Trump Says ‘I Don’t Take Questions From CNN,’ Only Real Networks Like – Fox News?

Posted by on July 13, 2018 at 4:53 pm. 1 Comments :

Donald Trump was visiting with the British Prime Minister Theresa May in London on Friday when he obliged the media by taking a few question to which he would respond with his customary obfuscation and lies. But in the process he employed one of his familiar tactics of demeaning the press even as he pretends to be accommodating them.

Donald Trump Fox News

Just as Jim Acosta of CNN began to ask a question, Trump interrupted him him saying “No.” and pointing to John Roberts of Fox News. Acosta was not immediately convinced that his opportunity to question the President was over. But Trump made it even more clear saying “CNN is fake news, I don’t take questions from CNN. John Roberts of Fox, let’s go to a real network.”

Roberts had an opportunity to stand up for the integrity and honor of his profession. But instead, he chose to ignore Trump’s malice toward the press and ask if Trump hopes to have a better relationship with Vladimir Putin. That question was a fairly obsequious waste of time that would provide no insight to any current affairs. However, it did successfully help Trump to throw another sucker punch at the media that he despises. And at the same time Trump got to promote the one network that has so obediently acted as his State TV affiliate of the White House.

By maligning the media this way on foreign soil, Trump is ensuring that other foreign dictators will feel encouraged to continue their own crusades against the press, which often include suppression and murder. Trump’s friend Vladimir can attest to that. It’s bad enough when Trump calls the media “the enemy of the American people” during one of his revival meeting style campaign rallies in South Dakota. But to export that hostile rhetoric to other countries only makes his animus toward the free press more dangerous for journalists throughout the world.

Roberts was castigated online by many of his peers for allowing Trump to insult Acosta and just going forward with his own lame question. As a result, he later appeared in a segment on Fox where he finally mustered up the courage to defend CNN, NBC, and his profession:

That would have been a great thing to say when Trump lashed out at Acosta. As it is, it was too little. too late. Especially considering the fact that it isn’t just Trump who is dispensing these attacks. It is also many of Roberts’ colleagues on Fox News. It’s Sean Hannity and Steve Doocy and Laura Ingraham and Tucker Carlson, and few dozen other contributors who make regular appearances. Not to mention most of the GOP caucus in Congress.

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

For Roberts to be taken seriously he would have to call out all of those offenders. He would have to acknowledge that the cries of fake news, dishonesty, and unfairness are just as harmful and inappropriate when they come from a Fox News host as when the come from a desperately lying president. But don’t hold your breath waiting for Roberts, or anyone else at Fox, to be so consistent and honorable. Their mission is the same as it ever was: to defend Dear Leader Trump and to malign his critics. Expect that to continue unabated.

Find us on Google+
Advertisement:

Trump’s Response to Mueller’s Indictment of 12 Russians Further Implies His Consciousness of Guilt

Posted by on July 13, 2018 at 12:37 pm. 1 Comments :

The breaking news this Friday morning is on a scale that is rarely seen in modern politics and crime. The Deputy Attorney General, Rod Rosenstein, announced the indictment of twelve Russian intelligence operatives for illegally hacking into the accounts of members of the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton’s campaign for president. These are not some anonymous “dark web” patsies, but actual agents of Russia’s GRU spy agency.

Donald Trump

Naturally, Fox News has played down the story by airing short reports at the top of the hour and ignoring it thereafter. Other cable news networks are doing the deep dive into the many sordid details. And Fox is also leaping to the defense of Donald Trump by highlighting remarks that Rosenstein made regarding the allegations that are not asserting any complicity by Americans or vote total changes. What they are forgetting is that there are only no such allegations YET. This is not over by a long shot.

The response from the White White was astonishingly tone deaf. They issued a brief statement that was entirely defensive, as if the only consideration was how this affected the probe into Trump’s criminal collusion with Russia. It read:

As Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said today:

– There is no allegation in this indictment that Americans knew that they were corresponding with Russians.
– There is no allegation in this indictment that any American citizen committed a crime.
– There is no allegation that the conspiracy changed the vote count or affected any election result.

