Build the Wall? Sean Hannity Of Fox News Proposes Blockading Citizens from Their Reps in Congress

Posted by on October 6, 2018 at 10:03 am. 4 Comments :

One of the most encouraging developments resulting from the Kavanaugh confirmation debacle is the manner in which Americans expressed themselves. There was an outpouring of opposition from across the country that shook the walls of Congress. Protesters spoke out with heart wrenching stories of personal suffering and with a profound determination to effect change.

Fox News, Sean Hannity

That it wasn’t enough is secondary to the fact that it was powerful and is continuing. The Old Guard that shielded Brett Kavanaugh, and the serial sexual predator (Donald Trump) who nominated him, got their way because they have the numbers – for now. But that’s not something they can count on going forward. The people will have their way in the future. And that’s what a democracy is.

However, the dinosaurs that protect the elitist Halls of Just Us are spitting fire. They saw the peasants rise up and it was a sight so frightening that they’re sending out their martinets to confront them. On Friday’s episode of the Sean Hannity Trump-Fluffing Hour on Fox News, the host spelled out the terms of the coming battle. He called the protests by concerned citizens “meanness, madness, [and] insanity.” Then he added that it was “despicably ugly and disgusting.” And to top it off he unleashed this un-American tirade (video below):

“Now let me say something. I really believe the people should be close to their elected representatives, and it’s sad what I’m about to say. Before somebody gets hurt or worse, these office areas of elected officials now need to be closed to the public. Sad. But it needs to happen. This is now dangerous and out-of-control.”

Really? You have to wonder what the basis was for that nonsense. There haven’t been any reports of violence or physical harm occurring in the congressional offices or hallways. What there has been is outraged citizens letting their representatives know how they feel. It’s the constitutional right to redressing grievances in action. And that is precisely what Hannity is objecting to. Heaven forbid that the people we elect actually do what we want. Had they done so, Kavanaugh would not be heading to the Supreme Court. He is opposed by most voters in every poll on the subject.

Hannity is parroting the view of his Dear Leader, Donald Trump. The President posted two tweets in two days that malign the protesters as “paid professionals” serving the the interests of that perennial right-wing boogieman, George Soros. Of course, he has zero evidence of his reckless and self-serving allegations. And he doesn’t bother to identify the funding sources of his own cult worshiping supporters who range from the Koch brothers and other billionaire corporatists to Vladimir Putin’s network of Kremlin oligarchs.

But never mind all of that. Hannity is convinced that the solution to the problem is to separate the people from their representatives. To make sure that those we elect are free from the burden of hearing what we have to say. Build a wall between us and them to prevent any of the unwashed masses from disturbing the peace of the congressional country club.

In other words, turn our legislative branch of government into something more like Russia’s State Duma: an exclusive body of fraudulently “elected” presidential sycophants. And supported by a State TV network (aka Fox News) that disseminates the Party Line agenda and calls for reforms – like the one that Hannity is now advocating – that divide the people from their government. This is their twisted version of patriotism, and it must not be allowed to prevail. So keep on doing what Hannity, and the government leeches he speaks for, are so afraid of, and do it right in their treasonous faces.

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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Donald Trump Can’t Silence the ‘Rude Elevator Screamers’ By Putting His Hand Over Their Mouths

Posted by on October 5, 2018 at 10:15 am. 1 Comments :

Here’s another item for the “Just when you thought Donald Trump hit rock Bottom” file. As the battle for the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh stumbles drunkenly to a close, the President assumed his post at the Twitter machine to bellow like the old man shaking his tiny fist at the clouds. His latest display of social mediangst managed to squeeze a surprising quantity of ignorant hostility into a single tweet.

