Fox News Boycotts Twitter, So No Reporting on Trump’s Hush Money, Election Results, and More

Posted by on November 10, 2018 at 11:40 am. 1 Comments :

Last week Tucker Carlson of Fox News was the victim of some unruly protesters who showed up at his home and shouted at his family. It was a particularly dumb exercise that succeeded only in frightening the household and giving Carlson ammunition to attack all progressives as hostile and lawless. Never mind that there was widespread criticism of the ill-conceived protest, even by many of the liberals Carlson most frequently attacked.

Fox News, Twitter

However the most absurd response to the protest is that of Carlson’s network, Fox News. They have decided to to refrain from using Twitter because they are upset with how the social media platform handled posts by SmashRacismDC, the group that reportedly was responsible for the action against Carlson. Fox told a Tribune Media reporter that they would remain tweetless until Twitter removed the posts and apologized. There is no indication of whether or not an apology was rendered, but Twitter suspended the account of SmashRacismDC and deleted the offending tweets two days ago. And yet, two days later, Fox News still has not tweeted anything.

This seems to be a curiously petty reaction to the situation. After all, Twitter was not responsible for the protests, and they did banish the party that was. Is Fox just holding out for the apology because their corporate ego has been bruised? Are they stomping off in a huff until Twitter sends them a Hallmark card? Who do they think they’re hurting?

One consequence of this boycott, intended or otherwise, is that Fox News isn’t reporting some important news events that have taken place in the last couple of days. There is vote counting going on in Florida, Georgia, and Arizona that will have a profound impact on the composition of the next Congress. And so far, the trends are favoring the Democratic candidates for senate and governor in all three. Is Fox News comfortable with not informing their Twitter followers of this news? Or is that their intention?

Furthermore, there was a bombshell story by the Wall Street Journal that reveals hard evidence that Donald Trump not only knew, but led the efforts to pay hush money to women with whom he had sexual affairs, including Stormy Daniels and Summer Zervos. He has previously denied (i.e. lied about) these allegations. That makes this a convenient time for Fox to go dark online so as not to further spread these revelations. Surely Fox News doesn’t want their audience to be exposed to such damning truths, even if it’s coming from a newspaper that is part of their corporate family.

Along with these stories are others concerning the firing of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the resulting controversy over Trump’s apparent attempts to obstruct justice by hindering the investigation of special counsel Robert Mueller. And Trump’s designated “Acting” Attorney General, Matt Whitaker, is facing stiff criticism for his prejudice with regard to Mueller, and his sordid past that includes a connection to a company that engaged in rampant fraud. This is another story Fox would likely want to suppress.

Now Trump is in Paris meeting with foreign leaders with whom he has been feuding. There are devastating fires in California that Trump falsely blamed on “forest mismanagement,” rather than climate change. The recent mass shooting in Thousand Oaks exacerbates the debate on efforts to legislate gun safety reforms. And Trump’s war with media takes a nasty turn as he singles out African-American women for abuse.

All of these are stories that are getting significant play in the press, and on Twitter, but for which Fox News is muzzling itself over a specious complaint about a Twitter problem that is already resolved. And all of these are stories that reflect poorly on Donald Trump, for whom Fox News operates as the State TV mouthpiece. Is it really just a coincidence?

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

UPDATE: It’s day three of the Fox News Twitter boycott. There is a report that a memo was sent to the entire Fox digital team to refrain from tweeting Fox content on either Fox or personal accounts. But for some reason, Fox and Friends seems to be exempt from this network-wide Twitter boycott.

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Trump is Panic Tweeting Incoherently with 9 Posts About Election Fraud Containing Zero Evidence

Posted by on November 9, 2018 at 2:51 pm. 3 Comments :

The United States of America now has a president who can be relied on to FREAK OUT whenever something doesn’t go his way. He is a bundle of frazzled nerves that jolt uncontrollably at the slightest sign of an adverse situation. He is an impotent weakling who seems to be proud of his masterful ability to whine. Indeed, he even bragged about being “the most fabulous whiner.”

