Fox News is Scaring Off Advertisers With Their Relentless Trump-Fluffing, Lies, and Racism

Posted by on October 26, 2017 at 3:54 pm. 2 Comments :

The Fox News chickens are coming home to roost. Or perhaps more accurately, they are flying the coop. Since its inception, Fox News has devoutly propelled a far right-wing agenda. They have steadfastly promoted conservative politicians and policies and shamelessly defended Republicans from any and all criticism. Their reward for such partisan bias was the devotion of glassy-eyed regressives whose loyalty produced high ratings and revenue.

Donald Trump Fox News

However, there was also a price to pay. In 2011 they discovered the hard way that wingnut extremism was not a sustainable business model. That’s when they were forced to fire Glenn Beck for venturing too far into bigotry and conspiracy theories. Beck’s audience was still substantial, but advertisers were shunning him like the plague. So Fox News eventually cut the cord.

Sadly for Fox News, they don’t seem to have learned anything from that disaster. In the years that followed, Fox has continued to spew propaganda and outright falsehoods in the service of GOP politics. And since the inauguration of Donald Trump the level of bombast and junk journalism has grown precipitously. In the past year Fox News has exceeded their wildest dreams as purveyors of state-approved disinformation. Primetime on the network is stuffed with Trumpeteers, and the rest of the day’s roster is no less reverential.

Recently Fox lost some of its star power due to sexual misconduct allegations. Their biggest attraction, Bill O’Reilly was fired after multiple woman came forward with stories of harassment and abuse. Eric Bolling was also dismissed for similar reasons. Megyn Kelly chose to leave due to her own experiences with deviants like O’Reilly and CEO Roger Ailes. However, while their replacements may be free of salacious scandal (for now), they are decidedly more extreme in their politics. Consequently, the advertising prospects for Fox News are once again in decline. TVNewser is reporting that:

“Fox News has taken the most significant hit with -17 percent less spend on news programming in September 2017 vs. September 2016. CNN also saw a small decrease, down -1 percent, while MSNBC was up +2 percent.”

The fact that Fox’s competitors didn’t suffer the profound losses that Fox did is evidence that the problems at Fox News are not due to some industry-wide weakness. It’s more likely due to the reluctance of advertisers to be associated with nutcases like Sean Hannity. There’s confirmation of that in the reporting of the unit cost for ads on Fox. Newcomer Tucker Carlson is pulling in $12,200 per ad. Hannity is getting only $8,500. What makes that significant is that Hannity is the higher rated program of the two. In fact, it’s the highest rated show on Fox News.

So Hannity is valued thirty percent less than a lower rated program. That can only be because ad buyers are scared off by Hannity’s increasingly lunatic conspiracies and brazen Trump-fluffing. The effect is likely leaking into other programs as well. As Carlson’s lunacy becomes more evident, expect his ad buys to shrink. Likewise, the Laura Ingraham Angle, which premieres next week, is already generating bad press.

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

All of this is very troubling for Fox News. But it’s heartening for America. One of the right’s favorite societal institutions, the free market, is demonstrating the folly of an alleged “news” network abandoning all pretenses of legitimate journalism. Will this force Fox News to change their ways. Doubtful. Fox’s management, Rupert Murdoch and family, have plenty of money with which to prop up their propaganda outlet. But they will be less able to disguise their deceitful intent, and will likely continue to shed advertisers and viewers.

Find us on Google+
Advertisement:

Gee Thanks: Donald Trump and Fox News Bring Back the Russia Pee-Pee Dossier

Posted by on October 25, 2017 at 3:55 pm. NO Comments :

The nation, and the world, are presently enveloped in a myriad of potential catastrophes. For example: nuclear war with North Korea; tax reform; natural disasters; terrorism, etc. Under the circumstances, you might think that Donald Trump would seek to focus on any of those critical issues. If so, you don’t know Donald Trump. True to form, the President has managed to shine a spotlight on one of his biggest embarrassments.

