LOSERS: Both Trump and Fox News Came in Last on Saturday

Posted by on November 9, 2020 at 10:33 am. 3 Comments :

Misery loves company. And there are few experiences more miserable than joining the One Term Club of failed U.S. presidents. That’s where Donald Trump finds himself today, even as he frantically tries to deny reality with his frivolous lawsuits and impotent tweets pitifully claiming that he “won by a lot.” He didn’t. And the American people are not going to miss the abundant abominations of his deviant detour from democracy.

Donald Trump, Fox News, Hate Again

Along with Trump’s humiliating loss to Joe Biden, a candidate that he unsuccessfully tried to demean as a mentally deficient socialist, Fox News has also proved to be a failure in the early stages of the post-Trump era. On Saturday most news agencies called the election for Biden. CNN came first, followed by NBC, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, the Associated Press, and bringing up the rear, a clearly reluctant Fox News.

However, even more troubling from Fox’s perspective, they came in dead last in the ratings against their cable news competition. And it was a distant last place finish at that:

“‘CNN has been the most-watched network for continuing coverage of the 2020 presidential election, and that sterling performance culminated on Saturday, as the network earned by far the most viewers’ during Biden’s victory speech, TVNewser’s A.J. Katz wrote. […]

“CNN averaged 13.6 million viewers during the live coverage; MSNBC averaged 8.5 million; and Fox News had just 3 million. This is a pattern that we’ve seen with Fox for some time — the network fares very well as the ‘voice of the opposition’ to Democrats, but when Dem leaders are speaking live or celebrating something, Fox’s audience fades.”

This is more than just an affirmation that America’s news consumers prefer the honesty of CNN, NBC, etc., to the lies and propaganda of Fox News. It also reveals that Fox’s audience is a brainwashed cult of devotees who are unconcerned with truthful reporting. The audiences for the non-Fox news organizations grew substantially on Saturday, especially for the Biden victory speech. But the three million viewers for Fox were about the same number that they would have had on any other day. So the Fox News audience is apparently just a parish of disciples who will watch no matter what is going on.

Leading those disciples is the cult’s Dear Leader himself. Trump has been conspicuously absent from the media since election day. He hasn’t made a single public appearance or spoken to the press, including his Ministry of Propaganda, Fox News. However, he has been feverishly tweeting video clips of his State TV sycophants. On Sunday night, in fact, he posted ten videos of the Trump-fluffers on Fox News parroting his desperate denial that had Biden had won.

That’s a lot of video posts, even for Trump. Particularly when he has recently been upset with Fox. On election day he phoned into Fox and Friends and complained that the network gave too much airtime to Barack Obama. He also called Fox “a problem” because “they’re going the way of CNN, and they’re going the way of MSNBC.” This summer Trump whined that it’s “So hard to watch @FoxNews anymore“ because “The Radical Left has scared Fox into submission.” And there is so much more of this whining due to Fox not being sufficiently worshipful at all times.

Trump, however, seems to still be glued to Fox News because he knows there is nowhere else for him to go for such devoted support with a hefty audience of dimwitted cult followers. The alternatives (i.e. Newsmax, OANN, etc.) are low rated also rans. So Trump will stick with Fox, where the two losers can continue to offer each other solace and unquestioning promotional support. That is, until after he leaves office and decides to build his own, destined to fail, media empire.

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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Twitter Says Civilian Trump Will Be Subject to Suspension for His Lies and Abuse

Posted by on November 8, 2020 at 1:54 pm. 5 Comments :

Elections have consequences. And one of those that could be surprisingly significant is the position that Twitter is taking toward the Tweeter-in-Chief, Donald Trump. Now that Joe Biden has succeeded in deposing Trump, he will no longer have the special status that has shielded him from the rules that the rest of have been subject to on social media.

Donald Trump, Toilet, Bathrobe

Trump has been a notoriously abusive presence on Twitter. He lies without shame, invents alternative facts, promotes bizarre conspiracy theories, and attacks anyone who has the audacity to be less than worshipful. Just in the few days since election day, Trump has posted 25 tweets that Twitter had to flag for being untruthful and/or misleading. Anyone else would have been banned from posting with that record of violating the terms of service for the site. And now, according to The Guardian…

“Donald Trump could lose more than just the presidency this January. Twitter has confirmed that, if Trump leaves office, he will no longer receive special treatment as a ‘newsworthy individual.’

