Trump Tweet-Shriek’s that America is ‘No Longer Great’ and is ‘Going to Hell’

The stench of desperation is getting thicker in Trump World. That would explain the rash of frenzied tweets being posted by his spokes-shill, Liz Harrington (whose proxy Trump tweeting is violating Twitter’s rules against circumventing a ban). He just unleashed a new flurry of disjointed sentence fragments that pass for the “intellectual” commentary of “stable genius” Donald Trump.

Donald Trump

Among the offerings on Wednesday morning is a tweet linking to a Breitbart article that appears to be celebrating that “Joe Biden Job Approval [is] 10 Points Worse than Obama During Presidency”

OK. It’s also ten points better than Trump. So what exactly is his point? That Obama was exceptionally popular? Or that Trump is a loser who never hit 50% approval during the entirety of his single term that featured two impeachments, more than half a million COVID fatalities, numerous indictments of his closest White House advisors, and the storming of Congress by violent insurrectionists as part of an attempted coup? (FYI: Biden’s approval ratings are on the upswing, topping 50% again).

Trump is still disgorging ludicrous assertions that the 2020 presidential election was “rigged” and that he will be reinstated before 2024. That’s a claim that is not only preposterous, it “terrifies” his own former press secretary, Stephanie Grisham.

Yet somehow Trump, in a narcissistic stupor, has convinced himself that his return to power is immanent and as proof he tweeted that “Bob Woodward Says He’s Never Seen a Former President With as Much Political Strength as Trump”

OK. Of course no former president has ever refused to concede, or been so obsessed with maintaining a perpetual campaign in pursuit of adulation and donations that he could steal. What’s more, apparently Trump didn’t watch the whole interview of Woodward on CNN. Had he done so, he would know that Woodward wasn’t complimenting him. Woodward prefaced his remarks about Trump by associating them with a quote about “deference” to Russian dictators. In context Woodward said that…

“What’s going on now really is an iron curtain of obedience to Trump. It’s not just polite deference, it is obedience. […] This is a political strength that we have rarely seen, never seen from a former president. […and quoting Trump’s CIA Director Gina Haskell…] We are on the way to a right-wing coup. The whole thing is insanity. Trump is acting out like a six year old with a tantrum.”

It’s interesting that Trump is posting remarks by Woodward, who he previously dismissed as “a liar” and “a joke.” Woodward’s books about the Trump presidency include the appropriately descriptive titles Fear, and Rage, and most recently Peril, whose, description by the publisher features this alarming blurb: “The transition from President Donald J. Trump to President Joseph R. Biden Jr. stands as one of the most dangerous periods in American history.” Yet Trump is now citing him favorably, albeit without having any idea what he’s talking about.

Worst of all are Trump’s recent tweets that are so filled with venom directed at America that it’s impossible for him to claim any measure of patriotism. In one tweet he said that…

“Everything is falling apart, our military is in shambles, the shelves of our stores are empty, COVID continues to rage at levels higher than last year, we have no oil, we have no courage, we have nothing. Our country is a laughingstock all over the world, and is certainly no longer great.”

In the other tweet Trump ranted that it’s…

“Not even possible to believe the lies, exaggerations, and outright fraud committed by very poorly rated Morning “News” Shows about the January 6th protest. They say whatever comes to their mind, like writing a fictional novel. The press has lost its way at a level that is not even believable. Books, likewise, are made up stories and should only be sold as fiction. These are terrible human beings that do this to our Country. The 2020 Election was a fraud rife with errors, irregularities, and scandal. The Radical Left knows it, the media knows it, and the Patriots of our Country know it, and now the U.S.A. is paying a big price—it is very sadly going to hell!

Seriously? So now Trump’s 2024 campaign theme is focused on the denial of American “greatness” and that the nation is “going to hell!” Plus, he thinks that all books “should only be sold as fiction.” That’s part of his cult doctrine that demands unflinching fealty to Dear Leader, who is the only person that his disciples are permitted to believe.

These tweets are further evidence of Trump’s poisonous mental infirmities. They exhibit his authoritarian aspirations, his lust for unchallenged power, and his callous disregard for the principles embedded in our Constitution. And if the American people aren’t vigilant and committed to stopping Trump’s march toward fascism, this experiment in democracy will end in failure.

NOTE: Twitter suspended the News Corpse account after 11 years without giving a reason. So if anyone wants to tweet articles from my website, please feel free to do so often and repeatedly. Also, Be sure to visit and follow News Corpse on Instagram. Thanks for your support.