Donald Trump

However, that isn’t exactly the sort of composed, level-headed leadership that one expects from an American president. To the contrary, it’s emblematic of a loose cannon who is likely to cause untold damage if left unchecked. And the midterm election a few days ago was the perfect opportunity to apply some real checks and balances on this inflamed hemorrhoid of a president. So that’s what the American people did.

Unfortunately, Trump is taking his losses with his usual bad and infantile temper. After first delusionally proclaiming that the election results were a “very big win” for him, he is now in a rage over a few late-breaking results that are common in election tabulations. The races for senator in Florida and Arizona are trending toward the Democrats. So is the race for governor in Florida. And being emotionally incapable of facing reality, Trump has embarked on a deranged outpouring of utter nonsense on Twitter.

On Friday Trump has posted (so far) nine tweets assailing the election results as unfair or corrupt or stolen or otherwise not being obedient to his whims. He began with a tweet that ominously announced a legal investigation:

For the record, there is no agency looking into any “corruption scandal.” Rick Scott’s desperate plea to his own Department of Law Enforcement was summarily rejected, with this conclusive statement:

“After the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said Thursday night it would investigate two local election officials at the request of Gov. Rick Scott, the agency now says that because no voter fraud allegations were made, it is no longer pursuing an investigation.

“’What changed is that this morning we spoke with the Department of State and they indicated they had no criminal allegations of fraud,” FDLE spokesperson Gretl Plessinger told POLITICO in an email. ‘So, after speaking to them, we offered our assistance in the event any criminal allegations are identified.’”

But that wasn’t sufficient to stem the red tide of Trump’s anger and fear. So he blasted out a series of tweets that maligned Democrats and made totally unsubstantiated claims that were notably lacking in any facts:


Kemp didn’t win, and it’s time to finish counting the votes.


This is Trump’s attempt at humor that also implies that his pal Vladimir Putin is innocent.


Uh oh. Trump is sending Rudy Giuliani to Florida. That should scare those pesky, vote counting Democrats.


They found lots of Republican votes, you doofus. They just found more Democratic votes in the heaviest Democratic leaning district in the state. Does that confuse you?


You are the “embarrassment to our Country and to Democracy!” And, by the way, concessions are not binding and Nelson never conceded.


Wait. So there aren’t enough people there to make a difference? Thanks for just invalidating your own argument.


Little Marco to the rescue. The world didn’t care before he stepped in.


Trump doesn’t provide any link to this specious charge. But for him to cry about protecting democracy after complaining about counting votes is pretty good proof that he’s gone totally berserk.

Of course, what has triggered Trump is the potential that he will face increasingly challenging opposition from a much more Democratic Congress. Wannabe dictators chafe at anyone questioning their imaginary authority. True democracy is their mortal enemy. And Trump is the epitome of this totalitarian mindset. So he lashes out with these pitiful tantrums in the hopes that his adversaries will see how miffed he is and back down.

Good luck with that, Donnie. You would be better off concentrating on the imminent indictments that you and your crime family are so scared of, and are likely be served in the near future. Even your unlawful manipulation of the Justice Department and the Senate will not save you now.

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


Fox News Accuses Rachel Maddow of Pro-Mueller Bias, Ignored Hannity Campaigning with Trump

Posted by on November 8, 2018 at 3:54 pm. 2 Comments :

The hypocrites at Fox News are out in force following the midterm elections that returned Democrats to the majority in the House of Representatives. Which isn’t really any different than the way the Fox News hypocrites were behaving before the midterms. But it’s clear that they intend to continue distorting reality for their glassy-eyed and willfully ignorant viewers.

Rachel Maddow, Fox News

In an article on the Fox News website Thursday, their media correspondent, Brian Flood, sought to criticize MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow for exhibiting a bias in favor of special counsel Robert Mueller. The piece was not addressing anything she did on her program, but rather a tweet she posted that reported the grassroots reaction to Donald Trump firing his Attorney General, Jeff Sessions. That dismissal, and the appointment of Trump flunky Matt Whitaker as Acting Attorney General, was the latest attempt by Trump to obstruct justice by undermining the Mueller probe. Maddow’s tweet simply reported that there were protests planned to advocate for members of Congress to protect Mueller from any interference by the Trump regime:

That tweet was the basis for the article by Flood who characterized it as pro-Mueller and implied that there was something untoward about Maddow posting such a comment. He wrote that:

“Maddow is a leftist activist but was recently paired with Brian Williams during MSNBC’s Election Night coverage. News organizations typically use nonpartisan anchors for such assignments.”

