Terrified, Trump Paves the Way for Calling His Lawyer Michael Cohen a Liar When He Flips

Posted by on April 21, 2018 at 12:36 pm. NO Comments :

There have never been darker clouds over the White House than there are now. Donald Trump is keenly aware that he is in deep peril and his presidency could come crashing down. Much of his concern is centered around the recent news that his lawyer, Michael Cohen, was the subject of a raid by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan. Trump is behaving as though he is aware of the potential for discovery of his own criminal activities. Innocent people don’t act this guilty.

Donald Trump, Maggie Haberman

Our desperately frightened president is showing his seething fear on Twitter with another of his morning tweetstorms. This one is directed at the Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman, but it goes much deeper than that:

The article that triggered Trump’s rant was an analysis of the potential for Cohen to flip on Trump and spill his guts to special counsel Robert Mueller. If Trump didn’t think that was possible, he wouldn’t have lashed out like this. His attack on Haberman is a typically shallow insult without any factual basis. Third rate reporters don’t win Pulitzers. Haberman has a record of being particularly harsh on the Clintons. And he frequently calls Haberman, who has also been his guest at the White House.

Trump’s reference to “a drunk/drugged up loser” is the sort of blind attack that he specializes in. Speculation that he’s referring to Roger Stone is safe, but unconfirmed. [Update: Haberman tweets that Trump is referring to Sam Nunberg. He’s too scared of Stone]. In any case, he is proving that anyone who crosses him is subject to his wrath, even loyal supporters. Additionally, his assertion that Haberman’s sources are “nonexistent” is a common and baseless line that he throws out in a lame attempt to dismiss criticism. But it’s also a direct attack on the First Amendment.

Most troubling about this flurry of tweets is Trump’s attempt to distance himself from Cohen. His phrasing that Cohen is a “businessman for his own account” is Trump’s way of implying that he isn’t really Trump’s lawyer. Perhaps he’s just the coffee boy. Even worse is Trump’s assertion that “Most people will flip if […] even if it means lying or making up stories.” Here Trump is laying out his strategy for what he will do if Cohen does flip. He’s going to call Cohen, his personal attorney for decades, a self-serving liar who was seduced by the evil government into inventing heinous tales of criminality by Trump.

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

Trump closes with a signal to Cohen that he can stay in Trump’s good graces if he resists the efforts by the Feds and the media to coerce him into telling the truth. But if Cohen flips, Trump isn’t going to be able to credibly portray him as a liar. He would have to make people believe that Cohen would expose himself to even greater legal jeopardy by giving false testimony. So in this affair Trump is a cornered rat and he’s acting like one. That, of course, is only going to make matters worse as events continue to close in around him. Fun times ahead.

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SRSLY? On Fox News Loopy Trump-Fluffers ‘Diamond and Silk’ Pass For Legitimate Journalists

Posted by on April 21, 2018 at 10:18 am. 1 Comments :

It’s been a bad year for Fox News. Donald Trump, the presidential figurehead they’ve been propping up for the past year, keeps swirling the legal drain on the way to the sewer of disgrace. Perhaps reflecting that downward spiral, Fox’s primetime ratings nosedived fifteen percent in February year over year. And while their revenue rose by about seventeen percent, that’s a pitiful performance when compared to their competitors: CNN’s rose thirty-two percent, and MSNBC rocketed up sixty-two percent.

Fox News, Diamond and Silk

What’s more, the on-air “talent” at Fox News aint what it used to be. Bill O’Reilly was fired for repeated incidents of sexual harassment and abuse. Megyn Kelly fled perverts like O’Reilly for NBC. So now Fox has to rely on the smug, white nationalism of Tucker Carlson, the elitist bullying of Laura Ingraham, and whatever the hell Sean Hannity is. All three have been digging deeper into the conspiracy theory territory of crackpots like Alex Jones. Fox News has never been a haven for reputable journalists who took their jobs seriously. But their distance from credibility has lately grown to titanic proportions (in more ways than one).

