Sean Hannity

Trump Implores His Deplorables to Vote for Republicans to Defend ‘Everything We Hold Sacred’

Posted by on October 7, 2018 at 10:12 am. 2 Comments :

The confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the newly “Supine” Court represents just how dangerous Donald Trump’s rule of ignorance and hostility can and will continue to be. Along with his accomplices in the Republican controlled Congress, America is becoming more divided and less free. And given the opportunity to demonstrate leadership by uniting the nation after his ill gotten victory, Trump chose rub salt in nation’s wounds.

Donald Trump Messiah

Immediately following the Senate’s confirmation vote, Trump boarded Air Force One, headed for yet another of his cult rallies, this time in Kansas. It’s what he promised Sean Hannity he would do a couple of months ago, despite railing against such flagrant and wasteful abuse of the taxpayer when President Obama did it:

Trump told Hannity that “I am going to work very hard. I’ll go six or seven days a week when we’re sixty days out.” Of course Trump has never worked hard in his life, and he isn’t starting now. While he has been doing a lot of these cult rallies, it’s been nowhere near six or seven days a week. But they have all been nearly identical presentations of Trump’s “Golden Shower of Hits,” including “Build the Wall,” “Lock Her Up,” and the epic “Witch Hunt.” They have been so tediously repetitive that even Fox News has cut back on airing them live. But that’s probably just to protect him from the increasingly embarrassing and stupid things he says. Plus, their regular cast of sycophants do a better job of fluffing him than he does.

At the Kansas “Take our Country Back – to 1860” revival meeting, Trump did his best to alienate everyone in the nation that isn’t sufficiently worshipful of him. In particular, the opponents of Kavanaugh’s confirmation who are mostly women who are sick and tired of being abused and ignored, and the men who care about them. He told his dimwitted disciples that Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, and the other women who came forward, were liars and that the Democrats in the Senate who supported them were bent on destroying the country. He also maligned protesters as an “angry mob” of professionals who were paid by George Soros. And as a bonus treat for this news cycle, Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, called Soros the Anti-Christ.

As if all of that deranged babbling weren’t enough crackpottery for one evening, Trump also unleashed a brief sermonette on the assholiness of his perversion of Republican Party politics. He ragaled his glassy-eyed followers with this divine declaration (video below):

“You have the power, with your vote, to defend your family, your community, your country – and everything we hold sacred and righteous and true. Loyal citizens like you helped build this country and together we are taking back our country. Returning power to every day great American patriots.”

In that pious pontification Trump clearly established his intent to sanctify the mission he believes he’s on. Now voting Republican isn’t merely an expression of preference for a set of political ideas. It’s the defense of your family and country. It’s a “sacred and righteous” obligation by all God-fearing patriots. And anyone not complying is in league with Satan.

This is a demagogic tactic that has been a favorite of dictators throughout history. They insist that supporting them isn’t a personal choice, but a demand by the Lord Almighty. And woe be unto anyone who defies these commandments. The fact that Trump issues these maniacal screeds is reason enough to be worried. But what’s worse is that there are Americans who buy into it like the “good Nazis” of the 1930’s and 1940’s. And those of us who still value little things like logic, reason, and liberty, must not allow them to prevail.

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

Build the Wall? Sean Hannity Of Fox News Proposes Blockading Citizens from Their Reps in Congress

Posted by on October 6, 2018 at 10:03 am. 4 Comments :

One of the most encouraging developments resulting from the Kavanaugh confirmation debacle is the manner in which Americans expressed themselves. There was an outpouring of opposition from across the country that shook the walls of Congress. Protesters spoke out with heart wrenching stories of personal suffering and with a profound determination to effect change.

Fox News, Sean Hannity

That it wasn’t enough is secondary to the fact that it was powerful and is continuing. The Old Guard that shielded Brett Kavanaugh, and the serial sexual predator (Donald Trump) who nominated him, got their way because they have the numbers – for now. But that’s not something they can count on going forward. The people will have their way in the future. And that’s what a democracy is.

