Trump is Aiding and Abetting Russian Propaganda to Smear the Biden Family

Posted by on October 19, 2020 at 1:17 pm. 5 Comments :

There is a new “scandal” brewing in Trump World as they desperately search for a way dig Donald Trump out of his political abyss. The recent rash of feigned outrage stems from an interview by Senior Fox News Trump-fluffer, Maria Bartiromo. She gifted her platform to the Director of National Intelligence, John Ratcliffe, a Trump appointee who has no experience in intelligence. And the the result was a made-for-State-TV segment intended to rescue a floundering campaign.

Donald Trump Vladimir Putin

The gist of the so-called scandal concerns a mysterious laptop computer that allegedly belonged to Hunter Biden, the son of Joe Biden. The New York Post reported that it was left with a computer repair shop in Delaware where the owner claims to have found “incriminating” e-mails that he passed on to Rudy Giuliani and the FBI.

The whole story was rife with contradictions, unverifiable claims, and outright falsehoods. It was so bad that when Giuliani first brought it to Fox News, they declined to air it with sources saying that…

“…the lack of authentication of Hunter Biden’s alleged laptop, combined with established concerns about Giuliani as a reliable source and his desire for unvetted publication, led the network’s news division to pass.”

Fox anchor Bret Baier called the story “sketchy,” and Chris Wallace said it was “suspicious.” Nevertheless, the primetime Ministers of Trump Propaganda (Sean Hannity, et al) were more than happy to jump feet first into the bogus hit piece.

During the Bartiromo interview, Ratcliffe sought to rebut the debunking that threatened to defuse the budding scandal. He insisted that there was no evidence that the information about the laptop, and the data supposedly found on it, were the product of Russian disinformation. He blamed the allegation of Russian involvement on Rep. Adam Schiff, but in fact, it came from the FBI that is currently run by Trump appointee Chris Wray:

“Federal authorities are investigating whether a Russian influence operation was behind the disclosure of emails purporting to document the Ukrainian and Chinese business dealings of Hunter Biden, the son of Democratic nominee Joe Biden, a person briefed on the matter said Friday.

“The FBI’s examination is tied to the New York Post’s reporting this week on the contents of a computer hard drive it obtained from President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.”

What’s more, the associates who Giuliani relied on for his smear campaign have been positively identified as Russian intelligence operatives by Trump’s Treasury Department:

“Treasury secretary, Steve Mnuchin, declared, ‘[Andriy ] Derkach and other Russian agents employ manipulation and deceit to attempt to influence elections in the United States and elsewhere around the world.’ Previously, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence told Congress that Derkach is ‘spreading claims about corruption’ as part of the Kremlin’s effort to undermine Biden’s campaign. And he worked with Guliani to do so.”

The New York Post’s story has been the talk of the Trump Cult. Trump himself has tweeted about it repeatedly since its publication. He called it the “smoking gun” proof that Biden is “a corrupt politician,” and that it’s “the second biggest political scandal in our history!” But the actual reporters were less convinced by the material they had assembled themselves. They wouldn’t even allow the Post to attach their names to the story:

“On Sunday night, the New York Times reported that the New York Post had a difficult time finding a reporter to put their byline on the story amidst internal concerns about its dubious sourcing. The Times reported that the staff writer who mostly wrote the story, Bruce Golding, refused put his name on the report because he doubted its credibility.” […]

“The story’s bylines eventually went to Emma-Jo Morris, a former associate producer on Fox News show Hannity, who joined the Post as an editor this year and had yet to publish a story with her byline, and Gabrielle Fonrouge, a Post reporter since 2014. According to the Times, Fonrouge only learned her name was on the story after it was published.”

So this story is so untrustworthy that its own authors don’t believe it. It is filled with contradictions and implausible allegations that were sourced to Russian intelligence operatives. And this is what Trump and Fox News and the rest of the Confederacy of Deplorables thinks will bring about the end of Joe Biden. But it isn’t quite working out that way. In fact, they’re about to learn something about how the boomerang effect works.

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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Dictator Trump Actually Said ‘You Must, By Law, Join the Republican Party’ (Video)

Posted by on October 18, 2020 at 11:53 am. 14 Comments :

As the 2020 presidential campaign enters its final two weeks, Donald Trump is recognizing the futility of his hopes for reelection. The American people have clearly rejected his failed attempts to deal with the coronavirus, the economy, healthcare, etc. Likewise, they are repelled by his toxic divisiveness and flagrant ignorance.

