Donald Trump Moves Closer To A Third (Reich) Party Campaign

Posted by Mark NC on February 15, 2016 at 7:16 pm. 2 Comments :

The overgrown crybaby Donald Trump has unleashed yet another tirade of the ego-soaked entitlement that defines his personality and presidential campaign. At a press conference scheduled for damage control following his embarrassingly brutish performance at the CBS News GOP debate, Trump revisited his previous threats to violate his loyalty pledge to the Republican Party.

At issue this time is Trump’s accusation that the Republican National Committee conspired to embarrass him by packing the debate audience with lobbyists and donors to his rivals’ campaigns. He whined that the crowd, which booed him several times, was deliberately chosen to be hostile to him. And he wasn’t sitting still for it. He warned that “The RNC better get its act together,” lest they risk the onslaught of his vengeful wrath. Then he got specific about the consequences of offending him:

“I signed a pledge. But the pledge isn’t being honored by them. I signed a pledge. The pledge isn’t being honored by the RNC. Because those tickets were all special-interest people. […] The RNC does a terrible job — a terrible job. And just remember what I said — remember in this room — I signed a pledge. But it’s a double-edged pledge. And as far as I’m concerned, they’re in default of their pledge when they do that.”

He seems to be saying that he signed a pledge. [Has anyone else noticed how much he repeats himself?] Here’s the thing – despite Trump’s characterization, there were no conditions attached to the pledge. It was simply a promise to “endorse the 2016 Republican presidential nominee, regardless of who it is” and “not seek to run as an independent.” The pledge was implemented to prevent Trump from taking advantage of the RNC’s auspices, particularly the debate schedule, and then bolting to run against them.

It appears at this point that the RNC was foolish to have trusted him. They refuted his accusations about the audience composition saying that “Each candidate received 100 tickets.” But Trump expanded on his conspiracy theory to baselessly suggest that college students who received tickets sold them to anti-Trump lobbyists. So we can now officially add paranoia to Trump’s diagnosis of Narcissistic Personality Disorder. And if the charge of packing the audience isn’t enough, Trump is also warning the RNC that they had better support his birther complaints against Ted Cruz:

“One of the ways I can fight back is to bring a lawsuit against him relative to the fact that he was born in Canada and therefore cannot be President. If he doesn’t take down his false ads and retract his lies, I will do so immediately. Additionally, the RNC should intervene and if they don’t they are in default of their pledge to me.”

This isn’t the first time since signing the pledge that Trump has threatened to violate it. He was asked last November by George Stephanopoulos if he still intended to honor the pledge and he answered “I’m going to have to see what happens. I will see what happens. I have to be treated fairly.” It is becoming increasingly clear that Trump’s word is worthless. If the RNC continues to have faith in him they are setting themselves up for betrayal. The only loyalty Trump has is to himself.

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

In addition to Trump’s repeated threats to double-cross his supposed GOP allies, There seems little likelihood that Trump would support them if he is not the nominee. How could he profess to support people that he has castigated so viciously as liars, losers, and weaklings. Via his crushing and childish insults he has dug himself a hole so deep that it would be absurd to later pretend to respect any of the other other candidates. And they would likely spurn his endorsement, were he to offer one. So the pledge that was signed last year by the whole GOP field is a sad joke that has no value. How appropriate for the Republican Party.

The Three Dumbest Moments From The Republican’s Kindergarten Debate

Posted by Mark NC on February 14, 2016 at 7:12 pm. 2 Comments :

Last night’s debate on CBS showcased a Republican Party that is jam-packed with whimpering, infantile candidates who are wholly unprepared to dress their dollies, much less lead a nation. It’s hard to imagine that, after watching that spectacle, anyone can picture any of these colicky brats with America’s nuclear missile launch codes.

If you have a strong stomach you can go watch the whole debate on YouTube, but what will be presented here is a representative sampling of the frightening stupidity that is exhibited by what the GOP believes are its shining lights – the banner carriers of their Party’s mission. These examples are not snippets of the policy or vision that the candidates are pitching. For the most part they simply repeated the same old right-wing claptrap that they have been spewing for years. What you will see here is more of a demonstration of how dysfunctional their underdeveloped brains are, and how useless they would be in a crisis. In reverse order…

#3 – Dr. Ben Carson

Carson was asked this question about the President’s responsibilities in the event of a Supreme Court vacancy: “You’ve written a book on the constitution recently. What does the constitution say about whose duty it is here to act in this kind of a situation?” Carson’s response was…

“Well, the current constitution actually doesn’t address that particular situation, but the fact of the matter is the Supreme Court, obviously, is a very important part of our governmental system.”

Actually, the fact of the matter is that the Constitution explicitly addresses this particular situation. It says that the President “shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate,” to nominate Judges of the supreme Court. There is nothing ambiguous about this granting of executive authority. Now, it’s pretty dumb to not understand something as basic as this, but Carson compounded his idiocy by making an unrelated observation:

“And, when our constitution was put in place, the average age of death was under 50, and therefore the whole concept of lifetime appointments for Supreme Court judges, and federal judges was not considered to be a big deal.”

