The Great Whiner: Aspiring Tyrant Trump Thinks He’s the Great Decider of All Things

Posted by on December 16, 2019 at 3:25 pm. NO Comments :

Another day, another opportunity for Donald Trump to exhibit his perpetual state of fear for all to see. Trump regularly displays how scared he is via relentless and invariably false attacks on his perceived enemies. These dastardly foes include Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff, Joe Biden, the “fake” news, the “Deep State,” and anyone who dares to show him anything less than undying adoration.

Donald Trump Pacifier Fox

The tone of Trump’s tweets is more untethered to reality – and even decency – as he sinks further into the abyss of the legal jeopardy that is weighing so heavily on his alleged conscience. Some recent rants have taken a decidedly low road as he mocks Pelosi’s teeth, Schiff’s name, and even cyberbullied 16 year old climate activist, Greta Thunberg.

In recent weeks Trump’s trepidation has been squarely focused on the threat of his imminent impeachment. This week the House of Representatives will make that final with a vote convicting him of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. But Trump still managed to find time to expose his inherent cowardice by criticizing the Commission on Presidential Debates and signalling his possible refusal to participate. In a starkly passive-aggressive fashion, he began by saying that he looked forward to debating the eventual Democratic nominee and he bragged about what a formidable opponent he would be. But that bravado quickly faded into snowflakey paranoia:

The Commission has been producing these debates for more than thirty years without a hint of bias or partisanship. It’s officers are an evenly balanced array of Democrats, Republicans, journalists, and academics. But to Trump, any organization that he can’t control is viewed as hostile and “stacked with Trump Haters & Never Trumpers.” His charge that he was the victim of a deliberate “modulation” of his microphone is just another Trumpian falsehood, like the claim that his inauguration crowd was the biggest ever, or that China is paying billions to the U.S. in tariffs, or that his border wall is being built, or that … well, there are 14,000 more of these lies. Let’s just note that Trump is lying again. And he has no evidence that the Commission is anti-Trump or biased in any way. It’s just the paranoid voices in his head telling him that everyone is out to get him.

However, the most absurd claim in this tweet tantrum is Trump’s contention that “As President, the debates are up to me.” There is absolutely no rational basis for that delusional opinion. The only thing that’s up to him is whether he chooses to participate or not. If he bails, it won’t be the first time his cowardice has set his agenda. Trump refused to participate in a Republican primary debate in 2015 because he was afraid of Megyn Kelly of Fox News who was one of the moderators. So he staged a campaign stunt instead that he said would benefit veterans. It was later discovered that he failed to disburse the money that he raised.

Like most bullies, Trump is actually a shivering bundle of nerves who avoids any situation that triggers his fears. As President, Trump has declined to appear at the annual conventions of the NAACP. He has also chickened out of attending the charity fundraising dinners for the White House Correspondent’s Association.

But Trump’s dismissal of the independent Commission debates has ominous overtones. He really believes that, because he’s the President, he gets to decide when and how these events are done. That’s the mindset of a totalitarian who seeks to subvert democracy. It’s a theory he might have picked up from his pals Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un, who control elections in order to retain power. And it’s totally in character for Trump to pursue this path wherein he tries to assume powers he doesn’t have, while whining about how he’s such a victim – the poor baby fuhrer.

If Trump doesn’t want to show up for the debates, that’s fine. Democrats will get over his absence. But he cannot pretend that he’s running them. And America will see that he’s just afraid to face any challenge in the same way that he was afraid to be interviewed by Robert Mueller, and is afraid now to testify at his impeachment. The boy who had his father invent “bone spurs” to get him out of military duty, grew up to be a world-class wimp.

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

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Fox News Poll: Voters Want to Impeach Trump, Who They Say is a Deceitful Crook

Posted by on December 15, 2019 at 12:08 pm. 7 Comments :

The mental state of Donald Trump has been precarious for years. He is a diagnosed malignant narcissist with megalomaniacal tendencies. He clings to ignorance and a distorted, fantastical perspective that reinforces his self-delusion. And his stunted, prepubescent emotional maturity only exacerbates the severity of his behavioral problems.

Donald Trump, Fox News

Trump’s infantile antics are routinely displayed in his name-calling and frantic Twitter outbursts. But there are deeper and darker examples of how far he has declined into a psychotic abyss. He is now firmly entrenched in the “bunker mentality” defined by one’s inability to associate with reality. Thus, every word and deed – by himself and others – is assessed by how closely it hews to his derangement. And this manifested in a recent tweet about the media that he fears and despises:

So it’s all there. Childish taunts, nicknames, and wild declarations that his perceived foes will “all die together,” while only his defenders will survive. It’s an embarrassing blast of blather that is hostile, demented, and patently false.

