PolitiFact’s Lie of the Year: The January 6th Insurrection Disinformation By Trump and Fox News

Posted by Mark NC on December 16, 2021 at 12:58 pm. 2 Comments :

Eleven months ago a mob of anti-American, democracy hating subversives stormed the United States Congress with the intention of overturning the will of the people who voted in the 2020 presidential election. They were fueled by the flagrant falsehoods and inflammatory rhetoric of Donald Trump, the Republican Party, and their Ministry of Propaganda, Fox News.

What occurred on January 6th, 2021, was a violent insurrection against America and its Constitution. The participants were the forward flank of an attempted coup by authoritarian forces led by Trump and his treasonous confederates. Now, nearly a year later, the lies and treachery have been documented by communications between Republican conspirators, boastful confessions by right-wing defectors, and hundreds of hours of contemporaneous video.

Fittingly, PolitiFact has announced that they have chosen “Lies About the Capitol insurrection“ as their annual “Lie of the Year.” The justifications supporting their decision were detailed in a lengthy article that included numerous references to those most responsible for the torrent of blatant and dangerous dishonesty. Not surprisingly, that turned out to be Donald Trump and Fox News hosts such as Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, and Tucker Carlson. In fact, Trump is a multi-year recipient of the dishonor. PolitiFact’s assessment noted that “In the days that followed” the insurrection, Trump, the GOP, and Fox News, among others, “offered a deluge of justifications, excuses and conspiracy theories,” such as…

They said Jan. 6 was instigated by undercover left-wing activists who were part of antifa. That was proved false.
They said the rioters hadn’t used force and one Republican congressman likened the events to “a normal tourist visit.” Video proved that wrong.
They claimed the attack on the Capitol had nothing to do with race, even though white supremacists and far-right militia groups were among the most active participants, and many rioters wore racist t-shirts.
They suggested the whole affair was staged by the government, a false flag operation. Others suggested it was entirely a peaceful protest. All of that was wrong.
They said that the rioters were political prisoners and shouldn’t face serious charges. A host of federal judges and courts have held otherwise.

Among the most heinous misrepresentations of reality were Trump’s ludicrous claim that “Right from the start it was zero threat.” And then there was Tucker Carlson’s lie-riddled crocumentary “Patriot Purge,” that preposterously asserted that the insurrection was a “false flag” operation orchestrated by the FBI and other agents of the “Deep State.”

In addition to the tribute conferred on the insurrection liars by PolitiFact, they also had a “Lie of the Year” readers poll wherein a huge majority (75%) voted for Trump’s claim that he won the 2020 presidential election. Which is, of course, related to the lies about the insurrection because it was Trump’s “Big Lie” that the election was “rigged” and “stolen” from him that triggered the assault on Congress.

PolitiFact could just have easily chosen the lies that Trump won the election, or the lies about the COVID vaccine either not working or causing harm, for their “Lie of the Year.” Both of which are also attributable to deliberate dishonesty by Trump and Fox News. But PolitiFact chose the insurrection lies because “the attack was historically important,” and because “the events of Jan. 6 were widely broadcast…So efforts to downplay and deny what happened are an attempt to brazenly recast reality itself.”

In other words, Trump, Fox News, and the other liars were so despicable that they tried to pretend that the worst attack on the U.S. Capitol since the War of 1812 didn’t happen. And they were so shameless that they tried to convince people not to believe their own eyes. Of course, that has been the modus operandi of Trump and Fox News all along. But what is truly disheartening is that, despite the abundant evidence, there is still a small but worrisome contingent of willfully ignorant believers.

NOTE: Twitter 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.

Trump’s Republican Coup Supporters are Attacking Adam Schiff for Accurately Quoting Jim Jordan

Posted by Mark NC on December 15, 2021 at 4:15 pm. NO Comments :

Things have really sunken to unbelievable depths when right-wing dimwits have to blatantly fabricate pseudo-scandals in order to diminish political foes that they don’t have the intellect to engage honestly. It’s bad enough that Donald Trump and his Republican confederates are relentlessly peddling lies about the January 6th insurrection, but now they are also pulling utter garbage allegations from their asinine imaginations.

The ultra-rightist Federalist website published a ludicrous alleged “exposé” of what they considered a shocking misrepresentation of a text sent to Trump’s former chief of staff, Mark Meadows. They introduced this abomination saying that…

“During a hearing Monday night on the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Adam Schiff claimed to have proof that a member of Congress texted former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to instruct former Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.

“Not only did Schiff misrepresent the substance of the text message and its source, he even doctored original text messages, which were obtained and reviewed by The Federalist in their entirety.”