OK, there are actually some good reasons to revisit the lifetime appointments clause of the Constitution, but Carson’s ramblings don’t mention any of them. A quick glance at the history books informs us that the first Supreme Court justices did not have some sort of neanderthal lifespan that made such an appointment reasonable. The first Court’s members, and their ages on death, were Chief Justice, John Jay (83) and Associate Justices: William Cushing (78), John Blair (69), John Rutledge (60), James Wilson (55), and James Iredell (48). So two of the four passed away fairly young, but the rest were pretty hardy. Judge Jay outlived Antonin Scalia by four years. This lapse of easily obtainable knowledge is not surprising for someone who rejects evolution and thinks that the pyramids in Egypt were built to store grain.

#2 – Marco Rubio

During an argument about the record of former President George W. Bush, Donald Trump laid responsibility for 9/11 at Jeb’s brother’s feet. That’s actually a fair criticism, even though Trump lied about his opposition to the Iraq war that followed. But Rubio defended Bush by shouting defiantly that “The World Trade Center came down because Bill Clinton didn’t kill Osama bin Laden when he had the chance to kill him.”

Actually, Bill Clinton did take actions against Bin Laden that were unsuccessful. And for his trouble he was bitterly castigated by Republicans in Congress who cooked up a conspiracy theory that Clinton was using the attacks as a distraction. What’s more, Bush was unable to capture or kill Bin Laden after nearly eight years and with the full force of a military wartime engagement, including tens of thousands of soldiers in Afghanistan. In light of that, it seems rather absurd to complain that Clinton didn’t succeed when he did not have Congress’ authorization for war and Bin Laden had not proven to be a significant threat to the U.S. at the time. Rubio’s assertion was merely a lame attempt to lash out a Democrat in order to absolve his hero, Bush, of responsibility.

#1 – Donald Trump

Is anyone shocked that Trump took the gold in this competition of idiocy? He could have done it easily by sticking to his standard toolkit of lies (see the Trump Bullshitopedia), many of which he used in this debate. For instance, he claimed that he didn’t support Planned Parenthood, that he didn’t file for bankruptcy (4 times), that he didn’t use eminent domain to try to evict an elderly woman for his casino parking lot, and that he opposed the Iraq war “loud and strong.” All lies.

But Trump served up this morsel of nitwittedness during an exchange about his use of profanity. In his own defense he sought to attack Jeb Bush saying…

“Two days ago he said he would take his pants off and moon everybody, and that’s fine. Nobody reports that.”

First of all, Trump is completely misrepresenting what Bush said. Bush was making a rhetorical point about how hard it is for him to get the attention of the press. The “mooning” comment was just a joking example of what he might have to do. And he said it to a reporter. Trump implied that Bush was making a literal threat to expose himself.

Now that was pretty dumb all by itself, and it certainly didn’t excuse Trump’s much more blatant obscenities. But Trump wasn’t through. After Bush denied Trump’s charge, Trump insisted that “You did say it. Been reported in 10 different news…” Well, if it was reported 10 times, then how does Trump explain his initial charge that “Nobody reports that?” In the span of a few seconds, Trump managed to expose himself as a liar.

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

Conclusion

If this is representative of the best that the Republican Party has to offer, it is a party that is in deep trouble. The rest of the field may not have made this list, but they are no less deserving. Ted Cruz is becoming the Nixon of the Tea Party set with his dirty campaign tricks. Jeb Bush doesn’t seem to have any reason for running other than that his father and brother did before him. And John Kasich thinks he can sell his “moderate” appeal to Republicans who have fallen off the deep end of the John Birch Society pier. And all of them acted as if they hadn’t reached puberty yet. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait for November.

The Death Of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia Is Instantly Politicized By Callous Republicans

Posted by Mark NC on February 13, 2016 at 4:56 pm. 6 Comments :

The sudden and unexpected death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has produced a flurry of reactions from across the political spectrum. Everyone offering a comment has begun with praise for his public service and intellect, and expressions of condolences for his family.

Unfortunately, Republicans have wasted no time in turning this personal tragedy into a political opportunity. GOP presidential candidates Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio (also members of the Senate) added to their sympathies a demand that President Obama refrain from nominating a replacement and leave that to whoever is president in January of 2017. Others, including Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who holds the power to vote or not, have made similar demands. After offering her condolences, Hillary Clinton responded to the GOP by saying that their intention to leave the seat vacant dishonors our Constitution.

There are several problems with the Republican’s overt obstructionism, starting with the fact that it is the constitutional duty of the President to nominate a replacement when there is a vacancy. It would be wholly inappropriate for him to simply ignore that obligation for political purposes. The Senate could refuse to confirm the nominee, or even allow it to come up for a vote. Of course, that would be an abdication of their constitutional duty, but they could do it. The President, however, should not be complicit with that negligence. The Founders intended the Supreme Court to reflect the mood of the nation as represented by the chief executive — not the mood of the nation as represented by the chief executive unless he’s in the last year of his administration.