Twitter’s policy around newsworthiness protects certain people – such as elected officials with more than 250,000 followers – from having their accounts suspended or banned for rule infractions that would otherwise lead to severe penalties.”

The wrist-slapping that Trump has been given in the past by Twitter has had little to no effect on his illicit behavior, other than to stir his bitter anger for having been held accountable at all. In fact, he has threatened to alter laws related to user comments online in an attempt to punish Twitter and other Internet media for trying to establish standards of civil discourse.

However, the prospect of being suspended or banned in the future should he continue being a boorish sleazeball is a step forward in compliance with community standards. Whether that will rein in Trump’s natural tendencies to offend might be a stretch. But it’s a start.

News Corpse has a vested interest in this policy directive. My Twitter account is currently suspended for allegedly violating Twitter’s rules. Twitter didn’t reveal what the violation was, so it’s impossible to know the reason for the suspension. But I can affirm with confidence that there have been no comments that were misleading, untruthful, abusive, or otherwise in violation of Twitters rules. My best guess is that some right-wingers who disagreed with my point of view sought to censor me by maliciously filing false reports causing an automated suspension.

An appeal of the suspension was filed, but Twitter doesn’t give any indication of how the appeal process is carried out. So I have no idea if there will be resolution in the next few days or months or ever. If anyone has any pull with the Twitter Gods, feel free to intervene on my behalf. Also, feel free to post links to my articles on Twitter, as well as tweets beseeching the site (@Twitter, @Jack) to free me from this unfair suspension.

It’s ironic that Twitter gives special treatment to high profile, “newsworthy” individuals. Because people like that have much greater influence. When they tweet lies or abuse it goes out potentially to millions. If I were to do that it would go out to a much smaller audience. So Trump’s abusive tweets have a far more destructive impact than anything I could do, if I had that intention.

Nevertheless, I’m suspended and Trump is still tweeting lies like “I WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT!“ and “This was a stolen election.”

The good news is that, with Trump’s defeat, he will become another civilian user who will be subject to the same rules as the rest of us. Or at least that’s what Twitter is saying now. That won’t help me get my account (and my ~7,000 followers) back, but it may protect the American people from the avalanche of atrocious falsehoods and attacks that have been gushing from Trump for so many years.

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


What We Won’t Miss When Trump Slinks Off to the Black Mar-A-Lagoon

Posted by on November 8, 2020 at 10:01 am. 9 Comments :

“It aint over til the fatass sings.” Or something like that. But contrary to this slightly altered aphorism, it is most definitely over. Joe Biden is the President-Elect and Donald Trump is what he has always been: A loser! And while he will continue to pursue frivolous, meritless, impotent lawsuits that wouldn’t even change the election results if he prevailed, the end of his reign of terror has come.

Donald Trump Circling the Drain

Much of the nation is anxiously awaiting Trump making that final walk from the White House to the Big House. There are stacks of indictments awaiting a civilian Trump. But whether he is prosecuted or flees the country as he himself proposed, one thing is certain. America will not miss him and what he represents. The following is a brief, and necessarily abridged, collection of what we won’t miss:

  • Fake News: Trump has spent five years maligning the media in Stalinist terms as “the enemy of the people.”
  • Incessant tweeting: Not a day goes by without Trump venting incoherently on Twitter.
  • Pathological lying: He has been documented to have told more than 25,000 lies.
  • Daily attention seeking: He can’t stand not being the center of attention.
  • America First jingoism: He promotes a form of American supremacy.
  • Craven misogyny: He viciously attacks and insults women. And there are at least 26 women who have made credible allegations of assault and/or harassment.
  • Embracing foreign dictators: Trump idolizes brutal tyrants like Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un
  • Alienating allies: He has driven away long-time allies and broken agreements.
  • Blatant propaganda: He disseminates utterly fictional stories to boost himself.
  • Emboldening racist hate groups: He refuses to condemn groups like the KKK and Proud Boys.
  • Crackpot conspiracy theories: Trump spreads ludicrous and baseless allegations.
  • Colluding with Russia: He and his closest associates are tightly intertwined with Russian leaders and operatives.
  • Shameless boasting: He can’t stop bragging about things he hasn’t done.
  • Petulant whining: He can’t stop complaining about criticism for things he has done.
  • Infantile nicknames: i.e. “Sleepy Joe,” “Crazy Nancy,” and “Shifty Schiff.”
  • Malignant narcissism: Trump’s psychoses are apparent and dangerous.
  • Relentless vengefulness: He will always seek revenge for imagined slights.
  • Obama jealousy: He is obsessively fixated on the fact that he can never measure up to Obama.
  • Pitiful ignorance: This is the guy who thinks Stealth fighters are invisible, windmills cause cancer, and hurricanes can be nuked.
  • Criminal grifting: Trump has made a fortune directing taxpayer dollars to his own business and extorting funds from domestic and foreign entities seeking his favor.
  • Authoritarian aspirations: His executive orders are blatant abuses of power and he routinely ignores the law.
  • Childish tantrums: A six year old would be embarrassed to behave like Trump.
  • Reality TV media stunts: He has never left behind his television game show host attitude.
  • Denying climate change: This is killing the planet and its inhabitants.
  • Denying the coronavirus: This is killing Americans.
  • Denying reality: This is just how perversely Trump views a world that he can’t understand.

