STOP THE PRESSES! Trump Says Russian Election Interference is ‘All a Big Hoax’ (Again?)

Posted by on July 22, 2018 at 6:03 pm. 1 Comments :

This roller coaster ride is really getting ridiculous. After a week of Donald Trump swerving in every direction at once he is now taking another sharp turn toward the sort of absurdity that usually accompanies acute mental decline or senility. However, in Trump’s case it’s just more evidence of a mind that is incapable of rational thought or honesty. It’s the cognitive processes of a malignant narcissist gone wild.

Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin

Remember when Trump held a news conference with Russian president Vladimir Putin and, responding to a question about whether Russia was interfering with American elections, he said “I don’t see any reason why it would be” Russia? And then, after he was deservedly raked over the coals for taking the word of our enemy over the that of our intelligence community, Trump back-flipped and said that he meant to say “wouldn’t” instead of “would”?

That was just last week. And in the aftermath of that public display of treason, Trump and his defenders in the right-wing media insisted that all along he has declared his commitment to the conclusions of the American intelligence agencies with jurisdiction over these matters. State TV (aka Fox News) even put together a little propaganda video to drive the point home. Although in their inept sycophancy they actually proved the opposite of their intention.

Well now Trump is back to calling all of the intelligence agencies that he so earnestly claimed to believe, liars. In a new tweet that was aimed at besmirching his arch nemesis, President Obama, he said that the claims of Russian election hacking were “all a big hoax.”

Poor Donald just can’t seem to hold a coherent thought in his cartoon brain for more than hour. His argument is now that Obama’s failure to do anything about Russia’s cyber attack is evidence that it never took place. So is Trump saying now that he actually meant he doesn’t see why it “would” be Russia in the first place? Is he arguing that Obama should have told him about the Russian interference that he says never happened? And the lame excuse that he meant “wouldn’t” was, as Trump might say, all a big hoax?

For the record, Obama did plenty when he found out about Russia’s hacking. He ordered new sanctions against Russia that included expelling thirty-five diplomats, restricting the activities of Russian intelligence services and their operatives, and closing two compounds used by Russians in the U.S. He also admonished Putin in no uncertain terms that this behavior would not be tolerated. Notice that he didn’t ask Putin whether or not he did it. Obama simply told him forthrightly to stop. And he would have done more, but was obstructed by Mitch McConnell and Republicans in Congress.

Also, Trump is lying when he says that Obama didn’t tell him about the hacking. Trump was personally informed of the election tampering by Obama administration national security officials. So now he’s denying that the disclosures he personally participated in took place. This is not a failure of memory. This a deliberate lie. We know this because he was reminded of it just four days ago by the New York Times.

The brazen and corrupt dishonesty of Donald Trump is on scale never before seen in American politics. And what’s even more frightening is that his glassy-eyed disciples will believe anything he says no matter how ludicrous and contradicted by demonstrable facts. Add to that the traitorous complicity of the Republican Party as whole and we have the makings of a constitutional crisis. The Congress needs to step up and hold Trump accountable. And the only solution at this late date is impeachment and removal from office. And if Congress won’t remove Trump, then the American people will remove Congress.

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 Alert: Donald Trump Works Really Hard at Putting the White House in Total Disarray

Posted by on July 22, 2018 at 10:50 am. 2 Comments :

Well, the rat is out of the bag. We finally have confirmation that Donald Trump’s White House is a swirling pit of ineptitude, staffed by morons who don’t know what the hell is going on. What’s more, they’re proud of it and they think it proves that they are dedicated overachievers. And these revelations are not insults thrown by partisan lefties. They’re straight from the horse’s ass: Fox News.

Jeanine Pirro Fox News

On Saturday’s episode of Justice with Judge Jeanine Pirro the “judge” hosted former Arkansas governor/Christianist minister, Mike Huckabee. In the course of their discussion, that was predictably bashing liberals, Huckabee decided to unveil some truths that are usually kept behind the dark curtain of rabid conservatism (video below). He said that:

“Here’s what I think people don’t understand about Donald Trump: he doesn’t sleep a lot, he works harder than anybody I’ve ever seen, he has so much going on that even his own staff cannot keep up with all that’s going on.

“I used to have a chief of staff and she would often say ‘If I know everything that’s going on, there’s not enough going on.’ Well let me assure you, in the Trump White House there is nobody that knows everything that’s going on because nobody can keep up with that much stuff.”