Sean Hannity

The now infamous Trump Dossier is a treasure trove of salacious and politically damning information. Much of it is speculative, but much has also been vetted and independently corroborated. The former British spy who compiled it is considered reliable by many intelligence agencies, including those in the United States. And if there is one scandalous controversy that Trump should be anxious to ditch, it’s the one that has him cavorting with Russian prostitutes. But for some reason, the Twitter obsessed President can’t resist his self-destructive urges:

Poor Donnie, Always the victim. And now he’s helping to remind America of his alleged escapades in Moscow with a different kind of golden shower than the one in his Manhattan penthouse. Trump is reprising this story because the Washington Post just published an article that ties Democrats to the Dossier. The only problem with this breaking news is that it was broken a year ago. In October of 2016, David Corn wrote for Mother Jones that the Dossier’s author had been “researching Trump’s dealings in Russia and elsewhere.” In his article Corn noted that:

“This was for an opposition research project originally financed by a Republican client critical of the celebrity mogul. (Before the former spy was retained, the project’s financing switched to a client allied with Democrats).”

So what began as opposition research for the GOP was taken up by Democratic operatives. That’s probably because the findings included “troubling information indicating connections between Trump and the Russian government.” Also, sources alleged “an established exchange of information between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin of mutual benefit.” But in any case, the Democratic connection was obviously known long before WaPo’s “scoop.” It was even known by wingnut propaganda dispensers at Fox News. Trump fluffers like Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson have long been peddling this partisan snake oil.

So it’s ironic that Trump is now relying on the “fake” news purveyors at WaPo for his smear campaign info. His tweet Wednesday morning credited Fox News with the data. However, there’s a bigger question here. Do Trump and Fox News really think it’s noteworthy that Democrats might have funded opposition research against their opposition? Isn’t that what all campaigns do as a matter of routine? When Fox’s Jeanine Pirro was defending Trump, Jr. for meeting with Russians during the campaign she bragged that:

“As someone who’s run for office five times, if the devil called me and said he wanted to set up a meeting to give me opposition research on my opponent, I’d be on the first trolley to Hell to get it. And any politician who tells you otherwise is a bald-faced liar.”

In fact, Trump said pretty much the same thing:

Now suddenly it’s an abomination for Hillary Clinton’s campaign to engage in opposition research. The hypocrisy is palpable. But the objective for Trump and his pals at Fox News is to conflate this old, non-story with the more relevant allegations of Trump’s collusion with Russia to interfere with the 2016 election. And it’s a talking point that was distributed to all of the network’s programs. Already the subject has been covered by Pirro, Tucker Carlson, Bret Baier, Bill Hemmer, and, of course, Sean Hannity. For his part, Hannity helpfully stirred the recollection of the most depraved portions of the Dossier:

“The Democrats, media, they were happy to repeat, for example, that ‘Oh, Donald Trump was at the Ritz in Moscow and he had hookers urinating in his bed.’ […] All of this makes the Clinton campaign and the DNC complicit in spreading Russian propaganda and Russian lies about then-candidate, Donald Trump.

You have to wonder why Hannity thought that would benefit his buddy Trump. He could have simply talked about the Dossier in disparaging terms and left it at that. But no. This genius thought visualizing Russian hookers urinating on Trump had to be a feature of the broadcast. Never mind that the entire story involving who paid for some routine opposition research doesn’t even come close to the scandal of enlisting Russians to tamper with an American election. Clearly they are pretending to be more interest in who paid for it than what’s in it. But all of this just illustrates how desperate they are to deflect from the real news and to attack their perennial foe, Hillary Clinton, who holds no office and says she never will.

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


Rachel Maddow Pummels Hannity and Fox News in Primetime Ratings Victory

Posted by on October 24, 2017 at 12:53 pm. 1 Comments :

A few weeks ago Fox News was forced to make some drastic programming changes. They had to terminate Bill O’Reilly due to multiple allegations (and settlements) of sexual harassment. They should have seen that coming since they renewed his contract with knowledge of a massive $32 million payoff. And there was another $13 million to half a dozen other victims. Fox News also fired Eric Bolling, the host of the newly launched The Specialists, for sexual misconduct. Do you notice a pattern?

