Fox News

Trump Goes on Holiday Twitter Tantrum Against Nancy Pelosi – and the Constitution

Posted by on December 26, 2019 at 11:55 am. 4 Comments :

STOP THE MADNESS! During his campaign, Donald Trump promised that he would work every day in The White House because there was so much that needed to be done. Instead, he has spent more time at his golf resorts, watching Fox News, and tweeting, than anything else. In fact, when it comes to those wasteful, childish diversions, he never takes a day off. Not even for Christmas.

Donald Trump, Toilet, Bathrobe

Trump’s holiday tweet-o-rama was narrowly focused on matters that have consumed his consciousness for weeks. While he pretends not to be worried about having been impeached, it’s practically the only thing he is paying any attention to. It’s an obsession that is gnawing at him to the exclusion of everything else. And his Twitter tantrum is evidence of just how haunted he is by this permanent stain on his legacy. He began on Christmas day by tweeting that…

There’s a lot to unpack in that brief tirade. On the same day that Trump released an eerily morose Christmas message that called for “deeper understanding and respect,” he’s posting insults to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, calling her “crazy.” And he is also exhibiting his painfully weak grasp of the Constitution that unambiguously grants the House of Representatives the “sole power to impeach.” What’s more, he doesn’t understand that a majority of any size gives that party parliamentary control. Even so, a 34 seat majority is not “slight.” And he has apparently forgotten that the Republican majority in the Senate is only four seats.

Trump goes on to dismiss the impeachment because no Republicans voted for it. But that only reinforces the fact that the GOP acts as a monolithic and partisan unit that doesn’t care about the truth. Which puts them in alignment with Trump who then proceeds to lie about his allegedly “perfect,” “no pressure” phone call with the president of Ukraine.

From there Trump wanders off into a diatribe about “due process,” which is only relevant in a court of law. Nevertheless, Trump did have the opportunity to appear in his own defense and to have his attorneys plead his case. It was not disallowed. He declined. Now Trump is refusing to allow witnesses and documents in the Senate hearing that he has whined about not having in the House.

Let’s set aside the false assertion that any particular part of this is “supposed” to be in one body or the other. What Trump is complaining about here is that the testimony that he actively obstructed wasn’t made available. Maybe he should stop obstructing it. Maybe he should also stop pretending that Democrats want to slow down the process, as he says in his next tweet. It’s Trump and the GOP who are gumming up the works by refusing to set the terms for the Senate hearing.

Finally, Trump acts out in his typically infantile way with a multi-tweet attack on Pelosi and the district she represents in California. Just like he has done previously with Baltimore, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and others, he maligns them for problems that exist in all cities. But he blames Pelosi as somehow being responsible.

LATE ADDITION: Trump tweeted…

Trump actually believes that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau personally edited him out of a cameo in Home Alone 2. Never mind that this edit was actually made five years ago, before Trump was even a candidate. The reason Trump believes that Trudeau is responsible is because it’s what he would do in similar circumstances. Trump thinks that national leadership includes the power to exact petty vengeances on your enemies. In fact, he has even exercised that corrupt power by redirecting a federal contract from Amazon (because Jeff Bezos also owns the Washington Post), to Microsoft. Which is blatantly illegal.

There is simply no denying that Trump is terrified and desperate. The whole of his attention is on the impeachment and what he considers unfair treatment. And it manifests in these furious Twitter rampages that only make him look even more deranged. So it’s not surprising that public support for his impeachment and removal from office has hit a new high. And if he continues on this disastrous course, he should expect it get even worse.

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

Donald Trump’s Fox News Inspired Holiday Eve Special: All I Want for Christmas is to Whine

Posted by on December 24, 2019 at 4:26 pm. 2 Comments :

These final days of the year will ordinarily find most Americans gathering together with family to enjoy the spirit of the season and give thanks for enduring love and good fortune. However, nothing that Donald Trump does ever aligns with anything ordinary. This Christmas Trump was asked by soldiers in a holiday phone call what he intended to do for the holidays. He said that he would probably just work because that’s what he likes to do. Then he went off to golf at his Palm Beach resort.

Trump Christmas Tree

There is no evidence of this being a holiday at all in Trump;’s White House. Trump hasn’t tweeted any pictures with his family, including his young son Barron. He hasn’t bought his wife a present, but says he did get her a card. There doesn’t appear to have been any dinners with his kids and grand-kids, although he did dine with Rush Limbaugh. What there is on Trump’s schedule is what he does all the rest of the year: WHINE! And there’s been plenty of that.