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

OF COURSE: Fox News Blames Obama for ‘Missing Huge Opportunity’ to Leave Afghanistan

President Biden’s determination that the twenty year long Afghanistan war would not be handed down to another American president is a goal that the vast majority of the American people agree with. In fact, before Biden took on the task, Republicans, including Donald Trump, agreed with it.

Obama Fox News

This was never going to be a easy job, and the difficulties inherent in such an operation were tragically borne out when an ISIS terrorist took the lives of 13 American soldiers and an estimated 150 Afghan civilians. Nevertheless, Biden’s team orchestrated the largest personnel airlift in history, evacuating more than 100,000 people in less than a month. All the while Trump was slandering Biden for achieving an objective for which Trump had notoriously failed.

Naturally, Fox News couldn’t stand by and witness this unprecedented evacuation without finding some way of maligning Biden and the U.S. military, and turning the whole affair into propaganda piece for Trump and his Republican Party. Some of the attacks were vicious and bizarre, such as their attempt to blame First Lady Jill Biden for what they portrayed as a “debacle”. That ludicrous shifting of responsibility brought only ridicule to Fox News.

Undeterred, Fox News has now focused on a new culprit whom they can pin this thing on: Former President Barack Obama. Because whenever there is any problem that might reflect badly on the right-wing beneficiaries of Fox’s bullshittery, they resort to their old standby: Blame the Black guy. Thus we have a story on the Fox News website headlined, “Obama missed huge opportunity to get out of Afghanistan, general says.”

The article accuses Obama of having missed the opportunity to exit Afghanistan following the termination of Al Qaeda leader, Osama Bin Laden. The assumption being that with Bin Laden’s death there was no more terrorist threat at all. But even if there were some truth to the suggestion that Obama could have withdrawn U.S. troops at that time, Fox News wasn’t just faulting him for letting that opportunity slip away. They went even further charging that by not leaving then, he was “thus extending U.S. troops’ time in the country for another 10 years.”

Did you catch that? Fox News is hanging responsibility for the war continuing on Obama, not just for the remainder of his term, but for the entirety of Trump’s term. In Fox World Trump is blameless even though he campaigned on ending the war, but failed to fulfill that promise for four years.

What’s more, the article also hit Biden’s decision to finally take action, saying that it was “a decision that emboldened the Taliban.” Never mind that it was Trump who negotiated the “surrender agreement” with the Taliban, completely leaving out the Afghan government.

It was just a matter of time before Fox News got around to blaming the Black guy. They had already failed to get any traction out of fingering Dr. Jill Biden. And the President was performing too well to continuing pursuing that path. So the next target would have had to have been Hillary Clinton or Obama. Consequently, Hillary might want to prepare for some incoming attacks after the Obama assault proves to be futile.

NOTE: Twitter suspended the News Corpse account after 11 years without giving a reason. So if anyone wants to tweet articles from my website, please feel free to do so often and repeatedly. Also, Be sure to visit and follow News Corpse on Instagram. Thanks for your support.

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

Jim Jordan, and Fox News, Attack Obama’s Birthday Party, Get Blown to Bits by Jen Psaki

The Republican Party continues to suffer a deficit of exploitable scandals to pin on President Joe Biden. His approval rating is holding steady and his legislative agenda is progressing with surprisingly bipartisan support. As a result the GOP, and their Ministry of Propaganda (aka Fox News) are forced to manufacture hit pieces in order to keep the peasants sufficiently pissed off.

Obama Fox News

To that end, Ohio’s QAnon Republican, Jim Jordan, posted a tweet aimed at embarrassing former President Barack Obama. Referencing his upcoming birthday party, Jordan said that “This is a dangerous super-spreader event. How can someone be so reckless? They’re killing people.” These are, Jordan claimed “The things Democrats would say if this was President Trump’s birthday party.”

The only problem with that is literally everything. To begin with, the link that Jordan provided in his attempted hate-tweet contradicted his criticisms. And you didn’t even have to click on it. Right below Jordan’s ranting it said that “The party will be held outdoors, all guests are asked to be vaccinated and there will be a COVID-coordinator.” If you did click on it, there were further details that revealed that “Martha’s Vineyard does not qualify as an area of ‘substantially-high’ risk, which was the target of the CDC recommendations.”