Rachel Maddow Sean Hannity

With these cancellations there were holes in the schedule that needed to be plugged. Consequently, Fox News decided to move Sean Hannity’s 10:00 pm show into O’Reilly’s slot at 9:00 pm. This put him into a head-to-head battle with MSNBC star Rachel Maddow. It also firmed up Fox’s primetime as three hours of fawning Trump-fluffing, beginning with Tucker Carlson, then Hannity, and the all new Laura Ingraham Angle. It’s been four weeks since Hannity’s move and the ratings already have a story to tell.

Hannity is, without a doubt, Donald Trump’s most cloying sycophant on Fox News. He serves as an advisor to the White House and relentlessly defends any and all Trump atrocities. As for Trump, he posts frequent promotional tweets about Hannity (seventeen just since the inauguration) and has sat for three interviews as President.

Hannity front loaded the first week in his new time slot with high profile guests chosen to spike ratings. They included Fox favorites like Steve Bannon, Bill O’Reilly, and Rush Limbaugh. The second and third weeks, however, were skewed by coverage of the tragic shooting in Las Vegas and its aftermath. But now, as the new schedule settles in, Maddow has returned to the top spot. The hopes Fox News had for toppling Maddow by moving Hannity into direct competition have not succeeded, at least so far.

One of the consequences of that failure is that other Fox News programs are getting scared and beginning to attack Maddow in an effort to blunt her success. For example, Fox and Friends did a whole segment on Maddow’s analysis of the death of four Green Berets in Niger. They never laid a glove on her. In fact, they never even bothered to substantively counter anything she said. They just made catty comments about her demeanor and complained that she has opinions. But just the fact that they talked about her is evidence they are scared. If they didn’t think that Maddow was having an impact, Fox would have ignored her. And she is definitely having an impact.

For the week of October 16, Maddow decisively beat her new competition, Sean Hannity. In the critical 24-54 demographic, she won three days out of five outright, and took the whole week’s average. On Wednesday she had the highest rated program on all of cable news. Her powerful leadin helped The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell to win his time period as well. Even Brian Williams’ The Eleventh Hour came out on top. As a result of these victories MSNBC won the entire week in primetime.

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

Television ratings are a fluid measure of popularity and can be influenced by many factors. Breaking news, popular guest bookings, and competing programs across the dial can shuffle the numbers. But the performance of Maddow’s show after being put to the test by Fox’s highest ratings draw is significant. It shows that quality journalism will find its audience. And even if Fox News has a built-in cult status for tunnel-blind partisans on the right, it isn’t enough to overcome well produced, researched, and presented reporting that is honest and touches the lives of all Americans.


Serial sexual predator Bill O’Reilly goes Full Psycho in taped rant to the New York Times

Posted by on October 23, 2017 at 4:59 pm. NO Comments :

If there is anything positive resulting from the disgusting Harvey Weinstein affair, it’s that perhaps the impunity of deviants like him will no longer be tolerated. Women have become emboldened to discuss their experiences and hold violators accountable. The problem will not go away overnight, but this is a necessary, if painful, first step.

Bill O'Reilly Megyn Kelly

Unfortunately, some of the outrage generated by Weinstein is selectively applied. While his career and company are likely over, there are other known abusers still operating in places of power. Including in the White House, where Donald Trump’s admitted crimes have not cost him his privileged position. Part of the reason that Trump gets away with it is that he has supporters at a powerful media outlet who excuse his sexual misconduct. Fox News has fiercely defended the President despite the evidence, and his own confessions.