First of all, MSNBC frequently beats Fox News in the ratings. Fredo, Trump’s name for CNN’s Chris Cuomo, has increased viewing since taking over that time period. And former Fox News anchor Shepard Smith is probably doing just fine. He’s waiting out his non-compete clause and will then likely be courted by every network.

But of course, Trump singles out Fox News as his most favored media martinet. And he insists that “only pro-Trump Fox shows do well.” That would mean all Fox shows, because they are all pro-Trump, and always there to shield him from his persecutors. Well, almost always.

A new poll just published by Fox News contains some very bad news indeed for Donald Trump. It begins by revealing that a majority of Americans (53%) have an unfavorable view of his job performance. That, despite his relentless self-praise wherein he takes credit for the economy, jobs, make-believe trade and foreign policy treaties, a variety of legislation he had little to do with, and a border wall that hasn’t added a single foot.

The Fox News poll also asked if Trump should be impeached. A solid majority of 54% said that he should be impeached, with 50% saying that he should also be removed from office. That debate is currently raging in the House of Representatives, and will shortly be sent to the Senate. Although the Senate’s role has been largely invalidated by the Republicans who are running the show and have admitted that they are colluding with the White House.

The poll also found that a majority of voters (53%) say that Trump abused his power as president. And significantly more respondents say that Trump also obstructed Congress (48%) and committed bribery (45%), than say that he didn’t. Drilling further into the details, a plurality of voters said that they believe Trump held up military aid to pressure the Ukrainian president to investigate his political rivals (47%). And when asked if that was proper for a president to do, they resoundingly said “NO” by a 60%-24% margin.

And that’s not all. The poll found that a majority of 52% said that Trump is not cooperating with the Congressional impeachment inquiry. As for whether the Democrats presiding over the hearings in the House were conducting them fairly, a plurality of voters (45%-42%) said that they were. Voters also regard Republicans as being more partisan. By a 16-point margin they say that Republicans just want to protect Trump rather than believe that what he did is not impeachable. Conversely, they say that Democrats genuinely believe that Trump is guilty, rather than just being interested in hurting him politically.

Here’s some additional poll potpourri: 64% say they are the same, or worse off, since Trump’s election. Which does not bode well for his reelection. 68% favor a wealth tax. 66% want some version of Medicare-for-all. 52% oppose Trump’s border wall. And every candidate the poll pitted against Trump in 2020 beat him.

To be sure, Trump will attack this poll as being biased against him. He has attacked Fox News polling in the past, saying that they “have always been terrible to me.” But that is not only untrue, Trump has frequently praised Fox’s polling when it was positive. This is just another example of Trump’s dissociation from reality. If he encounters something negative, he will criticize it and insist that they’ve always been against him. But when he comes across something positive, he embraces it as irrefutable proof of his awesomeness. That isn’t a sane expression of opinion. It’s an illness. And Trump is getting sicker by the day.

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

UPDATE: As I predicted…


Trump’s Impeachment in the House is All that Matters – The Senate Cannot Acquit

Posted by on December 14, 2019 at 1:00 pm. 4 Comments :

The United States House of Representatives is set to impeach Donald Trump next week, making him only the third American president to suffer this indignity. However, many pundits and pro-Trump media bootlickers are misrepresenting the gravity of this affair. There is a contingent of excusers who seek to dismiss its significance if the Senate doesn’t vote to remove Trump from office.

Donald Trump, Impeach

Trump himself has been making noises that he is anxious to have the impeachment move from the House to the Senate where he believes he will be coddled by sycophantic Republican loyalists. That, however, is a thinly veiled facade of bravado that is betrayed by his frantic tweetstorming (hitting a record of 123 in one day). Clearly Trump is consumed with fear and anxiety at the thought of being branded for life with impeachment.

The argument circulating the GOP drain is that a failure to oust Trump from office is tantamount to an acquittal. But that relies on the false analogy that the House impeachment vote is akin to an indictment, after which the Senate conducts a trial. But a more accurate analogy would be to cast the House as the de facto courtroom and impeachment there is a conviction. After all, the language of the Articles of Impeachment state flatly that “President Trump has abused the powers of the Presidency in a manner offensive to, and subversive of, the Constitution.” Note that it doesn’t say he is charged with abuse of power, but that he “has abused” his power. Consequently, a “yes” vote is a finding of guilt.