Donald Trump Tyrant Dictator

Given the voters’ sharp disagreement with the policies of Trump, and the cowardly compliant Republican Party, there appears to have been a deliberate shift to a strategy of pure character assassination by the Trump camp. Since he can’t change minds on substance, Trump is ramping up his most hostile and preposterous personalized rhetoric in an effort to drive down the favorables of his opponent, Joe Biden. He’s actually been doing that for months without having any discernible effect. Biden’s approval rating continues to stay in positive territory, far outstripping Trump’s historically low disapproval.

Trump’s attack plan now consists exclusively of bizarre allegations that more closely resemble the babbling of conspiratorial kooks than competent public servants. In recent days he has…

  • Retweeted crackpot QAnon claims that Osama Bin Laden is still alive and Biden killed SEAL Team 6.
  • Demanded that Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Joe Biden be “locked up.”
  • Aided and abetted Russian propaganda asserting debunked allegations against Biden.
  • Called Biden and his family criminals.
  • Lied that “we are rounding the turn” on the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, if you think that’s as bad as Trump gets, you don’t know Trump. On Saturday he spoke to the crowd at the Michigan stop of his Coronavirus Super Spreader Tour. And amid the onslaught of lies, insults, and whining, Trump laid this bit of fascism on his cult followers:

“If you’re a moderate Democrat or a liberal who knows that your party has gone totally off the rails, you have a moral duty to immediately stop this lunacy. You must, by law, join the Republican Party.”

By law? It boggles the mind trying to predict how Trump will justify this blatant totalitarianism. He can’t say, as he often does, that it was a joke because neither he, nor anyone in the audience, were laughing. He can’t say that it was the “fake news” trying to smear him because this is his own video that he himself posted on his Twitter page. What’s more, it’s perfectly aligned with so much of the other tyrannical outbursts he makes that it’s hard to pretend it wasn’t intentional.

These are the ravings of a desperate candidate who sees his inevitable downfall closing in on him. This week he suffered an embarrassing defeat when the competing TV town hall melodrama that he orchestrated resulted in Biden drawing millions more viewers. His longtime benefactor, Fox News Chairman Rupert Murdoch, predicted that Biden will win in a landslide. A Fox News poll found that a majority of voters say he doesn’t have the “mental soundness” to serve. He nevertheless is taking refuge in his Fox News bunker. Even Trump’s favorite pollster, Rasmussen, shows Biden winning by twelve points.

Any other (sane) candidate would be seeking to wrap up the campaign in manner that might retain some dignity. They might be thinking about their future, or the future of their party. Suffice to say that Trump isn’t thinking about anything but his obsessive craving for attention and control. And as it becomes clearer to him that he has neither, he will just spiral farther down the rabid hole, making his dire circumstances even worse. So buckle up, people. These last two weeks are gonna be a rollercoaster of crazy.

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


Schizo Trump Withers Under Criticism From GOP Senator

Posted by on October 17, 2020 at 1:01 pm. 1 Comments :

One thing Donald Trump will never be accused of is maintaining a consistent pattern of thought on any subject. It simply isn’t possible given his severe psychotic malfunction. Trump’s wild cognitive deviations are driven by an acute case of malignant narcissism. He is hostage to his own addiction to relentlessly positive (albeit fake) views of himself. Consequently, whatever he thought or said yesterday is irrelevant if it doesn’t align with what he thinks is in his best interest today.

Donald Trump

Trump provided the perfect example of this demented behavior in his Saturday morning tweet session. His angst was triggered by some critical remarks made by Republican Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska. Sasse’s remarks were revealed in a leaked recording of comments he made to fellow Republicans. What Sasse said is reportedly in line with the opinions of other GOP politicians who, like Sasse, are too cowardly to state their opinions publicly. Among Sasse’s scathing observations of Trump are…

  • His values are “deficient, not just for a Republican but for an American.”
  • “The way he kisses dictators’ butts.”
  • “The United States now regularly sells out our allies under his leadership.”
  • “The way he treats women.”
  • He “spends like a drunken sailor.”
  • That he “mocks evangelicals behind closed doors.”
  • He “has treated the presidency like a business opportunity.”
  • He “flirts with white supremacists.”
  • That he is “a TV-obsessed, narcissistic individual.”

Sasse is also rightly afraid that it “looks likely that he’s going to take the Senate down with him” if he loses the White House. “I’m now looking at the possibility of a Republican bloodbath in the Senate,” Sasse said, adding “That’s why I’ve never been on the Trump train […] What the heck were any of us thinking, that selling a TV-obsessed, narcissistic individual to the American people was a good idea?'”

