Trump’s Fascist ‘Law and Order’ Rhetoric is Making Things Worse: POLL

Posted by on September 6, 2020 at 12:43 pm. 5 Comments :

The reelection prospects for Donald Trump have been mired in an abyss of doom for months. Joe Biden is crushing him in every national poll as well as in most of the crucial swing states. And the post-convention polling has only gotten worse for Trump. That, of course, is not a reason to become complacent or to work less vigorously. Victory is not assured until the votes are counted.

Donald Trump heil

Trump, however, has a real problem. He can’t campaign on the economy, which is in recession. He can’t campaign on his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which has been a model of deadly negligence and incompetence with deaths nearing 190,000. He can’t campaign on character, because…well, because he’s Donald Trump. So that leaves only one path available for him to stagger down: Fear and division.

Consequently, Trump has wholly embraced a campaign theme centered on terrorizing the American people. The catch phrase most often associated with him is “law and order,” which he has tweeted 52 times so far this year alone. He is painting a hellish picture of the nation as being engulfed in flames with violent insurgents occupying vast territories of major cities and threatening to invade the serenity of white suburbia.

These dystopian delusions have been the core of Trump’s campaign strategy for weeks. He mostly has been maligning the demonstrations against police brutality and systemic racism. According to Trump “These are not acts of peaceful protest but really domestic terror.” And now we have some evidence of just how badly his tactics are failing. A new poll by ABC News/Ipsos has found that…

“Over half of the country — 55% … said they think Trump is aggravating the situation, while just over one in 10 Americans, 13%, said they think he is making it better.”

Thirteen percent barely amounts to a third of his base support, so even most of his cult followers don’t think he’s making things better. The poll goes on to ask a series of questions related to public safety and which candidate for president is best suited to handle the crises that the nation faces. The results show that “Between the two candidates, more Americans trust Biden over Trump to…”

  • Keep the country safe, 55%-42%
  • Keep their families safe, 56%-42%
  • Care more about them, 59%-38%
  • Unite the country, 64%-33%
  • Handle the protests across the country, 59%-39%
  • Address racial discrimination, 64%-34%
  • Manage the COVID-19 response, 60%-38%
  • Reduce violence in the country, 59%-39%

Nevertheless, Trump is still relying on an imaginary horror story about rampant crime to juice his campaign. An analysis by HuffPost found that out of “73,000 ads they aired from July 1 to July 26 … 85% of them dealt in one way or another with public safety.”

The fact that none of this is working for Trump may have something to do with his having pulled all of his television advertising. That’s a peculiar thing to do in the week following his national nominating convention and in the last lap toward election day. He either realizes that his campaign strategy is a complete bust, or he’s run out of money. Either way it’s a very bad omen for the future of his campaign and his presidency. Which, ironically, is a very good omen for America and the world.

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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Racist President Trump Terminates Federal Anti-Racism Programs

Posted by on September 5, 2020 at 11:56 am. NO Comments :

This has been another terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week for Donald Trump. It began with a string of post-convention polls that show Joe Biden increasing his lead over Trump nationally, as well as in most of the critical battleground states. And it ended with an article that exposed his repugnant comments about fallen American soldiers being “losers” and “suckers,” which even Fox News independently affirmed.

Donald Trump, MAGA

Consequently, Trump has revved up his outrage in a desperate effort to change the subject to one he believes would be more favorable to him. But once again, he’s blown it completely.

On Saturday morning Trump unleashed a 20+ tweet barrage about an issue that is wholly an invention of his perverse imagination. It began with his ordering the White House Office of Management and Budget to terminate what it says are un-American training sessions on “critical race theory.” The memo written by OMB Direct Russel Vought began…

“It has come to the President’s attention that Executive Branch agencies have spent millions of taxpayer dollars to date ‘training’ government workers to believe divisive, anti-American propaganda.

“For example, according to press reports, employees across the Executive Branch have been required to attend trainings where they are told that “virtually all White people contribute to racism” or where they are required to say that they “benefit from racism.” According to press reports, in some cases these training have further claimed that there is racism embedded in the belief that America is the land of opportunity or the belief that the most qualified person should receive a job.”