So Obama’s party will not be a reckless, super-spreader event that would be killing anyone. It will be an appropriately managed affair that is in accordance with CDC guidelines, and that takes into consideration the well being of the guests. If this was Trump’s birthday party, the only thing that Democrats would be saying is how astonished they are by his uncharacteristically responsible behavior.

Of course, Trump would never conduct himself with such concern and competence. In fact, he just announced another Super-Spreader Cult Rally later this month in Alabama, where masks, vaccinations, social distancing, etc., will be purposely ignored. Alabama presently has among the lowest rates of vaccination and among highest increase in new cases. So expect it get even worse there, and in the surrounding areas.

Meanwhile, Fox News White House correspondent, Peter Doocy, broached the same subject at the White House daily press briefing. It’s almost as if these people have plotted out there talking points for the day in advance. However,, as usual, Doocy was gently humiliated by press secretary Jen Psaki, when he asked what he surely thought would be a devastating “gotcha” question:

Doocy: Is President Obama setting a wrong example about how serious COVID-19 is by hosting a big birthday party with hundreds of people this week?
Psaki: Well, I would certainly refer you to the team who is working for my former boss to give you more specifics of what the protocols are in place. But I would note first that former President Obama has been a huge advocate of individuals getting vaccinated. What CDC has provided guidance on is for indoor settings in high or substantial high zones of COVID cases. This event, according to all the public reporting, is outdoors and in a moderate zone. But in addition there is testing requirements and other steps they are taking which I am sure they can outline for you in more detail.

Not satisfied, Doocy asked the exact same question two more times, while Psaki struggled to give him the same answer in different ways hoping that it would get through to him.

These pathetic attempts to turn a birthday celebration into a horror story only demonstrate how desperate Fox News and the Republicans are for anything to beat up on Democrats with. But it also reveals how ignorant they are about the state of the COVID pandemic and the proper procedures to conduct business during it, while maintaining the health and safety of everyone concerned.

If Fox News cared about the welfare of the American people they wouldn’t have spent the last year lying to them about the pandemic. Which they are still doing now. And the same goes for Republicans like Jordan whose only interests are preserving power and pleasing Dear Leader Trump by patronizing his delusional and narcissistic worldview.

UPDATE: In an effort to be exceedingly cautious and responsible, Obama Scales back his birthday bash amid COVID.

NOTE: Twitter suspended the News Corpse account after 11 years without giving a reason. So if anyone wants to tweet articles from my website, please feel free to do so often and repeatedly. Also, Be sure to visit and follow News Corpse on Instagram. Thanks for your support.

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

Tucker Carlson of Fox News: ‘Creepy Old Guy’ Obama Will Force Your Kids to Get Vaccinated

Fox News has been on a campaign to assure that as many Americans as possible get sick and die from COVID-19 for the better part of a year. They have devotedly supported Donald Trump’s aggressively idiotic positions, including the promotion of fake cures like hydroxychloroquine and bleach. They have downplayed the severity of the illness as being comparable to the common flu. (See also RAGE, by Bob Woodward). And, sadly, they have had some success at persuading their pitifully gullible viewers that the pandemic is a hoax.

Obama Fox News

As a result, studies have shown that watching Fox News actually increases coronavirus fatalities. And no one on Fox has contributed more to the deliberate harm than the network’s Senior Pro-COVID Correspondent, Tucker Carlson. Among his recent oral atrocities are conspiratorial assertions that the vaccine “doesn’t work and they’re simply not telling you that.” He also commanded his dimwitted viewers to call the police to report parents who made their children wear face masks as child abusers.

On Monday night Carlson escalated the crazy in a tirade against vaccines and anyone who advocated getting them. What triggered Carlson this time was new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) making everyone 16 years and older eligible for vaccinations. Responsible media and public figures conveyed that message to the nation. And that was something that Carlson just couldn’t tolerate:

“NBC News is now running – you may have seen these PSAs – public service announcements with its on-air talent – demanding that everyone in the country get the shot. Barack Obama just released this creepy little video telling small children to get the shot.

‘Hi everybody. It’s Barack. Now that every American over the age of 16 is eligible to get the vaccine, I want to talk about you getting your. The vaccine is safe, it’s effective, it’s free. I got one. Michelle got one.. People you know got one.. And now you can got one too. It’s the only way we can get back to all the things we love. From safely spending time with grandparents, to going to concerts and watching live sports. So get the vaccine as soon as you can.’

“Some creepy old guy telling your children, your little kids to take medicine whose effects we do not fully understand. Totally normal. Yeah, that happens every day. Don’t ask questions. Just do it. As CNN explained just recently, ‘We’re not getting our freedom back until you do.'”