The charge of “doctoring” is laughably over the top. What the Federalist is so outraged by is that the quote Adam Schiff read was slightly condensed for relevance and clarity. Here is both the quote as Schiff presented it, followed by the unedited text:

Schiff’s quote: “On January 6, 2021, Vice President Mike Pence, as President of the Senate, should call out all electoral votes that he believes are unconstitutional as no electoral votes at all.”

The unedited text: “On January 6, 2021, Vice President Mike Pence, as President of the Senate, should call out all the electoral votes that he believes are unconstitutional as no electoral votes at all — in accordance with guidance from founding father Alexander Hamilton and judicial precedence”

Note that the only difference is that Schiff’s version didn’t include the part about Alexander Hamilton, and it placed a period at the end. None of that changed the context or meaning of the quote. Nevertheless, the Federalist went berserk with charges that Schiff “doctored” the quote with some nefarious intent. Quotes are often edited to be concise and to focus on the subject at hand. For instance, no one expects a quote from the Declaration of Independence to repeat the entire document when the discussion only concerns the part that says “all men are created equal.”

The original intent of the text was to pass along a legal opinion that would justify throwing out electoral votes for Joe Biden simply because Republicans didn’t want Biden to win. That message was conveyed in both versions of the quoted text. In Schiff’s remarks he affirmed that saying that…

“You can see why this is so critical to ask Mr. Meadows about. About a lawmaker suggesting that the former vice president simply throw out votes that he unilaterally deems unconstitutional in order to overturn a presidential election and subvert the will of the American people.”

Indeed, the purpose of the text was to advocate for overturning a valid election and installing Trump as an unelected, authoritarian dictator. While Schiff identified the author of the text as simply a “lawmaker,” the Federalist outed the author, revealing that it was Rep. Jim Jordan.

This triggered further outrage by the Federalist. They complained that Schiff attributed the text to a member of Congress, but that Jordan actually forwarded a text he received from the lawyer who wrote the anti-democratic legal opinion. In the view of the Federalist it was improper to attribute the text to the congressman. To the contrary, it was, in fact, an entirely proper attribution because Jordan was the person who sent it Meadows.

What’s important about this is that Jordan, a member of Congress, was advancing a dangerous and undemocratic legal theory, and passing it on to the president’s chief of staff. They were a part of the coup attempt that was being plotted by Trump and his traitorous accomplices.

However, since they couldn’t find anything wrong with the presentation of the evidence by Schiff, they built up a bizarre fantasy of some imaginary breach of ethics – and misplaced periods – and offered that as a distraction from the actual crimes committed by Trump and others in his cabal. Clearly they have given up trying to be rational, or even coherent.

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

GASLIGHTING: Marjorie Taylor Greene and Fox News Shamelessly Lie About Trump Insurrection Texts

Posted by Mark NC on December 15, 2021 at 1:25 pm. NO Comments :

The disclosure of text messages from Fox News hosts begging Donald Trump’s former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, to get Trump to renounce the January 6th insurrection is continuing to swirl around the news cycle. That’s partly because it is such a disturbing example of media sycophants intertwined with political operatives. And partly because it took Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham more than 24 hours to craft their wholly dishonest replies.

Now Republican QAnon representative Marjorie Taylor Greene is adding her hideous blather to the mix. She visited with Tucker Carlson Tuesday night to deliver a thoroughly predictable whitewashing of the Trump insurrection text scandal:

“You were talking about these tweets, or these text messages that Liz Cheney just loves reading out loud about Fox News employees and about members of Congress texting Mark Meadows and saying that we want the riot to stop. President Trump should ask these people to stop. That’s a good thing. Typically you want a president of the United States to tell rioters to stop, which he did. But this is what’s happening throughout this whole process.”

Marjorie Taylor Greene says it’s a good thing that Fox hosts(who downplayed the insurrection and suggested that Antifa was involved) had to text Meadows urging the former president to act because he was sitting around and doing nothing while it was happening pic.twitter.com/HEpyr8H54R

— Acyn (@Acyn) December 15, 2021

It’s unclear how Greene ascertained Liz Cheney’s pleasure in reading the repellent text messages that revealed the hypocrisy and dishonesty of the Fox News propaganda purveyors. Cheney certainly wasn’t smiling or showing any other outward emotion other than, perhaps, disgust. But Greene was virtually tingling with ecstasy as she exclaimed that it was “a good thing” that Trump had to be pleaded with to call off his violent supporters who were storming Congress.

Greene was correct in saying that “you want a president of the United States to tell rioters to stop.” But you most assuredly do not want a president who has to be begged – by media hacks, political confederates, and even family members – to order his shock troops to stand down. Particularly when he fails to do so even after frantic and frightened allies implore him. And with respect to that, Greene was lying about Trump quelling his cult disciples. The insurrection went on for three terrifying hours before Trump issued a statement wherein he told the rioters that he loved them.

