Rachel Maddow Dominates an Increasingly Hysterical Sean Hannity as 2017 Winds Down

Posted by on December 29, 2017 at 1:40 pm. 10 Comments :

This has not been a particularly good year for Fox News. After the disaster of 2016 that saw their founder and CEO, Roger Ailes, fired for multiple instances of sexual harassment and abuse, 2017 was supposed to be a year of rebuilding. However, their problems escalated as their biggest star, Bill O’Reilly, was also terminated for the same deviant reasons. Several other Fox News hosts and executives were likewise jettisoned, and they faced lawsuits for both gender and racial discrimination.

Rachel Maddow

That left Sean Hannity as the default face of Fox News. He was moved up to the 9:00 pm slot and expected to carry the primetime schedule with newcomers Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham. He would also be airing head-to-head against MSNBC phenom, Rachel Maddow. Surely the most embarrassing outcome for Fox News would be for Hannity to lose to a left-wing lesbian on a liberal network. But as the year comes to a close, that’s precisely what happened.

In the first half of December, Maddow outright beat Hannity nine out of eleven days in the coveted 25-54 year old advertiser demographic. On four of those days she also won in total audience. Her demo margin of victory was an impressive average of 656,000 viewers, more than 50,000 above Hannity’s average. And Maddow helped to carry her colleagues to wins over Fox News. Lawrence O’Donnell took five of eleven nights, and Brian Williams took six of the eleven. [Note: The second half of December is not included in this analysis because most of these programs had guest hosts].

What’s more, Maddow has been steadily pummeling Hannity throughout the year. The annual figures for these programs put Maddow in close contention with Fox’s long-running leaders. In total audience, Maddow grew an astonishing seventy-seven percent. In the 25-54 demo she was the number two program (after Hannity) following a seventy-four percent growth surge. And among younger viewers (18-49) Maddow was number one.

Along with those achievements in ratings, Maddow also won two News and Documentary Emmys this year, something Fox News has never done. Which shouldn’t surprise anyone. Fox News is not regarded as an especially reliable source for news. They exist only to pump disinformation into the muddled heads of Republican partisans and Donald Trump cultists. Their coverage of any issue is predictably focused on advancing right-wing politics and defending Trump for whatever outrageous thing he did or said that day.

And Hannity is the worst of the lot. He openly colludes with Trump, who he reportedly speaks with almost every day. He has appeared in campaign ads for the President. There is simply no more brazenly brown-nosed Trump-fluffer than Sean Hannity. Not even Trump’s TV babysitters on Fox and Friends. And as his fortunes decline, Hannity gets ever more extreme. He is outdoing Alex Jones’ Infowars for crackpot conspiracy theories. This year he has spent hours on pure nuttery like Pizzagate, the Seth Rich murder, Hillary Clinton’s email (still?), and most recently, his fetish for smearing special counsel Robert Mueller. Hannity has led the charge to slander Mueller as a corrupt, dishonest, charlatan determined to stage a coup against Trump. Never mind that Mueller is a decorated Marine veteran with a long and distinguished career in law enforcement. And a life-long Republican to boot.

2018 may bring even greater rewards for Maddow and her MSNBC colleagues. She has the intelligence and the insight to make some very dry subjects both interesting and educational. And there is clearly an audience for smart, honest news analysis. The country yearns for programming that is more light than heat. And that’s what Maddow specializes in. She never books hostile adversaries simply to provoke on-air fights the way Fox and CNN do. Her mission is to inform, not infuriate. And when truth is on one side of the debate, lies are never presented just to have a perception of balance. That’s the Maddow model, and the rest of cable’s newscasters should seek to emulate it. It’s obviously a winning strategy, with the added benefit of having journalistic integrity.

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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Trump Wishes for Some of ‘That Good Old Global Warming’ that Will Kill Millions

Posted by on December 29, 2017 at 8:57 am. 1 Comments :

After nearly a year, no one is particularly surprised when Donald Trump demonstrates just how stupid he is, but it is sometimes jarring to see how proud he is of it. And on Thursday night Trump provided a perfect example of both his painfully weak grasp of common knowledge, along with a massive dose of callous insensitivity toward the needless suffering of others.

