New Poll Has Bad News For Donald Trump and His Smear Campaign Against the Media

Posted by on October 4, 2017 at 11:08 am. 4 Comments :

Every president has had differences with the media. Some have had overtly hostile relationships with members of the press they considered unfair. For the most part these quarrels were below the surface, but some emerged into the public. However, there has never been a White House so openly antagonistic toward the media than Donald Trump’s.

Donald Trump

Trump has not merely been dissatisfied with the coverage he’s received. He has resorted to personal insults and juvenile ridicule. His vilification has resulted in some reporters requiring additional security protection from his followers. Even worse, he deliberately strives to undermine the public trust in the only profession directly protected by the Constitution. Trump famously maligned our free press, calling it “the enemy of the American people.”

These dangerous and unpatriotic tantrums began even before election day. But they intensified after he was inaugurated. And they continue to this day with his tedious and unwarranted whining about so-called “fake” news. So with more than a year of disparaging commentaries and unbridled contempt, what does Trump have to show for it? The latest polling from Reuters/Ipsos summarizes it like this:

“The poll of more than 14,300 people found that the percentage of adults who said they had a ‘great deal’ or ‘some’ confidence in the press rose to 48 percent in September from 39 percent last November.”

In the past year, amid relentless rhetorical abuse, the public trust in the media increased by nine points. Which means that the American people pointedly ignored Trump’s ravings and embraced the press more strongly than ever. For this to happen despite the bellicosity of Trump and his surrogates is a hard slap in the face for the President. Clearly his self-serving, anti-media opinions were of no interest to most people. And this poll affirms the result of previous polls that came to the same conclusions. Even when put up against the specific news organizations he most detests (CNN, the New York Times, etc.) he wound up the loser.

In addition to these findings, the Reuters poll also revealed that the public trust in Trump declined significantly. That decline occurred simultaneously to the rise for trust in the press. Trump’s high of fifty-two percent was marked at his inauguration in January. It subsequently sunk to forty-eight percent in this poll. That includes a six point drop among Republicans. Reuters didn’t poll an approval rating for Trump in this survey, but Gallup has Trump near his all-time low (34%) at thirty-seven percent.

The abject failure of Trump’s anti-media campaign has not deterred him from persisting with nasty, unsupported assaults on Twitter. Wednesday morning he lashed out at the press calling it dishonest and hilariously asking for an apology. And then he unleashed this tweet that contains a bit of unintentional truth:

Indeed. The American people do have a persistent problem with whatever he does or says. Except contrary to his yammering about fake news, what they object to is him and his unabating stream of bullshit. His complaint can be condensed into throwing fits over any criticism directed at him and his failed administration. And unfortunately for him, there seems to be a never-ending supply of ignorance and incompetence to criticize. You might say he’s out of control.

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-Fluffing Psychiatrist Tells Fox News That CNN ‘Contributes to Mass Shooting’

Posted by on October 3, 2017 at 2:51 pm. NO Comments :

In the world of conservative politics and punditry, the right time to talk about common sense gun safety is never. And they are especially adamant that such discussions be avoided following any gun-related tragedies. Which effectively nixes any dialog ever since these tragic events occur almost every day.

Fox News

However, talking about how Democrats and the liberal media are responsible for firearms massacres is fair game at any time. For example, Tuesday morning Fox News aired an interview with forensic psychiatrist Michael Welner (video below). Welner is a devoted supporter of Donald Trump. His appearance with the “Curvy Couch” potatoes of Fox and Friends was in keeping with the network’s obsessive partisanship. They acted together to brazenly politicize the horror of the Las Vegas calamity.

Welner began with a wholly invented proclamation that “people who are gun enthusiasts, and who are populists or nationalists in this country, are dehumanized. They’re demonized.” It’s impossible to know where he got that from. While there are protests aimed at the National Rifle Association (NRA) and politicians who kowtow to them, citizen gun owners have never a target of scorn. In fact most NRA members actually support measures like background checks and banning assault weapons. However, Welner’s inclusion of “nationalists” in his diatribe was peculiar. Whether or not they own guns, they are associated with the white supremacy movement. Welner apparently considers them victims in the same mold as he does gun owners.