In the same program, Carlson had his own take on his Fox News colleagues:

“These are principled people. What they say in public is not that far from what they say over text message. If you get a text from Brian Kilmeade it sounds pretty much identical to Brian Kilmeade on Fox and Friends. These are not phonies. We can personally confirm that. Whether you like them or not, they’re real.”

This is laughable pic.twitter.com/axow5cHd0Z

— Acyn (@Acyn) December 15, 2021

Well then, if Carlson can “personally confirm” that his fellow Foxies aren’t phonies, that’s good enough for – practically nobody. After all, Fox News successfully defended Carlson against a defamation lawsuit arguing that no reasonable person would believe anything he says. And no one has lied more about insurrection that Carlson, who produced a crocumentary wherein he charged that the whole sordid affair was a “false flag” operation orchestrated by the “Deep State.”

More to the point, Carlson is generously spreading the manure around. The reason the Trump/Meadows texts are such big news is that they expose the Fox News hosts for contradicting themselves. They acknowledged that there was a violent assault on Congress on January 6th, but later claimed the rioters were all patriots, but if they weren’t, there was no violence, but if there was it was all Antifa’s fault.

The central feature of their gaslighting is that they are trying to claim that their critics have a problem with texts seeking to get Trump to take action. That’s not true. Those texts were the one thing that the GOP and Fox Newsers got right. The problem is that they ended up dismissing their own concerns about the violence and flagrantly lied about it ever since. Which is exactly what they are doing now as well.

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

Jen Psaki and Mark Meadows React to Trump Texts, While Fox News Stays Conspicuously Mum

Posted by Mark NC on December 14, 2021 at 2:22 pm. 5 Comments :

It’s been twenty four hours since the disclosure of the chilling texts by Fox News hosts Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, and Brian Kilmeade, to Donald Trump’s former chief of staff, Mark Meadows. The texts were begging Trump to call off his shock troops who were storming Congress, threatening its members, and assaulting police officers.

In the interim Fox News has not said a single word about the wholly unethical communications between an alleged “news” network and the top advisor to the former reality TV game show host. Nor have they acknowledged the brazen hypocrisy of the Fox talkers whose texts confirm that they knew exactly what was happening at the Capitol, but who have been lying about it relentlessly for months.

There has, however, been a response by Meadows, who scampered off to Newsmax for a softball interview. Meadows was never asked to address the substance of the texts that he himself provided to the House Select Committee investigating the January 6th insurrection (before he ceased cooperating and triggered a contempt of Congress charge). Instead, he baselessly attacked the Committee saying that it…

“…tried to weaponize text messages, selectively leaked them, to put out a narrative, quite frankly, that the president didn’t act.”

Of course, the text messages show conclusively that Trump did, indeed, fail to act for three long, terrifying hours. Meadows didn’t even bother to suggest any other narrative, because there isn’t one that would make any sense. Especially not now, after everyone knows the content of the messages. As a reminder…

Hannity wrote: Can he make a statement, ask people to leave the Capitol?
Kilmeade wrote: Please, get him on TV. Destroying everything you have accomplished.
Ingraham wrote: Mark, the president needs to tell people in the Capitol to go home. This is hurting all of us. He is destroying his legacy.
Even Donald Trump Jr wrote: He’s got to condemn this shit ASAP. The Capitol Police tweet is not enough.

Trump ignored these warnings and allowed violence and chaos to ensue. He has since insisted that he has nothing to hide, while he’s suing to hide everything. In the meantime, the Fox News hosts and GOP members of Congress who pleaded for the StormTrumpers to stand down, spent the next several months dismissing the deadly riots as nothing more than peaceful protests, and/or blaming them on Antifa, which doesn’t actually exist. Trump himself denied that there was any violence and instead incredulously said that November 3rd, Election Day, was the “real” insurrection.

On Tuesday morning, Press Secretary Jen Psaki commented on the Meadows/Trump texts in response to a question during the daily White House press briefing (video below):

Reporter: Any response to the revelations that GOP lawmakers were texting Chief of Staff Meadows, along with prominent Fox News hosts how to be…what led to the January 6th riots?
Psaki: Well, it’s disappointing, and unfortunately not surprising, that some of the very same individuals who were willing to warn, condemn, and express horror over what happened on January 6 in private, were totally silent in public or, even worse, were spreading lies and conspiracy theories, and continue to since that time. Unfortunately we’ve seen a trend from some of the same individuals.”

Psaki’s assessment was concise and appropriately critical. Although the question might have been better directed at Fox’s White House correspondent, Peter Doocy, who was sitting a few feet away from the reporter who asked it. And a good follow up would have been to inquire as to whether any of the people involved had incriminated themselves or Trump. There’s still time.

