Fox News Boss Rupert Murdoch Predicts Biden Will Beat Trump in a Landslide

In the closing weeks of the 2020 presidential election, the bad news for Donald Trump just keeps piling up. Every new poll that is published shows him falling farther behind Joe Biden, including those that are devotedly biased toward Trump. He’s losing in most of the critical battleground states. His crazed rhetoric keeps descending into an abyss of dementia. He’s even threatening to go to war against aliens (from Mars, not Mexico).

Rupert Murdoch Donald Trump

Now the chairman of Fox News, Rupert Murdoch, is predicting that Trump is going to lose to Biden in a landslide. This is an election year defection that should rattle the rafters of Trump’s campaign operation. Murdoch has been a reliable supporter of Trump for years (even if that support has been reciprocated). And his cable network is Trump’s de facto Ministry of Propaganda. According to the Daily Beast (via Talking Points Memo)…

“Media magnate Rupert Murdoch has predicted privately that Democratic nominee Joe Biden will defeat President Donald Trump in the presidential election in a landslide victory, the Daily Beast reported Thursday.

“The Australian-born billionaire who has been an influential supporter of the President in the past has remarked to close associates that Trump is his own worst enemy, according to the Daily Beast. Murdoch suggested to at least three Daily Beast sources that Trump has handled the COVID-19 pandemic poorly and ignored advice on how to better manage it, which has created a never-ending crisis for his administration.”

The suggestion that Trump has “handled the COVID-19 pandemic poorly” is a gross understatement. The deaths of more than 216,000 Americans, along with 7.5 million infected, many of whom will have permanent disabilities, is better described as mass murder. And it is Trump’s negligence, incompetence, and even deliberate malfeasance, that is directly responsible. And Trump’s newly adopted position on “herd immunity” would guarantee more than two million fatalities according to epidemiology experts.

Murdoch’s opinion on the likely outcome of the presidential race does not immunize him from criticism for his years of disseminating lies aimed at Democrats. He is not endorsing Biden. He is merely expressing his analysis of the direction of the campaign. But the harm that Fox News has done to the nation under his direction is immeasurable.

That’s especially true with regard to the coronavirus pandemic that Murdoch is suddenly so worried about. Fox News has been relentlessly supporting and advancing Trump’s tragically misguided view that COVID-19 is nothing to be concerned about. They say that it’s no worse than the flu and will disappear like magic (never mind that thousands are still dying every week). And they continue to air, and positively comment on, Trump’s Coronavirus Super Spreader Rallies wherein he recklessly repeats these lies that will undoubtedly bring more suffering and grieving.

What’s more, instead of reporting on the health crisis, Fox News is deflecting to ludicrous conspiracy theories about Biden and his family. Most recently they are obsessing over a baseless story in Murdoch’s New York Post that purportedly connects Biden to some sort of chicanery in Ukraine. Let’s set aside for the moment the fact that the story has no evidence of any wrongdoing, or even that what they allege is unlawful. The Post’s story has been documented to be aligned with Russian propaganda aimed at disrupting the U.S. election. So Murdoch, Fox News, and Trump (who has been tweeting about this and raising it during his cult rallies) are now actively abetting Russia’s efforts to interfere with our election. As reported by David Corn in Mother Jones:

“The key point of the article was predicated on false information that [Rudy] Giuliani has been spreading for a long time—and that appears to be linked to a Russian disinformation operation that the Post neglected to note in its article. That is, the Post piece, based on an unproven smear, is in sync with Moscow’s ongoing effort to influence the 2020 election to help President Donald Trump retain power.”

Corn poignantly notes that “The New York Post has provided all reporters a wonderful tutorial on how to be a useful idiot for Russia.” And the same goes for Fox News since they are plastering this story all over their air. Which makes Murdoch’s lament about Trump’s floundering reelection campaign utterly meaningless. It doesn’t immunize him from the guilt of having helped Trump to spread lies along with a deadly virus. He is as responsible for the tragic consequences as Trump, because he’s been right by his side as Trump led America down a deadly path. And if Trump does lose in a landslide, Murdoch can take at least half the credit for it. As well as the blame for all the harm that Trump’s has caused in the past four years.

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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NBC Joins Trump PR Team By Staging Town Hall Opposite Biden

Two weeks ago Donald Trump and Joe Biden faced off in their first presidential debate. However, Trump managed to succeed only in thoroughly embarrassing himself by repeatedly interrupting with incoherent and hostile remarks. So it came as no surprise that Trump subsequently chickened out of the second debate when the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) announced that it would be held remotely in the interest of health and safety.