Setting aside the false assertion that Maddow is a leftist activist (to which Maddow had a light-hearted reply), Flood is actually admitting that Fox is not a “news organization” because their election night programming used flagrantly partisan anchors – Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham – in their coverage. They were planning to use Sean Hannity as well, according to their pre-broadcast press release, but Hannity was an unexplained no-show. You have to wonder if that had anything to do with Hannity’s campaign stumping for Trump on stage with the President at his last cult rally of the election season.

What’s interesting is that Flood found it necessary to publish a misleading article about Maddow’s alleged bias, but he never published anything about Hannity nuzzling up to Trump on stage, or the anchor chairs occupied by Carlson and Ingraham. It’s a good thing Fox News abandoned their “fair and balanced” slogan last year. Because their own media correspondent can’t live up to it.

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


Trump’s Vicious Assault on the Free Press Wasn’t Only Jim Acosta, Included Several Other Reporters

Posted by on November 8, 2018 at 10:36 am. 2 Comments :

During his post-midterms press conference, Donald Trump reignited his incendiary assault on the free press, which he refers to, in Stalinist terms, as “the enemy of the people.” It was a disgraceful display of infantile tantrum throwing by our crybaby president who is too weak to face a group of reporters without breaking down into insults and bullying.

Donald Trump

The big news from the press conference in this regard was Trump’s overheated conflict with CNN’s Jim Acosta. Trump berated him repeatedly as “rude” and unfit to be working for CNN (as if Trump is the authority on CNN’s staffing). Acosta’s offense was trying to get Trump to answer a question about his racist characterizations of the refugee “caravan.” [Side Note: notice how that issue has disappeared from Trump’s bag of distractions?] The matter was later escalated by the White House, who suspended Acosta’s pass to the premises and falsely accused him “placing his hands” on an intern who tried to grab the microphone away from him.

However, overlooked in the dust up with Acosta was the fact that he was not the only one that Trump went after. He also had words with three other long-time White House reporters from reputable news agencies. In the course of his often incoherent and childish ranting, Trump attacked these journalists as well:

To Peter Alexander, NBC: “Well I’m not a big fan of yours either, to be honest.” and “What, are you trying to be him [Acosta]?”

To April Ryan, American Urban Radio: “Sit down. I didn’t call you. I didn’t call you. I didn’t call you. I’ll give you voter suppression.”

To Yamiche Alcindor, PBS: “Why do I have my highest poll numbers ever with African-Americans? […] That’s such a racist question.”

Late addition, Friday: To Abby Phillip, CNN: (Asking whether Trump’s replacement for Jeff Sessions would reign in Mueller, Trump barked back) “What a stupid question that is. What a stupid question. But I watch you a lot. You ask a lot of stupid questions.”

It is not inconsequential that two (make that three) of these reporters were black women, and that one of them was accused of being racist. The late addition of Abby Phillip, an African American reporter for CNN, adds to Trump’s hostility toward black women reporters. For the record, Trump’s approval rating with African-Americans is actually only three percent. But when the cumulative effect of Trump’s cowardly whining is taken fully into account, it reveals a president who is actively at war with, not just the press, but the Constitution.

And that assessment is affirmed by Trump’s recent threats to pursue retaliatory investigations of his Democratic critics, and his overt warning to his own Republican colleagues to “say goodbye” if they don’t wholly “embrace” him.

These are not the acts of an American leader who respects the principles that this nation stands for. These are the acts of a wannabe dictator who is determined to usurp powers that breach the standards set by our Founding Fathers. Trump clearly is more anxious to emulate Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un than George Washington or Abraham Lincoln. And the American people – and the Congress that supposedly represents them – must not stand for it. Those who even passively allow Trump to continue down this path are complicit in his treason.

