Posted by Mark NC on October 8, 2018 at 11:24 am.
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For the past two years there has been an unprecedented embrace between a media organization and the presidency. Donald Trump’s close association with Fox News began well before his election in 2016, when he had a regular segment on Fox and Friends called “Mondays with Trump.” And throughout his occupation of the White House that relationship has only grown stronger.
On Monday morning it was announced that Trump’s former communications director, and official Trump Whisperer, Hope Hicks, was appointed the executive vice-president and chief communications officer for the new Fox, the remnants of the conglomerate that weren’t sold off to Disney earlier this year. It includes Fox News and Fox Business, two cable “news” networks that are conspicuously friendly to Trump and the Republican Party.
Hicks role at Fox won’t be especially different from her role at the White House. She will continue to promote Trump and the agenda of the ultra-rightist GOP along with her new colleagues at Fox. Those new colleagues include former Trump staffers Sebastian Gorka, Anthony Scaramucci, and Sean Spicer. However, they are all on-air contributors, while Hicks will be a top executive. And her appointment comes just as Fox News and the President are gearing up for the presidential election in 2020.
Of course, revolving doors spin all the way around. And it isn’t coincidental that many Fox Newsers have made the switch to the Trump White House. They include National Security advisor John Bolton, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert, and Director of the National Economic Council Larry Kudlow. Even Fox’s former president, Bill Shine, is now working for Trump as his Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications. In a less official capacity are Trump’s “Shadow Cabinet” consisting of Sean Hannity, Jeanine Pirro, Lou Dobbs, and the “Curvy Couch” potatoes of Fox and Friends. So the marriage of Fox News and the Trump administration is now sealed and consecrated before Rupert Murdoch.
Just prior to her resignation from the White House, Hicks testified before a closed session of the House Intelligence Committee regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election. She admitted to telling “white lies” for Trump. In her new position her ability to lie will be unfettered by even the lax standards imposed by Trump’s White House. So going forward we can expect a new rainbow of lies that are consistent with the total absence of standards at Fox News.
On Tuesday, the morning crew at Fox News invited their primetime colleague, Tucker Carlson, to visit with the “Curvy Couch” potatoes of Fox and Friends for a masters class in mind-numbing hypocrisy. Of course, that’s standard fare on Fox News, but this episode stretched the boundaries of the journalistic quackery that Fox is famous for. And it gave Carlson an opportunity to expound on something other than his white nationalist dogma.
The segment that featured Carlson was focused on criticizing the New York Times for a recent report about Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh. The story concerned an incident in 1985 when Kavanaugh was involved in a bar fight investigation. Co-host Ainsley Earhardt introduced the segment with a graphic showing the Times’ headline: “Kavanaugh was questioned by police after bar fight in 1985.” So it was a pretty straight forward account of something that no one disputes took place.
Nevertheless, Fox and their friends were aghast that anyone would bring up an incident that occurred when Kavanaugh was only twenty years old. As everyone knows, it’s improper to investigate a public figure’s past unless they are Democrats. In which case, you can go all the way back to their birth certificate. Consequently, Carlson reacted with shock and sarcastically proclaimed that “I wish they’d have told me that. I never would’ve supported him.” He dismissed the article as “stupid and irrelevant” and generally mocked the Times for having published it. But the discourse sunk even lower as this exchange with Steve Doocy demonstrates (video below):
Carlson: This is the problem with so much of our coverage, and so much of the way we think about things. No self awareness at all. […] If you’re writing that story does part of you think “Is this why I got into journalism? To carry water for a political party? To be a propagandist? To write something so stupid that I can’t look in the mirror without self loathing?” Doocy: Don’t you know the answer to that question? Carlson: Some people never pause to ask “What am I doing with my life?”
Imagine having such a pitiful lack of self awareness that you can ask about the self awareness of others while you’re oblivious to what you’re saying at that exact moment. Tucker Carlson was actually chastising the Times for “carry[ing] water for a political party” and for being “a propagandist.” Those are two things that Fox News in general, and Carlson in particular, are best known for. So if Carlson thinks that someone being that big a suck-up “can’t look in the mirror without self loathing,” then he’ll have to remove every mirror from his home and office in order to get through the day. And knowing his degree of narcissism, that’s a lot of mirrors.
