Trump’s Preposterous ‘Peace Presidency’ Post Exposes the Depths of His Delusion

Posted by Mark NC on May 11, 2021 at 4:50 pm. 2 Comments :

At this point nobody should be surprised by Donald Trump’s relentless tsunami of lies. After racking up an insurmountable record of more than 30,000 false statements in four years, Trump continued to pour out flagrant falsehoods for months propounding his “Big Lie” that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him.

Nevertheless, the audacity with which he dishes out deceit is astounding. On Tuesday he put out a statement on his spanking new alternative social media site about the escalating violence between Israel and Gaza. Naturally, the comment served to advance the only things that are ever important to Trump: exalting himself and maligning his foes, particularly President Joe Biden. Trump wrote that…

“When I was in office we were known as the Peace Presidency, because Israel’s adversaries knew that the United States stood strongly with Israel and there would be swift retribution if Israel was attacked. Under Biden, the world is getting more violent and more unstable because Biden’s weakness and lack of support for Israel is leading to new attacks on our allies. America must always stand with Israel and make clear that the Palestinians must end the violence, terror, and rocket attacks, and make clear that the U.S. will always strongly support Israel’s right to defend itself. Unbelievably, Democrats also continue to stand by crazed anti-American Rep. Ilhan Omar, and others, who savagely attack Israel while they are under terrorist assault.”

The “Peace Presidency”? Really? The same one that incited a deadly insurrection in Washington, D.C., in order to prevent the peaceful transfer of power after his humiliating loss to Biden? You can hardly make a claim to peace after you tried to overthrow the U.S. government and threatened the lives of the people’s representatives in Congress.

However, more to his point, Trump appears to be suffering from a severe cognitive disorder. His criticism that “the world is getting more violent and more unstable because [of] Biden’s weakness” has no basis in reality. And Trump didn’t even bother to substantiate it. He simply lashed out with a hollow fury that proved only how deranged he is. And of course, he closed with a racist assault on Rep. Omar.

As for Trump’s tribute to his imaginary deterrence of Israel’s adversaries, his recollection is pitifully flawed. He implies that a threat of “swift retribution” kept the enemy at bay. But the truth is that there were numerous attacks on Israel throughout Trump’s term in office. Just last year…

February 6, 2020: “14 Israeli soldiers and cops wounded in attacks by Palestinian assailants, two Palestinian policemen killed by IDF, several clashes erupt amid tensions tied to Trump peace plan.”

And then there was…

September 15, 2020: “Palestinian militants fired rockets from Gaza into Israel on Tuesday, the Israeli military said, at same time as Israel and two Gulf Arab states signed normalization agreements at the White House in Washington.

“Warning sirens sounded in the coastal cities of Ashkelon and Ashdod as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump met the foreign ministers of United Arab Emirates and Bahrain at the White House.”

In fact, there were multiple attacks on Israel by Palestinians militants every year of Trump’s presidency. And he did nothing in response. He often didn’t even comment, even though some of the violence was triggered by his actions, such as moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem.

When Trump did comment, it was always to condemn the Palestinians, even if their violence was in response to Israeli aggression. That is not how an effective diplomat deescalates conflict and brings warring factions together. To the contrary, it deepens the resolve of combatants.

Trump’s self-serving tribute for a “peace presidency” that only exists in his diseased mind is typical for someone with his psychotic maladies. And he’s determined to get others to believe his delusions. That’s just as evident in this comment on Israel as it is his promulgations of the “Big Lie,” or the size of his crowds, or length of his border wall, or value of his wealth, or any of the other myriad untruths he’s told.

NOTE: Twitter recently suspended the News Corpse account after 11 years without giving a reason. So if anyone wants to tweet articles from my website, please feel free to do so often and repeatedly. Also, Be sure to visit and follow News Corpse on Instagram. Thanks for your support.

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

Find us on Google+

Sean Hannity Flings Flaccid Threat at Jimmy Kimmel: ‘Don’t Talk About My Show’

Posted by Mark NC on May 11, 2021 at 11:44 am. 6 Comments :

The violent insurrection advocates and malicious anti-vaxxers at Fox News have been working overtime to frighten the American people on behalf of the former reality TV game show host, and twice-impeached loser, Donald Trump, whom they have coronated as their lord and savior.