Donald Trump TV Set

Trump undoubtedly noticed that every post-debate poll showed him falling even farther behind Biden after the first debate, including the one by his favorite pollster, Rasmussen. So Trump jumped at the chance to use the CPD’s remote format as an excuse to bail out.

Shortly after Trump’s cowardice forced the cancelation of the second debate, Biden quickly accepted an offer by ABC News to have a town hall at the time the debate was originally scheduled. That has been promoted extensively and will air Thursday. Unfortunately, Biden is not being given the courtesy of speaking to the American people without Trump once again interrupting, this time with the help of NBC.

NBC has announced that they will be hosting a town hall at the same time and date as ABC’s Biden program. NBC had plenty of time to find another time slot, but appears to have made a deliberate decision to compete directly with Biden’s broadcast. This is a dreadful disservice to viewers and the American people as it forces them to choose between the two programs, rather being able to see both in order to make an informed judgment.

There are only two possible explanations for NBC’s abhorrent programming decision. They are either acting out of pure greed and self interest, or they have joined the Trump campaign’s PR team and are acting on their behalf. Or, of course, a combination of both. Either way, it exposes their utter disregard for the fair conduct of the election, the welfare of the nation, and the best interests of voters.

It’s worse than just the obvious gift that NBC is presenting to Trump as he uses them for his nefarious purposes. They are actually rewarding Trump for being a wimp and fearfully fleeing the Commission’s debate. NBC couldn’t be advancing Trump’s campaign objectives any better if they were on his payroll. And this should make people wonder if they are.

Every television news enterprise that uses public airwaves has a legal obligation to serve the public interest. NBC is affirmatively harming the public interest in order to boost Trump along with their bottom line. The American people should be appalled by this partisan counterprogramming. There are reports that even insiders at the network are angry and ashamed by their employer. As any journalist with an ounce of integrity should be.

The result will likely be that more television viewers will tune in to the Trump Hour of Lies and miss the more substantive discussion with Biden. That’s not because they support Trump, but because it holds the promise of a melodramatic meltdown that is the meat and potatoes of TV entertainment. It’s why people watch police car chases. It’s why more people watch the Kardashians than C-SPAN! And this is happening at a time when even Fox News has shown some restraint in declining to air Trump’s rallies live and uninterrupted as has been their practice in the past. Brian Stelter of CNN reports that

“The president held a campaign rally in Johnstown, Pennsylvania Tuesday night, but Fox News only showed small portions of it. Fox took the same approach on Monday. So, for the second night in a row, Trump urged his Twitter followers to watch on OANN, Newsmax or C-SPAN – which indicates that he is aware of Fox’s snub.”

And now Trump can point his glassy-eyed cult disciples to NBC as well. NBC is taking it’s place alongside the ultra-rightist conspiracy crackpots of OANN and Newsmax. Is that really the company they want to keep? It’s despicable, unethical, and contrary to the principles of professional journalism.

The American people should loudly object to this media manipulation. And those of us who are offended by this programming stunt should boycott the Trump show on NBC Thursday and get their friends and families, and even strangers online, to join the boycott of NBC’s cynical, self-serving assault on journalistic integrity. Trump must not be rewarded for his cowardice. And NBC must not be rewarded for their partisanship and greed.

UPDATE: Rachel Maddow brought up this subject during an interview with Kamala Harris and indicated that a lot of people were mad.

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 Abandoned His Campaign and the Presidency

As election day draws nearer, the beads of flop sweat on Donald Trump’s wrinkled brow are turning into a tsunami of orange cosmetics running down his face and turkey neck. There is the unmistakable stench of defeat emanating from him as his tweets and public commentaries grow ever more unhinged from sanity. Not that they were ever particularly well connected.

Donald Trump

The fuming desperation that is the driving force in the final days of the Trump regime is producing behavior that ranks near the lows of his public life. He’s issuing ludicrous demands to prosecute Barack Obama and Joe Biden for imaginary crimes. He’s making wild, baseless claims about communist Democrats plotting the destruction of America. And he’s continuing to downplay the tragic consequences of the coronavirus that he allowed to spread uncontrollably across the country. And even after being infected himself, he attempts to cast it as a positive development and a sort of messianic sacrifice he took on.

Naturally, Trump’s Ministry of Propaganda (aka Fox News) has backed Trump every step of the way. They have been devotedly fulfilling their mission to defend Dear Leader from all criticisms, while viciously attacking his critics. And joining him on the front lines of this battle are the “Curvy Couch” potatoes of Fox and Friends.

