Here are 11+ Reasons Trump Should Never Have Pardoned Sheriff Joe Arpaio

Posted by on August 26, 2017 at 3:16 pm. 1 Comments :

On Friday night, Donald Trump used the weekend, as well as Hurricane Harvey’s tragedies, to bury his latest despicable act. In seeking to satiate his racist base, Trump awarded the notorious birther and disgraced former sheriff, Joe Arpaio, a pardon for his federal crimes. Arpaio was convicted of criminal contempt for violating a federal court order to stop racially profiling Latinos. He was found to have deliberately breached the constitutional rights of American citizens.

Joe Arpaio Donald Trump

The fact that Trump thinks these are pardonable offenses is definitive proof of his bigotry and support for fellow bigots. The white supremacists who make up much of his support were elated at the whitewashing of Arpaio’s vile criminality. (With an emphasis on “white”) But Trump’s exacerbation of the racial division for which he is largely responsible has not gone over well with everyone. Patriotic Americans who value equality and justice will not forget this affront to the rule of law.

One critic, a professor at Harvard University, makes a credible case that Trump’s pardon could itself be an impeachable offense. Add it to the list: Russia, obstruction of justice, financial corruption, the Emoluments Clause, cover ups and perjury, sexual harassment and assault.

As for Arpaio, he also has a list offenses. And his acceptance of Trump’s pardon carries with it an implicit confession of guilt. That can be used in civil cases against him going forward. The Phoenix New Times has been on the front lines of the Arpaio assault on humanity for twenty years. They posted a series of tweets linking to the horrific record of Arpaio’s unlawful regime. Here is just a taste of what they have been reporting for years:

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

The Phoenix New Times has many more examples of this official misconduct and heinous brutality. And by pardoning a cretin like Arpaio, Trump is effectively making himself complicit with those crimes. He is intentionally aligning himself with Arpaio’s disdain for the rule of law. And it is very likely he is also setting the stage for future pardons of his family, his partners in crime, and perhaps himself. Based on on his behavior to date, you can’t put anything past him.

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STILL CRAZY: Trump Is ‘Stone Cold Sane’ According To This Fox News ‘Psycho’ Analyst

Posted by on August 26, 2017 at 12:20 pm. 3 Comments :

This week Fox News thought it would be a good idea to repost a six month old article by their resident “psycho” analyst, Keith Ablow. In it he asserted some ludicrous reasons to dismiss critics of Donald Trump who questioned his mental health. Trump’s sanity has only become more suspect as time has gone by.

Fox News Keith Ablow

The decision by Fox News to rerun this pathetic Trump-fluffing is difficult to understand. It made no sense at the time, and is even more embarrassing now. Nevertheless, it does provide a good opportunity for News Corpse to reprise its response to Ablow’s original posting. So here it is in its entirety:

ABLOW SAY RELAX: Trump Is ‘Stone Cold Sane’ According To This Fox News ‘Psycho’ Analyst

In recent weeks there have been several reports characterizing the mental stability of President Donald Trump. Some of these have been partisan assessments by political opponents. Others have been more detailed warnings from mental health professionals about his “malignant narcissism”. There have even been bipartisan bills drafted to mandate a White House psychiatrist. However, “Doctor” Keith Ablow, a member of the Fox News Medical A-Team, has his own professional diagnosis that comes to a different conclusion. He believes that Trump is as sane as you and I. But the reasons he gives are – well – batshit crazy.

Ablow starts off with a disclaimer that he has never examined Trump. It is considered unethical for doctors to make diagnoses of people who have never personally been under their care. Funny, Ablow never bothered to offer that disclaimer when he was unethically (and absurdly) diagnosing President Obama. What follows is a rundown from his latest article for Fox News. In it Ablow says Trump is totally sane because:

He’s rich and famous:

“When a man acquires billions of dollars through complex real estate transactions, invests in many countries, goes on to phenomenal success in television and turns his name into a worldwide brand, it is very unlikely that he is mentally unstable.”

Of course. Everyone knows there aren’t any wealthy business people with mental illness. They can just buy some new sanity if they lose theirs. Rich people are always perfect in body, mind, and bank account. Take Howard Hughes for example.