Is he kidding? This is Huckabee’s assessment of the laziest man in Washington. Trump has played golf for about a third of his presidency. He doesn’t attend or read his presidential daily briefings unless they have pictures or happy news about him. He refuses to prepare for critical events like summits with Kim Jong Un or Vladimir Putin. He holds meaningless photo-ops with his cabinet and for bill signings. He never seems to know about the corruption of his own senior staff. He wastes time traveling to friendly red states to hold ego-fluffing rallies. And he spends countless hours (his “Executive Time”) watching cable news. Mostly Fox News, of course, where he gets his intelligence reports, political strategies, policy updates from Sean Hannity.

What’s more, if it’s true that nobody knows what’s going on, then that only exposes the White House as incompetent and unable to fulfill its mission to serve the people. It also means that Huckabee’s own daughter, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, is one of those who doesn’t know what’s going on. So how the hell can she inform the press of the administration’s activities? Not that she ever has any intention to.

We should probably be thankful to Huckabee for his candid assessment of a White House in disarray. That’s been painfully obvious to any conscientious observer, but we don’t often hear Trump’s insiders admitting it. Another word for not knowing what’s going is “ignorance.” And the ignorance of Trump’s staff is clearly not due to Trump’s allegedly dynamic schedule. It’s due to his own inability to comprehend the complexities of his job and his deliberate efforts to withhold pertinent information from more intelligent and experienced professionals. And that’s at least partly due to the need to keep his financial corruption and collusion with foreign enemies secret.

Much of Saturday’s program was consumed by Pirro whining about incivility in politics. That’s rich coming from perhaps the most vitriolic screecher on television. Pirro has been barking out contemptuous scorn at President Obama, Hillary Clinton, and every other left-of-center American for years. Just last week she complained about being “treated like a dog” by Whoopi Goldberg on The View. But she conveniently forget to mention that she called the whole cast of the show an epithet that rhymes with “sock cucker.” And then she has the nerve to say that:

“The level of hatred toward the 45th president of the United States is beyond anything we’ve seen in American history…Now Donald Trump is the target of vitriol so papable it’s simply frighten…It’s almost impossible to have a rational discussion that doesn’t turn into a food fight.”

Let’s just set aside that she appears to be drunk (“so papable it’s simply frighten”?) Her contention that Trump has been the victim of more vitriol than any other president is ludicrous. Barack Obama, who was accused of being the founder of ISIS and the Kenyan-born spawn of Satan, might have something to say about that. Or maybe John Kennedy or Abraham Lincoln, whose lives were cut short by rather vitriolic assassins.

Pirro had some help from her another guest on the program who was equally delusional about who in America is uncivil. Trump’s senior counsel, Kellyanne Conway showed up to assert that Trump “is a president who believes that diplomacy and conversation is better than hostility and conflict.” Seriously? The president who encouraged his supporters to assault protesters and opffered to pay their legal fees; who has disparaging and infantile nicknames for every opponent; and who goads unstable tyrants into nuclear confrontations? That president believes in diplomacy?

At least Pirro had a brief moment of self-awareness in the opning paragraphs of her new book, Liars, Leakers, and Liberals: The Case Against the Anti-Trump Conspiracy. She writes that “We know what the liberal media think of Trump voters: They’re deplorables, idiots, rednecks, and people who cling to God, guns, and religion. To those charges, I plead guilty–guilty and proud!” So Pirro is guilty, even proud, of being a deplorable, idiot, redneck. That explains a lot.

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


Fox News Ignored the Michael Cohen Tape Until Trump Freaked Out About it on Twitter

Posted by on July 21, 2018 at 1:13 pm. NO Comments :

The presidency of Donald Trump has been a constant challenge for the press to keep up with his outrages, crimes, and embarrassments. The news cycle has been flooded with mostly non-newsworthy distractions that nevertheless need to be covered just to document them for the record. And then, of course, there are the legitimate stories that reveal Trump’s penchant for breaches of ethics or the law, his ignorance of the job he’s supposed to be doing, and the corrupt swampiness of his administration.

Fox News

While most of the media struggles with this unprecedented journalistic dilemma, Fox News has a much easier go of it. They can just neglect to report on any event that reflects badly on the President (pretty much all of them), or invoke “whataboutism” in order to misdirect their glassy-eyed viewers with mentions of President Obama or Hillary Clinton’s emails. And that’s the approach that Fox took with Friday’s breaking news about Trump lawyer, Michael Cohen.

It was reported that Cohen had secretly recorded conversations between himself and his main client, Donald Trump. Those recordings included discussions about how to handle hush money being paid to another one of Trump’s mistresses, Playboy model Karen McDougal. The story has repercussions that extend to exposing Trump’s prior lies denying the affair, and possible campaign finance violations. The mere existence of these tapes raise speculation about what other tapes might turn up, including, perhaps, discussions about Russia aiding and abetting Trump’s campaign.