Today’s charges include no allegations of knowing involvement by anyone on the campaign and no allegations that the alleged hacking affected the election result. This is consistent with what we have been saying all along.

It’s clear that Trump doesn’t care at all about the attack on America’s democratic system. He doesn’t say one word about the atrocity that is alleged in the indictments. And of course, he doesn’t criticize his friend (boss) Vladimir Putin. He doesn’t make even the most timid condemnation of Russia for their actions. He just whines that nothing in the indictments accuses him of anything. And, as noted above, that is only for the time being. Neither Rosenstain nor special counsel Robert Mueller said anything about there not being any further indictments. And the investigation is still in progress.

Along with Fox News and the Republican echo chamber’s ludicrous efforts to spin this as vindication for Trump, his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, is asserting that these indictments are “good News,” and suggest that they prove that “Trump is completely innocent.” Which they most certainly do not do. Giuliani is also saying that Thursday’s congressional inquisition of Peter Strzok makes it less likely that Trump will ever interview with Mueller. Gee, ya think? Trump never intended to interview with Mueller.

You can count on Fox News to fiercely continue defending Trump and to make these cries of absolution for at least the remainder of the day. It remains to be seen how long they will have this sort of wiggle room to avoid the increasingly obvious evidence of Trump’s treasonous guilt. But these new charges are an indication that Mueller is getting closer to the completion of his investigation. It isn’t surprising that no Americans were included in this set of indictments. The primary targets are always held in confidence until the end. Stay tuned.

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


Trump Wistfully Yearns That ‘Hopefully, Someday, Maybe’ Vladimir Putin Will Be His Friend

Posted by on July 12, 2018 at 1:12 pm. NO Comments :

Now that Donald Trump has concluded his meeting with NATO, he will be spending a couple of days at his golf resort in Scotland, and then it’s off to Helsinki and his tryst with Vladimir Putin. Trump’s behavior at NATO was typically hostile in nature toward America’s long-time allies. And he is already expressing his affection for Putin in advance of their meeting.

Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin

At an impromptu press availability, just prior to leaving Brussels, Trump, unprompted, reiterated that he is “a very stable genius.” He was later asked if he thought he would get along with Putin. The question was not especially probing considering the fact that Trump has many times confessed his deep regard for Russia’s murderous dictator. However, Trump went even farther than he usually goes to display an affinity for Putin that defies reason (video below). He said of Putin that:

“Well, he’s a competitor. He’s been very nice to me the times I’ve met him. I’ve been nice to him. He’s a competitor. Somebody was saying, ‘Is he an enemy?’ He’s not my enemy. Is he a friend? No, I don’t know him well enough. But the couple of times that I’ve gotten to meet him, we got along very well. You saw that.

I hope we get along well. I think we get along well. But ultimately, he’s a competitor. He’s representing Russia. I’m representing the United States. So in a sense we’re competitors. It’s not a question of friend or enemy. He’s not my enemy. And hopefully, someday, maybe he’ll be a friend. It could happen.”

Aw. Isn’t that sweet? Trump appreciates that Putin was nice to him. and twice insisted that Putin is not his enemy. He repeatedly referred to the Russian tyrant as a competitor, as if this were a business deal or a game and not a clash of international antagonists. But his expressed longing for a future friendship with someone best known for oppressing his people, stealing elections, and murdering opponents and journalists, is shockingly insensitive to those victims and to the principles of democracy and freedom. It’s like hoping to someday, maybe becoming friends with Mussolini, Hitler, or Kim Jong Un (Oh wait. That last one Trump does want to be friends with).

This is another example of Trump’s unfathomable, and un-American, interest in cozying up to brutal dictators. Trump’s flagrant infatuation, joined with the fact that he has never uttered a critical word about Putin, can only lead to speculation that the Russian leader has some compromising information that compels Trump to act in the service of our foes and against our national interests. Virtually everything Trump does – his tweets, his desperate rants, his infantile tantrums – affirms that speculation as well as a consciousness of guilt. Trump’s yearning for friendship with Trump only exacerbates the problem. No American should seek such camaraderie with an avowed enemy.

