Fox News

Who Will Trump Choose to Replace Hope Hicks? (Hint: Is He Watching Fox News?)

Posted by on February 28, 2018 at 4:32 pm. 4 Comments :

Another day, another White House staffer falls out of the sinking ship. This time it’s one of Donald Trump’s most loyal and longest serving aides, communications director Hope Hicks. The camera shy press liaison is reported to be leaving within the coming weeks. And I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that yesterday she admitted at a congressional inquiry that she has been telling “white lies” as a part of her official duties.

Hope Hicks

That’s probably the problem. Hicks was telling only white lies when the President had warned her to stick to only the darkest of all possible lies. He gave her plenty of examples via his own behavior to make it clear what was expected of her. Obviously, she wasn’t able to cut it. Although she had her moments. Like when she helped to draft the false excuse for why Don Jr. was meeting with Russians. Or when she wrote the press release defending her boyfriend, Rob Porter, after he was revealed to be a wife-beater.

Trump will not likely make the same mistake again. He has a strong track record of hiring brazen liars to staff his White House operation. Champion fabricators like Sean Spicer, Anthony Scaramucci, and the current mistress of propaganda, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, have distinguished this president’s press office.

So who will Trump turn to to fill this critical post? It will have to be someone who doesn’t care about having a good reputation with the public or the media. In fact, the more hate for the media the better. After all, Trump regards the press as “the enemy of the American people.” The Hicks successor will need to be able to lie on camera, even when it’s painfully obvious that they are lying. He or she should have a relationship with other professional prevaricators like Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh.

However, it isn’t necessary that the communications director candidate have any actual experience in communications. Trump prefers people who have little or no idea what they are doing. Probably to assure that they know less than he does (admittedly, a low bar). And in the end, he wouldn’t really trust anyone other than himself. An article in the Associated Press noted that Trump “increasingly sees himself as the White House’s only effective spokesperson.”

Given the criteria for filling this job, only one source for human resources comes to mind. Trump will have to poach another staffer from the pool of Trump-fluffers at Fox News. The Fox studio is a rich vein of inexperienced, dishonest, shameless, butt-kissers. It’s a vein Trump has tapped many times before for aides including K.T. McFarland, Ben Carson, Sebastion Gorka, Heather Nauert, Richard Grennell, and Jonathan Wachtel.

There are two names at Fox that stand out as potential White House flacks. Laura Ingraham would slide right into the role with her smug arrogance and jaunty know-it-allism. But having just secured a primetime show on Fox, Ingraham may be reluctant to bail. She may also be locked into a long-term contract.

That leaves Kimberly Guilfoyle. She has been on deck for a Trump slot for quite a while. Last year Trump insiders were telling the media that he “wants Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle to take [Sean Spicer’s] place.” She is currently a co-host of Fox’s right-wing gab-fest, The Five. She has never been a journalist and has no experience in press relations. So she has those assets going for her. Trump may also appreciate Guilfoyle’s admiration for Vladimir Putin, who she thought would be a better president than Barack Obama.

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

There are a few other names that could be thrown into the pot. Ainsley Earhardt of Trump’s favorite Fox News program, Fox and Friends. Evening Anchor Martha MacCallum could bring back some blondness to the gig. Or maybe, in a bid for the millennial audience, Tomi Lahren’s juvenile outbursts could be just the right spice for Trump’s media taco bowl. Only time will tell. And there’s no hurry since Hicks will still be around for a few weeks, or until she has to meet with special counsel Robert Mueller.

Former Fox News Flunky and ‘Clueless’ Star Stacey Dash Just Filed Futile Run for Congress

Posted by on February 27, 2018 at 11:36 am. 5 Comments :

It goes without saying that there has long been a fusion between Fox News and Republican politics. It’s an embrace that gets tighter every day. And it isn’t just that Donald Trump (a former Fox News regular guest on Fox and Friends) tweets a nearly daily regurgitation of what he just saw on the network. There has been a flow of personnel that spins through the revolving door of these propaganda partners.

Stacey Dash Fox News

The latest flare up of this incestuous intertwining is the announcement of a campaign for a California congressional seat. The candidate is Stacey Dash, best known as the has-been still trying to suck some celebrity out of having appeared in the 1995 teen romp, “Clueless.” The springboard for her budding political career, though, was her brief tenure as a panelist on “Outnumbered,” Fox News’ misguided attempt at programming for women.

