WHCA

In Schizoid Speech, Trump Exposed His Son’s and Campaign’s Collusion With Russian Spy

Posted by on April 29, 2018 at 8:26 am. 2 Comments :

On Saturday America was treated to a pair of events that are best described as bizarre and controversial. It began with Donald Trump’s petty revenge for journalists throwing a party in Washington to celebrate the First Amendment. Too afraid to attend, Trump held another of his hate-mongering, ego-stroking, campaign-style rallies. Shortly thereafter, the White House Correspondents Dinner featured a routine by Michelle Wolf, something that frightens Trump and the GOP even more than journalists – comedy! And from a (gasp) woman!!!

Donald Trump Vladimir Putin

The right will try to make Sunday all about Wolf’s admittedly raunchy routine. They’ll say it was vulgar and insulting. And they’ll manage to keep a straight face despite supporting a president who has made vulgar and insulting the hallmark of his public persona. It’s a core part of his appeal to his disciples who drooled over him at the Michigan rally.

Trump’s speech mainly covered familiar, and now tedious, territory with jabs at all of usual targets. But he didn’t fail to satisfy those hoping for new derangments of old numbers. On that score he offered up a threat to “close down the country” as if it were one of his bankrupt casinos. He also threatened Montana Senator Jon Tester with some unspoken, heinous secret that would end his political career.

But perhaps the most peculiar revelation in his address was his admission that his campaign – and specifically his son, Don Jr. – actually did collude with the Russians (video below). Although, true to form, he probably had no idea what the heck he was talking about. The confession came in a segment focusing on the collusion issue, when he blurted out:

“Have you heard about the lawyer? For a year a woman lawyer was like, ‘Oh, I know nothing, know nothing.’ Now all of a sudden she is supposedly involved with government. You know why? If she did that – because Putin and the group said, ‘You know, this Trump is killing us. Why don’t you say you’re involved with government so that we can go and make their life in the United States even more chaotic?

“Look at what’s happened. Look at how the politicians have fallen for this stuff. Russian collusion. Give me a break. The only collusion was the Democrats colluded with the Russians. And the Democrats colluded with lots of other people. Take a look at the intelligence agencies.”

Let’s break that down. Trump is saying that the Russian lawyer that we know had a meeting with Don, Jr. and other members of Trump’s campaign staff, was recently told by Vladimir Putin to say that she’s involved with the Russian Government. OK. So she’s taking orders from Putin. Which means that she IS involved with the Russian Government. Therefore, Don, Jr. and company DID collude with Russia by meeting with this admitted spy to discuss obtaining stolen Hillary Clinton emails in order to damage her campaign and boost Trump’s.

That’s Trump’s theory? One that incriminates himself, his campaign, and his family? He is so unfathomably stupid that he doesn’t realize that he just told America that his son conspired to help Russia subvert our democracy. And it doesn’t even matter if he knew at the time. Because if he didn’t, that just means he got played by Putin. And who’s to say he isn’t still getting played?

Are you listening to this, Robert Mueller? It’s really very simple. Trump previously confessed on national TV to obstruction of justice with the firing of James Comey. And now he’s admitting this collusion in a public, televised (by Fox News only, of course) congregation of true believers. What’s more, he follows that up by lashing out wildly at Democrats in a pathetic display of consciousness of guilt. How much more proof do we need than all of these admissions straight from the horse’s ass?

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

Trump’s Anti-WHCD Speech Was Even Crazier Than His Fox and Friends Freakout

Posted by on April 28, 2018 at 6:47 pm. NO Comments :

Donald Trump held another of his campaign style rallies on Saturday evening instead of attending the annual White House Correspondents Dinner, as almost every other president has done. The reason is his obvious fear of encountering real journalists, even in a friendly, social environment. So he fled to the safety of an auditorium full of his precious deplorables who he could depend on to stroke his fragile ego.