It would be nice if Sasse and others like him had the integrity to tell the American people what he tells his colleagues in private. Especially prior to a historically consequential election. But the absence of integrity may just be an inherent Republican personality flaw. That would explain Trump’s behavior with regard to Sasse’s criticisms. But before getting to Trump’s latest whining about any commentary about him that is less than adoring, let’s take a look at his opinion of Sasse over time.

In January of 2016, Trump had an early disagreement with Sasse that resulted in his tweeting that…

But that was apparently all straightened out by September of 2019, when Sasse went from “totally ineffective” to having Trump’s “Complete and Total Endorsement” because…

However, that was short lived as Trump now says that Sasse is “stupid and obnoxious” and…

It really isn’t important what Trump thinks of Sen. Sasse. That opinion is about as stable as nitroglycerin in a Cuisinart. What’s important is that Trump is a walking contradiction machine who can’t flip for flopping. He sees everything through the cracked prism of his whiny ego. And he is a snowflake who melts at the slightest hint of warmth and regards himself as a perennial victim. Trump’s cowardice can be seen in virtually every decision he makes and opinion he expresses.

It is, however, more significant what Sasse thinks of Trump. Despite the shallowness of his commitment to his principles, he is at least telling the truth to his confidants. That’s also the case with a great many other Trump associates including former White House aides like Chief of Staff, John Kelly, National Security advisor John Bolton, Defense Secretary James Mattis. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and many more.

The people who Trump once heralded as “the best” often come to realize that he is the worst. These are people who worked closely with Trump on critical matters of national security. They are in the best position to know about Trump’s inadequacies. And they were all later denounced as fools and disgruntled former employees by Trump after they candidly told the truth about him. And that just adds to the many reasons why he is unfit to serve as president or, for that matter, Walmart greeter.

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


Trump’s Nightmare: Biden Takes the Ratings Crown in Dueling Town Halls

Posted by on October 16, 2020 at 10:14 am. 3 Comments :

Friday is going to be another Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day for Donald Trump, whose days of late are mostly filled with disappointment, bitterness, anger, jealousy, and fear. With every new poll Trump is falling farther behind Joe Biden, both nationally and in the critical battleground states. Even his favorite pollster, the rabidly biased, right-wing Rasmussen, has Trump facing near certain defeat.

Donald Trump, Joe Biden

After chickening out of the second presidential debate, Trump plotted with NBC to schedule a town hall that would directly compete with the one previously scheduled with Joe Biden on ABC. There was a lot wrong with that decision on NBC’s part, and their poor judgement is not validated by this good news in the aftermath of both town halls (via Variety):

“Biden drew 12.7 million total viewers on the Disney-owned network, while Trump drew 10.4 million in the same 9-10 p.m. time slot on NBC. Across the entire runtime, the Biden town hall averaged 12.3 million viewers. In terms of the fast national 18-49 demographic, Biden is comfortably on top with a 2.6 rating to Trump’s 1.7.” [See updated numbers below]

Biden’s audience exceeded Trump’s by more than two million – 20%. [Note: these are preliminary ratings that will be updated later in the day]. That’s a significant victory that parallels Biden’s lead in both polling and fundraising. Biden pulled in a record $383 million in September, compared to Trump’s haul of only $247.8 million. But best of all, ratings are what Trump cares about more than anything else, and he has utterly failed in that arena. This will surely drive the Narcissist-In-Chief CRAZY(er).

[UPDATE: The total is now in for Trump’s town hall, including MSNBC and CNBC. The three networks combined drew 13.1 million viewers. So Biden’s town hall on ABC, whose final numbers are 14.1 million, still beat Trump by a million viewers]

There were additional differences between the the Trump and Biden town halls that are more substantive than ratings. While Biden made a couple of mistakes, Trump lied frequently in his town hall. He was also challenged – and failed – on issues like…

  • Refusing to renounce the QAnon domestic terrorists
  • Deliberate distortions of data concerning the coronavirus
  • His inability to recall whether he had taken a COVID-19 test prior to the first debate
  • His miniscule tax payments and to whom he owes more than $400 million
  • Disseminating conspiracy theories such as one about Biden killing SEAL Team 6

On that last matter Trump attempted to excuse himself by saying that “it was a retweet,” as if that makes any difference. It’s still Trump passing along a preposterous and dangerous lie. NBC’s moderator, Savannah Guthrie, called him out saying that “You’re not like someone’s crazy uncle that can just retweet whatever.”

All told, the night was a huge defeat for Trump. He embarrassed himself in his own town hall. He likely alienated even more voters. And worst of all, he was beaten up in the ratings by someone he says is a mentally deficient socialist. If Trump can’t even win against that sort of an opponent, what does that make him?