Dash distinguished herself on the show as an African-American woman who showed blatant disdain for African-Americans and women. She adopted the KKK’s position that there shouldn’t be a Black History Month because there wasn’t also a White History Month. She ridiculed the #OscarsSoWhite movement that was critical of the lack of diversity in Hollywood as “ludicrous.” She blamed the gender wage gap problem on women themselves for being such poor negotiators. Even worse, she blamed “naughty” women for many of the charges of sexual harassment and assault.

Clearly Dash represents a segment of the black and female population that only exists in congregations of white supremacists. Which makes it all the more curious that she is running in California’s 44th district that includes Compton and Watts. The district is presently represented by Democrat Nanette Barragán, and Hillary Clinton carried it in 2016 with 83 percent of the vote. But if Dash chose it because she thought her race would be a factor, she apparently doesn’t know that the district is 69% Latino.

So what’s the basis for her campaign? The only thing she has going for her is her fading celebrity and her connection to Fox News. But with regard to the latter, her contract was not renewed (aka: she was fired) more than a year ago. Never mind that there is a pretty small audience for Fox among the residents of the 44th. What there is may not remember her from her network gig. Aside from her anti-black and anti-woman stances, she would probably only be remembered for having said that President Obama didn’t “give a shit” about terrorism. Oh yeah, and there was that Playboy pictorial she did. So . . .

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

Late last year Fox News was floating senate campaigns for Ted Nugent and Kid Rock. Another couple of loudmouth has-beens who eventually chickened out of running. But if Dash proceeds with this foolish campaign she is going to suffer a debilitating embarrassment. It’s hard to imagine what advice she received that compelled her to file for the race. She might get some free airtime on Fox if she still has any friends there. But, as noted above, that won’t help her in this district. And Fox would be making a mockery of their frequent and hypocritical complaints about celebrities venturing into politics. Not that Fox has ever been shy about diving head first into hypocrisy.

Release the Hounds: Fox News Inadvertently Solves Gun Control and School Security

Posted by on February 25, 2018 at 11:12 am. 2 Comments :

In the wake of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, there has been a decidedly lopsided national debate about gun control and the security of America’s schools. Most of the nation overwhelming supports common sense measures like universal background checks and banning assault weapons. Even a hard-bitten military analyst on Fox News described putting AR-15s in the hands of civilians as “absolute madness.”

Rex, the Hero Dog

Nevertheless, Donald Trump and his sycophants in Congress and the media continue to serve as whores to the gun lobbyists at the National Rifle Association (NRA). They ignore the pleas of the student survivors and families of victims from Parkland to Newtown to Sutherland Springs and way too many more massacres. Even worse, they lie about their motives and tell them to shut up.

For his part, Trump has completely avoided the subject of restricting unfettered access to weapons of war. He fervently advocates putting even more guns on school campuses, a thoroughly boneheaded idea. And while doing so he shamelessly denies that he ever said any such thing. It’s a circus of hypocrisy and dishonesty that has become emblematic of the Trump era.

The Republican Party has fully embraced the inadequate proposals from the White House that mainly address the fringes of the issue. They talk disingenuously about banning bump stocks, raising age requirements, and reforming mental health care. But they offer nothing in the way of concrete legislation to accomplish even those minor components of a comprehensive solution. The one constant that is present in nearly every incident of mass murder is the assault weapon chosen by the murderers.

Surprisingly, Fox News covered a story this weekend that could provide a new direction for solving these problems. During a burglary in Des Moines, Washington, a German Shepherd leaped to the defense of the teenager who was home at the time. According to the report:

“A German Shepard is being hailed as a ‘four-legged angel’ after reportedly getting hit by three bullets while protecting his owner during a home invasion attempt this week in Washington.

“Javier Mercado, 16, said the dog, named Rex, came to his rescue after burglars broke into his home Wednesday afternoon in Des Moines.”

“‘I started hearing barking, a lot of barking, and then one of the guys screamed, ‘Get the dog! The dog bit me, the dog bit me!’ Mercado told Q13 Fox.”

Rex was shot three times, but still managed to scare off the intruders. He did what dogs are instinctively inclined to do: protect those they care for and who care for them. Which raises the notion of a far better way to protect schoolchildren than trying to turn schools into prisons and teachers into guards. Just get a few dogs to live on the school grounds and train them to recognize aggressors. The kids could get to know them and treat them as pets. But anyone who presented a threat would be met with a fearless and devoted defender.