And as if that weren’t enough, here some of the people that America won’t miss as they fade into the post-Trump ether: Mike Pence, Bill Barr, Steve Mnuchin, Betsy DeVos, Kayleigh McEnany, Rudy Giuliani, Kellyanne Conway, Stephen Miller, Jared Kushner, and of course, Ivanka, Don, and Eric Trump. All of the above is just the tip of the iceberg. And it is all sinking into obscurity. So good riddance to every last bit of it.

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


Trump On Losing to Biden: ‘Maybe I’ll Have to Leave the Country’

Posted by on November 7, 2020 at 9:05 am. 6 Comments :

The dystopian era of Donald Trump has come to a predictably graceless but welcome close. Joe Biden has officially been projected to be the next President of the United States. Nevertheless, Trump is still declining to concede, and Fox News is refusing to address Biden as President-Elect. All of this despite the fact that the election returns continue to show that Trump has suffered a significant loss with Biden flipping up to five states that voted for him in 2016. So naturally, he’s freaking out on Twitter.

Donald Trump

Trump began his Saturday morning by pumping out a series of tweets consisting of such flagrant lies about imaginary election fraud that Twitter flagged four of them as “misleading.” His allegations typically failed to provide an iota of evidence to support his ranting. And contrary to reality, He dropped a delusional tweet claiming that “I WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT!”

This would seem, therefore, like a good time to recall what Trump himself said about the prospect of losing to a candidate that he relentlessly maligned as mentally deficient socialist:

“Running against the worst candidate in the history of presidential politics puts pressure on me. Could you imagine if I lose? My whole life, what am I going to do? I’m going to say ‘I lost to the worst candidate in the history of politics.’ I’m not going to feel so good. Maybe I’ll have to leave the country? I don’t know.”

Is there any way that we can legally hold Trump this? It would make millions of Americans ecstatic by removing a humongous stain on the nation’s legacy. His departure would be celebrated by patriots who revere honesty, intelligence, and the core principles that America stands for. And as for what Trump will do now and for the rest of his life, the answer to that question can be delayed until after he’s finished his prison term.

The effect of Trump having defined Biden as a wild-eyed leftist radical, as well as suffering from cognitive decline, is actually a humiliating confession and a brutal self-own. After all, if Trump can’t beat a commie with dementia, then what does that say about Trump? It says what most Americans have known all along: That he is a moronic, narcissistic, aspiring tyrant, and pathological liar. And he will not be missed. But the administration of Biden and Kamala Harris – the first woman VP – will be memorialized as an historic event.

And the ultimate nightmare for Trump: Fox News projects Biden win…

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


Fox News has Instructed Its Anchors Not To Call Joe Biden ‘President-Elect’

Posted by on November 6, 2020 at 11:24 am. 8 Comments :

The likelihood of Joe Biden advancing to the presidency is becoming more of a certainty with every hour and every release of new vote totals. And the likelihood of a mental breakdown by Donald Trump is increasing correspondingly. In fact, Trump is dangerously close to abandoning his already tenuous grasp of reality. He’s whining about imaginary “illegal” votes, as his fear and disbelief that he isn’t universally beloved threatens to boil over.

Joe Biden, Donald Trump Baby, Fake News

As the presidential race winds to a conclusion, Trump is reported to be incapable of conceiving the notion that he has lost. According to CNN, inside sources report that “Trump has not prepared a concession speech and in conversations with allies in recent days, he has said he has no intention of conceding the election.” To which the Biden campaign had a pithy reply:

“The American people will decide this election. And the United States government is perfectly capable of escorting trespassers out of the White House,’ Andrew Bates, a spokesperson for Biden’s campaign, said in a statement.”