The memo fails to cite any place in the federal government where these alleged trainings are occurring. It only asserts that their existence came to Trump’s attention via unidentified “press reports.” No one is likely to be shocked to learn that the press reporting this was Fox News. Tucker Carlson’s White Nationalist Hour has lately been harping on this non-issue. He has hosted guests claiming that “critical race theory” is behind this effort to “engender division and resentment within the Federal workforce.” And if anyone knows about engendering division and resentment it’s Carlson and Trump. The memo continued…

“The President has directed me to ensure that Federal agencies cease and desist from using taxpayer dollars to fund these divisive, un-American propaganda training sessions. Accordingly, to that end, the Office of Management and Budget will shortly issue more detailed guidance on implementing the President’s directive. In the meantime, all agencies are directed to begin to identify all contracts or other agency spending related to any training on ‘critical race theory,’ ‘white privilege,’ or any other training or propaganda effort that teaches or suggests either (1) that the United States is an inherently racist or evil country or (2) that any race or ethnicity is inherently racist or evil. In addition, all agencies should begin to identify all available avenues within the law to cancel any such contracts and/or to divert Federal dollars away from these un-American propaganda training sessions.”

For the record, critical race theory is not the bureaucratic horror story that the Trump regime is portraying it as. It is a scholarly “attempt to understand how victims of systemic racism are affected by cultural perceptions of race and how they are able to represent themselves to counter prejudice.” So naturally our viscerally racist president is opposed to it. After all, he is the same president who lauded neo-Nazis as “very good people,” and maligned Black Lives Matters as “domestic terrorists.”

Trump’s directive to terminate federal critical race theory trainings is also notable in that there aren’t any. None! Neither are there any trainings that teach that “the United States is an inherently racist or evil country.” What he may be targeting is diversity training intended to address and reduce racial and other prejudices in the workplace.

However, the purpose of his determination to concoct a phony controversy is obvious. He needs a diversion from the other horrendous news that is engulfing him and his floundering presidency. He is in a state of utter panic as his reelection prospects continue to wither. And his frantic morning tweetstorm is just further evidence of how desperate he has become.

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


UH-OH: Fox News Confirms that Trump Called Fallen Soldiers Losers and Suckers

Posted by on September 4, 2020 at 4:04 pm. 3 Comments :

The Atlantic’s recent story exposing Donald Trump’s nauseating remarks about America’s war dead and POWs has been dominating the news cycle this week. That’s remarkable considering that there is also a presidential election in progress and a deadly pandemic is killing more than a 1,000 people a day.

Donald Trump, Fox News

The article reported Trump complaining about visiting a cemetery in France where Americans soldiers were laid to rest. “Why should I go to that cemetery?” Trump whined. “It’s filled with losers.” He later added that 1,800 plus marines who died at Belleau Wood were “suckers” for getting killed. The article also revealed that Trump was opposed to, and angered by, tributes to the late Sen. John McCain saying “What the f**k are we doing that for? Guy was a f**king loser.”

Trump is predictably denying the story and calling it – wait for it – “fake news.” He doesn’t have any documentary evidence to support his denials. He’s just insisting that the four sources cited by the Atlantic are either lying or made up. It’s an absurd and irresponsible accusation to be making about a journalistic enterprise that has for decades been respected and credible. What’s more, the story has been corroborated with unrelated sources by reporters from the Washington Post, the Associated Press, and NBC News. Of course, those are all media organizations that Trump has furiously, and without foundation, dismissed as fake.

Now, however, Trump is going to have a harder time pretending the liberal media is out to get him. Jennifer Griffin, the National Security Correspondent for Fox News, is the latest reporter to corroborate the Atlantic’s story. She did so in a series of tweets beginning here:

Griffin elaborated in this thread of successive tweets:

According to one former senior Trump administration official: “When the President spoke about the Vietnam War, he said, ‘It was a stupid war. Anyone who went was a sucker’.”

This former official heard the President say about American veterans: “What’s in it for them? They don’t make any money.” Source: “It was a character flaw of the President. He could not understand why someone would die for their country, not worth it.”

I read the source a few quotes from The Atlantic article. This former Trump admin official said, “The President would say things like that. He doesn’t know why people join the military. He would muse, ‘Why do they do it’?”

Re: trip to mark 100th anniversary of WW I
Source: “The President was not in a good mood. Macron had said something that made him mad about American reliability and the need perhaps for a European army. He questioned why he had to go to two cemeteries. ‘Why do I have to do two’?”

President Trump’s staff explained he could cancel (his visit to the cemetery), but he was warned, ‘They (the press) are going to kill you for this’.” The President was mad as a hornet when they did.