Sure, there would be some details to work out with regard to preventing unintended injuries, but probably no more so than would occur with humans. This just seems like a more loving and humanitarian approach and should at least be included in the discussion. But those factors will likely rule that out for Trump and and his band of hateful, inhumane miscreants.

After treatment and surgery, Rex is expected to fully recover. The family has a posting for donations to cover veterinary bills on GoFundMe.

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

It’s About Dead Children: Fox News Military Analyst Advocates Banning Semi-Automatic Firearms

Posted by on February 24, 2018 at 1:58 pm. 7 Comments :

Despite the sharply reduced attention span, and constricted news cycles, of the 21st century in America, the nation is still immersed in the aftermath of the tragic massacre in Parkland, Florida. It is totally out of character for the public and the media to remain so focused on a single issue. Much of the credit goes to the passion and eloquence of the students who survived the shooting rampage.

Fox News Ralph Peters

However, this story’s staying power isn’t the only unexpected fallout from Parkland. While most Republican stalwarts continue to be whores to the National Rifle Association (NRA), along with their accomplices in the media, there have been a few surprising defectors. And one of them was interviewed by Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto on his Fox Business program on Friday.

Ralph Peters is a retired Army Lt. Colonel who has been serving as a military analyst on Fox News for several years. He generally falls in line with the hard-right narrative espoused on the network. In fact, he often wanders off the farthest right ledge of conservative wingnutism. For instance, he was once briefly suspended by Fox News for calling President Obama a “pussy” on the air. And then there was the time he argued for censorship and “military attacks on the partisan media.” But his comments on the availability of semi-automatic guns, like the AR-15 used to murder seventeen people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, were more than a little shocking (video below):

“I support the Second Amendment. I do not support the cherry-picking we’re seeing of it right now. […] I’m a gun owner. I know guns. My family’s a gun family going way back. But these weapons – AR-15 and similar weapons – are not for sporting purposes. You don’t take them hunting because they’re meant to tear bodies apart. They tear up the meat. They’re lousy for target shooting. They’re not even good for defending your home in the middle of the night against an intruder.”

And Peters didn’t stop there. He recognized that “my position is unpopular to many Fox viewers,” but that this is “a moral issue. It’s an ethical issue. It’s about dead children.” And he even defended the officers in Parkland who failed to enter the school as it was under assault saying that:

“Having those weapons in civilian hands is absolute madness. And by the way, those four deputies who didn’t go into the school. I think I can tell you what happened. They’re outside with handguns and they’re hearing that semi-automatic fire inside. Pop, pop, pop. It’s like going in there with bare hands.”

Peters also discussed the vagaries of the Second Amendment noting that gun fetishists always leave out the part about a “well regulated militia.” He mocked that omission by observing the hypocrisy of the amendment’s staunchest supports who insist on absolutely literal interpretations of the Constitution, but ignore that the language only protects the right to bear arms, but not to fire them.

The NRA and the Republican Party better wake up. When you’ve lost the support of someone like Peters, you pretty much have to acknowledge that your position is just plain nuts. Peters cannot be dismissed as a liberal snowflake who wants to confiscate every gun in America. Having been trained for battle he knows that a teacher, or other school employee, is unprepared and outmatched for combat with an opponent wielding an AR-15, even if the teacher has served in the military.

It’s fair to say that Peters is far better qualified to comment on these matters than Cadet Bonespurs (aka Donald Trump), who got five deferments to evade service during the Vietnam War years. And the same goes for cowards like Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, and the rest of the Trump-fluffing media who never served their country in uniform. Make no mistake, Peters is very likely the same right-wing crackpot he has always been. But that only makes these remarks all the more noteworthy and foreboding.

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

LOL: Fox News Host Thinks Students Should Shut Up, Gets (Fact) Checked By Student

Posted by on February 23, 2018 at 12:07 pm. 2 Comments :

There is no one on Fox News who is more devoted to censorship and averse to free speech than primetime host Laura Ingraham. She wrote a book titled “Shut Up and Sing,” an extended diatribe on denying the First Amendment to talented Americans who were smart enough to become successful and popular.