In the meantime, Fox News is doing what Fox News does. As Trump’s official Ministry of Propaganda, Fox has been nursing Trump’s narcissistic psychoses. They encourage his utterly baseless allegations of election fraud and defend his brazenly dishonest public statements. And now, in a strikingly atrocious departure from journalistic integrity, they are embarking on a path of denial to avoid acknowledging Biden’s imminent victory. The nefarious intentions of Fox were disclosed by CNN’ Brian Stelter (video below):

Stelter: Two memos obtained by CNN from three different sources all around Fox News say that when Joe Biden reaches that point where he crosses the threshold of 270 [electoral votes], Fox will not identify him as “President-Elect.” […] These memos at Fox News say they will stay away from that description. These memos direct Fox stars, anchor, pundits, and talk show hosts, to avoid language like “President-Elect” because of the President’s legal challenges.

This is a blatant refusal to accept the decision of the American people and an assault on democracy. Fox News is affirming their loyalty to Trump, a despotic charlatan who is only interested in his own aspirations for unchecked power, over that of the United States. It’s a shameless concession to authoritarianism and a rejection of the principles upon which an honest media rests. As for Trump’s frivolous legal adventures…

Stelter: Of course, these are longshot legal challenges. We’ve been talking about this on the air. But Fox is taking these challenges very seriously, showing shocking deference to the President. After 25,000 false and misleading claims from this president, Fox still assumes he’s telling the truth. They’re promoting voter fraud innuendo. They’re denigrating cities like Philadelphia. And they’re treating these longshot lawsuits, these truthless suits, like they are serious pursuits.
Jake Tapper: This is so odd because there is no credible evidence of widespread fraud. None. So if you are a Fox reporter or anchor, somebody not on the opinion side, and you’re gonna abide by this crazy instruction, you might as well hand in your press credential at the same time because you can’t be taken seriously as a journalist.
Abby Phillip: Fox is acting as an arm of the Trump campaign, and the Trump campaign is treating Fox like they’re an arm of their own campaign. They’ve been on the phone all week haranguing senior people over at Fox

What Phillip is referring to are conversations Trump had with Fox News chairman, Rupert Murdoch. As reported by Vanity Fair, “Trump phoned Fox owner Rupert Murdoch to scream about the [Arizona election] call and demand a retraction. Murdoch refused, and the call stood.” Murdoch had previously predicted that Biden would beat Trump in a landslide. So it appears that there are some mixed feelings at the network. On one hand, it’s their mission to support and defend their Dear Leader at every opportunity. On the other hand, they may be concerned about their floundering reputation if they don’t realistically observe current events.

It appears that the former hand has superseded the latter. Fox News is choosing to prop up Trump, the loser in this race, because they don’t have the honesty or integrity to show respect for Biden, the winner. And they have totally lost control of their on-air disseminators of propaganda (Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, the “Curvy Couch” potatoes of Fox and Friends, etc.). Even their so-called “news” side anchors (Brett Baier, Martha MacCallum, etc.) are subject to this directive. Which should alert every news consumer, once and for all, that Fox is a disreputable source to be avoided at all costs.

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

NOTE: News Corpse was notified by Twitter recently that its account would be permanently suspended for repeated violations of their rules. Which is strange because it has never been cited for a single violation in 11 years and they didn’t even identify this alleged violation. The notice had no reply address and provided no way to appeal. They just bounced the account and its 7,000 followers. So if anyone wants to tweet articles from this website, please feel free. Thanks for your support.


America Has Rejected Trump Bigly and He’s Freaking Out

Posted by on November 5, 2020 at 11:04 am. 10 Comments :

It’s been two days since election day and several states are continuing to count ballots that were properly cast prior to that day. Contrary to the maniacal ravings of a frantic and desperate Donald Trump, there is no voting in progress, just vote counting. Nevertheless, Trump is aggravating his bone spurs by running around like a greased pig and making ludicrous allegations and demands.

Donald Trump Walking the Plank

On Thursday morning Trump took to his Twitter machine to blast out (twice) an all-caps demand to “STOP THE COUNT!“ That’s an interesting position for him to take considering that A) He has no authority to issue such a demand, and B) If he got his way that would mean that Joe Biden has won. Biden’s current tally of electoral votes is sitting at 270 right now. So ironically, Trump needs the count to continue if he has any hope of being reelected.