It was also somewhat curious that Doocy asked Carlson if he already knew the answer to his own questions. That sounds like Doocy was accusing Carlson of the political sycophancy he was complaining about. Which would be wildly out of character for Doocy. Regardless, Carlson just laughed it off with his patented smuggery. And in the end, none of them realized that what they were criticizing was what has been the central mission of Fox News for twenty years – if we’re allowed to go back that far.
Tucker Carlson kinda loses it over a “stupid and irrelevant” NY Times headline about Brett Kavanaugh's drinking: Whichever “propagandist” wrote it has “no self awareness at all” and should quit journalism and become an insurance salesperson. pic.twitter.com/4fD8btEIyw
Posted by Mark NC on September 29, 2018 at 1:17 pm.
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On Friday Sen. Jeff Flake monkey wrenched the Republican’s plan to “plow through” the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation and install an accused rapist on the Supreme Court. Donald Trump tried for weeks to forestall any effort to get at the truth by having the FBI supplement their background check with this new information. But Flake’s refusal to vote for Kavanaugh without such a probe forced Trump and the GOP to back down.
The FBI is likely to conduct a fair and professional investigation into the allegations of Christine Blasey Ford. But they might also report on other matters that reflect on Kavanaugh’s suitability to get this lifetime appointment. That could include shady financial dealings, unsavory personal associations, or lying to the FBI or to Congress.
Consequently, Fox News has sprung into action to try to prophylactically inoculate Kavanaugh from whatever bad news might emerge. They have been furiously campaigning on Kavanaugh’s behalf and viciously maligning his critics, including Dr. Ford. As part of that effort they invited Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy to visit with the “Curvy Couch” potatoes of Fox and Friends to flood the zone with some obvious distractions. It began with co-host Griff Jenkins asking Cassidy to walk him through what’s coming next. Cassidy replied:
“This is part of a broader Democratic strategy to coordinate in that coordination, seek to delay. How many more charges can be brought out to smear this man? To create legitimate doubts in the minds of some, the American public? It’s a tactic of coordination leading to the delay. There’s other things the FBI should to do, but it should investigate whether there is this intent to coordinate the actual coordination.”
Jenkins was impressed with Cassidy’s blubbering nonsense saying “Well, that’s a great point you bring out.” Which point? The one about Democrats seeking to coordinate their coordination, or the coordinating of the coordinates that the Democrats intended to investigate? That’s not important – or intelligible. Jenkins then tried to expand the discussion by inquiring whether the FBI should investigate who leaked Dr. Ford’s letter? And Cassidy responded:
“There’s at least two senators that challenged Judge Kavanaugh’s assertion that this is part of a coordinated effort. Two. Now if they’re trying to cast doubts upon his judgement, I actually think he showed insight. Let’s actually investigate. Ask Dianne Feinstein, under oath, did she leak it, then ask her aides. By the way, we should also seek to get Dr. Ford’s therapist’s records. […] That should also be looked at to see if it does truly corroborate. Because that’s all that’s been offered by her side. And then look at this pattern of delay, coordination and obfuscation.”
Cassidy is parroting the crackpot conspiracy theories that Kavanaugh tried to foist on the nation via his totally baseless and paranoid accusations that Democrats are conducting is “a calculated and orchestrated political hit” as “revenge on behalf of the Clintons.” All of the questions he asked about Sen. Feinstein have already been answered and proven to be above board and uncontroversial.
However, it’s Cassidy’s insistence that the FBI needs to probe political coordination by Democrats that is truly mind-boggling. And not just because he’s laughably incoherent. But because, even if it’s happening, it isn’t illegal, unethical, or unusual. Cassidy is attempting to criminalize ordinary activities by political parties to advance their objectives. But only as it applies to Democrats.