And naturally, Putin will be playing a role in the public presentation of what takes place in the meeting. So he has alraedy been booked to appear on State TV (aka Fox News) immediately after his meeting with Trump. Because where else would an ally of the Trump administration’s assault on the press, on U.S. intelligence and law enforcement, and on the truth, go to discuss his post-Trump get together?

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


Fox News: Trump ‘is Going to Defecate All Over Everything, Squawk and Fly Away’

Posted by on July 11, 2018 at 12:00 pm. 5 Comments :

It’s getting more difficult with every new day to ignore just how deferential Donald Trump is to Vladimir Putin. Trump has never been shy about expressing his feelings, particularly when they are brash insults to anyone who he thinks is less than adoring to him. Trump will lash out viciously at friends, associates, and strangers who dare to criticize him, even in mild terms. But he never has a harsh word for his pal in the Kremlin. Many people are wondering what Putin has on Trump to guarantee this endless supply of affection.

Donald Trump Chicken

This peculiar – and conspicuously anti-American – behavior was exhibited again this week when Trump ventured off to Brussels for a meeting with our NATO allies. He even foreshadowed the position he intended to take when he told the media that his upcoming tete-a-tete with Putin would be “the easiest one” he would have on this junket. And in the very first public gathering open to the press, Trump demonstrated that his relations with our allies would not be easy at all by launching a wild harangue against Germany for partnering with Russia in a natural gas pipeline.

So the battlelines have already been drawn in just the first few hours of the NATO summit. And, naturally, Trump is bashing our friends and cozying up to our enemies. The brazen manner with which Trump displays his betrayal to long-time allies is now being noticed by his most vociferous defender: State TV (aka Fox News). As the summit was getting underway, Chris Stirewalt, Fox News digital politics editor, had a few words about the President’s disloyalty to America’s national interests (video below). Referring to members of Trump’s GOP who have been feverishly trying to spin Trump’s unsettling commentaries, Stirewalt said that:

“I want to tell these Republicans, quit kidding yourselves. You will not stop Donald Trump from undermining NATO, and you will not stop him from undermining U.S. foreign policy to be more favorable towards Russia. He is going to do it.

“And the Republicans who say, ‘Well, we have a broad foreign policy apparatus and we forced him to impose these sanctions, and we forced him to do these things.’ He is going to fly into Brussels like a seagull. He is going to defecate all over everything, squawk and fly away, is what he’s going to do in Brussels. And the Europeans are going to continue to say to each other, ‘We don’t have a reliable partner in the U.S. government right now. We don’t think this is a working relationship.’

“Plus, we have a trade war going with them. The President will succeed, whether it’s temporary or whether it’s lasting, realigning U.S. foreign policy away from Europe and toward Moscow.”

Clearly the quotable portion of that analysis concerns the defecating seagull. The media will likely highlight that colorful phrase to draw in readers and viewers (just as News Corpse did). But no one should let the more substantive part of Stirewalt’s remarks go by. Because the significance of a Fox News editor telling their primetime audience that Trump is “realigning U.S. foreign policy away from Europe and toward Moscow,” cannot be overstated. This isn’t Anderson Cooper or Rachel Maddow talking. It’s a senior Fox news editor who is issuing a warning to an audience that he knows won’t welcome it.

But will they listen? Probably not. At least not until one of the pharisees of the Fox/Trump cult like Sean Hannity or Laura Ingraham says it. Until then, Trump’s disciples will continue to believe that he has the infallibility of the Messiah. And anything he says – no matter how destructive to American values or interests – will be agreed to and worshiped like gospel. And Stirewalt will be dismissed as a heretic. That’s how cults work.

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/FPWsz1oXa9s


Sean Hannity of Fox News Goes Off on ‘The Apocalyptic Left’ in Defense of Trump Nominee

Posted by on July 10, 2018 at 3:02 pm. 3 Comments :

On Monday night Donald Trump unveiled his second Supreme Court nominee in as many years. He did it in a splashy primetime ceremony that was wholly out of proportion to any actual news value. The fact that TV networks continue to cater to Trump’s insatiable appetite for attention is one of the most troubling failings of the media in the Trump era.