But they have to take some time off every now and then to bask in their own narcissistic outrage and victimhood. On Monday Sean Hannity took the opportunity to lash out against a late night talk show comedian who, according to Hannity, was “spewing hatred and rage” He thinks that’s what comedians do because his only role model is Fox’s terminally unfunny Greg Gutfeld.

Hannity was appalled that Jimmy Kimmel had the temerity to poke fun at his interview with Caitlyn Jenner. In Kimmel’s monologue (video below) he mocked Jenner’s callous commentary about the homeless in California, noting that a neighbor of his was moving to Arizona so he wouldn’t have to “walk down the streets and see the homeless.” Well, that was just too much for Hannity who unloaded this unhinged rant:

“Far-left, low-rated late-night host Jimmy Kimmel is spewing more hatred and more rage saying, ‘Is it transphobic to call a trans person an ignorant a-hole,’ in response to our interview with Caitlyn Jenner talking about the real problem of homelessness. Jimmy, what is with all the anger and all the cheap shots? Yet you haven’t noticed all the homeless people all over your state.

“By the way, don’t you have anything better to do? Maybe actually trying to be funny or boost your dismal ratings because we’re absolutely crushing you by like 70% in total viewers. That’s this quarter. Jimmy, here’s my advice, don’t talk about my show anymore. […] You talk about my show, I’ll hit you back 50 times harder.” [Later adding that…]

“We had a little spat back in the day. And if he wants me to remind his bosses at Disney of all the crap that he’s done over the years that, frankly, are pretty ignorant, to use his words, I’ll be glad to pick that fight. I’d advise him not to talk about me anymore. That’s my advice. Late night as we once knew it is dead.”

First of all, Hannity’s idea of what “talking about the real problem of homelessness” is consists of two sentences about a wealthy man who was driven from California by just the sight of poor people. But then Hannity got to the core issue, which was his hurt feelings at having been the butt of Kimmel’s jokes.

So naturally, Hannity threatens Kimmel with a threat so impotent it couldn’t hold up a feather. Does Hannity think that the Disney executives are unaware of the ancient bits that Kimmel did long ago? Does he really think that bringing those up is hitting back “50 times harder”? And what is his point about the ratings? Anyone who is knowledgeable about television knows that you can’t compare primetime numbers to late night.

Hannity is competing in a contest for which is pitifully unprepared. If Kimmel chooses to take up this challenge you can rest assured that Hannity will end up toasted beyond recognition. So in addition to provoking a fight over an issue that Hannity can’t defend, he’s also setting himself up for an epic ass-whooping. and this is what passes for “news” on the Fox network.

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

Biden’s Broad Based Approval Proves the Impotence of Fox News Propaganda

Posted by Mark NC on May 10, 2021 at 12:54 pm. 1 Comments :

Joe Biden has been president for nearly four months. Throughout that time Fox News has done what Fox News always does: Attacks Democrats, liberals, and anyone who fails to fall in line with the the network’s ultra-rightist dogma. Fox’s CEO, Lachlan Murdoch even said publicly that he considers it Fox’s job to oppose Biden.

That mission has narrowed of late to more directly apply exclusively to Donald Trump, rather than the conservative “principles” that once guided the propaganda spew of Fox News. It has become the mandate of both Fox News and the Republican Party to back up Trump, even when it goes against their agenda, the best interests of the party, or the law.

So how’s that working out for them? A new poll by the Associated Press-NORC has an abundance of good news for Biden, along with proof that Fox News has utterly failed in their smear campaign. The poll found that 63% of the American people approve of the job Biden is doing as president. That was broken down between a whopping 96% of Democrats, a healthy 62% of independents, and even a significant 23% of Republicans.

The poll also found that Americans are more optimistic about the direction of the country (54%) than they have been in four years. Which means that this increased optimism isn’t just due to the success Biden has had managing the COVID pandemic. It contrasts with the sullen pessimism that infected the whole of Trump’s term.