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


Vladimir Trump Warns Fellow Republicans to ‘Say Goodbye’ If They Don’t ‘Embrace’ Him

Posted by on November 7, 2018 at 4:25 pm. 3 Comments :

The 2018 Midterm election has brought about the end of Donald Trump’s reign of unaccountability for his myriad of crimes. With the majority in the House of Representatives, Democrats finally have the authority to conduct investigations into Trump’s misconduct and illegal activities from financial corruption and self-dealing to collusion with Russia and obstruction of justice.

Donald Trump heil

Trump’s firing of Attorney General Jeff Session only makes matters worse. The only reason he would take that action on the day after the election is that he fears what special counsel Robert Mueller is uncovering and he’s laying the groundwork to fire, or otherwise hamstring, Mueller as well. This is the behavior of a wannabe dictator who feels the need to construct a bunker around himself for protection from the legal consequences of his nefarious activities.

As further evidence of Trump’s fear and determination to impose unquestioned loyalty, during a post-election press conference, Trump gave a bizarre recitation of the names of Republican representatives who lost their seats to Democrats on Tuesday. It wa a truly breathtaking display of ego-driven animus and blatant power madness in front of the whole world.

For Trump to whine publicly about his fellow Republican politicians who he said “didn’t want the embrace” of His Royal Assholiness, demonstrates the depth and severity of his mental illness. He is a sick individual who has a compulsive need for everyone around him to swear an undying allegiance to him and him alone. And to those who refuse that demand, they may suffer unpleasant fates for their disobedience. And of course, he takes a swing at the media that he despises as well. Trump reiterated his threats in a tweet saying that:

Say goodbye? Does he really believe that he has that power? Unfortunately, he does. And he also believes that losing the Republican majority in the House of Representatives is a “very Big Win.” His mind is so rotted with narcissism and conceit that he barely recognizes reality. And with that distorted perspective he threatens even those who share his political goals. It’s an extremist attitude that he shares with his buddies Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un. But it’s an attitude that is decidedly un-American and will lead to his inevitable downfall. Which cannot come too soon, especially now that Mueller is under the gun.

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


Impeachable: Trump Threatens to Abuse His Power With Retaliatory Investigations of Democrats

Posted by on November 7, 2018 at 11:31 am. 1 Comments :

The midterm election for 2018 is now history. And the results are indeed historic. Democrats have taken control of the House of Representatives at a critical time. Donald Trump has had two years to run rampant with illegal conduct by himself, his family, and his cabinet. That unfettered freedom to violate the law is now over. Democrats are already preparing to take affirmative steps to finally hold him accountable.

Donald Trump Impeach

And Democrats in Congress are not alone. Special counsel Robert Mueller has been quietly advancing his investigation into Trump’s collusion with Russia and obstruction of justice. Trump has been quiet about this as well for the past month or so. And the reason likely has something to do with his abject fear of what Muellser is uncovering.

LATE UPDATE: Trump has just tweeted that he accepted the resignation (fired) Attorney General Jeff Sessions. That makes everything below even more troubling. Obviously Trump isn’t wasting any time trying to obstruct justice and remove any barriers to his tyrannical will.

Trump is also clearly frightened by the results of the election, and it’s showing in his first responses to them. Now that Democrats have the majority in the House they will have the chairmanships of every committee. That includes Adam Schiff at Intelligence, Elijah Cummings at Oversight, and even Maxine Waters at Financial Services. All of these new chairs, and many more, are dedicated to pursuing enforcement of the law. No wonder Trump is scared. So much so that he tweeted an overt (and unlawful) threat:

That is an unambiguous confession that Trump plans to abuse the power of his office. If he had any legitimate information regarding wrongdoing by Democrats, he would have already taken measures to persecute them for it. He is, in effect, admitting that he has no real charges to bring, but he will engage in deliberate judicial misconduct to retaliate against the honest representatives of the people for doing their job. It’s the perverse sort of political revenge that is generally employed by dictators.

At a Wednesday morning press conference, Trump reiterated his intention to abuse his presidential power by directing the Senate to participate in his campaign of vengeance. Under normal circumstances the Senate would have no part of serving as an attack squad for a corrupt White House, These are not normal circumstances and this Republican Nationalist Party controlled Senate would likely sign on. Without pretending that his actions were anything but personally vindictive against Democrats that he regards as the enemy, Trump told the press that:

“They can play that game, but we can play it better. Because we have a thing called the Senate. And a lot of very questionable things were done between leaks of classified information and many other elements that should not have taken place.” […] “And I think it would be very good for me politically.”