However, the dinosaurs that protect the elitist Halls of Just Us are spitting fire. They saw the peasants rise up and it was a sight so frightening that they’re sending out their martinets to confront them. On Friday’s episode of the Sean Hannity Trump-Fluffing Hour on Fox News, the host spelled out the terms of the coming battle. He called the protests by concerned citizens “meanness, madness, [and] insanity.” Then he added that it was “despicably ugly and disgusting.” And to top it off he unleashed this un-American tirade (video below):

“Now let me say something. I really believe the people should be close to their elected representatives, and it’s sad what I’m about to say. Before somebody gets hurt or worse, these office areas of elected officials now need to be closed to the public. Sad. But it needs to happen. This is now dangerous and out-of-control.”

Really? You have to wonder what the basis was for that nonsense. There haven’t been any reports of violence or physical harm occurring in the congressional offices or hallways. What there has been is outraged citizens letting their representatives know how they feel. It’s the constitutional right to redressing grievances in action. And that is precisely what Hannity is objecting to. Heaven forbid that the people we elect actually do what we want. Had they done so, Kavanaugh would not be heading to the Supreme Court. He is opposed by most voters in every poll on the subject.

Hannity is parroting the view of his Dear Leader, Donald Trump. The President posted two tweets in two days that malign the protesters as “paid professionals” serving the the interests of that perennial right-wing boogieman, George Soros. Of course, he has zero evidence of his reckless and self-serving allegations. And he doesn’t bother to identify the funding sources of his own cult worshiping supporters who range from the Koch brothers and other billionaire corporatists to Vladimir Putin’s network of Kremlin oligarchs.

But never mind all of that. Hannity is convinced that the solution to the problem is to separate the people from their representatives. To make sure that those we elect are free from the burden of hearing what we have to say. Build a wall between us and them to prevent any of the unwashed masses from disturbing the peace of the congressional country club.

In other words, turn our legislative branch of government into something more like Russia’s State Duma: an exclusive body of fraudulently “elected” presidential sycophants. And supported by a State TV network (aka Fox News) that disseminates the Party Line agenda and calls for reforms – like the one that Hannity is now advocating – that divide the people from their government. This is their twisted version of patriotism, and it must not be allowed to prevail. So keep on doing what Hannity, and the government leeches he speaks for, are so afraid of, and do it right in their treasonous faces.

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

Trump Flagrantly Lies About the 4 Women (It’s 16) Who Allege Sexual Misconduct By Him

Posted by on September 26, 2018 at 4:24 pm. 2 Comments :

On Wednesday afternoon, Donald Trump gave his first news conference in over a year and a half. It was a predictably hostile affair where Trump rarely allowed a reporter to complete a question before interrupting and talking over them before he even knew what the question was. And invariably his answer had little to do with the actual substance of the inquiry.

Donald Trump

While the event covered subjects as varied as the economy, the fate of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, trade with China and elsewhere, and Judge Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court debacle, there was one subject that stood out. Stemming from questions about the controversy over sexual misconduct by Kavanaugh, Trump was asked about his own problems concerning the mistreatment of women. After having called on several male reporters, Trump, at the urging of CNN’s Jim Acosta, called on Weijia Jiang of CBS News. She jumped right in with what would have been a piercing inquiry had Trump allowed her to finish:

Jiang: Have your personal experiences, being accused by more than a dozen women of sexual misconduct…
Trump: I’ve been accused. (Interrupting) Excuse me. And I was accused by, I believe it was four women. You can check with Sean Hannity. You can check with Fox. Cause they covered it very strongly. Excuse me. I was accused by four or five women who got paid a lot of money to make up stories about me. We caught them and the mainstream media refused to put it on television. They refused to even write about it. There were four women, and maybe even more – I think the number’s four or five.”

First of all, anyone who bothers to check with Sean Hannity to corroborate Trump’s account is seriously in need of professional help. This is reminiscent of the time Trump went into a crazed rant during a debate because “everybody refuses to call Sean Hannity.”

Trump then rattled off some vague, unsubstantiated accounts of women who he said were paid to make false allegations against him. He offered zero evidence that there were any women whose stories were deliberately fabricated for money. However, he did say that one of the women reported her story after refusing to take $750,000. Which actually validates the allegations against him and sanitizes her motives. Is he listening to himself?

Trump went on to complain about some stories he heard about a few women who were included in an article in the New York Times who later disputed the portrayal of them in the article. Trump falsely stated that the Times never reported on those women’s disputes. But the Times did cover that, along with standing by the accounts of many more women in the article. Trump’s conclusion from that was that “a lot of the news is fake. And a lot of the people sitting here are fake.” REally? There are fake people now?