There is no better indicator of that than the rise of two sisters from North Carolina, Lynette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson, better known to Fox viewers as “Diamond and Silk.” After having made a name for themselves at Trump rallies (and being paid by his campaign to do so), D&S have become familiar faces on Fox News throughout the broadcast day. In recent weeks they have appeared on Fox and Friends, Watters World, the Ingraham Angle, and Cavuto. No Republican politician or pundit has had the blanket bookings that D&S have managed. Never mind that they have no discernible expertise in anything. They are brought on to opine about the economy, North Korea, immigration, healthcare, the legal intricacies of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, and more. This from a network that’s determined to strip away the First Amendment rights of socially active celebrities and athletes, and even student survivors of mass shootings.

Let’s not mince words here. These women are clowns. They appear in tandem to interject “amens” and “that’s rights” to augment whatever the other is saying. Their clothing, makeup, and accessories are straight from the Barnum and Bailey Collection. And their patter is strictly scripted to praise Donald Trump as America’s “Master” of Ceremonies. He even thanked them in one his numerous tweets about them. Some of the past D&S episodes on Fox include:

  • Diamond and Silk: Democrats can’t have everything their way.
  • Diamond and Silk: Jay-Z needs to respect this president.
  • Diamond and Silk: The president’s agenda gets an A+.
  • Diamond and Silk: The hypocrisy on the left is so real.
  • Diamond and Silk: Get behind your president and his agenda.

Recently, Cubic Zirconia and Sackcloth have been emitting high decibel whining on Fox News due to what they contend is a bias against conservatives by social media platforms like Facebook and Google. They are apparently ignorant of the recent changes by tech media to combat actual “fake” news and the efforts by hostile foreign nations to infiltrate and disrupt our media and democracy. D&S think that the audience decline being experienced by every online publisher is specific to them alone. Poor babies.

So these yammering yokels have been making the rounds on Fox News to complain that they are the victims of censorship. Typically, their complaints are front loaded with lies. But it’s just the sort of bullpucky that Fox hosts and viewers devour whole. As a result, their phony travails were even cited during the congressional hearings featuring Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg. Five Republicans (Ted Cruz, Joe Barton, Marsha Blackburn, Steve Scalise, Billy Long) were duped into posing questions about D&S.

But if you think that was bad, wait until you see them testifying in person before Congress. That’s right, in an appearance on Fox and Friends Friday, D&S announced that they would be testifying about their imaginary conservative bias online at a House Judiciary Committee hearing next week. Has America really sunk this low? A couple of embarrassingly ridiculous bumpkins, with no experience in anything but ranting annoyingly, are about to be interviewed by our representatives in Washington.

Diamond and Silk are being accorded a measure of respect by Republicans in Washington they haven’t earned and don’t deserve. But then that’s exactly what Fox News has been doing for months. They’ve gone from tantrum throwing political rage-a-holics like Sean Hannity to these insipid, half-witted nobodies. It’s a clear sign that the direction Fox News is heading is for ever lower respect for intelligence and reality-based journalism. In other words: Same as it always was.

Update: D&S had their day on Capitol Hill and predictably embarrassed themselves and the Republicans who invited them to make a circus of Congress.

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


The Way Life in America is Supposed to Work: By Russian Colluder, Sexual Assaulter Donald Trump

Posted by on April 20, 2018 at 3:36 pm. 3 Comments :

Nothing is more brazenly sanctimonious than a notorious reprobate like Donald Trump telling other people how to live. This is someone who has had five kids by three different women, all of whom he cheated on while married to them. It’s someone who has defrauded businesses and customers. It’s someone who lies as easily as he breathes. It’s someone who has been accused of sexual harassment and assault by at least a dozen women. It’s someone who attacks anyone who is even mildly critical of him with insults and heinous accusations.

Donald Trump

Donald Trump is the model of a failed human being who cares only for himself. Cross him and he will devolve into an infantile, whiny bully who lashes out with false condemnations and deliberate defamation. So it is especially notable when he engages in outbursts that are not only offensive, but make no sense at all. On Friday he demonstrated that incoherence with another one of his mindless tweets:

Really? Can Trump actually be that unaware of his own psychoses? Doesn’t he realize that, if anyone destroyed Michael Flynn’s life it was Michael Flynn? Trump’s former National Security Advisor is the one who chose to cavort with Russian operatives during Trump’s campaign, including the Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak. It was Flynn who took money from Russian media outlets. It was Flynn who dined with Vladimir Putin. And it was Flynn who lied about all of these things on his security clearance forms and to the FBI.

