Adam Schiff

Trump Wallows in Wacky Conspiracy Theories About Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff

Posted by on February 8, 2019 at 2:37 pm. 1 Comments :

In another Twitter outburst that has become commonplace with our Tweeter-in-Chief, Donald Trump has taken off on a wildly deranged line of attack aimed at Rep. Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. He’s doing everything he can to disparage and discredit him, because those are the only tools he has left. It isn’t surprising that Trump would seek to smear Schiff considering that he has the authority to uncover a broad array of the crimes that Trump would prefer remain hidden.

Donald Trump

Ever since the November election when Democrats became the majority party in the House of Representatives, Trump has exhibited an increasingly fearful demeanor. During the previous Congress, Trump had the luxury of having a Republican chairing this committee, Devin Nunes, who was a reliable accomplice in his obstruction of justice. Now, for the first time, Trump is facing an honest investigatory environment and real accountability. As a result, he has resorted to infantile name calling (i.e. Adam Schitt) and the dissemination of lies and ludicrous conspiracy theories.

In the Friday morning tweetstorm, Trump went after Schiff over a silly article written by John Solomon for TheHill. Solomon is a notoriously right-wing partisan who frequently disgorges his nonsense on Fox News. What he stumbled on as the basis for this article was the fact that Schiff attended a security conference in Aspen and happened to bump into Glenn Simpson, the founder of Fusion GPS, the firm that hired Christopher Steele of the “Steele Dossier” fame. So Trump tweeted this:

The first thing that Trump got wrong here is that Schiff and Simpson did not “spend time together.” Even Solomon’s article notes that the encounter was “brief and social in nature.” In other words, they ran into each other briefly at an event with several hundred other attendees, and had no substantive discussion. Of course, that didn’t stop Solomon, and subsequently Trump, from implying that something more nefarious had occurred. But there was no evidence to support that other than conjecture and insinuation.

The second problem with Trump’s tweet is his assertion that the dossier had been discredited. To the contrary, nothing in the dossier has ever been proved to be false. However, much of it has been verified as true. So Trump’s blathering is just more of the sort of sketchy behavior engaged in by people who know they are guilty. And if he thinks that such assaults are going to dissuade Schiff or his congressional colleagues from pursuing the truth, then Trump is even dumber than we previously thought.

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

Fresh Off His ‘Unity’ Themed State of the Union, Trump Smears Democratic Leaders in Congress

Posted by on February 6, 2019 at 1:43 pm. 2 Comments :

On Tuesday night Donald Trump delivered his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress. It was delayed for a week by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi due to the Trump Shutdown of the government. After capitulating to Pelosi, Trump took to the podium to present what the White House characterized as a message of unity. Which is a pretty audacious stance coming from the most divisive figure on political landscape bar none.

Donald Trump, Nancy Pelosi

Trump’s allegedly unifying message contained perhaps the most brazen threat ever to be uttered in the House chambers. He warned Democrats that any efforts to investigate his criminal activities could result in an economic decline or maybe even war. He said that “the only thing that can stop” what he baselessly called an “economic miracle” are “foolish wars, politics, or ridiculous partisan investigations.” That was not received well by House Democrats, and especially Speaker Pelosi who responded by admonishing Trump that “The president should not bring threats to the floor of the House.” They all insisted that they would carry out their constitutional duties as a separate, co-equal branch of government.

Undeterred by reason, diplomacy, or maturity, Trump followed up his threat with a more elaborate assault on those he regards as his persecutors. Chief among them is the new chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff (who Trump once called “Adam Schitt” in a display of petulance that would embarrass a seven year old).

Rep. Schiff is keeping his promise to hold the President – and any other public official – accountable for any breaches of the law. One of his first acts was to have the Committee vote to provide transcripts of hearings that were held under the previous chairman (Republican Devin Nunes) forwarded to special counsel Robert Mueller. That’s the sort of accountability that frightens Trump and triggers angry outbursts like the one he unleashed Wednesday morning. He began by falsely stating that Schiff had “no basis” to investigate him. And he continued in a more flagrantly personal vein (video below):

“He’s just a political hack who’s trying to build a name for himself. And I think that’s fine because that’s what they do. But there would be no reason to do that. No other politician has to go through that. It’s called presidential harassment. And it’s unfortunate, and it really does hurt our country.”