Naturally, Fox News went to great lengths to avoid any airing of these matters. It’s a blockbuster story that Fox was content to sweep under the rug. They spent a grand total of twenty-one seconds on it during Friday’s primetime programs that feature devoted Trump-fluffers Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, and Sean Hannity. And they would likely have left it at that had not Trump himself escalated the issue with a manic tweet on Saturday morning:

What’s “inconceivable” is how much Trump can lie in the space of 240 characters. First of all, the government did not “break into” his lawyer’s office. they were executing a judicially authorized search warrant. Cohen himself described the FBI agents as “extremely professional, courteous and respectful.” Secondly, it is not “unheard of” for a lawyer to record conversations with a client or other persons while representing a client. It is unusual for those recordings to become public, but that only occurs when there is a criminal investigation in progress where they become evidence. Third, it is entirely legal in the state of New York to record a conversation as long as at least one person in the recording grants permission. In this case that’s Cohen.

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

Finally, the most absurd part of this masterfully absurd tweet is Trump’s conclusion that “The good news is that your favorite President did nothing wrong!” Anyone with a functioning brain stem knows that Trump does virtually everything wrong. But his claim to be our favorite president is laughable. For that to be true he must be talking to only himself and maybe Ivanka. Maybe. But looked at another way, the statement might actually be true. America’s favorite president, according recent polling, really didn’t do anything wrong. Thanks, Obama.

Barack Obama, Favorite


Was Trump Jr.’s Lover, Kimberly Guilfoyle, Forced Out of Her Fox News Hosting Gig?

Posted by on July 20, 2018 at 3:32 pm. 6 Comments :

A couple of months ago, and only a few weeks after he left his wife and five children, Don Trump Jr. went public about his red-hot romance with Kimberly Guilfoyle, a co-host of Fox News’ The Five. The announcement presented an obvious ethical conflict by having an alleged news commentator in a relationship with the son of the President, the most covered subject in the news. Not that Fox News ever cared about journalistic ethics. Most of their commentators, hosts, and guests are openly deferential to Donald Trump, if not outright advocates (see Sean Hannity).

Kimberly Guilfoyle, Don Trump Jr

On Friday it was revealed that Guilfoyle will no longer be fluffing for daddy Trump on Fox News. There was no reason given for the separation. Neither Guilfoyle nor Trump Jr has commented as of the time of this writing. However, it is believed that she will be going to work for the pro-Trump Super PAC, America First. The only comment by Fox News was a one line farewell that said they had “parted ways.” No mention of her twelve years of service to the network, or her legal analyses, or her hosting duties. And no well wishes for her future endeavors.

Which raises questions about whether Guilfoyle voluntarily left Fox to go on the campaign trail with her boyfriend, or if Fox News had pangs of guilt over employing the paramour of the President’s progeny. Yashir Ali of the Huffington Post is reporting that there are three sources saying that she did not leave voluntarily.

UPDATE: In addition to the foregoing, there are also reports that Guilfoyle was terminated due to sexual misconduct that “included showing personal photographs of male genitalia to colleagues”

Regardless of the circumstances of her departure, it really won’t create any waves in the flow of the political universe by having a Fox News Trump flunky essentially transferring to a different division of the Trump PR enterprise. The Trump administration and Fox News are, after all, two legs of the same beast. Guilfoyle will continue doing what she has in the past, but without her own seat on the set in the Fox studio. She will even likely continue to appear on Fox News as a surrogate for her lover’s father. And she’ll be interviewed by her former colleagues in a mockery of what journalism is supposed to be. In the end, she is just another Fox Newser who has been sucked into the Trump orbit, and she can be relied upon to obediently exalt Dear Leader, just as she always has.

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


WTF? Fox News Host Suggests Trump Traded Election Tampering in Secret Deal with Putin

Posted by on July 20, 2018 at 11:21 am. NO Comments :

When Donald Trump met with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki he prohibited any media coverage of their discussion. Consequently, the American people have been left in the dark about what he did and said with the Russian dictator he is so clearly infatuated with. We know only what he said in the post-summit press conference, which is mainly that he trusts Putin more than he trusts his own intelligence agencies.

Fox News Steve Doocy

In the days that followed the meeting Fox News has been feverishly trying to mop up Trump’s mess with ludicrous excuses and irrational defenses. They even aired a flagrant propaganda video that was so inept it actually confirmed that Trump is a liar. They really didn’t need to work so hard at Trump’s absolution considering that his followers are blindly loyal cultists who are incapable of thinking anything Trump does is bad.