The irony of that, of course, is that Fox News is guilty of the same repulsive behavior. At the top of the list was their former CEO Roger Ailes, His termination was followed by that of their biggest star, Bill O’Reilly. It has since been discovered that O’Reilly paid $32 million to settle a case of sexual harassment and abuse. And a few weeks later Fox News, with knowledge of the settlement, renewed his contract. There were other victims who were also paid millions prior to this. So the message from Fox News is that they have no problem with employees who commit sexual crimes. You have to wonder how the women at the network feel about that.

However, you don’t have to wonder how O’Reilly feels. He has been thoroughly unrepentant. In fact, he has furiously attacked his accusers despite his having paid many of them to buy their silence. His adamant denials fly in the face of the facts. Even the response by Fox News, who saw the evidence and chose to fire him, speaks to his guilt. But that didn’t stop him from going into a white hot rage when the subject came up in an interview with the New York Times (video below):

“We have physical proof that this is bullshit. Bullshit. OK? So it’s on if you want to destroy my children further. Alright? Cause it’s all crap. Why don’t you be human beings for once? This is horrible.”

“It’s horrible what I went through. Horrible what my family went through. This is crap and you know it. It’s politically and financially motivated. And we can prove it with shocking information.”

Where to begin? Let’s start with O’Reilly’s claim that he has “physical proof that this is bullshit.” If that’s true, then what is he waiting for? Why doesn’t he produce it and clear his name? The only thing that he’s put forward are photos his attorney posted of thank you notes from Megyn Kelly, who has disclosed that she was among his victims. Of course, those notes mean nothing. Abused women are often reluctant to rock the boat. They fear disclosing the circumstances of their abuse due to the prospect of retaliation, shaming, etc. And they have seen their abusers get off scot free while they suffer personally and professionally.

As for O’Reilly’s concern about his children being “destroyed,” that’s a peculiar line of defense. Particularly considering that O’Reilly recently lost a custody battle for his children that included charges of battery against his ex-wife that was witnessed by his young daughter. The children both petitioned the court to live with their mother.

Finally, O’Reilly despicably tries to turn this into a pity party with himself as the victim. Poor Bill. It must have been so horrible for him to be called out for his abhorrent and predatory perversion. And all because he has mysterious, unnamed financial and political enemies determined to destroy the valiant culture warrior.

The only thing this latest audio rant proves is that Bill O’Reilly is an unstable and unremorseful monster. He thinks he’s entitled to hurt anyone he wants to advance his own interests. It’s an acute form of malignant narcissism that has him convinced of his superiority and the irrelevance of others. Remind you of anyone?

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


Rachel Maddow’s Brilliant Analysis of the Niger Attack Turns Fox News Heads to Mush

Posted by on October 22, 2017 at 1:08 pm. 7 Comments :

To begin with, it must be noted that the headline above is fake news. The heads of those on Fox News, and their viewers, were already mush. That said, their exposure to Rachel Maddow’s program didn’t make that situation any better. On Saturday morning the “Curvy Couch” potatoes of Fox and Friends spent several minutes with stunned expressions and babbling recriminations as they struggled to unwind Maddow’s commentary.

Rachel Maddow

On Friday Maddow laid out a detailed and well researched examination of what might have led up to four Green Berets being ambushed in Niger. The whole segment is must-see TV, and a demonstration of what real journalism looks like. The gist is that Donald Trump’s curious inclusion of Chad on his latest Muslim ban may have caused them to pull back on their anti-terrorism efforts in Niger. Since they were effective at suppressing groups like Al Shabaab and ISIS in the region, it left our troops vulnerable to attack.