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


Fox News Boss Rupert Murdoch Predicts Biden Will Beat Trump in a Landslide

Posted by on October 15, 2020 at 12:55 pm. 5 Comments :

In the closing weeks of the 2020 presidential election, the bad news for Donald Trump just keeps piling up. Every new poll that is published shows him falling farther behind Joe Biden, including those that are devotedly biased toward Trump. He’s losing in most of the critical battleground states. His crazed rhetoric keeps descending into an abyss of dementia. He’s even threatening to go to war against aliens (from Mars, not Mexico).

Rupert Murdoch Donald Trump

Now the chairman of Fox News, Rupert Murdoch, is predicting that Trump is going to lose to Biden in a landslide. This is an election year defection that should rattle the rafters of Trump’s campaign operation. Murdoch has been a reliable supporter of Trump for years (even if that support has been reciprocated). And his cable network is Trump’s de facto Ministry of Propaganda. According to the Daily Beast (via Talking Points Memo)…

“Media magnate Rupert Murdoch has predicted privately that Democratic nominee Joe Biden will defeat President Donald Trump in the presidential election in a landslide victory, the Daily Beast reported Thursday.

“The Australian-born billionaire who has been an influential supporter of the President in the past has remarked to close associates that Trump is his own worst enemy, according to the Daily Beast. Murdoch suggested to at least three Daily Beast sources that Trump has handled the COVID-19 pandemic poorly and ignored advice on how to better manage it, which has created a never-ending crisis for his administration.”

The suggestion that Trump has “handled the COVID-19 pandemic poorly” is a gross understatement. The deaths of more than 216,000 Americans, along with 7.5 million infected, many of whom will have permanent disabilities, is better described as mass murder. And it is Trump’s negligence, incompetence, and even deliberate malfeasance, that is directly responsible. And Trump’s newly adopted position on “herd immunity” would guarantee more than two million fatalities according to epidemiology experts.

Murdoch’s opinion on the likely outcome of the presidential race does not immunize him from criticism for his years of disseminating lies aimed at Democrats. He is not endorsing Biden. He is merely expressing his analysis of the direction of the campaign. But the harm that Fox News has done to the nation under his direction is immeasurable.

That’s especially true with regard to the coronavirus pandemic that Murdoch is suddenly so worried about. Fox News has been relentlessly supporting and advancing Trump’s tragically misguided view that COVID-19 is nothing to be concerned about. They say that it’s no worse than the flu and will disappear like magic (never mind that thousands are still dying every week). And they continue to air, and positively comment on, Trump’s Coronavirus Super Spreader Rallies wherein he recklessly repeats these lies that will undoubtedly bring more suffering and grieving.

What’s more, instead of reporting on the health crisis, Fox News is deflecting to ludicrous conspiracy theories about Biden and his family. Most recently they are obsessing over a baseless story in Murdoch’s New York Post that purportedly connects Biden to some sort of chicanery in Ukraine. Let’s set aside for the moment the fact that the story has no evidence of any wrongdoing, or even that what they allege is unlawful. The Post’s story has been documented to be aligned with Russian propaganda aimed at disrupting the U.S. election. So Murdoch, Fox News, and Trump (who has been tweeting about this and raising it during his cult rallies) are now actively abetting Russia’s efforts to interfere with our election. As reported by David Corn in Mother Jones:

“The key point of the article was predicated on false information that [Rudy] Giuliani has been spreading for a long time—and that appears to be linked to a Russian disinformation operation that the Post neglected to note in its article. That is, the Post piece, based on an unproven smear, is in sync with Moscow’s ongoing effort to influence the 2020 election to help President Donald Trump retain power.”

Corn poignantly notes that “The New York Post has provided all reporters a wonderful tutorial on how to be a useful idiot for Russia.” And the same goes for Fox News since they are plastering this story all over their air. Which makes Murdoch’s lament about Trump’s floundering reelection campaign utterly meaningless. It doesn’t immunize him from the guilt of having helped Trump to spread lies along with a deadly virus. He is as responsible for the tragic consequences as Trump, because he’s been right by his side as Trump led America down a deadly path. And if Trump does lose in a landslide, Murdoch can take at least half the credit for it. As well as the blame for all the harm that Trump’s has caused in the past four years.

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


NBC Joins Trump PR Team By Staging Town Hall Opposite Biden

Posted by on October 14, 2020 at 12:06 pm. 4 Comments :

Two weeks ago Donald Trump and Joe Biden faced off in their first presidential debate. However, Trump managed to succeed only in thoroughly embarrassing himself by repeatedly interrupting with incoherent and hostile remarks. So it came as no surprise that Trump subsequently chickened out of the second debate when the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) announced that it would be held remotely in the interest of health and safety.