Trump’s Twitter feed is awash with petulant crybaby laments. For the most part he is complaining about having just been impeached. And while he is pretending that he isn’t bothered by this permanent stain on his legacy, he can’t seem to let go of it. His griping takes the form of bizarre assertions that he hasn’t been impeached at all. Or that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is crazy and incompetent. For instance…

Those tweets are quotes from Fox News Trump-fluffers, Brit Hume and Brian Kilmeade. They are not in any way representative of reality. They barely make logical sense. For example, Kilmeade is says that Democrats are showing that “they don’t care about the American public’s tone deafness.” HUH? And then Trump adds that “They want to make it as hard as possible for me to properly run our Country!” There are just two things wrong with that remark. First, it falsely presumes that he is able to properly run our country. And second it misses the real point, which is that Democrats are only trying to make it hard for him get away with treasonous crimes.

So Trump spent the day watching Fox news and whining about what a victim he is and how all these meany Democrats are persecuting him. He’s supposed to be the leader of the free world but he can’t stop sobbing about what he thinks is unfair treatment. He’s been doing this for months without a rest. And he’s too unaware to recognize that he’s the cause of all his troubles. So on and on he goes, even through the holidays. And there is no reason to expect it to end as the new year begins. Whining is all Trump knows how to do. He even once admitted that “I am the most fabulous whiner.” Which may be the truest thing he ever said.

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

Trump’s Attorney Genuflect Bill Barr is Turning the DOJ Into an Internet Troll Farm.

Posted by on December 22, 2019 at 1:05 pm. 2 Comments :

The devolution of American politics has been noticeable on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter for some time. The rancid outbursts and shrill animosity is inescapable. Much of what is posted is flagrantly false and rooted in crackpot conspiracy theories concocted by foreign, adversarial governments like Russia. And sadly, Donald Trump is one of the foremost diseminaters of this toxic dialog,

Donald Trump, Bill Barr

This online divisiveness and hatred has also been adopted by official representatives of the Trump regime. The wild assertions that many of them make in public – and particularly on Fox News – are indistinguishable from the trolls that inhabit the darkest recesses of the Intertubes. A perfect example of that occurred in a commentary by Trump’s Attorney General, William Barr, during a recent interview with Martha MacCallum of Fox News. Barr seems to be making a habit of these appearances. On this occasion, MacCallum asked him about remarks he made during a speech that was rife with the stench of political partisanship (video below):

MacCallum: You talked in your piece about “social justice DAs” … What does that mean?
Barr: Well, there’s this recent development where George Soros has been coming in, in largely Democratic primaries where there has not been much voter turnout and putting in a lot of money to elect people who are not very supportive of law enforcement and don’t view the office as bringing to trial and prosecuting criminals but pursuing other social agendas. And they have started to win in a number of cities and they have, in my view, not given the proper support to the police. And they’re following policies that are ultimately gonna lead to an increase in violent crime and more victims.

There’s a lot of ugliness to unpack in that diatribe, beginning with Barr’s reference to George Soros. The right-wing Internet has been attacking Soros for years with vile inferences of evil intent and world domination. The attacks were typically comprised of common anti-Semitic tropes that accuse Jews of seeking to control everything from the banks to the media to the moral fabric of society. And as a self-made billionaire, Soros was used by the right to symbolize the most repulsive lies propagated by conservative hate groups. And now Barr is doing the same thing by asserting that Soros has some otherworldly power to shape society in terrible and frightening ways.

Barr’s accusation naturally springs from Soros’ wealth as the tool of his dastardly deeds. Great wealth, however, is only seen as the Devil’s plaything when it’s held by liberals. According to Barr, Soros is “putting in a lot of money” to install his minions in the upper ranks of law enforcement. And from there, Barr believes, they will implement an agenda that frees up villains to embark on unfettered crime sprees.

What’s more, Barr also says that any effort to hold the police accountable for bad behavior is an expression of disrespect. Of course, the opposite is the truth. Wanting the police to have the best reputations for honorable service is far more respectful than ignoring and excusing their faults. But to Barr, any constructive criticism should be viewed as “not supporting the police” for which the result could be that citizens “may not get the police protection they need.” That’s an overt and irresponsible threat that shouldn’t be tolerated coming from the chief law enforcement officer of the United States.

The assertion that Democrats are hostile to law enforcement is demonstrably false, but it’s been a longstanding plank in the Republican platform. Trump himself has alleged that Democrats actually want more crime. He tweeted earlier this year that “the Radical Democrats are a Party of open borders and crime.” And that’s just one example of many.

What we’re seeing from these officials in Washington today is the sort of extremist garbage that was once reserved for the likes of Glenn Beck and Alex Jones. But now it has been openly taken up by Trump and Barr. It is worse than merely insulting and dishonest. It is insane and dangerous. And yet, it is now routinely a part of the discourse by the White House and its surrogates. This needs to stop ASAP. If not by impeachment and removal from office, than at the ballot box in November.