Maddow’s report was taken up on Fox and Friends in a segment (video below) that featured a graphic declaring that “Maddow Blames Trump For Niger Attack.” And since the mission of Fox News, and especially Fox and Friends, is to defend Trump no matter the subject, the F&F crew went to work. They began by asserting that the events Maddow discussed were entirely separate and had no possible relation to one another. Of course, anyone with a functioning cerebral cortex could see the direct linkage. Lacking any substantive rebuttal, co-host Pete Hegseth attempted to mock Maddow’s thoughtful demeanor rather than her facts. Then he accuses her of spinning a wild conspiracy theory as “the leader of the left.” But perhaps the most idiotic remarks were offered by co-host Abby Huntsman, who said this”

“It’s dangerous when the media starts having conversations about this and putting in their own theories that are, as you said, completely unrelated to what actually happened. It’s dangerous, not only for us in terms of figuring out what did happen. But it’s dangerous to the families that lost loved ones over there because they’re the ones who should be the focus of this conversation and somehow we go down these roads oftentimes and it’s such a distraction and it’s such a disservice to this country and what our job is in the media.”

Really? Fox News is whining about media “putting in their own theories”? Is that supposed to be satire? And they are pretending to be upset that the families of the fallen aren’t the focus the conversation even though Trump has still not spoken of them or paid any tribute. The three co-hosts then collectively complained that Maddow is a “lazy” journalist. Never mind that she did the legwork to put together a cogent analysis that offers a possible explanation for why four American soldiers died in Niger. All the Fox Friends did was bitch about it. And they never countered a single fact that Maddow raised with “alternative facts” of their own. And then Huntsmen launched this bit of unintentional hilarity:

“I can’t tell you how many of my friends I talk to, it’s like, they have no idea where to go to figure out what’s actually going on. I hear that from my family, my friends, people I just talk to on the streets.”

Let that sink in. Her own friends and family tell her that they don’t know where to get reliable news. Which means they don’t think they can get it from her or Fox News either. She may have friends and family that are smarter than she and her Fox colleagues. But still not smart enough to understand Dr. Maddow.

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/CRqgWmvk0cE


Shut Down Fox News For Facilitating Sexual Abusers Like Bill O’Reilly – Says Fox News?

Posted by on October 21, 2017 at 3:17 pm. NO Comments :

A breaking story from the New York Times on Saturday revealed just how ingrained the culture of sexual deviancy is at Fox News. And it underscores their complicity in the abhorrent acts of their employees and management. So far the company has terminated their CEO Roger Ailes and their biggest star Bill O’Reilly. In addition, other executives and on-air hosts like Bill Shine, Eric Bolling, and Jaime Horowitz were jettisoned under similar circumstances.

Bill o'Reilly Fox News

This new story in the Times discloses that Bill O’Reilly paid $32 million to settle a sexual harassment and assault suit in January of 2017. This was after O’Reilly and Fox News made previous settlements involving O’Reilly’s sexual misconduct totaling over $13 million to five other women over a 15 year period. That disclosure led to his termination from Fox News in April. However, following the January settlement, Fox News renewed his contract despite knowing about all of these legal payoffs. Apparently being a serial sexual predator wasn’t disqualifying to be a host on Fox News.

To put this in perspective, Fox News has argued that such behavior is so irredeemable that punishing the abuser isn’t enough. The company employing him should literally be shut down. That assessment was provided by Fox host and pundit Gregg Jarrett in both a column of the Fox website and on the air (video below). Jarrett, however, was referring to movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and his production company. But by simply replacing references to Weinstein with Fox News, the commentary retains its meaning while pointing to an entirely different but equally guilty company. See this annotated version of excerpts from Jarrett’s article:

“The Weinstein Company Fox News should immediately shut-down its operations and permanently close its doors. […] The Weinstein Company Fox News surely knew it had a sexual predator at the helm, but did little to stop him. Instead, it willingly fostered and sustained an environment that permitted him to continue abusing women.”

“The Weinstein Company Fox News approved a written contract which deliberately enabled Weinstein Ailes, O’Reilly, et al, to sexually harass women and allowed [them] to cover-up the abusive conduct by paying off [their] victims. […] Weinstein’s O’Reilly’s contract appears to encourage or condone his suspected illegal behavior.”

“Viewed another way, the company seems to have aided and abetted Weinstein Ailes, O’Reilly, and others. They handed [them] a piece of paper which granted [them] permission to victimize women with impunity.”

