Trump Flunky Lewandowski Admits Lying to the Media, AKA the American People

Posted by on September 18, 2019 at 11:39 am. 7 Comments :

On Tuesday the House Judiciary Committee tried to get former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski to respond a few questions about his interactions with Donald Trump. It predictably descended into a chaotic spectacle of deflection, lies, and bogus claims of “privilege” in order to avoid providing honest answers to simple questions. Lewandowski demonstrated a keen ability to parrot the obnoxious rhetorical patter of Trump as he showed complete disrespect for the truth.

Corey Lewandowski

In his testimony, Lewandowski repeatedly tried to claim that he could simply refuse to answer questions because Trump asked him not to. That has no basis in the law or reason. In fact, it is brazen contempt of Congress, which members of the Committee are reviewing to determine whether or not to press charges. Lewandowski also implicated himself and Trump in a conspiracy to obstruct justice by putting pressure on then-Attorney General Jeff sessions to drop or otherwise hamstring the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller.

However, the most striking remarks by Lewandowski came when he was asked by the Committee’s legal counsel, Barry Berke, about comments he made on MSNBC’s The Beat with Ari Melber. Lewandowski told Melbar that he had no conversations with Mueller regarding Trump’s efforts to interfere with the investigation. But, as Berke got Lewandowski to admit, that was not true. Then, in his defense, Lewandowski said that “I have no obligation to be honest with the media.”

Let that sink in. A top associate of the President of the United States admitted before Congress, and on national TV, that he lies to the press. Of course, we all know that Trump lies shamelessly nearly every time he opens his mouth. And his official spokespersons openly admit that they employ “alternative facts” to avoid telling the truth. But this admission is particularly galling because it was said with pride as if it were a virtue.

What the American people need to remember is that lying to the media is actually lying to them. No one tells anything to the press because they want the press to know it. They talk to the press in order to relay their comments to the public. So when Lewandowski says that he has “no obligation to be honest with the media,” he really saying that has no obligation to be honest with the American people. And that is also the established doctrine of the Trump administration.

Lewandowski proved that he couldn’t care less about lying to the public when he appeared on CNN the day after his congressional hearing. Why CNN even bothered to interview someone who brags that he will lie to them is troubling in itself. But Lewandowski was, ironically, true to his word by lying flagrantly throughout what turned into a mud-slinging shoutdown by Lewandowski (video below). Among the glaring untruths were his contention that the Mueller Report concluded that there was “no collusion, no obstruction” by Trump. That was contracted by Mueller himself when he testified before Congress. Also, Lewandowski was forced to admit that he had never even read the Mueller report. He also lied about whether the report he hadn’t bothered to read contained ten documented instances of Trump obstructing justice.

The media really needs to show better judgement when booking guests. They should not be helping admitted liars gain a national platform to propagate their lies. That is a disservice to their audience and it stains the reputation of the press. People like Lewandowski, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, amd Kellyanne Conway should be confined to Fox News where their their lies are appreciated and disseminated to glassy-eyed Deplorables who consume lies like candy. And that may also apply to the biggest liar of all, Donald Trump.

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 Hollywood Elitist MAGA Snowflakes Featured in Phony Fox News Controversy

Posted by on September 17, 2019 at 3:35 pm. 2 Comments :

The 2020 election continues to build up steam as Democratic candidates jockey for position and round up supporters and endorsements. However, on the Republican side, Donald Trump is taking a different approach that includes going to extraordinary lengths to keep the identity of his supporters secret. This may be the first campaign that has ever had to arrange for the anonymity of its allies.

Donald Trump, Hollywood

Following his cult rally in New Mexico, Trump made a dash for the border into California where he snuck in to avoid detection. He was there for a fundraiser at the mansion of real estate magnate, Jeffrey Palmer. What’s peculiar about this affair is that the attendees were herded into shuttle buses before being whisked off to a secret destination.