Jiang then tried to ask her question which Trump had repeatedly interrupted. He told Jiang that “you’ve been asking a question for ten minutes.” Then he rudely told her to sit down. Nevertheless, she persisted. And she managed to get out her question which was whether the charges against him has impacted his opinion on charges against Kavanaugh. He said that:

“Well it does impact my opinion. You know why? Because I’ve had a lot of false charges made against me. I’m a very famous person, unfortunately. […] So when I see it I view it differently than someone sitting home watching television where they say ‘Judge Kavanaugh this or that.’ It’s happened to me many times.”

So Trump is admitting that it “absolutely” affects his opinion with regard to Kavanaugh. And he was angry that only Fox News reported any of this in a way that made him look innocent. He also made a point of praising the network saying “Well, Fox. I like Fox. I really do.” Then, of course, he lied about his relationship with Hannity, whom he talks to almost every night, telling reporters that “I don’t talk to him very much.”

In the end, Trump dishonestly portrayed himself as being open minded about the allegations against Kavanaugh. He said that he could be persuaded by his accusers when they testify before Congress on Thursday (note: only one of them is being permitted to do so). But that’s not possible if he’s already convinced that Kavanaugh is telling the truth. Plus, he has repeatedly accused the Democrats pursuing more info of engaging in a “con job.” And his admitted prejudice due to his own experiences makes it even harder to believe that his mind isn’t made up.

Finally, he must not be allowed to get away with lying about the extent of the charges against him. It isn’t four or five women. It’s at least sixteen. And that alone should be sufficient cause to remove him from office. Even if special counsel Robert Mueller doesn’t make the case for collusion with Russia and obstruction of justice, Trump is simply unfit to serve.

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

Sean Hannity Forces a Fox News Lockdown on Opinions About the Rosenstein/Trump Affair

Posted by on September 22, 2018 at 4:12 pm. 4 Comments :

On Friday the New York Times published a bizarre story about Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. The article alleged that Rosenstein had floated a suggestion to secretly record Donald Trump to gather evidence of his mental infirmity. There was reportedly further discussion of invoking the 25th Amendment to declare the President incompetent and remove him from office. That hardly seems like an allegation that needs any additional proof.

Fox News Sean Hannity

As noted yesterday, the article was peculiar because…

“…the only other beneficiary of it would be the White House. It gives Trump an excuse to fire Rosenstein and appoint someone in his place who would put the brakes on the investigation of special counsel, Robert Mueller. But it would be somewhat hypocritical for Trump to do that on the basis of a story from a news source that he considers fake and failing. Consequently, he might need some support from his cheering section (and shadow cabinet) at State TV, also known as Fox News.”

It looked like Trump was getting the support he would need to fire Rosenstein from a bevy of Fox News hacks. They included Laura Ingraham, Gregg Jarrett, and Jeanine Pirro. But all was not as tightly synchronized as one would expect of the Fox propaganda machine. Later that evening when Sean Hannity’s program came on, he had a decidedly different take on the matter. He looked squarely into the camera and delivered a personal message to Trump saying “Under zero circumstances should the president fire anybody. The president needs to know it is all a setup.” Hannity asserted that the whole thing might be an insidious attempt by the “deep state” to bait Trump into firing Rosenstein and then initiating impeachment proceedings against him for doing so.

Despite the absurdly Machiavellian flavor of that conspiracy theory, it appears to have taken hold and altered the Fox News playbook for this issue. Ingraham deleted her tweet without any explanation. And Pirro posted a subsequent tweet adopting Hannity’s framing. She even went a little further to speculate that Rosenstein was the Times’ anonymous source. Tucker Carlson was already on board having opined that it was former Deputy Director of the FBI, Andrew McCabe, who leaked the memos to the Times since he “has every incentive to want to see the president impeached.”

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

So now we have achieved the full hive-mind harmony that is required of a socio-political cult. This unanimity of viewpoint makes it possible for the borg Family to advance their robo-mission unencumbered by independent thought. And surprisingly, the leader of the Family has remained silent. Trump has not addressed the Times’ article directly since it’s publication. He did make a sideways reference at a rally that simply accused his Department of Justice of having a “lingering stench.” Which is something that, were he more self aware, he would realize was emanating from himself. But for the time being, Rosenstein’s job is safe due to the paranoid musings of Trump’s State TV (aka Fox News).