Well, that’s pretty clear. Jarrett is an attorney and should know that his argument remains consistent regardless of the perpetrators. So he is, in effect, advocating that Fox News be shut down. And he isn’t the only one at Fox to say so. Tucker Carlson delivered a rant on the subject last week that made similar points about Weinstein that were easily transferable to Fox News. And let’s not forget another sexual predator to whom these rebukes could apply. Donald Trump has been accused by at least a dozen women of sexual harassment or abuse. And he has even confessed to criminal assault in the infamous Access Hollywood videotape. There are pending federal investigations against Fox News, and Weinstein may soon be be facing the same.

So bring it on, Fox, Let’s see you report on Trump and O’Reilly with the same righteous outrage you direct at Weinstein. And how about shutting down your irreparable and unrepentant operation that has proven to be a hotbed of criminal sexual assault. Any company that can reward cretins like O’Reilly with rich contract renewals despite knowing that he’s a recidivist pervert doesn’t deserve to continue polluting America’s airwaves.

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:

Fox News Anchor Scolds His Fox News Colleagues for ‘Bashing the Media’

Posted by on October 20, 2017 at 3:47 pm. 1 Comments :

There’s a peculiar thing about Donald Trump’s campaign against the First Amendment and freedom of the press. That’s how much he actually relies on the press to spew his propaganda and lies. Without the media broadcasting his hate speech who would know about it?

Fox News Chris Wallace Sean Hannity

To be sure, he has Fox News, the PR division of the Trump administration. And for some reason they are always left out of any criticism that the President has of the “mainstream” media, despite being the top rated cable news network. For the most part, Fox News is a willing accomplice in the murder of the media. They lay it on more thickly than any other network. And they never seem to grasp the irony that they are demeaning the news business that they pretend to be a part of.

Apparently that obliviousness has finally worn through to at least one member of the Fox team. Chris Wallace, host of Fox News Sunday, addressed this issue in an interview with ABC News and was not shy about expressing that “It bothers me.”

“I don’t like them bashing the media, because oftentimes what they’re bashing is stuff that we on the news side are doing. I don’t think they recognize that they have a role at Fox News and we have a role at Fox News. I don’t know what’s in their head. I just think it’s bad form.”

Make no mistake, he’s talking about his fellow Foxies Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, and the vegetative Trump bots of Fox and Friends – among others. Wallace seems to recognize that their knee-jerk assaults on any less than flattering coverage of their Orange Messiah isn’t in the best interest of journalism. And the manner in which he dresses them down is a scathing rebuke. Although he may be pulling punches by assuming that there’s “something” in their heads.

ABC News noted the obvious in their commentary, writing that Fox News is “the preferred network for conservatives.” And they cited a study by Media Matters that revealed the depth of Fox’s bias. For instance, Sean Hannity “criticized the press in 90 percent of his monologues from May 15 to Sept. 1.” And that he “used the term ‘fake news’ 67 times.” But something else stood out that makes the glaring prejudices of Fox even more appalling:

“As president, Trump has given interviews to Fox News more than any other outlet, but he has favored Hannity and other supportive hosts like Jeanine Pirro and Jesse Watters. News anchors Wallace, Bret Baier and Shepard Smith and chief White House correspondent John Roberts have been shut out.”

So even while Trump favors the garden variety sycophants at Fox, he is careful to narrow his exposure to only the most slobbering drool merchants at the network. He steers wide of anyone that might accidentally stumble over some honest journalistic principles. Even the Fox News version of a reporter must be avoided at all costs. Trump is only comfortable talking to mindless disciples. Lucky for him, there is no shortage of them at Fox News – or in their audience.

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


It’s Official: Fox News and the GOP have merged into a single political media enterprise

Posted by on October 19, 2017 at 3:24 pm. 1 Comments :

It’s no secret that Fox News has been serving as the de facto PR division of the Republican Party since its inception. It was founded by an arch-conservative newspaper baron (Rupert Murdoch) and a former GOP media strategist (Roger Ailes). It’s schedule is replete with twenty-four straight hours of right-wing propaganda delivered by devoted partisans like Sean Hannity. It is, in fact, Donald Trump’s preferred network with his favorite show, Fox and Friends.