There was significant security employed to prevent these Tinseltown Trumpsters from suffering the indignity of being outed as supporters of the has-been TV game show host who now play-acts as the Reality TV President. Ed Henry of Fox News reported from the field for Fox and Friends and provided this account of the subterfuge (video below):

“The reason why the Trump campaign is being so tight-lipped with all these details is that you have these critics like Debra Messing basically trying what they say is ‘name and shame’ people. Blacklist people out here in Hollywood if they attend the event. […]

“Critics out here in Hollywood have been threatening to blacklist people – make sure they don’t get hired, they don’t get into pictures – if they show up for a Trump fundraiser. This highlights how ridiculous this has become because this is America. If you wanna support somebody, you wanna give some money, you’re supposed to be able to do that.”

What’s ridiculous about this is Henry’s assertions that people are not able to support the candidate of their choice. For most Americans there is a sense of pride and patriotism associated with their political advocacy. Nobody seems to be reluctant to admit they’re voting for Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden, Julian Castro, or Kamala Harris. So the take away from Henry’s analysis is that Trump supporters have real reasons to be ashamed of supporting Trump. And he may be right about that.

There is not, however, any truth to the allegation that Debra Messing, or anyone else, is blacklisting Hollywood’s Trump supporters. It’s actually laughable that Messing is alleged to have that kind of power. There is no central authority in showbiz that could execute a blacklist. Indeed, many of the biggest stars are proudly conservative, including Bruce Willis, Tom Selleck, Sylvester Stallone, Patricia Heaton, Kelsey Grammer, Tim Allen, and more. The ones who are whining about being discriminated against are primarily washed-out hacks whose failure is due to their own lack of talent (Antonio Sabato Jr, Scott Baio, Kid Rock, etc).

Henry’s claim that “Critics out here in Hollywood have been threatening to blacklist people” is typical Fox News bullcrap. He can’t cite a single instance of any such threat ever being made by anyone. And insiders know that Hollywood’s colors are neither red nor blue – they’re green. If an actor can sell tickets they get the job. So if Trump supporters insist on anonymity, it’s because of their own shame for backing an ignorant, narcissistic, racist, who embarrasses the nation at every opportunity, cozies up to brutal foreign tyrants, and lies every time he opens his mouth.

No wonder Trump supporters are ashamed. But that’s their problem and has nothing to do with any imaginary, organized, liberal, Hollywood boycott. They are just making excuses for their own insecurity and inability to defend their idiotic political choices. It’s the same sort of derangement that causes right-wingers to whine that they are being banned on social media (they’re not). The Trump cultists are simply too thin-skinned to face reality. That weakness is even more pronounced in the elitist Trumpsters who work in Hollywood. And they call liberals “snowflakes”?

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


Crybaby Trump is Still Whining About the Mueller Report and It’s Triggering His Obama Envy

Posted by on September 16, 2019 at 1:53 pm. 3 Comments :

It’s been nearly two months since special counsel Robert Mueller testified before Congress about his investigation of Donald Trump’s unsavory associations with Russia and his efforts to obstruct justice. That testimony contained abundant evidence of illegal and/or unethical conduct during his campaign and as President.

Barack Obama, Donald Trump

Among the unarguable findings were that Trump “welcomed and encouraged” Russia’s interference in the election on behalf of Trump and to the detriment of Hillary Clinton. Mueller also confirmed that Trump had deliberately lied to cover up his activities and impede the investigation. Three exchanges in particular capsulized the core of Trump’s unambiguously unlawful behavior.

Nevertheless, Trump has relentlessly banged on his “no collusion, no obstruction” drum for months. He is apparently convinced that if he keeps repeating these lies they will be accepted as truths. So even after the Mueller Report has receded somewhat from the news cycle, Trump continues to revive it and remind everyone of his treasonous criminality. On Monday morning he did just that with a series of panicky tweets:

First of all, the House Judiciary Committee has not given up on the Mueller report. They are continuing to review, affirm, and expand on its conclusions despite the obstacles that Trump and his administration are throwing into the path. However, Trump is correct that the Committee is also looking at other Trump transgressions – of which there are many – ranging from financial corruption to witness tampering to bribery and more.