The Senate’s role is, therefore, not one of a trier of fact, but more that of a sentencing hearing. The House establishes the facts and will shortly rule that Trump is guilty. The Senate decides if he should be punished by removal from office, or pardoned and allowed to complete his term. But the conviction stands.

Trump knows this and it is eating him up. That’s why he is putting so much pressure on his Senate defenders. It’s why Republican majority leader, Mitch McConnell, told Sean Hannity of Fox News that “I’m going to take my cues from the president’s lawyers.” McConnell went on to say that…

“Everything I do during this I’m coordinating with the White House counsel. There will be no difference between the president’s position and our position as to how to handle this […adding that he’ll be in…] total coordination with the White House counsel’s office and the people who are representing the president in the well of the Senate.”

What’s more, the GOP Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, Lindsey Graham, told CNN that “I will do everything I can to make it die quickly […] I’m not trying to pretend to be a fair juror here.”

So the chairman of the Committee of jurisdiction and the majority leader have both stated publicly that they have no intention to conduct a fair, impartial hearing. In fact, they are openly conspiring with the defendant (Trump) to allow him to escape any punishment for his crimes. Which means they are admitting in advance to violating the oath that they will be taking prior to commencement of the hearing, which states that…

“I solemnly swear that in all things appertaining to the trial of the impeachment of Donald John Trump, president of the United States, now pending, I will do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws: So help me God.”

This tells you precisely what these Republicans think about the Constitution, the law, and even God. That they are willing to brazenly and shamelessly breach this oath is evidence that their word is meaningless. And in taking this position before they begin deliberating, they are effectively cancelling any validity that their role in this might otherwise have had. As a result, the outcome of the Senate hearing is irrelevant. Which leaves the House vote to impeach as the final word on what will become Trump’s tarnished legacy. And if yo think that isn’t driving Trump nuts, see his Twitter feed.

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


IT’S A CULT! Trump’s Assault on the Press has Poisoned a Generation of Republican Chumps

Posted by on December 13, 2019 at 1:19 pm. 6 Comments :

The impeachment of Donald Trump has passed another milestone as the House Judiciary Committee voted to send two Articles of Impeachment to the full House. Article One is “Abuse of Power” and includes Trump’s extortion of a foreign leader, as wells as his efforts to coerce a foreign government to interfere with an American election. Article Two covers “Obstruction of Congress” and Trump’s attempts to cover up the crimes he committed in Article One.

Donald Trump

The prospect of being only the third U.S. president ever to be impeached is gnawing at Trump and driving him to bizarre behaviors such as Thursday’s 123 tweet day, a record for the Tweeter-in-chief. And on Friday Trump’s tweetstorming raged on with an emphasis on how adored he thinks he is by the American people. He posted several tweets alluded to that imaginary popularity, including the following:

The reality is that Trump is struggling in recent polling, including that of his favorite pollster, the utterly biased and disreputable Rasmussen, where he’s dropped three points since the impeachment hearings began. But Trump has even bigger problems as his support narrows to the fringe confines of his most loyal cult disciples. This fact of Trump’s sad life is borne out in a new survey by the Pew Research Center. Their study of how the media is perceived by different sectors of the population reveals that…

“On item after item, Republicans consistently express far greater skepticism of the news media and their motives than Democrats. […] Even more telling, the analysis reveals that divides emerge within party – particularly the Republican Party – based on how strongly people approve of Trump’s performance as president.”

It’s no secret that Trump has conditioned his followers to despise the constitutionally protected free press, which he calls “the enemy of the people.” But even among Republicans, the degree of animosity spikes in concert with the degree of Trump worship. The Pew study found that “The vast majority (79%) of Republicans say journalists have low or very low ethical standards.” Of those about one-third (31%) say journalists have very low ethical standards. However among the most fervent of Trump’s GOP supporters 40% say journalists’ ethics are very low. So the Deplorable set is far more distrusting of the media than their Republican chums.

This is undoubtedly the result of constant disparagement by Trump. He can’t seem to go a single day without instructing his hordes to hate the press. And that hostility is clearly transferring from Trump to his truest believers. But even so, this support is not nearly in the range that Trump says it is. According to Pew, it isn’t 95%, but only about 64% of GOPers who “strongly” approve of how Trump is handling his job as president. Even if you add the “somewhat approvers” (18%) it still only comes to 82%.

So no matter how you slice it, Trump is passing off fake numbers to boost the perception of his alleged acclaim and to massage his fragile ego. The good news for Trump is that his most faithful devotees will believe whatever he tells them. The bad news is that they are a small and dwindling cadre of dimwits.