The inspiration for Trump’s twitteruption was, as usual, something he saw on Fox News. Their allegedly business host, Maria Bartiromo, was interviewing Chuck Grassley about the American citizens protesting Kavanaugh’s nomination when she asked him, “Do you believe that George Soros is behind all of this?” He isn’t. But Grassley obediently said that he does. More importantly, Trump posted this tweet a little more than an hour later:

If this appeared under the name of any other public figure you might be tempted to triple check that it wasn’t a satirical fake. But sadly for the nation, it fits Trump’s personality perfectly. He actually is the sort of tone deaf cretin who would call sexual assault survivors “very rude elevator screamers.” He has no perception that his characterization of women screaming might reflect on the real life reactions they have had to their violent experiences in their bedrooms, their offices, on street corners, in cars, and even in elevators. What on Earth was he thinking when he posted that?

And if that weren’t bad enough, Trump also dismissed the horror these victims faced by calling them “paid professionals” without any evidence to support that charge. But he still wasn’t done making a total ass of himself. He then had to assert that the source of the alleged payments was George Soros, a Jewish holocaust survivor who suffered as a child under Nazi occupation. What might really upset Trump is the fact that Soros later went on to become a real billionaire whose assets are more than triple Trump’s. And the fact that he’s a philanthropist who dedicates hundreds of millions of dollars to making the world more free must really gnaw at Trump, who is famoulsy known as the world’s least charitable billionaire.

Finally, Trump’s tweet made a ludicrous point about the signs held by citizens at the Kavanaugh protests. Most of them were of the handmade variety, but there were some that had been provided by non-profit organizations opposing Kavanaugh’s confirmation. However, Trump focused on the pre-printed signs as a means of dismissing the genuine expressions of opposition to putting an accused sex offender, liar, and ultra-partisan fruitcake on the Supreme Court. He said that “professionally made identical signs” are somehow less sincere than the “signs made in the basement from love.” By which I assume he means these ones:

Donald Trump, Rally Signs

Don’t fall for it! Trump hasn’t said who pays for the signs at his cult rallies. Nor has he released his tax returns; or disclosed the funds he’s received from foreigners and special interest groups who stay at his hotels; or disputed the New York Times story about his decades of being a tax cheat. He hasn’t even come clean about all the money he’s paid to silence women that he has abused. But now he’s trying to put his hand over the mouths of the women finally speaking out about the epidemic of sexual assault. That’s something he probably learned from Brett Kavanaugh.

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


WINNING? Donald Trump Thanks Notoriously Biased Pollster for His Pitiful Approval Rating

Posted by on October 4, 2018 at 12:09 pm. 2 Comments :

Nothing is more predictable from Donald Trump than his knee-jerk tributes to himself and any “positive” news regarding him. Unfortunately, given his penchant for screw ups, gaffes, and policies that are roundly rejected by most Americans, he has precious few opportunities to boast. But that doesn’t stop him from doing it anyway, even when the news is bad.

Donald Trump Rasmussen

On Thursday morning Trump tweeted a valentine to himself in the form of a poll result that showed him with a fifty percent approval rating. To brag about a rating that only puts you at even illustrates just how desperate Trump is for anything upbeat he can promote to mitigate the tsunami of bleakness that surrounds him. But to rest his gloating on a poll by Rasmussen, the most disreputably partisan pollster in America, just makes him seem all the more pathetic. Particularly when that same poll shows Trump with a forty percent “strongly disapprove” rating and only thirty-seven percent “strongly approve.”

Trump frequently alerts his Twitter cult followers when Rasmussen spikes a bit. Never mind that the numbers always take a dive shortly thereafter. Here are some recent examples from just this year alone, including today’s:

Trump’s characterization of Rasmussen as an accurate pollster is wildly off the mark. The survey experts at FiveThrityEight give Rasmussen a C+ rating. They rank ABC/Washington Post at A-Plus. And in every case, the numbers celebrated by Trump above declined in the days following his boast. There’s no reason to think that they won’t do the same tomorrow.

For the record, the RealClearPolitics average poll of polls has Trump with a 43.8 percent approval. And excluding the Rasmussen outlier, the range is from forty-one to forty-six (with Fox News scoring the high end). That’s nothing to brag about. But Trump is determined to gaslight America with phony numbers and incoherent analyses. Just like his insistence that he had the biggest inauguration crowd in history, or the steepest tax cut ever, or big hands. Or even his “very, very large a-brain.”