As for the handling of the pandemic, Biden has a stellar 71% approval, including 47% of Republicans. The relief and stimulus bill that Biden and congressional Democrats passed (without a single Republican vote) was overwhelming popular across the political spectrum. What’s more, Biden also has majority approval of his handling of healthcare (62%) and the economy (57%).

These numbers are notable, not only because they reflect a growing appreciation for Biden and the progressive initiatives being implemented by Democrats, but also because they were achieved while the most watched cable “news” network was engaged in a full court press to malign the new president. Fox News has labored mightily to undermine Biden at every turn. Although it wasn’t an easy task considering the difficulty they had finding anything to criticize. For that reason Fox obsessed over bizarre trivialities like the “canceling” of Mr. Potato Head, or Grammy porn, or the fallacy that Biden plotted to ban hamburgers.

It’s encouraging to see that despite their best efforts, Fox News has been a dismal failure at dragging down Biden and the positive agenda he’s pursued. Their propaganda blitz doesn’t seem to have tarnished him in the least. If anything, it suggests that he would be even more popular had they not been so obsessively denigrating him.

The only people being hurt by Fox’s avalanche of lies are Fox’s own viewers. They are now more distant from reality than ever. They are more likely to contract the coronavirus due to the scare mongering of Fox News anti-vaxxers like Tucker Carlson. They are more willing to believe Trump’s “Big Lie” about the 2020 presidential election being “stolen” from him. They are more comfortable with the rancid racism that is integral to Fox’s messaging.

In short, the audience that is still transfixed by Fox News and its toxic brand of anti-American hostility will continue to wallow in the cesspool of falsehoods that Fox peddles as “news.” But, as this and other polls certify, the majority of the American people remain uncontaminated by Fox and hopeful about the nation’s future. So Fox is just screeching to the choir and having little impact on congregation.

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

Fox News Openly Admits it Interferes with Elections

Posted by Mark NC on May 9, 2021 at 12:55 pm. 8 Comments :

The blatant partisan biases of Fox News have been well known for most of its 25 years as a shameless dispenser of conservative propaganda. Having been founded by an ultra-rightist newspaper baron (Rupert Murdoch) and a Republican media consultant (Roger Ailes), it could hardly be anything else.

Nevertheless, Fox News has labored feverishly to persuade the gullible that they are a “fair and balanced” news source. That deliberately misleading slogan was abandoned abandoned three years ago in favor of “Real News,” which is even worse because, not only is it utterly false, it clamps onto Donald Trump’s tedious “fake news” rants. Trump has even repeatedly leveled that charge at Fox News. And in response, Fox’s CEO, Lachlan Murdoch just bends over more to Trump and spins the network’s coverage to boost him and the GOP. Murdoch recently said publicly that he regards Fox News as “the loyal opposition“ to President Joe Biden.

It isn’t often that Fox News admits that they are committed to trafficking in right-wing lies. But one rare incident occurred on Sunday tucked into an article on their website headlined: “NPR ripped for ‘openly admitting’ Big Tech interference in elections.” Fox linked to an NPR article about Facebook’s suspension of Trump and how it has affected him. It read in part that the suspension…

“…will likely have major consequences for Trump’s political power. [and that] being on Facebook is crucial for modern-day political campaigns. [and that] Trump’s campaign used Facebook to fundraise and spread its message — at times with false and odious information.”

From those sentence fragments, Fox News concluded that NPR was “openly admitting Big Tech interference in elections.” But that conclusion is absurd in the extreme. What NPR was saying was that exposure on Facebook – or the lack of it – can have an effect on elections. Which is both true and glaringly obvious. But having an effect is not the same as interfering. All media has the very same effect. Including cable news.

So, is Fox News “interfering” in elections when they report/distort the news in a manner that benefits conservatives? Well, yes they are. But that’s because what Fox does is entirely different than what Facebook, NPR, and other media do.