Once again, if there were any unlawful leaks of classified information, or any other legal misdeeds, why isn’t Trump or his Justice Department already investigating them? Because they exist only in Trump’s spiteful imagination. And what’s worse is that he doesn’t even have any shame about admitting that this would be a purely political ploy.

Also in the press conference, Trump threatened that any attempts to hold him accountable by issuing subpoenas would result in unspecified retaliatory subpoenas against unnamed Democrats. He added that his vengeance would mean that “government comes to a halt. And I would blame them.” And when asked if he would be able to work with Democrats in Congress while he was engaged in phony investigations of them, he angrily replied that “If they do that then all of this is a war-like posture.”

Remember, he’s talking about fellow Americans who were elected by citizens to represent them. Like the media that he calls “the enemy of the people,” Trump, in his warped and malignantly narcissistic brain, also regards duly elected members of Congress as his enemies. He is literally declaring war on constitutional servants of the people. That’s actually called a civil war – or treason. And before too long he’s going to find out that that isn’t a particularly smart move.

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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Dazed and Confused: Trump Warns that Democrats Will ‘Obliterate ObamaCare’ in Deranged Rant

Posted by on November 6, 2018 at 2:37 pm. 3 Comments :

Well, it is literally impossible to ignore any longer. The evidence is just too convincing and voluminous. And anyone denying it is hopelessly engulfed in a severe case of cult worship. The unarguable truth is that Donald Trump is suffering from acute senile dementia. And the latest proof came on Monday night as he closed out his midterm campaign tour.

Donald Trump

At the last of his cult rallies (thirty-nine in total), Trump sought to make his closing arguments for preserving the Republican Nationalist Party’s congressional majorities. And diverting briefly from his primary theme of racist hatred for immigrant refugees, he tried to persuade his Deplorables that voting for Democrats would be a bad idea – as if they ever considered doing so. But Trump’s remarks, as usual, were steeped in ignorance and a hefty measure of confusion. He blabbered that:

“If Democrats gain power on Tuesday, one of their very first projects will be a socialist takeover of American healthcare. You know what’s happening. And your taxes are gonna triple, maybe quadruple. You’re not gonna be happy. I know you well. The Democrat plan would obliterate Obamacare. It will also – which is good – but leave the bad parts behind. It will destroy Medicare. And by the way, if you notice we got rid of the individual mandate in ObamaCare.”

There is so much wrong with that that it’s hard to know where to begin. Let’s start with the fact that there is no Democratic plan for a “socialist takeover of American healthcare.” At least not any more socialist than the one that is already the most popular government program in American history: Medicare.

Then Trump acknowledges the blind obedience of his glassy-eyed cult followers by noting that he knows what will make them happy, like the authoritarian parent who orders his children to shut up because he knows what’s best for them.

However, the most ludicrous part of that comment was Trump’s assertion that Democrats are plotting to “obliterate Obamacare,” the program that they created and passed through Congress without a single Republican vote. Trump belatedly caught himself almost complaining about the end of ObamaCare. Then, realizing that his disciples might revolt at the thought of defending it, Trump stumbled into a painfully awkward walkback, saying that ending the successful program would be a good thing.

It is Republicans that have been threatening the repeal of ObamaCare for years, even voting dozens of times to do so. Trump himself has been purposefully trying to sabotage it ever since he took office. He even proclaimed proudly (and falsely) that he had “essentially repealed Obamacare“ by foolishly doing away with the individual mandate. And later in his incoherent rant he promised his sheeple that “You’re gonna have great, great advantages with healthcare when you see what we’re doing.” Of course, no one has seen anything that either Trump or the GOP is doing because they have no friggin’ clue what to do.