So Trump thinks that he’s the only politician who has even been investigated by a congressional committee? Was he in a coma for the dozens of hearings held about Hillary Clinton’s emails, Benghazi, Uranium One, James Comey, the Steele dossier, etc.? The difference between those hearings and the ones that will probe Trump is that the GOP hacks (including former representatives Jason Chaffetz and Trey Gowdy, both of whom now work for Fox News) persecuting Clinton never found a shred of evidence of unlawful activity, but Mueller and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York have both obtained dozens of indictments and guilty pleas.

That should satisfy Trump’s concern about having a basis. What’s more, Trump’s complaint that these investigations would “hurt our country” are bass ackwards. This is precisely what the nation needs to heal and to progress beyond the illegality committed by Trump and Company. Foiling criminal villains helps the country, it doesn’t hurt it.

Trump’s attacks are a pathetic attempt to intimidate Congress from doing its job. They are also intended to continue the process of brainwashing his Deplorables and keeping their fear and anger at a boiling point. But such attacks won’t having any impact on those who are legitimately acting in concert with law enforcement to insure that our government is being run by honest and patriotic individuals, and not weak or compromised puppets of foreign regimes like Russia, or self-interested corporations and billionaires. Which is why Schiff and his House colleagues (Elijah Cummings, Jerrold Nadler, Maxine Waters, etc.) Are doing the right thing and should be commended for their determination and service to the law.

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

Trump: ‘Presidential harassment’ hurts our country from CNBC.

The GOP Outrage Over Rashida Tlaib is Overflowing with Hypocrisy – Trump has Said Much Worse

Posted by on January 4, 2019 at 11:22 am. 3 Comments :

The new Congress has been gaveled into session by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and it is already making progress on the issues that the American people have wanted addressed, but were suppressed by the Republican Nationalist supplicants to Donald Trump. First up is ending the Trump Shutdown. But also on the list of priorities is election reform, restoring fairness to taxes, infrastructure funding, and the long overdue oversight of Trump’s criminal campaign and administration.

Donald Trump

So what is the biggest issue for the GOP? A new congresswoman said a naughty word. Rep. Rashida Tlaib was speaking to group of supporters Thursday evening and dropped an F-bomb when referencing her intention to seek the impeachment of Trump for his many crimes. Her language was raw and, by conventional standards, inappropriate for a public servant. And that sentiment was expressed by nearly every leader on the Democratic side of the aisle. But that didn’t stop Republicans from gasping in horror and fainting from the sheer shock of such insolence.

However, one of the big differences between Democrats and Republicans is that Democrats will criticize themselves when they deserve it. Republicans will defend the most disgusting behavior rather than condemn a fellow Republican, especially Donald Trump. After all, Trump is the guy who bragged about grabbing women “by the pussy” but still got the GOP nomination for president. And that’s not all. Trump currently has fifteen instances of F-bombs on his Twitter feed, Including this one:

And Trump has not been shy about uttering profanities of all varieties in public. Here is a speech Trump gave that had multiple profanities. Pay particular attention to how he referred to his intention to levy tariffs on China:

In addition, Trump has recently tweeted some raw insults aimed at Democrats he is clearly afraid of. He referred to the new chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff, as “Adam Schitt.” And that was followed a few weeks later by a tweet where he called Sen. Richard Blumenthal “the dick.”

Of course, there has been almost no criticism of Trump by his GOP colleagues for bellowing out the very same words that Republicans are now in such a tizzy about because a freshly minted Democrat said them in a private gathering. The GOP is less a political party than it is a cult where there leader is incapable of any wrongdoing. But the same behavior by their foes is a capital offense. This is how the GOP wants to start the new year with new leaders in Congress. And it’s an obvious attempt to distract the public from the government shutdown, and other failures, that they are wholly responsible for.

As for the underlying issue of impeachment that inspired Rep. Tlaib’s comments, that is something that is going to unfold in due time no matter what Trump has to say about it. Special counsel Robert Mueller is getting closer to releasing a report with his findings. And prosecutors in New York, Maryland, Washington, D.C., California, and other states are also investigating Trump for potentially impeachable crimes. Which has lead to Trump posting another of his plaintive whines that he’s innocent of everything:

There is so much wrong with that it’s hard to know where to begin. First of all, Trump was elected with only 46.1% of the vote, and with three million fewer votes than his opponent, Hillary Clinton.
Secondly, there is abundant evidence of collusion and/or conspiracy with Russia by Trump and his closest associates and family (and no collusion by Democrats).