UPDATE: On their Tuesday night programs Hannity and Ingraham finally responded to the disclosure of their frantic January 6th texts. Predictably, they attacked Liz Cheney and the media for reporting things that actually happened. And they were just as predictably defensive about their own hypocrisy and dishonesty. They never bothered to explain why they were so afraid of the rioting and its consequences while it was in progress, but spent the rest of the year pretending it didn’t happen, or it wasn’t violent, or it was the fault of either Antifa, or the “Deep State,” or even Nancy Pelosi. And it took them more than 24 hours to contrive that pathetic response.

WH Press Sec. Jen Psaki responds to GOP lawmakers and Fox News hosts frantically texting Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows during 1/6 but spreading conspiracy theories after:

"Disappointing, not surprising. Unfortunately we've seen a trend." pic.twitter.com/k3MP9QigCh

— The Recount (@therecount) December 14, 2021

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

Fox News Hosts Begged Mark Meadows to Get Trump to Stop the Insurrection on January 6th

Posted by Mark NC on December 13, 2021 at 6:34 pm. 7 Comments :

Every day there is more evidence of the complicity of Donald Trump and his Confederacy of Traitors who tried to undermine democracy and overturn an election with violence. The latest discoveries are in documents that Trump’s Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, turned over to the House Select Committee investigating the January 6th insurrection.

Yes, that’s the same Mark Meadows who is now refusing to comply with a subpoena and will shortly be referred to the Justice Department on charges of contempt of Congress.

The documents that have just come to light are texts messages that were sent to Meadows while the StormTrumpers were assaulting the Capitol. Rep. Liz Cheney read some of those messages into the record during a hearing on the contempt charges against Meadows. And some of what was revealed is going to be awfully difficult for some Fox News hosts to explain away:

“According to the record multiple Fox News hosts knew the president needed to act immediately. They texted Mr. Meadows and he has turned over those texts. Quote, ‘Mark, the president needs to tell people in the Capitol to go home. This is hurting all of us. He is destroying his legacy,’ Laura Ingraham wrote. “Please, get him on TV. Destroying everything you have accomplished,’ Brian Kilmeade texted. Quote, ‘Can he make a statement, ask people to leave the Capitol?’ Sean Hannity urged.

“As the violence continued, one of the president’s sons texted Mr. Meadows, quote, ‘He’s got to condemn this shit ASAP. The Capitol Police tweet is not enough.’ Donald Trump Jr texted. Meadows responded quote, ‘I’m pushing it hard. I agree.’

“Still, president Trump did not immediately act. Donald Trump Jr texted again, again, and again. urging action by the president. Quote, ‘We need an Oval Office address. He has to lead now. It has gone too far and gotten out of hand,’ end quote.

“But hours passed without necessary action by the president. These non-privileged texts are further proof of president Trump’s supreme dereliction of duty during those 187 minutes.”

Liz Cheney reads texts from Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity, Brian Kilmeade, and Donald Trump Jr. urging former President Trump to act while he sat around and did nothing for hours during the insurrection pic.twitter.com/jkk7KhxF0s

— Acyn (@Acyn) December 14, 2021

Indeed, these texts unambiguously incriminate Trump for deliberately allowing the deadly insurrection to proceed, and for violating his oath of office to defend the Constitution. But they also incriminate Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham, and Brian Kilmeade. While they were obviously aware of what was happening at the Capitol, and the threat that it represented, their actions since then have been to dismiss and downplay what they knew were violent acts of sedition.

In the months that have followed, they have all used their television platforms to lie that the insurrection was nothing more than a protest by peaceful patriots. But it is now abundantly clear that they knew what they were saying were flagrant falsehoods. And they purposefully deceived their viewers in order to advance the coup attempt by Trump. It is no longer possible for them to pretend, as Hannity did last month during an interview with Trump, that the insurrectionists were all members of Antifa. They knew that the rioters were Trump supporters. Obviously Antifa (if it actually existed, which it doesn’t) wouldn’t obey any entreaties from Trump to withdraw. Which is why they were pleading with Trump to call them off.

What’s more, the Foxies exposed their utterly inappropriate relationship with Trump. What business do they have sending messages to the Trump White House with advice on how to respond to an unfolding crisis. And notice that their advice was focused solely on the harm that Trump’s inaction was doing – not to members of Congress and other innocent people – but to their political interests. They were not acting as journalists (which of course, they are not), but as Trump team members and accomplices.

It will be interesting see what sort of lies they tell to try to wash off the stain of their treasonous acts. Because they surely will attempt to dig themselves into even deeper holes. They simply don’t have the integrity or honor to tell the truth. But these text messages tell the truth for them. And it’s a pretty good bet that this is just the beginning.