Trump’s Video Confessionals Bring the White House One Step Closer to the Reality TV Presidency

Posted by on September 20, 2018 at 3:37 pm. 2 Comments :

A few months ago Trump brought Bill Shine into the White as his Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications. In other words, Minister of Propaganda. Shine is the former Fox News President who was fired due to his handling of sexual harassment at the network by Roger Ailes, Bill O’Reilly and other big shots. Now he is handling the PR for a president with his own history of being a serial predator and whose nominee for the Supreme Court is battling similar charges.

Donald Trump

The presence of Bill Shine in the White House is unmistakable. His fingerprints are all over Trump’s public appearances and rallies that are now stage managed more carefully. They are located in more photogenic environments. And the access of the media is constrained to insure positive visual imagery, or at least political sterility. Shine is a veteran TV manipulator who learned his craft at the knee of Fox’s Godfather, the late Roger Ailes.

Shine’s propaganda pedigree is long-established. Before taking the reins of the network as president, he was the producer of Sean Hannity’s program. Hannity was so reliant on Shine that when rumors erupted about his imminent termination, Hannity exploded and whined that Shine’s departure would be “the total end of the Fox News Channel as we know it.” If only.

In his new position, Shine is exploiting the assets of his “star” whose resume is mainly littered with the gossip pages and reality TV. Trump spent fourteen years as the “host” of The Apprentice, so don’t let anyone fool you into thinking that he was a busy real estate magnate. No authentic billionaire businessman has that much time to spare on television pablum. The Apprentice was Trump’s job. So Shine is putting that experience to work by casting Trump in short films that have little substance or news value.

The closest thing that these presidential clips can be compared to are the moments in reality TV shows where a character is separated from the herd and speaks directly to the camera about some personal observations regarding the other cast members. On Thursday one these confessionals was posted to Trump’s Twitter feed that whined about China taking advantage of America on trade issues. Trump complained that China looked at the U.S. as “very soft touches.” And he made the point that he doesn’t blame China, he blames America. It’s the “Blame America First” doctrine.

The day before that, Trump posted a video of himself declaring his devotion to the victims of Hurricane Florence in the Carolinas. Never mind that the victims of Hurricane Maria that devastated Puerto Rico are figments of a “deep state” cabal to manufacture a fake death toll. This video features Trump’s pseudo-sincere ramblings set to an inspirational music sound track.

The day before that, Trump posted a clip thanking the first responders to Hurricane Florence, which he described as “a tough hurricane. One of the wettest we’ve ever seen from the standpoint of water.” Okay, so Shine isn’t perfect. But look at who he has to work with.

These are just the most recent examples of the Reality TV style infomercials produced by Shine and Company. Others include segments from Fox News programs of Trump-fluffing characters like Hannity, Jeanine Pirro, Lou Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo, or the “Curvy Couch” potatoes of Fox and Friends. Some of the videos just show Trump signing a big book that represents some legislation or executive order that he’s touting.

The one thing that all of these productions have in common is that they are all purposefully staged to put Trump in the best light possible. They give the President a public presence where he doesn’t have to bother with pesky reporters asking difficult questions. And of course, there is no opportunity for rebuttal or for any opinion other than the state sanctioned one mandated by Trump and his Propaganda Ministry staff. Shine is literally bringing Big Brother to the White House.

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

Shine’s role at the White House is to reproduce the sort of media tyranny that exists in Russia, North Korea, and that was pioneered by Nazi Germany’s Joseph Goebbels. All of whom Trump has repeatedly demonstrated his admiration for. And Bill Shine is the person who is doing the most to help Trump realize his authoritarian goals with a reality TV flavor.

SRSLY? Trump Dislikes the Term ‘Deep State’ Because ‘I’m Really Not a Conspiratorial Person’

Posted by on September 19, 2018 at 3:45 pm. 5 Comments :

It’s wonderful to have a president with a sharp a wit and a keen sense of humor. And maybe someday we will have such a president again. Until then we will have to get used to Donald Trump and his wacky lack of any self awareness whatsoever. He is a man that is so warped by flaming narcissism that he actually believes that he is loved by a nation where his polling is at historic lows. He even refers to himself as “Your favorite President“ who “did nothing wrong.”