If Cassidy thinks that Democrats should be investigated for this, would he also agree to investigate Trump and the GOP and Fox News for their coordinated efforts to get Kavanaugh confirmed and smear his accusers? Now THAT would be fun, and probably turn up some real crimes. So bring it on.
Posted by Mark NC on September 27, 2018 at 10:43 am.
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The Senate Judiciary Committee will hear from both Brett Kavanaugh and Dr. Christine Blasey Ford today in an attempt to resolve the controversy over whether Kavanaugh had engaged in sexual assault. Unfortunately, this Senate process is woefully insufficient to actually resolve such a question, but it’s the only thing the Republicans will allow.
Prior to the hearing, Fox News was setting it up in a manner that blatantly advantaged Kavanaugh. In a segment on Fox and Friends with Sen. Lindsey Graham, the Senator is heard laughing during a discussion of parties where women were allegedly drugged and raped. That’s an unambiguously inappropriate response under the circumstances. But he doesn’t behave any better as the interview proceeds, as observed in this exchange about the declaration provided by another accuser, Julie Swetnick (video below):
Anna Kooiman: Here’s the problem Senator. We’re not saying that nothing happened to her. It’s serious allegations. Something might have happened to her. We are all just questioning why she didn’t go to police. She says that she was raped at one of these parties. Not by Kavanaugh. Someone else. So people are wondering why didn’t she go to police when that happened. Or why isn’t she going to police now? [She’s asking for an FBI investigation] Graham: Well here’s what I would say. Y’all are very nice people. I don’t buy this. I don’t believe that any reasonable person would go to a party where people are being drugged and raped and not tell anybody about it, but keep going for ten times over a two year period. Brett Kavanaugh’s life – there’s no indication that that’s the kind of person he is. This lady, Brett Kavanaugh says ‘I never met her’. Avenatti is her attorney. If you can’t figure this out, then there’s something wrong with you.
Graham went on to repeat his surprise that Ms. Swetnick continued going to parties while in college. And he summed up by stating flatly that “Brett Kavanaugh is not a serial rapist,” revealing that his mind was already made up before anyone has testified.
However, Graham’s characterization of Swetnick’s declaration is patently false and even absurd. He’s implying that she willfully attended regularly scheduled rape parties. But she never said anything of the sort. Her testimony is that she attended ten parties, in two years, where she observed this repulsive behavior. Graham is asserting by assumption that those were the only parties she attended. It’s more likely that she attended many more.
If we estimate that she attended one party a week during these two years of college (a conservative estimate), that’s 104 parties total. She wasn’t deliberating attending parties where such activity was advertised and tolerated. So at ten of these parties – out of more than a hundred – she happened to encounter some disgusting individuals like, allegedly, Kavanaugh.
Graham’s attempt to portray Swetnick as someone who regularly and deliberately attends rape parties is just plain nauseating. And it’s proof of his intent to malign her character. Furthermore, his snide reference to to her attorney, Michael Avenatti, was also meant to disparage her and dismiss her testimony. Never mind that Avenatti has provided remarkably precise and accurate commentaries on everything from Kavanaugh to Michael Cohen, and of course, Stormy Daniels. Graham, on the other hand, has proven to be a sleaze ball who sucks up to Donald Trump and abandons every speck of integrity or dignity he might have ever had. Just sayin’.
.@LindseyGrahamSC, through chuckles, says he "doesn't buy" Swetnick's misconduct allegation against Kavanaugh.
"I don't believe any reasonable person would go to a party where people are drugged and raped and not tell anybody about it… Brett Kavanaugh is not a serial rapist." pic.twitter.com/NI1tfcinFE
Posted by Mark NC on September 26, 2018 at 10:09 am.
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Any observer who is being objective has to concede that Donald Trump is sinking ever further into an abyss of his own making. He continues to shamelessly exalt himself with obviously false praise for achievements that either don’t exist or that he had nothing to do with. And he is forced to rely on his State TV sycophants at Fox News for positive reinforcement, even if it’s totally made up.