He’s a good family man:

“When the same man obviously enjoys the love and respect of his children and his wife, who seem to rely on him for support and guidance, it is extraordinarily unlikely that he is mentally unstable.”

Indeed. And Trump is so stable that he’s currently on his third wife. And each of his marriages have been marred by flagrant and public infidelities. Plus, his current wife and their child rely on him so much for support that they declined to live with him in the White House.

He’s a political wrecking crew:

“When the same man walks into the political arena and deftly defeats 16 Republican opponents and then the Democratic heir-apparent to a two-term president’s administration, the odds of that man being mentally unstable become vanishingly thin.”

Because nothing says mental stability like viciously maligning your own party colleagues with childish nicknames and outlandish allegations. Just ask Lyin’ Ted Cruz whose father worked with JFK assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald.

He’s a bureaucrat magnet:

“And when that very same man attracts to his team the kind of intellect and gravitas represented (to name just a few) by Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Dr. Ben Carson, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defense James Mattis, a retired Marine Corps general and commander of the U.S. Central Command, he cannot be mentally deranged. Period. It is a statistical impossibility.”

That’s right. After all, who ever heard of someone accepting a lucrative and powerful government job when offered one? That’s especially true of unqualified nominees like Carson, Rick Perry, and Betsy Devos. And the billionaire, Goldman Sachs, swamp dwellers have their own selfish reasons.

But perhaps the most profoundly absurd defense of Trump’s sanity was Ablow’s personal testimonial and endorsement of Trump branded products and services:

He’s a walking infomercial

“Anecdotally, by the way, I have never had one bad Trump experience. Not one. I own several of his ties — all of them of the highest quality. I have stayed in his hotels and never had a single complaint (and I am a born complainer). I have eaten in his New York restaurant — flawless service, excellent food. I own an apartment at Trump Place in Manhattan. Impeccable design, sturdy construction, fabulous amenities. A mentally unstable man would be unlikely to deliver superior products across multiple industries, don’t you think?”

Seriously? Ablow thinks that Trump is the picture of sanity because ties manufactured in China, but branded with his name, meet his standards as a consumer. Similarly, Ablow’s Trump Place condo is in a building that the Trump Organization developed but does not own. And does any sane person think that Trump is responsible for the food and service at a restaurant with his name plastered on the front?

Ablow went on to suggest that the performance of the stock market is another indication of Trump’s mental health. Sure, it’s up about 2,000 points since the election. It’s notable that none of Trump’s fiscal policies have been implemented in that time. Nor would it reflect on his sanity if they were. However, since he’s handing out credit, Obama must be super-sane, because the market rose 12,000 points during his presidency. Except that, as noted above, Ablow has already diagnosed Obama as mentally challenged. Nevertheless, it’s clear that the markets are still running on the economic policies of the Obama administration.

And if it weren’t enough for Ablow to construct a preposterous case for Trump’s mental health, he also had to portray his critics as mental deficients. He called anyone who questioned Trump’s psychological status “political opportunists, or fools, or both.” Then he singled out Sen. Al Franken as an example. Specifically, he called Franken’s sanity into question because Franken and Elizabeth Warren are allies and Warren once said she had Native American ancestry. First of all, she only said that because that’s what her parents told her. Having never bothered to fact-check her parents doesn’t make her nuts. But regardless, how would that reflect on Franken? Ablow’s psychological prognosis implies that anyone affiliated with Warren is crazy.

Ablow closes by saying “And they’re calling Trump’s sanity into question? Really, you can’t make this stuff up.” Wrong again. Ablow just proved that you can make up whatever the hell you want and Fox News will publish it. After all, this is the same guy who wrote that Donald Trump’s narcissism is exactly what America needs. And my personal favorite, his treatise praising the Unabomber. Now that certifies him as a perfectly sane psychiatrist, don’t you think?

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


GOP Senators that Denied Aid For Prior Hurricane Victims Are Now Begging Trump For Relief

Posted by on August 25, 2017 at 4:36 pm. 3 Comments :

The residents of Texas’ Gulf Coast are bracing for what is predicted to be the most catastrophic natural disaster to hit the United States in twelve years. Hurricane Harvey has been officially designated a Category Three hurricane and it is still picking up speed. Evacuation orders have been issued to the affected areas, but time is running out.