Another reason that the President should nominate a replacement as soon as possible, and the Senate should confirm, is that this year the Supreme Court has a particularly heavy calendar. There are many cases waiting to be heard, and some are critical issues that will have far reaching effect. The litigants ought not to be penalized by self-serving politicians. And there has never been a vacancy on the Supreme Court for a year, which is what the GOP obstructionists are proposing. Some of the decisions to be made by the court this term could…

Limit the ability of unions to collectively bargain (Friedrichs).
Further restrict the use of race in college admissions (Fisher).
Drastically limit the ability of people to band together in class actions to stop corporate wrongdoing (Spokeo, Campbell-Ewald, Tyson Foods).
Dismantle environmental regulations (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission).
Expand the scope of forced arbitration (DIRECTV and Zaborowski).
Further undermine the voting rights of communities of color in urban areas (Evenwel).
Sanction far-right efforts to radically restrict women’s abortion rights and ability to obtain contraceptive medical coverage (Whole Woman’s Health and Zubik).

If a new justice is not confirmed, the pending cases would be heard by a short-handed court. And since this court has been divided ideologically with a five to four conservative advantage, there is a great possibility of frequent ties should this vacancy remain. In the event of a 4/4 tie, the ruling of the lower court would stand. From the Republican perspective, this might not be to their advantage. After eight years of the Obama presidency the district courts currently have a majority of Democratic nominated judges. Consequently, those lower court rulings may be more to the liking of liberals. So any effort by the GOP to obstruct the confirmation of a new nominee by Obama may have the opposite effect of what they intend. Senate Republicans also risk the possibility that they will not be in the majority next year and the next president, if Democratic, would have far more leeway in who they nominate.

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

The bottom line is that our government is supposed to work on behalf of the people, not at the whim of the politicians. By obstructing Obama’s constitutional mandate, Republicans would only further cement the impression of them as fomenting division and gridlock. In an election year where the public is fed up with political game-playing, that will likely hurt Republicans at the polls. On the plus side, it might finally elevate the appointment of Supreme Court justices as an election issue. That would be a good thing that should have happened long ago.

Update: President Obama offered his condolences. He also responded to the GOP’s irresponsible and callous politicization of Scalia’s passing, saying in part that…

“Today is a time to remember Justice Scalia’s legacy. I plan to fulfill my constitutional responsibilities to nominate a successor in due time. And there will be plenty of time for me to so and for the Senate to fulfill its responsibility and to give that person a fair hearing and a timely vote. These are responsibilities that I take seriously, as should everyone. They are bigger than any one party. They are about our democracy.”

Crybaby Donald Trump Threatens To Sue Ted Cruz For Being Canadian – Again

Posted by Mark NC on February 12, 2016 at 8:14 pm. 4 Comments :

The Republican Party’s candidate for Bully-in-Chief, Donald Trump, is once again demonstrating how frightened he is by anyone unwilling to submit to his imagined authority. Trump’s well-known knee-jerkiness when confronted by criticism, or anything less than unequivocal compliance, generally results in a flurry of infantile insults and slander.

Today Trump’s tantrum was set off by a Twitter exchange between him and his former BFF, Ted Cruz. Trump accused Cruz of doing negatively slanted push polls about Trump and lying about his position on marriage equality (which Trump once supported and now opposes). When Cruz denied that he was involved in any push polling, Trump called him a liar and questioned his religious faith saying “How can Ted Cruz be an Evangelical Christian when he lies so much and is so dishonest?” Trump ought to be asked that question himself considering his record setting output of unambiguous falsehoods (see the Trump Bullshitopedia). Of course, if he were asked that question, he would just lie some more.

As the feud continued, Trump eventually brought in his big gun. For several weeks now, Trump has been making birther noises implying that Cruz is not eligible to serve as president because, having been born in Canada to a mother who is a U.S. citizen, he is not a “natural born citizen,” as is required by the Constitution. And now that his ire has been raised by Cruz’s hardball campaigning, Trump tweeted a full-throated threat aimed at bringing Cruz into submission:

“If @TedCruz doesn’t clean up his act, stop cheating, & doing negative ads, I have standing to sue him for not being a natural born citizen.”

For the record, Trump has already expressed an interest in suing Cruz over his citizenship. After first promising not to sue during a Republican debate on January 14, Trump contradicted himself three days later, telling ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos that it “sounds like a very good case. I’d do the public a big favor. It’s a good idea.” In fact, it’s such a good idea that some of his supporters have actually filed a lawsuit questioning Cruz’s right to run for president. In all likelihood that suit will be thrown out for lack of standing, but Trump himself, as a competitive candidate, wouldn’t have that problem.

The underlying question regarding the definition of “natural born citizen” has never been adjudicated by any legal authority. So whether or not Cruz is eligible is not settled law. Experts have come down on both sides of this question. But that has no bearing on Trump’s behavior.

What makes this latest threat so peculiar is that Trump does not seem the least bit interested in filing the suit in order to prevent an ineligible person from ascending to the presidency, or out of respect for the law, or to preserve the constitutional integrity of the office. Nope – Trump’s sole motivation is to beat Cruz into compliance. Trump’s threat explicitly states that, if Cruz were to capitulate to his demand to refrain from producing negative ads, then Trump would not proceed with the litigation and would allow the legally-suspect campaign to continue.