Regardless of Trump’s bombastic babbling, there is an undeniable truth that he is furiously trying to avoid for the sake of his fragile ego. The American people have spoken and have clearly stated that they want Trump to get the heck out of their White House. More people have voted for Biden than any other presidential candidate in history. The popular vote margin in favor of Biden is already over 3.5 million. So despite the pending status of the outdated and undemocratic Electoral College, the people have – for the second time – rejected Trump in a big way.

That, however, hasn’t stopped Trump from ranting wildly on Twitter. Along with his impotent order to stop counting votes, Trump has declared that…

Once again, that’s not a determination that Trump has any authority to make. This has already been litigated up to the Supreme Court where it was decided that votes sent before election day, but received after, can be still counted. Trump wants to throw out valid ballots because he knows that he’s losing and his only path to victory is to cheat through either suppressing the vote or filing frivolous lawsuits. With regard to the latter, Trump tweeted that…

Consistent with Trump’s history of flagrant and frequent lying, he offers no proof whatsoever for his assertion of voter fraud. His reliance on the media for affirmation is a bizarre dodge considering his long held opinion that they are “the enemy of the people.” But he says that they have “Plenty of proof” of his imaginary fraud. However, if you take his advice and check that out, you won’t find any such evidence. Unless you’re looking at disreputable outfits like Breitbart, the Gateway Pundit, OANN, or Fox News.

Three of Trump’s Thursday tweets (so far) have been flagged by Twitter as “misleading.” That adds to the six tweets from Wednesday that were also flagged. He is basically producing a steady stream of dishonest propaganda in order to salvage the wreckage of his failed campaign.

To be sure, there are disappointments for Democrats who hoped to have won the majority in the Senate (for which there is still a narrow window) and flipped some more state legislatures. But the verdict on Trump is unmistakable. He is broadly disliked and even hated. He has never been a popular president. His approval rating has never hit fifty percent in four years.

Now this election confirms that the American people are sick and tired of his hostility, dishonesty, ignorance, incompetence, and infantile, self-serving behavior. It remains to be seen if the Electoral College results will provide the relief that the people seek. Current returns suggest that it will. But no matter how much he bellows, Trump can’t change the fact that he is unwanted, except by some law enforcement agencies that are investigating his criminal activities.

NOTE: News Corpse was notified by Twitter recently that its account would be permanently suspended for repeated violations of their rules. Which is strange because it has never been cited for a single violation in 11 years and they didn’t even identify this alleged violation. Meanwhile, Trump repeatedly violates Twitters rules and is slapped on the wrist with a “flag.”

The notice received had no reply address and provided no way to appeal. They just bounced bounced the account and its 7,000 followers. So if anyone wants to tweet articles from this website, please feel free. Thanks for your support.

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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Crybaby Trump Whines that ‘They Are Finding Biden Votes All Over the Place’

Posted by on November 4, 2020 at 11:09 am. 7 Comments :

The emotional despair that is engulfing Donald Trump is escalating as the likely reality of his loss to Joe Biden becomes clearer. He probably knew on Tuesday morning judging by the unmistakable tone of defeat in his voice during a phone-in interview on Fox News. But that sense of desperation has only gotten worse as election results continue to trickle in.

Donald Trump Pacifier Fox

As expected, Trump is engaging in a blatant disinformation campaign in an attempt to steal the election. Unfortunately for him, his yowling has no impact on the tabulation of the votes or the outcome of the race. It is just the annoying squeal of a sore loser who has run out of options. Even some of his Republican confederates are repulsed by his authoritarian style hijacking of the election. They include Chris Christie, Rick Santorum, and even Chris Wallace of Fox News.

With each new release of vote counts, it’s more apparent that Biden will not only prevail in the electoral college, but he received more votes than any presidential candidate in history. The remaining votes to be counted are predominantly absentee and mail-in ballots that skew heavily toward Biden. That’s because Democrats encouraged voting by mail while Trump falsely maligned it as rife with fraud. What’s more, the delay in counting is directly attributable to the malfeasance of the Trump administration and their corruption of the Postal Service.