Donald Trump Climate

This example came in the form of a thoughtless tweet that served no purpose other than to belittle sincere advocates for the health of the planet and its inhabitants. Trump tweeted:

By wishing for “a little bit of that good old Global Warming,” Trump is in effect wishing that millions of people suffer and die. He clearly doesn’t have even the slightest understanding of Climate Change, and thinks it’s cute to pray for more of it.

Let’s be clear, the record cold temperatures that are blanketing much of the Northeast and Midwest are, in fact, the result of Climate Change. Higher temperatures in arctic regions and oceans push frigid weather patterns farther south than they ordinarily go. And that’s why people from Maine to Minnesota will be shivering and many will be in mortal peril.

Trump and his science-denying ilk still don’t understand that aberrant weather patterns are a product of Climate Change (which is why scientists don’t call it global warming). He doesn’t know the difference between climate and weather. He can’t connect the incidence of extreme temperatures and natural disasters like hurricanes to the climate disruptions caused by human industry and behavior. And even when there are episodes of cold temperatures in one particular locality, in other places it is uncommonly warm. Southern California is in the eighties. Australia is experiencing record highs. So chills in New York don’t negate the fact that the planet’s climate is rising. 2016 was the hottest year ever. 2017 is set to be one of the three hottest years on record.

Trump’s flagrant ignorance is compounded by his brazen lying. Who knows what he’s talking about with regard to the United States spending “trillions of dollars” to protect against climate change. Efforts to mitigate climate disasters were being put into place internationally until Trump petulantly withdrew from the Paris Accords. But the cost never approached trillions. Fortunately, many states, cities and private companies repudiated the President and still intend to implement the initiatives outlined in Paris.

Finally, Trump tagged on a stony and insincere tip to “bundle up.” Really? That’s all he could muster for one of the coldest periods on record. Doesn’t he realize that people die under these circumstances? It was apparently too much trouble to post information on finding shelters for the homeless. Or to help those affected to stay warm in poorly insulated apartments and homes. Or to offer advice on how to prevent pipes from freezing or where to get help if someone is suffering from hypothermia. Just bundle up and mock science by wishing for the problem to get worse.

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


Fox News: ‘You Don’t Have to Like Donald Trump’ – America: We Already Know That, and We Don’t

Posted by on December 28, 2017 at 1:00 pm. 2 Comments :

The arguments by Donald Trump’s defenders are becoming more strained and ludicrous with every passing day. At the beginning they were happy to exalt him as an outsider who would “drain the swamp” and use his business skills to “Make America Great Again.” But as the nation got to know Trump better, these transparently phony marketing gimmicks made less and less sense.

Donald Trump

Donald Trump has been a leading member of The Swamp since its inception. As president he’s proven that by his appointments of The Swamp’s most ardent advocates to critical government positions where they have proceeded to fleece the country and enrich themselves. As for Trump’s business skills, most people now know that they consist primarily of scams and bankruptcies.

All of this makes it more difficult to lavish praise on a character that is so lacking in character. The Trump shill army has stopped pretending that he isn’t a serial sexual predator, and now dismiss the issue as having been decided by the election. They avoid any discussion of his financial corruption and self-dealing by staking claim to the current economy, which is still operating under the policies of Barack Obama. And now, even the simple assertion that they just have a personal affinity for the Tweeter-in-Chief is a bridge too far to cross. On Fox News’ Outnumbered, the normally fawning co-hosts all agreed that Trump is just plain not likable (video below):

Lisa Boothe: His Likability – he wasn’t well-liked, if you look at the polls in 2016, that didn’t matter.

Kennedy: The bottom line is a much better metric with most voters than whether or not you want to got to a cocktail party with Donald Trump.

Katie Pavlich: It’s going to be difficult for Democrats to argue against everyday people who are seeing their lives getting better. And the argument that $1,000-2,000 isn’t benefiting you really isn’t going to fly. I think it’s actually very offensive to people who think that is a significant amount of money, because it is. When it comes to how Democrats approach this, and President Trump’s approval numbers, you don’t have to like the President. It’s a likability thing. His approval rating isn’t necessarily based on his policies. His approval is based on not his policies, but his personality. You don’t have to like Donald Trump to like what he’s doing.