When asked IF the President could have driven to the Aisne-Marne Cemetery, this former official said confidently:”The President drives a lot. The other world leaders drove to the cemeteries. He just didn’t want to go.”

Regarding Trump’s July 4th military parade, during a planning session at the White House after seeing the Bastille Day parade in 2017, the President said regarding the inclusion of “wounded guys” “that’s not a good look” “Americans don’t like that,” source confirms.

Regarding McCain, “The President just hated John McCain. He always asked, ‘Why do you see him as a hero?” Two sources confirmed the President did not want flags lowered but others in the White House ordered them at half mast. There was a stand off and then the President relented.

It will be interesting to see if Trump even addresses this reporting by Fox News. While he has criticized Fox on occasion, it’s usually to complain about a poll he didn’t like or a Democratic guest. He is otherwise marching in lock step with bootlickers like Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham. Griffin is supposed to be a representative of the alleged “hard news” side of the network. But that won’t likely insulate her from Trump’s wrath.

The bottom line is that Trump can no longer make the claim that it’s just a left-wing cabal of insurrectionists bent on destroying him and driving him from office. Whatever he thinks of Griffin or Fox News, it isn’t that they are collaborating with the revolutionary socialists Trump sees in his nightmares. And he can’t simply waive this off like he does with CNN. Well, you would think not. But then with Trump anything is possible. Especially now when he is desperately trying to stay in the White House and out of prison.

UPDATE: Trump did respond to the Fox News confirmation of the Atlantic’s article. Amidst a couple of dozen midnight tweets defending himself against the allegations, Trump tweeted that “Jennifer Griffin should be fired for this kind of reporting. Never even called us for comment. @FoxNews is gone!” That peevish hissy fit was to be expected from Trump. What’s odd is that he attached it to an article from the disreputable Breitbart News that said Griffin “did not confirm” the story. But he wants her fired anyway? Trump’s mind is gone.

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


Trump Insults Heroes as ‘Losers’ and ‘Suckers’ and Says Everyone Who Criticizes Him is ‘Dying’

Posted by on September 4, 2020 at 9:57 am. 3 Comments :

The Atlantic Magazine just published a spine-chilling story about Donald Trump and his abhorrent remarks about America’s veterans and war dead. “Why should I go to that cemetery?” Trump is reported to have said. “It’s filled with losers.” He later added that the 1,800 marines who lost their lives at Belleau Wood were “suckers” for getting killed.

Donald Trump

The article was well researched and contained testimony from four sources. It was corroborated by at least three other news organizations. And most of all, it’s entirely consistent with Trump’s prior public statements disparaging veterans and POWs, including the late Sen. John McCain. Naturally, Trump quickly denied these reports in terms typical of his substanceless, “slash and burn” character (or lack thereof):

Notice that Trump’s denial is simply an ad hominem attack on the messenger. That’s what he always does. He has no coherent defense based on facts or reality, so he goes for the throat with defamatory rhetoric that virtually no one believes, other than his glassy-eyed cult followers. What follows is a brief history of this psychotic, knee-jerk reaction to any critical news that riles Trump:

  • Fredo’s ratings are down more than 50%. People are tired of his act. @CNN IS DYING!
  • That is because they cover your favorite President relatively well. @CNN & MSDNC are dying in the ratings!
  • The good news is that @maddow is dying in the ratings, along with @CNN!
  • So much Fake News being put in dying magazines and newspapers. Only place worse may be @NBCNews, @CBSNews, @ABC and @CNN. Fiction writers!
  • The reporting at the failing @nytimes gets worse and worse by the day. Fortunately, it is a dying newspaper.
  • FoxNews is changing their theme from “fair and balanced” to “unfair and unbalanced.” But dying @WSJ is worse.Their phony poll is a joke!
  • Dopey @Lawrence O’Donnell, whose unwatchable show is dying in the ratings, said that my Apprentice $ numbers were wrong. He is a fool!
  • NYDailyNews, the dying tabloid owned by dopey clown Mort Zuckerman, puts me on the cover daily because I sell. My honor, but it is dead!
  • NicolleDWallace is really hurting @TheView. She is boring, predictable and has zero television “it” – show no longer has ratings, dying!
  • LateNightSeth I am not surprised that Seth is absolutely dying in the ratings! He is truly an awkward, mumbling jerk. Too bad!
  • VanityFair looks like a dying magazine! Really really boring, really really thin!