Fox News Laura Ingraham

Ingraham recently expanded on that theme to deliver an overtly racist tantrum aimed at NBA stars LeBron James and Kevin Durant. Annoyed that they had the audacity to criticize Dear Leader Donald Trump, Ingraham literally told them to “shut up and dribble.” It was just the next step in her crusade to silence anyone with whom she disagreed. Particularly if those dissenters were dark-skinned celebrities. You will never hear her attack crackpots like Ted Nugent or Scott Baio in the same way.

On Friday morning Ingraham lashed again. This time her vitriol was aimed at Sarah Chadwick, a survivor of the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. And it was typical of her censorial tendencies as she tried to shame Chadwick for speaking out. Ingraham tweeted this:

Seriously? Ingraham is outraged that a young adult with her own opinions would challenge an almighty member of the United States Senate. [Here is Chadwick’s tweet] Not to mention a young adult who just went through a nightmare and lost close friends and classmates. If anyone has the right to express her thoughts about assault weapons and the failure of the political class it’s Chadwick. And she took the opportunity to do so in a delightfully snarky response to Ingraham:

Just brilliant. Chadwick demonstrated that she has far more dignity than Ingraham by not emulating the Fox Host’s crass smear tactics. It was a succinct reply that conveyed the message that Ingraham’s ignorance isn’t really worth wasting time on. And at the same time she trumped the professional “journalist” by correcting her poor reporting.

This conniption fit by the allegedly “mature” Fox News shill adds to the pile of insults and slanders that Fox and other right-wing media hacks have been shoveling. There have been ludicrous accusations that the students were paid actors or professional protesters. They have been criticized for being insolent punks who were raised badly. And worst of all, raving conservatives have insisted that they should be disregarded because they are too emotional or too young to have valid opinions.

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

That’s the perspective of old fogies who wallow in their ageist supremacy and spend their days pulling out what’s left of their hair. There is no one more suitable to comment on the state of our society than those who are about to inherit it – complete with the flaws built in by their predecessors. This is their world. Adults who think that they are leaving it to their children have it backwards. They are just the caretakers for the future owners. And with heirs like Chadwick and her colleagues at Stoneman Douglas, the future has never looked brighter.

Trump Makes Impeachable Threat to Create ‘a Crime Mess Like You’ve Never Seen in California’

Posted by on February 22, 2018 at 3:55 pm. 6 Comments :

I know I’ve said this before, but this time this really is the most nauseating thing Donald Trump has ever said. During a White House meeting with state and local officials to discuss school safety, the President lurched off the track to unload a disgusting pile of crap on California.

Donald Trump Impeach

This meeting was supposed to be focused on finding solutions to the tragedy that occurred in Parkland, Florida last week. It was supposed to be about saving children’s lives and making it safe for them to attend school. But Trump couldn’t suppress his vile hatred for anything and anyone that he perceives to be against him. So he diverted from the topic at hand to attack his fellow Americans in California (video below). He began by raising the issue of gangs, describing them as not being “human beings, these are animals.” And he made the ludicrous and obviously false claim that he was “literally getting MS-13 out by the thousands.” Then he disgorged this bit of incoherent bullshit into a room that must have wondered WTF he was talking about:

“We’re getting no help from the state of California. I mean frankly, if I want to pull our people from California you would have a crime mess like you’ve never seen in California. All I’d have to say is ‘ICE and border patrol, leave California alone.’ You’d be inundated. You would see crime like nobody’s ever seen crime in this country. And yet we get no help from the state of California. They are doing a lousy management job. They have the highest taxes in the nation. And they don’t know what’s happening out there. Frankly, it’s a disgrace. The sanctuary city situation. The protection of these horrible criminals.”

Well, that was unexpected. Trump lashed out at one of the most prosperous states in the nation for a gang problem that exists nationwide. And for some reason he took a swipe at California’s tax codes that contribute to its prosperity. And surely he wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to yammer about sanctuary cities and make false claims about protecting criminals. But hold on. That wasn’t the worst of it. He continued:

“If we ever pulled our ICE out. If we ever said let California alone, let them figure it out for themselves. In two months they’d be begging for us to come back. They would be begging. And you know what? I’m thinking about doing it.”

Are you freakin’ kidding me? Trump flies off the handle to whine dishonestly about crime and then tells the nation that he’s actually thinking about deliberately creating a “crime mess” just to satisfy his ego and exact vengeance against a state where he has little support? That’s a threat to put Americans in harms way for the petty grievances of a sadistic narcissist. Just the threat of doing that ought to be grounds for impeachment. He took an oath to “protect and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” And now he’s saying that he might just decide not to do that.