Ted Cruz

Across the nation, citizens are praying for the safety of those in the path of Harvey. And the Federal government is gearing up to respond as needed. That effort may be hampered by Donald Trump’s failure to fully staff the agencies responsible for emergency operations. Time will tell if they are adequately prepared for what’s coming.

The aftermath of these disasters is generally attended to by a united nation caring for their fellow citizens. In times of need, Americans are admirably empathetic and generous. Among the first steps taken following a crisis like this is the declaration of a national emergency. That makes both funding and other resources available to the communities that require them.

Texas has two Republican senators who are already reaching out to the federal government for assistance. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn have written to Trump urging him to grant a request for the disaster declaration. They said in part:

“Given the potential catastrophic impact that the Hurricane may have on Texas communities, we strongly support this request and urge you to provide any and all emergency protective measures available by a major disaster declaration.”

That all sounds well and good. And it is precisely what is needed to protect the welfare of the people of Texas. However, it points out an especially heinous brand of hypocrisy exhibited by both men. In 2013 both senators voted against disaster relief for the victims of Hurricane Sandy. One hundred and fifty-seven people in nine states died directly or indirectly due to Sandy. It produced a total of seventy-one billion dollars in damage. That makes it second only to Katrina in devastation.

The people of Texas should not be punished for the heartless insensitivity of their representatives. They will require substantial assistance and, as Americans, they deserve it. But they should also remember this at election time. Cruz and Cornyn lack the compassion for their fellow citizens that they seek now for themselves. It’s typical of Republican selfishness and tendency to politicize even national tragedies. That’s something Trump has done repeatedly, even with respect to previous hurricanes:

Does that mean that Trump will not be handing out billions in aid for the victims of Harvey? Unlikely. But it is confirmation that he will use the tragedy for his own benefit and brag about it afterwards. Even if his administration fouls it up. Hopefully his narcissism won’t get in the way of the help that the good people of Texas really need.

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


Kellyanne Conway on Fox News Complains That the Media Isn’t ‘Afraid Enough’ of Donald Trump

Posted by on August 24, 2017 at 2:48 pm. 3 Comments :

The Queen of Alternative Facts, Kellyanne Conway, has been absent from the public eye for a while. But now she has returned to make an appearance on Fox News (of course). And she didn’t disappoint in the delivery of her unique brand of shilling for her boss, Donald Trump.

Kellyanne Conway

Conway was interviewed on Trump’s favorite TV show Fox and Friends (video below). The President has called it “the most honest show on television.” And it’s clear as to why he holds that opinion. They will lie relentlessly for him no matter the subject. And it’s why White House spokespersons appear almost exclusively on Fox News. They know they can get away with saying anything and not be subject to any challenge or criticism. For instance, Conway started right out of the gate slamming the media:

“There’s a huge disconnect between what the media are telling Americans what is important to them and what Americans are telling your pollsters and their pollsters and all of us what is important to them.”

That makes literally zero sense. What the media is telling Americans about what is important comes directly from the the pollsters. And virtually every poll shows Trump floundering personally, and his agenda in tatters. Undeterred, Conway continues:

“I think the media are obsessed with style. I saw a poll this morning. Forty-seven percent of Americans say the media are trying to impede the President’s progress on the agenda as opposed to just report the facts. And Gerry Baker at the Wall Street Journal just yesterday came out and said ‘Listen, you’ve gotta cover this as reporters. This has become opinion commentary disguised at reporting.’ Particularly when the President mentions the media.”

First of all, the poll Conway is referring to is by Rasmussen Reports, an unabashedly biased firm that spins everything to the far right. Secondly, Conway citing the editor-in-chief of Rupert Murdoch’s flagship newspaper as a source of factual reporting is ludicrous. Especially because the quote she highlighted came from an email that has angered the Journal’s staff. Some were so upset that they turned to CNN to vent their frustration:

“At the time, some staffers told CNNMoney they believed that Baker was going out of his way to be deferential to Trump in order to maintain access to the White House and proximity to power. Staffers also chafe at Baker’s insistence on conducting the interviews with Trump himself, rather than letting the paper’s journalists take the lead.”

When reporters at a conservative paper accuse their editorial peers of being “deferential to Trump” you have a real problem. Many have them long demonstrated such deference, but apparently this editor has gone too far, even for the Journal. And they are also disturbed by his habit of usurping their duties when it comes to presidential interviews.