On Friday morning Fox News floated a new theory about Trump’s omnipotent brilliance and dominance over Putin. The “Curvy Couch” potatoes of Fox and Friends were engaged in their daily Trump-fluffing when co-host Steve Doocy unveiled how he thinks Trump outsmarted his BFF Vladimir (video below):

“What will be very interesting is if the President sat down with Putin and they had that private meeting on Monday of two hours. Nobody knows what they said, except the translator, who everybody on Capitol Hill and the political left would love to talk to.”

For the record, not everybody on Capitol Hill wants to talk to the translator. Democrats made a proposal to subpoena her, but Republicans voted it down. These are the same Republicans who are threatening to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein for not turning over vol;umes of documents in the name of transparency. But I digress. Back to Doocy:

“None the less, it will be interesting if the President said to him, ‘Vladimir, you’ve gotta stop it. You’ve gotta stop with the meddling.’ If he said that on Monday to him and then he shows up, let’s say mid-October, before the midterms, and it’s still going on, what do you think the President would say then?

“He’d say ‘Look, I thought we had a deal here. I thought you were gonna stop it.’ So it looks like, if that were true, the President would have a little chip to play against Mr. Putin. ‘Look, you’re not doing it? I’m not gonna go along with the Ukraine, Israel, Syria, the plans we had made, maybe not so fast.'”

Doocy is suggesting that Trump used election tampering as a condition for agreement to a larger deal. Is he friggin’ kidding? The only consideration with regard to Russia interfering with American democracy is that it is unacceptable, intolerable, and that it must not occur under any conditions. Period. It is not a “chip” to be played in some diplomatic game. The only thing that a responsible president would say is “Stop it now or there will be serious consequences.” Also, how could Putin agree to to stop tampering with our election when he insists that he isn’t doing it?

And as if it isn’t bad enough to reduce the sanctity of our democracy to dealmaking with murderous tyrants, Doocy’s speculation also suggested that, in exchange for leaving our elections alone, Trump would put the status of international crises in Ukraine, Israel, and Syria up for grabs. Everything is apparently fodder in the “Art of the Deal” presidency (a book that Trump didn’t actually write). The welfare of millions of people, including long-time allies, can just be traded away for hollow promises from known liars.

This is just the sort of thing that makes testimony from the translator all the more necessary. And it reinforces the need to prevent Trump from engaging in these affairs behind closed doors where his ignorance and deceit can be exploited and/or concealed. The proposed second meeting with Putin that Trump is seeking should be canceled, or at least chaperoned by reputable adults. Because if Fox News hosts are speculating, in favorable terms, that Trump might trade away America’s democratic security for the welfare of innocent people, then truly any horror you can imagine is possible.

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


Bad Propaganda: Trump Tweets Fox News Clip Showing He Lied About Russian Election Hacking

Posted by on July 19, 2018 at 2:24 pm. NO Comments :

In one of the worst weeks for Donald Trump since his election (aren’t they all?) Fox News is once again fulfilling their mission to shield him from any and all criticism. It doesn’t matter to them that Trump has explicitly taken the side of Russia, a nation with hostile intentions toward the United States, and denigrated our intelligence community as having less credibility to him than Vladimir Putin. The only thing that matters is that they advance their propaganda effort on behalf of the White House at all costs.

Donald Trump, Russia Meddling

The only problem is that sometimes they are not very good at it. Case in point: On Thursday morning Trump’s favorite Fox News program, Fox and Friends, compiled a little video montage that they intended to serve as proof that the President “recognized Russian meddling many times.” Well, everyone recognized it. But Trump seems to have requested it. Never mind that he has repeatedly refused to affirm Russia’s sole culpability for an extensive campaign of cyber espionage aimed at helping Trump’s candidacy and hurting Hillary Clinton’s. Every intelligence agency with jurisdiction over these matters has come to the same conclusion: it was Russia, and only Russia. And it was ordered personally by Vladimir Putin. What’s more, despite Trump’s weakness on standing up for American interests, he is now known to been fully briefed on Russia’s activities before he was even inaugurated. So he has been bald-faced lying ever since.