What’s more, Trump’s threat is itself potentially a violation of federal law. 18 U.S. Code § 610 – Coercion of political activity, states that…

“It shall be unlawful for any person to intimidate, threaten, command, or coerce, or attempt to intimidate, threaten, command, or coerce, any employee of the Federal Government as defined in section 7322(1) of title 5, United States Code, to engage in, or not to engage in, any political activity…”

By threatening Cruz’s political activities with regard to his campaign advertising, Trump appears to have stepped outside the boundaries of the law. As a United States senator, Cruz is an employee of the Federal Government and, thus, protected from threats by this statute.

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

Once again, Donald Trump is acting like the privileged, elitist, aspiring tyrant that he is. He doesn’t care about the law as it applies to anyone else or to himself. He is focused solely on how he can get whatever he wants regardless of how it impacts others. And he uses threats the way children use tantrums. If he doesn’t get his way he whines like a baby, throws around insults, and issues ultimatums. And he is presently the first choice of Republicans for the nomination of their party for president. Wow. Just wow.

Update 2/15/2016: Trump is again threatening to sue Cruz over his citizenship status. At a press conference today he said…

“One of the ways I can fight back is to bring a lawsuit against him relative to the fact that he was born in Canada and therefore cannot be President. If he doesn’t take down his false ads and retract his lies, I will do so immediately. Additionally, the RNC should intervene and if they don’t they are in default of their pledge to me.”

So now Trump is threatening both to sue Cruz and to ditch the Republican Party to run as an independent. Can this get any more fun?

Rupert Murdoch’s Downright Delusional Twit-Tastic Debate Analysis

Posted by Mark NC on February 7, 2016 at 9:09 pm. 1 Comments :

Rupert Murdoch is the corporate overlord of one of the biggest media conglomerates in the world. That empire provides him with a vast array of platforms from which to express his extreme rightist ideology. And yet the man who created Donald Trump (and is now his slave) cannot seem to stop himself from posting the sort of stunted half-thoughts that flourish on Twitter.

The morning after the ABC broadcast of the Republican primary debate in New Hampshire Murdoch was especially chatty. He unleashed a series of tweets that left an impossibly positive impression of his experience of the debate. You really have to wonder what debate he was watching, because his comments seemed astonishingly removed from reality. Let’s have a look.

The first Murdoch tweet was both a general compliment to all of the Republican candidates and a slap at the Democrats. He said “All candidates lifted game last night. Everyone seemed better than alternative Dems.”

This is the first indication that Murdoch has totally lost it. He’s talking about a debate that began with the most hilariously screwed-up introduction ever, wherein Ben Carson and Donald Trump appeared to have been cast into a trance that froze them in their tracks. And it just got worse from there. He didn’t bother to elaborate on why he thought the Dems were so unappealing, but since he is the chief honcho of Fox News we can just assume he’s on auto-hate of everything liberalish.

The next tweet was a bit more specific. He said “Trump better, somewhat contained and more presidential. Rubio inspirational speaker, a winner. But does he have real depth of knowledge?”

If this was Murdoch’s idea of Trump being “more presidential” than I would be curious to see what he regards as appropriate presidential demeanor. Trump was booed repeatedly for boorish behavior including shushing Jeb Bush and insulting the audience. Apparently Murdoch admires a leader who would shush visiting dignitaries and insult voters. As for Rubio’s “inspirational” speaking, that must have been when he masterfully repeated the same memorized catch phrase at least four times as if stuck in tape loop.

The next tweet covered another couple of candidates. Murdoch said “Cruz a great debater performed well, but why do all long-term acquaintances distrust him? Jeb Bush best yet. Easily visualise him in WH.”

Presumably Murdoch was praising Cruz’s debating skills such as when brazenly lied about how he sabotaged Ben Carson in Iowa by inventing a rumor that Carson had dropped out of the race. Or maybe it was when he couldn’t decide whether he loved waterboarding enough to actually use it. And if Murdoch doesn’t know yet why Cruz is so universally disliked, he really needs to come out from under that rock every now and then. As for Murdoch’s tribute to Bush, it was such empty praise that he couldn’t manage to provide an example of why Bush was so much better than ever before.

The next tweet was just more of the same substanceless blather. He said “Christie the tough bullying prosecutor. Not much on big issues. Kasich the safe moderate, everyone’s Vice President. Carson also best yet.”

It’s interesting to see Murdoch actually criticize someone. Especially Christie considering that he was personally lobbied to run for president in 2012 by Murdoch’s lieutenant Roger Ailes. Not surprisingly, Murdoch was soft on Kasich for the very reason he stated: Kasich is (allegedly) a moderate. And once again, He couldn’t explain what Carson did that was such a big improvement despite his obvious blunders. I guess he had already set the bar pretty low.

Finally, Murdoch went off an a tangential tweet to condemn all of the candidates for a shared failing. He said “All really failed to understand immensity of global Muslim problem. No easy answers, but Middle East just a forerunner to sub-Sahara Africa.”