But Conway was only beginning to hit her stride. Answering a question that didn’t involve the media, Conway found a way to resume her attack on the free press. Co-host Steve Doocy’s raised the comments of former Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, with regard to Trump’s mental stability. On CNN Clapper described Trump’s condition as “downright scary and disturbing.” And he asked how much longer the country would have to “endure this nightmare.” And Conway replied (skip to 7:50 in the video):

Doocy: A couple nights ago on television, [Clapper] said he wondered whether or not the president was fit to be president, fit to serve. If James Clapper is watching right now, what’s your message to him?

Conway: It’s such an absurd analysis, playing armchair psychiatrist. It’s not just him. It’s a lot of people on TV.

I’m old enough to remember when news stations reported the news and didn’t just have a parade of pundits going out there and opinionating and rendering their opinions and pontificating and conjecturing. And I think it leads to analysis like this, because people end up with very little to say. They are not compelled. They are not forced. Nobody demands that they actually report facts and figures. This is way over the line. You know, the media and other opinion figures, they were way too afraid of President Obama and his administration. They’re not afraid enough here.

It’s jaw-droppingly hysterical that Conway is complaining about pundits “opinionating” to the propagandists at Fox News. The “Curvy Couch” potatoes of Fox and Friends trail only Sean Hannity as Fox’s premiere Trump-fluffers.

More importantly, Conway is actually advocating for some kind of government control of the press. Her notion that journalists should be “forced” to report her alternative facts is contrary to the tenets of the Constitution. She and her White House cohorts are not the arbiters of what is real or fake news. And if America wants state-sponsored reporting, they already have Fox News.

Furthermore, the media should never be afraid of any president, and no president should deliberately intimidate the press. But that’s exactly what Trump has been doing. He is not merely offering criticism. His childish taunts that reporters are sick, dishonest, and bad people who hate America, amounts to overt threats. They could easily lead to violence against journalists who are just doing their job.

When Trump called the media “the enemy of the American people,” he effectively gave permission to his crackpot disciples to take the necessary action to defend the country from its “enemies.” Hopefully Conway and Trump will not get their wish to make the media afraid of Trump. And hopefully nobody gets hurt.

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEOrM8w_Zbg


Devastating Poll: These Numbers Tell a Brutal Tale of Trump’s Meteoric Decline

Posted by on August 23, 2017 at 4:48 pm. 3 Comments :

Donald Trump traveled to Reno, Nevada on Wednesday to deliver a speech to the American Legion. The theme was supposed to be centered on his newfound desire to unite the nation. “It is time to heal the wounds that have divided us,” he lied. “And to seek a new unity based on the common values that unite us. We are one people, with one home, and one flag.” But that’s a long reach for the person most responsible for dividing the nation and spreading hate.

Donald Trump

That perception of Trump’s divisiveness was confirmed in a new poll by Quinnipiac University. The survey revealed that the nation regards Trump as contributing to the great divide by a factor of two-to-one:

“President Donald Trump is doing more to divide the country, 62 percent of voters say, while 31 percent say he is doing more to unite the country, his worst score on this question, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released today.”

That was only the beginning of the bad news for Trump in this poll. On nearly every question he fared poorly in the view of the American people. His approval rating dipped to a low of thirty-five percent. Fifty-nine percent say that his decisions and behavior have encouraged white supremacist groups. Sixty-five percent say that the level of hatred and prejudice in the U.S. has increased. American voters disapprove 60-32 percent of Trump’s response to the events in Charlottesville. And despite Trump’s “all sides” are evil rhetoric, sixty-four percent of voters say that it’s white supremacist groups that pose a threat to the U.S.

On questions of presidential morality, Trump takes a serious beating. Sixty-two percent say that Trump does not provide the U.S. with moral leadership. And breaking that down into specifics only makes it worse:

  • 61-36 percent say that he is not honest;
  • 61-37 percent say that he does not have good leadership skills;
  • 57-40 percent say that he does not care about average Americans;
  • 68-29 percent say that he is not level headed;
  • 59-38 percent say that he is a strong person;
  • 55-43 percent say that he is intelligent;
  • 63-34 percent say that he does not share their values.