On Tuesday morning the F&F crew was on the job. In a segment discussing the lopsided political horserace (video below), co-host Steve Doocy concedes that Biden is significantly outraising Trump. But he skims over that fact to extol the “enthusiasm” of the glassy-eyed disciples who populate Trump’s cult rallies. “You can’t buy that,” says Doocy, despite the fact that that’s exactly what Trump does by staging these ego-paloozas. Of course, Trump shares Doocy’s position on enthusiasm, as expressed in this tweet where he claims that “you win races with enthusiasm.”

Actually, Biden’s accumulated donations of massive amounts of money is a far better indicator of enthusiasm than getting unemployed hicks to show up for a free rally. Doocy then follows up by rattling off the names of cities to which Trump will be taking his Coronavirus Super Spreader Tour this week. Then he goes on to say that Trump’s tour schedule will soon expand into…

“…two or three events a day. And then in the final sprint – in the final week or so – he’s going to do half a dozen events a day. And think about it…if you are in those battleground states, and the President comes and gives one of those great big rallies, you’re gonna wind up with a lot of free media and a lot of excitement. And that is what he thinks got him over the finish line last time.”

What Doocy is describing here is the complete surrender of Donald Trump. It’s a surrender, first of all, from his duties as the alleged “president.” Apparently, he sees his only job now to be starring in pseudo-religious revival shows in airport hangers. Secondly, he’s conceding electoral defeat by abandoning any effort to persuade voters to back his candidacy. He’s focused solely on those who are already committed to the Church of Trump. And that isn’t nearly enough to win a national election.

What’s more, Doocy correctly notes that Trump’s 2016 victory was largely dependent on free media. Every news network irresponsibly and unfairly aired his rallies live and uninterrupted. But what Doocy – and Trump – fail to recognize is that 2020 is not 2016. This time around, the only network that is airing the Trump Show is Fox News. And, once again, the only audience he is reaching are the already converted and lost souls of Trumpism.

So Trump isn’t doing his job as president (which is a big plus for the country). And he isn’t doing his job as a candidate (which removes an annoyance from the airwaves). So what the heck is Trump doing? He’s laying the foundation for his post-presidency career on the road and in the media. But he may be in for a huge letdown.

How many of Trump’s “fans” will actually pay to see his smarmy, ego-logues over and over again? And his hostile, crackpot rants would likely wear out after a couple of episodes on TV. Which would leave Trump with nothing but his worthless name and a newly disinterested benefactor in Moscow. Oh, and a half dozen state prosecutors filing indictments for everything from tax fraud to crimes against the state. However, one thing is certain: With Trump circling the drain financially and legally, America will be great again.

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


Trump Hails Stock Market Whose Rise is a Rejection of Him

The manic frenzy that is displayed daily on the Twitter feed of Donald Trump is especially heated this Monday morning. He posted 75 tweets before 3:00pm in what may break his all time record of 123 tweets in single day. It’s impossible to say at this point whether the reason for this crazed output is his acute panic at the prospect of a landslide electoral loss to Joe Biden in three weeks, or the side effects of the drugs he’s been taking to treat his coronavirus. Or maybe a catastrophic combination of both.

Donald Trump, Stock Market Crash

The flurry of frantic and anxious outbursts that make up this tweetstorm run the gamut of Trump’s paranoid psychoses. For instance, Trump tweeted about a “Big spike in the China Plague in Europe,” in an attempt to compare it to the U.S., which he apparently doesn’t know is suffering from a similar or worse spike. He tweeted that New York and California are “going to hell.” Which is an odd campaign strategy of maligning the biggest states in the country that you’re supposedly leading. He tweeted that he is “winning BIG in all of the polls that matter.” Which I guess are the polls of boaters and maskless bar patrons. But he wasn’t through.

Trump also tweeted that “We will have Healthcare which is FAR BETTER than ObamaCare, at a FAR LOWER COST.” Which is documented in the invisible plan that he has been saying for three years that he will release in two weeks. And as an indication of what is most important to him, Trump posted ten tweets in support of Eric Early, who running a laughably futile campaign against Rep. Adam Schiff of California. Schiff may be the member of Congress Trump despises most after Speaker Nancy Pelosi. That’s more tweets than he posted in support of his Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett.

However, perhaps the most enthusiastic of Trump’s twittery concerned the performance of the stock market. He managed to get something right for once by noting that it was going up. However, he has no idea why it’s doing so. He, of course, thinks he’s responsible for it. And in a way he is, but not in the way he thinks.