The only person more responsible for the destruction of Flynn’s life is Trump himself. After all, it was Trump who fired Flynn after only three weeks on the job. And we just learned in the release of memos by James Comey that Trump was telling near total strangers that he questioned Flynn’s judgement. It’s the height of duplicity and disloyalty for Trump to now complain about the damage done to Flynn’s deservedly tattered reputation.

In the course of this dishonest characterization of Flynn’s travails, Trump also smears Comey as “Shady” without anything to back up that insult. The aforementioned memos actually support Comey’s consistent veracity. It is Trump who has been exposed as deceitful and determined to obstruct justice and avoid accountability for his flagrant misconduct.

Finally, Trump apparently thinks there’s something wrong with the First Amendment. He not only attacks Comey’s hugely successful book (A Higher Loyalty), but also his right to publish it. The only reason the book should not have been written, in Trump’s view, is because it wasn’t a fawning tome of unreserved adoration.

So when Trump asks if this is “really the way life in America is supposed to work,” the only reasonable answer is “Yes.” That’s exactly the way it’s supposed to work. People get to have their say. If Trump doesn’t like it he can write his own book. And so can Flynn. And the American people can decide for themselves who they trust. Although, there is plenty of evidence already that it isn’t Trump. #SAD!

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


Oblivious GOP Guest Tells Fox News that ‘Democrats Must Stop Calling Opponents Criminals’

Posted by on April 20, 2018 at 1:05 pm. 2 Comments :

Hypocrisy is a common symptom of political pundits and politicians on both sides of the aisle. But there are times when the hypocrisy of starkly partisan shills goes completely off the rails. This is often seen on Fox News, the natural habitat of partisan hypocrites.

Fox News, Ari Fleischer

On Friday’s episode of Outnumbered, the featured “One Lucky Guy” (as they call their rotating guests) was former George W. Bush press secretary, Ari Fleischer. They were discussing the just filed lawsuit by the Democratic National Committee charging that the Russians, Wikileaks, and Donald Trump conspired to disrupt the 2016 presidential election. Near the end of the segment Fleischer decides to get all principled with a general denunciation of criminalizing politics:

Ari Fleischer: “Let me elevate all of this. This country has got to stop accusing its opponents of being criminals. I defended Barack Obama when Donald Trump said that he was illegitimate and born in Kenya. I don’t like saying the people you oppose on ideology are illegitimate. And now the Democrats are doing it to Donald Trump. The country has got to stop this.
Marie Harf: That’s just exactly what Donald Trump did. He’s still calling for his opponents to be jailed. So it’s not just Democrats who are doing it. It starts at the top.

First of all, there is no proof that he actually did defend Obama on the birther lies. In fact, in a tweet he declined to seek an apology from Trump for those conspiracy theories, and then tried to blame them on Hillary Clinton, which was a right-wing lie.

Fox News headlined this exchange on their website as “Democrats Must Stop Calling Opponents Criminals.” They linked to the video of the segment (posted below) to support their blatantly biased assertion that it is Democrats who are responsible for these rhetorical offenses. However, as Harf managed to squeeze in at the end of the segment, there is someone else who may bear some of the responsibility:

Just thought that we should set the record straight. And while we’re at it, the allegations against Trump are not the work of partisan Democrats. He is being investigated by a special counsel (Robert Mueller), a Republican who was appointed by a Republican Deputy Attorney General, who was appointed by Trump and works for the Republican Attorney General. And virtually all of the witnesses in the Russian probe are also Republicans. So there’s that.

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


Here’s Why Trump’s ‘Fixer’ Michael Cohen Ran Away From the BuzzFeed/Steele Dossier Lawsuit

Posted by on April 19, 2018 at 12:41 pm. 1 Comments :

The news emanating from Donald Trump’s Circque Du Collusion continues to break with rapid fire reliability. Much of it this week has been centered on Trump’s “lawyer” Michael Cohen, whose prospects for remaining a free man are getting more remote by the hour.


In just the space of a few days Cohen’s home and office were raided by New York prosecutors, he was forced to reveal that Sean Hannity of Fox News was his “secret” client (which Hannity denied), and a fellow attorney who is close to Trump told the President that Cohen was likely to flip and testify against him.

The latest embarrassing development to emerge is the announcement that Cohen is dropping a lawsuit that he filed against BuzzFeed News. The suit was in response to BuzzFeed publishing the infamous “Steele Dossier” that contained allegations of Trump’s unsavory connections to Russia, along with some salacious tales of engaging in “water sports” with Russian prostitutes.

