

Posted by on May 3, 2020 at 12:24 pm. 2 Comments :

The voracious ego of Donald Trump continues to run roughshod over our nation. He seems unfazed by the latest reports of 1.1 million Americans infected by the coronavirus, and more than 67,000 dead. And he’s equally unmoved by the news that more than 30 millions Americans have lost their jobs. Trump posted 19 tweets on Sunday morning and hardly mentioned pandemic or it’s consequences at all. So what did he mention?

Donald Trump

It’s all too apparent what is consuming the thoughts of our “president” these days. He makes his priorities known by expressing them unabashedly on Twitter. And on this Sunday morn he revealed that his primary interest is – as usual – himself. The most frequent subject of his tweets was his approval rate polling, with four addressing that one fetish:

It needs to be said that what Trump is bragging about repeatedly is a Gallup poll that is a conspicuous outlier. Most other polls put Trump in the low forties. It is also notable that Trump is excited about this being the highest number Gallup has posted for him, even though it is still below 50% which he has never achieved.

For some reason Trump tempers his giddiness over this poll with a swipe at the “Fake News,” “Lamestream” media that he refers to in Stalinist terms as “the enemy of the people.” But whining that the press “doesn’t show real polls” while celebrating a Gallup poll that the press always shows is a strange way to boast about his alleged popularity. He’s tearing it down even as he’s using it to lift himself up.

Additionally, Trump twice makes reference to a “96% Approval Rating in the Republican Party” that he fails to back up with a link or even a name for the pollster. The fact is, that poll doesn’t exist. Nor does Trump offer a source for his assertion that he’s beating Joe Biden. Which is likewise not supported by reality. Biden is shown ahead of Trump both nationally and in critical swing states.

For contrast, the rest of Trump’s morning tweetstorm was littered with tributes to himself and bizarre divergences from the matters that are of interest to most Americans. For instance:

  • Whining that George Bush didn’t speak out against his impeachment.
  • Some guy who wrapped his boat in a Trump ad.
  • How much he misses his cult rallies.
  • Two propaganda videos (here and here)
  • Mike Tyson (?)
  • An old propaganda video attacking Democrats.
  • A shout out to his Turnberry golf course in Scotland.

And then there’s whatever the heck this is:

So rest assured that Trump is on the case, working to ensure that the American people don’t suffer from any deficiency in impotent Trump exaltations and syrupy propaganda. This is how a reality TV game show president thinks governing is done. When he isn’t neck deep in mounds of his own PR manure, he’s maligning the free press or the political foes that he is so transparently afraid of. and naturally, he’s always upselling, such as with these Trump-branded coronavirus face masks. This would all make an entertaining social satire if it weren’t for the corpses that are piling up due to Trump’s negligence and incompetence.

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

Hannity Freaks Out Over Holding Trump Accountable for His Coronavirus Death Toll

Posted by on May 2, 2020 at 1:11 pm. 3 Comments :

Donald Trump is without question the most reckless, ignorant, and incompetent president in America’s short history. Nevertheless, he is renowned for failing to take responsibility for any of his calamitous failures. Trump will vainly shift blame to others, employ awkward deflections, and lie shamelessly to avoid being held accountable. With Trump, the buck is always handed off to an innocent political foe or some hapless flunky.

Donald Trump Sean Hannity

Fortunately for Trump, he has a cadre of glassy-eyed disciples in right-wing media who will cover for him no matter how ludicrous the circumstances. Most of them reside at State TV (aka Fox News), such as his shadow chief-of-staff-infection, Sean Hannity. Trump relies on Hannity as a defensive shield against uncomfortable facts, propaganda dissemination, and contorted political strategy. And on Saturday Hannity fulfilled all three of those roles in a brief blog post.

The headline on Hannity’s harrangue was “A NEW LOW: Schiff Says ’50,000 Americans Are Dead’ Because Trump Wasn’t Impeached and Removed.” He lashed out at Rep. Adam Schiff for what he said were “Schiff’s vicious comments.” Elaborating, Hannity charged that…

“Congressman Adam Schiff escalated his war-of-words with the Trump administration Saturday; saying “50,000 Americans are dead” because the President was not impeached and removed from the Oval Office.”

What Hannity was referencing was a portion of a Schiff interview on Friday with Chris Hayes on MSNBC (video below). Schiff accurately observed about Trump that “A man with no moral compass will never find his way, and this president certainly hasn’t.” The subject of the segment was Trump’s tragically negligent response to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. Hayes asked Schiff about comments he made at the conclusion of Trump’s impeachment that speculated about the grave necessity of removing Trump from office to avert future catastrophes. Schiff’s response speculated about the degree of damage Trump would still be capable of if he remained:

“How much damage could he really do? We posed that question to the Senate and we answered it by saying that he could do an awful lot of damage. But frankly, Chris, I don’t think we had any idea how much damage he would go on to do in the months ahead.

There are 50,000 Americans now who are dead in significant part because of his incompetence. Because of his inability to think beyond himself and put the country first. I don’t think we would have ever anticipated that his brand of narcissism and his brand of incompetence, sometimes his brand of malevolence, would be so fatal to the American people.

To be clear, Hannity’s assertion that Schiff said 50,000 Americans are dead because Trump wasn’t removed from office is inaccurate. What Schiff is that the deaths were because of Trump’s incompetence. Of course, those deaths would not have occurred had he been removed, but neither would they have occurred had he not been incompetent. What’s more, the severity of the coronavirus casualties is being under reported. The death toll is now over 65,000 with more than 1,100,000 infected.

A month ago Trump said that he would consider a total of 65,000 deaths to be a “victory.” That was an estimate for August that we reached in April. A few days ago his son-in-law (and senior advisor), Jared Kushner, called it “a great success story.” But yesterday Trump was busy tearing down and reconstructing the goal posts at 100,000 fatalities. Expect those posts to be pushed back further in a few weeks.

As for Hannity, his concern about not holding Trump accountable for the death toll isn’t surprising. But he is also failing to hold himself accountable. He spent the past couple of months dismissing the coronavirus as an insignificant form of the flu. As a result, a recent study revealed that watching Hannity actually increased one’s likelihood of dying from the disease. So it would be wise to practice social distancing from Hannity as well as all other Fox News viewers and Trump supporters. You can’t be too careful these days.

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