Trump has been shouting from the White House rooftop for weeks that a Biden presidency will thrust the nation into a depression. Let’s just set aside the fact that we are already in a recession during the Trump presidency. Trump’s tweets are cheering on the market’s rise along with fear mongering about a collapse if Biden is elected. Never mind that Obama and Biden presided over a much more robust economic recovery and market advance than Trump has. The five tweets he posted on this subject were evidence of nothing more than Trump’s ignorance and ego. For example…

What Trump is missing is that the rise in the market is occurring simultaneously to the rise in Biden’s polling against Trump. The greater the margin of Biden’s lead, the higher the market goes. That’s the market indicating that it is looking forward to a Biden victory. The market is always representative of the future. And this isn’t just a coincidental observation. According to Goldman Sachs, “A Democratic sweep would mean faster economic recovery.”

“…’a blue wave would likely prompt us to upgrade our forecasts,’ Goldman Sachs chief economist Jan Hatzius wrote in a Monday report.”

Hatzius went on to note that a blue wave would increase the likelihood of a coronavirus relief bill. He also noted the positive impact of Biden’s spending plans on infrastructure, climate, health care and education. But that isn’t all. Moody’s also weighed in saying that…

“Moody’s Analytics found that Biden’s economic proposals, if enacted, would create 7.4 million more jobs than would Trump’s. The economy would return to full employment in the second half of 2022, nearly two years earlier than under Trump’s plan, Moody’s said.”

Of course, none of this is a guarantee that the market will continue going straight up. There are distinct warning signs for a down turn. The market is already over-valued in some analysts opinions. And the overweighting of just a few stocks (more than 20% of the S&P) that uncharacteristically benefit from the current conditions (Apple: 7.3%, Microsoft: 5.9%, Amazon: 5.3%, Google: 2.4%, and Facebook: 2.4%) don’t tell the market’s whole story. And as anyone with the slightest inkling of knowledge is aware (which leaves Trump out), the stock market is not the economy. Most Americans do not own stocks.

There is, however, one thing that can’t be denied. If Trump’s fear mongering were correct, the market would have been on a downward trend for at least the past couple of months. Clearly the financial institutions that drive the market don’t agree with Trump. The fact that it’s strong and rising is a testament to the market’s confidence in, and preference for, a Biden presidency.

So keep that in mind when voting. And tell your friends and family. It is Trump who has proven to be an economic imbecile who declared bankruptcy on six separate occasions, lost billions of dollars during the boom times, and currently owes more than $400 billion to – well, we don’t know who because he refuses to release his tax returns. That by itself is reason enough to remove Trump from office. And also to investigate him for criminal activity and crimes against the state.

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


COVID DELIRIUM? Now Trump is Threatening Aliens (UFOs)

The “stable genius” currently occupying the White House is exhibiting symptoms of severe mental distress. That isn’t anything new, however, it is dreadfully apparent that Donald Trump is descending to new and more absurd lows. The most likely reason for this is that it is getting closer to November 3rd and his prospects for reelection continue to hover somewhere between dismal and preposterous.

Donald Trump, Mars Attacks, Alien, UFO

The grievous stench of desperation is enveloping Trump like a dark and low-hanging cloud. It’s manifesting in his clinging reliance on his Fox News pacifiers. Trump has done five “interviews” with Fox hosts in four days, including Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Mark Levin, and Maria Bartiromo twice.

The second Bartiromo segment aired Sunday morning and featured Trump making bizarre comments that only offer further proof of his psychoses. For instance, after being asked, he was unable to coherently articulate a second term agenda beyond prematurely opening up the country and bashing Democrats. He claimed he was “cured” of the coronavirus and is now “immune,” neither of which is medically sound. What’s more, he said that he has a protective glow that will protect others from any contagious threat he might pose. He also bragged that there have been “only” 214,000 deaths from the coronavirus, which he characterized as success.

These are the ravings of a madman. But Trump was just warming up for his answer to the final question of the segment. Bartiromo asked him if he could explain “why the Department of Defense has set up a UFO task force […] Mr President, as we wrap up here, are there UFOs?” Trump gave the question serious consideration and replied:

“Well, I’m gonna have to check on that. I heard that. I heard that two days ago. So I’ll check on that. I’ll take a good strong look at that. But I will tell you this, we have now created a military the likes of which we’ve never had before, in terms of equipment. The equipment that we have, the weapons that we have – and hope to God we never have to use them – but we have created a military the likes of which nobody has ever had. Russia, China, they’re all envious of what we have. All built in the USA.”