Welner’s analysis of the shooter’s mindset was equally as bizarre. He led off by saying that “This is a sixty-four year old with no dramatic mental illness. No major decline. Someone who’s intact.” On the basis of what examination did he draw those conclusions? There have been no reports as to the shooter’s psychological profile from either the press or the police. Following that, Welner spouted off a stream of incoherent psychobabble that makes one wonder if he got his degree from Trump University. He asserted that all mass murderers are either seeking notoriety or advancing a cause. He left out many other possible motivations including racial or other prejudice, retribution or redress of perceived wrongs, and just plain insanity.

Welner’s primary theory involved looking at the victims and working backwards to establish a motive. So when Fox’s Brian Kilmeade asked what the country music fans at the concert represented, Welner replied, “Americana.” Between the two of them, the only notable characteristic of the victims was the entertainment venue they patronized. That led to this disturbing exchange between the two:

Kilmeade: Jeff Zelany [of CNN] says that country music fans are for the most part Republicans, and the President, by showing this type of sympathy is doing something for his base. Are country music fans symbolic of Republicans?

Welner: Well, I think that CNN is gonna have to answer for how they demonize gun enthusiasts and how CNN actually contributes to mass shooting. And I believe that they do.

First of all, Welner didn’t bother to answer Kilmeade’s embarrassingly biased and asinine question. And the answer he gave was embarrassing enough in it’s own right. That was the professional diagnosis of an allegedly trained psychiatrist? Actually, it’s the opinion of a quack who closed this segment with another absurd allegation. He complained that “We don’t demonize mass killing enough, and that’s why people feel they can do it for a cause.” Really?

Statements like these are not unfamiliar at Fox News. They frequently trade in slander and defamation that is unsupportable and way out of bounds. In this case, Welner may have even exceeded whatever flimsy standards Fox News maintains. Because later in the program, Kilmeade issued a disclaimer to note that the views Welner expressed were his own did not represent Fox. When Fox News is ashamed to be associated with you, that should be a wake up call that the doctor might need professional help himself.

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


Trump Confidant Alex Jones Spins INSANE Conspiracy Theory About the Las Vegas Massacre

Posted by on October 2, 2017 at 4:06 pm. 4 Comments :

The news yesterday of the massacre in Las Vegas was both horrific and predictable. It is unbearably sad that Americans are still being slaughtered by madmen with weapons that should only be available to soldiers at war. And yet, too many of our national leaders continue to resist common sense methods to keep such deadly artillery off the streets. So once again we are mourning the dead and sending out thoughts and prayers to their loved ones.

Alex Jones

Just as predictable is the fantastical fiction of conspiracy theorists and others seeking to exploit tragedy. Chief among them is Alex Jones, a devoted supporter of Donald Trump whom, he claims, he’s in frequent contact with. Trump has has appeared on Jones’ Infowars program praising his “amazing” reputation. And an Infowars “correspondent” was actually granted a White House press pass.

Consequently, you have to wonder whether the President thinks the latest hallucinatory ramblings of Jones are also amazing. Within hours of the Las Vegas shooting, Jones was disgorging his deranged analysis. It consisted entirely of invented “facts” and lunatic outbursts. The wild ride begins here (video below):

“Now here’s the big news. Islamic State has taken responsibility, and the man known by the police for issues, I guess for mental illness, reportedly converted to Islam in the last two months. And even though that’s being reported by Reuters and others, you’re not seeing on it on CNN or MSNBC.”

Perhaps the reason other news outlets are reluctant to report it is because there’e no proof that it’s true. The report by the Associated Press includes the disclaimer that ISIS “has a history of exaggerated or false claims.” Even so, Jones’s media bashing was wrong. A tweet by CNN’s Brian Stelter explained that CNN and others ought not to cover the claim by ISIS because there isn’t “a shred of evidence” to support it. And NBC’s Pete Williams did discuss the claim on MSNBC, also noting that it wasn’t believable.