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

For Trump to pretend that it’s the Democrats that will end ObamaCare is just plain bonkers. And to offer that as a reason to vote against them, when it’s what his true believers crave, just makes it worse. Trump is now entirely unfettered by any shreds of sanity. Fortunately for him, his base is just as mentally deficient as he is and they won’t notice that anything is wrong. It’s a perverse cycle that rewards his psychological devolution with ever louder applause from the deluded and devoted zealots who have made him their cartoon idol.


Fox News Dismisses Sean Hannity’s Unethical Appearance at Trump Rally as ‘a Distraction’

Posted by on November 6, 2018 at 10:57 am. 3 Comments :

This is a quick update to the story about Sean Hannity making an appearance with Donald Trump at Monday night’s cult rally in Missouri. Fox News finally issued a statement on Hannity’s violation of Fox’s policy. But it was a weak attempt to sweep the whole matter under the rug and fails to hold Hannity (or Jeanine Pirro, who also stumped with Trump) accountable.

Donald Trump Sean Hannity

The entire statement from Fox said said that:

“FOX News does not condone any talent participating in campaign events. We have an extraordinary team of journalists helming our coverage tonight and we are extremely proud of their work. This was an unfortunate distraction and has been addressed.”

So this was merely “an unfortunate distraction” rather than an egregious breach of journalistic principles? And it merited only this powder-puff, wrist slapping that was more complimentary and prideful than punitive. What’s more, Hannity posted a brazenly dishonest tweet (which he later deleted but is preserved here) that incredulously claimed that his stage show was unplanned:

https://twitter.com/seanhannity/status/1059859874513907714

Yeah right. He was literally featured in the White House press release saying that he would be a “special guest.” at the rally. Is he trying to tell us that he was the only person who didn’t know that Trump would call on him (and Pirro) to speak? Maybe his dimwitted audience on Fox News will fall for that. But the rest of us are laughing our butts off.

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

UPDATE: A reporter from CNN asked some of Hannity’s colleagues about this and they are “outraged” that he stumped for Trump and that the company won’t do anything about it.


HEY Trump Jr, Is Fox News Now Fake News Since They Nixed Daddy’s Racist Ad Too?

Posted by on November 5, 2018 at 1:35 pm. 2 Comments :

On last Saturday, Donald Trump, Jr posted a tweet that took CNN to task for declining to run a blatantly racist campaign ad for Daddy Trump. Lil’ Donnie wrote that “CNN refused to run this ad… I guess they only run fake news and won’t talk about real threats that don’t suit their agenda.”

Donald Trump Jr

Needless to say, the “real threats” to which he was referring were phony assertions that a “caravan” of poor and frightened Central American refugees were amassing to “invade” the United States to take your jobs and rape your daughters. But what Lil’ Trump was complaining about was the alleged media bias by CNN for refusing to accommodate the Racist-in-Chief by running the repulsive video. And his outrage was unambiguously expressed by condemning CNN as “fake” news with a presumably leftist agenda. But what will Trumpkin say now that Fox News has also banned the ad from both the Fox News and Fox Business networks? The announcement of this decision by Fox said that:

“Upon further review, Fox News pulled the ad yesterday and it will not appear on either Fox News Channel or Fox Business Network.”

This statement is something less than satisfying because it doesn’t bother to say what the “further review” uncovered that made the ad too objectionable to run. Also, Fox didn’t pull the ad until it had already aired fourteen times. But at least they eventually did the right thing and protected their audience from – well, from the rancid bigotry that their regular hosts disseminate every day anyway.

Trump was asked by reporters on Monday morning about the offensive ad and lied that he didn’t know anything about it. He literally tweeted it himself. Is he suffering from dementia? [Don’t bother answering that]. Elaborating, he said that:

“We have a lot of ads. They certainly are effective, based on the numbers that we’re seeing. … A lot of things are offensive. Your questions are offensive.”

So Trump is apparently conceding that he has a lot of offensive ads. But that’s alright as long as they are “effective” based on some uncorroborated (and probably fictitious) numbers. Then he goes on to play the child’s game of Rubber and Glue by calling the reporter’s questions offensive, without explaining why. Meanwhile, his child still hasn’t commented on the fact that their State TV affiliate (aka Fox News) banned the racist ad just like CNN did. I guess that news didn’t fit his wingnut, conspiracy theory agenda.