This tells us where Fox News gets its rampant hatred of Muslims (i.e. from the top). Murdoch just hauls off at something he calls a “global Muslim problem” as if it were an outbreak of Ebola, and not a racist assault on 1.2 billion people, most of whom are peace-loving folks who have the very same hopes and dreams for themselves and their families as anyone else.

This Twitter rant exposes Murdoch’s obvious biases, both politically and personally. The fact that he can run a “news” network that is laughably described as “fair and balanced” without being ostracized from the ranks of honest journalists is testimony to how distorted the media has become. Of course, anyone who has paid much attention to Fox News already realizes that it is nothing but a propaganda outlet that seeks to disinform the already intellectually weak and frighten them into a state where they can be manipulated – just like any other cult.

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

Not SNL: The Single Most Hilarious Moment In Any Debate Ever (Video)

Posted by Mark NC on February 7, 2016 at 3:29 am. 4 Comments :

At the opening of the Republican debate on ABC the candidates were introduced as they always are and they march out onto the stage to take their place behind their podiums. But last night that plan went haywire in manner that could not have been funnier if it was scripted by profession comedians (video below).

After introducing Chris Christie, the moderator introduced Ben Carson. For some reason Carson came out from behind the curtain and stopped in the wings looking confused, an expression that is not unfamiliar for him. Perhaps he just tuckered out before he could make it to his podium. The moderator continued with the introductions announcing Ted Cruz, who smiled as he walked past Carson, still befuddled. A stage hand was seen peeking out from the curtain trying to get Carson to take his position at his podium but was ignored.

Then it was Donald Trump’s turn. He meandered out from behind the curtain so slowly it looked like he was just wandering around with nowhere special to go (what debate?). Eventually he inexplicably decided to stand beside Carson in the wings. Maybe he thought Megyn Kelly was out there and he was too scared to proceed. Then again, Trump knows that Carson is a bad-ass who tried to stab one of his childhood friends and hit his mother in the head with a hammer, so maybe he thought Carson would protect him from Kelly. Jeb Bush came out next and breezed by the still loitering Carson and Trump, looking back at them curiously.

With almost everyone else on stage, the moderators finally coerced Carson and Trump to join their colleagues for the debate. Then they almost went on with debate without introducing John Kasich at all. You could hear somebody telling them not to forget Kasich. The moderators then attempted to cover for Carson and Trump’s strange behavior by saying that it was so loud in the auditorium that they didn’t hear. That might have been a decent excuse except for the fact that all the other candidates seemed to hear just fine.

After the debate got started Carson was asked his first question. Before answering he briefly addressed the screwed-up intro saying that the confusion stemmed from him not being introduced second as planned. The only problem with that excuse is that he actually was introduced second, as the video shows.

It’s hard to know whether to laugh at this buffoonery or to be afraid of how severely our democracy has deteriorated to result in these being the choices of one of our two major political parties. Well, actually it isn’t really that hard, you just can’t help but laugh. But afterward you can still be afraid. But what’s most frightening is what they all said during the actual debate. They acted like children tossing around insults, bashing Obama, and trying to out-macho each other with claims about how tough they would be on ISIS and who would do more waterboarding. They were totally incapable of offering any affirmative solutions to real problems. And that isn’t funny.

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

Playing La Raza Card: RNC Chair Brags That 2 of Top 3 In Iowa Are Hispanic

Posted by Mark NC on February 2, 2016 at 7:05 pm. 1 Comments :

Following the 2012 loss by Mitt Romney, the Republican National Committee conducted what they called an “autopsy” to establish what went so terribly wrong with a campaign that they thought they would win in a walk. After all, they were running against a president that they believed was a dismal failure on top of being a gay Muslim from Kenya who hated America. Their self-examination concluded that the GOP had fatally ignored the constituencies of color and that they would have to appeal to a much larger percentage of Latinos if they ever hoped to win a national campaign again.

In 2016 the RNC is now confident that they have resolved that problem. As evidence of their progress Reince Priebus, the chairman of the party, rushed over to Fox News, the party’s PR division, and gleefully boasted about the diversity of the party’s leading candidates. He told Fox that the GOP is enjoying a high degree of enthusiasm and added that…

Priebus: The other big thing was, look, Ted Cruz, first Hispanic out of Iowa from a major political party. Marco Rubio, two out of our top three Hispanic. Where is the media on this? Right? This is a big deal.

It’s interesting that the party that has relentlessly lectured Democrats for “playing the race card,” and complains bitterly when Democrats show pride for historical firsts (like the first African-American or woman or Jewish president), is suddenly showing off their own alleged minority credentials. However, there are some pertinent facts that they are egregiously omitting.

First of all, while two of the top three GOP candidates in Iowa are indeed Hispanic, the third is Donald Trump – a brazenly racist hate monger who has referred to Latino immigrants as rapists and murderers. Trump has thoroughly alienated the Latino community and has even banished Latino reporters from his campaign events. And somehow he is still delusional enough to believe that he will win their votes.