Donald Trump, Deep State

In an interview with The Hill, Trump spoke glowingly about his State TV (aka Fox News) Shadow Cabinet. Referring to the network’s most sycophantic Trump-fluffers, the President fondly singled out “the great Lou Dobbs, the great Sean Hannity, the wonderful, great Jeanie Pirro.” And you know the feelings are mutual. Trump cited them as the reason he declassified Russia-related documents that he didn’t even read. But you have to wonder what these conspiracy hounding crackpots will think when they find out that Trump has renounced their favorite theoretical label: the Deep State.

“I don’t like to use it,” Trump said, “because it sounds so conspiratorial, and believe it or not I’m really not a conspiratorial person.”

Really? That is such a megalithic distortion of reality that it’s hard to comprehend how he can be that delusional and still get through the day without stripping naked and skipping down Pennsylvania Avenue singing “I Feel Pretty.” Even the The Hill couldn’t let it stand without an instant fact check:

“Trump may not like the term, but he has used it more than once. At a rally earlier this month, Trump used it to refer to the anonymous author of an op-ed published in The New York Times, denouncing ‘un-elected deep state operatives who defy the voters to push their own secret agendas are truly a threat to democracy itself.’ He described the ‘deep state’ as a threat to democracy in the Sept. 7 speech.”

And that is just the beginning. Trump has referenced the imaginary “Deep State” on numerous occasions. He has long been convinced that there is a secret governmental cabal that is out to get him. He rants about it incessantly. It’s a conspiracy that includes the agencies he is currently overseeing as President, including the Department of Justice, the FBI, the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the State Department, etc. And it’s so pervasive that he can’t rely on these agencies, so he turns instead to his BFF, Vladimir Putin (who has recently been stoking the Deep State mythology in private phone calls with Trump). What’s more, it’s a regular feature of his Twitter feed:


https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/875888479942651909

Nevertheless, Trump now incomprehensibly asserts that he doesn’t like the term anymore. Notice that he doesn’t say that there is no Deep State. Only that he isn’t comfortable with that particular descriptor. Nothing can sway him from his long-standing conspiracy theories. After all, this is the same guy who pushed the Birther conspiracy for years. He believes that vaccines cause autism. He insisted that thousands of Muslims in New Jersey celebrated 9/11. He thinks climate change is hoax started by China. Most recently he decided that the 3,000 estimated deaths in Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria was made up by the scoundrels at George Washington University.

But more problematic is the fact that the people Trump admires most – his Fox News Council of Propaganda – use the term even more than than he does. Hannity has made it into a brand that encompsses nearly everything he does on his program. What will they do now that Trump has expressed his disdain for the term? Will they drop it in deference to Dear Leader? Will they convince him that he should reconsider and embrace it? Will they go rogue and use it in defiance of his authority? Or will he forget that he ever renounced it and go on using as if nothing happened (that’s my bet)? Tune in next week for the shocking conclusion to this earth shaking dilemma.

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

Hannity Insanity: Trump ‘Is the Most Sound-Minded Person to Ever Occupy the White House’

Posted by on September 6, 2018 at 12:56 pm. 7 Comments :

The question of Donald Trump’s fitness to serve as president has been a frequent topic of discussion in recent weeks. Dozens of psychiatric professionals are among those who have weighed in on the subject, declaring that Trump has severe mental deficiencies that pose grave risks for the nation. But Sean Hannity of Fox News, without any training in the subject, disagrees.

Donald Trump Sean Hannity

Speculation about Trump’s declining mental state is not a new concern. News Corpse addressed it two years ago with an analysis of his advancing senile dementia. And with every new day our obviously disturbed President provides new examples of why he must be removed from office. On Wednesday an op-ed was published in the New York Times by a “senior official” in the Trump administration that affirms much of the concerns expressed by others for the past two years.