What’s more, the first two years of Trump’s presidency has been rife with failure. He’s driven up the national debt by more than two trillion dollars. The stock market suffered it’s first negative year in a decade. There has been little or no progress on any foreign policy objective. The Climate crisis is getting perilously close to the point of no return. America’s roads and bridges are crumbling. The nation is more divided than ever. And of course, his idiotic vanity wall is still a figment of his diseased imagination.

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

But by all means, let’s forget about all of that pull out our hair over some cursing by an excited new congressperson. And in the meantime, continue to keep the government shut down, forcing hundreds of thousands of Americans to go without pay for untold weeks or months. All because Trump’s ego is too fragile to cope with the reality that no one wants his stupid, racist wall. Yeah, that’s the ticket. And that’s exactly how the GOP is proceeding. There is no better proof that they couldn’t care less about this nation or its citizens.

Be Best? Infantile Trump Follows Up His Crass ‘Adam Schitt’ Vulgarity with ‘The Dick’ Blumenthal

Posted by on December 8, 2018 at 2:05 pm. 0 Comments :

A few weeks ago, Donald Trump got a court order that prohibited him from banning CNN’s Jim Acosta from the White House. Trump’s response to that was to issue a bizarre and unconstitutional decree governing the rules of behavior for journalists in the press corps. He claimed it was an effort to restore “decorum” in the White House.

Donald Trump

On its face that is an absurd proclamation from a president who has made boorishness and bullying a hallmark of his public life since even before he entered politics. Trump engages in relentless insults of the most infantile variety and hangs nicknames on his critics that a seven year old would be embarrassed to use. For example, in an attack on Rep. Adam Schiff, who will become chairman of the House Intelligence Committee next month, Trump tweeted this:

There were some who speculated whether “Adam Schitt” was intentional or a typo. But it’s entirely consistent with Trump’s perverse personality, and it’s still there. So there is no question that he meant it. And if you need further evidence, On Saturday Trump tweeted a similarly vulgar message to Sen. Richard Blumenthal:

First of all, Trump just making up the scenario in those tweets. Blumenthal never made any reference to his bravery or to “bullets whizzing by.” He did misrepresent his service once by implying that he served in Vietnam, when he was an enlisted Marine who spent his time in the States. He apologized for that. and in any case, his Marine duty was far more patriotic than Trump’s five phony deferments for alleged “bone spurs.” But for Trump to descend into the crassness of calling a Senator “the Dick” is just nauseating. Or it would be for anyone else. For Trump it’s typical. Plus, the spectacle of a pathological liar like Trump criticizing anyone else for their veracity is hysterical.

For the record, Trump was triggered by comments made by Blumenthal on MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews (video below). So apparently Trump was watching MSNBC. Unless a Fox News program played a clip from Hardball to bash the network and the Senator. Which seems more likely than the notion that Trump would change the channel from Fox.

Blumenthal was giving his analysis of the latest news from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. Trump was surely not pleased by Blumenthal’s view that Trump can be indicted. He also said that “the walls are closing in on Donald Trump and his inner circle, including his family” and that Mueller’s report “will be extraordinarily damning.” That’s the report that Trump is delusionally saying now that he is “very happy” about. Yeah, right.

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

Semper WTFi? Trump Tells Fox News that He Only Supports the Military if They Bow Down to Him

Posted by on November 18, 2018 at 2:00 pm. 6 Comments :

This has been a busy Sunday for Donald Trump. When he wasn’t posting flagrant propaganda videos of himself disrespecting California fire victims, he was excitedly planted in front of his television so that he could fire off rapid responses to the insolence directed at him by those pesky Democrats and wayward Republicans. So naturally he lashed out the imaginary “caravan” of criminal invaders marching toward the U.S. border. He posted an infantile tweet that referred to Rep. Adam Schiff and Adam “Schitt.” And he promoted his latest appearance on State TV (aka Fox News) with Chris Wallace.