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

HUH? Fox News Trump-Fluffers Float Bizarre Theory that Trump Hasn’t Been Impeached

Posted by on December 20, 2019 at 11:49 am. 2 Comments :

The capacity for total delusion on the part of Donald Trump and his Fox News defenders has never been, and can never be, overstated. However, there are times when they exhibit such utterly ludicrous behaviors that it astonishes even the most jaded media observers. And on Thursday evening we passed that threshold once again.

Fox News, Laura Ingraham

On an episode of Laura Ingraham’s White Nationalist Hour, our intrepid host attempted to impart her version of wingnut intellectualism by presenting a theory so devoid of reason that it sucked all the remaining grey matter from her already nearly vacant skull. It’s a theory that Trump’s White House is also entertaining.

Ingraham delivered a monologue (video below) that began with the absurd contention that “I think one can make a decent argument that the President wasn’t really impeached.” Her explanation sprung from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s decision to delay sending the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate until Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer finalized the rules under which they would be debated. Ingraham thinks that an impeachment hasn’t really taken place until the House transmits it to the Senate.

To support her silliness, Ingraham mocks Pelosi’s grasp of the Constitution and attempts to cite it saying that “the Senate has the sole power of impeachment.” That, however, is not what the Constitution says. What it actually says is that “The House of Representatives…shall have the sole power of impeachment.” So Ingraham got it completely wrong. It later says that “The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments.” Which is something else entirely. Pelosi, therefore, was right and Ingraham was making a fool of herself.

This disinformation then spread to other Fox News programs. On Friday morning it was regurgitated by anchor David Asman who said that “We may not have an impeachment if it hasn’t been passed to the Senate.” But as we now know, that isn’t true. It’s just part of an ongoing campaign by Fox News to keep their viewers mired in ignorance and falsehoods.

Additionally, this baseless theory relies on the assumption that the House will never transmit the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate. Nobody is betting on that. Pelosi is wisely insisting that the Senate trial be conducted fairly and that relevant witnesses to presented. That’s a critical demand considering that McConnell has already publicly stated that he has no intention of being impartial and that he will “take his cues” from White House lawyers. Eventually McConnell will have to concede because Trump doesn’t want the impeachment hanging over his head without at least an attempt to exonerate him by the Senate. Although, exoneration is not something that is actually achievable.

Like or not, Fox News, and Trump’s congressional bootlickers, have to accept that Trump has indeed been impeached. They cannot pretend otherwise. It is a disgrace that will follow him and the GOP throughout history. And clinging to these nonsense notions and wishful thinking only makes them look desperate and dumb. Well, more desperate and dumber.

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

Fox News Senior Legal Analyst on Trump: ‘The Remedy of Impeachment is Acutely Needed’

Posted by on December 18, 2019 at 2:59 pm. 4 Comments :

The impeachment of Donald Trump is finally being debated in the House of Representatives. The outcome is not expected to surprise anyone. Trump will be be impeached and will wear that mantle of disgrace for the rest of his life. Even if the Senate fails to remove him from office, the stain of impeachment is an indelible affirmation that Trump breached his constitutional duties and betrayed his country.

Donald Trump Walking the Plank

The partisan players in this battle are easily recognizable in most instances. Republicans and Fox News pundits are staunchly devoted to Trump regardless of what laws he has been shown to have broken. But every now and then someone steps out from behind the curtain of political prejudice to act as an advocate of truth and justice.

Now, as Trump’s impeachment looms, a lone voice from Fox News is standing up to the right-wing group-think that the network so rigidly enforces. Andrew Napolitano is Fox’s Senior Legal Adviser. And on Wednesday morning, as Congress was weighing Trump’s fate, Napolitano penned an op-ed with the headline: “Trump impeachment: Undisputed evidence that he abused his power.”

The article was published in the arch-conservative Washington times. For some reason, Fox News has been spiking Napolitano’s commentaries that support Trump’s impeachment. And this article had some blunt opinions on the matter. For instance…

“In Mr. Trump’s case, we have undisputed evidence that he abused his power by inviting a foreign government to interfere in the 2020 presidential election and then compounded this by directing subordinates to refrain from giving congressionally commanded evidence of his behavior.”

“It is undisputed that Mr. Trump withheld the delivery of the $391 million in military aid to Ukraine that Congress authorized and ordered and that Mr. Trump himself signed into law. He said he withheld that aid because he first wanted “a favor” from the president of Ukraine. The favor, requested by others on Mr. Trump’s behalf, was the announcement of a Ukrainian government criminal investigation of Mr. Trump’s potential political adversary, former Vice President Joe Biden.

“In the language of the streets, this is a shakedown; it sought to enhance Mr. Trump’s personal political needs and bears no relationship to American foreign policy.

Napolitano went on to describe the criminal violations Trump committed. They included the federal prohibition on soliciting campaign aid from a foreign government, and bribery. He also explained that these acts are crimes whether or not they are consummated by the exchange of money or services. It is the solicitation that triggers the offense.