Donald Trump TV Set

Trump undoubtedly noticed that every post-debate poll showed him falling even farther behind Biden after the first debate, including the one by his favorite pollster, Rasmussen. So Trump jumped at the chance to use the CPD’s remote format as an excuse to bail out.

Shortly after Trump’s cowardice forced the cancelation of the second debate, Biden quickly accepted an offer by ABC News to have a town hall at the time the debate was originally scheduled. That has been promoted extensively and will air Thursday. Unfortunately, Biden is not being given the courtesy of speaking to the American people without Trump once again interrupting, this time with the help of NBC.

NBC has announced that they will be hosting a town hall at the same time and date as ABC’s Biden program. NBC had plenty of time to find another time slot, but appears to have made a deliberate decision to compete directly with Biden’s broadcast. This is a dreadful disservice to viewers and the American people as it forces them to choose between the two programs, rather being able to see both in order to make an informed judgment.

There are only two possible explanations for NBC’s abhorrent programming decision. They are either acting out of pure greed and self interest, or they have joined the Trump campaign’s PR team and are acting on their behalf. Or, of course, a combination of both. Either way, it exposes their utter disregard for the fair conduct of the election, the welfare of the nation, and the best interests of voters.

It’s worse than just the obvious gift that NBC is presenting to Trump as he uses them for his nefarious purposes. They are actually rewarding Trump for being a wimp and fearfully fleeing the Commission’s debate. NBC couldn’t be advancing Trump’s campaign objectives any better if they were on his payroll. And this should make people wonder if they are.

Every television news enterprise that uses public airwaves has a legal obligation to serve the public interest. NBC is affirmatively harming the public interest in order to boost Trump along with their bottom line. The American people should be appalled by this partisan counterprogramming. There are reports that even insiders at the network are angry and ashamed by their employer. As any journalist with an ounce of integrity should be.

The result will likely be that more television viewers will tune in to the Trump Hour of Lies and miss the more substantive discussion with Biden. That’s not because they support Trump, but because it holds the promise of a melodramatic meltdown that is the meat and potatoes of TV entertainment. It’s why people watch police car chases. It’s why more people watch the Kardashians than C-SPAN! And this is happening at a time when even Fox News has shown some restraint in declining to air Trump’s rallies live and uninterrupted as has been their practice in the past. Brian Stelter of CNN reports that…

“The president held a campaign rally in Johnstown, Pennsylvania Tuesday night, but Fox News only showed small portions of it. Fox took the same approach on Monday. So, for the second night in a row, Trump urged his Twitter followers to watch on OANN, Newsmax or C-SPAN – which indicates that he is aware of Fox’s snub.”

And now Trump can point his glassy-eyed cult disciples to NBC as well. NBC is taking it’s place alongside the ultra-rightist conspiracy crackpots of OANN and Newsmax. Is that really the company they want to keep? It’s despicable, unethical, and contrary to the principles of professional journalism.

The American people should loudly object to this media manipulation. And those of us who are offended by this programming stunt should boycott the Trump show on NBC Thursday and get their friends and families, and even strangers online, to join the boycott of NBC’s cynical, self-serving assault on journalistic integrity. Trump must not be rewarded for his cowardice. And NBC must not be rewarded for their partisanship and greed.

UPDATE: Rachel Maddow brought up this subject during an interview with Kamala Harris and indicated that a lot of people were mad.

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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Trump has Already Abandoned His Campaign and the Presidency

Posted by on October 13, 2020 at 1:01 pm. 6 Comments :

As election day draws nearer, the beads of flop sweat on Donald Trump’s wrinkled brow are turning into a tsunami of orange cosmetics running down his face and turkey neck. There is the unmistakable stench of defeat emanating from him as his tweets and public commentaries grow ever more unhinged from sanity. Not that they were ever particularly well connected.

Donald Trump

The fuming desperation that is the driving force in the final days of the Trump regime is producing behavior that ranks near the lows of his public life. He’s issuing ludicrous demands to prosecute Barack Obama and Joe Biden for imaginary crimes. He’s making wild, baseless claims about communist Democrats plotting the destruction of America. And he’s continuing to downplay the tragic consequences of the coronavirus that he allowed to spread uncontrollably across the country. And even after being infected himself, he attempts to cast it as a positive development and a sort of messianic sacrifice he took on.

Naturally, Trump’s Ministry of Propaganda (aka Fox News) has backed Trump every step of the way. They have been devotedly fulfilling their mission to defend Dear Leader from all criticisms, while viciously attacking his critics. And joining him on the front lines of this battle are the “Curvy Couch” potatoes of Fox and Friends.