How could Trump even consider this, much less say it out loud? Where would he get such a disgusting idea? The answer to that is pretty simple. It’s the same place he gets most of his disgusting ideas: Fox News. Just a few hours before this meeting, Fox ran an interview of ICE Director, Tom Homan. In the interview Homan took issue with comments by California’s senators, Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris. They were disturbed by his prior statements threatening to increase immigration enforcement activity and that California had “better hold on tight.” Feinstein and Harris wrote to him saying that “Diverting resources in an effort to punish California and score political points is an abhorrent abuse of power.”

So Trump was obviously watching this unfolding feud on Fox News and decided to weigh in. However his contribution was typically ham-fisted and offensive. His tone of voice when asserting that he was “thinking about doing it,” was dripping with animosity and undisguised hate. But if he ever actually acted on this threat it would just be another count of treason against him. He is the most traitorous, unpatriotic, heathen ever to occupy the White House. And the sooner he is gone, the better for the country.

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

Fox Nation is Morphing into a Streaming Video Feeding Tube for the Fox News Cult’s Superfans

Posted by on February 21, 2018 at 8:50 am. 1 Comments :

In its ongoing mission to brainwash weak minds, Fox News is taking a major step into the video streaming business. They have announced that their community website and right-wing news aggregator, Fox Nation will soon become a subscription service that Fox’s glassy-eyed disciples can pay for without a cable account.

Fox Nation vs. Reality

The announcement states that the new Fox Nation will launch by the end of the year with original programming rather than reruns of Fox News Channel content. But that doesn’t mean that Fox favorites like Sean Hannity and Tomi Lahren won’t be featured frequently to spin the news and stir outrage. These and other Fox regulars will be producing exclusive commentaries for the new venture. John Finley, Fox News senior vice president, described the new offering saying that…

“Fox Nation is designed to appeal to the Fox superfan. These are the folks who watch Fox News every night for hours at a time, the dedicated audience that really wants more of what we have to offer.”

In other words, the network that is devoted to misinforming America is providing their wingnut junkies with an endless supply of moonbat juice to keep them riled up and free from the emotional complexities of reality. This is just what the person who already watches Fox News for hours needs. And the persons they are most likely catering to are superfans like Donald Trump. These zealots will surely appreciate how the new Fox Nation will “take a further look at the big issues of the day” and provide an opportunity for “interaction with all of FNC’s popular opinion hosts and personalities.”

The Fox News announcement heralded this new enterprise in terms that will be familiar and comfortable for their faithful devotees, noting that “insiders consider Fox Nation another step toward digital supremacy.” And whatever other types of supremacy they favor will be icing on the cake.

Fox Nation has long been a website that catered to the most extreme rightist crackpottery. They have posted links to articles by notorious conspiracy theorists and dedicated propagandists. They have altered headlines and content to comply with the conservative doctrines they espouse. And they have not been averse to spewing outright lies, as documented in my two books: “Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Community’s Assault On Truth” and “Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.” (Both available on Amazon). And there is no reason not to expect exactly the same sort of news distortion and purposeful deception from whatever the new Fox Nation turns out to be.

Trump’s White House is Shutting Down For CPAC, the Annual Orgy of Wingnut Conservatism

Posted by on February 20, 2018 at 2:14 pm. 3 Comments :

It’s time once again for the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) put on by the American Conservative Union. This affair is a four day circle jerk of right-wingers wallowing in their muddy pit of country club white nationalism. And this year the roster of speakers has a particularly notable stench of political devotion that borders on religious idolatry.

Donald Trump CPAC

The largest contingent of conference guests comes from the White House. Beginning with Donald Trump himself making a return appearance, and extending down the line of command to various cabinet secretaries and political operatives. It’s a baker’s dozen of Washington apparatchiks who are committed to proselytizing the President’s agenda. And the sheer quantity of StormTrumpers shows that this convention has only one mission: Propaganda. Here are the White House attendees:

  • Donald Trump
  • Eric Trump
  • Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the President
  • Don McGahn, Counsel and Assistant to the President
  • Mick Mulvaney, Director of the Office of Management and Budget
  • Scott Pruitt, Director of the Environmental Protection Agency
  • Betsy Devos, Secretary of Education
  • Rick Perry, Secretary of Energy
  • Ryan Zinke, Secretary of the Interior
  • Linda McMahon, Small Business Adminstration
  • Ajit Pai, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission
  • Ronna McDaniel, Chair of the Republican National Committee
  • Kayleigh McEnany, Spokesperson for the RNC