Lacking any coherent defense for his actions, Trump tries to deflect to what he implies are legal breaches by President Obama. But his overreach is so absurd it’s laughable. Obama is a private citizen and free to enter into agreements to produce books, films, sneakers, or anything else he can think of. He has no governmental influence to sell or otherwise improperly exploit. Trump’s ranting is based wholly on his jealousy and his intent to divert attention away from himself. But he wasn’t finished:

Once again, the Mueller investigation was anything but a failure. It was 400+ pages of indictable crimes. Indeed, dozens of people affiliated with Trump were indicted, and several have already pleaded guilty and are cooperating with prosecutors. But Trump’s ludicrous denial that he’s attempting to enrich himself is perhaps the most bizarre claim of all. He says that he’s losing billions even though he has never actually made billions. He is carrying massive debt to foreign banks that was incurred before he was elected. And his attempt to diminish his profit-seeking ventures by mischaracterizing them as “a hotel room” or “filling up a gas tank” is purposefully deceitful. He is actually generating millions of dollars from both foreign entities and his sycophants at home by directing them to book his facilities for numerous large events. He has even billed the federal government for millions of dollars for his stays at Mar-a-Lago or his other golf resorts.

Trump closes out this series of tweets with another peculiar swipe at “Obama Netflix.” Is that any relation to “Tim Apple?” And Trump has the audacity to call Democrats “crazy.” Virtually everything Trump does is aimed at fattening his bank account. Even his incessant badgering of the Federal reserve to lower interest rates. All economists know that rates are only lowered when the economy is weak. But Trump’s $350+ million dollars in debt is held in variable rate loans. So he stands to save millions with every tick down of the interest rates.

Trump is obviously scared witless about the prospects of his being impeached for the myriad crimes he knows he has committed. And his fear exacerbates his deranged outbursts. But he’s also consumed with envy of Barack Obama, whose presidency wasn’t marred by criminal controversies. Obama reformed healthcare, providing access to millions of people who were previously shut out. He cut the budget deficit in half. He led the recovery from the worst recession in nearly a hundred years. He expanded civil liberties for people of color and women.

Meanwhile, Trump’s record is rife with failure. He promised to build a wall that Mexico would pay for. He said he would repeal and replace ObamaCare. He swore that he would lock up Hillary Clinton. He gave lip service to “draining the swamp.” Virtually every campaign promise he made remains unfulfilled. Except for cutting taxes for the rich, which exploded the national debt, and nominating ultra-conservative, racist, unqualified judges. No wonder Trump is so frightened and inconsolably jealous.

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


Trump’s Bizarre Defense of Fellow Sexual Predator Brett Kavanaugh is Legally Incomprehensible

Posted by on September 15, 2019 at 11:50 am. 4 Comments :

The New York Times published a story this week that contained new and credible allegations of sexual assault by Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. While the article buried the charges in the body of the story, the victim, Deborah Ramirez, provides a harrowing account of Kavanaugh’s behavior that is consistent with the experiences of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and others.

Donald Trump, Brett Kavanaugh

The renewed controversy over the Donald Trump nominated Justice has stirred the debate over Kavanaugh’s fitness to serve on the Court. There are already calls for investigations and even inquiries into whether Kavanaugh should be impeached. Among the justifications for his ouster from the bench is the now apparent fact that he lied to the Senate during his confirmation hearing. And he had no business being confirmed at all considering the fact that the FBI failed to investigate the charges against him, including those by Ramirez.

Enter Donald Trump. It comes as no surprise that Trump would rush to the defense of his nominee. Not just because he needs to validate his choice, but also because they share so much in common. Trump is also a serial sexual predator who has been accused by more than twenty women of harassment and/or assault. So naturally Trump lashed out on Twitter to protect Kavanaugh from the truths that are emerging.

Trump’s first inclination is always to blame everything on the media. It’s his way of telegraphing to his cult followers that, despite the facts and the evidence, what they are hearing is not to be believed. Trump’s assertion that Kavanaugh is “an innocent man who has been treated HORRIBLY,” has no basis in reality. And it’s absurd to suggest that he has been treated worse than his victims.

However, Trump goes completely off the ledge when he offers his advice that Kavanaugh should sue the press and his accusers for libel. Trump has often threatened to sue his own accusers, but always chickens out. During the 2016 campaign he swore that “All of these liars will be sued after the election is over.” Those lawsuits never came to pass. His lawyers surely told him that truth is a defense against libel, and the proceedings would subject him to discovery, wherein he would have to provide all relevant documents and evidence in his possession. There is no way he would do that.