Jones then preposterously asserted that Al Gore was allied with ISIS and Al Qaeda. He connected that to a thoroughly made up claim that two months ago Gore and former CIA Director John Brennan had predicted a terrorist attack and the overthrow of Donald Trump within two months (i.e. now). Jones said that this was because October 1st was the 100 year anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution. As nutty as that conspiracy theory is, it was also historically wrong. The Russian uprising against the tsarist regime actually began in February of 1917 and concluded in late October with the Bolsheviks assuming control of Parliament. There was no significant event on the first of October that would have warranted an anniversary remembrance. But then Jones really flew off the rails:

“Here’s the other big news. On Saturday night, Sunday morning, they released O.J. [Simpson] just twenty hours before the attack took place. So all the media would come and be in place to cover this event. The whole thing has the hallmarks of being scripted by ‘deep state’ Democrats and their Islamic allies using mental patient cutouts.”

Really? Simpson was released in the dead of night specifically to avoid any media coverage. And it worked. There was a single fixed camera at the prison that caught Simpson’s release. Jones also alleged that Democrats and communists were planning to “go violent and start shooting and killing police, conservatives, whites, you name it. And that white genocide needs to be carried out.” According to Jones, this was reported by national news organizations. It wasn’t. And even Saturday Night Live was accused of being a part of the plot to “cause a civil war in this country.” And before he was done, Jones regurgitated the debunked story that Democrats or unions refused to deliver emergency supplies to the victims of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.

This is the level of depravity that Alex Jones sinks to on a regular basis. He previously said that 9//11 was an inside job. He charged that the mass murder of the children at Sandy Hook was a hoax staged by actors. And he still doesn’t believe that Barack Obama is a U.S. citizen. Nevertheless, he has the respect of Donald Trump who promised that “I will not let you down.” And given the quantity and quality of his lies, Trump is surely keeping that promise.

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

https://youtu.be/r2UMTEMQJQ8?t=3m41s


Donald Trump Kneecaps His Own Secretary of State While Hinting at War with North Korea

Posted by on October 1, 2017 at 12:03 pm. NO Comments :

If you thought Donald Trump couldn’t get worse, you don’t know Trump. On Sunday morning he unleashed another flurry of insane and dangerous tweets. They included the obligatory and tedious attacks on the media. And he also fired off new insults aimed at the suffering people of Puerto Rico and their brave mayor. Of course he couldn’t refrain form exalting himself and the greatness he thinks he’s achieving.

Donald Trump Rex Tillerson

However, the worst utterances in his latest Twitter tantrum were directed at his own Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson. Trump has often shown no hesitation to belittle and undermine people on his White House staff. He seems to have no consciousness of the damage it does to the nation’s reputation and credibility. And with that carelessness and bile he posted these troubling tweets:

Tillerson has recently made public comments alluding to negotiations with North Korea. While in China this weekend he told reporters that “We have a couple, three channels open to Pyongyang. We can talk to them, we do talk to them.” He added that “I think everyone would like for it to calm down.” Well, apparently not everyone. In fact, just this August Trump tweeted that “Talking is not the answer.”

Now Trump is virtually sabotaging the efforts of Tillerson and the State Department to peacefully denuclearize North Korea. And it isn’t merely a public disagreement with a particular policy. Trump called Tillerson’s diplomacy a waste of time. It’s an attitude of hostility toward negotiations that is emblematic of his presidency. Where is the dealmaker he pretends to be? His “art of the deal” is nothing more than trash talk and bullying.

Trump followed up that bluster with another infantile insult to Kim Jong Un as “Little Rocket Man.” Seriously, did Trump ever get past the third grade? How exactly does he think that advances the goals of the United States, and the world, to achieve nuclear disarmament? To the contrary, he has given Kim justification for worrying about a U.S. attack. He is validating Kim’s motivation to build up a nuclear arsenal. And Trump’s cryptic comment about doing “what has to be done” will only exacerbate the problem. Especially after threatening to “totally destroy” North Korea in his speech to the United Nations last month.