Donald Trump

The speech was fairly typical Trumpian blather that ran through his greatest hits like a Top 10 radio station. But following the catastrophically embarrassing spectacle he unleashed a few days ago on Fox News, the similarities are hard to ignore. The “interview” on Fox and Friends was really just a thirty minute psychotic episode by Trump that even the “Curvy Couch” potatoes were frantically trying to interrupt and put an end to before Trump totally flamed out.

They were too late. And now Trump has repeated that disaster before a live audience that was broadcast in its entirety on (only) Fox News. Trump rambled on incessantly, often making little sense, and frequently repeating his litany of lies that his disciples devour like famished piranha. What follows is just a taste of Trump’s latest deranged quotables:

On Immigration: “These people pouring across are votes for Democrats. They’re not voting for Republicans. A lot of times they don’t even know what they are doing or why they are doing it.”
Of course, undocumented immigrants are not voting for anybody. There has never been any credible evidence of such voting, even by Trump’s own disgraced (and disbanded) election integrity commission.

On Border Security: “And if we don’t have border security we have no choice. We’ll close down the country.”
We will? And how exactly will we do that? Under what authority?

On Education: “Nobody knows what a community college is.”
Except that everybody knows what a community college is. Whenever Trump says that nobody knows something, he means that he didn’t know it.

On Democrats: “A vote for a Democrat in November is a vote for open borders and crime.”
Trump often says that Democrats are pro-crime and supporters of illegal drugs and gangs. It’s an absurd charge that only affirms how delusional and hateful he is.

On Patriotism: “We’re going to be proud of America again.”
If a Democrat had said this the right-wingers would have gone completely berserk. In fact, when Michelle Obama talked about being proud of America, that’s just what the GOP did.

On Diversity: “Are there any Hispanics in the room? Not so many? That’s okay.”
He sounded so disappointed. You have to wonder whether he was asking so that he could have them deported.

On the V.A. Secretary Debacle: “I know things about (Sen. Jon) Tester that I could say too. And if I said them, he would never be elected again.”
Here we have Trump making vague accusations of some heinous secret that he doesn’t bother to back up. It’s pure McCarthyism.

On North Korean De-nuclearization: “One of the fake news groups this morning, they were saying “What do you think President Trump had to do with it?” How about everything?”
Setting aside that Trump is once again taking full credit for something he had little to do with, in this case it hasn’t even happened. And it may never happen.

Corey Lewandowski Speaks: “Thank you for supporting Donald Trump as our next president of the United States.”
“Our next president?” That shows how stuck these numbskulls are in campaign mode.

And finally, Trump bravely addressed the matter of Russian collusion in a way that would make any crackpot conspiracy theorist weep with admiration. He was attempting to dismiss news reports that the Russian lawyer who met with his son and other campaign operatives was actually a Kremlin spy. So he portrayed it all as a plot against him:

“She did that because Putin and the group said that ‘This Trump is killing us. Why don’t you say you’re involved in government so that we can go and make their life in the United States even more chaotic.'”
Having zero evidence of this wild claim didn’t stop Trump from feeding it to his hungry cult followers. And besides, what could possibly make Trump’s circus of pandemonium more chaotic?

The day after Trump melted down on Fox and Friends, Kellyanne Conway appeared on the same program to lavish praise on his ravings and even announce that he wants to come back every month to do the same thing. Ironically, Democrats want him to that also. But he apparently wasn’t waiting another month. Instead he booked this hall in Michigan and repeated the rhetorical mayhem all by himself. Can America really stand three more years of this?

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

Thanks to Donald Trump the U.S. Falls to 45th Place in the World Press Freedom Index

Posted by on April 25, 2018 at 12:12 pm. 3 Comments :

There is no question that Donald Trump is a bitter enemy of of press freedom and the Constitution’s First Amendment. He has relentlessly maligned the media in an attempt to persuade his followers that he is the only source of truthful information about the government and his administration. It’s a tactic that has been favored by authoritarian tyrants throughout history.