Cohen’s objections, however, were the references to his alleged travels to Prague on Trump’s behalf to meet with Russian operatives and hackers. He adamantly denied having ever been to Prague in his life and insisted that he could prove it. He portrayed the dossier as outright lies that he would expose to save his reputation, and that of his primary client, Donald Trump.

Well, that’s all over now. Cohen has decided to forego his reputation rescue and let the matter slide. He says that he’s too busy now with other legal entanglements, most notably involving porn star Stormy Daniels. And, of course, his ordeal with the recent raid that is seeking information concerning possible bank and wire fraud. While those are indeed serious concerns, they don’t actually interfere with his proceeding with the BuzzFeed suit if he were really convinced that he would prevail.

And therein lies his problem. The likelihood of succeeding against BuzzFeed has decline in recent days. McClatchy News reported that special counsel Robert Mueller has evidence that Cohen did, in fact, go to Prague. And Cohen has failed to produce any of his alleged proof that he didn’t. Consequently, proceeding with the lawsuit presents more risks than benefits.

Should Cohen persist in this litigation he would be required to sit for a deposition with lawyers from BuzzFeed. They would surely ask him about his travels and the supposed proof that he was never in Prague. His answers would be under oath. What’s more, the discovery process would require him to hand over any and all documents (letters, itineraries, receipts, phone calls, emails, etc.) pertaining to his whereabouts during the time in question.

By backing out of this lawsuit that he was so confidant of winning, Cohen is sending the message that he is more worried about coming clean than he had previously let on. He is signaling that the evidence might actually prove that he was in Prague. And the depth of the discovery could even verify who he was meeting with when he was there. In other words, continuing with the suit could wind up getting him in even deeper legal trouble.

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

It should also be noted that Cohen’s legal bills are being paid by the Trump campaign. More than $200,000 of Trump’s donor’s money has already been paid to Cohen’s attorneys. However, the Trump campaign cannot bankroll the BuzzFeed litigation. It’s unknown whether that had any impact on the decision to drop the suit. Cohen presumably could pay for his own legal representation. After all, by his account he had the wherewithal to pay Stormy Daniels $130,000 in hush money out of his own pocket. So it’s more likely that his reluctance to proceed with the suit was due to legal jeopardy than financing. And he still isn’t out of hot water. Stay tuned.


Fox News Fetishes Over Their False Claim that CNN Fetishes Over Trump’s Fetishes

Posted by on April 18, 2018 at 12:11 pm. NO Comments :

Last year an opposition research document compiled by a respected British intelligence operative surfaced that is still generating news. Known now as the “Steele Dossier,” it contained a wealth of information about Donald Trump that was both substantive and disturbing. And a small bit of it that was rather salacious. So guess which part drove Trump to distraction?

Fox News/Playboy

The findings that Christopher Steele included in his dossier placing Trump in a Moscow hotel with prostitutes have assumed an undue prominence in much of the press. No one should be surprised by that in a society that made Kim Kardashian a pop culture phenomenon. Fox News is no exception, as they frequently hyped up reports of hookers urinating on the bed in Trump’s hotel room as he watched from safe distance. Especially Sean Hannity, who can’t seem to keep his mind off of it (see video below).

Despite their own perverse complicity, Fox News is boldly calling out CNN for reporting on the very same subject. In effect, they are whining that their own salacious reporting isn’t doing as well as the salacious reporting by their competitors. Their media reporter, Brian Flood, is asserting that this “puts CNN coverage in the toilet.” He doesn’t say where it puts Fox’s coverage.

His arguments are strained, to say the least. He leads off by swinging at CNN boss Jeff Zucker, who he says “continues to focus on adult film stars and lurid claims about President Trump’s alleged activities in a Moscow hotel room.” In the same opening paragraph Flood baselessly claims that the “pornographic video probably does not exist.”

Flood disgorges the familiar Fox News talking points that the dossier is unverified (that’s not true) and that it was the basis for warrant to spy on Trump’s campaign (also untrue). Then he goes on to cite the number of times that the “pee tape” was mentioned on CNN over a finite period of time. Those stats came from the ultra-rightist media bashers at the Media Research Center.