An astonishing sixty-nine percent of voters think Trump should stop tweeting. And although fifty-five percent say they disapprove of the way the news media covers him, sixty-two percent disapprove of the way he talks about the media. More damaging from Trump’s perspective is that fifty-four percent of voters trust the media “to tell you the truth about important issues” than trust the President to do so.

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

This is a catastrophic survey for a President still only seven months into his term. It paints a dark picture of a nation deeply dissatisfied with their national leader. And Trump has both political and legal hurdles before him that are likely to cause him to stumble. Consequently, numbers like these give license to his own party to step away as he continues to fall into the abyss. It’s just a matter of time.


In His Own Unhinged Words: Here’s EVERYTHING Trump Said About the Media in Phoenix

Posted by on August 23, 2017 at 3:12 pm. 2 Comments :

On Monday Donald Trump interrupted America’s television viewing to address what he plans to do about the war in Afghanistan. Some pundits regarded his Teleprompter recital as the latest evidence that he had pivoted to a more presidential demeanor. He didn’t. And his speech the next day in Phoenix proved that he is never going to change.

Donald Trump

True to form, Trump spent much of his time whining about what a victim he is. He regaled his glassy-eyed disciples with a string of his “greatest hits.” Build the wall, Democrats suck, some Republicans suck too, repeal ObamaCare, and of course, the media hates America.

Trump actually spent more time on the media than any other single subject. It is an obsession with him that consumes his daily routine of golf and Fox News watching. Plus, he is likely aware of how much trouble he’s in with the the special counsel. This accelerated media bashing may just be in anticipation of the bad news that is coming that may lead to his removal from office.

What follows is just the transcription from the speech of the parts about the press. There is minimal annotation, because it’s already so crazy it hardly needs any.

But the very dishonest media, those people right up there with all the cameras. So the — and I mean truly dishonest people in the media and the fake media, they make up stories. They have no sources in many cases. They say “a source says” — there is no such thing. But they don’t report the facts.

Trump has made this allegation about non-existent sources before. He has never provided any evidence to back it up. However, he has later used the same stories to make a point of his, effectively affirming the credibility of the sources himself.

I’m really doing this to show you how damned dishonest these people are.

Yeah, that’s why he’s doing it. Sure it is.

The failing New York Times, which is like so bad. It’s so bad. Or the Washington Post, which I call a lobbying tool for Amazon, OK. That’s a lobbying tool for Amazon. Or CNN, which is so bad and so pathetic, and their ratings are going down. Right? But all the networks — I mean, CNN is really bad, but ABC this morning — I don’t watch it much, but I’m watching in the morning, and they have little George Stephanopoulos talking to Nikki Haley, right? Little George.

CNN’s ratings are hitting all time highs. And MSNBC, which Trump seems afraid to ever mention, is routinely beating beating former ratings champ, Fox News. Also, for someone who doesn’t watch much, he sure watches a lot.

Do they report that I said that racism is evil? You know why? Because they are very dishonest people. So I said, racism is evil. Now they only choose, you know, like a half a sentence here or there and then they just go on this long rampage. Or they put on these real lightweights all around a table that nobody ever heard of, and they all say what a bad guy I am. But, I mean do you ever see anything — and then you wonder why CNN is doing relatively poorly in the ratings. Because they’re putting like seven people all negative on Trump. And they fired Jeffrey Lord, poor Jeffrey. Jeffrey Lord.

Indeed, CNN fired Jeffrey Lord after he tweeted a Nazi salute aimed at Angelo Carusone of Media Matters.

It’s time to expose the crooked media deceptions, and to challenge the media for their role in formenting divisions. And yes, by the way — and yes, by the way, they are trying to take away our history and our heritage. You see that.

In the middle of this attack, Trump slips in some praise for the Confederacy. Which, by the way, is not the heritage of anyone from Arizona. It’s just racist.

These are truly dishonest people. And not all of them. Not all of them. You have some very good reporters. You have some very fair journalists. But for the most part, honestly, these are really, really dishonest people, and they’re bad people. And I really think they don’t like our country. I really believe that.

He REALLY believes that? Yep. A few months ago he called the press “the enemy of the American people.” It’s a tactic used commonly by aspiring authoritarians and dictators.