If every media enterprise that Trump said was dying actually died there wouldn’t be anything left but the National Enquirer. Oh wait. That died. Trump knows that there is no defense for what he said, so he resorts to these petulant tantrums in the hopes of persuading some of his dimwitted disciples that he isn’t a cretinous traitor.

Clearly, that isn’t working. Trump’s approval ratings continue to fall, and he’s getting crushed by Joe Biden in every national poll, as well as in most of the crucial swing states. And for the most despicable president in U.S. history, it’s all downhill from here.

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


Crybaby Trump Whines that Fox News Polls are Fake News

Posted by on September 3, 2020 at 3:12 pm. 3 Comments :

There is nothing more predictable than Donald Trump wailing like a colicky infant whenever he is criticized. His massive, yet fragile, ego simply can’t take the slightest bit of pushback, constructive or otherwise. So he throws petulant tantrums in the hopes that his critics will regret their offense and commit to unflinching adoration.

Donald Trump, Fox News, Fake

That’s a pretty accurate description of his relationship with Fox News. It’s a network that was built to disseminate right-wing propaganda. And in the Era of Trump it has transformed into the Ministry of Disinformation for the cult that he leads. It employs devoted Trump worshipers like Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Tucker Carlson, Maria Bartiromo, etc., who are also his the staff advisors of his shadow cabinet. And it is practically the only network that he will grant interviews to.

But apparently that it isn’t enough. When there is a rare critical commentary by a host or a guest, Trump lashes out mercilessly as if he’s been betrayed by a close confidant. That happens every time that Fox publishes a poll that isn’t as enamored with him as he is himself. Take for instance this Thursday morning…

First of all, Fox News polls were in the middle of that pack with regard to accuracy in 2016. Trump still refuses to accept that the national polling was largely correct, but did not reflect state-by-state returns that produced the Electoral College result. Secondly, Trump can “believe” that he’s “leading BIG” all he wants, but it doesn’t make it true. He is, in fact, getting crushed by Joe Biden nationally, as well as in the crucial swing states. And thirdly, his attempt to connect the Fox News poll with the stock market is just too preposterous to even respond to.

For the record, Trump has taken this stance before. Last year Trump cried about how Fox News polls “have always been terrible to me.” But in reality they have just as often been positive. And when they were, Trump noticed and celebrated their findings, as News Corpse observed at the time:

“What is abundantly clear is that Trump has been more than pleased with the results of Fox News polls in the past. But when one is less than adoring he flips out and insists that they have always had it in for him. That’s a sign of a severe mental infirmity consistent with narcissism, paranoia, and sociopathic disengagement from reality.”

Trump is a well documented malignant narcissist whose psychotic self-absorption twists his perception of reality. He can only accept flattering appraisals and glassy-eyed adulation from the media and even his personal relationships. Anything else is met with abject scorn and unqualified rejection. It’s a sickness that is putting this nation at risk. And if it isn’t brought to an end this November, the damage may be irreversible for decades.

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


Throwback Trump: If You Told a Republican to Vote Twice They’d Get Sick at the Thought of It

Posted by on September 3, 2020 at 1:10 pm. 4 Comments :

On Wednesday Donald Trump’s desperation and fear drove him to suborn felony voter fraud by telling his cult followers to vote twice this November. That would not only be a crime for anyone who tried it, it’s also a crime for Trump to make the solicitation. An honest Justice Department would indict him immediately, but the Justice Department of the Trump administration is nobody’s idea of honest.

Donald Trump Red Face

Not surprisingly, Trump has had fluid opinions on this subject that change whenever he perceives the opposite opinion to be more to his benefit. Or maybe he’s just to cognitively challenged to recall his own views from one moment to the next. He doubled down on these felonious solicitations Thursday morning on Twitter. But last May he was interviewed by Senior Fox News Trump-Fluffer Maria Bartiromo and he told her that…

“The level of dishonesty with Democrat voting is unbelievable. If you told a Republican to vote twice, they’d get sick at even the thought of it. And you have people that vote numerous times. What’s happening is crazy. So now they want to send out vote-by-mail. Who knows who’s signing this stuff?”

https://twitter.com/ParkerMolloy/status/1301540686521667585

If what Trump said then was true, there are a lot of sick Republicans running around the country right now. Well … more than usual. And that isn’t even counting those with the coronavirus (which Trump thinks you can get from voting).