Fox News Marsha Blackburn

As chummy as this relationship has been for many years, on Thursday morning it took a big step. This political love story advanced from it’s long engagement to a blissful marriage. The wedding took place on Fox’s Outnumbered. This program usually features a rotating cast of female co-hosts from the Fox News roster, plus “one lucky guy” in the guest’s chair. But in this episode one of the co-hosts was not a Fox regular. It was Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) who also happens to be a candidate for the Senate in Tennessee.

Blackburn was not a guest. She was seated in a chair reserved for co-hosts and was introduced as one. That’s an uncommon position for a sitting congressperson and active candidate to take on an alleged news network. In effect, the network is admitting her into the Fox News family of partisan pundits. It’s a “privilege” that no Democratic representative is ever likely to enjoy. And especially during a contested election for a vacant senate seat, it’s a campaign bonus that is worth millions of dollars. Will Fox give her Democratic opponent equal time? Don’t hold your breath.

In addition to that appearance, Blackburn was on Fox and Friends earlier the same morning. In the teaser for the segment she was brought onto the set and greeted with kisses by the show’s hosts. When was the last you saw a politician arriving for an interview on a “news” network get a wet one planted on her by the people who would be conducting the interview. Imagine the outcry if Nancy Pelosi was greeted that way by Chuck Todd when she showed up for a segment on Meet the Press.

This has become the new normal for Fox News. They hardly even try to live up to the “fair and balanced” slogan (that they dropped earlier this year) anymore. Fox and Friends is the source of many of Donald Trump’s tweets. This morning, for example, they did a story on the long ago debunked conspiracy theory that Hillary Clinton approved a give-away of uranium to the Russians. A few minutes later it showed up on Trump’s Twitter feed.

With the advent of GOP politicians and candidates taking up hosting duties on Fox News, it is impossible to deny the depth of their embrace. It was bad enough when Republicans simply moved back and forth between the two entities between official government jobs. For instance, former GOP Oversight Committee chair, Jason Chaffetz, is now a Fox News contributor. And former Fox and Friends co-host, Heather Nauert, is now the spokesperson for the State Department. They have completely dropped the requirement that these partisans be “former” anything. They are openly mixing up the roles that politicians and pundits are playing. And it’s a gross perversion of the the ethical principles of both.

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


POLL: Ignorant Trump-loving Republicans are cool with government shutting down media it doesn’t like

Posted by on October 18, 2017 at 8:31 pm. 4 Comments :

For nine months Donald Trump has been steering the country into something that more closely resembles a fascist dictatorship. His tendency toward a strict authoritarianism is evident in almost everything he does and says. And the fact that he has issued more executive orders at this point in his presidency than any president in fifty years affirms his inherent imperialism. Particularly since he was a fierce critic of executive orders when President Obama was issuing them.

Donald Trump Voter

A new poll shows that Trump’s view of government supremacy has caught on with the Republican Party. The numbers are disturbing for a supposedly free democracy that cherishes a free press. Overall forty-six percent of respondents said that “the news media fabricate news stories about President Donald Trump.” Even Trump was so moved by this poll that he tweeted about it Wednesday night (FYI: Trump’s tagging of Fox News is curious. They had nothing to do with this poll):

Indeed, it is much worse. But not in any way that Trump understands. Those numbers are heavily weighted by the views of Republicans. For GOP respondents alone it’s seventy-six percent who believe that bad Trump press is made up. It isn’t difficult to figure out where they got this idea from. Trump has been smearing the media for at least two years. His criticisms are not rational observations of press reporting. They are vicious insults and unsupported condemnations of journalists he says are evil. Just last week he told a radio talk show host that:

“I thought after I won, the media would become much more stable and much more honest. They’ve gone crazy. CNN is a joke. NBC is a total joke.”