Bill McRaven, Donald Trump

There was a lot of blathering idiocy throughout the interview, and it can be viewed in conveniently sectioned off pieces here. But one area of particular interest was when Wallace sought Trump’s reaction to remarks made by retired Admiral William McRaven. Trump twice interrupted Wallace as he tried to ask the question regarding McRaven saying that Trump’s attacks on the press are “the greatest threat to democracy in my lifetime.” Eventually Wallace got the question out and it resulted in this disturbing exchange (video below):

Wallace: Bill McRaven. Retired admiral. Thirty-seven years. Former head of Special Operations…
Trump: Hillary Clinton fan.
Wallace: Special operations…
Trump: Excuse me. Hillary Clinton fan.
Wallace: …who led the operations, commanded the operations that took down Saddam Hussein and that killed Osama bin Laden, says that your sentiment is the greatest threat to democracy in his lifetime.
Trump: Okay. He’s a Hillary Clinton backer and an Obama backer. And frankly, wouldn’t it have been nice if we got Osama bin Laden a lot sooner than that?

Holy Shiitake Mushrooms. Trump actually has the gall to disparage a Navy Seal with more than three decades of service to his country, and whose leadership helped bring down two of America’s most virulent foes. And Trump’s reason for slamming McRaven was that he allegedly supported a couple of Democrats (aka Americans). What’s more, Trump’s insult went off the deep end by belittling McRaven’s accomplishments because they hadn’t happened sooner. For the record, George W. Bush had eight years to deal with bin Laden. Under Obama, bin Laden was dead in two years. And that was while Obama was also dealing with Bush’s Great Recession. Trump, on the other hand, evaded military service entirely via five questionable deferments. He has no moral standing to criticize McRaven, Obama, Clinton, or anyone else.

It’s also worth noting that Trump is lying again. McRaven was not a supporter of Clinton or Obama. He never endorsed either and he served presidents of both parties. However, he was on the Trump transition team’s short list for a top national security post. Which makes his slander all the more repulsive.

This ought to be a wake up call for every member of the military, every veteran, and every American who supports them, that Trump has zero respect for their service or commitment to duty. Unless, that is, they are also slavishly adoring of him personally. Anyone who demonstrates independent thought or otherwise veers from total devotion to Trump is discarded and treated like traitors no matter how impressive or patriotic their past. Trump will turn on you if you fail to worship him sufficiently. And that’s not patriotism, it’s malignant narcissism with tyrannical tendencies.

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

CNN Files Lawsuit Against Trump & Co. for Violation of the First Amendment

Posted by on November 13, 2018 at 10:07 am. 1 Comments :

Last week Donald Trump’s administration was especially hostile to the press that they despise so fiercely. Trump addressed a post-election press conference and proceeded to insult several (mostly African-American women) journalists. As News Corpse noted at the time: “It was a disgraceful display of infantile tantrum throwing by our crybaby president who is too weak to face a group of reporters without breaking down into insults and bullying.”

Donald Trump, CNN

Shortly after that press conference, the White House announced that they were suspending the credentials of CNN’s White House correspondent Jim Acosta. They fabricated a story alleging that he “placed his hands” on an intern as she tried to grab the microphone away from him. However, the video of the event proved unambiguously that the White House was lying, as usual. But that didn’t stop them from distributing a “doctored” version of the video that they got from the disreputable conspiracy crackpots at Infowars.

On Tuesday morning CNN announced that they are suing Trump and his band of totalitarian oppressors of free speech. The suit explicitly cites the constitutional breach of the First Amendment’s rights to freedom of the press and Fifth Amendment rights to due process. CNN’s statement reads:

“CNN filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration this morning in DC District Court. It demands the return of the White House credentials of CNN’s Chief White House correspondent, Jim Acosta. The wrongful revocation of these credentials violates CNN and Acosta’s First Amendment rights of freedom of the press, and their Fifth Amendment rights to due process. We have asked this court for an immediate restraining order requiring the pass be returned to Jim, and will seek permanent relief as part of this process. While the suit is specific to CNN and Acosta, this could have happened to anyone. If left unchallenged, the actions of the White House would create a dangerous chilling effect for any journalist who covers our elected officials.”

The lawsuit names several members of the administration who are complicit in the violation. They include Trump, his chief of staff John Kelly, his deputy chief of staff for communications (and former Fox News president) Bill Shine, and his press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. It’s a confederacy of Republican Nationalists bent on subverting democracy and squelching free speech.

It would be surprising if this suit made it to court. Crybaby Trump will likely chicken out and restore Acosta’s credentials before that happens. But the damage is already done as this unlawful White House demonstrates that they couldn’t care less about America’s constitutional principles.