Fox News, Sean Hannity

The unveiling of Judge Brett Kavanaugh went off as expected, so long as you were expecting a rose granting ceremony on the finale of The Bachelor. Trump gave a speech that could have been written by a computer programmed to emulate Republican talking points. And Kavanuagh’s address could have been copied verbatim from “Right-Wing Judicial Nomination Speeches for Dummies.” The whole event was a predictably partisan political sham that wasted everybody’s time.

Well, except for Fox News. The reason that Trump requested this primetime slot was solely to boost his favorite cable news network and, not coincidentally, right during the time period of Sean Hannity’s show. It worked. The ratings for the Trump infomercial spiked for Fox News with 6.6 million glassy-eyed Deplorables glued to their sets.

Following the announcement, Hannity returned to surprise no one with his unreserved praise and adulation for Trump’s selection (video below). But he had more on his mind than the alleged qualifications of Kavanaugh. Hannity actually spent far more time attacking Democratic critics of Kavanaugh than he did applauding him. And he held nothing back in his assault on the liberal demons set on destroying America. He began by asserting that the left’s attacks were “bordering on insanity.” He continued saying that:

“You have the left, the Democrats, and their friends in the media, their echo chamber, always conducting what is a malicious campaign to impugn the character of good people. The track record of good people. Frankly anybody that President Trump would have nominated to the Supreme Court. The language gets downright apocalyptic, and this time is no different.”

Coming from someone who is casting Democrats as the harbingers of the apocalypse, it’s hard for a rational person to take Hannity seriously. Likewise, the accusation by someone on Fox News that Democrats are employing an echo chamber is hysterical. But he was just getting started. He went on to play some clips from CNN and MSNBC of people with criticisms of Trump and his potential nominees. The striking thing about these clips is that none of them were remotely apocalyptic or insane. Each one exhibited a rational – and truthful – argument against Trump’s shortlist of Supreme Court candidates. And while Hannity blasted these criticisms in the most hostile terms, he never offered a single substantive rebuttal to any one of them.

Following that intellectually vacant harangue, Hannity reminded his viewers of the confirmation fights that occurred during the nominations of Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas. He felt that it was important to show how committed Democrats were in opposition to such strident and extremist conservatives. Funny thing though, Hannity didn’t bother to show any examples of Republicans viciously maligning – and lying about – the nominees of Democratic presidents.

In short, this televised tantrum was fairly typical of Hannity’s nightly bluster. He was even kind enough to provide a summary of what makes the GOP so offensive and out of touch with most Americans. In an attempt to dismiss liberal critics, Hannity noted that criticisms of Kavanaugh would fit the mold wherein his rulings would “lead to dirty air, dirty water, the rise of racism, sexism, misogynism, etc.” Exactly. Thanks for that succinct rundown of the Republican agenda and what we can reasonably expect from Kavanaugh if he is confirmed.

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


Trump’s Supreme Court Pageant is a Fake News Farce that the Media Should Not Cover

Posted by on July 9, 2018 at 12:02 pm. 3 Comments :

For several days now Donald Trump has been hyping the announcement of his choice to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. He has been rolling it out like a new episode of Celebrity Apprentice. The trivialization of this process is typical of a president whose only prior experience was hosting a reality TV game show. However, the nation’s press ought to know better than to be taken in by such flagrant self-promotion.

Donald Trump

Trump has asked the major television networks for a primetime spot on Monday night. It’s the sort of thing that is generally reserved for declarations of war or death notices for prominent government officials. Clearly this doesn’t meet that high standard. Trump’s potential nominee short list has been widely reported, and the names on it have been analyzed in great detail. So the urgency for a primetime preemption of American Ninja Warrior and The Bachelorette is hardly justified. Nevertheless, Trump’s Twitter feed has been firing up the unveiling of his nominee for over a week:

It’s curious that the President is impressed by having “long heard” of the Supreme Court’s importance. It isn’t common knowledge to him, but more like a rumor that’s been going around. And all of the mystery and suspense of his already anti-climatic decision is about to blow up. All that’s missing from this charade is the advertising sponsorship notice that “This event is being brought to you by Capital One: Who’s in your pocket?”