Even worse, Trump said that “the Justice Department should come to [Kavanaugh’s] rescue.” This is further proof that Trump believes the Justice Department serves as his personal attorney, and can serve the same function for Kavanaugh. Clearly Trump has no idea how government works. But, unfortunately, he does have an Attorney General, William Barr, who doesn’t care how government works and is willing to violate the Constitution on behalf of a criminal president.

Trump’s glaring ignorance is apparent throughout these tweets. He obviously doesn’t know what “recrimination” means. Just retaliating against the women in these matters by calling them “liars” is recriminatory. And they have also been disparaged as drunks and sluts. Trump’s complaint that his critics are trying to “scare [Kavanaugh] into turning Liberal,” and to “influence his opinions,” makes no sense whatsoever. How would holding Kavanaugh accountable for his past behavior – and more recent lies – cause him to rule more favorably for the people causing him so much trouble? If anything, it would have the opposite effect.

Let’s be clear. The only reason Trump is even bothering to make a stink about this is that he’s afraid for his own fate. He even said as much in another tweet where he asked if it “sounds familiar” that Kavanaugh’s criticisms were based “on threats of Impeaching him over made up stories.”

Trump regards this as an attack against him. He doesn’t care about Kavanaugh or the Supreme Court, and certainly not the law. He sees this as criticism of his choice for the nomination and his own sex crimes. And anything that reflects negatively on him must be attacked with the full force of his viciousness and dishonesty. That’s how the diseased minds of malignant narcissists work. And Trump is, once again, providing a textbook example of this. Sadly, it’s also an example of why no one with these hostile and destructive psychoses should ever serve as president.

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


The ‘It’ Fracture: Crybaby Trump is Afraid of Joy-Ann Reid and Thinks Journalism is Showbiz

Posted by on September 14, 2019 at 1:14 pm. 1 Comments :

If it’s Saturday, it’s time for another regularly scheduled Donald Trump Tweetstorm. And the “stable genius” occupying the White House doesn’t disappoint. In fact, he even reminded everyone of his alleged stability in a tweet thanking some unnamed admirer for recognizing his alleged genius. In a normal world that would be sufficient proof that he’s a flaming fruitcake.

Donald Trump, Pennywise

Among the Twitticisms that Trump posted was a celebration that Republicans son a couple of seats in bright red districts that they were always favored to win. Although one of them was pulled out by a razor-thin two point margin. Another tweet bragged about his 94 percent support among Republicans, which in reality is only 83 percent. Which is irrelevant anyway because, contrary to his dementia, he isn’t running for president of the GOP. Then he dropped a couple of tweets that consisted only of his tiresome campaign quotes (MAGA, KAG) that he’s hammering into the numb skulls of his cult followers.

However, the most Trumpian eruption of the morning was one that attacked the media, of course. It’s his goto wankery when nothing on Fox News ignites his smoldering emotional tinder. And this time Trump lashed out at MSNBC’s Joy-Ann Reid for something that Trump didn’t bother to explain:

To answer Trump’s first question, Joy-Ann Reid has been a commentator and host on MSNBC for five years and currently hosts her own popular Saturday morning program, AM Joy. Not that Trump really needed this prompting. Despite pretending that he doesn’t know Reid, his own tweet goes on to reveal that he’s pretty familiar with her show, her reputation, her network, her reporting, and her ratings (she averages more than a million viewers each week). Although much of what he thinks he knows is wrong, as usual. Reid is also the author of a New York Times bestselling book that Trump surely knows about, but hasn’t read: “The Man Who Sold America: Trump and the Unraveling of the American Story,”

What’s troubling about Trump’s attack on Reid – besides being another assault on an African-American journalist – is his bizarre characterization of her as lacking “the ‘it’ factor,” something he asserts is “needed for success in showbiz.” That’s right, “Showbiz!” Because that’s what Trump thinks journalism is. In fact, that’s what Trump thinks his presidency is. His job before becoming president was hosting a reality TV game show, which he did for 14 years. That’s not a hobby, it’s a career. And he still sees everything from within that Hollywood bubble.

So what might have triggered this outburst by Trump? He frequently insists that he never watches MSNBC, but with all of the whining he does about it, it’s obvious he watches every day. And today Reid did an extended segment on impeaching Trump (full video below). Undoubtedly he was watching while getting drool all over his Egg McMuffins. And his tweet tantrum makes much more sense when we know what he was almost certainly responding to.