Donald Trump is proving that he is not only unfit to hold this office, but that he is an imminent danger to the world. His reckless rhetoric and ignorance of international affairs would be bad enough. But his inability to even maintain coherent unity within his own government suggests something far worse than mere incompetence. It paints a picture of a deranged man grappling with forces he can’t possibly understand.

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

You have to wonder where his staff is while he’s ranting uncontrollably. Can his Chief of Staff, John Kelly, be comfortable with this behavior? And where is the Republican Party and its leaders in Congress? Are they all willing to see this devolve into an unnecessary war of atomic proportions? The media also has a role in shining a light of rationality on this before it turns into catastrophe. Finally, special counsel Robert Mueller may be the one figure left to save us all from Trump’s Apocalypse. An anxious America is waiting on you, Mr. Mueller.

THIS JUST IN: Another tweet:

Nobody is being nice to him you moron. Negotiations that threaten sanctions and international isolation are not invitations to a party. And why won’t you fail? You’ve failed at EVERYTHING else.


Trump Whines About ‘Fake News’ From His Golf Resort While Reporters Are Knee Deep in Puerto Rico

Posted by on September 30, 2017 at 4:48 pm. 3 Comments :

The pattern is unmistakable. Something significant happens somewhere in the world. The people affected make relevant, heartfelt comments. Then Donald Trump manages to make it all about himself. His victimhood dominates the discourse. He lashes out at the real victims. And then casts the blame for everything on his favorite enemies, Democrats and the media.

Donald Trump Twitter Birds

The latest example of this psychosis came Saturday morning. In response to a gut-wrenching appeal for help by the mayor of San Juan, Trump dismissed her remarks and attacked her and the people of Puerto Rico for requesting aid and not helping themselves. It was a blatantly racist tirade that portrayed these suffering Americans as lazy and dependent. And after insulting the local officials as poor leaders, he praised himself for the “amazing” job he was allegedly doing. Then Trump turned his Twitter tantrum to the media:

Trump doesn’t bother to say who the people who really matter are. Suffice to say that it isn’t the vast majority of Puerto Ricans who are without electricity, food, water, and fuel. How he can grumble about not being treated fairly while these people are soaking and hungry is unimaginably insensitive. And his attempt to suggest that any criticism is disparaging of the first responders is dishonest and pathetic. It is him and his incompetent leadership that is being criticized.

As for the media, Trump’s broken record routine of calling it “fake news” got old months ago. It’s the media who are on the ground reporting what is really happening on this island. They are the ones getting vital information to the people that will actually help them and save lives. Meanwhile, Trump is tweeting insults from the comfort of his luxurious golf resort in New Jersey. He’ll play another nine holes while reporters like these are living in the same dire circumstance as the residents of Puerto Rico:

Trump’s admonition to the Puerto Ricans to “not believe the #FakeNews” would make their plight even more difficult and dangerous. In emergencies like these it’s the media that is an indispensable resource. Trump’s advice could literally get people killed. Were it up to him no one would be watching anything but Fox News where the reporting is filled with ludicrous exaltations of the President. This morning Fox News anchor Julie Banderas addressed the situation in Puerto Rico and Trump’s Twitter-based crisis management:

“Now he is saying the ‘fake news’ media are all over it. And, in fact, they are. Because right now all the other networks are leading with a tweet and doing further bashing of the United States involvement in Puerto Rico.”

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

See that? All the other networks are bashing America. Only Fox News is courageous enough to report that everything’s hunky dory. There’s hardly even any evidence that a hurricane ever happened in the Fox News world of alternative facts. And Trump is hard at work in his suite at Bedminster tweeting and taking phone calls from admiring Republicans ensuring him of what a tremendous job he’s doing. It’s just too bad that the people of Puerto Rico are forced to endure the harshness of reality. But it’s their own fault for not joining a country club in Palm Beach before this hurricane thing came along.