Trump embarrassed himself, and all of America, at his meeting with Putin. By stating again that he didn’t see why Russia would have engaged in election hacking, he confirmed where his loyalties lie. He tried to walk back those comments the next day, but no one was buying it. Coming to the rescue now are the “Curvy Couch” potatoes of Fox and Friends. They put together this video of Trump’s remarks that they thought would neutralize the criticism that was overwhelming the White House:

Really? There are three separate clips edited together in that video, and everyone one of them shows that Trump is a liar. In all three he failed to hold Russia accountable for the cyber attacks by interjecting that it might have been someone else and not Russia at all. He said that:

“As far as hacking, I think it was Russia. But I think we also get hacked by other countries and other people.” […and…]

“Well I think it was Russia. And I think it could have been other people in other countries. It could have been a lot of people interfered…I think it was Russia, but I think it was probably other people and/or countries…It was Russia, and I think it was probably others also.” […and…]

“Well, the Russians had no impact on our votes whatsoever. But certainly there was meddling. But probably there was meddling from other countries and maybe other individuals.”

In other words, Trump thinks that it was Russia, except that he also thinks it probably wasn’t. What could be more clear? Snark aside, how can Fox and Trump actually think that this video corrects his abhorrent comments acquitting Putin of all guilt for election hacking? It literally affirms Trump’s belief that Putin is innocent. Fox News is undoubtedly proud of this propaganda clip. Especially after seeing that Trump himself found it so persuasive that he tweeted it to his millions of Deplorable disciples (who will view it as total vindication). It was only one tweet in a flurry that also castigated the “fake news media” as “going crazy,” “wanting war,” and, as always, being “the real enemy of the people.” That’s the overarching theme of the Trump presidency. He regards murderous dictators like Putin and Kim Jong Un as strong leaders whose friendship he craves. But Americans carrying out their journalistic duties as defined in the Constitution are “the real enemy.”

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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Robo-Trump Issues Mindlessly Identical Endorsements of Glassy-Eyed Stepford Republicans

Posted by on July 19, 2018 at 10:19 am. NO Comments :

It’s less than four months until election day. These midterms may be among the most consequential in history. The current Republican Party is worse than ineffective. They are knowingly complicit with a president who openly favors America’s enemies over the patriots who put their lives on the line in her defense. They are enabling Donald Trump’s assault on democracy and the Constitution.

Donald Trump robo-endorsements

As we approach the November election, Trump is participating in the process in a manner that is unprecedented. He literally declared his candidacy for reelection within days of his inauguration. And he hasn’t stopped campaigning in the seventeen months he’s been in office. His rallies, staged in safe GOP strongholds, are pits of hostility and aggression toward fellow Americans. Not to mention the media that he castigates in Stalinist terms as “the enemy of the people.”

However, Trump is electioneering in another way that is more consistent with his twitsted persona. He regularly tweets out endorsements of GOP candidates that have kissed his – let’s say ring – even during Republican primaries. But there is something oddly familiar in these tweet-dorsements. They all seem like they were written by a computer programmed to spout cliched Republican talking points. For instance:

  • “Kevin has been strong on Crime, the Border, the 2nd Amendment, and he loves our Military and Vets.”
  • “Brian is tough on crime, strong on the border and illegal immigration. He loves our Military and our Vets and protects our Second Amendment.”
  • Matt Gaetz is…”Strong on Crime, the Border, Illegal Immigration, the 2nd Amendment, our great Military & Vets”
  • Kevin Cramer is…”tough on crime, strong on borders, loves our Military, and our Vets”
  • Clay Higginsis…”fighting for Border Security, our Military and are Vets. He is tough on Crime”
  • Ron DeSantis…”is strong on Borders, tough on Crime & big on Cutting Taxes – Loves our Military & our Vets”
  • Henry McMaster…”is tough on Crime and strong on Borders, Health Care, the Mititary and our great Vets”
  • “Donovan, who is strong on Borders & Crime, loves our Military & our Vets, voted for Tax Cuts”
  • Asa Hutchinson is for…”lower taxes, border security, and crime prevention. Asa loves our military and our veterans”
  • Marsha Blackburn is…”Great on the Military, Border Security and Crime.”
  • Rick Saccone is…”tough on crime & border. Loves 2nd A & VETS”
  • LATE ADDITIONS:
  • Brian Kemp … is tough on crime, strong on the border and illegal immigration. He loves our Military and our Vets and protects our Second Amendment.
  • John James is strong on crime and borders, loves our Military, our Vets and our Second Amendment.
  • Troy_Balderson of Ohio is … strong on crime and borders, loves our Military, our Vets and our Second Amendment.
  • David Kustoff … is strong on crime and borders, loves our Military, Vets and Second Amendment.
  • Go VOTE TODAY for Foster Friess – He will be a fantastic Governor! Strong on Crime, Borders & 2nd Amendment. Loves our Military & our Vets. He has my complete and total Endorsement!
  • Rick Scott of Florida is doing a fantastic job as Governor. … He is strong on Crime, Borders, and loves our Military and Vets. Vote for Rick on Tuesday!
  • Governor Doug Ducey of Arizona is doing a great job. … Doug is strong on Crime, the Border, and our Second Amendment. Loves our Military & our Vets.
  • Martha McSally is an extraordinary woman. … She is Strong on Crime, the Border and our under siege 2nd Amendment. Loves our Military and our Vets.
  • …Mike Braun, a very successful businessman who is campaigning to be Indiana’s next U.S. Senator. He is strong on Crime & Borders, the 2nd Amendment, and loves our Military & Vets. Will be a big night!
  • Kevin Stitt … is strong on Crime & Borders, the 2nd Amendment, & loves our Military & Vets. He has my complete and total Endorsement!
  • Paul Cook … loves and supports our Military and Vets. He is Strong on Crime, the Border, and supported Tax Cuts.
  • Matt Rosendale … is strong on Crime, the Borders, & will save your Second Amendment from the onslaught. Loves our Military & Vets!
  • Dave Hughes is … strong on Crime, the Border, our 2nd Amendmen, Trade, Military and Vets.
  • @JayWebberNJ is running for Congress in the 11th District of New Jersey. He is outstanding in every way. Strong on Borders, loves our Military and our Vets. Big Crime fighter. Jay has my Full and Total Endorsement!
  • Senator Hyde-Smith, who has a very important Election on Tuesday. She is an outstanding person who is strong on the Border, Crime, Military, our great Vets, Healthcare & the 2nd A. Needed in D.C.
  • Senator John Cornyn has done an outstanding job for the people of Texas. He is strong on Crime, the Border, the Second Amendment and loves our Military and Vets. John has my complete and total endorsement.
  • Fred Keller of the Great State of Pennsylvania has been an outstanding State Rep … Strong on Crime, Second Amendment, Military, Vets
  • Dan Bishop is strong on Crime, Loves our Military, Vets, 2A, and great Healthcare. He has my Complete and Total Endorsement!
  • Martha (McSally) is strong on Crime and Borders, the 2nd Amendment, and loves our Military and Vets. She has my Complete and Total Endorsement!
  • Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina has really stepped up to the plate. Thom is tough on Crime, Strong on the Border and fights hard against Illegal Immigration. He loves our Military, our Vets and our great Second Amendment. I give Thom my Full and Total Endorsement!
  • Greg [Murphy] is tough on Crime, Borders, and loves our Second Amendment, our Military and our Vets. He has my Complete and Total Endorsement!
  • Daniel Cameron is tough on Crime, Strong on Borders, and will fight for our Second Amendment. Daniel will never let you down. He has my Full and Complete Endorsement!
  • Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith is…tough on Crime, Strong on the Border and Illegal Immigration…She loves our Military and our Vets and protects our Second Amendment. Cindy has my Full and Total Endorsement! #MAGA
  • Senator Jim Risch of the Great State of Idaho has been an incredible supporter of our Agenda! He is tough on Crime, Strong on Borders, and will continue to fight for our Second Amendment.
  • SenCoryGardner has done a fantastic job representing the people of Colorado. He really knows how to win. Strong on Crime, Borders & the 2nd A, Cory fights hard for our Military & Vets.
  • Senator Ben Sasse … is great with our Vets, the Military, and your very important Second Amendment. Strong on Crime and the Border, Ben has my Complete and Total Endorsement!

    • Governor

  • Matt Bevin … continues to protect your very important Second Amendment. Matt is Strong on Crime and the Border, he Loves our Great Vets and Military. Matt has my Complete and Total Endorsement.
  • Tate Reeves … is strong on Crime, tough on Illegal Immigration, and will protect your Second Amendment.

Someone needs to fix that broken playback loop. All of these candidates seem like they are the same person. They will surely behave in identical, lock-step obedience to Dear Leader. Trump sounds like he can’t express an original thought. He certainly can’t assess the candidates he’s backing in any intelligent way. He doesn’t know most of them, and his endorsement is a purely partisan effort to pack Congress with mindless sycophants who will nod and applaud everything he says. Hence the mindless, repetitive nature of his endorsements.

For Americans who are truly concerned about having a treasonous Putin lapdog in the Oval office, it is imperative that we exhaust every bit of our energy and determination to get to the polls and vote in November. The welfare of our nation depends on it. Republicans cannot be trusted to do the right thing, or to hold Trump accountable for his criminal actions. This is serious. Be sure to vote and to get as many people as you can to vote as well. Vote like your life depends on it. Because it does.