Reid’s guests itemized a long list of impeachable offenses by Trump, beginning with obstruction of justice and continuing through encouraging Russia to interfere with the election, exploiting the presidency to enrich himself, violating campaign finance laws by paying hush money to his mistresses and not reporting it, defying subpoenas and suppressing evidence, and much more.

It’s easy to see why Trump is so afraid and desperate this morning. He knows what he did, and he knows that the truth is coming out. And he knows that changing the channel to Fox News won’t prevent the inevitable accountability he will be forced to face. So he resorts to this sort of deranged panic-tweeting. Expect more of this madness as Congress uncovers more of Trump criminal behavior. And expect it to get worse before it gets better.

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


Fox News Shill Geraldo Rivera Confirms Trump is a Racist While Arguing that He Isn’t a Racist

Posted by on September 13, 2019 at 12:12 pm. 2 Comments :

The debate over whether or not Donald Trump is a racist has been over for months, years really. The evidence is in his frequent and virulent hate speech, as well as his policies that are deliberately aimed at disadvantaging people of color. And the fact that he is supported by the nation’s most prominent white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups is further proof of his embrace of bigotry.

Donald Trump, Fox News, Hate Again

Most people upon discovering that KKK leaders are praising them would stop and reflect on what they did or said to attract such loathsome admirers. But not Trump. He actually panders to them and refuses to make any outright criticisms. He invites them to the White House and recycles overtly racist tropes that history has condemned. He even told women of color – who happen to be members of Congress and U.S. citizens – to “go back you came from.”

Notwithstanding all of these facts, Fox News continues to pretend that there is nothing remotely racist about Trump. It’s a position that mimics the worshipful fawning of state run media in Russia, North Korea and other totalitarian regimes. And on Trump’s favorite Fox News morning show, Fox and Friends, the “Curvy Couch” potatoes earned their pay by ignoring the truth about Trump and slobbering over Dear Leader’s bottomless capacity for universal love.

Aside from the helpful montage of Democrats correctly pointing out that Trump is a racist, this clip features Steve Doocy wondering why they weren’t asked “What do you mean? What are you referring to?” The fact that he even bothers to ask that question demonstrates just how blind he is to reality, or more accurately, how blind they want their views to be. For the record, Doocy’s question has been answered many times, and this compilation from Vox serves as a convenient resource.

Later in the program, long-time Trump friend and blabbering sycophant, Geraldo Rivera, showed up for another of his regular appearances and began sucking up in the first few seconds of his segment. He started off with a glassy-eyed confession that “I love the President and I’ve known him for 45 years and he is not a racist.” Geraldo then blames Trump’s troubles on “sloppy rhetoric” that “makes him vulnerable” to charges of racism. But as he continues, Geraldo himself outlines Trump’s rancid bigotry that extends far beyond rhetoric:

“When the President says ‘shathole countries,’ and NFL players who kneel are ‘sons of bitches,’ and ‘Mexicans are rapists,’ I think that he should emphasize the positive.”

See? It’s as simple as that. Just ignore the fact that you’ve viciously insulted African countries, African-American athletes, and Latinx refugees fleeing violence and poverty. Focus on imaginary “positives” that can be exploited to brainwash the dimwitted Trump cultists and viewers of Fox News. Geraldo also advised Trump that “His staff should look more like the country. It should be more diverse.” That’s not the sort of advice you give to someone who isn’t noticeably prejudiced.

It’s ironic that Geraldo’s defense of Trump contains such a useful itemization of the evidence that he is, in fact, flagrantly racist. But Geraldo wants you to dismiss all of that and be filled with the same reverential and baseless adoration of Trump that he has. And this isn’t just the position of Geraldo. It’s the same irrational mask of delusion that all Republicans and Fox News hacks wear and that they want to strap onto you. It’s just that you don’t see them tugging at the strings this openly very often.

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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Pathological Liar Trump Sinks to Making Up ‘Quotes’ as His Impeachment Fears Grow

Posted by on September 12, 2019 at 1:03 pm. 1 Comments :

This week Congress returned from its summer recess and almost immediately got to work by voting to proceed with an inquiry into Donald Trump and the case for his impeachment. The House Judiciary Committee passed a resolution that set the procedures and rules for future impeachment investigation hearings. Committee chair Jerry Nadler made clear that Trump’s conduct “poses a threat to our democracy,” and that “We have an obligation to respond to this threat.”