Facebook’s suspension of Trump was not intended to affect the outcome of an election. It was due to Trump’s own defiance of the rules that every Facebook user must comply with. If Trump had not posted disinformation that incited violence and led directly to deadly riots on Capitol Hill, he would still be able to post, and he could quit his petulant whining.

Fox News, on the other hand, continues to get away with the same reckless and inflammatory rhetoric that got Trump suspended and people killed. Their programs are riddled with falsehoods that are plainly intended to have an effect on elections, and worse, are likely to cause great harm. That’s especially true with regard to their downplaying of the COVID pandemic and their vaccine scare mongering. Consequently, if anyone deserves to be suspended from Facebook – and all other social media – it’s Fox News.

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

‘I Watched It On TV,’ Cries Trump ‘Big Lie’ Believer at America First Rally

Posted by Mark NC on May 8, 2021 at 11:47 am. 8 Comments :

This is what we’re up against, folks. Friday marked the launch of the “America First Tour” headlined by Donald Trump’s most zealous fans, Matt Gaetz (who is currently the subject of a federal investigation for sex trafficking and corruption) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (who is a devoutly committed disciple of QAnon). The affair was held at a retirement community in Florida known for being a bastion of ultra-conservativism.

CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan attended the event and interviewed some of the Deplorables gathered to cheer on the Dyspeptic Duo. In one particularly disturbing segment, O’Sullivan entered into this dialog with a couple of Trump’s true “Big Lie” believers:

Q: You guys genuinely believe the election was stolen?
A: Uh huh.
Q: If you believe that that’s true, isn’t that horrible?
A: Yes. I know it is. Is it horrible that we would even be in the situation to even think that?
Q: But it’s false.
A: No it is not. Why would they have all those ballots hidden under tables? Why did that man drive that truck all the way across state lines with ballots?
Q: The ballots under tables thing with Giuliani in Georgia, that’s all been proven to be false.
A: It has not. I watched it on TV.

Friday night in The Villages with @OutFrontCNN pic.twitter.com/sXk7Dc1F0q

— Donie O'Sullivan (@donie) May 7, 2021

Well, that settles it then. She saw it on TV. And as the whole civilized world knows, everything on TV is one hundred percent true. Why just a few days ago I saw Tucker Carlson reveal that Barack Obama is going to force you to get your kids vaccinated. Tucker wouldn’t lie, would he?

It’s a safe bet that the couple in that clip keep their television tuned to Fox News (or Newsmax, or OAN) twenty-four hours a day. And they believe every lie that they broadcast. In this case, they are referring to a thoroughly debunked story about allegedly phony ballots that were hidden under a desk at a Georgia counting facility. The charge was that these ballots were later retrieved and counted after all the observers were sent home and they were all votes for Joe Biden.

That story was feverishly spread by most of the right-wing media. Trump, of course, also included it in his delusional tales of a “stolen” election. However, the story has indeed been proven to be unequivocally false. The video they claim to have “watched on TV” shows the normal process of ballot counting with independent observers present and no irregularities whatsoever.

The problem here is that there is no way to convince the couple in the video that they have bought into a lie and are being taken for fools. They will continue to believe what they think they saw on TV, even if shown the evidence that it’s false. And they aren’t alone. They are just the latest representatives of the cult that has grown like a fungus around the lies disseminated by Fox News and their ilk.

If we hope to halt the totalitarian aspirations of Trump and his Republican Autocratic Party (like the execrable Lindsey Graham who just declared that the GOP cannot “move forward” without Trump), we have to stop it at its source. And that means monitoring and challenging the propaganda dispensed by the Trumpists and their Ministry of Disinformation (aka Fox News) at every opportunity.

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

Newsmax Reporter’s Asinine ‘Many People Say’ Question Gets the Psaki Treatment

Posted by Mark NC on May 7, 2021 at 3:22 pm. 2 Comments :

It’s becoming a nearly daily event to see President Biden’s press secretary, Jen Psaki, thoroughly, but gently, rip the stuffing out of the pseudo-journalists from Fox News, OAN, and Newsmax, in the bright lights of the White House Press Room. You would think that these ultra-partisan poseurs would learn their lesson and take a day or two (or a month or two) off. But no.