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


TRIGGERED II: Trump is Clearly Losing It – Fear of Impeachment Has Fried His ‘Brain’

Posted by on December 12, 2019 at 12:46 pm. 7 Comments :

On Wednesday Donald Trump displayed an astonishing capacity for hysterics by posting 77 tweets in one day. His twittering was done mostly in the morning while Congress was holding hearings on his impeachment. It was a horrifying spectacle that exposed Trump as a whining coward who is incapable of controlling his frayed emotions.

Donald Trump, Toilet, Bathrobe

Now on Thursday, Trump has surpassed his all-time record for daily tweets. Once again, he accomplished this feat before lunchtime by posting 108 tweets, 86 of which were retweets of primarily GOP members of Congress and bootlicking media sycophants. This brings a total of 437 tweets in the past week.

Trump is apparently trying to flood the zone with inanity, because there was almost nothing of substance in this avalanche of social media ego-stroking. You have to wonder who he thinks is reading this bullcrap, other than weary media analysts. And he seems to have quit the presidency, because his OCT (Obsessive-Compulsive Tweetery) is a full time job.

The vast majority of Trump’s tweets were tiresome clips of Republicans evading the facts that so compelling affirm Trump’s guilt. Their talking points were so tightly aligned that you could hardly tell one from another. However, there were a few tweets that merit attention, primarily due to their utter assholiness. And leading the list would have to be Trump’s attack on 16 year old climate crisis activist Greta Thunberg:

So Trump took some time out of his tweetstorming to bully a girl who is showing real courage in the fight for her future and that of the Earth. No doubt Trump is perturbed that Greta was named Time Magazine Person of the Year instead of him. And his complaint that she has an anger management problem is pure projection considering his near constant state of frothing rage.

Also notable is Trump’s brazen self-promotion of his own private business, the Mar-a-Lago golf club in Palm Beach, Florida.

It takes some real cojones to violate the Constitution while you are being impeached. But that’s exactly what Trump is doing here. It violates the Constitution’s emoluments clause to exploit the office of the presidency for personal profit. And by using his official Twitter page to announce that the resort’s season is open, Trump can’t wave this off as just posting his itinerary.

And what Trump tweetfest would be complete with his attack on the free press:

Not only is Trump disparaging – and lying about – the media, he is wrapping his assault in a blanket of narcissism. He is crediting the ratings of Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC, for good or ill, to himself. What’s more, he believes that by reporting positively about him, any network would enjoy greater success. Which of course is absurd considering the fact that MSNBC frequently beats Fox.

A couple of other tweets merit some note. In one he says that he is “Getting VERY close to a BIG DEAL with China.” But he’s said this many times before and it has never been true. What’s he’s really doing is manipulating the stock market that reacts feverishly to any remarks from the White House. In the other tweet of note, Trump complained “Why aren’t Germany, France and other European countries helping Ukraine more?” The only thing wrong with that is everything. Those countries are helping Ukraine with over $16 billion in aid. So Trump is, as usual, lying.

UPDATE: Trump finished the day with a grand total of 123 tweets!

The sheer volume of tweets by Trump is indicative of his crippling anxiety. To post that many tweets requires hours of scrolling, reading and watching videos. So it’s safe to say that Trump isn’t doing anything else but tweeting. It’s also safe to say that he is not just concerned about the impending impeachment, he is profoundly disturbed and suffering from a severe mental infirmity. This puts the nation at grave risk. and it makes it all the more urgent that he quickly be impeached and removed from office.

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


TRIGGERED: Trump’s Twitter Tirade Shows How Scared He is of Impeachment

Posted by on December 11, 2019 at 2:17 pm. 6 Comments :

Donald Trump likes to pretend he’s a pillar of strength. But his idea of a strong man is one who swats at his foes with infantile insults, bellows arrogantly, and constantly praises himself for being so awesome. He is, in fact, a typical bully who is frightened by his own shadow. Every opportunity he’s had to demonstrate any courage, he has quickly retreated in abject cowardice.

Donald Trump, Twitter

One of the best indicators of Trump’s seething fear is his Twitter account. He predictably reacts to challenging situations with obvious and searing anxiety. And Wednesday morning was an ideal example of this. In a flurry of furious twittering, Trump posted 61 tweets, all before 11:00 am. The vast majority of the posts were retweets of bootlicking GOP members of Congress, Fox News and other right-wing media, and sycophantic Trump stuffers …er… staffers. And the topics were almost exclusively his impeachment and the report by the Justice Department’s Inspector General, Michael Horowitz, which Trump surely couldn’t understand.. This is not behavior that reflects confidence or bravery. To the contrary, it is indicative of panic and insecurity.