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


‘Explosive’ Fox News Story on ‘Abnormalities’ of Russia/Trump Probe is a Fizzling Stink Bomb

Posted by on October 3, 2018 at 7:56 pm. 2 Comments :

The controversy over the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court has pretty much taken over the media for the past week or so. It’s an important story, but not the only one with profound implications for our nation’s future. For instance, remember that story about Donald Trump colluding with Russia to steal the 2016 presidential election and then obstructing justice to cover it up?

Fox News, Donald Trump

Apparently Fox News just recalled that story as well. So they had to find something – anything – to write about it to keep their spin on the matter fresh in the public’s mind. Just in case special counsel Robert Mueller happens to release any reports or new indictments. But the story that Fox came up with is a pitiful pile of nothing that only serves to advance the baseless ranting of a couple of ultra-partisan, extremist, Republican wingnuts.

The article’s provocative headline screams out “Top FBI lawyer Baker offers ‘explosive’ testimony on ‘abnormal’ handling of Russia probe into Trump campaign.” The gist of this yellow journalistic mush concerns testimony given to a closed-door congressional committee by former FBI lawyer, James Baker. Fox News asserts that the testimony revealed “explosive” information about how the Bureau acted in an “abnormal fashion” and engaged in “political bias.” But the sources for this scoop were House Crackpot Caucus leaders Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan. These paragons of rightist propaganda had this to say about the testimony:

“Some of the things that were shared were explosive in nature,” Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., told Fox News. […] We found the source to be pretty explosive,” said Rep. Jim Jordan.”

Well then, that settles it. You can’t argue with hardline, substantive facts like those. And that was literally all this pair of GOP gossips had to report. Yet somehow Fox News expanded it into a an article that even they couldn’t pretend had any meat to it:

“The lawmakers would not provide many specifics about the private transcribed interview, citing a confidentiality agreement with Baker and his attorneys. […] Meadows and Jordan would not elaborate on the source, or answer questions about whether the source was a reporter.”

So the entire body of evidence for this story was the unsubstantiated ravings of two notorious fake news disseminators who are frequent Fox guests. They offered no information that was either “explosive” or “abnormal,” other than in its utter uselessness as a news source. But it was enough to get Fox News to feature it with a boldface headline that advanced its empty premise. And that is exactly how deceitful State TV operations like Fox conduct business in totalitarian regimes like Russia and North Korea. Clearly Fox News is taking lessons from Trump’s pals. Or is it the other way around?

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


Sexual Predator Donald Trump Whines that ‘It’s a Very Scary Time for Young Men in America’

Posted by on October 3, 2018 at 12:41 pm. 1 Comments :

There are a lot things to be scared of in the Era of Trump. His presidency has been marked by disastrous decisions involving international conflict, climate change, economic meltdown, electoral espionage, and the ever present collusion with Russia and other foreign enemies. But Donald Trump isn’t worried about any of that.

Donald Trump

What is keeping Trump awake these days is the possibility that some man might be accused of sexual harassment or assault. And he should know, considering there are at least sixteen credible allegations pending against him. Never mind that the percentage of false charges is in the low single digits. Trump made a point of yammering to the press that:

Of course, no one is presuming the guilt of anyone. Trump’s tantrum was thrown because his nominee for the Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh, now has three women asserting that he has engaged in sexual misconduct. And due to that it is men who ought to scared, not women. Those poor, beleaguered men of America. In fact, Trump is so upset by this that he was comfortable mocking Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, a survivor of an alleged sexual assault by Kavanaugh, while his audience of Deplorables earned that nickname by cheering his mockery. Is this sort of presidential petulance supposed to make it easier for other victims to come forward?

Trump’s new found appreciation for due process should surprise people who have been paying attention for the past few years. Perhaps Trump will notify the Central Park Five that he now respects their civil rights. But don’t hold your breath. Trump has been crapping all over due process for years. Some recent examples of people that Trump has baselessly prejudged as guilty include (from his tweets):

The “man” who is now so distraught over ruining the lives of innocent people led an especially determined effort to convict Hillary Clinton despite the fact that she has been investigated for more than thirty years and never even been charged with an actual crime. But that didn’t stop Trump from attaching one of his infantile nicknames to her: Crooked Hillary.