Donald Trump Impeach

The dagger dangling precariously over Trump’s intellectually numb skull is having an impact on his already panicked temperament. Under ordinary conditions (if there were any) Trump would be behaving erratically. But with the looming prospect of impeachment he has leapt off the cliff’s edge and is hurtling into the abyss of his psychoses. That would explain his tweet Thursday morning that purported to be a quote by Rep. Al Green:

By now most American know that Trump is a pathological liar who has been documented to have told more than 12,000 lies since his inauguration. Most recently he outdid himself by lying about the path of Hurricane Dorian. He even altered official weather maps, bullied NOAA officials to concur with his flagrant falsehoods, and chastised the Fox News White House correspondent for not backing him up.

However, the tweet above goes much further down the rabid hole of paranoia and deceit. The words Trump attributed to Rep. Green as a quote were never said by Green. At best, Trump is wildly distorting comments made by Green four months ago when he was interviewed on MSNBC (video below):

Host Phillip Mena: Are you concerned that impeachment talk may actually help the President’s reelection?
Green: I’m concerned if we don’t impeach this president, he will get re-elected. If we don’t impeach him he will say that he’s been vindicated. He will say that the Democrats had an overwhelming majority in the House and they didn’t take up impeachment. […] We must impeach this president. If we don’t, it’s not the soul of the nation that will be at risk only, it’s the soul of the Congress.

So Green wasn’t saying that Trump couldn’t be beat, nor that impeachment was a response to the fallacy of him being unbeatable. He was merely answering the question by noting what Trump would say if Democrats didn’t proceed with impeachment. And he was acknowledging the possibility of Trump’s reelection, which any reasonable political analyst would concede exists. But no one could plausibly interpret those remarks the way Trump did in his wholly dishonest tweeting of a fake quote. And to drive that point home, Green replied to Trump’s tweet with one of his own:

Trump lies so often that it’s becoming a passe affair that gets ignored in the press. That should never happen. He’s still the President and such dishonesty is an abhorrent trait that must be called out as a destructive assault on democracy every time it happens. But inventing quotes by members of Congress takes his noxious behavior light years down the road to tyranny. It cannot be tolerated by patriotic Americans. And the fear that triggers this sort of moral fraudulence must be recognized as a dangerous manifestation of mental infirmity. By making up quotes about his impeachment, Trump is only affirming the necessity that he be impeached.

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


Trump Backs E-Cigarette Ban After 6th Vaping Death, Still No Gun Reforms After 313 Deaths

Posted by on September 11, 2019 at 1:33 pm. 3 Comments :

On Wednesday morning Trump invited the press – you know, the “enemy of the people” – into the White House to make an announcement about his new initiative to ban flavored e-cigarettes. He is apparently very concerned about a recent report that a sixth person has died from lung disease associated with vaping.

Donald Trump, Yosemite Sam, Guns

This is a legitimate problem that potentially affects millions of people, including children, who have taken up the habit. And there hasn’t been enough research to establish the safety of this relatively new product. However, there is something peculiar about the rapid response with which Trump is moving to limit access to e-cigarettes. If six deaths ever from vaping is a serious enough crisis to push through a virtual prohibition on an otherwise legal product, why isn’t 313 deaths this year alone enough of a crisis to enact common sense gun reforms?

Many conservatives and Trump Republicans make the argument that restrictions on access to assault-style guns won’t prevent people from acquiring them. But they seem to believe that similar restrictions will be effective on e-cigarette smokers. That’s a contradiction they cannot explain away. At the same time, they are driven to action by a half dozen vaping-related deaths, but fight tooth and nail to protect their right to own military weapons intended solely to mutilate the human body, despite being responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people at schools, churches, and malls.