Rachel Maddow Tops All Cable News Programs in 3rd Quarter – And Donald Trump is Nervous

Posted by on September 29, 2017 at 3:20 pm. 1 Comments :

The rapid rise of MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow has stunned many in the cable news business. Her show has risen from modest beginnings to dominate her field. And she has achieved something that was thought unthinkable a couple of years ago: beating Fox News. And she has been doing that handily for several months.

Rachel Maddow

There is a segment of television news consumers who are clearly interested in thoughtful, well-researched journalism. Maddow’s brand of intelligent, fact-based discourse is proving to be more popular than Fox News style blather, bellowing, and bullshit. The negativity and ultra-conservative bias that defines Fox News might be wearing thin. Plus, they have the unenviable job of defending Donald Trump’s infantile outbursts, humiliating ignorance, and unpopular positions on nearly everything.

With all of that in mind, it isn’t that surprising that Maddow has taken the cable news crown. What’s surprising is the scope of her victory and its continuing acceleration. Forbes reports the newest Nielsen numbers saying that:

“The MSNBC host just hit a milestone for MSNBC, with her 9 p.m. hour, The Rachel Maddow Show, finishing the third quarter of 2017 as the No. 1 cable news show on television. It’s the first time any MSNBC show has finished first in the Nielsen ratings for an entire quarter.

“Maddow hit her highest ratings among total viewers (2.7 million) and in the advertiser-coveted demographic of adults 25-54 (606,000). That represents an increase of 75% compared to the third quarter of 2016 (total viewers), and 65% (adults 25-54).”

The numbers for Maddow were reflected throughout the MSNBC schedule. Their total day growth was “up +41 percent in viewers and up +27 percent in the demo.” That contrasts with a Fox News decline “year-over-year in total viewers, down -3 percent in total day and down -12 percent in total viewers.” Ironically, Fox’s best performing program was “Shepard Smith Reporting” which was up +19 percent. Lately Smith is the sole voice of sanity on Fox and a frequent critic of Trump. Which is to say that he reports truthfully.

Speaking of Trump, he isn’t taking this news well. In fact, he’s avoiding the reality of it entirely. On Thursday he retweeted his friend Bill O’Reilly congratulating Sean Hannity for a short-term ratings bump.

The disgust of seeing the sexual predator Trump, promoting fellow deviant O’Reilly, was jarring and repulsive. Particularly since this was O’Reilly’s first time back on Fox News since he was terminated for sexually harassing his colleagues and guests. As for Hannity, he just moved to a new time period directly competing with Maddow. So he front-loaded his first week with a bevy of right-wing icons like Steve Bannon, Paul Ryan, Rush Limbaugh, and O’Reilly. He can’t be expected to keep up that pace and his ratings will likely sink back to their prior levels. So any boasting about the numbers for a couple of days is premature and pales in comparison to Maddow’s quarterly trouncing of Hannity and Fox.

But this is all that they have to hang on to. Maddow is a certified success who is putting Hannity to shame. And the fact that Trump is lowering himself to posting TV ratings results is further proof of his unfitness for the presidency. The nation is juggling multiple crises including hurricane catastrophes in Puerto Rico, Florida, and Texas. Trump’s third attempt to kill ObamaCare just went down in flames. He’s now peddling a tax reform scam that will benefit the wealthy and hurt everyone else. He seems intent on starting a nuclear war with North Korea. Our elections systems have been compromised by foreign enemies.

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

Trump himself is at risk for prosecution and possible impeachment for his involvement with Russia, both politically and financially. And now he’s interrupted his racist posting on the NFL to lie about television ratings. We don’t have a president anymore. We have a traitorous, wannabe tabloid hack who would be better suited as a correspondent for the Russian version of TMZ. And even that would be a stretch for him.

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George Clooney Bursts the ‘Hollywood Elite’ Bubble BS and Trump’s ‘Gold Toilet’ Hypocrisy

Posted by on September 28, 2017 at 3:59 pm. 2 Comments :

The Daily Beast just published an extensive interview of George Clooney. While the article is part of the rollout for his new film “Suburbicon,” it covered a variety of other subjects. Not surprisingly, many of them were about politics and politicians.