First of all, nobody is “demanding that everyone in the country get the shot.” That’s Carlson’s patently dishonest way of fostering irrational fears of tyrannical overlords. Certainly Obama didn’t demand anything. He calmly presented his personal advice about a vaccine that is safe, effective, and will save lives.

So naturally Carlson jumped into a vat of angry bombast to malign Obama as a “creepy old guy,” purposely insinuating the mental image of a child molester. And he repeated his scare mongering that a vaccine that more than 100 million Americans have already received is dangerous and untested.

Later in the segment Carlson complained that The View’s Sunny Hostin had made race an issue when she noted correctly that 45% of white evangelicals and nearly 50% of Republicans were resistant to vaccines. Carlson, as Fox’s most prominent white nationalist, routinely makes race an issue no matter what the subject might be (see his advocacy of the white replacement theory).

Whenever Carlson unleashes his bitter, hateful, and ignorant harangues, we must remember that Fox News defended him in a defamation lawsuit by arguing – successfully – that he couldn’t possibly be guilty because “no reasonable person” would take him seriously. The problem is that his viewers are not reasonable and they take his word as gospel. And in matters involving the mitigation of a deadly pandemic, that makes life more perilous for everybody.

For that reason – as well as his rancid racism – Carlson should be banished from TV and public life. Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch are ultimately responsible for perpetuating this horror show. And they must be held accountable if they fail to act.

NOTE: Twitter recently suspended the News Corpse account after 11 years without giving a reason. So if anyone wants to tweet articles from my website, please feel free to do so often and repeatedly. Also, Be sure to visit and follow News Corpse on Instagram. AThanks for your support.

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

In Honor of World Mental Health Day, Invoke the 25th Amendment on Trump

This week House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that the House of Representatives would consider establishing “an independent commission under the 25th Amendment to the Constitution to evaluate a president’s health and oversee the transfer of power to the vice president if the president becomes incapacitated while in office.” This is a long overdue measure that protects the interests of the nation under dire circumstances.

Trump Fear

This also happens to be World Mental Health Day, an annual observation of the need to focus attention on mental health issues and their personal and institutional impact on society. It’s sponsor, the World Health Organization (WHO), notes that…

“This year’s World Mental Health Day, on 10 October, comes at a time when our daily lives have changed considerably as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The past months have brought many challenges: for health-care workers, providing care in difficult circumstances, going to work fearful of bringing COVID-19 home with them; for students, adapting to taking classes from home, with little contact with teachers and friends, and anxious about their futures; for workers whose livelihoods are threatened; for the vast number of people caught in poverty or in fragile humanitarian settings with extremely limited protection from COVID-19; and for people with mental health conditions, many experiencing even greater social isolation than before. And this is to say nothing of managing the grief of losing a loved one, sometimes without being able to say goodbye.”

Unfortunately, Donald Trump withdrew from the WHO after falsely accusing it of being an accomplice to what Trump believes was China’s deliberate spreading of the coronavirus. In fact, that was just Trump’s way of evading his own responsibility for failing to handle the COVID-19 pandemic as it spread across the United States, and even into the White House.

Trump’s delusional attacks on China, the WHO, Democrats, and the media, are all further evidence of the need for Pelosi’s commission. He is an unstable, malignant narcissist and an aspiring dictator. He is the poster child (with an emphasis on “child”) for mental health awareness. He believes the world revolves around him and that he is superior to the other pathetic creatures that inhabit it. Once, when asked who he consults with, he replied that “My primary consultant is myself” because “I have a very good brain and I’ve said a lot of things.” That attitude, along with an array of other symptoms of mental impairment, are reason enough to worry.

In the nearly four long years since Trump was sworn in as president, his erratic and impulsive behavior has caused broad based concern. He has continued his bromance with Russia’s dictator Vladimir Putin, and other brutal authoritarians, while alienating longtime allies. His attacks on the media border on obsession and are aimed at delegitimizing any criticism. He has a perverse fixation on polling and crowd size. He repeatedly makes statements that are easily debunked as lies. And his Twitter feed is a scrolling document of mental instability.

Recently, Trump has taken to demanding that his Attorney Genuflect, Bill Barr, arrest, indict, and prosecute his political adversaries, including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Joe Biden. And after turning the White House into a coronavirus “Hot Zone,” he is holding a rally there and inviting 2,000 people to participate in another Super Spreader event.