On Wednesday morning there was another such episode on Fox and Friends that was laughably absurd. And it was appropriately triggered by the laughter at Trump when he tried to tell the United Nations that he has “accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country.” The world’s diplomats knew that that was a ludicrous statement and responded by mocking it. Trump later pretended that he intended it as a joke even though he said at the time that he “didn’t expect that reaction.” Or perhaps he was doing his Pee Wee Herman imitation by saying that “I meant to do that.”
Not surprisingly, Trump sent his U.N. ambassador, Nikki Haley, to visit with his Fox friends the next day. Her purpose was to attempt to fix the correct impression that Trump was disrespected by the world’s diplomats. And she was greeted by the “Curvy Couch” potatoes warmly with co-host Anna Kooiman gushing “Congratulations on your success as the U.N. ambassador. We love you so much.” But that was just the beginning of the unabashed love-in at Fox News, as exemplified in this exchange (video below):
Kooiman: I know you were in the room when the laugh happened. Sometimes the media can portray it as one thing and it’s not that at all. What was it like and why that reaction? Haley: The media has got this so wrong. I deal with these leaders every single day. I know exactly how they think. Do they love America? No. Do they respect America? Now they do. When he said that, they loved how honest he is and it’s not diplomatic and they find it funny. […] I saw that the media was trying to make it something disrespectful. That’s not what it was. They love to be with him.
See? The room full of guffawing U.N. ambassadors were just unable to restrain their boundless affection for Trump and it came out sounding like impolite chuckles. Never mind that the ambassadors themselves have already affirmed that they were laughing AT Trump. But Haley still asserts that his lies about how productive he’s been were greeted by the U.N. as “honesty” that for some reason Haley thinks is not diplomatic. The truth, according to Haley, is that the ambassadors just love being with Trump. And she even noted that his ad libbing “made them love him even more.” Which leaves just one question to be answered with regard to this assessment of Trump’s performance: Does anyone else feel like throwing up?
Posted by Mark NC on September 25, 2018 at 12:30 pm.
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On Monday evening Donald Trump’s White House took the extraordinary step of parading its Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, out on State TV (aka Fox News), to whitewash the charges against him for sexual assault. That spectacle only exacerbated his problems by revealing him as awkward and over-coached in his own defense. And it doesn’t help that he was defending himself on the network best known for political partisanship and employing sexual predators.
However, this tactic on the part of the administration further illustrates just how reliant they are on disseminating propaganda via Fox News. It’s their go-to media fixer when Trump is in trouble or they have some new unpopular initiative to foist on the nation. And in a totally unprecedented course of action, the White House has virtually eliminated the Daily Press Briefing as a means of informing the public about administration activities. They have replaced it with Fox News.
Trump’s Press Secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, has held only one briefing so far in the month of September. She held only five briefings in June, three in July, and five in August. That’s one hundred and seventeen days with only fourteen “daily” briefings. This makes it far more difficult for reporters to gather information that the public deserves and is entitled to in a working democracy. Clearly Trump prefers to operate like the dictatorships he so admires in Russia and North Korea.
So the day following Trump sending off his Supreme Court nominee to the happy place for rightist news, he sets up a playdate for Sanders with his Fox and Friends. Sanders joined the “Curvy Couch” potatoes for an extended discussion on how splendidly everything is going in the White House and in America (video below). She stuck up for Kavanaugh, dismissed the controversy over Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, effusively praised her boss, and promoted the upcoming cookbook by Fox co-host Steve Doocy that contains a recipe by Sanders.
This performance is a poor substitute for briefings attended by diverse and independent journalists. Rather, it is an extension of Trump’s determination to turn the White House into a Reality TV melodrama with all the nonsense and artifice that implies. They aspire to lull the American people into a stupor that will be thrilled by the circus-like antics of a Big Brother presidency.
Unfortunately for Trump, just because his cult followers are foolish enough to fall for that, doesn’t mean that the rest of the country will. And even with his reincarnation of Goebbels (former Fox News president, and current White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Communication, Bill Shine), Trump isn’t going to find success in dumbing down America’s democracy. He’s only going to make sure that his Deplorables remain utterly and painfully clueless. Just the way he likes them.