However, if you are Republican, or Trump sycophant, any assertion of wrongdoing must only occur after conviction in a court of law. And even then only if you agree with the verdict. If you are Roy Moore or Rob Porter or Michael Flynn or Paul Manafort, you are pristine models of virtue no matter the strength of the evidence against you, or even if you confess and plead guilty.

The fact of the matter is that Trump is mostly afraid only for himself. And for good reason. Numerous women have come forward to accuse him of abhorrent, and perhaps illegal, behavior. He’s also being investigated for serious crimes against the country by special counsel Robert Mueller. The New York Attorney General is probing his corrupt foundation and other business entities. And most recently, Trump’s sleazy financial history has been exposed by a riveting story in the New York Times.

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

So when you hear Trump complain that so and so isn’t being afforded his due process rights under the Constitution, just replace whatever name he used with his own and you’ll have a better idea of what he’s ranting about. He’s never cared about anyone but himself, and he will use whoever is handy in order to get what he wants. And if that means maligning assault victims and honoring their tormentors, that’s just the Trumpian way.


Tucker Carlson of Fox News Confesses that he ‘Can’t Look in the Mirror Without Self Loathing’?

Posted by on October 2, 2018 at 3:14 pm. 3 Comments :

On Tuesday, the morning crew at Fox News invited their primetime colleague, Tucker Carlson, to visit with the “Curvy Couch” potatoes of Fox and Friends for a masters class in mind-numbing hypocrisy. Of course, that’s standard fare on Fox News, but this episode stretched the boundaries of the journalistic quackery that Fox is famous for. And it gave Carlson an opportunity to expound on something other than his white nationalist dogma.

Fox News, Tucker Carlson

The segment that featured Carlson was focused on criticizing the New York Times for a recent report about Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh. The story concerned an incident in 1985 when Kavanaugh was involved in a bar fight investigation. Co-host Ainsley Earhardt introduced the segment with a graphic showing the Times’ headline: “Kavanaugh was questioned by police after bar fight in 1985.” So it was a pretty straight forward account of something that no one disputes took place.

Nevertheless, Fox and their friends were aghast that anyone would bring up an incident that occurred when Kavanaugh was only twenty years old. As everyone knows, it’s improper to investigate a public figure’s past unless they are Democrats. In which case, you can go all the way back to their birth certificate. Consequently, Carlson reacted with shock and sarcastically proclaimed that “I wish they’d have told me that. I never would’ve supported him.” He dismissed the article as “stupid and irrelevant” and generally mocked the Times for having published it. But the discourse sunk even lower as this exchange with Steve Doocy demonstrates (video below):

Carlson: This is the problem with so much of our coverage, and so much of the way we think about things. No self awareness at all. […] If you’re writing that story does part of you think “Is this why I got into journalism? To carry water for a political party? To be a propagandist? To write something so stupid that I can’t look in the mirror without self loathing?”
Doocy: Don’t you know the answer to that question?
Carlson: Some people never pause to ask “What am I doing with my life?”

Imagine having such a pitiful lack of self awareness that you can ask about the self awareness of others while you’re oblivious to what you’re saying at that exact moment. Tucker Carlson was actually chastising the Times for “carry[ing] water for a political party” and for being “a propagandist.” Those are two things that Fox News in general, and Carlson in particular, are best known for. So if Carlson thinks that someone being that big a suck-up “can’t look in the mirror without self loathing,” then he’ll have to remove every mirror from his home and office in order to get through the day. And knowing his degree of narcissism, that’s a lot of mirrors.

It was also somewhat curious that Doocy asked Carlson if he already knew the answer to his own questions. That sounds like Doocy was accusing Carlson of the political sycophancy he was complaining about. Which would be wildly out of character for Doocy. Regardless, Carlson just laughed it off with his patented smuggery. And in the end, none of them realized that what they were criticizing was what has been the central mission of Fox News for twenty years – if we’re allowed to go back that far.