Joining the army of Trumpsters are their partners in propaganda, Fox News. A network that has the audacity to put the word “news” in their name is proving that they are nothing but shills for a corrupt presidency. The cadre of Foxies include two thirds of their primetime lineup. And they are supported by several paid contributors:

  • Sean Hannity
  • Laura Ingraham
  • Jeanine Pirro
  • Sebastian Gorka
  • Dana Perino
  • Elizabeth Peek
  • Katie Pavlich
  • Mark Levin
  • Sara Carter

And that’s not all. There are several other people that will be familiar to Trump’s followers and Fox News viewers. People like “sheriff” David Clarke, John Bolton, James O’Keefe, and the GOP chair of the House Intelligence Committee (and future felon), Devin Nunes. Also, Wayne LaPierre of the NRA, whose name was omitted from the speakers list because he’s toxic. And let’s not forget Marion Le Pen, the leader of France’s neo-Nazi party.

Trump has been having a horrible week. He has had to deal with a top aide who was accused of wife-beating. He has exhibited his inability to respond like a human being to the tragedy in Parkland, Florida. He unleashed a torrent of tweets exposing how frightened he is about the tsunami of political and legal jeopardy he faces.

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

So he is undoubtedly looking forward to his appearance at CPAC. It’s an opportunity to get in front of an adoring crowd and pontificate incoherently for an hour and be applauded for it. The audience will cheer wildly as Trump lashes out at their favorite enemies – liberals, democrats, minorities and, of course, the media. They’ll rise to their feet whenever he utters a word about a wall or a former “crooked” opponent. And Trump will get his fix of adulation from his glassy-eyed disciples before he has to return the “dump” on Pennsylvania Avenue and lay in bed worrying about when special counsel Robert Mueller’s hammer will come down.

Trump Thanks Fox News for Helping Him Ignore His Duty to Protect and Defend the Constitution

Posted by on February 20, 2018 at 11:52 am. 3 Comments :

Once again, Donald Trump is caught convening with his “outhouse” cabinet (too crappy to be in the kitchen) on Fox News rather than knowledgeable professionals. The “Curvy Couch” potatoes of Fox and Friends delivered another of their “Presidential Daily Briefings” to the only person in their audience that matters to them.

Fox News

The segment (video below) reiterated a White House talking point meant to distract from the reality that Russia invaded the United States with a massive and well-financed attack on our democratic system. They advanced the lie that President Obama didn’t do anything about Russia’s election tampering. In fact, Obama did quite a bit. He expelled thirty-five Russian “diplomats” and imposed new sanctions. These were actions that Trump’s soon-to-be National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn, assured Russia would not be carried out if they won the election. Obama also tried to get Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell to sign on to a bipartisan public announcement revealing the Russian operations. McConnell refused, and Obama thought it would appear political if he were to proceed without GOP support. It could be argued that Obama could have done more, but not that he did nothing, as Trump did in this tweet:

Of course, Trump never has an original thought, and he didn’t in this case either. He was reacting to the policy dictates put forth on Fox and Friends. In addition to the tweet above, Trump also tweeted a quote that played on the Fox News program of Obama saying that…

It needs to be noted that Obama was talking about Trump’s campaign hysterics that Obama and Hillary Clinton were conspiring to steal the election. He was not talking about the sort of tampering that we know Russia engaged in. That’s a significant distinction, but one that Fox and Trump are too dimwitted to figure out. Or more accurately, too dishonest to admit. So Trump’s “Friends” merely repeated their well-rehearsed lines:

Brian Kilmeade: If you look at the President’s track record, it’s been anything but strong when it comes to Russia. [Steve Doocy had to interject that Kilmeade meant President Obama]
Steve Doocy: But here’s the thing, ultimately. Barack Obama was the president of the United States when Russia was meddling with our election. Trying to sow discord. So why didn’t he, as the chief executive of the country, stop it? And now, fast forward to now, what’s the narrative become? Forget about the fact that it happened on Obama’s watch, now it is ‘Well you know it looks like the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians.’ Which there is no evidence, absolutely none that that happened. All we found out Friday with the Mueller indictment was there was this place called the troll factory. Spent about a hundred thousand dollars and put out a few Facebook ads. That’s it.”