Enter Sean Hannity. On his Wednesday evening episode of Trump-Fluffers on Parade, Hannity hosted one of his favorite fluffing guests, “doctor” Gina Loudon. She and Hannity jumped right into a defense of Trump’s self-made image as a “stable genius” with an awkward segue from the New York Times story. Hannity began by charging that the op-ed’s author is a “crazy, anonymous, gutless, cowardly,” person. And, fatigued from heaving so many insulting adjectives, he threw the question to Loudon (video below):

Hannity: There is a madness to this and your background and your book discusses this derangement. What do we call it?”
Loudon: We’ve got Trump Derangement Syndrome, Sean. That’s what most people have called it to this point. But my book actually uses science, and real data, and true psychological theory to explain why it is quite possible that this president is the most sound-minded person to ever occupy the White House.
Hannity: Literally, liberals heads are gonna explode at what you just said.
Loudon: That’s the fun part of the madness. Watching them go crazy over the fact that he’s really pretty unphased by them. And I believe that. And I know him.
Hannity: And that’s what drives them nuts.

This is an Olympian feat of delusional, propagandizing hogwash. Loudon isn’t satisfied with merely claiming that Trump is of sound mind. Nope, she has to embellish it with the flaming absurdity that it’s the soundest mind ever. And what’s more, she has scientific evidence of it. How she can prove by scientific methodology that Trump, or anyone, has a mind that is more sound than any other, has yet to be revealed. She should release her “research” immediately, so that we can all have a good laugh. As for being “unphased,” his own hair-raising Twitter feed contradicts that bullcrap.

Hannity then went on to say that the media are “like drug addicts” who wake up every day and, if they don’t get their fix, their “hate for the day,” they “break out into sweats.” Sounds more like he is describing himself and/or his Dear Leader. Trump is the one who begins every day with rabid tweetstorms in all caps. The media is just reacting to the manic outbursts of the Commander-in-Tweet. Meanwhile, Loudon criticizes Bob Woodward’s book and praises her own, because he doesn’t know the President and she does. Which is really an endorsement of Woodward’s book because he isn’t going to be biased by a personal association, but she will be.

The gargantuan, Kool-Aid infused, suck up to Trump’s allegedly sound mind has to ignore two years of off-the-rails idiocy. Is it sound to kiss up to foreign dictators while lambasting long-time allies? Is it sound to continually take credit for the achievements of your predecessor and to lie about your own innumerable failures? Is it sound to brag about how effectively you are destroying the environment and sabotaging healthcare? Is it sound to praise neo-Nazis and to abduct children from their parents and warehouse them in cages? According to Hannity and Loudon (and the rest of Fox News), the answer is a resounding “Dah!”

This tendency to lavish effusive praise on Trump is a hallmark of his own hyperbolic rhetoric. He can’t say anything, particularly about himself, without making it the bestest of all time. Conversely, any criticism he has of someone else is automatically the worst in the history of the world. There is probably a psychiatric term for this condition, and we can just add to the list of the mental infirmities that Trump is suffering from. Unfortunately for America, it’s a long list.

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

Fire Sean Hannity: Fox News Host Exposed Campaigning for DeSantis, Violating Journalistic Ethics

Posted by on August 29, 2018 at 2:39 pm. 3 Comments :

On Tuesday’s primary for the Republican candidate for governor of Florida, Trump favorite Ron DeSantis came away with the victory and the opportunity to face progressive Democrat Andrew Gillum in November. So the DeSantis campaign officially launched the next day when he appeared on Fox News and charged that African-American Gillum would “monkey up” the state.

Fox News, Sean Hannity, White House

That’s a pretty horrendous start to what will surely be a campaign marked by the sort of racism and invective that a Trump minion like DeSantis embraces. It will be a campaign that relies on State TV (aka Fox News) for support and free advertising. In fact, DeSantis has already received more than $9,000 000 worth of airtime from Fox.

However, that isn’t the only boost that DeSantis has enjoyed from Fox News. The top rated host on the network, Sean Hannity, has been plugging his candidacy, and maligning his opponent, for weeks. But something that DeSantis said in his victory speech stood out as peculiar and warrants more scrutiny (video below):

“We had some great surrogates. You know (Rep.) Matt Gaetz was out on the road with us raising a little hell now and then. We had people like Sean Hannity come down, and Mark Levin, which was just phenomenal.”

So thanks to this revelation by DeSantis, we now know that Hannity went down to Florida to assist the campaign of a Republican candidate for governor. At any other news network that would be considered a breach of their standards of professional conduct and cause for termination. Surprisingly, that appeared to be just such a breach at Fox News in 2016 when Hannity appeared in a campaign video for then-candidate Donald Trump. Fox noted at the time that this was improper and Hannity was sternly advised not to do it again. Sure, that’s about wrist-slappy a punishment that there could be, but it was a punishment.