Secondly, bragging about Cruz and Rubio as representatives of the Latino community really stretches the notion of representation. Both of them share the same repugnant views toward immigrants that define Trump’s bigotry. They want to build a silly wall. They want to deport millions of Latinos residents. They oppose Obama’s DREAMers initiative that allows young Latinos who came here as children, are in school or have completed military service, and have no criminal record, to remain in the U.S. They promise to repeal ObamaCare, which makes health insurance available to millions of Latinos. And they are on the wrong side of many more general issues that impact Latinos such as equal employment, minimum wage, education, and taxes.

Clearly none of the top three finishers in Iowa (or any of the other Republicans) are aligned with the needs and desires of the majority of Latinos. The GOP candidates with Latino names are no more likely to draw Latino votes than Ben Carson is to draw the votes of African-Americans.

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

Republicans must think that these voters are so stupid that they will vote against their best interests just because of a shared ethnicity. That’s not gonna work. Voters know when a candidate is going to fight for the things that matter most to them. That’s why black voters voted for Obama – not because he’s black. And that’s why Cruz and Rubio will never be able to trick very many Latinos into voting for them. But they’re still going to try, and the effort will only make them look more foolish and desperate.

The Republican Party Is SCARED WITLESS Of The Donald Trump-enstein They Created

Posted by Mark NC on January 23, 2016 at 5:46 pm. 3 Comments :

From the earliest planning stages of the 2016 Republican primary, the party has demonstrated a foreboding fear of the public finding out anything useful about their candidates. To the contrary, they are more worried that what voters might learn will only make them nauseous. So the party honchos severely shortened the debate schedule and limited media access to friendly venues, particularly Fox News which was given more of the debates (five in all) than any other network. Additionally, the other networks were required by the Republican National Committee to include conservative co-sponsors and moderators, a requirement to which Fox was not held. This is the unmistakable behavior of a party that’s afraid of American voters.

Over the course of the campaign the RNC has repeatedly made decisions that affirm their state of fear. RNC chairman Reince Priebus admitted that the party was set on transforming what is supposed to be an open dialog that provides voters with an informative look at the candidates, into a PR vehicle that functions more like propaganda. If Republicans want a fully scripted television farce, they should be forced to buy the time like any other telemarketer. But Priebus was focused on producing GOP infomercials saying that…

“The thing that is ridiculous is allowing moderators, who are not serving the best interests of the candidate and the party, to actually be the people to be deposing our people. And I think that’s totally wrong.”

In his view the debates were there to serve the interests of the party, not the voters. Any attempt to draw out anything substantive from the candidates was frowned upon. That’s why after a contentious debate hosted by CNBC, the RNC revoked the only remaining debate scheduled for NBC. The party was punishing the network for doing its job.

This week National Review published a special issue entitled “Against Trump” that contained a series of short essays making the conservative case for ditching Donald Trump. The issue featured your favorite wingnut authors who were generally opposed to Trump’s lack of conservative credentials, principles, or any platform details. The issue opened saying that…

“Trump is a philosophically unmoored political opportunist who would trash the broad conservative ideological consensus within the GOP in favor of a free-floating populism with strong-man overtones.”

It’s somewhat disarming (and a little heartwarming) to see a right-wing publication describe their party’s front-runner as a strong-man akin to Stalin or Mussolini. But coming from a source with diverse conservative voices like Glenn Beck, Bill Krystal, Erick Erickseon, and John Podhoretz, didn’t stop the RNC from striking back and “disinviting” the magazine from co-sponsoring an upcoming debate with CNN. Since when does a party committee get to decide for a news organization who they partner with? This is an unprecedented intrusion into the jurisdiction of journalism, and CNN is just as complicit for capitulating. It makes you wonder if the RNC is also dictating who the moderators are and what the questions will be.

While the RNC was quick to dump the National Review, their inherent prejudice was illustrated by exempting their friends at Fox News from any retaliation. After all, four of the National Review essays came from Fox News regulars Katie Pavlich, Cal Thomas, Dana Loesch, and Brent Bozell. So if you speak out against Trump you can say goodbye to any debate participation – unless you’re Fox News.

The media is shamefully abdicating their role in these debates while the RNC is bending over backwards to placate one candidate to the detriment of all the others. National Review was jettisoned solely because of the perceived slight of Donald Trump. Trump was also a prominent objector to NBC hosting a debate. He was also the reason that the New Hampshire Union Leader was removed as a co-host for an ABC debate. Perhaps the RNC should change their name to the Trump National Committee. Or maybe the Republican National Wusses.

But that wasn’t the end of it. A few weeks ago Trump tried to get the RNC to cancel a GOP primary debate on Univision, which was a bold move considering that Univision was never scheduled to host one. Trump had already banned all Univision employees from his golf resorts, an optically disturbing action that prohibited minorities from his country clubs. What’s more, Trump has also threatened that if Telemundo was involved with a debate he would walk. It remains to be seen if he will follow through on that threat since Telemundo is currently listed as a co-host for CNN’s debate. If Trump succeeds in getting Telemundo axed there will be no GOP debates at all that included any minority news organization.