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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More Proof that Fox News is Not News: Zero Emmys for News and Documentaries

Posted by on October 2, 2018 at 10:59 am. NO Comments :

The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) announced this year’s winners of the 39th Annual News and Documentary Emmys on Tuesday morning. The honorees represent a diverse array of journalistic excellence as produced by a variety of news organizations from across the television landscape. However, there is one prominent player that was left out of the party this year, as it has been in previous years.

Fox News Sad

Fox News received a total of zero emmys for their “news” programming. That’s at least partially due to the fact that they received zero nominations. For a national network with the word “news” in their name, and that purports to be “real news,” this is an embarrassing snub. And the announcement by the Academy hinted at what might be part of the problem:

“It is more important than ever that we recognize and defend our peers’ integrity, clarity, and dedication to the First Amendment’s protected mandate,” said Adam Sharp, Interim-President & CEO, NATAS. “This year’s nominees are shining examples of that ethic. Their stories took us to the front lines of war and disaster, cast light into hidden corners of government and the corporate boardroom, and revealed both the outermost reaches of space and the innermost complexities of the human body.”

Indeed. The Academy recognizes its obligation to stand up for the Constitution when the President and his minions denigrate it. And it’s clear that the State TV Network (aka Fox News) that embraces Donald Trump’s aversion to the free press, and repeatedly describes it in Stalinist terms as “the enemy of the people,” might not be in the best position to produce credible journalism. For the most part Fox News is a mouthpiece for Trump, airing all of his cult rallies uninterrupted, in their entirety, despite having no news value whatsoever. And their regular programming is a swamp of rightist propaganda delivered by hate mongering cretins.

The top three winners of news Emmys were PBS, CBS, and HBO. But every national broadcast and cable organization (except Fox) also walked away with statuettes, including ABC, NBC, CNN, and MSNBC. Even the “failing” New York Times won an Emmy for its coverage of the Las Vegas Massacre.

This is further evidence that Fox News is not producing legitimate journalism, and they are not respected by their peers in the profession. They are a brazenly biased outlet for Republican dogma and they contribute nothing to the American people in terms of reliable information or analysis. On the other hand, if you’re looking for high-pitched ranting, partisan talking points, easily refuted lies, reality TV theatrics, and viscous, although infantile, insults aimed at the majority of the American populace, Fox News may be just the right channel for you.

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


Now Trump Thinks that the Democratic Party is the Enemy of the American People

Posted by on October 1, 2018 at 2:03 pm. 3 Comments :

America was treated this weekend to a flurry of Trump staffers blatantly lying on the Sunday morning news programs about Donald Trump’s efforts to “plow through” the confirmation of his Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Specifically, they were purposefully misleading about the President’s restrictions on the FBI investigation into allegations of Kavanaugh’s sexual assaults in his school days.

Donald Trump

Now, during a stage-managed announcement Monday morning of a new trade agreement with Mexico and Canada, Trump eventually allowed a few questions about his tainted nominee. Throughout much of it he was overtly dismissive to women reporters who he repeatedly interrupted and tried to suppress. He even outright insulted Cecelia Vega of ABC News saying that “I know you’re not thinking. You never do.”

What’s more, Trump rarely answered the question that was asked. At one point a reporter asked him several times if he would withdraw Kavanaugh’s nomination if it weren’t determined that he lied during his congressional testimony (which he did). After a few obvious attempts at dodging, Trump finally said that that “I don’t think he did” lie. Which is not a response as to whether he would pull Kavanaugh IF he lied. Trump, nevertheless, lied about Kavanaugh being number one at Yale (where they do not rank the students), while calling Sen. Feinstein a liar with regard to “leaking” information about Kavanaugh’s victim, Christine Blasey Ford. He provided zero evidence of Feinstein lying, but she fully documented her proper handling of the sensitive info.