Due to the complicity of Trump’s traitorous Attorney Genuflect, Bill Barr, and the Senate GOP, Trump appears to be getting away with his crimes again – for now. But the record is clear and will be preserved for the next attorney general to investigate and prosecute. As is often the case, Trump documents his criminality on national television. “Let them send it in and let them go vote,” Trump said to the press. “And if their system’s as good as they say it is, then obviously they won’t be able to vote. If it isn’t tabulated, they’ll be able to vote.”

Trump’s babbling about how mail-in votes would be tabulated before in-person voting is pure nonsense. In some states that process doesn’t even begin until after the polls close. Anyone who takes Trump’s advice will be in a heap of trouble. This isn’t a gray area. Both state and federal statutes unambiguously state that even attempting to vote twice is against the law. And every reputable law enforcement official will affirm that. For instance…

Karen Brinson Bell, Executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections: It is illegal to vote twice in an election … Attempting to vote twice in an election or soliciting someone to do so also is a violation of North Carolina law.

Michigan Attorney General Nessel: Don’t try this at home. I will prosecute you […] Let me be perfectly clear: voting twice is illegal, no matter who tells you do to it. The president’s idea is a great one for people looking to go to jail.

Ellen L Weintraub, Federal Elections Commissioner: It is illegal in all 50 states and under federal law to vote twice. As any federal officeholder or law enforcement official should know.

Well, any federal officeholder or law enforcement official other than Barr. In an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, Barr staggered around awkwardly as he tried to avoid contradicting his boss. He trotted out diversions about the point he thought Trump was trying to make, and absurd claims about not knowing state laws. Eventually, Blitzer had to educate him:

Trump was right about one thing. This is “crazy.” It’s so crazy, in fact, that it should trigger an indictment and his immediate removal from office. Or at least the 25th Amendment and a straitjacket. Unfortunately, Trump’s GOP confederates are as crazy as he is and wouldn’t hear of it. So we’ll just have to wait until November (actually January 20) to rid the White House of this madness. If we survive that long.

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 Is Toast: Post-Convention Polls Show Biden’s Lead Growing

Posted by on September 2, 2020 at 12:24 pm. 1 Comments :

With both party’s nominating conventions over, the 2020 presidential campaign begins in earnest. There has been much speculation about how these unprecedented, pandemic-challenged conventions would impact the race. For most of the election season to date, Joe Biden has maintained a steady lead nationally, as well as in the crucial swing states. And now we have some early indication as to what effect the conventions will have on that.

Donald Trump Circling the Drain

There have been several polls released since the conventions concluded. Every one of them show that Biden still holds the lead by significant margins. However, it’s important to note that most of them show Biden’s lead actually growing. As reported by RealClearPolitics, four polls have Biden increasing his lead, two show the lead narrowing, and one remains unchanged:

Polls Date Biden Trump Spread Prior Spread
RCP Average 8/21 – 9/1 49.4 42.3 Biden +7.1
YouGov 8/30 – 9/1 51 40 Biden +11 Biden +9
IBD/TIPP 8/29 – 9/1 49 41 Biden +8 Biden +7
Emerson 8/30 – 8/31 49 47 Biden +2 Biden +4
USA   Today 8/28 – 8/31 50 43 Biden +7 Biden +12
Rasmussen 8/26 – 9/1 49 45 Biden +4 Biden +2
Selzer 8/26 – 8/30 49 41 Biden +8 Biden +4
The   Hill 8/25 – 8/28 47 38 Biden +9 Biden +9

This is bad news for Donald Trump who certainly hoped his “American Carnage 2.0” RNC speech would have helped him crawl out of his slump. It surely didn’t help that he lost in the ratings war with the Democratic convention drawing more viewers overall, and Biden drawing more viewers specifically. it also doesn’t help that Trump is incapable of articulating a second term agenda. And on top of that, Biden just pulled in some record breaking fund raising.

As a result, Trump has had to embrace a dystopian theme of fear and loathing, while seeking to encourage violence among his cult followers, which he cynically believes will benefit his campaign. And he will use anything to deflect from his failure to manage the coronavirus pandemic and the economic recession, both of which are the result of his negligence and incompetence.