On Friday, the latest episode of Survivor: White House Press Corps saw Emerald Robinson of Newsmax in the dunking chair. And this wasn’t her first time. Last month she tried to pose a question that assumed a total absence of racism in American history. It didn’t go well. On this outing, Robinson was likely certain that her pre-planned gotcha question would penetrate Psaki’s cool exterior. But she obviously hadn’t anticipated the anti-missive that Psaki had ready to deploy (video below):

Robinson: Given the number of former Obama administration officials there are now in this Biden administration, and the President’s relatively light schedule, there’s the growing perception that this is really just the third term of President Obama. What do you say to people who say that?
Psaki: Who’s saying that?
Robinson: We hear that a lot in the media.
Psaki: Who in the media?
Robinson: Different people.
Psaki: Like?
Robinson: Well, there was lots of questions.

OUCH! Robinson really scored with that knockout “different people” punch. But Psaki was unfazed. She ended up ignoring the rest of Robinson’s question, which was lucky for Robinson, because the question was an impotent jab based on an utterly false premise. To begin with, there is nothing peculiar about any administration recruiting from people who have had prior White House experience. In fact, it would be foolish not to. Trump was an exception because he didn’t know anyone with relevant experience, so he recruited mostly from Fox News. And as for Biden’s schedule, here are examples of a recent Biden calendar followed by one for Trump:

Here’s Biden’s public schedule for tomorrow. (Public schedules don’t include all of a president’s activities.) pic.twitter.com/z3UfbIswsz

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) May 7, 2021

Here’s Trump’s public schedule for tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/VisWy9Igxc

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) January 5, 2021

We already knew that the bulk of Trump’s non-golfing time was spent watching Fox News and tweeting what he saw. Biden, on the other hand, actually attends briefings, consults with his Cabinet, and does the meticulous work required to be a productive chief executive. Which is what made Robinson’s question so ridiculous. But undeterred by humiliation, Robinson shifted gears, changing the subject entirely. She went on to babble something about Vice-President Kamala Harris, who Psaki recently defended from a phony Fox News “scandal.” Robinson was troubled by Harris greeting foreign leaders, as if that wasn’t something done by every vice-president. Psaki had to remind her that…

Psaki: The president has had dozens of conversations and calls with world leaders and it should be no surprise that the Vice-President is also playing an important role engaging with and having discussions with foreign leaders.
Robinson: But it’s more so than other vice presidents have.
Psaki: How so? I’d love to see the data if you want to send that to us.
Robinson: I’ll provide you with that sometime.
Psaki: Sure.

Sure. Sure she will. Psaki shouldn’t wait by the door for that data to arrive. Twice in less than a minute and a half, the Newsmax hack was left grasping for a coherent response when Psaki merely asked her to back up the question. And this sort of massacre is happening regularly. At some point Psaki will have to bar Newsmax from the briefing room as a gesture of mercy.

It’s Jen Psaki’s “sure” at the end ?? pic.twitter.com/u6JwIJQdzP

— Brian McBride (@BrianDMcBride) May 7, 2021

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

Find us on Google+

SALVATION: Lindsey Graham Accepts Trump as His Political Lord and Savior

Posted by Mark NC on May 7, 2021 at 7:55 am. 2 Comments :

There aren’t many Republican officeholders who are more shamelessly devoted to Donald Trump than Lindsey Graham. His devotion borders on the blind adoration of a cult follower. He defends every idiotic thing Trump does and says. He salivates at the chance to spend time with Trump at his resort or on the golf course. And now he has confessed out loud his belief that the Republican Party cannot exist without Dear Leader Trump.

Graham made a pilgrimage to the GOP media Mecca (aka Fox News) on Thursday for a prayer meeting with fellow Trump cultist, Sean Hannity. While there, Graham testified as to the salvation he has received through the grace of Trump:

“Let me just say to my Republican colleagues. Can we move forward without President Trump? The answer is no. I’ve always liked Liz Cheney but she’s made a determination that the Republican Party can’t grow with President Trump. I’ve determined we can’t grow without him. All of these people like Herschel Walker, and all of the people you just named are attracted to the Trump Republican Party. Economic populism. America First agenda. If you don’t get that as a Republican you’re making the biggest mistake in the history of the Republican Party.”