George Clooney

Clooney was asked about the 2016 presidential campaign and the flaws in Hillary Clinton’s candidacy. He talked about race and the overt bigotry embedded in Donald Trump’s campaign. The incident in Charlottesville, Virginia, came up, along with the Confederate flag controversy. When asked whether Trump was emboldening white nationalists, Clooney responded without mincing words:

“Well, think about it this way: if I was President of the United States and David Duke is praising me and the white nationalists were talking about how I was on their side, the first thing I would do is I would come out and say, ‘Fuck these guys. Anyone who believes this is not in my camp, I don’t believe it, and I completely reject it.’ Don’t play coy and claim that you don’t remember who David Duke is.”

Clooney went on to talk about political villains of the present (Steve Bannon) and the past (Richard Nixon). And he addressed the failings of the press that “abdicated their duty in the run-up to the election,” by catering to Trump’s media manipulation and sensationalism. But Clooney really hit his stride when the subject turned to the right’s demonization of so-called Hollywood elites. He shot down the idiotic talking point and lambasted the hypocrites who employ it. And he set his sights on one “coastal elitist” in particular:

“Here’s the thing: I grew up in Kentucky. I sold insurance door-to-door. I sold ladies’ shoes. I worked at an all-night liquor store. I would buy suits that were too big and too long and cut the bottom of the pants off to make ties so I’d have a tie to go on job interviews. I grew up understanding what it was like to not have health insurance for eight years.”

“So this idea that I’m somehow the “Hollywood elite” and this guy who takes a shit in a gold toilet is somehow the man of the people is laughable.”

But Clooney wasn’t finished. He had a few more things to say on the subject and a personal message for Trump:

“People in Hollywood, for the most part, are people from the Midwest who moved to Hollywood to have a career. So this idea of ‘coastal elites’ living in a bubble is ridiculous. Who lives in a bigger bubble? He [Trump] lives in a gold tower and has twelve people in his company. He doesn’t run a corporation of hundreds of thousands of people he employs and takes care of. He ran a company of twelve people!”

“When you direct a film you have seven different unions all wanting different things, you have to find consensus with all of them, and you have to get them moving in the same direction. He’s never had to do any of that kind of stuff. I just look at it and I laugh when I see him say ‘Hollywood elite.’ Hollywood elite? I don’t have a star on Hollywood Boulevard, Donald Trump has a star on Hollywood Boulevard! Fuck you!”

I have absolutely nothing to add to that.

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


Trump Says His Tax Reform Plan Is ‘Not Good For Me, Believe Me’ – Hell No. Release YOUR Taxes!

Posted by on September 27, 2017 at 4:05 pm. 3 Comments :

This week Donald Trump suffered another legislative defeat as his latest attempt to kill ObamaCare was declared dead (again). So he traveled to Indiana on Wednesday to deliver a speech on his next project, tax reform. He promised to spell out the details of the plan that he will present to Congress. For the most part it was a rehashed jumble of familiar Republican proposals that rotted on the vine decades ago.

Donald Trump

Trump’s snake oil speech peddled such scams as eliminating the estate tax, that affects only 0.2 percent of taxpayers. He also wants to nix the Alternative Minimum Tax that insures that wealthy folks like himself can’t pile up deductions and pay nothing. Corporations will cheer Trump’s proposal to cut their tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent. Never mind that the current schedule hasn’t stopped them from achieving record profits. He would also give them a privileged rate to repatriate offshore funds. It’s ironic that Trump has no problem demeaning the patriotism of people who protest systemic racism, but corporation that hoard money abroad to keep it out of U.S. treasuries – where it would benefit all Americans – are patriotic victims of the system.

Virtually everything in Trump’s plan would benefit corporations and the rich. His proposed tax brackets of 12 percent, 25 percent and 35 percent, would insure that those with higher income would bear a smaller share of the overall tax burden. At this time Trump has left out popular deductions for things like mortgage interest, charitable donations, or medical expenses. And all of this would supposedly be paid for by a growing economy. Except that that theory has been proven false every time Republicans implemented it in the past. And especially now, when economic recovery is in its eighth year and unemployment is at historic lows, it would have little to no impact.