The most prominent lines of attack that Trump has hurled at Biden have been insinuations about his mental faculties. That has never been true (except for Trump himself), but it hasn’t stopped Trump from incessantly repeating his infantile nicknames and insults. And now that Biden has easily outperformed the low bar that Trump set for him, Trump’s entire campaign strategy is out the window. All he has left is to chase after the racist, white nationalists that have been his most loyal base of support.

None of this, however, will dampen Trump’s resolve to lie and cheat his way victory. He will continue to malign Biden as being stuck in his basement (which is false), or being unwilling to hold press conferences (which he did today). Ironically, it’s Trump who is stuck in a media bunker wherein he only allows Fox News bootlickers to interview him. But whats really sad is that he fouls those up, even as Trump-fluffers like Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham and the “Curvy Couch” potatoes of Fox and Friends struggle to throw him lifelines.

Nevertheless, Democrats must remain determined to see this through until November 3, without any let up or over confidence. We must run like we’re behind 10 points behind. And we must not let Trump get away with any of his deceitful messaging and hate mongering. This is a marathon, not a sprint, and every day counts.

Trump and the GOP have not yet exhausted their capacity for dishonesty and criminality. They are unlawfully exploiting federal agencies from intelligence to the census to the Postal Service and more, in order to achieve their nefarious ends. And they still have Russia on their team. So stay vigilant. Stay strong. And stay committed to winning for America.

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 Says AOC has ‘the Mind of a Child’

Posted by on September 1, 2020 at 4:20 pm. NO Comments :

In another demonstration of pure projection, Donald Trump is maligning Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in a manner consistent with his well documented misogyny. His notorious disrespect for strong women who have the audacity to challenge him has been aimed at political opponents, journalists, and those who have been unfortunate enough to crossed paths with him in their personal lives.

Donald Trump

On Monday Trump was “interviewed” by Laura Ingraham on Fox News. It was another embarrassing tongue bath by a devoted sycophant whose job is to promote Trump’s propaganda and disinformation. In the course of the program Trump began to dispense his routine lies about Joe Biden’s tax proposals. However, Trump’s mental infirmities prevent him from engaging in a coherent discussion or staying on any topic for more than ten seconds. So we end up with this bizarre blowup (video below):

“[Biden’s] going to do $4 trillion in tax increases. He’s going to do things that are going to cost so much on the Green New Deal, which is — which is done by a child, OK? That’s the mind of a child. Because the Green New Deal is ridiculous. It doesn’t work. They’re going to do things under the Green — you know, the Green New Deal, if you actually did it, is $100 trillion. That’s more money than this country could make in a thousand years.”

First of all, Biden has no plan to raise $4 trillion in taxes, He has said that he will reverse Trump’s tax scam, which was a giveaway to corporations and the wealthy, and drastically inflated the national debt. But that is not a $4 trillion dollar plan and it is only going to raise taxes for those making more than $400,000 a year.

More to the point, Trump’s remarks about Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, one of the key congressional proponents of the Green New Deal, are blatantly insulting and reflect his hatred for women. And it isn’t the first time he insulted Ocasio-Cortez’ maturity. Last month he said that her Green New Deal proposal was “written by a foolish child.” However, the woman he says has “the mind of a child” (and whom he previously said is “dumb as a rock“) is an elected representative from the state New York. She also graduated cum laude from Boston University with degrees in international relations and economics. And, unlike Trump, she didn’t have to get someone to take her SATs for her to get into college.

Ocasio-Cortez has both the academic background and professional experience to advocate for the Green New Deal and other initiatives to address the climate crisis. Trump, on the other hand, has no idea what he’s talking about and believes that climate change is a hoax. His assertion that it would cost $100 trillion dollars was pulled straight out of his astonishing supply of ignorance. The same is true for his claim that the United States couldn’t make that much money in a thousand years.

Fact Check: Trump didn’t specify what he meant by how much the country could make. So here are a couple of likely scenarios: The gross domestic product of the United states is about $20 trillion dollars, so by that measure it would only take five years. Annual federal tax revenue is about $3 trillion, so by that measure it would only take 33 years. In either case, it wouldn’t take a thousand years no matter how you figure it.

The bottom line is that Trump is the one acting like a child. He has these ludicrous outbursts that are completely removed from reality. He is focused intently and solely on his egomaniacal needs. He attacks critics in the most infantile manner imaginable. He throws tantrums if he doesn’t get his way. And his capacity to understand complex ideas is stuck at about a second grade level, if that. To say that he has the mind of a child would an an insult to children.