Lindsey Graham: Can we move forward without President Trump? The answer is no. I’ve always liked Liz Cheney but she’s made a determination that the Republican Party can’t grow with President Trump. I’ve determined we can’t grow without him. pic.twitter.com/ptdo7AQCKD

— Acyn (@Acyn) May 7, 2021

For the record, in four years Trump presided over the loss of the House, the Senate, and the White House to Democrats. He never had an approval rating that hit 50 percent. He lost the popular vote twice. He was impeached twice and both times polls showed that a majority of the people favored his impeachment. He is the first president in decades to leave office with fewer people employed than when he started. He exploded the national debt by cutting taxes for corporations and the wealthy. He advanced the nuclear aspirations of both Iran and North Korea. He withdrew the U.S. from the international Paris Climate Change Accords. [Inhale…]

[And exhale…] What’s more, Trump incited deadly riots in Washington, D.C. by insurrectionist mobs. He continues to push his “Big Lie” that the election was stolen from him, which is likely to foment more violence. And worst of all, his negligent and incompetent mishandling of the COVID pandemic resulted in the deaths of more than half a million Americans.

That’s the record that led Lindsey Graham to the determination that the Republican Party can’t grow without Trump. No, really. That’s it!

This is the same Graham who, before his epiphany, described Trump as a “kook” who is “crazy” and “unfit for office.” It’s the same Graham who later sought to “harness the magic” of Trump. Needless to say, a sane person would come to an entirely different determination. A sane person would recognize that Trump is a dead weight that is sowing division and hostility through his lies and a cult-like demand for loyalty and unwavering obedience.

What Graham thinks is attracting people to the Republican Party is actually just attracting desperate and frightened party shills to the cult, while simultaneously “canceling” apostates like Liz Cheney and Mitt Romney who dare to tell the obvious truth that Biden beat Trump. The American people are not fooled by this. And the more that Trump is embraced by GOP lackeys like Graham, the better it will be for Democrats.

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

Jen Psaki Targeted in a Phony Fox News ‘Controversy’ About Biden and the Press

Posted by Mark NC on May 6, 2021 at 4:50 pm. 1 Comments :

Poor Fox News. The stridently right-wing network, and Republican Party they shill for, have been having an extraordinarily difficult time finding mud to throw at President Joe Biden. Consequently, they have resorted to laughably fantastical tales of Biden plotting to eliminate meat, or phantom links on the White House website, or Vice-President Kamala Harris profiting on her books being distributed to migrant children.

Or Dr. Suess, or Mr. Potato Head, or Snow White, or any of a dozen other ludicrous trivialities. The easily debunked book “scandal” inspired CNN’s Jim Acosta to label Fox News a “Bullshit factory.” Which is something most Americans had already concluded about Fox “News.” As a result, they wouldn’t be surprised by a new story by Fox that deliberately mischaracterizes remarks made by Biden’s press secretary, Jen Psaki.

The headline of the piece on Fox’s website reads: “Jen Psaki admits Biden taking impromptu reporter questions is ‘not something we recommend’” The framing in that sentence relies on the word “admits” to imply something that was previously done in secret, but has now been revealed. The problem is that Fox’s framing is typically dishonest and devoid of relevant context.

The sentence fragments that Fox obsessed over referred to Biden taking spontaneous questions from the press. Psaki was quoted as saying “that is not something we recommend. […] In fact, a lot of times we say ‘Don’t take questions,'” To Fox News that was an “admission” that Biden was incapable of handling media inquiries. Of course, he has done so quite often with a measure of clarity, accuracy, and honesty, that Donald Trump could never get close to.

Psaki also added that, despite their advice, Biden would take questions anyway because he’s “going to do what he wants to do because he’s the president.” That should have silenced Fox’s scandalizing, as it affirms that Biden is definitely not afraid of the press.

