Brian Kilmeade

After Years of Backing Trump’s Denials, Fox News Asks If America is ‘Ready for Russia’ in 2020

Posted by on January 14, 2020 at 1:39 pm. 0 Comments :

New reporting has confirmed that “Russian hackers targeted the Ukrainian gas company [Burisma] that’s a major focus of impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump.” The significance of this cannot be overstated. Recall that candidate Trump asked Russia to hack Hillary Clinton’s emails before the 2016 election. And now we learn that Russia has hacked the company connected to his extortion of Ukraine to probe the Bidens prior to the 2020 election. This isn’t suspicious at all, is it?

Donald Trump Vladimir Putin

Throughout the campaign and into his presidency, Trump sought to defend Russia from charges that it was involved in the hacking of Clinton and the Democratic National Committee. He tried to shift blame to everyone form China to “somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds.” Trump even took the word of Vladimir Putin over that of the United States intelligence community that unanimously agreed that Russia was behind the hacking and the release of the stolen data. Asked point blank if he thought Russia was involved, Trump replied “I don’t see any reason why it would be.”

Naturally, Fox News has been taking Trump’s side in this mission to absolve Russia of any guilt and to deceive the American people. They backed up Trump’s denials at every turn and embraced his absurd call for a partnership with Russia on cyber-security matters. And they continue to do so to this day. On Tuesday morning’s episode of Outnumbered on Fox News, co-host Dagen McDowell rehashed the debunked theory that there were other perpetrators in the hacking, saying that “It’s Russia over here, but what about everything else that’s going on, whether it’s compromising our election or compromising our data security?” That led to this exchange (video below):

Harris Faulkner: I just hope we’re ready for the next election.
Jessica Tarlov: Well, it doesn’t sound like we are.
Brian Kilmeade: I think we are.
Tarlov: Really? But there are election security bills sitting on [Mitch] McConnell’s desk that he won’t touch.
Kilmeade: I do believe we’re ready. And I believe the Russians are gonna learn that we’re going to blink the lights on that country should they try it. I think that’s the best offense. The best defense is a great offense.
Tarlov: Can you call McConnell and tell him to pass some of those election security bills?
Kilmeade: It’s already done.

Kilmeade’s confidence in America’s readiness is peculiar considering that virtually nothing has been done an a national scale to secure our election systems. His assertion that Russia would be punished for any bad behavior has no factual basis, especially since Trump has let them off the hook for their prior transgressions. In fact, Trump still seems to be inviting foreign governments to interfere in our elections, as we’ve seen with Ukraine.

If a great offense is the best defense, then the U.S. is in big trouble. We have no offense whatsoever. And our captain has not said a single word about the new report of Russians hacking Burisma. Finally, Kilmeade’s off-hand response to a request to prod McConnell into action that “It’s already done,” doesn’t even make sense. What’s been done, by whom? Certainly McConnell isn’t going forward with any election security measures.

Let’s face it, Trump doesn’t want anything to be done about election security or Russia’s interference in our elections. Even if he isn’t colluding with Russia, he knows that their efforts benefit him and wants them to continue. That’s what special counsel Robert Mueller was referring to when he said that Trump had “welcomed and encouraged“ Russia in the 2016 election.

It looks very much like the same thing is happening now. And it could have the same effect if nothing is done about it. Congress needs to act quickly and decisively to insure that our democracy isn’t subverted again. The American people need to let Congress know that we expect nothing less from them. And the media must not allow itself to be used again by foreign adversaries to disseminate their propaganda and choose our next president.

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

Trump-Fluffers at Fox News Begin War Mongering Before Soleimani’s Body is Cold

Posted by on January 3, 2020 at 12:48 pm. 8 Comments :

On the second day of the new year Donald Trump launched a new conflict in the Middle East, this time with the region’s largest military, Iran. Contrary to his frequent promises to withdraw the United States from the Middle East, Trump’s assault is likely to result in another prolonged war that will be costly in both lives and dollars.

Donald Trump

No American will mourn the demise of General Qasem Soleimani. He was the leading purveyor of Iran’s international terrorism and was responsible for hundreds fatalities among both Americans and civilians in Iraq, Syria, and elsewhere. But the mission to assassinate Iran’s second highest military leader in Iraq was nevertheless a provocative act that could lead to further unnecessary tragedies for the U.S. and the region.