During his brief visit with the press (video below), Trump revealed that he is “looking at vaping strongly” because “it’s very dangerous” and that “children have died.” Of course, all of that is true many times over for guns and mass shootings. He also asserted that “we’re going to have some very strong rules and regulations.” Which he is vigorously obstructing with regard to guns and accessories like large capacity magazines. He elaborated saying that…

“Vaping is becoming a big business as I understand it, like a giant business in a short period of time. We can’t allow people to get sick and we can’t have our youth be so affected. And that’s how the First Lady got involved. She’s got a son — together that is a beautiful young man, and she feels very, very strongly about it. She’s seen it. We’re both reading it. A lot of people are reading it. But people are dying.”

First of all, it’s curious that Trump has noticed that Melania has a son, as if he has nothing to do with it. But more to the point, Trump’s observation that “people are dying” from vaping seems especially callous when he can’t make the same connection to the far more numerous fatalities caused by easy access to killing machines that have no justifiable purpose for anyone other than soldiers and police officers.

It’s hard to dismiss the likelihood that Trump’s reluctance to take any action on guns is due to his alliance with – and/or fear of – the National Rifle Association. He has repeatedly made hollow, insincere gestures toward reform efforts, only to abandon them after talking to his pals at the NRA. And it’s fair to say that Big Tobacco has a firmer grip on Trump and the GOP than Big E-Cig. Since the e-cigarette industry doesn’t have anything comparable to the NRA lobbying on their behalf, they will end up being regulated in short order. And Americans will continue to be mowed down by assault weapons thanks to the self-serving, cold-blooded, depravity of Trump and his Re[publican Nationalist Party.

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


John Bolton Texts Fox News Live to Say He Resigned, Contradicting Another Trump Lie

Posted by on September 10, 2019 at 12:12 pm. 3 Comments :

The administration of Donald Trump continues to be a hot mess. Having already achieved a record number of departures of White House top staff, Trump has just parted ways with his fourth National Security Advisor, John Bolton. Sources say that Trump and Bolton argued about the President’s foiled scheme to bring the Taliban to Camp David.

Donald Trump, John Bolton

The break up with Bolton leaves Trump’s national security team littered with “acting” heads, including National Security Advisor, Homeland Security Secretary, Director of National Intelligence, and Chief of Staff. These are all critical posts that have a particular significance during these times of international turmoil. Trump is awkwardly juggling relations with Iran, North Korea, Afghanistan, China, Russia, and many more foreign hot spots that threaten American interests. But the nation under Trump’s “leadership” lacks competent management in the jobs that oversee those crucial areas of statecraft.

Trump announced Bolton’s dismissal in his usual way – via Twitter saying “I informed John Bolton last night that his services are no longer needed at the White House. I disagreed strongly with many of his suggestions, as did others in the Administration, and therefore I asked John for his resignation.” It isn’t surprising that Trump and Bolton disagreed. That was apparent even before Bolton was hired, and anyone paying attention knew it. But Trump’s staffing decisions are based on the shallowest criteria, such as how they look on Fox News.

Not surprisingly, Bolton had a different view of how his separation came about. Contrary to Trump’s claim that he asked Bolton to resign, Bolton says – also via Twitter – that he made the offer first. And just to drive the point home, Bolton live-tweeted Fox News where his pal and former colleague, Brian Kilmeade of Fox and Friends, read the tweet on the air:

https://twitter.com/LisPower1/status/1171458331216502785

So Bolton, a former Fox News contributor, hasn’t been unemployed for an hour and he’s already angling for his old job at back at Fox. But the more important question going forward is which Trump-fluffing Fox News shill will Trump name as the next National Security Advisor? There are several prospects in the the Fox family who would meet Trump’s low standards for work in his White House: 1) Be willing to lie unflinchingly for Trump; and … well, that’s pretty much it.

One candidate could be Walid Phares, a longtime right-wing pundit and advisor to Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. Phares distinguished himself as an Islamophobe and a crackpot conspiracy theorist with claims that tied President Obama and Hillary Clinton to the Muslim Brotherhood. Another candidate could be retired Gen. Jack Keane who makes frequent appearances on Fox defending Trump blindly for whatever the atrocity of the day happens to be.