Isn’t it comforting to know that Trump is going to “take a good strong look at” the existence of potentially hostile UFOs? But more importantly, if those space aliens try anything they are gonna regret it. Trump is saying that he has built the most powerful military, not just on Earth, but in the entire universe. Those aliens, who despite having have mastered interstellar travel, don’t stand a chance against Trump’s Space Force. Never mind that everything Trump said about having enhanced the military is another of his flagrant lies about alleged achievements.

It’s episodes like this that make it impossible to ignore speculation that Trump is suffering from the psychotic side effects of the medications he’s been taking to combat the coronavirus. Steroids and the other immuno-response drugs that he has been prescribed are known to produce mood swings, anxieties, and delirium. And so much of Trump’s recent rantings have all the signals of mental infirmity. In recent days he has been both attacking and embracing Fox News. He accused Nancy Pelosi of being crazy. He claimed, Messiah like, that he got COVID-19 because he was doing it for us.” And shortly after his visit with Bartiromo, Trump tweeted that…

That, of course, is utterly false. No verifiable study has concluded that having contracted the coronavirus produces immunity from either getting or giving the disease. Trump’s tweet was flagged by Twitter for “spreading misleading and potentially harmful information.” Not that telling obvious lies is out of character for Trump. But he may have to be more careful when he’s dealing with the aliens. They may have truth rays.

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


Trump Bashes Fox News Even While Cowering in His Fox News Bunker

The madness that consumes Donald Trump continues to manifest in bizarre and troubling ways. He’s making public demands that his Attorney Genuflect, Bill Barr, indict and prosecute Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Joe Biden. He’s holding coronavirus Super Spreader affairs at the White House, which he has already turned into a COVID-19 “Hot Zone.” And he insists that he’s way ahead of Biden in the “real” polls that are published in the crevices of his decaying grey matter.

Donald Trump, Fox News

If that isn’t enough, Trump is also attacking his Ministry of Propaganda (aka Fox News). This isn’t a new behavioral glitch. Trump has frequently lashed out at Fox News when he didn’t think that they were sufficiently adoring. It’s his way of “working the refs” to ensure constant adulation. But in the past couple of days it has reached a crescendo. For instance, during a marathon radio gabfest with Rush Limbaugh on Friday, Trump whined that…

“It’s a problem. Fox is a problem. […] When Roger Ailes ran Fox, I mean, Roger had a very strong point of view. It’s totally gone. And I think it’s influenced by Paul Ryan. […] They’re going the way of CNN, and they’re going the way of MSNBC, and it’s a shame. I mean, it’s a shame. When I watch it, I look at the people they hire. I mean, I could tell you some of the anchors, they’re so bad.”

First of all, Trump’s fond remembrance of the late Fox News CEO Roger Ailes is touching because they share so much in common. Particularly the fact that they are both serial sexual predators. But Trump’s complaint about Paul Ryan, the former GOP House Speaker who now has a seat on the Fox board of directors, reveals that Trump has no idea what a board of directors does. They are part time business advisors who have zero input into programming.

In addition to Trump’s comments on Limbaugh’s radio program, he made similar comments on the radio show of Fox News host Mark Levin. He was attempting to make a point about the differences between his 2016 campaign and the current one:

“One of the biggest differences is Fox. Fox is a whole different ballgame than it used to be. Fox was great. Fox was great. Fox is no longer great.”

Among the reasons that Trump has arrived at this conclusion are the polls that Fox News has recently published. The most recent one shows him trailing Biden by ten points. But trump has been upset with Fox’s pollsters for quite a while. And you can be sure he was driven to new lows by the one that found that a majority of voters say that he doesn’t have the “mental soundness” to serve.

What makes all of this even more peculiar is that while Trump has been amping up his attacks on Fox News, he has also been spending more time there. In the past four days Trump has done interviews on Fox with Maria Bartiromo, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson (with Marc Seigel), and Mark Levin. And he has another “interview” with Bartiromo on Sunday. He apparently has no idea that he’s only reaching people that are already voting for him. It’s all for his ego and the lack of any notion of how he can rescue his floundering campaign.

The many hours Trump is devoting to Fox News is severely cutting into his golf and Twitter time. It also indicates that he has nothing else of importance to do. But most of all it shows that his whining about how disloyal Fox has been to him is just a charade. He knows that Fox News is his official State TV network and is vital to his nefarious schemes for the future. And he knows that Fox won’t punish him for his fake hostility toward them. They have a parasitic relationship wherein they are both addicted to each other. And while that may satisfy their immediate cravings for attention, it won’t keep Trump from circling the electoral drain.