We’re two days into the news cycle on the anonymous op-ed that appeared in the New York Times announcing a “resistance” inside the White House to Trump’s dangerous unfitness for office. If anything, the temperature has increased with more insiders coming forward to warn about Trump’s unbalanced mental state.
Meanwhile, Trump is proving the allegations against him by bellowing at his staff and behaving even more paranoid than usual. He can’t trust anyone around him but his children, and even that might be assuming too much. The effect this has had on him is obvious and profound. He’s tweeted about this, and the related book by Bob Woodward, eighteen times already. He’s clearly obsessed with these credible depictions of his mental infirmities by people who have access to him and reason to know.
So naturally Trump rushed frantically to Fox News in order to get a good tongue bathing in an environment where he would be safe from well deserved criticism. He was interviewed by Fox and Friends co-host Pete Hegseth before the crowd at his Montana cult rally. And the part of exchange that covered the New York Times op-ed pretty much tells you everything you need to know about Trump’s rupturing psychoses. It’s a wholly incoherent rant that he seemed to disgorge in a single, panicky breath. (video below):
Hegseth: Folks here might have seen an anonymous column written in the New York Times. [Audience boos] And I think this audience would say that an attack on you was an attack on the people that voted for you. Are you any closer to knowing who did it and what should be done if you find out who did it? Trump: Well number one, the Times should have never have done that because really what they’ve done is, virtually, you know it’s treason. You can call it a lot of things, but to think that you have somebody in all of the cabinets – some many people as you know they came forward, they’re writing editorials. They’re all saying you know it’s got to be at a fairly low level. Because so many people today, I was just coming out, and I see all the people that are saying such great things. We have a lot of love in the administration, and the White House is truly as you would say, a well-oiled machine – it is working so well. You know we have – I heard you say yesterday, we have thousands of people that in theory could qualify. So they take one person out of thousands, but what’s unfair – I don’t mind when they write a book and they make lies cause it gets discredited. We just discredited the last one, we discredit all of them because it’s lies. But I’ll tell you, when somebody writes and you can’t discredit because you have no idea who they are – usually you’ll find out, it’s a background that was bad, it may not be a Republican, it may not be a conservative, it may be a deep state person that’s been there a long time. You don’t know where – it’s a very unfair thing. But its very unfair to our country and to the millions of people that voted, really for us. They voted for us.
First of all, go back and read the question. Trump came nowhere near anything that might be considered an answer. What you have there is an insane person insisting that he’s completely sane while proving that he isn’t. Trump began by charging the Times with treason. Obviously, he has no idea what the word means or how to apply it. And this wasn’t a hypothetical comment. On Air Force One this morning Trump said he was asking his Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, to investigate the Times as a “national security” matter. However, he couldn’t explain how a critical op-ed endangered national security. He also said he’s looking into taking some unspecified action against the paper and the author. That would be a flagrant breach of the Constitution’s First Amendment.
Trump went on to extol the “love in the administration,” despite the unprecedented turmoil, resignations and terminations during his first two years in office. His senior staff are reported to have called him “an idiot,” “a moron,” “a liar,” “a baby,” and more demeaning, but accurate epithets. If this is his idea of a “well-oiled machine,” what, in heaven’s name, would a squeaky one look like?
Trump also told Hegseth that “I don’t mind when they write a book” because “we discredit all of them.” Notice that he doesn’t say that he refutes them or offers substantive rebuttals. He astonishingly admits that he goes straight for character assassination. He affirms that by complaining that he can’t discredit the author if he doesn’t know who it is. Of course, he could dispute what was said, but the only thing he’s interested in is attacking the person, not the allegations. That’s because he can’t attack allegations that are demonstrably true.
The more Trump defends himself from charges of mental infirmity, the more he is demonstrating the validity of the charges. And he’s behaving like the cornered animal that lashes out wildly at any perceived threat. That’s the same behavior he’s exhibited with regard to the investigation by special prosecutor Robert Mueller. Trump is clearly afraid and in panic mode. And that is turning his responses to these situations into more evidence against him. So keep ranting, Donnie. You’re signing your own impeachment order.