In other words, he thought the media would bend to the demands of those in power. Why else would journalists behave differently toward a candidate than a president. What’s more, he isn’t complaining about a particular story. He’s trashing whole networks as “jokes.” His undisguised purpose is to destroy the people’s faith in journalism as a whole. He wants people to believe no one but himself and his official proclamations on Twitter.

The consequences of his relentless propaganda have taken a toll. That’s how you end up with three-quarters of the GOP essentially opposing the First Amendment. And it gets worse. The poll also asked whether “the government should have the power to revoke broadcast licenses of major news organizations that it says are fabricating news stories about a president or the administration.” On this question as well there was a sharp partisan divide. Forty-six percent of Republicans said the government should have such power. Another twenty-one percent were undecided. So two-thirds of Republicans are comfortable with the government being able to shut down media based on content.

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

These are the views of a segment of the electorate that has been brainwashed to accept policies that are wholly un-American. Imagine what these same people would have thought if President Obama ever suggested taking such action. But they are perfectly fine with handing Trump the power to strip away the nation’s constitutionally protected press freedoms. That isn’t political partisanship. It’s cult worship. And it’s a dangerous trend that threatens the future of the American experiment in democracy.

Despite the foregoing, Americans still trust the media more than they trust the pathological liar in the White House. Funny, Trump has never tweeted about that.


Trump threatens congresswoman and fallen soldier’s family. And may have broken the law.

Posted by on October 18, 2017 at 12:25 pm. 4 Comments :

It is absolutely impossible to call the bottom of Donald Trump’s abhorrent character, or lack thereof. Just when you think he’s in the deepest sewer, he confounds everyone by finding a gutter that’s dug even lower. Case in point, the controversy over his insensitive remarks to Myeshia Johnson, the widow of slain Sgt. La David Johnson.

Myeshia Johnson

This affair began after Trump was harshly criticized for ignoring the deaths of four American Green Berets for two weeks. He had plenty of time to play golf and tweet about his media foes, but performing this traditional presidential duty was too much for him. When a reporter finally asked him to explain, he made some pathetic and plainly dishonest excuses. And true to form, he attempted to shift the blame and redirect the subject to others, notably President Obama.

Stung by the criticism, Trump condescended to do his job and finally called the families of the fallen. But even in performing this task he failed miserably. According to Rep. Frederika Wilson, Trump upset Ms. Johnson by telling her that her husband “knew what he signed up for.” Not surprisingly, Trump denied that he ever said any such thing. But to make matters worse, he made an implicit threat that he had “proof” that he would make public if needed.

There’s two problems with that:

ONE: It is horribly insensitive to make such threats to grieving families. Trump is challenging the veracity of Rep. Wilson, as well as Ms. Johnson and her mother, who all affirm his callous remarks. Rep. Wilson reiterated her account after Trump issued his threat.

TWO: It may have violated Florida law. The state has a statute that expressly forbids the kind of recordings that Trump is suggesting:

“Florida’s wiretapping law is a ‘two-party consent’ law. Florida makes it a crime to intercept or record a ‘wire, oral, or electronic communication” in Florida, unless all parties to the communication consent.'”

A few months ago Trump made a similar threat directed at former FBI Director, James Comey. He warned Comey that he “better hope that there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations.” Six months later no tapes have emerged.

Trump’s belligerent yowling turned out to be more of the phony blathering that bullies resort to. But this time it was aimed at a grieving widow. And in the unlikely case that any tapes exists, they are evidence his criminality. Plus, with all of the witnesses supporting Rep. Wilson’s account, any tapes are only likely to prove that he’s a repulsive liar.

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

UPDATE: At today’s press briefing, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders declined to refute that Trump made the statement about “knowing what he signed up for.” In other words, he did say it. Also, she said that there were no tape recordings of the conversation. Trump’s alleged proof was witnesses to his phone call. In other words, no proof.