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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In Honor of World Mental Health Day, Invoke the 25th Amendment on Trump

This week House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that the House of Representatives would consider establishing “an independent commission under the 25th Amendment to the Constitution to evaluate a president’s health and oversee the transfer of power to the vice president if the president becomes incapacitated while in office.” This is a long overdue measure that protects the interests of the nation under dire circumstances.

Trump Fear

This also happens to be World Mental Health Day, an annual observation of the need to focus attention on mental health issues and their personal and institutional impact on society. It’s sponsor, the World Health Organization (WHO), notes that…

“This year’s World Mental Health Day, on 10 October, comes at a time when our daily lives have changed considerably as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The past months have brought many challenges: for health-care workers, providing care in difficult circumstances, going to work fearful of bringing COVID-19 home with them; for students, adapting to taking classes from home, with little contact with teachers and friends, and anxious about their futures; for workers whose livelihoods are threatened; for the vast number of people caught in poverty or in fragile humanitarian settings with extremely limited protection from COVID-19; and for people with mental health conditions, many experiencing even greater social isolation than before. And this is to say nothing of managing the grief of losing a loved one, sometimes without being able to say goodbye.”

Unfortunately, Donald Trump withdrew from the WHO after falsely accusing it of being an accomplice to what Trump believes was China’s deliberate spreading of the coronavirus. In fact, that was just Trump’s way of evading his own responsibility for failing to handle the COVID-19 pandemic as it spread across the United States, and even into the White House.

Trump’s delusional attacks on China, the WHO, Democrats, and the media, are all further evidence of the need for Pelosi’s commission. He is an unstable, malignant narcissist and an aspiring dictator. He is the poster child (with an emphasis on “child”) for mental health awareness. He believes the world revolves around him and that he is superior to the other pathetic creatures that inhabit it. Once, when asked who he consults with, he replied that “My primary consultant is myself” because “I have a very good brain and I’ve said a lot of things.” That attitude, along with an array of other symptoms of mental impairment, are reason enough to worry.

In the nearly four long years since Trump was sworn in as president, his erratic and impulsive behavior has caused broad based concern. He has continued his bromance with Russia’s dictator Vladimir Putin, and other brutal authoritarians, while alienating longtime allies. His attacks on the media border on obsession and are aimed at delegitimizing any criticism. He has a perverse fixation on polling and crowd size. He repeatedly makes statements that are easily debunked as lies. And his Twitter feed is a scrolling document of mental instability.

Recently, Trump has taken to demanding that his Attorney Genuflect, Bill Barr, arrest, indict, and prosecute his political adversaries, including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Joe Biden. And after turning the White House into a coronavirus “Hot Zone,” he is holding a rally there and inviting 2,000 people to participate in another Super Spreader event.

What better time to honor World Mental Health Day than while a madman is running rampant in Washington, D.C. and threatening not to leave after he’s voted out? This nation has endured many difficulties, but teetering on the edge of a fascist dictatorship overseen be a certifiably insane cult leader is not one than anyone contemplated. And we must not allow Trump and his army of glassy-eyed disciples to succeed.

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


PROJECTION: Trump and Fox News Attack Nancy Pelosi’s Mental Fitness

The mental state of Donald Trump has been questioned for many years, even in the earliest days of his presidency. More recently, however, the signs of his cognitive lapses are impossible to ignore. His frequent incoherent ramblings, blatant contradictions, and unbridled hostilities are clear symptoms of a severe psychological breakdown. And it isn’t helping matters that, due to his COVID-19 diagnosis, he’s on several medications that are known to produce mood disorders.

Donald Trump

Not surprisingly, Trump is attempting to cast his cerebral decay onto his perceived political foes. It’s form of a psychotic response that seeks to “project” ones own faults onto others. Trump has been doing that for months to Joe Biden, but has utterly failed to make any of it stick. In fact, polls show that a majority of voters regard Trump as the one who doesn’t have the mental soundness to serve.”

On Friday morning House Speaker Nancy Pelosi held a press conference to announce that she is sponsoring legislation that would codify the Constitution’s 25th Amendment, a key provision of which addresses how Congress can respond if “the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.” Despite the fact that Pelosi explicitly stated that this bill would not go into effect until after Trump’s term is over, he nevertheless took it personally and lashed out predictably on Twitter:

Trump managed to demean both Biden and Pelosi in that childishly retaliatory tweet. Although he might not have understood exactly what he was he was saying because he’s actually conceding that Biden will be the president to whom the legislation will apply. But that didn’t stop Fox News from quickly agreeing and posting an article on their website with the headline, “Trump and others question Pelosi’s mental fitness after she suggested pres. may not be fit for office.”