UPDATE: Silence from Fox News, and Meadows Responds: On Monday evening none of the Fox News hosts above whose texts were revealed mentioned them on their programs. Hannity even interviewed Meadows and completely ignored this news. So, as usual, they are keeping their audience ignorant.

Also, Meadows told Newsmax that the Committee “tried to weaponize text messages, selectively leaked them, to put out a narrative, quite frankly, that the president didn’t act.” In other words, he just attacked the Committee. He had no response to the incriminating substance of the text messages that show conclusively that Trump did not act. What other narrative could there be? Meadows didn’t offer one.

The panicked texts of Fox News hosts on 1/6 vs. the same Fox News hosts downplaying 1/6 on air since then pic.twitter.com/FRCK9vg46F

— The Recount (@therecount) December 14, 2021

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

Trump Whines To Fox News that ‘I Have Nothing to Hide’ While He’s Suing to Hide Everything

Posted by Mark NC on December 11, 2021 at 10:13 am. 7 Comments :

Poor Donald Trump is scared silly that he might pay a price for his treasonous, failed coup attempt. He’s lashing out incoherently at his political foes. His former Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, who already turned over damning records to the House Select Committee investigating the January 6th insurrection, is now retreating to the shelter of the 5th Amendment to avoid incriminating himself – and Trump.

It may be too little to late for Meadows whose defiance of a congressional subpoena will likely result in a charge of criminal contempt. What’s more, among the records he provided is a PowerPoint presentation detailing Trump’s plans to undermine democracy and install himself as dictator. All of this malarkey is rooted in his “Big Lie” about the 2020 Presidential election that he is afraid to debate.

Adding to Trump’s woes is the D.C. Court of Appeals ruling rejecting his bid to suppress the release of his communications with the insurrection plotters. In a desperate play to spin this bad news in his favor, Trump fled to his personal media panic room, Fox News, to pump out some positive propaganda. He called into Laura Ingraham’s program where he knew he would be greeted with slobbering sympathy and unfettered freedom to lie.

Trump wasn’t disappointed. Ingraham allowed him to reframe the deadly riots in the Capitol on January 6th by violent StormTrumpers as merely a protest. Instead, Trump maligned the millions of Americans who honored democratic ideals by voting on Election Day as the “real” insurrection. Then Trump unleashed this morsel of mendacity (video below):

Ingraham: Do you think your nominees to the Court are going to uphold your claims of executive privilege in this case?
Trump: Well, I hope they do. I’ll tell you, the biggest loser would be Biden because if it ever changes, and I think it will, then he won’t be able to use it with respect to Hunter and all of the things that are going on that are so terrible. So I would think he’d want to see this upheld, frankly. I think it’s very important for him. Honestly, I have nothing to hide. I wasn’t involved in that. And if you look at my words and what I said in the speech, they were extremely calming, actually. But I would think that the Democrats would like to see it, and I think secretly they would like to see it upheld.

Of course Trump hopes that the Justices he placed on the Court obey his divine will. That’s why he put them there. But legal experts are predicting that they might show some measure of independence and allow the D.C. Appeals Court ruling to stand.

More to the point, Trump inexplicably declares that “I have nothing to hide.” Which is a peculiar stance for someone who is suing Congress to keep his White House records hidden. An innocent person would be anxious to release documents that he thought would exonerate him. But Trump wants people to believe that he is appealing the Court decision to the Supreme Court because he has nothing to hide.

And if that weren’t preposterous enough, Trump is claiming that the sermon he delivered to his cult disciples prior to the Capitol riots was “extremely calming.” Which part of that speech do you suppose he was referring to? Here are some excerpts that he might regard as calmative:

“All of us here today do not want to see our election victory stolen by emboldened radical-left Democrats, which is what they’re doing. And stolen by the fake news media.”
“We will never give up, we will never concede.”
“Our country has had enough. We will not take it anymore.”
“We will not let them silence your voices.”
“We’re going to have to fight much harder.”
“You’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength.”
“We fight like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”

Indeed, those words could be seen as – let’s say tranquilizing. They would have the effect of putting his devotees into a stupor sufficient to persuade them to attack Congress, threaten its members and staff, break through windows and doors, vandalize historic property, and assault police officers.

Finally, Trump bizarrely pretends that he’s actually pursuing his legal path to help President Biden. But instead, he’s He making the oddly argued case that Biden doesn’t face any legal jeopardy. He suggests that Biden should favor a ruling that suppressed such disclosures because he would benefit from it. Therefore, since Biden is supportive of the Appeals Court ruling, he clearly isn’t afraid of some future records being released that might incriminate him. Unlike Trump, who is shaking in his elevator boots. Because he has nothing to hide. Right?