The only people giving a platform to these hate groups is the media itself, and the fake news.

Oh, that’s so funny. Look back there, the live red lights. They’re turning those suckers off fast out there. They’re turning those lights off fast. Like CNN. CNN does not want its falling viewership to watch what I’m saying tonight,

Everyone watching CNN when Trump said this must have had a giggle. They aired it live.

These are sick people. You know the thing I don’t understand? You would think — you would think they’d want to make our country great again, and I honestly believe they don’t. I honestly believe it. If you want to discover the source of the division in our country, look no further than the fake news and the crooked media.

Well, look a little further. A recent poll by Quinnipiac shows that sixty-two percent feel that Trump is doing more to divide the country.

I mean, the New York Times has written some stories. How about this? The New York Times essentially apologized after I won the election, because their coverage was so bad. And it was so wrong, and they were losing so many subscribers that they practically apologized.

That never happened.

You have some great networks. I must tell you, Fox has treated me fairly. Fox treated me fairly. They’ve treated me fairly. Hey, I’ll let you know. You know what? Some day they might not treat me fairly, and I’ll tell you about it, OK? But they’ve treated me fairly,

Apparently Trump thinks that Fox News treated him fairly.

I get plenty of bad on Fox, too. But at least it’s within reason. And Hannity? How good is Hannity? How good is Hannity? And he’s a great guy, and he’s an honest guy. And “Fox and Friends in the Morning” is the best show, and it’s the absolute, most honest show, and it’s the show I watch.

How much does Trump get paid for these testimonials?

Not only does the media give a platform to hate groups, but the media turns a blind eye to the gang violence on our streets, the failures of our public school, the destruction of our wealth at the hands of the terrible, terrible trade deals made by politicians that should’ve never been allowed to be politicians.

Now Trump believes that he can decide who should be “allowed” to be a politician.

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

Among the many reasons that Trump is unarguably unfit to serve as president, his hostility to the free press and the Constitution rank near the top. He is a bitter, frightened, man-child who is in way over his head and he knows it. Or maybe he doesn’t, which would be even worse.

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A New Trump? Social Media Punishes WaPo Reporter for Buying Another Fake Trump Pivot

Posted by on August 22, 2017 at 3:03 pm. 3 Comments :

Monday night Donald Trump interrupted America’s TV viewing with a speech that was supposed to address the war in Afghanistan. That war is presently the longest running war in American history. It has burdened two previous presidents with its complexity and lack of effective solutions. So it hardly seems likely that a totally inexperienced “leader” with no military background is going to find the way to victory and peace.

Donald Trump

Nevertheless, that’s what Trump talked about in his rambling speech. And despite the false bravado he exuded, he said almost nothing of substance. He described a commitment to defeating the terrorists without offering any hint of a strategy. He wouldn’t confirm the deployment of more troops. There was a promise to attack at some unspecified future. The whole speech could have been summed up in tweet saying “I plan to do something at some time, and then we win.” And that wouldn’t have preempted the latest episodes of American Ninja Warrior, or Bachelor in Paradise.

Trump’s speech was another of his more restrained adventures with the Teleprompter. He read cautiously and devoid of emotion, often placing emphasis on the wrong words. But this is what some in the media regard as a “presidential” demeanor. It often triggers a knee-jerk response to proclaim that Trump has finally grown into the job. Sadly, that’s never true. But that doesn’t stop some reporters from gushing over Trump’s occasional ability to read without spitting up. For instance, here is what Philip Rucker of the Washington Post wrote following the speech:

Really? What exactly is new about this? It precisely what he has done on prior occasions when he’s been in deep trouble over some stupid remark or action. It’s a tactic to change the subject from something controversial to something utterly hollow. In this case, Trump wants to distract people from his abhorrent defense of neo-Nazis and white supremacists in Charlottesville. But for Rucker to assert that there was anything of substance in that speech is puzzling. The Twitter community noticed this and was quick to respond:


https://twitter.com/molly_knight/status/899810743343644672

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

It’s long past time for the press to get over the notion that Trump is going to click his boot heels and become presidential. He’s a seventy-one year old narcissist who has only ever done and said whatever the hell he wanted. And every time the press has thrown out this nonsense about a pivot point they have been badly burned. Usually within a matter of hours. So stop it, already. Realize that Trump is Trump and no matter how frightening that may be, he isn’t going to change.