So it’s unanimous. Nobody likes Donald Trump. However, the suggestion that Americans still like what he’s doing is a total fabrication by the Fox News Trump=fluffers. The GOP tax scam that was just passed was literally one of the most unpopular bills in decades. Voters know that it rewards Trump and his wealthy pals at the expense of everyone else. And that same negative sentiment sticks to nearly everything Trump touches. The Gallup poll of issues puts Trump firmly underwater on every issue in the survey:

Approve Disapprove
Economy 45 51
Foreign Affairs 33 61
North Korea 35 60
Healthcare 31 64
Taxes 37 55
Immigration 39 60
Terrorism 46 53
Russia 30 66
Environment 32 63
Federal Budget 36 57
Relations w/News Media 34 64
Trade 45 51

Contrary to the glassy-eyed idolatry of Fox News pundits, Trump obviously has failed to connect with voters on any of the important issues that they care about. And now Fox News agrees that even his personality is repugnant. What does that leave for anyone to admire about Trump? His remedial oratory? His gross ignorance? His racism, misogyny, and xenophobia? His infantile behavior? Let’s face it, the only thing that anyone is going to like about Trump is how he looks in an orange jumpsuit as he’s being escorted out of the White House.

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


Trump Loses to Obama Again: Gallup’s ‘Most Admired Man’ is Gonna Give Trump an Aneurysm

Posted by on December 27, 2017 at 11:50 am. 2 Comments :

The single most compelling motivation for everything Donald Trump has done as president has been his relentless mission to undo everything Barack Obama did. It’s what drives his fetish to kill ObamaCare. It’s why he has issued a frantic flurry of executive orders mainly reversing those Obama issued. It’s why he still can’t stop talking about, and disparaging, the former president after nearly a year in office.

Donald Trump

So it can be safely assumed that Trump isn’t going to take this news very well. According to Gallup’s annual poll, Barack Obama is once again the man that is “Most Admired” by the American people. It’s his tenth consecutive win. For a narcissist like Trump this would be painful no matter who beat him. But to be beaten by his arch nemesis Obama has to be devastating.

It’s notable that on Wednesday morning after the release of the survey Trump has gone silent on Twitter. As of this writing it has been twenty-two hours since his last tweet. It isn’t possible to make a direct link to the Gallup poll as a cause of this uncharacteristic hush, but neither is it inconceivable that he’s sulking and muttering to himself about how unfair life is rather than tweeting. He could be plotting some revenge to show Obama who’s boss. Or he might have had a small stroke and is gurgling soap bubbles in his gold-plated bathtub.

To make matters worse, this is the first time that a first-year president has not been named “Most Admired.” Other sitting presidents have missed out on the honor, but later in their terms after they had a chance to make sufficient numbers of people hate them. Trump didn’t need that extra time to fail. He came out of the gate with the worst approval ratings of any president since polling began.

And the pain for Trump doesn’t end there. In addition to being beaten by his predecessor, he also must face the news that his past (and surprisingly still) opponent, Hillary Clinton was named “Most Admired Woman” for the 22nd time (16th consecutively). She barely edged out Michelle Obama. Melania scored a single percentage point down in eighth place. Not that Trump cares about that. He’s only interested in his own performance and his desperate prayers for the failure of his foes.

So Trump has now lost to Obama twice. Once at the end of the year that saw him lose the popular vote to Clinton, and once after his first year in office. This is a man whose ego is so fragile that he forces his cabinet secretaries to recite humiliating love letters to him in official meetings. He resorts to paying tribute to himself on Twitter and during press avails to make sure that someone says something nice about him. And he whines incessantly about not being shown the adoration that he’s convinced he deserves.

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

Now Gallup has provided further documentation of how despised he is by the nation. And subsequently his Twitter voice has disappeared. Somebody better check on him to make sure he hasn’t done something rash. Like paint a mustache on the official Obama portrait, or launch a nuclear missile at “Rocket Man” in North Korea, or some other typically infantile behavior that we’ve all come to expect from him.

On the other hand, Trump may not even know about this poll since it doesn’t appear to have been reported on Fox News and still isn’t on the Fox News website. Since that seems to be his only source for news, this item may not have made it through to the Oval Office. Nevertheless, Trump must have some awareness of the deep dislike Americans have for him. And he must know deep inside that 2018 isn’t going to get any better.