What better time to honor World Mental Health Day than while a madman is running rampant in Washington, D.C. and threatening not to leave after he’s voted out? This nation has endured many difficulties, but teetering on the edge of a fascist dictatorship overseen be a certifiably insane cult leader is not one than anyone contemplated. And we must not allow Trump and his army of glassy-eyed disciples to succeed.

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

Trump’s Propaganda Press Conference Turns Into a Fox News Promo

On Thursday afternoon, Donald Trump held another of his phony press conferences that are really reelection campaign events illegally held in the White House. But this one was even more brazenly self-serving than those in the past, which were almost entirely self-serving.

Donald Trump, Fox News, White House

As usual, Trump spent the first half hour bragging about accomplishments that didn’t exist. In his fantasy brain the economy is soaring (it’s in recession) and there is no pandemic (it’s still killing more than a thousand Americans every day).

Trump finished his fictional storytime reading and turned to the reporters to take questions. He only took two before he scurried off with his tail between his legs. The first question was about his deadly deception revealed in Bob Woodward’s new book, RAGE! ABC’s Jonathan Karl asked “Why did you lie to the American people, and why should we trust what you have to say now?” Trump replied “That’s a terrible question and the phraseology. I didn’t lie. What I said is we have to be calm. We can’t be panicked.”

But of course, he did very obviously lie. And it had nothing to do with avoiding panic. If a hurricane was coming you wouldn’t call it a Democratic hoax and insist that it would disappear like a miracle. You would alert the public and advise them to take all necessary precautions. That’s what Trump actually did prior to Hurricane Dorian) I guess he didn’t care about creating a panic then.

Trump went on to say that his confession that he lied was excusable because the person he confessed to didn’t report it quickly enough. Which is a rather bizarre justification for lying. And it doesn’t even dispute that it was a lie. He then took the second question was about the Durham report, a politically stained probe triggered by Trump’s hostility toward his predecessor, Barack Obama, and orchestrated by Trump’s flunky Attorney Genuflect, Bill Barr.

In the course of Trump’s ranting falsely about how he was spied on by the Obama administration, he attempted to back up his allegations by citing his favorite source for classified intelligence, Fox News (video below):

“Probably the biggest political scandal in the history of our country. They got caught. Now, what the Durham report is going to say, I can’t tell you. But if they say half as much as I already know, just from seeing it.”

First of all, Trump’s own intelligence agencies, as well as the Republican-run Senate, have confirmed that there was no scandal, no spying on his campaign. Secondly, What the heck does he already know from “seeing” the Durham report, which would be an extraordinary breach of ethics for him to have seen? But he wasn’t finished:

“You know I watch some of the shows, I watched [Fox’s] Elizabeth McDonald, she’s fantastic. I watched Fox Business. I watched Lou Dobbs last night. Sean Hannity last night. Tucker [Carlson] last night. Laura [Ingraham]. I watched Fox and Friends in the morning. You watch these shows, you don’t have to go too far into the details. They cover things that are…it’s really an amazing thing.”

So every single one of the shows that Trump watched were Fox News shows. He spent at least four hours on these notoriously right-wing disseminators of Trump-fluffing propaganda. He has the world’s most extensive network of international intelligence operations reporting to him, but he’s parked in front of the television gulping down Kool-Aid from Hannity and the “Curvy Couch” potatoes. And he’s doing that instead of – you know – actually working. Which may be a good thing.

What’s more, Trump concedes that “you don’t have to go too far into the details,” mainly because the details wouldn’t hold up to scrutiny if you went any farther than scratching the surface. Everything these Trump cult shills promote on their State TV broadcasts is coordinated with, and complimentary to, Trump’s official PR playbook.

There isn’t any breakthrough revelation in the discovery that Trump is addicted to Fox News and vice versa. What’s notable is that he has gotten so mentally lazy that he would make a public statement that is so blatantly aligned with his Ministry of Disinformation. He didn’t even bother to slip in a few names from OANN, Breitbart, or any of the other irrelevant Internet clown shows Trump likes to patronize.

This was all Fox News. An exclusive promo for the network that made him what he is today. And never mind that he has frequently attacked Fox News when they weren’t sufficiently worshipful. He always comes back because there is no one more loyal, more willingly deceitful, and more successful at corralling the Trumpian hoards who are starving for ever more news about Dear Leader. Their relationship may be rocky at times, but it is still strong – and dangerous.