There is no excuse for a “news” network host colluding with partisan candidates for public office. And this being a second offense, it ought to draw a more severe penalty. Anyone else at any other network would likely be fired. And if Fox News needs any additional incentive to invoke that sanction, they could just look at Hannity’s recent past. Earlier this year he was revealed to be a client of Michael Cohen, Trump’s personal attorney who just pleaded guilty to eight felonies. But Hannity kept that a secret even when interviewing Cohen on his show.

What’s more, Hannity serves in the odd position of being Trump’s “shadow chief-of-staff” and reports say that he talks to the President on an almost nightly basis. But even when these reports surface, Hannity refuses to disclose the nature and extent of their relationship. That alone should be regarded as a blatant conflict of interest and a fireable offense.

FOR THE RECORD: Hannity has gone back and forth about whether he is a journalist. At times he insists he is. Other times he denies it. Here are examples of both.

But don’t hold your breath waiting for Fox News to behave honorably. After all, they are the network that gave Trump more airtime than any other network. And it was Hannity who gave Trump more airtime than any other program on Fox News. So Hannity is actually carrying out the mission of Fox News by advancing the people and propaganda that he is directed to from the executive suites – and the White House. Note that Bill Shine, former Fox News president and Hannity’s old boss, is now a top Trump White House aide. That’s how State TV works.

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

Fox News Has a New Mantra in Defense of Trump: Mueller is A Greater Threat Than Putin

Posted by on August 11, 2018 at 10:47 am. 1 Comments :

The top priority of State TV (aka Fox News) for the past year – and the one unfolding – is to make sure that Donald Trump is safely sheltered from any and all criticism and the devastating effects of unsanitized truth. The more that the American people learn about what Trump is doing, and has done, the more political peril he and his accomplices are in.

Donald Trump Fox News

Fox News has, so far, been diligent in carrying out their mission to protect the President. They are his rapid response team when negative news is reported, and that’s almost all of it. They are the attack squad to neutralize critics and truth tellers. And they are even the “brain” trust that incubates Trump’s agenda and public pronouncements.

In the service of that calling, Fox News is now test marketing a new tactic aimed at undermining the rule of law and denigrating the people charged with enforcing it. It is a strategy familiar to totalitarian dictators who strive to hoard control over every institution of an otherwise free society. It surfaced recently when Fox’s Jeanine Pirro asked an eagerly agreeable guest whether special counsel Robert Mueller is “a greater threat than [Vladimir] Putin to this country.”

It’s an odd question for the obvious reasons. Putin is a ruthless dictator who has invaded neighboring countries, murdered his political adversaries, and waged a cyber war against the United States. While on the other hand, Mueller is a war hero, a lifelong public servant, and a man who has earned unqualified respect from across the political spectrum (at least until he took his current job). But the question is also a curious one coming from people who have lately been praising Putin as a strong leader who, according to Trump, would be a dandy friend to the U.S. and no threat whatsoever.

Nevertheless, the allegation has been making the rounds at Fox News. The latest eruption of this slander came from Fox News host Mark Levin during an interview on Sean Hannity’s program. And he wasn’t shy about making a pointedly defamatory charge with no basis to support it:

“Robert Mueller is a greater threat to this republic and the Constitution than anything Vladimir Putin did during the campaign. And I’m no fan of Vladimir Putin. He’s threatening to take down a President of the United States.”

So Levin’s theory is that Mueller is worse than Putin because he’s trying to remove a president that Putin installed. But he wasn’t through. As he continued he enumerated the reasons he thought Mueller’s investigation was improper. But he actually supplied a pretty good opening to explain all the reasons that mueller’s probe is proper and necessary. He launches into it saying “Now let’s walk through this quickly:”

“The President is not a witness to any crime. How do we know that? Because we don’t know what crime they’re even talking about. So he doesn’t need to be questioned as a witness.”

In fact, the President is both a witness and a participant in several potential crimes including conspiracy with a foreign government to interfere with an election, campaign finance law violations, and obstruction of justice. Just because Levin can’t identify Trump’s criminal exposure, doesn’t mean there isn’t any. And the need to question him about is apparent to any first-year law student.