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


OH REALLY? Trump Holds Putin Responsible for Election Meddling, And Himself for What Happens in U.S.

Posted by on July 18, 2018 at 5:20 pm. NO Comments :

Donald Trump was interviewed by Jeff Glor of CBS News on Wednesday afternoon. It’s gotten to the point where it is almost irrelevant when Trump says things in any public forum due to the increasing frequency of his lies and deliberate attempts to disseminate disinformation. But when he ventures out from the safety of his Fox News cocoon or his Twitter feed, we may want to pay a little attention.

Donald Trump

There wasn’t much news made during this interview. But Trump is frantically trying to do some damage control following his disastrous flop in Helsinki with Vladimir Putin. His first efforts to walk back the overtly treasonous statements he made failed miserably. So he’s spreading it even thicker now. When Glor asked Trump directly, “Do you hold [Putin] personally responsible” for the 2016 election hacking, Trump replied (video below):

“Yeah, I would because he’s in charge of the country. Just like I consider myself to be responsible for things that happen in this country. So certainly, as the leader of a country, you would have to hold him responsible. “

Oh really? Does that mean that Trump holds himself responsible for the 2,000+ children who were ripped from their parents arms, frightened and crying? Does he hold himself responsible for not being able to reunite those families now, and not even knowing where some of the children are? How about the opioid epidemic? Is he responsible for its growth and the lack of suitable care? And speaking of care, does Trump take responsibility for having sabotaged ObamaCare, putting millions of American lives at risk?

Is Trump going to take responsibility for the jobs lost because companies like Harley Davidson and BMW are moving their operations out of the U.S. because of Trump’s trade wars? Will he fess up to being responsible for the trillion deficits that are coming due to his tax “reform?” And while he’s at it, he might take some of the blame for stocking the Washington swamp with low life cretins like Scott Pruitt, Tom Price, Ryan Zinke, Betsy DeVos, etc.

Don’t hold your breath waiting for Trump to actually live up to his claims of being a responsible head of state. He has distinguished himself as the biggest whiner to ever occupy the Oval Office. He actually bragged about it. He blames shamelessly everyone else for his screw-ups while exalting himself as the Second Coming of the Messiah. Glor also asked Trump if he thought Putin lied to him, since Putin denies interfering with our election. Trump said that he “didn’t want to get into” whether or not Putin lied. Isn’t that sweet? He doesn’t want to hurt Vlad’s feelings. How’s that for taking responsibility?

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


GOP Deplorables Still Don’t Believe Russia Hacked the Election Even After Trump Said They Did

Posted by on July 18, 2018 at 1:17 pm. 1 Comments :

On Wednesday morning Donald Trump was asked if Russia is still targeting U.S. elections with the intent of influencing future outcomes. He responded with a categorical “No.” That, of course, contradicts his Director of National Intelligence, Dan Coats, who said Monday that Russia is still engaging in “ongoing, pervasive efforts to undermine our democracy.” That’s Trump dismissing the intelligence community that he said on Tuesday has his “full faith and support.”

Donald Trump Voter Symptom

With support like that the intelligence community might as well just lay down in front of the bus and grit their teeth. There appears to be no principle that Trump is not willing to subvert, even within hours of having asserted it. That must make it very hard for his supporters to know what the heck they are supposed to believe. Ordinarily, cult leaders like Trump stake out definitive positions that their disciples can latch onto and recite in unison at rallies. “Lock her up” and “build the wall” are effective examples of that. But there is no such chantable slogan about the Russia affair.

In the meantime, Trump’s base (and I do mean base) is proving to be even more delusional than Trump himself. In a new Reuters/Ipsos poll, Republicans are siding with Vladimir Putin against American intelligence assessments with regard to whether Russia interfered with the 2016 election:

“A majority of registered voters, 59 percent, agree with the conclusions of U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia attempted to influence the U.S. election, the Reuters/Ipsos poll found. But only 32 percent of Republicans think that is true compared to 84 percent of Democrats.”

So only a third of the Republicans in this survey agree with the U.S. government agencies that study this matter in their role as defenders of the nation. But what’s even more surprising is that only a third of Republicans agree with Donald Trump, who now says that he agrees with the intelligence community.

To be fair, the Republican electorate can’t possibly know what they are supposed to believe. Trump changes his position almost hourly. So they aren’t getting the sort of cues that cult members are accustomed to. And lord knows that aren’t capable of thinking for themselves. That leaves them scattering like frantic ants whose Capitol Hill has been washed away.