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


Trump Desperately Pushes a Phony, Racist Narrative of Rampant Violence.

Posted by on August 31, 2020 at 2:21 pm. 4 Comments :

Psychotic delusions are tricky to interpret. For instance, it’s hard to tell if Donald Trump truly believes that he is a beloved national leader who is a shoo-in for reelection, or if he realizes that he’s toast but doesn’t want to suffer the humiliation of admitting it publicly. Either way it is confirmation of an acute mental infirmity.

Donald Trump, MAGA

Consequently, in response to the clear evidence of his floundering campaign, Trump is angling to shape an electoral narrative that he thinks will give him some advantage. But he is painfully incapable of articulating a second term agenda. Obviously the topics that matter most to the American people – the economy, jobs, racial equality, climate change, healthcare, and the still surging coronavirus pandemic – are not working for him. He is losing in every national poll, as well as in most of the crucial swing states. and he wasn’t helped by his “American Carnage II” convention.

The position that Trump seems to have settled on is patently absurd. He is seeking to convince voters that the streets of America are awash in blood and that it is the fault of Democrats. Trump is calling this cataclysm “Biden’s America.” Never mind that it is actually – literally – happening in Trump’s America. His argument is that if he’s reelected all of this turmoil that he has created will magically go away, as if it were a deadly virus (oh wait…).

In order to get that narrative to take hold, Trump has been furiously posting tweets that portray the nation as embroiled in a raging and constant conflagration of bloodshed and savagery. On Sunday he unleashed an avalanche of horror stories on Twitter. More than half (58 out of 110) of his tweets were about allegedly rampant violence and Black Lives Matter “mobs” that he says are running wild in the streets. It’s an unambiguously racist campaign aimed at dividing the nation and firing up his white nationalist base.

According to FiveThirtyEight Trump has become “singularly obsessed with the topic” of crime, and HuffPost reveals that in July the vast majority of his campaign dealt in some way with public safety. He speaks in utterly bizarre hyperboles, like a five year old who has no realistic comprehension of the world around him. For instance he said Monday that “If I didn’t INSIST on having the National Guard activate and go into Kenosha, Wisconsin, there would be no Kenosha right now.” Really? The whole city of 100,000 would have disappeared from the face of the Earth?

There is, however, a small problem with this campaign theme. Crime in America is trending down. And the crime that occurs is taking place in both Democratic and Republican cities. So try as he might, Trump cannot blame lawlessness on Democrats, and certainly not on Joe Biden. However, Biden can, and does, make a rational argument for Trump’s culpability (videos below):

“I look at this violence and I see lives and communities and the dreams of small businesses being destroyed. And the opportunity for real problems on the issue of race and police reform and justice being put to the test. Donald Trump looks at this violence and he sees a political lifeline.”

Biden went on to note the absurdity of Trump running on the claim that “Quote ‘You won’t be safe in Joe Biden’s America.'” (video below)…

“And what is their proof? The violence we are seeing in Donald Trump’s America. These are not images of some imagined Joe Biden America in the future. These are images of Donald Trump’s America today. He keeps telling you, if only he was president it wouldn’t happen. If he was president. He keeps telling you if he was president you’d feel safe. Well, he is president, whether he knows it or not. And it is happening.”

“It’s getting worse. You know why. Because Donald Trump adds fuel to every fire. Because he refuses to even acknowledge that there’s a racial justice problem in America. Because he won’t stand up to any form of violence. He has no problem with right-wing militias, white supremacists, and vigilantes with assault weapons”

On a side note, the infantile, lying, cretins running the Trump campaign clipped the part of Biden’s speech where he said that “You won’t be safe in Joe Biden’s America,” and made it look like that’s his own opinion of himself when, in fact, he was quoting Trump. It has already been tagged as “manipulated media“ by Twitter. That’s actually the second Trump video so labeled just today. The other video showed Biden supposedly sleeping prior to a TV interview. But the real video was an interview of Harry Belafonte.

That’s the kind of dishonesty and craven lack of ethics that we have to look forward to for the next couple of months. But hang in there, and continue to do the hard work necessary to achieve a landslide victory and to send Trump back to civilian life and, hopefully, to prison.