So what was going on while Trump was tweeting so frantically? The Senate Judiciary Committee was hearing testimony from Horowitz. His report on the origins of the FBI’s Russia probe concluded that the FBI had acted properly, with justification and free of partisan political bias. After weeks of hopeful anticipation that this report would prove Trump’s relentless assaults on the FBI were valid, the report actually sucked all the air out his anti-FBI hysteria. Naturally, this would stir Trump’s ire, and not even his Attorney Genuflect, bill Barr, could mollify him.

Much of the morning session of this hearing was devoted to a side show that was barely relevant to the subject matter. The Republican chairman of the committee, Lindsey Graham spent 7 1/2 minutes reading salacious emails between the FBI’s Lisa Page and Peter Strzok. These were emails that were critical of Trump and were made public months ago. Graham’s point in this redundant, soap opera theatrics was to assert that, because they held these critical views, they were unfit to have any role in the FBI investigation. Never mind that they, in fact, didn’t have decision-making roles, and that the IG also found that there were FBI agents who were pro-Trump. So the Bureau did not lean one way the other. Trump and company have been lying about all of this for months.

If Graham’s point was that anyone who held negative views of Trump should be prohibited from sitting in judgment of him, he may have fallen off the edge of his already feeble argument. During the 2016 primary campaign, Graham himself said that Trump was a kook, crazy, and unfit to be president. So by Graham’s own standard he should be disqualified from chairing these hearings.

Trump’s slanderous commentaries on Strzok and Page may be coming back to haunt him. Page just announced that she is filing a lawsuit against the DOJ and the FBI. As of this date, Trump is not named in the suit, but his antics could surely be fodder for litigation. He has slandered Page as “incompetent,” “corrupt,” “pathetic,” “stupid,” “a dirty cop,” and more. A few weeks ago Trump staged what can only be described as a mock orgasm. And just this week Trump unloaded this blatant falsehood:

Telling lies, acting like an imbecile, exhibiting signs of severe paranoia and dementia, are not characteristics of strength. Trump is clearly afraid and it is oozing out of every pore of his trembling body. And posting more than five dozen desperately defensive tweets before lunch is proof positive that Trump can’t handle the pressure. All the more reason to get him out of the White House before he causes even more harm.

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

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Attorney Genuflect Bill Barr has Fully Morphed Into a Fox News Trump-Fluffer

Posted by on December 10, 2019 at 1:20 pm. 5 Comments :

On Monday the Inspector General of the Justice Department released his report on the origins of the Russia probe. The top-line conclusion was that it “did not find documentary or testimonial evidence that political bias or improper motivation influenced the FBI.” Yet somehow Trump embraced the report with delusional glee. He even boasted that it was “one of our great achievements.”

William Barr, Donald Trump

Now Trump’s Attorney Genuflect, Bill Barr, is disputing the very same IG Report that a deranged Trump said was a victory for him. This is the sequel to the aftermath of the report by special counsel Robert Mueller, when Trump insisted that it “totally exonerated” him, while simultaneously disparaging it as a hoax and a witch hunt. It takes a mind that is either brazenly dishonest or severely dysfunctional to attack a report that you also claim vindicates you. But that is what Trump did then, and is reprising now.

Barr was interviewed by NBC’s Pete Williams on Tuesday morning (video below). The whole interview was a bizarre affair that exposed Barr’s flagrant biases and his abandonment of principle, integrity, and honesty. He demonstrated that he is not the Attorney General for the people of the United States, but a shill for private citizen Trump. His remarks reflected the glassy-eyed devotion of a cult follower whose adoration for Dear Leader is unflappable. Barr began by dismissing three years of criminality by Trump and Company:

“I think our nation was turned on its head for three years based on a completely bogus narrative that was largely fanned and hyped by a completely irresponsible press.”

Barr is forgetting that in the past three years many of Trump’s closest associates have been indicted and convicted, including Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, George Papadopoulos, Micheal Cohen, and Roger Stone. And there were dozens of other indictments that are still pending. Plus, Mueller’s report found at least 270 contacts between the Trump team and Russia-linked operatives. That is hardly the result of a “bogus narrative.”