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

Fortunately, the next Congress plans to do something about that. Rep. Adam Schiff, the incoming chair of the House Intelligence Committee, has told reporters that he intends to hold hearings on Trump’s reckless assaults on the press which go way beyond mere name calling as “fake news” and “the enemy of the people.” It includes his use of the Justice Department to punish media organizations he doesn’t like. And because elections have consequences, he isn’t going to get away with it for much longer.

Trump’s Abuse of Power: New Democratic Intel Committee Chair to Probe Attacks on the Media

Posted by on November 11, 2018 at 11:18 am. 2 Comments :

The success of the Democratic “Blue Wave” that rolled over the Republican Nationalist Party last Tuesday – and continues still – is certain to have a profound effect on the next Congress. With a Democratic majority in the House of Representatives, led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, every committee chair will be a Democrat who is now free to hold the Trump regime accountable for its many unlawful and unethical acts.

Donald Trump

One of those new chairs is Adam Schiff of the House Intelligence Committee. He has a broad mandate to investigate the administration on everything from the Russia collusion to obstruction of justice to Trump’s unsavory relationships with foreign dictators like Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un. And on Sunday morning Schiff identified another topic of inquiry that is critically important to the nation’s security and freedom.

Schiff told Axios that he is planning to hold hearings on Trump’s reckless and anti-constitutional assaults on the free press. This is long overdue for a censorious president who whines “fake news” whenever he doesn’t like the facts about him being accurately reported. It’s overdue for notorious liar who repeatedly refers to the media in Stalinist terms as “the enemy of the people.”

Just this week Trump attacked several journalists, calling them “stupid” and “rude” and “racist” and otherwise insulting them personally and professionally. And it is not inconsequential that three of those reporters were African-American women. Trump also suspended the White House pass for CNN’s Jim Acosta, falsely accusing him of “placing his hands” on an intern who was trying to grab the microphone away from him. Later, Trump threatened to revoke more passes in the future.

According to Axios, there two primary issues that Schiff cited as worthy of further inquiry:

1) Schiff said Trump “was secretly meeting with the postmaster [general] in an effort to browbeat the postmaster [general] into raising postal rates on Amazon.”

“This appears to be an effort by the president to use the instruments of state power to punish Jeff Bezos and The Washington Post,” Schiff said. Jeff Bezos is founder, chairman and CEO of Amazon, and owns the Washington Post.

2) Schiff said Congress also need to examine whether Trump attempted to block AT&T’s merger with Time Warner as payback to CNN.

“We don’t know, for example, whether the effort to hold up the merger of the parent of CNN was a concern over antitrust, or whether this was an effort merely to punish CNN,” Schiff said.

Trump is an infantile grudge holder who fervently despises CNN and regularly seeks to disparage the network without any valid cause. That’s why he unsuccessfully opposed the merger with AT&T. Likewise, Trump hates (and is jealous of) real billionaire Jeff Bezos, who’s ownership of the Washington Post triggered Trump’s baseless attacks on Amazon.

These and other acts of Trumpian tyranny warrant investigation and sanction of the President. Not merely to slap the wrist of a crybaby wannabe dictator, but to preserve the sanctity of the free press and the Constitution. Schiff is doing the right thing and his plans should remind Trump and his GOP co-conspirators that elections have consequences.

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

Trump Zings AG Sessions with Quote by GOP Chairman that Ignores His Debunking of ‘Spygate’

Posted by on May 30, 2018 at 9:53 am. NO Comments :

Republican House Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy attended a classified Department of Justice briefing last week with the congressional “Gang of Eight” (top members of both parties). The meeting was arranged by Donald Trump to improperly disclose information about an informant used by the FBI during its investigation of suspicious contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives. This is the core of the controversy that Trump has been railing against for months as he tries to discredit the FBI and the inquiry by special counsel Robert Mueller. Trump refers to it as a hoax and calls it the “Collusion Witch Hunt.” Never mind that there have already been dozens of indictments and five guilty pleas. That’s a lot of witches, and it’s a long way from being over.

Donald Trump Jeff Sessions

Shortly after the meeting Democrat Adam Schiff told the press that there was nothing in the presentation that confirmed Trump’s wild accusations that the FBI planted a “spy” in his campaign. But Republicans said nothing at all, fueling speculation that what Schiff said was accurate. Now Gowdy has come forward and corroborated Schiff’s account. He said that:

“I am even more convinced that the FBI did exactly what my fellow citizens would want them to do when they got the information they got, and that it has nothing to do with Donald Trump.”