So Trump’s whining is both dishonest and purposefully disruptive since he’s responsible for the delay that he’s complaining about. If you poison the wine, you can’t bitch about it making you sick. Meanwhile, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that Trump took to Twitter to plead his baseless and unsupportable case:

That, of course, was last night and more votes have been counted since then. Trump is having trouble understanding that concept. Furthermore, his lead didn’t “magically disappear” and there were no “surprise ballot dumps.” The votes being counted were cast before election day and everyone knew they were going to be processed. But that didn’t stop Trump from griping…

As noted above, it’s obvious why these votes lean toward Biden. They are mail-in ballots that Trump convinced his supporters to avoid. He seems to be the only one who fails to grasp that simple fact. And it’s driving him crazy as he regards it as “destructive,” while the majority of Americans are thrilled and relieved. But Trump continued…

If “they” are “finding Biden votes all over the place,” then what is Trump’s reason for not counting them? His warped view that it’s “bad for our Country” is not a valid legal argument to subvert democracy. And finally (so far)…

Actually, no one is working hard to make Trump’s alleged advantage disappear. They are working hard to count valid votes that just happen to be for Joe Biden. And 500,000 is not a difficult deficit to overcome since there are more than 1.5 million outstand ballots in Pennsylvania from bright blue districts.

Despite the simplicity of the explanations for what is occurring in the aftermath of this election, Trump is intellectually and emotionally incapable of understanding them. And he is focused intently on his own interests and subduing the ferocious fear that is consuming him. He knows that his loss will place him in legal jeopardy and deprive him of the financial windfall he has been extorting from the public till. So expect more of this mindless ranting until well after final counts are announced. The “most fabulous whiner” (as Trump calls himself) plans to live up to that reputation.

NOTE: Two of Trump’s tweets above were flagged by Twitter as “misleading.” These are just the latest out of many that have been so flagged. That says something about Trump’s aversion to the truth. Yet Trump gets to continue tweeting his lies. [UPDATE: By the end of the day Trump had six tweets flagged as “misleading.”]

However, News Corpse was recently notified by Twitter that its account is now suspended due to a violation of their rules. They didn’t identify what the alleged violation was or provide an opportunity to address it. I do not believe that there were any violations. So any help would be appreciated. If you feel like tweeting a link to this or any other article, please do so. And thanks for your support.

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


Deflated and Defeated: Trump’s Final Pre-Election Interview on Fox News

Posted by on November 3, 2020 at 12:16 pm. NO Comments :

During a year burdened with the deadly coronavirus pandemic, a historic recession, civil unrest, and the most divisive political environment in generations, election day may have seemed like it would never arrive. But, lo and behold, here we are. And now it’s just a matter of time before the nation learns whether it will go forward in a positive direction with the sane and decent leadership of Joe Biden, or if Donald Trump will somehow stumble back into the White House for another four years of turmoil, ignorance, and hostility.

Donald Trump, Mask, Fox News

In advance of the day’s voting, Trump spent some time with his bootlicking mood boosters at Fox News for a phone-in “interview.” And the “Curvy Couch” potatoes at Fox and Friends performed their Trump-fluffing duties just as they have for the past four (plus) years. The only real difference between this appearance and those Trump has done previously was Trump himself.

The normally hyped up “president” was uncharacteristically reserved this morning. In fact, he sounded exhausted and depressed. It’s almost as if he knew that his prospects for winning were as remote as my prospects for dunking on Lebron James.

Trump’s speech patterns were slow and halting. He appeared to have trouble forming coherent thoughts. The pauses between words signaled an inability express himself without sinking into pessimism and depression. For example, early in the segment Trump was asked by co-host Steve Doocy a simple, softball question regarding speculation that he would try to declare victory long before the results were in:

Doocy: At what point will you declare victory?
Trump: When there’s victory, if there’s victory. I think we’ll have victory. You know, the polls are suppression polls. I think we’ll have victory. But only when there’s victory. There’s no reason to play games. And I think we’ll have victory. I look at it as being a very solid chance of winning. I don’t know what the chances are. I don’t know how they rate the chances. But I think we have a very solid chance of winning.

In that brief exchange Trump repeated himself incessantly, especially the word “victory” (six times) as if he was trying to convince himself. And he says that his chances are good, even while saying that he doesn’t know what the chances are or how they are arrived at. For the record, FiveThirtyEight puts his chances at ten percent, and the Economist puts them at only three percent.