Last week was a difficult one for many Americans, and particularly those close to music legend Aretha Franklin and senate icon John McCain. The media was more consumed with funerals than at any other time in recent memory. And, sadly, the services for these deceased notables were exploited for political gain by media cretins like Fox News who seem to have forgotten how to show respect for the families of the fallen.
However, the passage of time over the weekend did nothing to temper the madness at Fox News. They must be getting pretty desperate for disparaging material to throw at their political enemies, because the latest assault really scrapes the bottom of the barrel.
In a segment on Fox and Friends (video below), the “Curvy Couch” potatoes served up a story that criticized President Bill Clinton for his attendance at Aretha Franklin’s funeral. The objection they had was that he was seated near Minister Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam. Farrakhan is unarguably a repugnant bigot who has been inciting racial and religious hatred for decades. It was surprising to see him at the service for a woman known for her support of civil rights and her closeness to Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
But for Fox News to make an issue of the seating arrangements is ludicrous. The intro to the segment had co-host Ed Henry saying that “The very controversial Nation of Islam leader who has notoriously declared that ‘Jews are my enemy’ and ‘white folks are going down,’ was seated prominently alongside former President Bill Clinton.” In fact, there were several references to Clinton sitting next to Farrakhan. But that’s a lie. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson were separating Clinton from Farrakhan.
More to the point, Clinton had nothing to do with the seating arrangements. He likely didn’t know who else was attending or where they would be seated. Does Fox News think that Clinton should have stood up and stomped out of Franklin’s funeral after spotting Farrakhan in the crowd? Apparently so. They even brought in Alan Dershowitz to suggest that option. And co-host Pete Hegseth was aghast at the lack of media whining about this scandalous chair affair, saying “What about the question to the elites of our country? This is not a story? They’re not blinking an eye.”
Of course, the reason the press isn’t blinking is because, in fact, it isn’t a story to anyone but the craven loons at Fox News who are grasping at straws to denigrate Clinton and any other Democrat that they happen to bump into. They previously faulted Clinton for looking in the direction of Ariana Grande when she was singing. Which is something that humans do while entertainers are performing. They also complained bitterly about the eulogies at both funerals when they thought expressions of unity, civility, and respect were attacks on Donald Trump. Now why do you suppose they thought that? Perhaps because he is anathema to those honorable personality traits?
It’s noteworthy that while America was mourning, Trump was golfing and tweeting. Maybe he DM’d his BFF Vladimir Putin. And what’s really worse: Clinton sitting near, but not speaking to, Farrakhan, or Trump lavishing effusive praise on, and doing the bidding of the murderous dictator and enemy of America, Putin?
The professional Trump-fluffers at State TV (aka Fox News) are very concerned about what is happening to innocent children. No, not the ones that Donald Trump has ripped from the arms of their immigrant parents and put in cages along the border. Fox News is worried about American children who are being indoctrinated into socialism by nefarious congressional candidates.
On Sunday’s episode of Fox and Friends, the “Curvy Couch” potatoes latched onto a video that was posted by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who is running for the 14th district seat in New York. Ocasio-Cortez is seen talking to a group of kids in a park about what she’s doing. The kids are clearly interested and, when she mentions that she’s going to Congress to fight Trump, they spontaneously erupt in cheers. Several of the kids are heard volunteering that they don’t like Trump.
However, children engaged in civic affairs is viewed as a dangerous trend by the Fox News crew. Co-host Ed Henry refers to Ocasio-Cortez as a “cause celebre” on the left, and then introduces the video where he falsely says that she is “trying to rally kids to go after President Trump.”