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

What You Need to Know About the Bogus Trump Nomination for a Nobel Peace Prize

STOP THE PRESSES: Wednesday morning Donald Trump posted 17 tweets about his having been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. Many of them from notoriously biased sources like Fox News, OANN, and the Washington Times. However, this is not as significant a story as Trump’s tweetstorm would seem to suggest.

Donald Trump

Trump is an imminent danger to the United States and the world. He has embraced America’s tyrannical enemies and alienated our allies. He has withdrawn the U.S. from critical agreements that have kept the nation safe. For instance…

That’s not exactly a resume that justifies a Nobel Peace Prize nomination. While Trump and his cult followers are celebrating this news, there’s really much less there than they think. In fact, this nomination means nothing at all. Here are a couple of relevant quotes from an article by the Associated Press:

“An anti-immigrant Norwegian lawmaker said Wednesday that he has nominated U.S. President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in the Middle East.”

“Nominations must be sent to the Norwegian Nobel Committee by Feb. 1, meaning the deadline to nominate people for this year’s peace prize has passed.

“Tybring-Gjedde was one of two Norwegian lawmakers who nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018 for efforts to bring reconciliation between North and South Korea.”

This is a repeat performance by a dedicated Trump-fluffer who is determined to help Trump satisfy his obsessive, narcissistic jealousy of President Obama. In other words, nothing to get excited about. Unless you’re Trump, who hammered out 17 tweets. But it isn’t going anywhere.

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

Trump’s Egomaniacal Plot to Upstage the Democratic Convention

There is nothing that irritates Donald Trump more than when he is not the center of attention. His malignant narcissism kicks in bigly if something in the news cycle is deemed more important than his promulgation of lies, undeserved boasts, infantile insults, or relentless hostility and petulant whining. After all, this is the man-baby who once bragged that he is “the most fabulous whiner.”

Donald Trump, Subway

The Democratic National Convention will begin on Monday, August 17, and run until Thursday August 20. This is the quadrennial event where the Party’s nominee is officially designated and the campaign’s themes are rolled out as the election season gears up for the last lap to Election Day. Ordinarily, both parties suspend their political activities during their opponents’ convention. It’s a courtesy that allows each to present their best case to the American people without belligerent interruptions.

Of course, nothing about the Dystopian Era of Trump is ordinary. And his arrogance and vanity won’t allow him to shut his mouth for a few days to honor the respectful traditions of a functional democracy. Trump is succumbing to his unique brand of snotty conceit with the announcement that he intends to spend his time during the Democratic convention heckling them and otherwise making an ass of himself. USA Today reports that

“President Donald Trump will hit the road next week while Democrats rally around Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris during the Democratic National Convention. […] A week-long series of events will include a visit to the city where Biden was born — Scranton, Pennsylvania — on Thursday, Aug. 20, the same day the former vice president is scheduled to deliver his acceptance speech.”

Trump has a long history of trying to manipulate the media to upstage Democrats or grab attention for himself from whatever else the press deems newsworthy. He has been doing this at least as far back as the Republican presidential primaries in 2016, Trump bowed out of a Fox News debate because he was afraid to face moderator Megyn Kelly. Then he scheduled his own media event at the same time, pretending it was a benefit for veterans. However, he later lied about and failed to disburse the funds he raised until after he was caught by the press.

More recently, Trump tried to upstage the first joint appearance of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris by scheduling another of his pointless coronavirus briefings (which the media should not be covering at all). And today Trump attempted to grab the spotlight again by announcing a phony “peace” agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. Trump even employs this tactic by saying something outrageous and despicable to deflect the outrageous and despicable thing he said the day before.

If Trump goes through with this cynical and self-serving charade during the Democratic convention, Democrats need to reciprocate during Trump’s Republican convention the following week. They should schedule newsmaking affairs during Trump’s most engaging events. Which should be easy to counter-program considering that the GOP’s speakers are likely to be less than compelling. They haven’t released a list yet, but in 2016 they featured such luminaries as Duck Dynasty’s Willie Robertson, has-been Scott Baio, Ben Carson, and Ted Cruz.

If Democrats place Barack Obama’s first public appearance with the Biden/Harris ticket during Trump’s acceptance speech on the 27th, how many people do you think will be watching Trump? We already know what he’s going to say: Democrats are radical leftists who want open borders, crime in the streets, gun confiscation, and Satan worship.