It’s difficult to pick the worst comments that Trump makes in any of his public addresses. The contenders are just too numerous and worthy of disgust. But among the most repulsive comments made at this event was when Trump pointed to the media scrum and nastily proclaimed:

“Now for you Democrats. I guess I’m including you too, the media. You’re a part of the Democrat Party.”

On the surface that appears to be just another snide display of hostile partisanship. But it goes further than that. Remember that Trump believes that the media is “the enemy of the people.” It’s a remark that he uses frequently which he borrows from Stalin’s authoritarian repertoire. And now he conflates the media and the Democrats. So simple logic suggests that Trump also believes that the Democratic Party is the enemy of the people.

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

This isn’t how a democracy is supposed to work. Trump has brought partisan rancor to new lows as he strives to spread his doctrine of hate across the nation. It’s bad enough that he has tagged the press – the only profession expressly protected in the Constitution – as America’s enemy. But now he’s expanding that to include his political opponents and, by the way, tens of millions (in fact a majority) of citizens. He’s unambiguously fomenting a civil war. It’s a horrific and dangerous denigration of democracy. But it’s something his Deplorable cult followers appear to welcome.


White House Shills Flagrantly Lie About Trump Hobbling the FBI Probe of Kavanaugh

Posted by on September 30, 2018 at 12:42 pm. 1 Comments :

It’s another Pleasant Valley Sunday at the White House as Donald Trump dispatches his surrogates to the Sunday morning news programs to assure America’s Deplorables that everything is fine despite the political fires raging all around them.

Donald Trump

The topic of the day is undoubtedly the pending confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court. His recent testimony regarding allegations of sexual assault against Dr. Christine Blasey Ford did nothing to exonerate him. But he did reveal himself to be a hot headed, ultra-partisan who traffics in preposterous conspiracy theories and has no aversion to lying about himself or others.

As a result of that hearing, rogue Republican Sen. Jeff Flake concluded that he could not vote to confirm Kavanaugh unless there was an FBI investigation into the charges. So Trump was reluctantly forced to comply and instructed the FBI to reopen Kavanaugh’s background check. Unfortunately, our relentlessly deceitful president sought to game the system by putting harsh restrictions on what the FBI could look into. After this underhanded tactic was exposed, Trump whined on Twitter that it wasn’t true. He accused NBC News of having “incorrectly reported” the story, even though it was also reported by the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.

On the Sunday Circus of news shows, Trump’s surrogates are now making the rounds to reinforce his false claims. Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told Fox News that “The White House is not micromanaging this process,” and that “the Senate is dictating the terms.” And Senior White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway had this exchange with Jake Tapper of CNN:

Conway: The White House is not getting involved in the FBI investigation in that way. The president very much respects the independence of the FBI and feels, as he said last night, that they should be looking at anything they feel is credible within this limited scope.
Tapper: What does that mean, ‘within this limited scope’?
Conway: That’s up to the FBI. In other words, I’m not involved in those specific conversations.

Of course none of those protestations were true. NBC’s follow up reporting on the matter reiterated that:

“The FBI has received no new instructions from the White House about how to proceed with its weeklong investigation of sexual misconduct allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, a senior U.S. official and another source familiar with the matter tell NBC News.

“According to the sources, the president’s Saturday night tweet saying he wants the FBI to interview whoever agents deem appropriate has not changed the limits imposed by the White House counsel’s office on the FBI investigation — including a specific witness list that does not include Julie Swetnick, who has accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct in high school.”

And furthermore…

“A White House official made clear that the White House is the client in this process. This is not an FBI criminal investigation — it is a background investigation in which the FBI is acting on behalf of the White House. Procedurally, the White House does not allow the FBI to investigate as it sees fit, the official acknowledged; the White House sets the parameters.”

The conservative, Rupert Murdoch owned Wall Street Journal affirmed NBC’s reporting that:

“it was unlikely that the shape of the investigation would change without official communication from the White House that it wanted the bureau to interview other people beyond the list already provided.”

So that’s confirmation that the White House is calling the shots and that they did provide a list of approved witnesses. Clearly Trump is determined to insure that whatever investigation is conducted will not be thorough or impartial. He’s deliberately stacking the deck against Dr. Ford to protect his tainted nominee. That raises the question of whether this process will satisfy Sen. Flake who initiated it. If it doesn’t, he may vote against confirming Kavanaugh, which could sink the nomination.