“The President did not commit a crime. What crime did he commit? So he’s not a target, he doesn’t need to be questioned about that.”

Once again, the assertion that Trump did not commit a crime comes from Levin’s imagination. Currently Trump is considered to be a “subject” of the investigation, and that status can be changed to “target” at any time. So he does need to be questioned about that.

“According to the Department of Justice, a president can’t be indicted. A president cannot be questioned by a subordinate, like Mr. Mueller, about his prerogatives as president, that is, about the firing of a subordinate like Mr. Comey. So what questions, exactly, does Mr. Mueller have?”

Actually, the Justice Department’s guidance as to whether a president can be indicted is an administrative rule, not a law. It can be changed with the stroke of a pen. And there is no prohibition of a special counsel questioning a president. Levin is just making that one up. While Comey, as FBI Directer, can be terminated by the President, if it is proven to have been done in order to obstruct justice it is actionable as a crime.

These points by Levin all seem to be aimed at making excuses for why Trump should decline to be interviewed by Mueller. Of course the more salient reasons would be because he can’t help himself from lying (which even his own attorneys and some members of his administration have insinuated), and he is at heart a coward. Levin goes on to rant incoherently about Trump being a “white hat” hero and Mueller being an evil usurper of some undefined and unauthorized power. And Hannity agrees, describing the legally mandated operations of the Justice Department (which is being run by Trump appointees) as akin to the former Soviet Union.

It’s a rather peculiar spectacle to watch Fox News and the Republican leadership rail on Mueller, a man most of them praised as the perfect choice for special counsel when it was announced. But it’s nauseating to see a man with real integrity, principle, and courage, being trashed as a traitor to the country he served faithfully for his entire adult life. Especially when held up in comparison to the greedy, racist, sexual predator who is currently exploiting his occupancy of the White House to sell out the nation to its enemies. For the record, this is who Levin, Hannity, Fox News, and the GOP are castigating as a corrupt defiler of democracy:

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

Goebbels Would Be Proud: Trump’s Legal Team to Guest Host Sean Hannity’s Radio Show

Posted by on August 10, 2018 at 11:28 am. 1 Comments :

For Donald Trump’s congregation of cult disciples, seeing his chief defenders on television everyday may not be enough to pacify them. They need to have a near constant flow of Trump-splaining to ease their diseased consciences and strengthen their confidence that their Dear Leader is actually innocent of the crimes he is so obviously guilty of.

Fox News Sean Hannity

Stepping up to provide the Deplorables with their dose of “Trump is a victim of the Deep State” propaganda is, not surprisingly, Sean Hannity of Fox News. Although he already hosts Trump’s lawyers, Rudy Giuliani and Jay Sekulow, on his Fox program so frequently you might have assumed they were members of the cast, he is now going a step further:

That’s right, Donald Trump’s actual attorneys will be taking over the Sean Hannity Trump-Fluffing Radio Extravaganza for the day, presumably while Hannity off at Mar-a-Lago polishing Trump’s – let’s say ring. This is an unheard of capitulation to a political leader who is under investigation by his own Justice Department for alleged conspiracy with Russia to interfere with an election, obstruction of justice, and other assorted financial corruption charges.

For the legal team of an embattled president to appear on a program like this nearly every day is bad enough. In fact, just a few days ago Hannity interviewed Giuliani in one of the most ludicrous displays of sycophancy ever broadcast on TV. But to be handed the entire program to spew their lie-riddled defense of a treasonous president blows up any facade of legal propriety or ethics.

By making Giuliani and Sekulow the guest hosts of his program, Hannity is demonstrating, once again, that he is utterly unfit to host a program on any TV network with the word “news” in its name. If Fox News were a legitimate news enterprise they would cancel Hannity immediately. Lucky for them, they have never been able to claim believably that they are legitimate by any stretch of the imagination.

The radio stations that broadcast this flagrant attempt to poison the jury pool need to know that they are complicit in an act of pure state-sponsored propaganda. It’s the sort of thing that Goebbels would have taken great pride in producing. It requires the audacity of a totalitarian dictator who has no fear that anyone will challenge his omnipotent authority. And, sadly, it is not an unexpected occurrence by one of this administration’s most loyal bootlickers.

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