Donald Trump Censorship

Now Reporters Without Borders has released their latest annual study on international press freedom. The World Press Freedom Index is a ranking of the status of the media around the world. The study asserts that threats to press freedom and to journalists are growing, and warns that “hostility towards the media” is “openly encouraged by political leaders.” And the study’s opening paragraphs are clear about the sources of these escalating threats:

“More and more democratically-elected leaders no longer see the media as part of democracy’s essential underpinning, but as an adversary to which they openly display their aversion. The United States, the country of the First Amendment, has fallen again in the Index under Donald Trump, this time two places to 45th. A media-bashing enthusiast, Trump has referred to reporters as ‘enemies of the people,’ the term once used by Joseph Stalin.”

Trump’s attacks are are rooted in his seething fear that honest journalism will educate the public about his incompetency and criminality. So he has taken to calling any reporting that is critical of him “fake news”. While most Americans see through this infantile name-calling, his base of “Deplorables” devour it with an all-consuming ignorance and cultish devotion.

Trump has no regard for the harm he is doing to the nation and the world, whose dictators have adopted the Trump model for destroying the press. The study notes these threats as it goes into deeper detail with descriptions of the dangerous hostility that Trump holds for the the media that he is determined to undermine. What follows is the section of the study that focuses on the United States and its media-hating leader:

“In 2017, the 45th President of the United States helped sink the country to 45th place by labeling the press an ‘enemy of the American people’ in a series of verbal attacks toward journalists, attempts to block White House access to multiple media outlets, routine use of the term ‘fake news’ in retaliation for critical reporting, and calling for media outlets’ broadcasting licenses to be revoked. President Trump has routinely singled out news outlets and individual journalists for their coverage of him, and retweeted several violent memes targeting CNN.

The violent anti-press rhetoric from the White House has been coupled with an increase in the number of press freedom violations at the local level as journalists run the risk of arrest for covering protests or simply attempting to ask public officials questions. Reporters have even been subject to physical assault while on the job.

Press freedom violations in the country of the First Amendment in fact have become so frequent of late that RSF joined a coalition of more than two dozen press freedom organizations to launch the US Press Freedom Tracker in August, which documented 34 arrests of journalists in 2017, the majority while covering protests (find out more on the tracker).”

This study is just the latest verification of how destructive Trump’s anti-media mission is, and the scale with which it produces tangible harm. He has previously been cited as an an unprecedented threat to press freedom by the Committee to Protect Journalists. And he isn’t getting any better with time. He just sent out a fundraising email that explains his decision not to attend the White House Correspondent’s Dinner this weekend. It should be noted that this is an annual event for charity that almost always features the sitting president, who joins in the lighthearted roast. But Trump whined to his donors, “Why would I want to be stuck in a room with a bunch of fake news liberals who hate me?”

Trump’s gnawing loathing for the press is also apparent in his avoidance of any scrutiny by independent journalists. He has not had a solo press conference in over a year. The only one he has held as President was shortly after his inauguration. Nor has he submitted to an interview with anyone other than friendly “news” outlets like Fox News and the Christian Broadcasting Network in nearly a year.

Unfortunately for our frightened president, his cowardice has been noticed by the majority of America’s citizens. They understand that a leader who is afraid to face the press is not a leader at all. Consequently, surveys that asked who the people trust more – the media or Trump – consistently show that the people have greater trust for the media than for the spineless cretin temporarily occupying the White House. And that, at least, is a hopeful sign for the future.

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

Muslim-American Comedian Chosen to Headline Trump-Less White House Correspondents Dinner

Posted by on April 11, 2017 at 4:24 pm. 2 Comments :

On April 29, the White House Correspondents Association will host its annual charity dinner (WHCD). Often referred to as the “Nerd Prom,” it attracts guests from both politics and the press. Ordinarily the president is a featured guest who delivers his own comic monologue. This year, however, Donald Trump declined to attend and has directed his administration to stay away as well.