First of all, there is plenty of evidence of Trump’s collusion, starting with Donnie Jr.’s meetings with Russians (which he initially lied about) in Trump Tower. There are verified connections between Trump, Wikileaks, and Russia, who Trump begged to hack Clinton and release the stolen emails. There are more than a dozen Trump associates who met with Russians and lied about it. And no one knows what further evidence special counsel Robert Mueller has that won’t be disclosed until he concludes the investigation.

What’s more, Doocy’s deliberate disinformation about Mueller’s indictments misstates the facts. It wasn’t a hundred thousands dollars and a few Facebook ads. It was over a million dollars a month and thousands of Facebook and other Internet posts seen by millions of Americans.

More importantly, Trump appears to be conceding now that the election interference did occur. And while he’s obsessing over Obama’s response, he’s ignoring that he has done nothing himself. To the contrary, he is letting his pal Vladimir Putin off the hook. Trump refuses to impose sanctions that were voted on nearly unanimously by Congress. And although he will criticize everyone from Obama to Clinton to Oprah, he has never said a cross word to or about Putin.

No matter what Trump thinks of Obama, he has a responsibility as the current president to protect and defend the country. But he’s never even had a cabinet level meeting on the threat of Russia’s election tampering. Nor has he directed his intelligence and law enforcement agencies to address the matter. If he thinks that Obama was negligent, then what is he saying about himself? It’s almost as if he’s happy with Russia’s political intrusions and wants them to continue. Or maybe that they have something on him that is costly to his financial empire or personally embarrassing. Nah – couldn’t be any of that. Could it?

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

Trump’s Dep. Press Secretary: Democrats and the Media Have Created More Chaos than Russia

Posted by on February 17, 2018 at 3:24 pm. 3 Comments :

The propaganda push to clear Donald Trump of all responsibility for the Russian interference in the 2016 election is in full force. The chair of the Republican National Committee has blamed it all on President Obama. Fox News is trivializing it as Rocky and Bullwinkle stuff. And now the White House Deputy Press Secretary, Hogan Gidley, is making statements that baselessly allege crimes by Democrats that are worse than what the Russians are alleged to have done.

Fox News Gidley

On Saturday morning’s episode of Fox and Friends (where else), Gidley was stroked – I mean interviewed – by the “Curvy Couch” potatoes in a segment that addressed the indictments against Russia by special counsel Robert Mueller. Gidley’s remarks were so offensive and dishonest that I’ll just leave them here with little commentary (video below):

“First of all we have to understand, this began in 2014 under then-President Barack Obama’s nose. He didn’t do a thing about it. Long before Donald Trump announced for president this was going on. Also it points out clearly that in this process there was no collusion, as you just pointed out. The President said it multiple times. This makes it clear and concise for the American people and proves the President correct. No collusion between Donald Trump, his campaign, and Russia. And also, I think this is important too. It did not affect the outcome of the election whatsoever.”

First of all, what we really have to understand, is that the fact that Russia began interfering in American elections in 2014 does not vindicate Trump. It actually makes it worse that he and his associates had anything to do with foreign operatives who were already engaged in espionage against the United States. And the Mueller indictments do not in any way say that there was no collusion or that the outcome of the election was not affected. They simply say that these particular indictments are not alleging that. Which leaves the door wide open for such allegations in future indictments.

But if Gidley wants to assert that Mueller is proving Trump correct, that’s fine. It makes it that much harder for them to later say that Mueller is biased and try to fire him. However, Gidley had not yet reached the most disgusting part of his interview. He continued:

“What the Russians were trying to do, as outlined by Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein, was create chaos in the American election system. And I’ll just say this: There are two groups that created chaos more than the Russians. That’s the Democrats and the mainstream media who continued to push this lie on the American people for more than a year. And, quite frankly, America should be outraged by that.”

Really? So Gidley is now contending that Democrats and the American media are more guilty of election tampering and fraud than the Russians who have just been indicted by a Grand Jury? He is essentially accusing Democrats and journalists of being a bigger enemy than Russia, and of criminality on a scale that exceeds actual spies from a hostile foreign nation. And the twerps on Fox and Friends just sat there and nodded in agreement. The whole bunch of them are so determined to exonerate their beloved Orange Messiah that they are willing to make scurrilous accusations of treason. It’s an attack on both democracy and the free press. And it’s another new low for the Trump White House.

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