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

There is also the possibility that the FBI will consider itself empowered to explore any matter that is raised during their investigation, which could include the other witnesses as well as Kavanaugh’s truthfulness during his congressional testimony. There’s abundant evidence that Kavanaugh did perjure himself. So there are significant speed bumps on the road to Kavanaugh’s seat on the Supreme Court. And with any luck this nomination will crash and burn.


On Kavanaugh: GOP Senator, And Fox News, Now Support an FBI Probe – of Democrats?

Posted by on September 29, 2018 at 1:17 pm. NO Comments :

On Friday Sen. Jeff Flake monkey wrenched the Republican’s plan to “plow through” the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation and install an accused rapist on the Supreme Court. Donald Trump tried for weeks to forestall any effort to get at the truth by having the FBI supplement their background check with this new information. But Flake’s refusal to vote for Kavanaugh without such a probe forced Trump and the GOP to back down.

Fox News, Brett Kavanaugh

The FBI is likely to conduct a fair and professional investigation into the allegations of Christine Blasey Ford. But they might also report on other matters that reflect on Kavanaugh’s suitability to get this lifetime appointment. That could include shady financial dealings, unsavory personal associations, or lying to the FBI or to Congress.

Consequently, Fox News has sprung into action to try to prophylactically inoculate Kavanaugh from whatever bad news might emerge. They have been furiously campaigning on Kavanaugh’s behalf and viciously maligning his critics, including Dr. Ford. As part of that effort they invited Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy to visit with the “Curvy Couch” potatoes of Fox and Friends to flood the zone with some obvious distractions. It began with co-host Griff Jenkins asking Cassidy to walk him through what’s coming next. Cassidy replied:

“This is part of a broader Democratic strategy to coordinate in that coordination, seek to delay. How many more charges can be brought out to smear this man? To create legitimate doubts in the minds of some, the American public? It’s a tactic of coordination leading to the delay. There’s other things the FBI should to do, but it should investigate whether there is this intent to coordinate the actual coordination.”

Jenkins was impressed with Cassidy’s blubbering nonsense saying “Well, that’s a great point you bring out.” Which point? The one about Democrats seeking to coordinate their coordination, or the coordinating of the coordinates that the Democrats intended to investigate? That’s not important – or intelligible. Jenkins then tried to expand the discussion by inquiring whether the FBI should investigate who leaked Dr. Ford’s letter? And Cassidy responded:

“There’s at least two senators that challenged Judge Kavanaugh’s assertion that this is part of a coordinated effort. Two. Now if they’re trying to cast doubts upon his judgement, I actually think he showed insight. Let’s actually investigate. Ask Dianne Feinstein, under oath, did she leak it, then ask her aides. By the way, we should also seek to get Dr. Ford’s therapist’s records. […] That should also be looked at to see if it does truly corroborate. Because that’s all that’s been offered by her side. And then look at this pattern of delay, coordination and obfuscation.”

Cassidy is parroting the crackpot conspiracy theories that Kavanaugh tried to foist on the nation via his totally baseless and paranoid accusations that Democrats are conducting is “a calculated and orchestrated political hit” as “revenge on behalf of the Clintons.” All of the questions he asked about Sen. Feinstein have already been answered and proven to be above board and uncontroversial.

However, it’s Cassidy’s insistence that the FBI needs to probe political coordination by Democrats that is truly mind-boggling. And not just because he’s laughably incoherent. But because, even if it’s happening, it isn’t illegal, unethical, or unusual. Cassidy is attempting to criminalize ordinary activities by political parties to advance their objectives. But only as it applies to Democrats.

If Cassidy thinks that Democrats should be investigated for this, would he also agree to investigate Trump and the GOP and Fox News for their coordinated efforts to get Kavanaugh confirmed and smear his accusers? Now THAT would be fun, and probably turn up some real crimes. So bring it on.

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