Trump’s ALL-CAPS Post-Christmas Rant Reveals How Frightened He Is of His Bleak Future

Posted by on December 26, 2017 at 2:12 pm. 1 Comments :

The day after Donald Trump made it safe for Americans to say “Merry Christmas” again, he went straight back into the political fray. Well, he actually went straight back to one of his golf courses. But he did find the time to post a message on Twitter that expressed his innermost thoughts on the news of the day. Well, the news according to Fox News.

Donald Trump

Trump’s latest Twitter tirade was pretty much a rehash of the same nonsense that he has been disgorging for months. He has frequently yelped about the investigations being conducted to ascertain his involvement with Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election. But he is clearly adding a huge helping of the horror that is overwhelming him as the investigations circle ever closer around him and his associates. Perhaps as a sort of relief valve he tweeted:

WOW, indeed. The first notable part of this presidential outburst is that Trump is, once again, identifying his source as his favorite Fox News program, Fox and Friends. So despite his access to the world’s best intelligence apparatus, Trump still relies on the “Curvy Couch” potatoes of a morning cable “news” show, that Fox doesn’t even classify as news. And to make matters worse, Trump was apparently so flustered with fear that he linked to a fake Fox and Friends Twitter account (note the “L” rather than an “I” in Friends).

As for the rest of the tweet, it was feast of falsehoods that are easily disproved. The so-called Steele Dossier to which Trump refers is decidedly not bogus. While the entirety of it has not yet been affirmed, much of what has been researched has been solidly verified. CNN reported in October that:

“While the most salacious allegations in the dossier haven’t been verified, its broad assertion that Russia waged a campaign to interfere in the election is now accepted as fact by the US intelligence community. CNN also reported earlier this year that US investigators have corroborated some aspects of the dossier, specifically that some of the communications among foreign nationals mentioned in the memos did actually take place.”

Additionally, Trump’s eagerness to blame Hillary Clinton for all his problems is not only misplaced, it’s a purposeful attempt to malign his arch nemesis and shift attention from himself. He never bothers to mention that the dossier originated with the Washington Free Beacon, a right-wing news website. And Trump’s assertion that it was used “as the basis for going after the Trump Campaign” is just wholly made up.

The inspiration for Trump’s Boxing Day bluster was, as is often the case, something he saw on Fox and Friends. The segment featured Buck Sexton, a conservative radio talk show show and former CIA analyst (with a comic book name that makes it hard to take him seriously). Sexton and Fox co-host Pete Hegseth covered some of the exact subjects as Trump’s tweet (video below):

Sexton: What we really want to know is was the dossier, as you all are quite aware, was a Clinton funded opposition research document, the basis for weaponizing the intelligence community against a political campaign as it was happening. People are talking about the Russian collusion as the greatest scandal – this would be the greatest scandal certainly of my lifetime.
Hegseth: And the Washington Times reporting that the FBI admitting that it can’t verify that dossier claims of Russia. Which would further the potential problem with that.

For the record, the FBI never said they “can’t verify” the dossier’s claims. They said that they “haven’t verified” some of the claims. Which is completely different. But Fox did manage to back up their BS with the ultra-right “Moonie” Washington Times. It’s all part of the conservative media machine’s effort to discredit and delegitimize special counsel Robert Mueller and any other independent investigation of Trump’s corruption and treason. That war on the truth is also being waged by Trump’s pals in the Kremlin. Newsweek reports that Russia “is using social media to undermine Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe, a former CIA official and a former Republican congressman said Monday night.” And with that the quartet is complete: Russia, Trump, the GOP, and Fox News are all working together to sabotage Mueller and his investigation.

They must realize that the facts are against them and that their only hope is destroy the reputation of career law enforcement professionals who are doing their jobs. Think about this: if Trump, et al believed for a second that Mueller’s investigation would exonerate him, would he seek to tarnish the reputation of the man who could prove his innocence?

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


Wishing You All a ‘Blue Xmas’ as Warrior Trump Leads the Charge Against Religious Freedom

Posted by on December 25, 2017 at 12:30 pm. 1 Comments :

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. The season of battling a fake war on Christmas that has been raging for six weeks out of every year since Fox News decided it was a thing. And this year there is a new Guardian of Virtue who has arisen to make it safe for the persecuted Christians of America to stumble out of their basement sanctuaries.