So Gowdy disagrees completely with Trump’s baseless “spygate” malarkey. However, on Tuesday evening Trump held a rally in Nashville where he brought up the matter and stated as a fact that the FBI had infiltrated his campaign. He offered no further proof of the allegation, but he got the response he expected from the glassy-eyed disciples in his audience. Which is what he was going for on Wednesday morning when he tweeted some remarks from Gowdy that left out entirely the sharp rebuking above. Trump focused on whether or not he should have selected Jeff Sessions to be his Attorney General:

The problem with that version of events is that Sessions could not have known at the time of his appointment that he would have to recuse himself. For one thing, there was no “most important case” in progress at the time of Sessions’ appointment. For another, the reason for the recusal included Sessions’ testimony at his confirmation hearings where he denied having any contact with Russians. That was false. Consequently, he made himself a potential witness in the investigation which required his recusal. So Trump is criticizing Sessions for not having “shared these reasons for recusal before he took the job,” which would have been impossible without being able to see into the future.

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 points to additional evidence of Trump’s guilt and subsequent efforts to obstruct justice. Add to this the new report that Trump tried to get Sessions to reverse his recusal, which would have been a clear violation of legal ethics. Not that ethics ever had anything to do with what Trump does or says. But that attempt has now become another plank in Mueller’s probe.

Fox and Friends Guest Blasts Adam Schiff in a Painfully Stupid Rant About Impeaching Trump

Posted by on May 5, 2018 at 12:58 pm. 1 Comments :

There is only way place to go these days if you’re looking for unrelenting, mind-numbing idiocy on television. The Fox News morning show, Fox and Friends, isn’t Donald Trump’s favorite for nothing. It features a cast of “Curvy Couch” potatoes who seem to enjoy presenting themselves as unabashed morons. And naturally, their guest line up is just as feeble-minded as they (and their audience) are.

Fox News, Dan Bongino

Fox contributor and NRA shill Dan Bongino visited Fox and Friends to whimper about an op-ed published by Rep. Adam Schiff in the New York Times. The headline reads “Democrats: Don’t Take the Bait on Impeachment.” Schiff’s position is that impeachment should not be a political goal in and of itself, independent of legal basis supported by facts. He’s concerned that Democrats might get too far in front of the issue and create a backlash:

“…if impeachment is seen by a substantial part of the country as merely an effort to nullify an election by other means, there will be no impeachment, no matter how high the crime or serious the misdemeanor.”

And he continues…

“Given the evidence that is already public, I can well understand why the president fears impeachment [but] Democrats should not take the bait.”

So Schiff unequivocally calls for a tempered approach that doesn’t politicize the very real legal matters that are being investigated by special counsel Robert Mueller. However, this reasonable attitude became a target of derision by Bongino. In a feverish tirade Bongino lashed out at Schiff for being fair-minded and rational – and for agreeing with him (video below):

“Adam Schiff is a fraud. I’m sorry, he’s a fraud. And I say it and I mean it. I know those are harsh words, but Adam Schiff is not a stupid man. This is a smart guy. Adam Schiff has access to information on his Intel Committee that you and I don’t. He has known for at least a year now, if not longer, that this collusion story with the Russians is a hoax.”

Apparently Bongino has the gift of clairvoyance since he is able to discern from Schiff’s thoughts that he has knowledge that he is withholding. However, another explanation might be that Schiff does indeed have access to information that supports his position regarding Trump and Russian collusion. As he pointed out in the op-ed, the evidence that is already public is pretty damn incriminating. But Bongino prefers to rely on what he picks up telepathically while watching Schiff on TV:

“He has gone on every media channel he can – puts his make up on, does his thing – and has said that Trump has colluded with the Russians. The only reason he’s writing this op-ed now, I believe, is because he’s starting to see that the American public, based on polling data, is catching on that this is a hoax and it’s getting frustrating. Schiff is a fraud. He’s not doing the right thing. He’s doing the easy thing.”

For the record, every poll on the subject shows that the American people believe that Trump worked with Russia to help him get elected. They also overwhelmingly support Mueller’s investigation and want it to continue. These survey results were even affirmed by a poll conducted by Fox News. Bongino doesn’t bother to disclose the polling data he allegedly has, but it’s ironic that he’s making these ridiculous claims on the network whose own poll contradicts him.