Plus, Democrats will give healthcare to all citizens, pursue racial justice, seek income equality through fair taxation and corporate responsibility, and reverse the perils of climate change. Oh wait, those are all things that the American people favor overwhelmingly. Along with restoring America’s reputation internationally, and taking steps to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

So bring it on, Don. The American people already despise you. Trump has never reached 50% in approval polling, a feat that no other president can claim. He is currently losing to Biden in every national poll, as well as in most polls of the crucial swing states. His desperate antics are not likely to rescue his floundering campaign now. All he has left is cheating and Russia. But those are indeed serious threats and Democrats need to be vigilant and determined to overcome them. While things are looking pretty good for Biden and the Democrats, this is not the time to stand down.

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

Trump Rips Obama’s Executive Orders as ‘Major Power Grabs of Authority’

Nobody is surprised anymore by the rank hypocrisy of Donald Trump and his sociopathic aversion to the ethical principles that most Americans hold dear. He has repeatedly revealed himself to be utterly devoid of the personal qualities that define human interactions: goodwill, empathy, charity, and compassion. In his world there is only Trump and what’s best for him.

Barack Obama, Donald Trump

As further evidence of his twisted and sadistic psychoses, Trump endeavored to brazenly politicize the debate over relief for a nation that is suffering the consequences of his incompetent mismanagement of the coronavirus pandemic. It began with him ignoring the fact that Democrats had passed a relief bill in the House of Representatives three months ago that GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell stubbornly refused to allow a vote on. So Trump decided to follow his tyrannical aspirations and unilaterally impose his solutions by dictatorial edict.

Trump characterized his proposals as “Executive Orders” intended to bypass the lawful jurisdiction of Congress. But what Trump actually signed were one executive order and three presidential memoranda, none of which have the force of law. However, they still pose threats to the welfare of the American people and the stability of constitutional governance.

To Trump the law is just an inconvenient obstacle that makes him struggle to figure out ways to defy, disregard, or twist it cynically to his advantage. His attempt to peddle these phony executive orders is a perfect example of his contempt for the ethical administration of the law. In fact, when President Obama was in office, Trump had an entirely different opinion of the use of executive orders:

So when his arch nemesis, Barack Obama, uses executive orders, they are an affront to freedom, an embrace of tyranny, and an admission that you’re a failure at “the art of the deal.” Trump elaborated on this in an interview on Fox News. When the “Curvy Couch” potatoes of Fox and Friends asked Trump if Obama could be impeached for his executive orders, he replied

“Well, he certainly did something that was unconstitutional […] I mean, I think certainly he could be impeached and certainly they could shut down the government.”

Elsewhere on Fox News there were additional assertions of Obama’s alleged tyrannical leanings, here and here.

This is the same Donald Trump who just signed an executive order mandating that all insurance policies must cover preexisting conditions. Apparently no one bothered to tell Trump that Obamacare already does that and has been law for the past ten years. In the meantime, Trump is still trying to repeal Obamacare, including the protection for preexisting conditions, with a lawsuit that is headed for the Supreme Court.

If your head is spinning at this point, just sit down and strap yourself in, because it’s only going to get worse between now and November. We are all witnesses to this blatantly political charade by a demented president whose future is circling the drain, and whose hypocrisy is wildly out of control.


For the record, here’s a quick primer on Trump’s political trickery:

One memorandum purports to provide a $400.00 enhancement to unemployment benefits. That represents a $200.00 cut from the previous benefit. But it is also deceptive in that Trump is only offering $300.00 and asking states to make up the $100.00 difference, which they cannot afford during these pandemic times. And if the states don’t contribute, it’s possible that the federal contribution is voided.

The second memorandum claims to defer student loan payments. But a deferral still means that the students will be required to make up those payments in the still uncertain future.

The third memorandum is especially grotesque. Trump calls it a “payroll tax holiday.” Which means that this will also result in a massive balloon payment next year. Although Trump tries to soften the blow by attempting to blackmail Americans into voting for him with an unfulfillable promise to waive the payroll taxes and terminate any in the future. What’s more, payroll taxes are the sole funding source for Social Security and Medicare. Consequently, terminating them would kill those programs entirely.

Finally, the single actual executive order in the bunch addresses assistance to renters and protection from eviction. However, this “order” merely instructs the Department of Housing and Urban Development to look into the matter with no guarantee of any benefit being delivered to the people.


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

Crybaby Trump Runs to Fox News Following His Latest Media Fiascoes

The flop sweat gushing from Donald Trump is flowing like a tsunami the closer we get to Election Day. His polling continues to languish near historic lows for both reelection and job approval. And even his traditional allies are politically distancing from him for fear of being swept away themselves. it’s a downward spiral that shows no sign of slowing down.