The conclusion that Flood draws from his overtly biased sources and analysis is that CNN’s ratings have been severely damaged by their attention to this undeniable newsworthy story. He says that:

“The result of Zucker’s strategy has been a president of the United States who often refers to CNN as ‘fake news’ on a regular basis, while the network regularly loses to MSNBC when it comes to ratings.”

Of course, Trump called CNN, and the rest of the media that is appropriately critical, fake news long before this story broke. It has been a part of his public diatribe dating back to his campaign and his assertions that the media is the “enemy of the American people.” And CNN’s ratings, while trailing MSNBC and Fox, have never been better. So that doesn’t square with Flood’s claim that this story has hurt CNN.

What’s more, Flood completely ignores the fact that MSNBNC does similar reports on Trump’s “pee tape” escapades. And MSNBC is regularly beating Fox News in the ratings war. Especially Rachel Maddow who has taken the lead as the number one cable news program, leaving Sean Hannity without a pot to piss in.

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

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

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

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

Donald Trump Messiah

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

Fox News Sean Hannity

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

Donald Trump

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

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

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

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


The Plot Sickens: Sean Hannity is Revealed to Be Michael Cohen’s Secret Third Client

Posted by on April 16, 2018 at 12:43 pm. 6 Comments :

It is getting ridiculous how much the phrase “You just can’t make this up,” is applicable to Donald Trump’s administration. But the news on Monday morning definitely applies. As Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen headed back to court for a hearing to suppress materials seized during the raid on his office and home, the surprise was supposed to be the presence of Stormy Daniels. That’s not how it worked out.

Sean Hannity Fox News

Prior to this hearing Cohen was ordered by the judge to disclose the three clients that he claimed to be representing. There was some dispute as to whether Cohen was actually doing any legal work. So Cohen supplied the names of Donald Trump and Elliot Broidy. Broidy just resigned from his post at the Republican National Committee after it was disclosed that he paid $1.6 million to a Playboy Playmate to hide his affair. Cohen facilitated that payoff.

However, Cohen’s lawyers declined to reveal the name of the third client. Until now. And it turned out to be Fox News host Sean Hannity. According to reports:

In their letter to Wood, Cohen’s lawyers said he had given legal advice or handled dispute resolution for three clients since 2017: Trump, venture capitalist Eliot Broidy and another person.

Broidy on Friday resigned from his post as deputy finance chair at the Republican National Committee after it was revealed that Cohen had helped arrange Broidy’s $1.6 million payment to a Playboy model in exchange for her silence about their affair and her pregnancy, which was aborted.

“The third legal client directed Mr. Cohen to not to reveal their identity publicly,” Cohen’s lawyers wrote to Wood.

The lawyers added, “As to the one unnamed legal client, we do not believe that Mr. Cohen should be asked to reveal the name or can permissibly do so.”

Cohen’s lawyers argued that identifying the third client was “likely to be embarrassing or detrimental to the client.” No kidding. At this time it is not known what matters Cohen was representing Hannity on. But the fact that he served as the conduit for payments to mistresses for his other two clients is more than a little suspicious.

Hannity has been the most fiercely loyal Trump-fluffer on Fox News. But he has also taken positions defending Cohen since the U.S. Attorney in New York raided his offices. For instance:

https://twitter.com/seanhannity/status/984242895300579330

The fact that Hannity and Trump share a lawyer cuts deeply into his ability to continue reporting on the President. There has to be a complete accounting of the relationships and any legal crossover. And it has to go more in depth than it’s just the “Deep State” attacking him and Trump.

Now there will have to be some response from Fox News. Is it possible for Hannity to continue doing commentaries about Cohen and Trump considering the obvious conflict of interest and overt bias that these relationships represent? Can Fox even keep him on the air? At the very least the network has to get a more complete disclosure from Hannity in order to discern if he has been violating any network codes of conduct. Of course, it is Fox News so they may decide to do nothing simply because their ethics are no better than Hannity’s.

UPDATE: Hannity is saying that he has asked Cohen for legal advice, but he was never his client and was never billed. In effect he’s calling Cohen a liar because Cohen told the court that Hannity is his “client.”

And Hannity has actually interviewed Cohen on his show (here and here) without disclosing that he was interviewing his own lawyer.

And Hannity has been in litigation with a woman who asserts sexual misconduct.

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