Indeed, Pelosi has questioned Trump’s mental fitness, as have many others. However, the “others” mentioned in Fox’s headline as questioning Pelosi’s fitness consist of White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany and … well, that’s it. No one else is mentioned at all. Trump, however, has worked overtime to disparage Pelosi with another of his infantile nicknames, “Crazy Nancy.” He has used that derogatory label at least 33 times on Twitter just this year. That’s about once a week. But Trump has called many others on his enemies list crazy as well, including Robert Mueller, Bernie Sanders, etc.

Trump’s behavior bespeaks an inherent weakness of character. He is incapable of forming an intelligible argument to reply to his critics, so he resorts to these impotent and immature tactics out of frustration and fear. And these emotional anchors are only going to weigh on him more in the coming weeks as the election, and his impending loss, draws closer. Which might explain behavior like that he demonstrated while co-hosting Rush Limbaugh’s radio show on Friday. While discussing his foreign policy conflicts with Iran, Trump dropped an F BOMB on the national broadcast. And if that aint crazy…

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


Trump Chickens Out of Second Debate While Ranting Incoherently on Fox News

Following his disastrous performance during the first presidential debate with Joe Biden, it isn’t surprising that Donald Trump has now declared that he will not participate in the second debate. He knows that every poll has shown him falling even farther behind Biden since the first debate, including the one by his favorite pollster, Rasmussen.

Donald Trump Chicken

Trump’s reelection prospects didn’t improve after Vice-President Mike Pence got creamed by Sen. Kamala Harris in their debate Wednesday night. So when the non-partisan Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) announced that the next debate would be held with the candidates participating remotely, Trump jumped at the chance to use that as an excuse to bail out. The CPD made the change “In order to protect the health and safety of all involved.” That’s a perfectly reasonable adjustment considering that Trump is currently suffering from COVID-19 and has been recklessly exposing others to it.

There are at least 34 close associates to Trump who have contracted the coronavirus. It would be foolhardy to get anywhere near the SuperSpreader-in-Chief for the foreseeable future. But Trump’s exploitation of this is further evidence of his cowardice. He made his intentions clear on Fox News (of course) during an “interview” with Fox’s Senior Trump-Fluffer, Maria Bartiromo (video below), saying that:

“I heard that the [Presidential Debate] Commission, a little while ago, changed the debate style, and that’s not acceptable to us. I beat him in the first debate, according to the polls that I’ve seen. But I beat him easily. I felt I beat him easily. I think he felt it too. He wouldn’t answer any question and he had the protection of Chris Wallace all night long. I thought Chris Wallace was a disaster. But I beat him in the first debate.”

Trump’s psychotic delusion that he won the first debate is typical of someone suffering from Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Every poll taken after the debate found that it was Biden who had beaten his unhinged opponent. Yet Trump continues to imagine himself victorious, while whining that everyone, including Wallace, a 17 year veteran of Fox News, is against him. Following the first debate Trump made the ludicrous assertion that Wallace is controlled by the radical left.” When Bartiromo sought to affirm that he would not participate in the second debate, Trump replied:

“No. I’m not going to waste my time at a virtual debate. That’s not what debating is all about. You sit behind a computer and do a debate. It’s ridiculous. And then they cut you off whenever they want. I have a host [Steve Scully of C-SPAN] who I always thought was a nice guy, but I see he’s a Never-Trumper.”

So just to be clear, Trump is saying that he is virulently opposed to doing remote communications in the midst of remotely communicating with Bartiromo for an hour long segment on Fox News. And he does these segments frequently with other Fox Always-Trumpers like Sean Hannity, Lou Dobbs, and the “Curvy Couch” potatoes of Fox and Friends. But doing essentially the same thing during a deadly pandemic for which he is Patient Zero in Washington, crosses the line for him.

There were some other batty moments deserving of some attention that occurred during his bit with Bartiromo, who has more than proven that she is a fully indoctrinated Trump cultist. For instance…

  • Trump says “I don’t think I’m contagious at all,”
    Which, not being a doctor, isn’t his call to make.
  • Trump suggested that he got Covid-19 from Gold Star families.
    Because why not blame it on the troops that he thinks are “losers” and “suckers”?
  • Trump tells Bartiromo he shut down stimulus talks because he didn’t “want to play games.”
    Which is, in fact, playing games.
  • Trump tells Attorney General Bill Barr that Clinton, Obama, and Biden should be indicted.
    For unspecified (and nonexistent) crimes.
  • Trump whines that his FBI Director Chris has “been disappointing.”
    Because he won’t go along with persecuting Trump’s enemies.
  • Trump lied (again) about getting $28 billion from China in tariffs.
    It was actually zero dollars.