Following that, Trump was asked another gimme by co-host Ainsley Earhardt:

Earhardt: What has it been like? Have you loved the job? Has it been worth it? Because you’ve been under so much attack.
Trump: Well, it’s been mean. You’ve dealt with horrible people like “shifty” Schiff and “crazy” Nancy, and “cryin” Chuck Schumer. You deal with some horrible people.

So Trump’s response to whether he considered it “worth it” to be president was to complain about the “horrible” people he had to deal with. Of course, those people are the elected representatives of the people who Trump was so disrespectful to with his infantile nicknames. But more to the point, he couldn’t articulate any reason why he might have “loved” serving the people of the United States as their president. It’s been obvious for the past four years that he has indeed hated the job. He’s done nothing but whine about having to deal with the media, our allies, and members of Congress. In fact, he elaborated in his answer to complain that dealing with the U.S. is more difficult than dealing with China, Russia, or North Korea. That’s what he calls patriotism?

Finally, Trump couldn’t resist taking a shot at Fox News right in the faces of his hosts:

Trump is whining that Fox News hasn’t been sufficiently adoring of him. But to him anything less than 110% unflinching worship is inadequate. His examples of Fox’s betrayal are mainly that the network has aired a few speeches by Barack Obama and Joe Biden. Trump says that “there are other networks for that,” affirming his view that Fox News is his personal Ministry of Propaganda.

To hear Trump in this interview one can’t come away without the feeling that he’s given up. He’s recognized that he will not be reelected and that now he has to turn his attention to the legal jeopardy that will face him as a civilian. His demeanor is dripping with despair for the bleak future that awaits him. And for the majority of the American people, it can’t come fast enough.

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


Trump Has Already Declared Victory So There’s No Need for Republicans to Vote

Posted by on November 2, 2020 at 1:05 pm. 2 Comments :

One thing that everyone can agree on is that 2020 has been the most unconventional presidential election in generations. And that can be attributed exclusively to Donald Trump and his brand of twisted reality TV governing and campaigning. He has driven the public discourse into an abyss of hostility, ignorance, and flagrant lies.

Donald Trump

What we once regarded as “Election Day” is now more accurately described as “Election Season.” It extends for several weeks prior to the designated end of in-person voting, to potentially several weeks after, as mail-in ballots are received and counted. This is the process that has been in effect for many years throughout most of the country, But Trump has made it controversial, at least to his glassy-eyed disciples who believe his nonsensical ravings.

However, that controversy isn’t really as significant as many people think. That’s because Trump, in addition to inventing it, has also defused it by preemptively declaring that he has already won. This is not merely his recent statement that he plans to declare victory on Tuesday night, whether or not sufficient vote totals show that or there has been a credible projection. Pennsylvania won’t even start counting their mail-in ballots until the next day.

Nope. This is Trump spiking the ball in celebration while he’s still on the 20 yard line. On many occasions Trump has said that the only way he could lose is if there is fraud. Therefore, he believes that absent any fraud, he is already the winner. And if that’s the case, then Republicans don’t even have to show up at the polls to vote. Their guy has claimed victory, so where’s the need?

Republicans can now spend election day partying in large groups without face masks or social distancing. They can contribute to Trump’s goal of “herd mentality” (aka immunity) by infecting themselves and their loved ones. They can get in their Trump-flagged pickup trucks and block traffic so that law enforcement and first responders are unable to do their jobs. Or they can just lay back and let Fox News fill them with more Trump-fluffing propaganda and fantasies about a dystopian world where all of their crackpot conspiracy theories come true.

Trump firmly believes that the race is over and that he has emerged victorious. He is convinced that the “Real Polls have us winning everywhere!” In his diseased mind they all show him beating Joe Biden by huge margins. That’s likely a defense mechanism that is triggered by his fear of defeat and malignant narcissism. His economic record is a disaster. His bizarre allegations against Biden have fallen apart. His donors abandoned him weeks ago. Even his Fox News sugar daddy, Rupert Murdoch, predicts Biden will beat him in a landslide.

But all is not well in Trumpville. As evidence of the desperation consuming the Trump camp, a photo went viral on Twitter Sunday that showed Biden not wearing a face mask on his plane. The Trumpists were aghast at what they charged was brazen hypocrisy. The only problem was that the photo was actually taken in November of 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. Note that this flagrantly false tweet was posted by Trump’s former Acting Director of National Intelligence, Richard Grenell. If that’s an indication of his intelligence, he should really crawl back under his rock and languish there in shame. It’s also notable that Grenell’s tweet was retweeted by Fox News host Mark Levin, another icon of imagined intellect.