Donald Trump, Mask, Fox News

Trump’s response to the imminent peril that he finds himself in has been to triple down on the lies, insults, and fear mongering, that have been the staples of his campaign. As a result he lashed out at Dr. Deborah Birx, his hand-picked Coronavirus Task Force medical expert, as “pathetic” just because she told the truth for a change. He flip-flopped on his opposition to mail-in voting (but only in Florida where he needs the votes of senior citizens who might not otherwise cast ballots). He made a ludicrous and unconstitutional proposal to delay the election. And he even threatened to ban TikTok from the United States in retaliation for criticism on the app from people like Sarah Cooper.

But that’s not all. Trump’s recent interview by Jonathan Swan of Axios exposed his shallow and hostile knee-jerk defensiveness and inability to engage in a coherent discussion. A PolitiFact analysis identified 22 false statements in the interview. And in a desperate effort to counteract the pitiful image he displayed, he immediately sought refuge in the warm embrace of his Fox News sycophants.

In the past three days Trump has done three phone-in interviews on Fox. One with his BFF Sean Hannity. One with Fox’s Senior Trump-Fluffer, Lou Dobbs. And on Wednesday morning, a full hour (video below) with the “Curvy Couch” potatoes of Fox and Friends. Here are a few of the lowlights:

ON SUSPENDING THE PAYROLL TAX:

FOX: What’s your plan for businesses when it comes to the payroll tax cut?
TRUMP: Well, I may do it myself. We’re negotiating right now. I have the right to suspend it. And I may do it myself. I have the absolute right to suspend…ah, the payroll…ah, do the payroll tax. We call it a payroll tax suspension.

Did our “stable genius” president come up with the idea of calling suspending the payroll tax a “payroll tax suspension” himself? More importantly, does he know that the payroll tax is used exclusively to fund Social Security, and that his proposed suspension would put the program at risk? And finally, he clearly doesn’t know that he has no authority whatsoever to suspend or otherwise alter tax laws passed by Congress. To his great dismay, he is not the American Dictator.

ON OPENING SCHOOLS:

FOX: What is the latest in your view as to how these schools should reopen?
TRUMP: My view is schools should reopen. This thing is going away. It will go away like things go away. And my view is that schools should be open. If you look at children, children are almost – and I would almost say definitely – but almost immune from this disease.

My view is that Trump is almost – and I would almost say definitely – but almost completely insane. He repeats himself ad nauseam without ever answering the question or making an intelligible point. And above all, he is comfortable with exposing children and their families to a deadly virus that is still out of control due to his negligence and incompetence.

ON OBAMA’S EULOGY FOR JOHN LEWIS:

FOX: Do you agree that [Obama’s eulogy for John Lewis] seemed like a campaign speech and less of a eulogy?
TRUMP: I thought it was a terrible speech, it was an angry speech. It showed there’s anger there that people don’t see. He lost control and he’s been really hit very hard by both sides for that speech. That speech was ridiculous.

You really have to wonder if Trump even saw Obama’s inspiring and heart-felt tribute. It is Trump’s review that is “terrible” and “angry” and utterly “ridiculous.”

ON HIS 2ND TERM:

FOX: Mr. President, what is your second term agenda? What are your top priorities?
TRUMP: I want to take where we left – we had the greatest economy in the history of the world. We were better than any other country. We were better than we were ever. We never had anything like it in this country […] What I want to do is take it from that point and build it even better.

Trump went off on a deranged rant about everything from unemployment to the stock market to how awful our allies are. What he never bothered to mention was anything about his second term agenda.

Needless to say, no one on Fox News challenged Trump’s lies or even bothered to ask a follow up question. They merely tossed him softballs and let Trump ramble on incoherently for twenty minutes. So Trump gets away with claiming he can unilaterally undo tax legislation, baselessly project his own anger onto Obama, and failing to articulate an agenda for the future. And for the record. Trump unleashed another 20 falsehoods on the Fox interview.

Which is why the one thing Trump said that is remotely connected to reality was just slightly off the mark. Referring to his prediction about the forward course of the coronavirus pandemic, Trump babbled that “This thing is going away. It will go away like things go away.” However, that typically inane Trumpism is more aptly applied to his presidency. And for those of you with exceptionally strong stomachs and nothing better to do, below is the full Fox and Friends interview.

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