And if that isn’t enough, Trump weighed in on the Harris/Pence debate with his trademark hostility and misogyny. After disparaging Harris as “a monster,” Trump lashed out in a thoroughly deranged frenzy saying that…

“I thought that wasn’t even a contest last night. She was terrible. She was…I don’t think you can get worse. And totally unlikeable. And she is. She’s a communist.”

Adding later that…

“Biden won’t make it two months as president. He’s not mentally capable of being president. You know that. Everybody knows that.”

It’s no wonder that Trump doesn’t want to debate Biden again. He knows that he can’t measure up to a sane, competent, and compassionate public servant who is popular with the American people. Trump knows that he doesn’t have control of the facts or the cognitive ability to engage in a substantive discourse with someone who does.

So Trump is running away. Which is his standard practice for dealing with difficult situations, particularly those that he can’t control. He is the proverbial bully who crumbles like a stale cracker when confronted. But in Trump’s case, unfortunately for America, he will try to leave as big a trail of destruction in his wake as he scurries off to his bunker.

UPDATE: Trump’s campaign manager, Bill Stepien, is now asking to move the second debate to October 22, and the third to October 29. But’s just five days before the election and Biden is probably going to be pretty busy then. This is a desperation move by Trump to recover from his cowardly attempt to bail out.

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


Trump’s Favorite Pollster, Rasmussen, Shows Biden Winning By 12 Points

In case anyone is wondering why Donald Trump has posted 100 insanely rage-infested tweets since 9:00 PM Tuesday night, it might have something to with how desperate and scared he is. This is how he copes with fear and the burden of a future that holds nothing for him but misfortune and misery.

Donald Trump, Joe Biden

Being infected with the coronavirus is only part of Trump’s tribulations. Although it’s likely a more significant part than he and his handlers are letting on. He hasn’t been seen in public in two days during the period of time when COVID-19 symptoms generally become more severe (7-10 days after first symptoms). And in his last appearance he seemed to be gasping for air as he stood on a White House balcony for a propaganda video.

However, even more troubling to a malignant narcissist like Trump, his reelection campaign is crumbling into dust. He is trailing Joe Biden by double digits in most recent polls. And this isn’t a trend that Trump can dismiss as phony, Democratic polling or “FAKE NEWS” because his favorite pollster, Rasmussen is showing the same dismal results:

“President Trump’s debate performance followed by his coronavirus diagnosis appear to be digging an even deeper hole for him this week. Democrat Joe Biden now has a 12-point lead over the president in Rasmussen Reports’ weekly White House Watch survey. The latest national telephone and online survey finds Biden leading President Trump 52% to 40% among Likely U.S. Voters.”

In the past three weeks Trump went from a one point advantage to one point behind to eight points back, and now a whopping twelve point deficit. His approval rating, according to Rasmussen, has declined eight points (52% to 44%) since September 25. In those intervening days Trump nominated a Supreme Court justice, debated Biden, and contracted the coronavirus. Apparently, none of those things advanced his standing with voters. Additionally, Trump’s approval among his Republican base now stands at a sorry 76%. That’s twenty points lower than the number he frequently boasts about on Twitter.

Trump likes to post the Rasmussen approval survey whenever they put him above the 50% mark, even though he generally falls back below that within a few days. But it’s a safe bet that he won’t be posting these results. He may even resort to attacking Rasmussen for having defected to the Deep State. That’s been his reaction when the Drudge Report has been critical of him, and even Fox News.

Adding to Trump’s polling woes are his abysmal fundraising efforts. While Biden is setting new records each month and expanding his targets, Trump is lagging in both receipts and cash on hand. He has had to pull advertising in key states that he needs to win in November. According to an analysis by Politico

Joe Biden is set to spend $6.2 million on ads [in Texas] … Perhaps even more astounding: Trump doesn’t have the money to counter the cash-flush Biden on TV. Over the past two weeks, Biden had the airwaves to himself in Iowa, Ohio, Texas and New Hampshire, while Trump went dark.”

That’s not a recipe for any kind of campaign renewal for Trump. And with less than four weeks until election day, there’s little time for him to mount a recovery. There’s even less time when considering the fact that early voting has begun in many states and millions of people have already voted. Which leaves only one avenue available for the floundering Trump campaign: Straight up batshit crazy ranting and incoherent babbling. And in that race Trump already has a huge head start.

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