Donald Trump Christmas

Donald Trump promised during his campaign that “If I become president, we’re all going to be saying ‘Merry Christmas’ again.” It’s that heartwarming 1930’s German-style totalitarianism that makes him think he can decide what we are ALL going to say. And it’s all the more meaningful coming from a greedy, lustful, gluttonous, wrath-filled, narcissist who insists that he has never had to seek God’s forgiveness because he’s never done anything to necessitate it. Now, making good on that campaign promise, Trumpy Clause has announced that:

And you know it’s true because he used five exclamation points. Although it may be a bit unseemly to lie so brazenly while drenching oneself in pride as the leader of an imaginary assault, all in the name of a religious principle founded on charity and peace. And perhaps the hostilities themselves are an absurd and exploitative political hoax considering that most Americans are more than satisfied saying “Happy Holidays.”

But absurdity and exploitation, and even rank idiocy, never stopped political demagogues before, and they surely won’t stop this one. We’ll just have to tolerate it a little longer and hope that the new year brings real victory for the majority of Americans who are disgusted and embarrassed by the cretin occupying the White House.

Most of the nation will spend this day with their families enjoying the traditions that we have always honored. But what really makes America great is that we similarly honor those among us with different traditions and beliefs. It’s our diversity that has always been the source of our strength, and will continue to be in the future.

So in the spirit of the season, News Corpse would like to continue its holiday tradition by presenting a musical gift for the forsaken and forlorn. This is for all of those who are not huddled around a dead tree today, buried in colorfully wrapped packages. It’s for the cynics who won’t accept the notion that the birth of an alleged savior is an excuse to exchange material goods or fruitcakes that nobody likes. It is for outcasts and rebels and nonbelievers who are puzzled by the greed and commercialism that permeates the season. And yes, it’s for those who still believe that peace and goodwill are morally superior to profit and oppression. Here is Miles Davis and Bob Dorough performing the heartwarming traditional Christmas ballad Blue Xmas:

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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Trump’s Terrible Christmas: Pitiful ‘Fake News’ Tweet Is a Cry for Attention and Approval

Posted by on December 24, 2017 at 10:23 am. 3 Comments :

It’s finally the Eve of a holiday that America was prohibited from celebrating until the election of Donald Trump – at least in his cartoon brain. And instead of reflecting on the joyous themes of the occasion, the President is pontificating on Twitter about how underappreciated he is by the media that despises.

Donald Trump Christmas

Being able to say “Merry Christmas” again is one of the victories that Trump repeatedly embraces as a source of personal pride. He fails to mention who was preventing him from saying it before, and most Americans are perfectly happy saying “Happy Holidays.” But he doesn’t seem to be wrapped in seasonal bliss as he persists in attacking the media for not being sufficiently adoring:

The fake polls that Trump is referring to are pretty much every poll. Trump’s approval rating has achieved a milestone that is surely going to spoil his Christmas gala at Mar-A-Lago. He is officially the most disliked president ever. His thirty-five percent approval isn’t even close to the next lowest rating of forty-nine percent (Ronald Reagan). And it must really hurt that he’s nineteen points behind his arch enemies Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.

Trump’s lame attempt to dismiss this epic rejection is kind of sad. All he can say is his now tedious repetition of “fake news.” But he has to know that isn’t the case. Particularly when Fox News is among those reporting record low numbers for Trump. Even his favorite – and reliably biased – pollster, Rassmussen has him at a dismal forty-four percent, which still puts him at the bottom of the pile.

Trump whines that he is getting “only negative reporting.” In fact, he is getting accurate reporting of his presidency which has only produced negative results. That’s not the media’s fault. And it’s telling that he tags his campaign slogan onto the end of this ego-driven rant as if his polling numbers were synonymous with America’s greatness. Actually, they are. They indicate that most Americans recognize what a failure he is. And that truly is something that makes America great.

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


Democrats For Trump? Fox News Interviews Convicted Money Launderer Who Supports Trump

Posted by on December 23, 2017 at 4:46 pm. 1 Comments :

In its ever vigilant mission to misrepresent political discourse, Fox News frequently seeks out spokespersons for constituencies that don’t really exist. It’s a significant part of their determination to create more division and partisan rancor. One of Fox’s favorite methods of bending reality to their own prejudices is to latch onto alleged Democrats who will betray their party to back some ill-advised nonsense proposed by Donald Trump.