At this point there is absolutely nothing newsworthy about this brazen hypesterism. There is no reason that the American television viewer can’t wait until their local news program to learn which Trump flunky got a rose. There will still be be weeks or months of confirmation hearings and the Court doesn’t reconvene until October. So why the rush to put Trump on TV to conduct what will be just another of his partisan rallies? We all know what he’ll say:

“My nominee for the Supreme Court is a tremendous person. Everyone says so. He will rule according to the original interpretation of the Constitution as defined by Founding Fathers like Antonin Scalia, that I can tell you. He will be strong on taxes and the border and national security, and he loves the military. He will respect the right to life and the values that all Deplorable Americans share. Believe me. The enemy of the American people, the media, who are broadcasting this (so dishonest), will try to tear him down. But they are going out business in a couple of years so that doesn’t matter. What matters is that you, my people, will love and support this nominee because I said so. Thank you for listening. Good night, and God bless my nominee, the Supreme Court, and the United Soviet Soc… I mean the United States of America.”

There you go, media. Now you don’t have to air Trump’s speech. Why bother when it will just be an extension of the revival meetings he has been holding around the country instead of, you know, doing the work of the president. If the press does air this propaganda it will be they who doing the work of this president, and that isn’t the media’s job. They should decline Trump’s request for time, and then report on anything newsworthy that comes from it after the fact.

For anyone who simply can’t wait, there is always State TV (aka Fox News), who will air virtually everything that Trump says like the obedient hype machine that they are. And Fox will follow their coverage of the announcement with a couple of hours of “analysis” explaining why Trump’s choice was so brilliant. However, the rest of the media should have more integrity. They should shun this undeserved demand for attention. Unfortunately, as of Monday morning, they all seem to be falling in line with the wannabe dictator in the White House. #SAD!

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

Find us on Google+
Advertisement:

The Rigged Witch Hunt Starring Donald Trump: A New Un-Reality Show That’s Only Fox News

Posted by on July 8, 2018 at 10:59 am. 1 Comments :

Beginning in 2004, and continuing for the next decade, Donald Trump was the host of a television reality game show known as “The Apprentice.” His hosting duties were minimal as he generally appeared only the the opening sequence and a staged “board meeting” at the end. So like most of Trump businesses he merely lent his name to the venture, collected a paycheck, and went off to play golf.

Donald Trump, Witch Hunt

That’s pretty much what Trump has done to the presidency. His name is widely promoted as he tries to take credit for anything positive that happens – or even that doesn’t happen, but which he says happened anyway. At the same time he lays the blame for anything negative on anyone but himself. Then he gets paid, mostly in the form of profits from his private enterprises that flagrantly exploit his position. And then he trots off to his golf resorts where he continues to advertise his Trump-label businesses.

In his free time Trump lounges in the White House executive suite where he watches Fox News and live-tweets what he sees. It doesn’t matter that the many of those Fox stories are riddled with inaccuracies and lies. In fact, that only makes it more consistent with the Trump brand. So it should surprise no one when Trump rattles off delusional commentaries on Twitter that are as far removed from the real world as the Chronicles of Narnia. Case in point:

This tweet reads like classic fantasy fiction. There is literally nothing in it that approaches the truth. But it does employ many of the tricks of effective storytellers. It could actually be a pitch for a new primetime fairy tale coming to a TV near you this fall. Let’s break it down:

Trump begins by introducing the heartwarming love story of FBI agents Peter Strzok and Lisa Page. For some reason Trump and the right-wing press have become obsessed with their (alleged) relationship. It’s almost as important in the narrative as the content of their clandestine love letters. And as with any good fantasy, it is infused with phony characterizations and motives, but no substantive evidence of any wrongdoing. Despite repeated harping on this plot point for months, no one has shown that there was any bias whatsoever in their work product.