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


Fear and Loathing in Trump’s America: A Tweetstorm of Lies and Desperation

Posted by on August 30, 2020 at 1:51 pm. 3 Comments :

It’s Sunday, so it’s time for another episode of Donald Trump’s Sunday Morning Tweetstorm. The rest of America is enduring the hardships of a deadly pandemic made worse by Trump’s negligence and incompetence. They are suffering through the Trump Recession, replete with record bankruptcies, foreclosures, evictions, and unemployment. And they are watching scenes of civil unrest incited by Trump’s craving for violence to justify his neo-fascist aspirations.

Donald Trump, Twitter

This Sunday’s Tweetstorm is jam-packed with Trumpian assholery. Beginning before sunrise at 5:49 AM, and for two hours and fifteen minutes after, Trump unleashed an avalanche of triggered tweets. There were 89 by 8:04 AM, when he had to quit in order to make his tee time (Really! He went from this to his golf resort). That’s one tweet every 1.5 minutes. Many of those 89 tweets were retweets (69) of sycophants and random Twitter trolls. [UPDATE: By day’s end Trump had tweeted a grand total of 110 times. Most of the later tweets were about Portland/violence or infantile attacks on Biden]

The most prominent subject for this morning’s Twitter tantrum was violence in the streets, particularly in Portland, Oregon. These tweets accounted for 41% (37) of the total tweets. Trump’s thinly disguised message to his cult disciples was that violence is good for his campaign so feel free to go out and stir some up. His Senior White House Counselor, Kellyanne Conway, literally said just that this week on Fox News. Trump himself praised the actual instigators, who came armed for confrontation with peaceful protesters, as…

Coming in second in Trump’s Tweet tirade (at 30%) was a parade of polling posts that purported to place Trump in the lead against Joe Biden. However, the 27 retweets were all from “PollWatch2020,” an unverified Twitter account and right-wing propaganda mill. The only polls they cited as sources for their data were the Trafalgar Group and the Democracy Institute. Both are rabidly partisan servants of conservative candidates and issues. Trafalgar has a C- rating by the analysts at FiveThirtyEight. And Democracy Institute isn’t even rated because they are considered to be a “fake” pollster. This blast of bullpucky is refuted by virtually every other poll available from credible survey organizations.

In addition to these putrid postings, Trump also retweeted an article from the Babylon Bee headlined “Biden: ‘If You Thought The Republican Convention Was Good, Just Wait ‘Til We Have Our Convention!” The purpose of this posting was to ridicule Biden for allegedly not knowing that the Democratic convention was held the previous week. However, the Babylon Bee is a wholly fictional, satirical website. It isn’t known if Trump was aware of that or not. However, it’s clear that many of his cult followers didn’t know. They replied to his tweet with laughter at what an idiot Biden must be. Who wants to tell them they are the idiots?

Trump also posted three tweets that falsely reported fatalities due to the coronavirus. All three tweets cited the conspiracy crackpot website, Gateway Pundit, run by Jim Hoft, the “stupidest man on the Internet” (seriously, Google the phrase). They made the claim that there have only been about 9,000 deaths. That number is drawn from the website of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) where it says that only 6% of the reported fatalities were due “solely” to COVID-19. Most of the deaths had comorbidity factors like pneumonia.

Of course, the presence of contributing factors doesn’t mean that COVID-19 wasn’t the cause of death. But that’s the asinine assertion by Hoft. And now Trump has joined in that idiocy with these retweets, one of which was by Jenna Ellis, the Senior Legal Adviser to the Trump campaign and personal attorney to Trump. [UPDATE: The original tweet making this false claim was removed by Twitter for having violated the rules regarding spreading misinformation. But the Ellis retweet by Trump is still live]

The upshot of this cavalcade of dishonesty and hostility on Trump’s Twitter feed is that Trump is determined to inflame tensions and encourage hateful and hurtful confrontations. He has cheered on violent agitators as “great patriots.” He has maligned Democratic leaders as supportive of atrocities. And he is affirming the position that Conway made with regard to such violence as being beneficial to his reelection campaign. It’s despicable and dangerous and it needs to stop.

Unfortunately, we cannot rely on Trump to abandon these abhorrent tactics. Se we need to be cognizant of his nefarious scheme and resist giving in to his cynicism and purposeful destruction of civil society. If we are to prevail, we need to keep justice in our heads, peace in our hearts, and our eyes on the prize. The only blood will be on the hands of Trump and his racist, hate mongering Republican accomplices.

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