By blaming his slanderous criticisms on the press, Barr is just parroting his White House Overlord and the glassy-eyed sycophants on Fox News. The AG continued in this vein sounding more like Sean Hannity and Alex Jones than the chief law enforcement officer of the nation. Barr made the ludicrous and unsupported assertion that Trump “was clearly spied upon” by the FBI. Then he continued saying that…

“From a civil liberties standpoint, the greatest danger to our free system is that the incumbent government use the apparatus of the state … both to spy on political opponents but also to use them in a way that could affect the outcome of an election.”

First of all, Trump was not spied on, he was investigated. Barr is using language that is deliberately prejudicial. No police officer engaged in collecting evidence would ever say that they were “spying” on a murder suspect. What’s more, the FBI wasn’t even investigating Trump. They were legitimately probing the suspicious activities of individuals connected to his campaign.

It’s also troubling that Barr refers to valid and justified FBI investigations as “the greatest danger” to our system of government. Apparently he thinks it’s worse than Russians hacking our elections and launching massive campaigns of propaganda in support of Trump. Barr also doesn’t seem concerned that Trump “used the apparatus” – not of the state – but of a foreign state “in a way that could affect the outcome of an election.’ This was evidently not a problem for Barr. In fact, he appears to think it’s commonplace and acceptable:

“Presidential campaigns are frequently in contact with foreign persons. And indeed, in most campaigns there are signs of illegal foreign money coming in.”

WHAT? That’s not only false, it’s insane. No campaign professional would agree that such contact occurs “frequently,” if ever. And if Barr has proof that “most campaigns” are receiving “illegal foreign money,” why on Earth isn’t he prosecuting anyone?

He went on to falsely state that “there was and never has been any evidence of collusion” with Russia. In fact, the Mueller Report said that, while he could not unequivocally establish such collusion, there was actual evidence. Just not enough to indict. What’s more, Mueller affirmed that Trump “welcomed and encouraged” Russian interference in the 2016 election, and then sought to cover it up. That alone should warrant his impeachment.

On Tuesday morning Trump relaunched his attack on the FBI. This time against Christopher Wray, the FBI Director that Trump himself appointed. Wray’s offense was to affirm the findings of the independent Inspector General. The one Barr that is discrediting and publicly humiliating. Bill Barr is a disgrace to the office of Attorney General. He deserves to be impeached and removed from office every bit as much as Trump does. He is purposefully reorganizing the Justice Department as the defense team and PR operation for a corrupt president. And isn’t that Fox News’ job?

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


Trump’s Mental Disabilities Prevent Him from Understanding the Inspector General’s Report

Posted by on December 9, 2019 at 3:17 pm. 5 Comments :

On Monday the long-awaited report about the FBI’s Russia probe by the Inspector General of the Justice Department was released. Donald Trump, Republicans, and the vast right-wing conspiracy had been insisting for weeks that this report would provide damning proof that Democrats and the imaginary “Deep State” were conspiring to stage a “coup” against Trump.

Donald Trump, Deep State

Now, with the release of this report it’s clear that the hopes of the Trump cultists have been thoroughly dashed on the rocks of reality. The conclusions by Inspector General Michael Horowitz could not have been stated more plainly:

IG Report: We did not find documentary or testimonial evidence that political bias or improper motivation influenced the FBI’s decision to seek FISA authority.

Among the findings were key revelations that upend the Trump regime’s favorite fallacies. For instance, the FBI did not use the Steele dossier to open the Russia probe. Also, Peter Strzok and Lisa Page were not decision-makers. None of the hair-raising charges espoused by the wingnut set were upheld.

The report did identify a number of bureaucratic mistakes and flaws in the processes. But the bottom line was that none of these minor mishaps impacted the integrity or honesty of the work of the FBI and its senior officials, including Director James Comey, Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, or anyone else in the Bureau. The report unambiguously declares that the investigation of Trump campaign operatives was fully justified and that its conduct was free of partisan politics.

However, despite the clarity of the report, Trump offered up his own bizarre and delusional analysis when asked by reporters after the report was made public (video below):

Trump: The IG report just came out and I was just briefed on it and it’s a disgrace what’s happened with respect to the things that were done to our country. It should never again happen to another president. It is incredible, far worse than I would’ve ever thought possible and it’s an embarrassment to our country, its dishonest, it’s everything that a lot of people thought it would be, except far worse.