CNN provided more context to this matter in an article noting that Psaki was being interviewed by David Axelrod for his CNN podcast “The Axe Files.” A segment of that interview shows Psaki elaborating on why taking spontaneous questions wasn’t recommended. It had nothing to do with ability, but everything to do with a rational, communications driven strategy:

“You’re never gonna satisfy the White House press corps and their desires for access, and I think there have been mistakes made in the past of trying to do that. If you do a press conference every other week, or once a week, that doesn’t satisfy them, they’re going to push for more, that’s their job. What we’ve tried to do, which has also been maddening I know for the press corps at times, is kind of not get pulled in by distractions.

“He likes the press corps and likes that back and forth and that engagement. But what we’ve tried to do in general, in thinking about how we use his time, is really think about what the public cares about, right? The public cares about the pandemic, the economy.”

On a new #AxeFiles, WH @PressSec Jen Psaki speaks candidly about the daily tug-and-pull with the media and the administration’s determination to avoid getting knocked off message. “We’re never going to satisfy the White House press corps.” pic.twitter.com/v6sFyiD5sw

— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) May 6, 2021

In other words, the Biden press team is focused on serving the public. That’s a massive departure from Trump and his press team who were focused on satisfying his voracious ego with undeserved bragging, infantile insults, and flagrant lies. Public service is something that Trump and company could never aspire to – or even comprehend. And the difference between Trump’s narcissism and Biden’s compassion is both refreshing and beneficial to the nation.

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

Fox News Gets Exclusive Access to Voter Suppression Bill Signing By Florida Governor

Posted by Mark NC on May 6, 2021 at 12:30 pm. 2 Comments :

In what can only be described as a submission to state TV politics, Florida governor Ron DeSantis held a bill signing ceremony where he denied access to every media organization – except for Fox News. Even the local station that was designated as the pool representative was refused entry.

This is the sort of journalistic atrocity that would be expected in a third world dictatorship or a Donald Trump administration. As the Tampa Bay Times reported…

“When Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a new bill this morning to change the future of mail-in voting in Florida, the only television cameras allowed to capture the moment belonged to Fox News.

“Outside, reporters and videographers from local news outlet were told the ceremonial bill signing was an ‘exclusive’ for Fox & Friends, the conservative network’s morning show. DeSantis confirmed as much later in the day.”

This was a public event paid for by taxpayers. But DeSantis turned it into a totalitarian style propaganda affair covered only by approved state media. It assured that the only people who would be able to see this farce were Fox News viewers who, ironically, would be the primary beneficiaries of a bill that suppressed voting by low income and minority voters. Anyone who didn’t have cable, or who chose to watch actual news networks, were shut out. And to make matters worse, the whole idea was DeSantis’ alone. In a statement to the Tampa Bay Times, Fox News said that…

“Fox never asked for the special treatment. In a statement to the Tampa Bay Times, the network said, ‘FOX & Friends did not request or mandate that the May 6th event and interview with Gov. Ron DeSantis be exclusive to FOX News Media entities.'”

The bill itself is another initiative to make voting more difficult, similar to bills passed in Georgia and Texas. DeSantis held up a placard detailing what he said the bill would accomplish, including common Republican strawman issues like enforcing voter ID, banning ballot harvesting, prohibiting mass mailing of ballots, increasing election transparency, and prohibiting private money from running elections. None of these activities were identified as having caused any problems in any past election.

What DeSantis left out was that the bill also provided for restricting mail-in ballot drop boxes, making it harder to vote by mail, forcing people to request mail-in ballots every two years, criminalizing giving food or water to voters in line, and expanding partisan challenges to vote counting.

When asked why he restricted news coverage to Fox News, DeSantis dodged the question, saying only that it was “a wonderful bill signing […] on Fox and Friends and we were happy to give them the exclusive on that.” But granting exclusive coverage to a public event is a brazen assault on democracy. And it only confirms that DeSantis was afraid of the broader Florida population finding out just how deceitful and despicable he and the Republican Party are.