Right-Wing Media Gets Hysterically Overheated by Dumbass White House Petition

Posted by on August 21, 2017 at 3:26 pm. 1 Comments :

You know the loons that shill for Donald Trump are getting desperate when they latch onto petty nonsense. And that seems to be all they are doing these days. Many pundits are calling last week Trump’s worst week yet. But that could be said about almost any week since he was inaugurated. However, a week when he defends white supremacists and forces his political guru, Steve Bannon, to walk the plank, surely deserves a spot at the top of the list.

Donald Trump

In an effort to boost Trump’s spirits, some of his Deplorables posted a petition on the White House website. They are seeking to have the anti-fascist protest group, Antifa, officially designated a terrorist organization. The whole of the petition alleges that:

“Terrorism is defined as ‘the use of violence and intimidation in pursuit of political aims’. This definition is the same definition used to declare ISIS and other groups, as terrorist organizations. AntiFa has earned this title due to its violent actions in multiple cities and their influence in the killings of multiple police officers throughout the United States. It is time for the pentagon to be consistent in its actions – and just as they rightfully declared ISIS a terror group, they must declare AntiFa a terror group – on the grounds of principle, integrity, morality, and safety.”

Anti-=Fascist activists have lately been showing up at marches and rallies organized by neo-Nazis and KKK groups. They are often confrontational, but there is no evidence that they have ever initiated violence or “influenced” anyone to kill police officers. These are unsupported smears advanced by racists who don’t like being challenged.

More importantly, those responsible for this petition don’t seem the least bit disturbed by the rise of neo-Nazi groups who openly threaten violence. And they actually did commit a murder last week in Charlottesville, Virginia. However, they haven’t bothered to post a petition calling for those terrorists be officially designated as such.

Nevertheless, right-wing media has jumped all over this petition and through their promotion of it achieved a milestone. Petitions on the White House website need to get 100,000 signatures within sixty days to get a response from the Oval Office. This petition now has about 180,000. And that has set the hearts of the bigots on the right to fluttering. Here’s a short list of some of the more prominent right-wing media outlets that are all giddy over this:

  • Infowars: WHITE HOUSE PETITION CALLS ON TRUMP TO OFFICIALLY RECOGNIZE ‘ANTIFA’ AS A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION
  • TheBlaze: White House petition: Formally recognize Antifa as a terrorist organization
  • Breitbart: White House Petition Calls on Trump to Officially Recognize ‘Antifa’ as a Terrorist Organization
  • RT: Petition to label Antifa as terrorists hits 100k signatures required for White House response
  • Daily Caller: White House Petition To Recognize Antifa As A Terrorist Organization Hits 100k Signatures
  • And of course, Fox News: Petition to Label Antifa Terror Group Has 146,000 Signatures So Far

In addition to the weakness of their argument for this petition, these “news” manglers are exposing the blindness of their prejudice by ignoring the hostility of the right. What’s more, they are also ignoring the petition on the White House site that has the most signatures of any petition posted. With over 1.1 million accumulated to date, here is what Americans really want the President to address:

Immediately release Donald Trump’s full tax returns, with all information needed to verify emoluments clause compliance.

Since the threshold for a response is only 100,000, and Trump hasn’t responded, it’s safe to say he has no intention of doing so. But it remains to be seen if he will respond to the far less popular petition attacking anti-fascists. It’s a sad time for America when being opposed to fascism earns you a rebuke from the Republicans and, perhaps, the President. But that’s the times we are living in today in the Era of Trump.

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


Shades of Stephen Colbert: Republican National Committee Runs Most Ludicrous Poll Ever

Posted by on August 21, 2017 at 1:02 pm. NO Comments :

Things continue to go south for Donald Trump and his Republican Party. But could anyone have predicted this utterly asinine nonsense? This is an actual poll question sent by the RNC:


This is how desperate the GOP is to pump up their floundering president. They have resorted to a poll that doesn’t allow the respondent to register any criticism. That’s because Trump has to be treated like like a baby who has to be given constant positive reinforcement. There are actually White House aides who have to find stories that praise Trump and deliver them twice a day to the Infant-in-Chief.