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

And that’s why Trump’s followers are infinitely more dangerous than Trump. He is one person who can (hopefully) be brought to justice and effectively neutralized. But his minions are less manageable and more unpredictable. They include NRA-theists and militias who are convinced of the existence of a “deep state” cabal determined to take their guns and throw them into gay-run, liberal, re-education camps. And they will align with any entity that strokes their egos and affirms their paranoid delusions. Especially if it features the sort of totalitarian control that makes them feel so cozy and pampered and safe. Which explains their affinity for Putin and Kim Jong Un – and Donald Trump.


Trump Today: Would Be Russia, Wouldn’t Be Russia, Let’s Call the Whole Thing Treason

Posted by on July 17, 2018 at 2:02 pm. NO Comments :

Donald Trump held a brief press avail during a meeting with congressional Republicans on Tuesday afternoon. And he took the opportunity to attempt some damage control for what he did Monday when he blatantly sided with Vladimir Putin. But his explanation was one of the lamest walk-backs ever.

Donald Trump Vladimir Putin

Trump’s adventures in damage control began with the false assertion that he has always supported the intelligence community. That is contradicted by dozens of statements over the past several months that explicitly reject their assessment of Russia’s election tampering and hacking.

“I’ll begin by saying that I have full faith and support for America’s great intelligence agencies. Always have. And I have felt very strongly that, while Russia’s actions had no impact at all on the outcome of the election, let me be totally clear in saying that – and I’ve said this many times – that I accept our intelligence community’s conclusions that Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election took place. Could be other people also. A lot of people out there.”

First of all, Trump said that he now accepts the intelligence community’s conclusions. But in the same sentence he continues to latch onto the nonsense that there “could be other people.” That’s not the conclusion of the intelligence community. That’s Trump’s way of avoiding a full denouncement of his Russian handler, Vladimir Putin. He’s leaving Putin some wiggle room. But according to every U.S. agency with jurisdiction there was only one country that unlawfully attacked us during the 2016 presidential election.

Then Trump went into an explanation wherein he said that he was confused as to what the big deal was following the press conference. So he said that he got a transcript and discovered that he misspoke on a single word. And therefore, he wanted to make a clarification that he thought should have been obvious:

“In a key sentence in my remarks, I said the word ‘would’ instead of ‘wouldn’t.’ The sentence should have been ‘I don’t see any reason why it WOULDN’T be Russia.’ … Sort of a double negative. So you can put that in, and I think that probably clarifies things pretty good by itself.”

Trump’s claim that he misspoke when he said “would” is wholly unbelievable. Not only does it not change the context of his original remarks, it ignores the entirety of what he said Monday that he left uncorrected. His extensive comments during the Putin-Trump press conference were filled with references that steered culpability away from Russia. And changing one word leaves the rest of his treasonous comments unchanged and in effect. It doesn’t alter his stated opinion that “President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today.”

In addition to those pitiful pseudo-retractions, Trump once again went off about collusion, which he said there was none of, and that all the voices in his head agree with him. Then he launched another of his famous “Blame Obama” tirades where in he also lashed out at John Brennan and James Clapper – you know, intelligence officials – who Trump said were profiting from TV appearances. He accused them all of “burying” the election hacking story. Never mind that the Obama administration actually reacted appropriately, expelling dozens of Russian operatives, throwing them out of two compounds, and restricting visas for many more Russians not currently in the U.S. He would have done more, but GOP Sen. Mitch McConnell wouldn’t cooperate.

Finally, why would anyone believe Trump at this point? He doesn’t even believe himself. He had to read the whole statement from prepared remarks he was probably forced to make. And he stuttered through it like he had never seen it before. At one point he said that his administration would “repeal” Russia’s efforts to interfere with our upcoming elections. He meant “repel,” but pretended that he meant both.

What’s more, Trump’s original statement was so egregiously offensive that it produced immediate scorn from across the political spectrum. He would have known instantaneously that he made a terrible mistake, if it were a mistake. He had plenty of opportunities to issue a correction. He could have told Hannity during the interview he gave right after the Putin tryst. He could have used his preferred method of communications by tweeting a correction. His press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who did reply to the commotion his comments made, might have told reporters then that he misspoke.

But none of those things were done. And twenty-four later he reads a ridiculous, alleged “clarification” that didn’t even alter the meaning of comment. Saying “I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be Russia,” is not the same as saying “Russia did it, and they better not do it again.” In the end, Trump’s absurd excuse changed nothing at all, and his un-American actions are just as repugnant today as they were yesterday – and the days, weeks, and months before that.

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