So it was jarring to hear the President champion this creaky GOP sham as beneficial to low income earners. But to make matters worse, he adorned his gift to rich Americans with this shameless claim to selflessness (video below):

“Our framework includes an explicit commitment that tax refom will protect low income and middle income households, not the wealthy and well-connected. They can call me all they want. Not gonna help. I’m doing the right thing. And it’s not good for me, believe me.”

Believe you? Why the hell would anyone do that? If there’s one thing that Donald Trump is known for, it’s lying. His rated comments at PolitiFact are 69 percent “Mostly False, False” or “Pants on Fire.” He has been scored as telling a lie on average every three minutes. And the Washington Post has collected over 1,000 lies Trump has told since his inauguration.

More to the point, asking people to believe him about his taxes is the height of hubris. Despite promising to release his tax returns during the campaign, he now adamantly refuses to do so. Why would he break that campaign promise unless there was something seriously damaging in his taxes? It could be that he isn’t the success story he claims to be. Or maybe there are blatant violations of the law. It could reveal associations with mobsters. Or even worse – Russians. Anyone who is dumb enough to take Trump at his word should not be allowed outside of an institution. And if Trump wants to us to accept his claim that his tax proposals won’t benefit him, all he has to do is release his taxes. Don’t hold your breath.

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


Fox News Welcomes Serial Sexual Predator Bill O’Reilly Back as Guest on Hannity

Posted by on September 26, 2017 at 3:10 pm. NO Comments :

If you’ve been watching Fox News this week (and, for God’s sake, why would you?), you will have noticed some blaring promotions mixed in with your daily dose of right-wing propaganda. Sean Hannity just moved to 9:00pm, taking over for The Five, which moved back to 5:00pm. Prior to that this time slot belonged Megyn Kelly who left Fox News in part due to her personal experience of sexual harassment from Bill O’Reilly.

Bill O'Reilly Sean Hannity

Speaking of which, Bill O’Reilly was fired by Fox News earlier this year. The termination followed a string of accusations that he sexually harassed women colleagues and guests. The tipping point was when news broke that he and/or Fox News paid millions to settle and silence those claims. Thereafter, O’Reilly’s advertisers began to peel off and Fox gave him the boot. It was another in a growing list of Fox News perverts who were jettisoned, including founder and CEO Roger Ailes. The network acquired a reputation for fostering a corporate culture that protected sexual abusers and gender and racial discrimination.

Now Fox News is welcoming back their former star. Sean Hannity will be featuring Bill O’Reilly on his program Tuesday night. It’s the first time that O’Reilly will appear on Fox since his April departure. Apparently the punishment for sexually harassing women at Fox News is a five month suspension from the network. After that, you are greeted with open arms as a respected confederate and news analyst. Maybe Hannity can book Bill Cosby for next week.

A preview of sorts was available on Monday when O’Reilly was a guest on Hannity’s radio show. He spent a fair portion of the time attacking the women who courageously came forward to report his sexual misconduct. The rest of the time was spent promoting the latest book in his terminally repetitious “Killing” series. His guest spot on Hannity’s TV program will likely be more of the same. Except that O’Reilly is already hyping the show with a promise of a “big announcement.”Maybe he landed a gig with his buddy Donald Trump, or a spot on Dancing with the Stars.

In fear of Rachel Maddow, this week’s guest lineup on Hannity is front-loaded with big names from the GOP and wingnut media. He began on Monday with Breitbart’s Steve Bannon. Tuesday is O’Reilly. Wednesday is House Speaker Paul Ryan. And Thursday is “dittohead” king, Rush Limbaugh. These conservative heavyweights will likely deliver good ratings for Hannity. However, he can’t be expected to maintain that pace. And Maddow, who has been scoring the top spot in cable news for several months, should continue to outperform her new competition.