On Tuesday morning the F&F crew was on the job. In a segment discussing the lopsided political horserace (video below), co-host Steve Doocy concedes that Biden is significantly outraising Trump. But he skims over that fact to extol the “enthusiasm” of the glassy-eyed disciples who populate Trump’s cult rallies. “You can’t buy that,” says Doocy, despite the fact that that’s exactly what Trump does by staging these ego-paloozas. Of course, Trump shares Doocy’s position on enthusiasm, as expressed in this tweet where he claims that “you win races with enthusiasm.”

Actually, Biden’s accumulated donations of massive amounts of money is a far better indicator of enthusiasm than getting unemployed hicks to show up for a free rally. Doocy then follows up by rattling off the names of cities to which Trump will be taking his Coronavirus Super Spreader Tour this week. Then he goes on to say that Trump’s tour schedule will soon expand into…

“…two or three events a day. And then in the final sprint – in the final week or so – he’s going to do half a dozen events a day. And think about it…if you are in those battleground states, and the President comes and gives one of those great big rallies, you’re gonna wind up with a lot of free media and a lot of excitement. And that is what he thinks got him over the finish line last time.”

What Doocy is describing here is the complete surrender of Donald Trump. It’s a surrender, first of all, from his duties as the alleged “president.” Apparently, he sees his only job now to be starring in pseudo-religious revival shows in airport hangers. Secondly, he’s conceding electoral defeat by abandoning any effort to persuade voters to back his candidacy. He’s focused solely on those who are already committed to the Church of Trump. And that isn’t nearly enough to win a national election.

What’s more, Doocy correctly notes that Trump’s 2016 victory was largely dependent on free media. Every news network irresponsibly and unfairly aired his rallies live and uninterrupted. But what Doocy – and Trump – fail to recognize is that 2020 is not 2016. This time around, the only network that is airing the Trump Show is Fox News. And, once again, the only audience he is reaching are the already converted and lost souls of Trumpism.

So Trump isn’t doing his job as president (which is a big plus for the country). And he isn’t doing his job as a candidate (which removes an annoyance from the airwaves). So what the heck is Trump doing? He’s laying the foundation for his post-presidency career on the road and in the media. But he may be in for a huge letdown.

How many of Trump’s “fans” will actually pay to see his smarmy, ego-logues over and over again? And his hostile, crackpot rants would likely wear out after a couple of episodes on TV. Which would leave Trump with nothing but his worthless name and a newly disinterested benefactor in Moscow. Oh, and a half dozen state prosecutors filing indictments for everything from tax fraud to crimes against the state. However, one thing is certain: With Trump circling the drain financially and legally, America will be great again.

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


Trump Hails Stock Market Whose Rise is a Rejection of Him

Posted by on October 12, 2020 at 1:21 pm. NO Comments :

The manic frenzy that is displayed daily on the Twitter feed of Donald Trump is especially heated this Monday morning. He posted 75 tweets before 3:00pm in what may break his all time record of 123 tweets in single day. It’s impossible to say at this point whether the reason for this crazed output is his acute panic at the prospect of a landslide electoral loss to Joe Biden in three weeks, or the side effects of the drugs he’s been taking to treat his coronavirus. Or maybe a catastrophic combination of both.

Donald Trump, Stock Market Crash

The flurry of frantic and anxious outbursts that make up this tweetstorm run the gamut of Trump’s paranoid psychoses. For instance, Trump tweeted about a “Big spike in the China Plague in Europe,” in an attempt to compare it to the U.S., which he apparently doesn’t know is suffering from a similar or worse spike. He tweeted that New York and California are “going to hell.” Which is an odd campaign strategy of maligning the biggest states in the country that you’re supposedly leading. He tweeted that he is “winning BIG in all of the polls that matter.” Which I guess are the polls of boaters and maskless bar patrons. But he wasn’t through.

Trump also tweeted that “We will have Healthcare which is FAR BETTER than ObamaCare, at a FAR LOWER COST.” Which is documented in the invisible plan that he has been saying for three years that he will release in two weeks. And as an indication of what is most important to him, Trump posted ten tweets in support of Eric Early, who running a laughably futile campaign against Rep. Adam Schiff of California. Schiff may be the member of Congress Trump despises most after Speaker Nancy Pelosi. That’s more tweets than he posted in support of his Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett.

However, perhaps the most enthusiastic of Trump’s twittery concerned the performance of the stock market. He managed to get something right for once by noting that it was going up. However, he has no idea why it’s doing so. He, of course, thinks he’s responsible for it. And in a way he is, but not in the way he thinks.