Then Trump unveils the story’s villains, which he has dubbed “the 13 Angry Democrats.” This theme is taken from Trump’s deranged perception of the special counsel, Robert Mueller, and his investigators. It’s a brilliant plot twist because what could be more frightening than angry Democrats? Their “strongly-worded memos” are like swords of vengeance that can pierce the heart of our sainted hero. How could Trump ever face this baker’s dozen of bad guys when all he has is the entire force of the United States government. So unfair. However, Trump missed a gap in this plot point that ignores the fact that there are actually more than 65 million angry Democrats, and that isn’t even counting Independents and more than a few patriotic Republicans.

From here Trump’s story heads into episodes that explore specific adventures in the Trump World fantasy. First comes “The Mystery of the Missing DNC Server.” The mystery is that the server was never missing at all. Trump’s frequent assertions that the FBI was denied access to it are a figment of his imagination. The DNC actually worked with the FBI and a private security firm to deliver everything that the FBI required.

Next we delve into “Crooked Hillary’s Illegally Deleted Emails.” This is a yarn so unsettling because it involves a retired grandmother and her horror-filled communications that are mostly about vacation plans and grocery lists. And to top it off, none of these dastardly emails were deleted illegally.

At this point in the story, Trump introduces a super-villain know only as “The Pakistani Fraudster.” Well, the notorious PF was actually just the tech guy who worked for a Democratic member of Congress. He was caught committing a garden variety bank fraud that was unrelated to anything political. But it sure has a scary name.

Finally, Trump dives into a controversy that caught the whole nation in a web of utter indifference. “The Uranium One Affair” concerned allegations the Hillary Clinton secretly sold America’s supply of uranium to the Russians. Why that would bother Trump is unexplained. He loves the Russians and wants to be besties with Vladimir Putin. Nevertheless, when Clinton does it there must be a devious intent to harm America. What makes this affair all the more curious is that there actually wasn’t any uranium at all sold or otherwise provide to Russia. None, zero, zip. The transaction involved a a Canadian processing facility located in the U.S. that was sold to a Russian energy company. And the sale was approved by nine separate government agencies of which Clinton’s State Department was only one.

Trump wraps up his scenario with vague references to John Podesta (who was the victim of a Russian hack) and a “Democrat Con Job.” The latter is Trump’s way of projecting his own motives onto his perceived enemies. Taken in full, “The Rigged Witch Hunt” promises to be a wild romp that splashes Trump’s famous lies and paranoid delusions across the small screen. If you’re the sort who enjoys getting lost in total fantasy that has no basis in truth whatsoever, “The Rigged Witch Hunt” may just be the entertainment event of the season for you. And you can catch it all on Fox News without having to pay anything extra for one of the elite Hollywood movie channels.

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


Awkward: Giuliani Implies that Mueller Has ‘Uncovered Something’ that Proves Trump is Guilty

Posted by on July 7, 2018 at 10:27 am. 1 Comments :

There has been talk in recent days about the peculiar disappearance of Donald Trump’s lead Russia attorney, Rudy Giuliani. After a flurry of embarrassing media appearances a few weeks ago, Giuliani has been uncharacteristically quiet. Perhaps he’s still confused about the ongoing investigation that he said was “essentially over” a couple of months ago. He laughably told Fox News that Mueller and company are “just in denial.” But as of Friday afternoon, the cause for worry was relieved when the New York Times released a new interview.

Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump

Let’s just set aside Rudy’s choice of the allegedly failing New York Times as the platform for his latest public pronouncements. After all, there’s nothing unusual about the President’s lawyer fraternizing with “the enemy of the American people” is there? And on Saturday morning Trump tweeted his baseless prediction that the Times was going out of business. Nevertheless, Giuliani saw fit to call the Times when he wanted to unveil some new PR bullcrap. He told the Times that he was issuing new demands that must be met before Trump would interview with special counsel Robert Mueller:

“If they can come to us and show us the basis and that it’s legitimate and that they have uncovered something, we can go from there and assess their objectivity,”

In other words, if Mueller has the goods on us, we’ll talk. If we’ve successfully hidden our crimes, screw you. Notice that Giuliani isn’t saying that there is nothing to be uncovered. He’s saying that any evidence of crimes that might be uncovered would determine whether Trump would be deposed. That’s about as close as you can get to an admission that incriminating information exists without just pleading guilty. But the Trump camp doesn’t want to show their dirty hands unless the prosecutors already have them nailed.