And that’s not all. Napolitano also noted the criminal obstruction of justice by Trump for having “directed his subordinates to disregard congressional subpoenas, lawfully issued and validly served.” And he was troubled by Trump’s apparent belief that he is above the law. Napolitano made clear that this was dangerous, and that there is something that the Founders had in mind for just such a problem:

“Everyone who believes in the rule of law should be terrified of a president who thinks and behaves as if it does not apply to him. As the DOJ has stated repeatedly, impeachment is the proper constitutional remedy for that.”

Trump has been frantically trying to dodge accountability for his clearly impeachable activities. But his legal basis is virtually nonexistent, and he has refused to even defend himself before the committees of jurisdiction in Congress. Instead, he relies on bootlicking Fox News hacks like Gregg Jarrett and Alan Dershowitz (each of which he retweeted six times on Wednesday) for legal advice. Even worse, his idea of “legal scholars.” is Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson.

Former federal judge Napolitano, on the other hand, says that “the remedy of impeachment is acutely needed.” But you can rest assured that Trump will dismiss that as fake news and malign Napolitano (who was a close friend of Trump’s for decades) as a Never-Trumper. That’s just how the mind of a paranoid narcissist works.

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

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

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

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

Donald Trump, Fox News

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

UPDATE: As I predicted…

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

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

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

Donald Trump, Impeach

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Donald Trump, Toilet, Bathrobe

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

William Barr, Donald Trump

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fox News Legal Analyst: Trump Will Testify at Senate Impeachment Trial

Posted by on December 5, 2019 at 1:59 pm. 6 Comments :

On Thursday morning House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made it official that the House would draft Articles of Impeachment against Donald Trump. It isn’t known yet what specific charges will be included, but it’s fairly certain that they will focus on Trump’s extortion of the President of Ukraine and obstruction of justice. However, the possibilities for additional charges are numerous, including perjury, campaign finance violations, witness intimidation, and self-dealing.

Donald Trump, Impeach

It is almost a bygone conclusion that the House will vote to impeach Trump. His fate in the Senate is more difficult to predict. While most Republican senators have been marching lock-step with Trump, his flagrant breaches of law and obstruction could produce a public backlash that makes them think twice about supporting him.

How the Senate trial unfolds will have a significant impact on the final vote. But there is one particular potential event that could be groundbreaking. While Trump has done everything imaginable to throw obstacles in front of the impeachment inquiry, there is some speculation that he might show up to testify on his own behalf.

One of those predicting that is Andrew Napolitano, the Fox News Senior Legal Analyst. Napolitano, who said last month that “the evidence of his impeachable behavior is overwhelming,” also recently said that if he were a member of Congress he would vote to impeach Trump. His is virtually alone at Fox taking that position. And now he is predicting that Trump will testify under oath at his Senate impeachment trial. Napolitano was asked by Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer “If you go to a Senate trial, who testifies on behalf of the president?” Napolitano replied…

“Himself … I think it will be the most dramatic legal political event in the history of our era. With the president of the United States testifying under oath in front of the chief justice, and the full Senate and 200 million people watching on television.”

Is Napolitano right? It’s hard to tell. There two distinct paths for Trump going forward.

PATH #1: Trump will testify because he believes that he is his own best spokesperson. He is a malignant narcissist who is convinced that everything does is “perfect” and that it is impossible for him to fail at anything he attempts. He believes he is better than all of his critics and could outsmart them on the Senate debate field. So of course he’ll testify.

PATH #2: Trump will never testify because he’s scared witless of being cross-examined by the aggressive and hostile Democratic lawyers prosecuting his impeachment. He knows that he is prone to lying in order to achieve his goals, but that in this forum that would only subject him to additional charges of perjury. And he can’t remember his past lies well enough to be consistent. What’s more, he knows the truth. He knows what he’s done and that he will be asked about his activities in detail. How could he respond? If he tells the truth he’s incriminating himself. But if he lies he’s perjuring himself.

So it remains to be seen which of Trump’s psychoses will prevail. Will it be his narcissistic confidence and delusions of grandeur? Or will it be his fear and consciousness of guilt. Either way it’s clear that Trump doesn’t have any good options. In the meantime he’s assuming a brave face on Twitter and asking that congress move quickly to the Senate trial:

This is the typical childish name-calling strategy that Trump employs when under pressure. He can’t respond substantively to the charges against him, so he calls his critics “crazy.” That wouldn’t cut it in a court of law, or in the Senate. But if he’s so keen on compelling the testimony of Adam Schiff and the Bidens, maybe he should be patronized, so long as he also agrees to allow the testimony of Mick Mulvaney, and Mike Pompeo, and John Bolton, and Dan McGahn,, and Rudy Giuliani. Then he might actually be right about the Senate trial “reveal[ing], for the first time, how corrupt our system really is.”

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