Most recently Trump tweeted this about Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly: “Based on @MegynKelly’s conflict of interest and bias she should not be allowed to be a moderator of the next debate.” He seems not to know what a conflict of interest is, but as for bias, he is simply referring to his objection to an entirely appropriate question she asked him in the first GOP debate. She asked him to explain his many derogatory references to women. He dodged the question and complained about political correctness, and after the debate he accused Kelly of having been hormonal. That led to a prolonged series of attacks on her. If Kelly worked for some other network it would probably have already been removed as a debate host. However, as established above, Fox News will not likely suffer any consequences.

[Update: Trump is hinting that he might boycott the upcoming GOP debate on Fox News unless they drop Kelly as a moderator. He’s saying he might hold his own televised townhall to compete with it. Fox is, so far, refusing to capitulate saying “Sooner or later Donald Trump even if he’s president, is going to have to learn that he doesn’t get to pick the journalists. We’re very surprised he’s willing to show that much fear about being questioned by Megyn Kelly.” Fox deserves credit for standing firm, and it’s pretty cagey of them to accuse Trump of cowardice, but don’t bet on Trump sitting this out. However, the RNC, which demanded the exclusion of the Union Leader in New Hampshire, has said they are keeping out of this dispute because – well, it’s Fox News]

What this tells us is that Reince Priebus is the weakest Republican Party chairman in decades. He is letting Trump dictate the terms of the campaign. And the other candidates are keeping their mouths shut. They are all too afraid to demand that their primary be conducted with neutrality and integrity. It is a pathetic display of cowardice by a party so feeble it’s at risk of blowing away. And the thought of facing aggressive questions, even from other conservatives, makes them scurry into the crevices in the floorboards like cockroaches surprised by the light.

Good luck to them when they eventually face actual opponents in the general election. They will be utterly unprepared for battle having sheltered themselves in a cocoon of limp rhetoric that all stems from the same cultish mindset. That may be sufficient to draw support from Republican dimwits who thrive in those pools of ignorance, but it is a recipe for crushing defeat when the broader electorate votes in November.

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

Sarah Palin’s Disgusting Justification For Her Son’s Drunken Assault: It’s Obama’s Fault

Posted by Mark NC on January 20, 2016 at 1:53 pm. 10 Comments :

Yesterday was a big news day for Sarah Palin. Not because this washed-up former reality TV character endorsed Donald Trump, a fellow former reality TV character, but because that well-staged political theater was interrupted by more troubling news about Palin’s famously dysfunctional family.

It was reported that Palin’s son, Track, was arrested for beating up his girlfriend and wielding an AR-15 rifle while intoxicated. But rather than going back home to attend to her families legal and emotional problems, Palin followed up her Trumpmania tour in Iowa with a another appearance in Tulsa, Oklahoma (video below). It was there that she brought up Track’s tribulations, without mentioning his name or his alleged crimes, as she sought to exalt her domestic abuser offspring as a hero saying…

“I can talk personally about this – I guess it’s kinda the elephant in the room – because my own family going through what we’re going through today with my son, a combat vet, having served in the Stryker Brigade, fighting for you all, America, in the war zone. But my son, like so many others, they come back a bit different, they come back hardened, they come back wondering if there is that respect for what it is that their fellow soldiers and airmen and every other member of the military so sacrificially have given to this country.”

It’s disturbing, to say the least, to hear Palin’s pontificating about the honor of America’s military in conjunction with the news that her drunken son punched and kicked a woman while brandishing a gun. That’s not exactly the best demonstration of military pride. And while it’s true that many veterans suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, that is not an excuse for domestic abuse. And it should not be used to callously dismiss violence in a stump speech at a political rally. But Palin wasn’t through, and it got much worse.

“It’s a shame that our military personnel even have to wonder if they have to question whether they’re respected anymore. It’s starts from the top. The question though that comes from our own President where they have to look at him and wonder ‘Do you know what we go through? Do you know what we’re trying to do to secure America and to secure the freedom that have been bequeathed us?'”

So it’s Obama’s fault that Track Palin got drunk and put his girlfriend in the hospital? Somehow, in Palin’s view, the President is to blame for every veteran’s psychological problems. And she also seems to think that PTSD is caused by not being respected enough on returning from a war, rather than by the horrific experiences inherent to war. Palin thinks that if everybody would just thank a vet, then coping with the nightmare of battle and seeing your buddies blown to pieces would be a cake walk. And she still wasn’t finished.

“So when my own son goes through what he goes through coming back, I can certainly relate with other families who kinda feel these ramifications of some PTSD and some of the woundedness that our soldiers do return with. And it makes me realize more than ever, it is now or never for the sake of America’s finest that we have that Commander-in-Chief that will respect them and honor them.”

To Palin this is all about what her family “goes through.” Not once did she mention the victim and what she went through. Palin isn’t even denying what her son did. She is floating a possible insanity defense. In which case you might think she would have some sympathy for the victim. Instead, she ignores the battered woman, excuses her son’s violence, blames it all on the President, and closes with a brazenly political plea to vote for Donald Trump.