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

Crybaby Trump and His Whining Republicans Threaten Illegal Retaliation Against Facebook

Posted by Mark NC on May 5, 2021 at 1:28 pm. 4 Comments :

Several months ago, Donald Trump was suspended by Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, among others, for disseminating lies and disinformation that had a certifiably dangerous impact on the nation. On Wednesday morning Facebook released the decision by its independent Oversight Board to uphold that suspension, at least for the time being.

The Board found that…

“…in maintaining an unfounded narrative of electoral fraud and persistent calls to action, Mr. Trump created an environment where a serious risk of violence was possible.” […] “At the same time, the panel found the indefinite suspension inappropriate and asked Facebook over the next six months to review the decision and develop a ‘proportionate response that is consistent with the rules that are applied to other users of its platform.'”

The reaction to that decision by the Trump camp was as swift as it was ludicrous. Trump’s response was a post to his pitifully comical new “communications platform” saying that…

““What Facebook, Twitter, and Google have done is a total disgrace and an embarrassment to our Country. Free Speech has been taken away from the President of the United States because the Radical Left Lunatics are afraid of the truth, but the truth will come out anyway, bigger and stronger than ever before. The People of our Country will not stand for it! These corrupt social media companies must pay a political price, and must never again be allowed to destroy and decimate our Electoral Process.”

To give credit where credit is due, Trump knows plenty about being “a total disgrace and an embarrassment to our Country.” However, his assertion that “free speech has been taken away” from him proves that he doesn’t have any idea what the term means. For the record, free speech is the constitutional protection against the government (not private business) suppressing speech.

What’s more, Trump apparently doesn’t think that being able to appear at will on national cable TV propaganda networks (i.e. Fox News, Newsmax, OAN, etc.) and a multitude of other right-wing media outlets (i.e. Breitbart, Daily Caller, New York Post, etc.) constitute platforms for free speech. If he’s really concerned about free speech, he might want to stand up for Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, who is presently being shut down for telling the truth about Trump and his incitement of the deadly Capitol insurrection.

More troubling is Trump’s overt threat that “social media companies must pay a political price.” That is, in itself, an attack on the free speech rights of the businesses that operate social media sites. And it is purely political retaliation for what he imagines is bias against conservatives. Never mind that the highest trafficked pages on Facebook are by right-wingers:

The top-performing link posts by U.S. Facebook pages in the last 24 hours are from:

1. Ben Shapiro
2. Ben Shapiro
3. Ben Shapiro
4. Fox News
5. ForAmerica
6. Dan Bongino
7. Sean Hannity
8. Dan Bongino
9. Fox News
10. The Rachel Maddow Show

— Facebook's Top 10 (@FacebooksTop10) May 5, 2021

Joining Trump in this directed assault on social media are his Republican Party confederates. They are now openly threatening to retaliate against Facebook with legislation aimed at punishing them and even breaking them up. Those threats are, of course, being amplified by Fox News.

To be sure, there are problems with the power wielded by Facebook, Twitter, et al, that need to be addressed in a rational and fair manner. But Trump and the GOP are mounting a knee-jerk assault based entirely on their political peeves. You won’t see them make the same complaints about Sean Hannity or Tucker Carlson not giving airtime to Joe Biden or Nancy Pelosi. But you will see House GOP minority leader Kevin McCarthy threatening to “rein in big tech power“. Or GOP Sen. Rick Scott of Florida introducing a bill to “hold big tech accountable.”

Now Trump likely doesn’t know that these actions are blatantly illegal because he’s a raving ignoramous. But these legislators undoubtedly know that the Constitution prohibits them. They are called “Bills of Attainder,” and defined as “a legislative act that singles out an individual or group for punishment.” Article I, Section 9, paragraph 3 of the Constitution states plainly that: “No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law will be passed.”

So whatever you think about Facebook’s decision regarding Trump, it is unarguable that Trump and the Republican Party are proposing to break the law with their retaliatory smackdown. That shouldn’t surprise anyone who has paid attention to Trump and the GOP for past four years (or 40 years?). They simply don’t care about the law. The only thing that matters to them is the acquisition and preservation of power by any means necessary. And that, as Trump says, is something that “the people of our Country will not stand for.”

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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