Trump has been shouting from the White House rooftop for weeks that a Biden presidency will thrust the nation into a depression. Let’s just set aside the fact that we are already in a recession during the Trump presidency. Trump’s tweets are cheering on the market’s rise along with fear mongering about a collapse if Biden is elected. Never mind that Obama and Biden presided over a much more robust economic recovery and market advance than Trump has. The five tweets he posted on this subject were evidence of nothing more than Trump’s ignorance and ego. For example…

What Trump is missing is that the rise in the market is occurring simultaneously to the rise in Biden’s polling against Trump. The greater the margin of Biden’s lead, the higher the market goes. That’s the market indicating that it is looking forward to a Biden victory. The market is always representative of the future. And this isn’t just a coincidental observation. According to Goldman Sachs, “A Democratic sweep would mean faster economic recovery.”

“…’a blue wave would likely prompt us to upgrade our forecasts,’ Goldman Sachs chief economist Jan Hatzius wrote in a Monday report.”

Hatzius went on to note that a blue wave would increase the likelihood of a coronavirus relief bill. He also noted the positive impact of Biden’s spending plans on infrastructure, climate, health care and education. But that isn’t all. Moody’s also weighed in saying that…

“Moody’s Analytics found that Biden’s economic proposals, if enacted, would create 7.4 million more jobs than would Trump’s. The economy would return to full employment in the second half of 2022, nearly two years earlier than under Trump’s plan, Moody’s said.”

Of course, none of this is a guarantee that the market will continue going straight up. There are distinct warning signs for a down turn. The market is already over-valued in some analysts opinions. And the overweighting of just a few stocks (more than 20% of the S&P) that uncharacteristically benefit from the current conditions (Apple: 7.3%, Microsoft: 5.9%, Amazon: 5.3%, Google: 2.4%, and Facebook: 2.4%) don’t tell the market’s whole story. And as anyone with the slightest inkling of knowledge is aware (which leaves Trump out), the stock market is not the economy. Most Americans do not own stocks.

There is, however, one thing that can’t be denied. If Trump’s fear mongering were correct, the market would have been on a downward trend for at least the past couple of months. Clearly the financial institutions that drive the market don’t agree with Trump. The fact that it’s strong and rising is a testament to the market’s confidence in, and preference for, a Biden presidency.

So keep that in mind when voting. And tell your friends and family. It is Trump who has proven to be an economic imbecile who declared bankruptcy on six separate occasions, lost billions of dollars during the boom times, and currently owes more than $400 billion to – well, we don’t know who because he refuses to release his tax returns. That by itself is reason enough to remove Trump from office. And also to investigate him for criminal activity and crimes against the state.

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


COVID DELIRIUM? Now Trump is Threatening Aliens (UFOs)

Posted by on October 11, 2020 at 1:09 pm. 11 Comments :

The “stable genius” currently occupying the White House is exhibiting symptoms of severe mental distress. That isn’t anything new, however, it is dreadfully apparent that Donald Trump is descending to new and more absurd lows. The most likely reason for this is that it is getting closer to November 3rd and his prospects for reelection continue to hover somewhere between dismal and preposterous.

Donald Trump, Mars Attacks, Alien, UFO

The grievous stench of desperation is enveloping Trump like a dark and low-hanging cloud. It’s manifesting in his clinging reliance on his Fox News pacifiers. Trump has done five “interviews” with Fox hosts in four days, including Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Mark Levin, and Maria Bartiromo twice.

The second Bartiromo segment aired Sunday morning and featured Trump making bizarre comments that only offer further proof of his psychoses. For instance, after being asked, he was unable to coherently articulate a second term agenda beyond prematurely opening up the country and bashing Democrats. He claimed he was “cured” of the coronavirus and is now “immune,” neither of which is medically sound. What’s more, he said that he has a “protective glow“ that will protect others from any contagious threat he might pose. He also bragged that there have been “only” 214,000 deaths from the coronavirus, which he characterized as success.

These are the ravings of a madman. But Trump was just warming up for his answer to the final question of the segment. Bartiromo asked him if he could explain “why the Department of Defense has set up a UFO task force […] Mr President, as we wrap up here, are there UFOs?” Trump gave the question serious consideration and replied:

“Well, I’m gonna have to check on that. I heard that. I heard that two days ago. So I’ll check on that. I’ll take a good strong look at that. But I will tell you this, we have now created a military the likes of which we’ve never had before, in terms of equipment. The equipment that we have, the weapons that we have – and hope to God we never have to use them – but we have created a military the likes of which nobody has ever had. Russia, China, they’re all envious of what we have. All built in the USA.”