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


Sean Hannity Will Be Trump’s ‘Special Guest’ at a Rally, Violating Even Fox News’ Low Standards

Posted by on November 4, 2018 at 3:46 pm. 4 Comments :

Trump’s national campaign tour in support of his Republican Nationalist Party is reaching a fever pitch as we approach the last few days before the election. In a late breaking press release, Trump has announced that he will have two special guests joining him at his cult rally in Missouri: Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh.

Donald Trump Sean Hannity

Of course Limbaugh and Hannity are not exactly a match for Oprah and Obama. But there are other contradictions in this turn of events that deserve attention. For instance, a few years ago Limbaugh soured on the GOP and promised to never carry water for the party again. Apparently he got over it.

A bigger problem is Hannity’s addition to this reality show lineup. That’s the same Hannity who Trump calls before beddy-bye every night. And this isn’t the first time that Hannity has unethically stumped for Trump. He was even admonished by his bosses at Fox News for it. If you can believe it, Fox News has some journalistic standards that are obviously rather low, but they exist. Or so we thought. Back in 2016 Fox rebuked Hannity for appearing in a Trump campaign video. This is what News Corpse published at the time:

Hannity taped a tribute to Donald Trump that appears in a new web ad. Curiously, he is identified only as “Sean Hannity, TV personality.” Not only did they leave out his Fox News affiliation, but they reduced him to the status of Kim Kardashian or Ryan Seacrest. In the clip Hannity unequivocally states his support for Trump and outlines his reasons why.

“One of the reasons I’m supporting Donald Trump this year is number one, he’s going to put originalists on the Supreme Court. People that believe in fidelity to the Constitution, separation of powers, co-equal branches of government. He’s a guy that will vet refugees to keep Americans safe. And of course he’s gonna build that wall. He says he’s gonna have Mexico pay for it. That’s fine, as long as we secure the country and, of course, we don’t want people competing for jobs. He said he will eliminate Obamacare, make us energy-independent, and as somebody who’s been a marksman since I’m 11 years old, protecting our Second Amendment rights are paramount to me.”

This list of right-wing tripe is typical of the propaganda that Fox and Hannity regularly dispense. Nothing in it varies from the conservative politics that dominate the network. What’s unusual is that Hannity delivers his testimonial in an official Trump advertisement. Along with fellow asshats like Ted Nugent, Hannity plants a wet kiss full on the mouth of his hallowed hero. Unfortunately, he failed to get permission from his Fox bosses before contributing his services. That reckless disobedience resulted in Fox News taking swift disciplinary action:

“We were not aware of Sean Hannity participating in a promotional video and he will not be doing anything along these lines for the remainder of the election season.”

Well, that ought teach him. While distancing themselves from Hannity’s impropriety, Fox firmly forbade him from further misconduct. And that appears to be the extent of his punishment. He wasn’t suspended. His pay wasn’t docked. There doesn’t even seem to be a demand to remove his segment from Trump’s ad. What’s more, they gave him permission to continue his partisan antics after the election.

This absence of consequences isn’t the least bit peculiar. Why would Fox News punish Hannity for doing in an ad what he does everyday on his program?

Everything written at that time applies perfectly today. Hannity is still a Trump-fluffing shill, and Fox News still doesn’t care about upholding any journalistic principles. Nothing changes for these dishonest, unethical propagandists who are now working for the State. Pathetic.

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

UPDATE: Both Fox News and Hannity made statements that he was only going to Missouri to interview Trump and would not campaign on stage with him. They lied. Not only did Hannity speak at the rally, but so did Fox’s Jeanine Pirro. More proof that Fox News is the State TV affiliate of the Trump White House.

UPDATE II: Fox News finally commented on this with a weak, meaningless statement saying only that it “does not condone any talent participating in campaign events” and that it “was an unfortunate distraction and has been addressed.” Addressed how? Fox doesn’t say. Hannity also posted a thoroughly dishonest tweet (which he later deleted, but is preserved here) saying that his appearance “was NOT planned.” Yeah right. It was literally featured in the White House press release saying that he would be a “special guest.” Is he trying to tell us that he was the only person who didn’t know that Trump would call on him (and Pirro) to speak?