What report was he reading? There is no plausible way a person could utter that nonsense unless they were clinically insane or purposefully intended to deceive. For this report to be “far worse” than Trump “ever thought possible,” it would have to have uncovered evidence of something worse than treason, because that’s what Trump had called the Russia investigation in the past. There was, of course, nothing in the report that supported that hysterical take. Although, Trump did get affirmation from his Attorney Genuflect, Bill Barr, who said that “The Inspector General’s report now makes clear that the FBI launched an intrusive investigation of a U.S. presidential campaign on the thinnest of suspicions.” Which the IG Report most definitely didn’t do. Then Trump continued…

Trump: They fabricated evidence and they lied to the courts and they did all sorts of things to have it go their way and this was something we can never allow to have to happen again. The report actually, and especially when you look into the details of the report are far worse than anything I would’ve even imagined. What they were doing and what they would’ve done if I didn’t make a certain move, a certain move that was a very important move because it would’ve been even worse if that’s possible. And they might’ve been able to succeed, this was an overthrow of government, this was an attempted overthrow and a lot of people were in on it and they got caught, they got caught red-handed.

There is also no evidence of anyone fabricating evidence or lying to the court, as Trump is alleging. And naturally, he won’t provide any examples of such activity, because there aren’t any. Trump often speaks in vagaries to avoid having to support his preposterous assertions. Another example of that is his reference to a “very important move” that he says prevented even worse atrocities – for him. He’s talking about his firing of Comey, an action that should itself result in an Article of Impeachment for obstruction of justice.

Finally, Trump’s deranged claim that the Russia probe was “an attempted overthrow” of the government is both false and strikingly paranoid. He further claims that there were “a lot of people in on it” that he now says have been “caught red-handed.” Who the hell he’s talking about is a mystery. None of the people that Trump has been viciously slandering for the past couple of years has been charged with any crime, or even cited for administrative errors.

In short, the FBI has been fully exonerated by an independent Inspector General who was appointed by Trump. And Trump has been shown to be a malicious liar. His mental infirmity is still on display with crazy comments that amount to dubious declarations of victory. “I think,” Trump said, “I’m gonna put this down as one of our great achievements.” Really? That says something about what he regards as his other alleged “achievements.” Namely that they are all in his mind and only exist to fluff his super-sized, narcissistic ego.

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


Trump Unleashes a Wacky New Tweetstorm of Lies About Corruption in Ukraine

Posted by on December 8, 2019 at 11:07 am. 2 Comments :

The Republican Party is demonstrating an evermore eager determination to abandon principles and embrace the dishonesty and self-exaltation of Donald Trump. As his impeachment in the House nears, Trump has escalated his efforts to muddy the debate with proven falsehoods about his interactions with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Donald Trump, Toilet, Bathrobe

Trump has lately taken the position that the only thing he was interested in with regard to releasing military aid to Ukraine was the alleged corruption in their government. Never mind that the State Department had already affirmed that the concerns about corruption had been resolved and the aid was approved for disbursement. And forget the fact that Trump never even mentioned corruption in his phone calls with Zelensky. He spoke only about the mysterious DNC server and the Biden family. Which raises the question: If Trump believed that Ukraine was too corrupt to get aid funds, then why did he think they were capable of conducting an investigation of the Bidens?

There is no doubt that Trump engaged in an extortion plot to force Ukraine to join the Biden smear campaign or forfeit aid that they desperately needed to fight Russian aggression. Trump even admitted it on national TV. And yet, Trump continues to brazenly lie about his affairs with Zelensky.

During his regularly scheduled Sunday Morning Tweetstorm, Trump posted a flurry of tweets quoting Sen. Ted Cruz defending the President. And when you have to rely on Ted Cruz for your defense, let’s face it, you’ve already lost. Cruz was the target of numerous attacks by Trump, including allegations that he wasn’t eligible to be president because he was born in Canada, and that his father participated in the plot to assassinate John Kennedy, and even that his wife was ugly. Cruz responded by calling Trump a “pathological liar,” “utterly amoral,” “a narcissist at a level I don’t think this country’s ever seen” and “a serial philanderer.” That was then, this is now…

Suffice to say that none of that bears any resemblance to the truth. Democrats have never “admitted” that they can’t prove a crime. Quite the opposite. Extortion, bribery, obstruction of justice, campaign finance violations, and witness intimidation are all crimes. Not that any crime is necessary to warrant impeachment, but the fact is there are many that Trump violated.