Hasan Minhaj

That may be for the best considering Trump is not known for his comedic ability. Last October Trump tried to perform an allegedly comic routine at the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation charity dinner. It’s an event sponsored by the Archdiocese of New York to benefit the poor, sick, and underprivileged. But Trump’s speech was a crushing embarrassment. He landed some plodding duds and insulted the Catholic audience and the evening’s other guest of honor, Hillary Clinton.

So this year’s WHCD will proceed without Trump. That makes him the first president to snub the dinner since Ronald Reagan missed it thirty-six years ago. However Reagan had a better excuse. He was recovering from having been shot.

The headliner for this year’s dinner will be The Daily Show’s Hasan Minhaj. This is a particularly interesting choice for several reasons. Minhaj is a Muslim-American comedian who has not been shy about bringing Trump into his act. Roasting Trump in absentia ought to make the event especially enjoyable. And there is an abundance of possible material due to Trump’s relentless bigotry aimed at Muslims. For a taste of what Minhaj might cook up, here are some examples of his past work:

At the Radio and Television Correspondents Association last year (video from CSPAN), Minhaj got right to the point. His commentary included a swipe at the timidity of the media. Along with slamming Fox News because he had “never seen so many people with spray tans hate people of color,” he said that:

“The New York Times, the Washington Post – they don’t call [Trump] a racist. They say his comments are ‘racially-tinged.’ No, I’m racially-tinged. That dude is racist, straight up.”

On a memorable episode of the Daily Show, Minhaj worried about Trump’s Muslim policies saying that:

“Donald Trump is an extremist leader who came out of nowhere. He’s self-financed, recruits through social media, attracts his followers with a radical ideology to take over the world, and is actively trying to promote a war between Islam and the West. That’s right. Trump is White ISIS – WHISIS.”

On an episode of the Daily Show immediately following Trump’s election, Minhaj expressed some of the common fears of the American people, particularly people of color. With regard to Trump’s call for a ban on all Muslims coming into the United States, Minhaj wondered “How is that not instantly disqualifying?” He’s had plenty to say on this subject. He began this segment noticeably shaken:

“Like many Americans I have spent the last twelve hours refreshing the Canadian immigration website, which keeps crashing. So I am panicking because melanin doesn’t rub off.”

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

All of this promises an entertaining night of comedy and political grilling. Until then, you can watch the rest of the post-election Daily Show episode here:

Chickensh*t Trump Blows Off White House Correspondents Dinner: Paging Alec Baldwin

Posted by on February 25, 2017 at 5:23 pm. 4 Comments :

Donald Trump has been fighting a bloody “War on the Media” for months now. His recent escalations included calling the “fake news” media the “enemy of the American people.” Shortly thereafter his press secretary, Sean Spicer, banned several news organizations from a White House briefing. The animosity from Trump gets more intense by the hour.

Alec Baldwin as Donald Trump

In his latest assault Gen. Trump has just announced that he will not be attending the White House Correspondents Dinner on April 29. The WHCD is an annual affair that is held to raise funds for scholarships. But apparently Trump’s anti-media obsession overrules any interest in helping a charity.

The truth is more likely that Trump is afraid of having a close encounter with the “enemy.” He has never been particularly good at laughing at himself. That’s a personality flaw that’s common among narcissists. So rather than fraternize with the media he so fervently hates, and being the butt of their jokes, he canceled.

What’s more, the presidential guest of honor is expected to perform his own comedy bit. Just imagine how hard he would fall on his orange, spray-tanned face if he was pressed into that situation. Actually, you don’t have to image it. He painfully bombed when he was asked to tell a few jokes at the Al Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner last October (video below). Guests at that event noted that, for the first time ever, the speaker was booed.

With Trump’s cancellation, this will be the first dinner in thirty years where a president was not in attendance. The last president to miss the dinner was Ronald Reagan. But he a darn good excuse. He was recovering from having been shot. Yet he still phoned in a joke. “If I could give you just one little bit of advice,” he said, “When somebody tells you to get in a car quick, do it.”