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

Fox News Ignores Appeals Court Ruling Against Trump’s Bid to Stiff the January 6th Committee

Posted by Mark NC on December 9, 2021 at 5:24 pm. 3 Comments :

In the latest attempt by Donald Trump to keep his treasonous conduct secret and evade accountability for his crimes (something he is still very sensitive about), the former reality TV game show lost yet another court battle. The D.C. Court of Appeals has unanimously ruled against Trump’s specious claim of executive privilege, setting the stage for a Supreme Court decision that legal experts predict they won’t even bother hear.

Trump’s litigation was aimed at denying the House Select Committee investing the January 6th insurrection access to documents held by the National Archives. According to ABC News…

“In a 68-page ruling, the three-judge panel tossed aside Trump’s various arguments for blocking through executive privilege records that the committee regards as vital to its investigation into the run-up to the deadly riot aimed at overturning the results of the 2020 presidential election.”

There was no ambiguity whatsoever in the Court’s decision. Trump’s arguments were dismissed in total. The ruling by the Court said in part that…

“On the record before us, former President Trump has provided no basis for this court to override President Biden’s judgment and the agreement and accommodations worked out between the Political Branches over these documents.” […]

“Both Branches agree that there is a unique legislative need for these documents and that they are directly relevant to the Committee’s inquiry into an attack on the Legislative Branch and its constitutional role in the peaceful transfer of power.” […]

“The privilege being asserted is not a personal privilege belonging to former President Trump; he stewards it for the benefit of the Republic. The interests the privilege protects are those of the Presidency itself, not former President Trump individually. And the President has determined that immediate disclosure will promote, not injure, the national interest, and that delay here is itself injurious.”

Trump’s response to this ruling was a terse statement released by his Twitter ban defying spokes-shill, Liz Harrington. She tweeted that…

“Regardless of today’s decision by the the appeals court, this case was always destined for the Supreme Court. President Trump’s duty to defend the Constitution and the Office of the Presidency continues, and he will keep fighting for every American and every future Administration.”

As noted above, the Supreme Court is likely to allow the Appeals Court decision to stand. That’s the view of Harvard constitutional law professor emeritus, Laurence Tribe, among others. And the notion that Trump is defending the Constitution that his actions on January 6th endeavored to subvert is beyond absurd. He is fighting for the only cause that has ever meant anything to him: Himself!

In the hours that have passed since the Appeals Court ruling was announced, Fox News has failed to report it on their website. Although they have managed to find room for eleven stories about Jussie Smollett’s conviction, and five stories about their burnt Christmas tree. That should tell you something about the editorial priorities of Fox News. Clearly they aren’t interest in informing their audience that Trump is, once again, The Biggest Loser.

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

Big Baby Trump Lashes Out at Adam Schiff for Urging the Justice Dept to Probe His Crimes

Posted by Mark NC on December 5, 2021 at 1:36 pm. 8 Comments :

The best way to gauge what Donald Trump is most afraid of at any given point in time is to observe whatever he is ranting about at that time. And more often than not, Trump is ranting about his decisive loss to President Biden in the 2020 election.

Ever since Trump’s humiliating rejection by a significant majority of the American people, he has persisted in lying about the election being “rigged” and “stolen” from him. Never mind that in more than a year – and sixty plus court cases – he has failed to produce a shred of evidence of his delusional charges.

A few weeks ago House Democrats formed the bipartisan Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Insurrection. Trump’s role in that atrocity has been well documented. So naturally he has taken to slandering the Committee and its members. He even issued a hysterical debate challenge to anyone willing to sully themselves by pandering to his lunacy. Of course, if he really wants to debate members of the January 6th Committee, he could just volunteer to show up and testify under oath. Don’t hold your breath waiting for that to happen. FYI: Trump is now dodging the debate his proposed.

At the forefront of Trump’s diseased mind is Rep. Adam Schiff, who was also a key figure during Trump’s first impeachment. His closing arguments were a brilliant and moving summation of the offenses Trump committed that warranted his impeachment and removal from office. But now Trump is lashing out in his typically infantile manner at Schiff. He tweeted (via his Twitter ban defying spokes-shill)…

“Do you believe that Shifty Adam Schiff is on the Committee concerning the 2020 protest when he was the one that scammed America and the World on the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax? He’s a sleezeball that has no credibility and is so bad for our Nation!”

Notice that Trump is calling the deadly riots in Washington, D.C., that he incited a “protest.” And he continues to refer to the verified accounts of his unsavory connections to Russia as a “hoax.” As for the childish insults he hurled at Schiff, as usual they apply more accurately to himself.