Finally, Bongino is obviously too dense to grasp that his bitching about Schiff is an assault on logic. He’s complaining that Schiff wrote an article that argues against focusing on impeaching Trump, which is an opinion that Bongino shares. So does Bongino think that Schiff should have written an article advocating impeachment instead? Perhaps then Bongino would not be calling Schiff a fraud, but he would certainly be condemning him for advocating impeachment.

Bongino really needs to make up his mind. But you would need to have one that’s functioning to do so. On the plus side, by lacking critical thinking skills and having a rabid animosity toward all things Democratic, Bongino has secured himself a safe spot on Fox News for many years to come. And he’ll fit right in with Fox’s hosts and guests who share similar mental defects and biases.

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

Moscow is Laughing: Trump’s Sunday Morning Tweetstorm is More Unhinged than Usual

Posted by on February 18, 2018 at 1:31 pm. 6 Comments :

It’s panic time at the White House. Special counsel Robert Mueller’s indictments against Russians for election tampering are bringing the culpability of Donald Trump ever closer to the surface. And the best confirmation of that is the ferocity of Trump’s frantic and implausible denials. He is behaving like a cornered rat that is consumed with fear.

Donald Trump

Consequently, he is resorting to his standard means of projecting his fear outward. Secure in his Twitter safe space, Trump is lashing out at phantom foes and perceived enemies with ludicrous accusations, insults, and shaky justifications. His Sunday morning tweetstorm was bursting with madness and paranoia. It’s astonishing that someone hasn’t told him how guilty this hysteria makes him look. And it’s a symptom of his sickness that he thinks any of this helps. Let’s delve deeper into the diseased mind of Trump:

Trump has accidentally conceded something that is surely true. They are laughing their asses off in Moscow. But it isn’t because of committee hearings and investigations. It’s because of how successful they were in putting their puppet at the helm of the American government. And they probably also think it’s pretty funny that he has proven to be so incompetent at governing. And the fact that Trump is advancing the agenda of Vladimir Putin and defending him against fellow Americans who see through these crimes is worth a guffaw or two in the Kremlin.

And then there’s this:

Trump’s desperation is showing in that it’s no longer enough to just attach childish nicknames (“Liddle”) to his opponents. He is now elongating them with ridiculous descriptions (“leakin’ monster of no control”). Sounds a little like Trump is accusing Rep. Adam Schiff of having a gastrointestinal problem. More to the point, Trump is actually admitting now that there was Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Although he is misdirecting the blame to his favorite black nemesis, Barack Obama. However, Trump is lying about what Schiff said. The Democratic congressman was talking about a missed opportunity to deal with hacking after an incident in 2014 with Sony Pictures. It was a call for more transparency that Schiff believed might have been a deterrent to the Russians who came along later.

But Trump wasn’t through yet:

This is just patently false. There is no poll by McLaughlin that puts Republicans ahead of Democrats in a generic congressional ballot. In fact, Democrats lead the GOP in almost every match-up on this. If Trump isn’t consumed with fear, then why is he lying?

Finally:

Trump really thinks the American people are stupid. And with regard to his followers, I can’t argue with that. He has been saying for months that the whole Russia investigation was a hoax, not just the the matter of collusion (which is also not a hoax). He actually told reporters that he had asked Putin about the meddling and that Putin denied it. And Trump insisted that he was satisfied with Putin’s word, saying “Every time he sees me, he says, ‘I didn’t do that,’ and I really believe that when he tells me that, he means it.” How thoughtful. Trump believes his friend Vladimir, but not the American intelligence professionals who work for him. And if you need more evidence of Trump dismissing Russian election tampering, just listen to Trump himself:

Update: Later on Sunday Trump (who doesn’t have time to watch TV) saw Oprah Winfrey on 60 Minutes interviewing voters in Michigan. And, having no presidential work to do, he posted a new tweet attacking her:

WOW! Trump thinks Oprah is insecure? Mr. Small Hands, Big Buttons? The same Trump who constantly insults enemies with childish nicknames; who needs to brag incessantly about his imaginary awesomeness; who lies with every breath; who is obsessed with former political foes and past failures; who is clearly scared and panicked about his legal future? That Trump thinks Oprah is insecure?

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