Even with this new position regarding Trump’s reluctance to come clean, Giuliani betrayed his own bad faith negotiating by conceding that Mueller was unlikely to agree to the interview demands. So Giuliani is just throwing more obstacles in the path of justice, and he’s doing it deliberately. And according to the Times, this obstruction doesn’t stop there:

“The president’s lawyers want Mr. Mueller to explain how the Justice Department gave him the authority to investigate possible obstruction of justice by the president in what began as a counterintelligence investigation into Russia’s election meddling. […]

“The lawyers also want evidence that the special counsel exhausted every other investigative measure before asking the president to answer questions, and that he is the only person who could provide them with the information they are seeking.”

With regard to the explanation for Mueller’s authority to investigate obstruction of justice, Giuliani could have answered that question by simply reading the Justice Department’s order appointing Mueller. It explicitly grants him investigative authority over the Russian meddling affair and any matters that arose from it. And the demand that all other sources of evidence be exhausted before Trump will talk is just plain loony. It’s like saying that the ringleader of a bank robbery will only testify if prosecutors already know everything. Trump is the ringleader, and his testimony is relevant regardless of what other evidence has been obtained. But then, his avoidance (fear) of testifying is relevant in its own way.

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

The bottom line here is that Giuliani is just engaging in obvious delaying tactics that have no legal basis. He actually admits it by conceding that the special counsel will reject his impotent demands. It’s a strategy that betrays Trump’s consciousness of guilt. This is not the behavior of someone who is confidant of his innocence. And by floating the existence of evidence that has yet to be uncovered, Giuliani is once again doing harm to his own client. Nice work, Rudy.


The Metamorphosis: Former GOP House Oversight Chair Fills In for Hannity on Fox News

Posted by on July 6, 2018 at 4:50 pm. 2 Comments :

News Corpse has documented the parade of former Fox News personnel into Donald Trump’s adminsitration. The White House is currently infested with ex-Fox News vermin including National Security Advisor John Bolton, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert, HHS Secretary Ben Carson, Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, and chief economic advisor Larry Kudlow. Most recently, at the urging of Sean Hannity, Trump hired former Fox News president Bill Shine, whose experience covering up for liars and sexual predators will come in handy.

Fox News, Jason Chaffetz

However, the door swings both ways. Rejects from the White House have become familiar faces on Fox News. In recent weeks ex-Trump aides landing at Fox include Sebastian Gorka, Anthony Scaramucci, and Sean Spicer. But one of the most prominent new Foxies is the former Republican chair of the House Oversight Committee, Jason Chaffetz. He resigned his seat in Congress and almost immediately signed up with Fox News. And his star at Fox is rising. On Thursday night Chaffetz was the guest host on Fox’s number one program, Sean Hannity.

The Chaffetz debut as a host was jarring to watch. He was the most conspicuously partisan member of Congress who presided over endless inquisitions intended to bring down Hillary Clinton’s candidacy. From Benghazi to emails to Planned Parenthood to Fast and Furious, Chaffetz was the leader of the anti-Hillary crusade. It was a purely political assault that produced no evidence of any wrongdoing whatsoever after years of costly hearings and phony investigations.

On Thursday’s episode of Hannity, Chaffetz interviewed his partner in crime, Trey Gowdy. It was Gowdy who took the gavel of the House Oversight Committee when Chaffetz retired. He was also the chair of the House Select Committee on Benghazi. So this “interview” was really just a televised reunion between two of Congress’ fiercest anti-Democratic partisans. They spent five full minutes just bashing Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff.

Then they segued to trying to discredit special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Trump’s collusion with Russia and obstruction of justice. From there Chaffetz led a discussion about the protester who scaled the Statue of Liberty on Independence Day. One subject that never came up was the surprise resignation of the wholly unethical and corrupt Scott Pruitt from the Environmental Protection Agency. Also not discussed were the thousands of immigrant children who are still not reunited with their parents.