This latest Trump tantrum was likely triggered by reports that Schiff is concerned that Attorney General Merrick Garland is not pursuing indictments against Trump and his crime syndicate. Schiff has been making the rounds on television news programs to promote his new book, Midnight in Washington: How We Almost Lost Our Democracy and Still Could. During those interviews Schiff has made a point of expressing his disappointment with the Attorney General:

“I think there’s a real desire on the part of the attorney general, for the most part, not to look backward,” Schiff said on the podcast. “Do I disagree with that? I do disagree with that, and I disagree with it most vehemently when it comes to what I consider even more serious offenses.”

Schiff’s views are shared by millions of Americans who are anxious to see Trump and his cronies held accountable for their anti-democratic activities. There is more than enough evidence to indict and convict Trump. Some of the evidence comes from Trump himself. There’s even an account from his coup plotting co-conspirator Alex Jones implicating him.

So Trump’s Twitter freak out is understandable. But it isn’t going to make things any better for him. To the contrary, it only affirms his consciousness of guilt. Hopefully Garland will heed Schiff’s warnings and get moving on the Trump investigation. There is little time to spare. Republicans are hoping to run out the clock. But for the sake of democracy, and the future of the country, Garland must not allow that to happen.

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

Snowflake Trump Issues Challenge for a Debate About His ‘Big Lie’ Promising ‘a Ratings Bonanza’

Posted by Mark NC on November 29, 2021 at 10:42 am. 5 Comments :

Among the most prominent character flaws of Donald Trump is his notorious cowardice. This is a big-talking bully who is spending his golden years hiding behind his Twitter ban defying spokes-shill to post messages that exalt himself, and lie and insult his multitude of perceived enemies. And he’s too scared to conduct an interview with anyone but his slobbering sycophants on Fox News, Newsmax, and other Trump-fluffing media hacks.

Consequently, it was surprising to see Trump’s tweet on Sunday wherein he issued a challenge for a public debate. Trump is still obsessed with his humiliating election loss more than a year ago. and he continues to press forward with his delusional assertions of voter fraud for which neither he, nor his cartoonish mouthpieces such as pillow magnate Mike Lindell, have ever been able to provide evidence. Undeterred by reality, Trump wrote that…

“The Fake News Media cannot stand the fact that so many people in our Country know the truth, that the 2020 Election was rigged and stolen, yet almost every article written contains the words the ‘Big Lie’ or ‘unsubstantiated facts,’ etc., always trying to demean the real results.”

There are good reasons that credible journalists use words like “Big Lie” and “unsubstantiated facts,” when referring to Trump’s fallacious election falsehoods. After a year, and more than sixty failed court challenges, Trump has produced nothing to support his bogus babbling. Continuing with his Twitter tirade, Trump said…

“I am willing to challenge the heads of the various papers or even far left politicians, who have perpetuated the Real Big Lie, which is voter irregularities and fraud on a massive and determinative scale. This includes members of the highly partisan Unselect Committee of Democrats who refuse to delve into what caused the January 6th protest—it was the Fake Election results!”

If Trump were truly interested in engaging the members of the bipartisan House Select Committee investigating the January 6th insurrection, he could just volunteer to testify before it under oath. Don’t hold your breath. His characterization of the riots in Washington as a “protest” affirm his support for the insurrectionists, and for violent and anti-democratic means to achieve his authoritarian goals.

What’s more, Trump’s pretend invitation for a TV dialog implies that he thinks media executives and politicians would be willing to lower themselves to indulge his psychotic fantasies. That’s unlikely, and Trump knows it, as he reveals in his next sentence, saying that…

“While I am willing to do it, they will never agree because they cannot argue that facts in states including Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, New Hampshire, and others such as New Mexico, where the Democrat Secretary of State changed the voting laws without legislative approval just prior to the Election, making it virtually impossible for the Republican presidential candidate to win.”

Needless to say, there are no facts that support Trump’s charges. If there were, he would have produced them long ago. Even the rabidly biased Cyber Ninjas who conducted the Arizona “fraudit” eventually concluded that Joe Biden had legitimately won the election by an even wider margin than originally reported.

However, Trump is admitting that he knew his debate challenge wouldn’t be accepted. Nor should it be. That would just be humoring a mentally disabled schizoid and his flagrant fallacies. In fact, a coward like Trump would never have suggested a debate if he thought that anyone would agree to it. Remember when he ditched a Fox News debate because Megyn Kelly was the moderator? Instead he staged a phony “telethon” for veterans, but tried to keep the donations for himself. But Trump still wasn’t through. He closed his rant saying that…

“If anyone would like a public debate on the facts, not the fiction, please let me know. It will be a ratings bonanza for television!”