Fox News has some interesting dilemmas with the O’Reilly booking. They are tempting the advertisers who ditched O’Reilly to leave Hannity’s program as well. They already have some incentive due to his irresponsible coverage of the conspiracy theories surrounding the murder of Seth Rich. Advertisers should also be wary of Hannity because of his close relationship with Donald Trump. He has been unabashedly promoting the President and serving as his most prominent media defender and spokesman. In addition to those matters, Fox News is trying to purchase a European network, but they are running into regulatory obstacles due to their dishonest and sleazy reputation. Booking a former host who was fired for sexual harassment is not likely to help Fox over those hurdles.

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

So there doesn’t appear to be any long-term upside to embracing O’Reilly and providing a platform for his revenge. Hannity seems to be poking a finger in his network’s eye to see how much he can get away with. But rest assured that his advertisers will hear about this atrocious booking. They want nothing to do with O’Reilly and may make the same determination about Fox News. The movement to Stop Hannity is gaining steam and O’Reilly’s return will only shovel more coal on that fire.


Fox News – Yes, Fox News – Says Trump is a Divisive Failure Looking for Distractions

Posted by on September 25, 2017 at 4:10 pm. 1 Comments :

The current press attention being placed on subjects like the NFL was created entirely by Donald Trump during his routine morning Tweetstorm. Not that systemic racism isn’t an important issue. But Trump’s framing of it is utterly dishonest. He’s trying to turn it into a debate over patriotism and flag worship.

Fox News Donald Trump

What’s interesting about this attempt at media manipulation is that it’s failing in big way. And it isn’t just the usual suspects in the liberal section who are criticizing Trump. The chief political anchor on Fox News, Bret Baier, is now among those who can no longer ignore Trump’s obvious efforts to deflect from his own scandals. Baier was interviewed by his colleague Jon Scott on Monday (video below):

Jon Scott: It’s kind of interesting to me Bret because the controversy over Colin Kaepernick taking a knee – that’s kind of where this all started – pretty well died down. And then the President found a way to dredge it up in his speech on Friday. I guess the question is why?

Bret Baier: Well, that is a good question. I think there were six kneeling protests before Friday. The speech Friday and the tweets that followed, there were 200+ as you just heard from John Roberts. […] I think that the president clearly has stirred this up, and it is an emotional discussion. What we are not discussing is that he may likely lose in the senate primary in Alabama. Looks like it is an uphill battle for Luther Strange there. We will see. We’re not talking talking about the fact that the health care repeal and replace bill is probably on life support in the senate. And we are not talking about the troubles that North Korea is just in the past hour putting out there. So, it is an interesting dichotomy to be talking about all this that has been stirred up in the past three days.

Indeed. Trump’s attempts to divert the press and the public from more serious concerns is so clumsy that even Fox News is reporting it. And they left out another matter that Trump is likely trying to suppress. That’s the ongoing investigation of Russia’s involvement with him and his campaign. Scott went further to note that “even some of his most ardent supporters disagree with him on this one.” Baier concurred and noted that Trump’s profane language, calling sports figures “S.O.B.s,” crossed a line with his supporters. But he also praised Trump as the “ultimate marketer” due to his use of that kind of rhetoric. Baier and Scott summed it up saying that:

Baier: Sometimes the motivation behind it, why he’s doing that, is in question. And I think that it has created this divisive moment where it’s definitely a conversation around kitchen tables around America. And at water coolers and coffee shops. But does it come to a resolution? We’ll see.

Scott: It does distract from the GOP efforts to try to replace ObamaCare. As you said earlier.

Baier and Scott were not the only ones at Fox News who noticed Trump’s diversionary tactics. Anchor Shepard Smith called out Trump’s reframing as “they’re attacking the national anthem, they’re attacking the troops, they’re attacking the flag. None of which they’re doing.” Smith speculated that this was all a call to Trump’s base “so that they don’t notice there is no health care and Korea is the biggest mess since the Cold War.” And he acknowledged the role of the press by admitting that “We’re complicit.” All of this is certain to result in a predictable future event: Another Trump Tweetstorm.

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