“We need your help to fight Trump” –Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez enlists children to help rally against the president pic.twitter.com/xMxG5GmKfS
In the video, the sin that Fox News is so rattled about is that Ocasio-Cortez asks a group of kids if they will go home and tell their parents to vote. Oh my heavens, no. What has become of the world? A candidate for Congress isn’t ignoring an exuberant group of young folks who clearly have an interest in what she’s saying. She isn’t dismissing them as waifs and then catering to the elders who can vote and donate to her campaign. She’s actually engaging them in a respectful conversation and encouraging their interest in civic affairs (see her video below). So naturally Fox News thinks this is abhorrent and must stop immediately. The Foxies continue their brazenly partisan harangue in this fear mongering exchange:
Rachel Campos-Duffy: I actually love this video because there’s so much about Alexandria that is so revealing. She’s such a novice that she really tells you the truth about socialism. This is what socialists do for kids. They don’t help kids. They organize kids. They indoctrinate kids. That’s what she’s doing. That’s what social justice warriors like her are best at. Pete Hegseth: That’s a good point, you’re right. She’s naive. She’s talking to these kids. Go tell your parents how much you hate Trump.
So Campos-Duffy is glad that Ocasio-Cortez is a political novice because it results in her telling the truth. Unlike the propagandists on Fox News who are seasoned professionals with the experience to suppress any honest tendencies and stick to lying at all times. And Hegseth agrees that encouraging kids to engage in discourse with their parents is somehow subversive and anti-American. They are both apparently afraid that the adults in these families will be unfairly coerced into voting against Trump by their brainwashed offspring. It makes one wonder how susceptible the Fox News hosts are to what their manipulative kids are telling them to do.
Needless to say, including children in discussions about politics is a positive and educational exercise. It prepares them for when they will be old enough to participate in the civic duty of voting. But on Fox News it’s a frightening notion that evokes scary images of informed young citizens. Never mind that the notorious hypocrites at Fox regularly feature conservative kids, and even bring them on their network for extended interviews. For instance, Jesse Watters interviewed nine year old Trump fan Jacob Silva for nearly seven minutes. But they better be careful. Fox also hyped a thirteen year old conservative, Jonathan Krohn, who had the good sense to grow up and, by the time he was seventeen, was supporting Barack Obama.
In what passes for an “interview” on Fox News, the co-host of Fox and Friends, Ainsley Earhardt presided over Donald Trump doing his best impression of a Mafia boss to date (video below). His language resembled the lingo of classic movie gangsters as he delivered veiled threats, like the one where he warned that the stock market would crash if he were impeached (nice economy you have there. It sure would be a shame if something happened to it).
Earhardt never bothered to challenge Trump on any of his ludicrous assertions and lies. Fox gets away with this because they are the President’s shadow cabinet and the source for virtually all information he receives. Eventually the discussion turned to the question of whether his personal attorney, Michael Cohen, would cooperate with law enforcement officials. Trump might just as well have adopted a James Cagney accent and started snarling “You dirty rat.”
When Earhardt wasn’t staring adoringly at Trump, and tossing him the softest of balls, she sat quietly as he lectured her, and the Fox News audience of cultists, on the culture of crime family etiquette. He lauded his campaign chairman Paul Manafort for not caving in to the coppers by squealing on Trump. And he denigrated Cohen for ratting out his ex-boss and coming clean to the G-Men investigating Trump’s criminal conduct.
Trump also waxed philosophical about the art of “flipping.” He characterized it as crooks making up stories to escape severe sentences for crimes they’ve committed. In reality, it’s an agreement between suspects and law enforcement to secure cooperation in order to catch bigger crooks. Lying under these circumstance is rare because it would result in the deal being voided and the suspect receiving an even harsher sentence than was originally anticipated. Trump said that this common and useful practice “ought to be illegal.” But he also said that he’s very familiar with it:
“I know all about flipping. For 30-40 years I’ve been watching flippers. […] I’ve seen it many times. I’ve got many friends involved in this stuff. It’s called ‘flipping’ and it almost ought to be illegal.”
That’s an extraordinary comment. In essence Trump is bragging that many of his friends are criminals who have been entangled in police investigations. He doesn’t say whether they were the flippers or the targets of the flipping. But either way they were involved in illegal activities as kingpins or cohorts with information to trade. And isn’t difficult to believe that Trump had these kinds of disreputable friends considering the bad character of Trump’s associates in his campaign and his presidency. In fact, anything other than a confederacy of crooks would seem totally out of character for this president.