Here we have Trump daring “anyone” to take him up on his debate challenge for the only actual reason he might consider it: Television ratings. That’s the currency with which narcissists barter. Trump desperately wants to be relevant again, and a televised debate would indeed put him in front of a large audience.

But it would still be a waste of time because Trump wouldn’t – and couldn’t – serve up proof of his claims in such a forum. It would just be another opportunity for him to disgorge lies and insults while shouting down his opponent.

That said, it would be interesting from an entertainment perspective. So while no serious journalist or politician should sink to accepting this offer, perhaps someone like Michael Moore, or Al Franken, or Wanda Sykes, could consider it. After all, Trump did say “anyone.” Odds are Trump would slink away in fear as fast as he could waddle should he get such a response.

UPDATE: Trump is now dodging the debate he proposed.

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

Trump’s Thanksgiving Tweets Tell America to Stuff It and Praise a Felonious Turkey He Pardoned

Posted by Mark NC on November 25, 2021 at 9:25 am. NO Comments :

If there is one thing that Donald Trump is known for, it’s posting epically incoherent commentaries on social media that are simultaneously hysterical and frightening. And this Thanksgiving isn’t any different. The Whiner-in-Chief couldn’t refrain from dispensing his trademark brand of anti-American negativity when supposedly wishing the nation a happy holiday, along with self-serving inferences about how we are failing and going in the wrong direction.

Past examples of Trump’s Thanksgiving tirades include the year when he was asked what he was most thankful for and he replied himself. And then there was the year that he insulted the troops for Thanksgiving (and also thanked himself). Last year Trump was too consumed with fury over his “Big Lie” about the election to celebrate Thanksgiving. This year Fox News joined the War on Thanksgiving by criticizing President Biden for wanting to spend the holiday with his family.

Despite that record of unrelenting holiday derp, Trump may have outdone himself this year. On Wednesday he posted a tweet (via his Twitter ban defying spokes-shill) that sinks fathoms below even his pathetically low standards. He babbled that…

“The Unselect Committee issued a subpoena to Bernie Kerik, an American Patriot and great former Police Commissioner of New York City, for its Jan. 6th Witch Hunt, but didn’t realize what they were demanding is a massive trove of evidence of Voter Fraud. According to Bernie’s lawyer, these documents show significant indicators of fraud in the 2020 Presidential Election Scam, but have remained hidden from the public. It is exactly what the Unselect Committee should be interested in—if this was a real investigation.

“Bernie wants to comply with the subpoena with a public hearing, and asked me to waive attorney-client privilege so Bernie can testify and provide documents, which I grant him. The Unselect Committee will not like what they asked for!”

There’s a lot to unpack in that terse discharge. Let’s begin with Trump unveiling another of his infantile nicknames that he imagines are brilliant putdowns. He calls the bipartisan Congressional Select Committee investigating his culpability for the January 6th insurrection “Unselect.” That’s the sort of wit for which he will go down in history with hapless comic trolls who never made it out of the third grade.

The subject of Trump’s Twantrum is Bernie Kerik, a Rudy Giuliani henchman who spent three years in prison after pleading guilty to eight felony charges, and was later pardoned by Trump. That’s the sort sort of cretin that Trump regards as a “patriot.”

Trump is in a tizzy because Kerik was subpoenaed by the Committee, but consoled by his delusion that Kerik has “a massive trove of evidence of Voter Fraud” that he thinks will be revealed should he testify. Of course, this Committee isn’t investigating Trump’s election “Big Lie” fantasies and is unlikely to waste time with Kerik’s alleged evidence. And Trump’s assertion that Kerik has been hoarding proof of fraud that has been “hidden from the public” for nearly a year is laughably absurd. If they actually had such evidence, why have they been keeping secret for so long?

Nevertheless, Trump is exuding confidence that this is such a dramatic turning point that he is granting Kerik a waiver of attorney-client privileges. That’s awfully generous of him. Never mind that Kerik is not an attorney and never represented Trump, so there is no such applicable privilege to waive. For the record, the Committee subpoenaed Kerik because he…

“…reportedly participated in a meeting on January 5, 2021, at the Willard Hotel in Washington D.C., in which Rudolph Giuliani, Stephen Bannon, John Eastman, and others discussed options for overturning the results of the November 2020 election such as, among other things, pressuring Vice President Pence not to certify the electoral college results.”

Kerik is disputing those allegations. Which is peculiar because he previously admitted that “his firm billed the Trump campaign more than $55,000 for rooms for the legal team [and] was later reimbursed, records show.”

So this all just more desperate noise from Trump and his minions as they try to muddy the waters with deflections and lies. If Kerik follows through on his promise to testify before the Committee, we will see if Trump’s prediction that the Committee “will not like what they asked for” comes to pass. But if history is any guide it will be Trump who doesn’t like the results.

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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