Isn’t it comforting to know that Trump is going to “take a good strong look at” the existence of potentially hostile UFOs? But more importantly, if those space aliens try anything they are gonna regret it. Trump is saying that he has built the most powerful military, not just on Earth, but in the entire universe. Those aliens, who despite having have mastered interstellar travel, don’t stand a chance against Trump’s Space Force. Never mind that everything Trump said about having enhanced the military is another of his flagrant lies about alleged achievements.

It’s episodes like this that make it impossible to ignore speculation that Trump is suffering from the psychotic side effects of the medications he’s been taking to combat the coronavirus. Steroids and the other immuno-response drugs that he has been prescribed are known to produce mood swings, anxieties, and delirium. And so much of Trump’s recent rantings have all the signals of mental infirmity. In recent days he has been both attacking and embracing Fox News. He accused Nancy Pelosi of being crazy. He claimed, Messiah like, that he got COVID-19 because he was “doing it for us.” And shortly after his visit with Bartiromo, Trump tweeted that…

That, of course, is utterly false. No verifiable study has concluded that having contracted the coronavirus produces immunity from either getting or giving the disease. Trump’s tweet was flagged by Twitter for “spreading misleading and potentially harmful information.” Not that telling obvious lies is out of character for Trump. But he may have to be more careful when he’s dealing with the aliens. They may have truth rays.

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


Trump Bashes Fox News Even While Cowering in His Fox News Bunker

Posted by on October 10, 2020 at 2:16 pm. 1 Comments :

The madness that consumes Donald Trump continues to manifest in bizarre and troubling ways. He’s making public demands that his Attorney Genuflect, Bill Barr, indict and prosecute Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Joe Biden. He’s holding coronavirus Super Spreader affairs at the White House, which he has already turned into a COVID-19 “Hot Zone.” And he insists that he’s way ahead of Biden in the “real” polls that are published in the crevices of his decaying grey matter.

Donald Trump, Fox News

If that isn’t enough, Trump is also attacking his Ministry of Propaganda (aka Fox News). This isn’t a new behavioral glitch. Trump has frequently lashed out at Fox News when he didn’t think that they were sufficiently adoring. It’s his way of “working the refs” to ensure constant adulation. But in the past couple of days it has reached a crescendo. For instance, during a marathon radio gabfest with Rush Limbaugh on Friday, Trump whined that…

“It’s a problem. Fox is a problem. […] When Roger Ailes ran Fox, I mean, Roger had a very strong point of view. It’s totally gone. And I think it’s influenced by Paul Ryan. […] They’re going the way of CNN, and they’re going the way of MSNBC, and it’s a shame. I mean, it’s a shame. When I watch it, I look at the people they hire. I mean, I could tell you some of the anchors, they’re so bad.”

First of all, Trump’s fond remembrance of the late Fox News CEO Roger Ailes is touching because they share so much in common. Particularly the fact that they are both serial sexual predators. But Trump’s complaint about Paul Ryan, the former GOP House Speaker who now has a seat on the Fox board of directors, reveals that Trump has no idea what a board of directors does. They are part time business advisors who have zero input into programming.

In addition to Trump’s comments on Limbaugh’s radio program, he made similar comments on the radio show of Fox News host Mark Levin. He was attempting to make a point about the differences between his 2016 campaign and the current one:

“One of the biggest differences is Fox. Fox is a whole different ballgame than it used to be. Fox was great. Fox was great. Fox is no longer great.”

Among the reasons that Trump has arrived at this conclusion are the polls that Fox News has recently published. The most recent one shows him trailing Biden by ten points. But trump has been upset with Fox’s pollsters for quite a while. And you can be sure he was driven to new lows by the one that found that a majority of voters say that he doesn’t have the “mental soundness” to serve.

What makes all of this even more peculiar is that while Trump has been amping up his attacks on Fox News, he has also been spending more time there. In the past four days Trump has done interviews on Fox with Maria Bartiromo, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson (with Marc Seigel), and Mark Levin. And he has another “interview” with Bartiromo on Sunday. He apparently has no idea that he’s only reaching people that are already voting for him. It’s all for his ego and the lack of any notion of how he can rescue his floundering campaign.

The many hours Trump is devoting to Fox News is severely cutting into his golf and Twitter time. It also indicates that he has nothing else of importance to do. But most of all it shows that his whining about how disloyal Fox has been to him is just a charade. He knows that Fox News is his official State TV network and is vital to his nefarious schemes for the future. And he knows that Fox won’t punish him for his fake hostility toward them. They have a parasitic relationship wherein they are both addicted to each other. And while that may satisfy their immediate cravings for attention, it won’t keep Trump from circling the electoral drain.

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