This is so pathetic it’s hard to make fun of. Not only is Trump unfit for office, the GOP is enabling his narcissism. And in doing so they even ripped off a joke by Stephen Colbert, except they are taking it seriously.

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


Fox News Host Considers Confederate Traitors to Be ‘Revered’ American Leaders

Posted by on August 20, 2017 at 3:59 pm. 1 Comments :

It’s been five days since Donald Trump fell off the crazy train into the abyss of neo-Nazi advocacy. His press conference last Tuesday will be remembered as a tribute to the white supremacists that helped to elect him. To this day they comprise a significant segment of his remaining support. And despite the widespread criticism he’s received, Trump clings to his abhorrent views.

Fox News Jesse Watters

Naturally, Fox News continues to shill for the President. They have staunchly defended the most heinous comments that flow from his diseased psyche. Somehow they have managed to justify his admissions of sexual assault, his insults to veterans, his unsavory connections to Russia, and his glaring ignorance of every subject he addresses. So it isn’t surprising that they find cause to agree with his unimaginable covenant with treasonous Americans.

The debate over the preservation of statues commemorating Confederate traitors has taken center stage at Fox News. But they are intellectually incapable of grasping the simplest concepts. They complain that moving these offensive monuments to museums will result in the abolition of history. Since when do people learn history from lumps of bronze in the park? Statues are not historical lessons, they are tributes. We have no statues of Hitler, yet most Americans have a pretty good idea of who he was and what he represented. And anyone interested in the Civil War can find plenty of information at the library.

Undeterred by that common sense, Fox News ignoramus Jesse Watters stared into his camera Sunday night and literally perverted history. He regurgitated a favorite canard of conservative white-wingers who lie shamelessly about America’s past:

“Let’s also remember that all of these Confederate war heroes were Democrats. Democrats were the party of slavery. Maybe the Democrats want to tear down these statues so the country forgets that the Democratic Party enslaved black people. But I actually think that many on the left want to destroy any monument of revered historical American leaders.”

There is so much wrong with that brief mental flatulence that it’s hard to know where to begin. Let’s start with his bastardization of history. Most people with a high school diploma know that Southern Democrats did dominate the Confederacy. They rejected the Republican politics of Abraham Lincoln who led the nation in a war against the slave states. But that affiliation flipped in the twentieth century as Democrats became the party of working Americans. That includes African Americans. President Johnson cast the remaining bigots out of the Democratic Party when he signed the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. From that point on, the Southern racists abandoned the Democrats and took up with Republicans who were happy to preserve Jim Crow laws, segregation, and white rule.

Consequently, it’s a lie of omission to refer to Democrats as “the party of slavery.” And it’s readily apparent where the bigots reside today politically. The Republican Party is currently the home of the KKK, the neo-Nazis, the alt-right, and all the other groups with deceptive labels attached to institutional racism. Just ask former KKK Imperial Wizard, David Duke, or white Nationalist Richard Spencer. Both are fervent Trump supporters. The claim made by Watters is only valid if you deliberately ignore the past hundred hundred years and today’s reality.

Then Watters made the flagrantly idiotic claim that Democrats want to tear down the Confederate statues so the country forgets their role in slavery. That makes no sense at all. You don’t make people forget something by turning it into a raging controversy. What’s more, Democrats are openly condemning slavery and everyone who participated in it. And it’s Republicans who are insisting that the statues remain. The GOP is not asking to keep the statues to remind people of the Democrats’ past. They want to keep them as tributes to the slave states and the traitors who fought for them. That’s a fact that Watters has conveniently glanced past.

Finally, Watters admits that, in his view, the traitors of the Confederacy are “revered historical American leaders.” Now he is not mincing words. His theory is that Democrats want to suppress these treasonous cretins that he believes ought to be celebrated. So Watters has revealed his true feelings and his unpatriotic obsession with the people who fought to divide America.

This is what passes for journalism on Fox News. And it’s consistent with the network’s mission to advance Republican politics. All of their primetime hosts (Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, The Five) have articulated the same themes. They truly believe that these Confederate statues provide deserved praise to “honorable” Americans. And if they regard Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson as honorable, what are they looking for in a leader today? Of course the disturbing answer to that is that they have already found what they’re looking for. And he is presently residing in the White House.

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