Fox News

Fox News is particularly good at finding such political turncoats. Some are angry about a pet project that may have been ditched. Others are simply looking for attention. By promising them segments on the cable network to broadcast their personal rage, Fox gets them to publicly oppose their peers. And Fox gets to promote their own biases as told by supposed Democrats or liberals. In some cases the association is tenuous. For instance, Fox continues to identify right-wing zealot Pat Caddell as a Democratic pollster years after he abandon any semblance of Democratic politics.

On Saturday Fox News found another dubious Democrat to advance their promotion of Trump. Andrew Stein was once a New York City Councilman, but way back in the nineties he openly courted Republicans when he briefly ran against David Dinkins for mayor. More recently he pleaded guilty to charges related to his involvement in a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme. However, as the self-declared president of “Democrats For Trump” (an organization that doesn’t appear to exist) Fox News was thrilled to give him some valuable airtime.

Stein was interviewed by Fox’s Ed Henry on Fox and Friends (video below). He began the segment by accusing Democrats of having “Trump Derangement” for not being able accept that he was elected. When Henry asked Stein what advice he would give to “his fellow Democrats,” Stein offered this:

“Democrats are making a big mistake by just ‘resisting,’ talking about impeachment. It’s nonsense. This President has one of the best records I’ve ever seen. And I’ve been around a long time.”

Stein went on to praise Trump’s tax scam bill, particularly for how it benefits corporations. As if that were ever the focus of Democratic principles. Henry noted that Stein had recently spent half an hour with Trump in the Oval Office, which is undoubtedly how he came to the attention of Fox News. And when asked how Trump might do a better job of reaching out to Democrats, this fake Dem responded that:

“I think he’s done a fantastic job with this tax bill and with cutting regulations.”

Huh? You mean the bill that not one Democrat voted for? The one they weren’t allowed to contribute to or to offer amendments? The one they weren’t even allowed to see until a few hour before the vote? The one that violates every core value that Democrats hold dear by cutting taxes for the wealthy, making everyone else pay for it, and is also another GOP attempt to sabotage ObamaCare? That’s what Stein thinks was a “fantastic job of reaching out”?

There simply are no words.

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


Donald Trump and Fox and Friends Keep Mistaking Insults For Compliments

Posted by on December 22, 2017 at 6:33 pm. 4 Comments :

The power of narcissism can be awfully astonishing at times. When someone has this psychological sickness they have a distorted perspective of the real world that, one way or another, reflects on their greatness or it’s dismissed as a deliberate fiction authored by one’s enemies (fake news).

Fox News Steve Doocy

This is evident in a recent tweet by Trump concerning what he regarded as an “honor” for his pals on Fox and Friends. Mediaite published a list of the seventy-five most influential names in media for 2017. In a list that long nearly everyone you’re ever heard of made an appearance. Including folks like Rachel Maddow and Sean Hannity. But the number one most influential name was not a totally illogical choice when the reasons are fully appreciated. And it wasn’t because of the program’s “quality.” Mediaite’s article explained that the show’s alleged influence resulted from a rather narrow scope of actual influence:

“The President of the United States regularly starts his day watching Fox & Friends and then tweets about whatever they cover, and however, they cover it. He promotes their show, tags them by name, and sings their praises.”

So the gist of their analysis is that Fox and Friends is influential because “they have captured the President’s attention.” That’s not exactly difficult to accomplish. Any shiny object would do the trick. Or any fawning praise or accurate criticism. Trump is notoriously obsessed with himself, and by being the Fox News program that is the most shamelessly adoring, they have burned a place in Trump’s shriveled heart. Mediaite did not intend that to be a compliment. But Trump responded by tweeting:

The formula for success employed by Fox and Friends is blind sycophancy combined with blatant lies about Trump’s foes. It’s the ability to not be embarrassed by brown-nosing the President at all times and serving as the administration’s Pravda. Fox and Friends has mastered that kind of behavior that would be humiliating to any credible journalist. And for their effort they are promoted frequently by Trump. Just since his inauguration the Fox News President has pimped Fox and Friends 152 times. That’s an average one tweet every other day for nearly a year. And it’s also advertising that would be worth millions.