What’s more, Cruz is reiterating the falsehood that Trump was concerned about corruption. And of course, he fails to provide any scrap of evidence of that. So instead, he employs the common GOP deflection of accusing the Bidens of crimes for which there has never been any proof. But the worst of what Cruz said was in this same interview on Meet the Press (video below). Host Chuck Todd asked him…

TODD: Do you believe Ukraine meddled in the American election in 2016?
CRUZ: I do! And I think there’s considerable evidence of that.
TODD: (Incredulously) You do?
[…]
TODD: Is it not possible that this president is capable of creating a false narrative about somebody in order to help him politically?
CRUZ: (Laughing) Except that’s not what happened. The President released the transcript of the phone call. You can read what was said on the phone call.
TODD: You, yourself thought the Biden part was troubling.
CRUZ: Chuck, let me point out a game that the media is playing.

Whereupon Cruz proceeded to avoid the question and change the subject. But he maintained his position that Ukraine had interfered with the 2016 election, a position not shared by any of the experts in the intelligence community. Cruz asserted that Ukraine’s interference consisted of a Ukrainian official writing a newspaper op-ed that was critical of Trump. That’s freedom of speech, not election interference. And it’s not remotely similar to Russia’s covert campaign of espionage, hacking, and a massive social media propaganda project.

Nevertheless, these are the arguments that Trump sought to focus on with multiple quote-tweets of Cruz. It exposes his desperation more than anything else. And while it’s obvious that Trump and his sycophantic surrogates are furiously trying to shift the subject to Joe Biden, none of that absolves Trump of guilt for the many crimes he has committed. So WTF is the point? Regardless of what happens with Biden, Trump still deserves to be impeached, removed from office and prosecuted.

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


Do Not Believe THEM! That is Trump’s Order to His Faithful Cult Followers About the Media

Posted by on December 7, 2019 at 5:00 pm. 5 Comments :

The messianic aspirations of Donald Trump continue to be displayed by Dear Leader on a daily basis. His reckless pronouncements of acceptable standards of obedience are made clear as he lashes out at any and all sources of criticism, particularly those that have the audacity to tell the truth about him.

Donald Trump Tyrant Dictator

In a recent tweet Trump made it clear that he opposes a common and necessary part of responsible and professional journalism. Unidentified sources are an indispensable part of collecting information that is being actively suppressed or misrepresented. They have been a factor in the uncovering of untold crimes and behavior that is improper and unethical on the part of public officials. And the information they have provided has been praised by members of both parties as well as law enforcement. But then we have Donald Trump…

This is a bizarre commandment issued by a person who is obviously consumed with anxiety and the fear of having his criminal behavior exposed. He is well aware of the criminal activities that he has engaged in and is frantic that others will learn the truths he is hiding. Consequently he has decreed that his subjects close their eyes and ears to reality and believe only what he tells them.

Notice that Trump isn’t merely suggesting that people take care to consider the veracity of what they see and hear. He is instructing them to “not believe ANY article or story you read or see that uses ‘anonymous sources.'” None of them, regardless of how accurate, well documented, and corroborated by named sources. He dictates that only stories with “an actual living name” are acceptable under his doctrine.

This is wrong on many levels. First of all, he’s not really referring to stories with “anonymous” (i.e. unknown) sources. He’s really talking about “unidentified” sources. These are sources whose identity is known to the reporters and editors, but who don’t want their identities to be made public for fear of retribution. In these cases the reporters have confirmed their credibility and suitably to provide information.

Furthermore, Trump’s assertion that “The Fake News Media makes up many ‘sources say’ stories,” is entirely unsubstantiated and as often as he has said it, he has never offered any proof. Trump just brazenly attaches this assertion to any story that he doesn’t like.

Often the unidentified sources that Trump is whining about are people in his own administration. In fact, the White House regularly holds officially, sanctioned anonymously sourced calls with reporters where they demand that the calls be attributed only to “senior administration officials.” And Trump himself routinely cites anonymous sources in his remarks to the press. He frequently prefaces his implausible comments to say that “people say…” or he asserts that “I’ve heard…” this or that nonsensical claim. He also tells stories about people without names who have come to him with ludicrous tales that coincidentally support some ridiculous position he’s taken.

A recent example includes his claim that unnamed “people” are telling him that they have to flush their toilets 10 or 15 times. Really? People who have the unique opportunity to talk to the President of the United States are telling him about their troubles in the bathroom? Setting aside that improbability, if anyone else were reporting this Trump would insist that they not be believed because the sources are not identified.

The Trump commandment that his disciples can “only accept information” under conditions that he deems fitting is just the latest demonstration that he is not leading a political party, but a cult. And as the cult leader, the only truths are those he deems acceptable. But what’s most frightening about this is that there are people who subscribe to this madness. And if Trump tells them not to believe any stories with anonymous sources, they will obey – unless they are his stories.

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