The entire hour was nothing more than an extended session of the House committees they sat on in Congress. It was like watching CSPAN with better graphics and catheter commercials. And of course, only one side of every issue was offered through most of the show. It’s one thing to see Sean Hannity do the same thing every night. But when a former congressman is sitting in the anchor’s chair it just cements the impression that Fox News is not in any way differentiated from the political partisans they hype 24/7.

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

And what makes this even worse is that Chaffetz is probably a temporary pundit on Fox. He is widely expected to run for governor of Utah in 2020. So he’s using this platform to advance his candidacy. Which means that Fox is both paying him a healthy salary, and giving him millions of dollars of free promotion. It’s the merging of media with at least two branches of government, the legislative and the executive. And Trump is working furiously to add the judicial to the mix. That’s what is known in most other countries as a totalitarian dictatorship.


A Very Confused Fox News is Now Attacking a CNN Reporter – for Attacking CNN

Posted by on July 6, 2018 at 2:10 pm. 3 Comments :

When Fox News was treated badly during the Obama administration, the rest of the media would quickly come to their defense with unqualified support for the free press. And as an expression of their gratitude, Fox News has made sure to viciously slander their media colleagues at every opportunity. They are fulfilling their role as the State TV division of Donald Trump’s White House, where the media is considered to be “the enemy of the American people.”

Tucker Carlson Fox News

On Friday Brian Flood, a Fox News media reporter, did an analysis of old tweets by his counterpart at CNN, Oliver Darcy. The story was intended to reveal some sort of hypocrisy on Darcy’s part for being critical of CNN prior to joining them, but then failing to be critical of his new employer.

Really? Fox News is surprised that an employee of CNN isn’t bashing his own network? In a perfect world every media critic would hold all reporting to the same standards for ethics and professionalism. But for Fox News to lash out at Darcy for this reason is laughable. Fox is the most insulated pseudo-news enterprise ever created. Not only will they never criticize their own reporting, they won’t even correct or apologize for blatant errors of fact.

The examples Flood sited of Darcy’s criticisms of CNN were not exactly blistering They included a critique of Kathy Griffin appearing in a bra on the New Year’s Eve telecast. And mocking CNN’s use of a “Breaking News” banner that’s nearly a permanent fixture on the screen (which Fox News does as well). And a comment on CNN’s website that chided the network for posting a flurry of pro-Clinton stories. Would Flood have preferred that Darcy approved of that partisanship?

In addition to the awkward spectacle of Fox News complaining about a CNN reporter criticizing CNN, Flood also flagrantly misrepresented a tweet wherein Darcy allegedly accused CNN of letting “people just make stuff up on the airwaves.” In fact, the tweet wasn’t a hit on CNN, but was chastising a pro-Trump shill who was a guest on the network. And the charge that Darcy doesn’t criticize CNN now is also untrue. A quick search turned up this example wherein Darcy took CNN to task for taking Trump out of context. When CNN was reached for a response to Flood’s story, they said:

“Oliver was critical of CNN before, just as he is now. CNN is a place where opinions and ideas are valued. And we encourage staff to share their thoughts about the organization – both positive and critical. While this might seem like an exotic concept to you, we’d headline it ‘Media Reporter Does Job.’ This is a nothing story.”

However, if Fox News thinks it’s relevant to take old, negative comments from a network correspondent and insist that they have some significance today, then they had better look in the proverbial mirror. Fox’s newest star host in primetime is Tucker Carlson. But there was a time when Carlson had a less than flattering opinion of Fox News. In fact, he called them “a mean, sick group of people.” That’s a far worse, and far more personal assault than mocking a “Breaking News” chyron.

Perhaps even more troubling than what a current Foxie said long ago, is what former Foxies are saying right now. Lt. Col. Ralph Peters was Fox’s military strategist for many years. He recently quit the network saying that he was “ashamed” to be associated with it, and that it has become “a propaganda machine for a destructive and ethically ruinous administration.” He also called Carlson a Nazi apologist. I’m waiting for Fox’s searing article on those commentaries by people associated with Fox News.

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