This isn’t the first time that these dim bulbs have mistaken insults for praise. In July Trump tweeted about another faux honor bestowed on the “Curvy Couch” potatoes of Fox and Friends. On that occasion they were called “The Most Powerful TV Show in America“ in an article in the New York Times. In a congratulatory tweet Trump wrote that:

Wow, indeed. In one tweet Trump heralded the homage for Fox and Friends and disparaged the newspaper that gave it. Of course, to anyone who actually read the article in the Times it was apparent that they were criticizing both Trump and Fox for clinging to one another in a mockery of journalism. They called Fox’s posture toward Trump a “Romper Room-style” broadcast intended to flatter our ego-obsessed, narcissistic president. The article said that:

“President Trump is the show’s subject, its programmer, its publicist and its virtual fourth host. The stars offer him flattery, encouragement and advice. When he tweets, his words and image appear on a giant video wall. It’s the illusion of children’s TV — that your favorite show is as aware of you as you are of it — except that for Mr. Trump, it’s real.”

That’s the article that Trump and Fox and Friends quoted with such pride. They entirely missed the fact that the Times was calling the President a child and the program a bunch of unethical stenographers and Trump-fluffers. It’s as if all they could see was flattery and good news – except, of course, when it’s fake news.

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


Check Yourselves: Fox News Complains that MSNBC Stars Are ‘Cashing In’ on Trump’s Tax Scam

Posted by on December 22, 2017 at 4:57 pm. NO Comments :

Shortly after Donald Trump and his Republican cronies passed a tax reform bill that gives away millions to to the rich, a few greedy corporations jumped into the media circus to lavish praise on the president who just made them all much richer. AT&T, Boeing, and Wells Fargo were among the companies licking at Trump’s boots by pretending that they were passing on savings to their employees because of the tax reforms. Never mind that some of them had planned to give bonuses long before this bill was passed, just as they do almost every year. Most of the companies have ulterior motives for exalting Trump. Particularly AT&T who is currently battling the administration in its efforts to acquire TimeWarner.

Fox News Lies

Also on this list of sycophants is Comcast, the parent company of NBC. And that connection was all that Fox News needed to invent a story about MSNBC personalities “cashing in” in on the legislation. Fox’s media correspondent, Brian Flood, published a story on the Fox News website with the absurd headline, “NBC star journalists already cashing in on the tax plan they hate.” The article accuses Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O’Donnell, and others of selfishly taking advantage of a tax bill that they opposed. The article stated that:

The highly paid journalists at NBC and MSNBC who keep blasting President Trump’s tax reforms won’t have to wait for their rates to go down to benefit, since parent company Comcast likes the plan so much it is sending out $1,000 checks to employees.

Comcast announced on Thursday that it would award special $1,000 bonuses to over one hundred thousand employees because of the passage of tax reform and the FCC’s action on broadband.

The cable company’s generosity presumably extends to seven- and eight-figure stars, who have been railing nonstop against the landmark GOP reform as benefiting the rich at the expense of the poor.

The first thing that’s wrong with the headline is that Fox has no evidence that any executives or on-air talent are going to receive a cash bonus. So the whole story is based on an invented premise. Flood says that “the cable company’s generosity presumably extends to seven- and eight-figure stars.” Presumably? Apparently that’s enough to be the foundation of a critical article by the standards of Fox News. However, these sort of bonuses are almost never extended to executive personnel who have a different scale of compensation benefits. What’s more, the average amount of company bonuses (about 1,800.00) is much greater than the one these companies are now touting.

Additionally, the article notes that Comcast’s incentive to provide these bonuses was only partly due to Trump’s corporate tax cuts. It explicitly cites “the FCC’s action on broadband.” Otherwise known as the killing of Net Neutrality. Comcast was likely thanking Trump for eliminating a regulation that will net them billions in profits at the expense of a free and open Internet.

But the most startling logical lapse by Flood was his complaint that it would somehow be improper for MSNBC’s stars to take the money since they have been hammering Trump’s tax scam for weeks. WTF is he talking about. The fact that these hosts would criticize a bill that promised them a significant windfall is proof that they are motivated by principle, not greed. They opposed a bill that would put more money in their own pockets because they knew that millions of other Americas would suffer. Most people would regard that as admirable.

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

For Fox News to imply that there would be something untoward about them getting a bonus that they campaigned against is stretching the boundaries of reason beyond recognition. They didn’t want it, they didn’t ask for it, and they aren’t even known to be getting it. But Fox is determined to create scandals where none exist because they haven’t got anything truthful or honest to report. And yet, this is remarkably sloppy, even for Fox News.