In the meantime, Trump continues to assert that the race is essentially over and his reelection is a foregone conclusion. So let him think that. Don’t spoil it for him. Let him be surprised when the actual results show that he didn’t even come close. Let him suffer through the actual counting of the votes until it’s abundantly clear that America despises him. And let his supporters relax at home since he’s assured them that his reelection is a certainty. That’ll show them uppity libs.

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


Fox News Praises Trump Terrorists Who Attacked Biden Campaign Bus

Posted by on November 1, 2020 at 11:50 am. 18 Comments :

If you thought that “It can’t happen here,” you might want to think again. The cult that Donald Trump has amassed is every bit as hostile, deranged, and dangerous as those devoted to messianic maniacs like Adolf Hitler and Jim Jones. It’s a movement that, while small in numbers and IQ, is devoted to the violent pursuit of the totalitarian principles of their Dear Leader.

Donald Trump heil

On Saturday a campaign bus carrying staff and supporters of Joe Biden was attacked on the highway by a caravan of armed Trump Deplorables in pickup trucks. They surrounded the bus like an ISIS convoy and tried to bring it to a stop or run it off the road. The video is a harrowing document of a felonious attempt to intimidate a presidential candidate, frighten voters, and suppress their right to vote.

https://twitter.com/ericcervini/status/1322546782572859395

Trump himself lauded these terrorists on Twitter as well as in one of his campaign stump speeches Saturday evening. “Did anybody see the picture of that crazy bus driving down the highway?” Trump gloated. “They’re surrounded by like, hundreds of cars? They’re all Trump flags all over the place.” Notice that Trump characterizes Biden’s bus as “crazy,” but relishes the perpetrator’s vehicles swaddled in Trump flags.

Not surprisingly, Fox News weighed in on this affair to cast the most positive light on a videotaped crime in progress. On “Judge” Jeanine Pirro’s program she hosted Trump sycophant Newt Gingrich and engaged in this aberrant exchange:

Gingrich:There are these spontaneous parades and boat parades and organized get-togethers. Not done by the campaign, just people who are so energized they got to do something, so they’re out there doing it every single day.
Pirro: Well, it is stunning. And what’s even more stunning is what was just trending and that is there’s a Biden bus and it’s surrounded by pickup trucks on a highway all with Trump signs. I mean, it is ordinary Americans just taking this election into their own hands and getting out there and being real clear on what they stand for.

REALLY? So Pirro thinks that domestic terrorists threatening the lives of people with whom they have political differences are just “ordinary Americans”? More like ordinary fascists. What’s more, Pirro believes that committing an assault with a deadly weapon against citizens exercising their political rights is justifiable as “taking this election into their own hands” and “being real clear on what they stand for.” That could only be true in a totalitarian regime that practices the sort of brutal oppression that Nazi brownshirts made infamous.

Unfortunately, that’s exactly the sort of regime that Trump is intent on forging here in America. He’s openly applauding these tactics and giving encouragement to others contemplating similar atrocities. He might as well be distributing terrorist handbooks and weapons to the unhinged cretins that worship him. And he’s getting plenty of help in that regard from other ultra-rightists who think terrorizing a political foe is fair game.

The FBI is is currently investigating the bus ambush incident in Texas. If there is any justice in this country, the perpetrators will be apprehended and punished. And right next to them in prison should be those at Fox News who have been acting as their accomplices after the fact.

This is what we’re up against as the presidential election season winds down and Trump becomes more desperate. Expect more of this hostility, as well as lies and disinformation from Trump, Fox News, and the rest of the tyrannical class of crackpot conservatives. Trump has already laid the groundwork to challenge the results of the election. Trump insists that a winner be declared on election night (a demand that may come back to bite him in the ass), rather than wait until all the votes are counted. And he will incite his cult brigades to cause more havoc if he doesn’t get his way.

UPDATE: Later in the day, Trump tweeted his support for the domestic terrorists who attacked the Biden bus. “In my opinion,” Trump said, “these patriots did nothing wrong.” Never mind that the video shows them purposely ramming another car and coming dangerously close to running the bus off the road. In Trump’s “opinion” they’re “patriots.”

However, the true defenders of American values won’t be sitting on their heels, and won’t let Trump get away with his plot to undermine democracy. Hopefully we will vote in such large numbers that any attempt to dispute the results will be in vain. That is our call to duty right now.

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