However, a more likely candidate would be this favorite of Sean Hannity, Dan Bongino, a former Secret Service agent who was a presenter on the recently shuttered NRA-TV before becoming a full-fledged Fox contributor who sometimes fills in for Hannity. Bongino has already caught Trump’s eye with a book that makes wild assertions about the “Deep State” spying on Trump. The President has tweeted about or retweeted Bongino 84 times. Typically they are just factless tributes to Trump’s imaginary awesomeness and virginal innocence, such as…

So we can expect the next National Security Advisor to be a worshipful member of the Trump cult. And he will join a team of hacks who have never been confirmed by the Senate because, according to Trump, “I like ‘acting’ because I can move so quickly.” In other words, he likes “acting” because he can just pull sycophantic, unqualified names out of his arse without having to get the constitutionally mandated consensus of the Senate. And sadly, in these troubled times that’s what America has to suffer though with our wannabe dictator in 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.


America First? Trump’s Attacks on the Media are Both Ignorant and Anti-American

Posted by on September 9, 2019 at 1:58 pm. 3 Comments :

Another day, another malicious assault on the Constitution and its First Amendment protections for a free press. Donald Trump is continuing to march toward a totalitarian state where he controls the media. And in his latest manic outburst on the subject he goes further than ever to lie about and threaten both journalists and American workers employed by the media that he so desperately hates.

Donald Trump, Rachel Maddow, Shepard Smith, Anderson Cooper

Trump’s noxious tweetstorm began with a gleeful nod to the news that an “activist investor” has acquired a bundle of AT&T stock:

“Great news that an activist investor is now involved with AT&T. As the owner of VERY LOW RATINGS @CNN, perhaps they will now put a stop to all of the Fake News emanating from its non-credible “anchors.” Also, I hear that, because of its bad ratings, it is losing a fortune…..”

Trump’s celebration of this investment is a typically shallow analysis considering the investor purchased a share of AT&T that is only a little more than one percent of its outstanding shares. That isn’t gong give him any real leverage, and he’ll have no role in board or management decisions. What’s more, shareholders have absolutely zero influence over the editorial content of a news network, nor should they. So Trump is wandering around in a fantasy world that he clearly knows nothing about.

Trump also knows nothing about the state of the cable news business. His hatred for CNN notwithstanding, the network is enjoying the highest ratings and revenue in its history. This is an example of Trump expressing the delusions in his diseased brain as if they had some correlation to reality. But what’s worse about this Twitter tantrum is that Trump is maligning an American company before the whole world. That is recklessly inappropriate for the President of the United States, and a betrayal of the thousands of American workers at CNN and AT&T.

In addition, Trump repeated the flagrant lie that foreign leaders have asked him “Why does the Media hate the U.S. sooo much?” Perhaps Vladimir Putin or Kim Jong Un might have asked him that, but they probably also ask why he doesn’t arrest and/or assassinate them. After all, he has openly yearned for those powers himself. For the record, the media doesn’t hate America, and they don’t even hate Trump. They hate lies, corruption, treason, and ignorance. It isn’t their fault that Trump exemplifies all of those abhorrent traits. But Trump wasn’t through ranting:

Once again, MSNBC’s ratings and revenue are growing rapidly. Trump may wish that news networks that tell the truth about him were failing, but the opposite is true. Meanwhile, at Fox News their ratings are still impressive, but their revenue is in a steep decline because advertisers don’t want to be associated with the Trump-fluffing, white supremacist dogma that is the hallmark of Fox. And if Trump is tiring of negative stories about him, he might try doing something positive for once. Or at least stop doing so many things that are objectively stupid, destructive, racist, and/or corrupt.

Trump went on to bash the media in general as “an arm of the Democrat Party.” without providing any proof whatsoever. But that’s been his modus operandi for years. And coming from someone who leans so heavily on his State TV network (aka Fox News), it’s starkly hypocritical. His intent is to drag down the reputation of the press to prevent people from taking it seriously when they report what he’s actually doing and saying. He actually admitted that to Leslie Stahl when she asked why he attacks the press. “You know why I do it?” he replied. “I do it to discredit you all, and demean you all, so when you write negative stories about me no one will believe you.”

Everyone needs to remember that whenever they hear him criticize the media. By his own admission he isn’t doing it to correct the record or to stand up for the practice of journalism. He’s doing it to brainwash anyone dimwitted enough to fall for his deliberately deceitful disparagement of honest reporting. Sadly, there are way too many Deplorables who are happy to wallow in the filth that Trump spews, even after they’ve been told – by him – exactly what he’s doing.

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