This sleazebag, with a son who is a divorced domestic abuser, a daughter with two out-of-wedlock kids from different fathers, a defender of the deviant Duggar family, a supporter of the racist Duck Dynasty Klan, and close friend of pedophile and advocate of presidential assassination Ted Nugent, presumes to lecture others on family values. And she campaigns for a racist, wannabe fascist tyrant who mocks the disabled even though she is the mother of a special needs child.

Has there ever been a more nauseating, heartless, self-promoting, ignorant, person in American politics? And yes, I’m talking about both of them – Palin and Trump. They are a perfect match of loathsome demagogues who feed off of each other and the dimwitted idolatry of their glassy-eyed followers. What a sick party the Republicans have devolved into.

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

Republicans Hate Obama/Clinton So Much It Makes Them Stupid

Posted by Mark NC on January 15, 2016 at 7:33 pm. 3 Comments :

Last night’s Republican debate was so tightly managed and rehearsed that it revealed almost nothing about any of the candidates. That is, unless you weren’t already aware that they hate President Obama, Hillary Clinton, immigrants, taxes, healthcare, Muslims, and generally believe that America is weak and in danger of being destroy forever by some desert rats. Other than that…

The severity of the GOP contempt for all things Democratic and progressive was in abundant display. So much so that it was causing the debaters to articulate a cacophony of utterly asinine rhetoric aimed at the absent objects of their disaffection. And as a public service, News Corpse has compiled a few of the worst mind farts of the evening.

Chris Christie starts us off with a chilling threat for the President saying that “We are going to kick your butt out of the White House come this fall.”

I’m sure Obama is shaking in his boots. Even though he knows that he will be living in the presidential abode until next winter. And when he leaves it will be because his second term has expired and not because of anything that Christie or his GOP goons might do. What’s more, there is a better than even shot that the next resident of the White House will be another Democrat, but a decidely long shot that it would be Christie.

Donald Trump is next and, as usual, gives us a rich buffet of stupid from which to choose. For now I’ll go with his answer to the question “Are there any circumstances that you think we should be limiting gun sales of any kind in America?” Trump said abruptly “NO!”

So The Donald is cool with the the unlimited sales of assault weapons, semi-automatics, automatics, grenade launchers, howitzers, etc. Additionally, his answer stipulates no limits on either guns or sales. So purchasers can be felons, or domestic abusers, or mentally ill, or terrorists. This is the sort of answer that can only come from someone who hasn’t bothered to think through the question. And wouldn’t that be a great attribute for a president?

Jeb Bush exhibited a unique form of delusion saying that “The idea that somehow we’re better off today than the day that Barack Obama was inaugurated president of the United States is totally an alternative universe.”

Does Jeb have the ability to recall that day seven years ago? The economy had just suffered its worst decline since the Great Depression. The stock market lost almost half its value. Unemployment soared to 10%. And some of the nations biggest financial and manufacturing concerns had to be bailed out by the government or disappear. Since then the stock market has more than doubled (even with the declines that occurred this week). Unemployment is down to 5%. America’s auto industry had its best year ever in 2015. Osama Bin Laden is quite dead, along with hundreds of other Al Qaeda and ISIS leaders. And yet, Bush seems to wish that we could return to the precarious position that his brother put the nation in due to his shoddy economic policies, tax cuts for rich, and embarking on two wars.

Marco Rubio is among the right-wingers who believe that there is nothing to fear but let’s all be afraid anyway. He fretted that “There is a war against ISIS, not just against ISIS but against radical jihadists terrorists, and it is a war that they win or we win.”

This is the same nonsense propounded by the rest of the GOP field. They actually think that under some bizarre circumstance ISIS could defeat the United States and compel our surrender. That is just ludicrous. Sure, they can do serious harm to individuals with terrorist tactics, but that’s a long way from a military defeat. The combined forces of Germany, Italy, and Japan could not beat the U.S. Only a an idiot would think that ISIS can.

Ben Carson didn’t add much to this debate. But he did preface his first answer by saying that “I’m very happy to get a question this early on. I was going to ask you to wake me up when that time came.”

The good doctor should know better than to open with a joke about falling asleep when the single most ridiculed part od his persona is that he seems to be on the verge of slumber at all times.

Ted Cruz seemed to think it would be a good idea to insult everyone in New York saying derisively that “I think most people know exactly what New York values are.”

Not only does that demean some twenty million Americans, it gave Trump an opening to play the 9/11 card. But this attitude isn’t new. Republicans have been openly hostile to much of America just because of political differences. They also hate Hollywood, San Francisco, Seattle, New Orleans, Austin, Chicago, Boston, and more. It’s a peculiar brand of selective patriotism.

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

These are the candidates that Republicans have to choose from. For the time being being they seem to be leaning toward the goofiest one in the bunch. And they don’t seem to care that Trump has based his entire campaign on self-exaltation, insults and lies (see the Trump Bullshitopedia). Maybe Republican voters are simply settling for Trump because the rest of the roster is equally ridiculous. They have resigned themselves to the fate that, if we’re gonna be stuck a preposterous candidate, why not go for the gold?

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#3 – Dr. Ben Carson

#2 – Marco Rubio

#1 – Donald Trump

Conclusion

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