This may all be for the best. After all, polls show that the public overwhelming prefers the media to Trump. So the event could benefit by his absence. Parties who have been planning to bow out this year may change their minds and show up. Ratings for the TV broadcast could soar. And it might even help by increasing donations.

Additionally, the WHCA could send invites to Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton if they want some fire power on stage. Plus they could enlist an alternative Trump to sit on the dais. Something tells me Alec Baldwin would be available. And no doubt Trump himself would be home watching and tweeting about how horrible it is. SAD!

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

Watch Trump’s embarrassing “comedy” routine here:

SRSLY? 34,000+ Tweets Later, Donald Trump Says ‘I Don’t Like Tweeting’

Posted by on January 18, 2017 at 2:26 pm. 2 Comments :

Donald Trump gave Fox News an interview Wednesday and it went pretty much like you might expect. Ainsley Earhardt tossed a few softballs at him, and he dodged them anyway. However, there were a couple of responses where he made news despite himself (video below).

Trump Twit

First of all, Trump was asked about his obsession with Twitter. He responded in a way that contradicts everything he’s done for the past couple of years:

“Look, I don’t like tweeting. I have other things I could be doing. But I get very dishonest media, very dishonest press. And it’s my only way that I can counteract.”

For someone who doesn’t like tweeting, he sure devotes an awful lot of time to it. And his tweets often address significant issues, including trade, and foreign relations. Of course, just as often he’s merely bragging about himself or insulting others. But if he has other things to do, then why isn’t he doing them?

Trump’s excuse for tweeting so frequently is that it’s the only way to counteract all the dishonest press he gets. That’s got to come as a surprise to anyone who owns a television. Trump has been the recipient of more uninterrupted airtime than any other candidate – or human. The media broadcast his campaign stump speeches in full and took his phone calls on the air. When he wants press time he only has to ask for it and the networks oblige. If there is any lack of Trump on TV it’s his own doing. Until last week he didn’t hold a press conference for seven months.

Clearly, there are many ways for Trump to counter what he regards as dishonest press. That includes friendly venues like Fox News, talk radio, and wingnut blogs like Breitbart. He obviously prefers Twitter because it doesn’t require much critical thought. There isn’t much of substance you can say with 140 characters. What’s more, it doesn’t open him up to questions he can’t answer or hold him accountable for his lies.

The other notable remarks from the Fox News interview concerned the controversy over the White House briefing room. Last week Trump’s incoming press secretary, Sean Spicer, floated the notion that the briefings might be moved to another location outside of the White House. That didn’t sit well with the journalists who would be evicted. Jeff Mason, president of the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA) later met with Spicer and issued this statement shortly thereafter:

“The White House Correspondents’ Association has always advocated for increasing access and transparency for the benefit of all news outlets and the public. I emphasized the importance of the White House press briefing room and noted that it is open to all journalists who seek access now. I made clear that the WHCA would view it as unacceptable if the incoming administration sought to move White House reporters out of the press work space behind the press briefing room. Access in the West Wing to senior administration officials, including the press secretary, is critical to transparency and to journalists’ ability to do their jobs.’

Trump told Fox’s Earhardt that, due to the negative reaction, he didn’t think the briefing room would be moved for now. However, he also announced a new and unprecedented control over access to the briefings:

“Some people in the press will not be able to get in because there’s just too many people … we have so many people who wanna go in so we’ll have to just pick the people who go into the room. I’m sure other people will be thrilled about that.”

Currently the non-partisan WHCA is responsible for assigning credentials to reporters who seek admittance to the briefings. The politicians in the White House have no say. That insures that the room isn’t stacked with sycophants and propagandists as is done in dictatorial regimes. Apparently Trump favors the dictator’s methods. That may also be why his Washington, D.C. hotel just announced that it is banning all media during the inauguration. So much for a free press.

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