This is particularly apparent since Trump has no coherent strategy, policy, or end game. He failed to consult members of Congress as the law requires and, therefore, had no legal authorization for the attack. And in a flurry of syrupy, worshipful retweets, Trump included one by disgraced pundit Dinesh D’Souza that shamefully implied that had Trump told Congress they would have told Iran. To date, the only one who has disclosed state secrets to hostile foreign nations is Trump when he speaks to Putin.

In fact, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted that he discussed this attack with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in advance. So Trump informed Russia, but not Congress. It’s also notable that, by targeting an individual, as opposed to military assets, Trump possibly violated international laws against assassination.

Trump’s initial justification for the attack is that it was executed in order to prevent imminent future attacks on Americans. However, he provided no evidence of any such threat. It sounds very much like the false assertions of the Bush administration alleging nonexistent weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Also familiar is the statement by Pompeo, who baselessly claimed that “We have every expectation that people not only in Iraq, but in Iran, will view the American action last night as giving them freedom.” That recalls Dick Cheney’s preposterous assertion that “My belief is we will, in fact, be greeted as liberators [in Iraq].”

Immediately following Trump’s attack, Fox News predictably leaped to his defense with a vigor that can only be described as gleeful. Although he was on vacation, Sean Hannity called into his own program to insist that Iran had “put American lives in jeopardy and the president very quickly acted,” and that it was “a huge victory and total leadership by the president.” But Brian Kilmeade of Fox and Friends was representative of the Fox position when he rebutted Geraldo Rivera’s criticism of the attack by gloating that “I will cheer this on. I am elated.”

Make no mistake. This is the host of a popular Fox News program expressing his elation about a potential war that would result in untold casualties of Americans for a purpose that no one in the Trump administration has been able to define.

If you’re looking for a plausible reason for why Trump would take this action at this time, look no further than the news that broke earlier the same day. The release of newly unredacted emails from Trump’s national security personnel that state unequivocally that Trump knew his withholding of military aid to Ukraine was illegal. The discovery of this provides additional urgency for the Senate to agree to call witnesses and to introduce documents when it takes up Trump’s impeachment.

Trump knows this, and it escalates his fear that impeachment could result in his removal from office. So in order to deflect from the growing political peril he is enduring, Trump appears to have taken the course of action that he once falsely accused President Obama of considering: Start a war with Iran:

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

In Fox News Meltdown, Trump Press Secretary Comes Out as ‘Deep State’ Conspiracy Kook

Posted by on October 24, 2019 at 12:45 pm. 5 Comments :

As the walls are crumbling all around him, Donald Trump is frantically trying to reinforce the White House bunker that is rapidly becoming his prison. His rants are becoming more incoherent. His tweets are getting more bizarre. And he is generally slumping into a haze of paranoia and victimhood.

Donald Trump, Deep State

Naturally, the Trump Bootlickers Brigade is marching obediently behind Dear Leader as he concocts ever more absurd tales of clandestine conspirators determined to destroy him. The latest soldier in this Battle of the Half-Wits is White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham. Her job title is a bit misleading since she has never held a press conference since assuming the position. But she does regularly submit herself to the brutal interrogations of Fox News Trump-fluffers.

On Thursday morning Grisham held court on Fox News to address a couple of critical matters of national security (video below). They began with a probing inquiry into Trump calling Republicans who occasionally dare to disagree with him “human scum.” that’s a bold position to take against some of the GOP senators, and their colleagues, who will eventually sit in judgment of him at his impeachment. But it does reflect Trump’s shallow thought processes that ignore the fact that these are the same people who are supporting 95 percent of his agenda. So Grisham faced this issue head on in the following exchange with Fox’s Brian Kilmeade:

Kilmeade: The President yesterday called the “Never Trumpers” scum. Does he regret that?
Grisham: No. No he shouldn’t. The people who are against him and have been against him and have been working against him since the day they took office are just that. It is horrible that people are working against a president who is delivering results for this country.

So in Trump World, anyone who has different opinions than the “Stable Genius” are not merely political opponents, they are scum. Even if they are members of the President’s own Republican Nationalist Party. That’s because in aspiring totalitarian regimes like his, dissent is not tolerated in any form. Moving on, Kilmeade asked Grisham if the Intelligence Community that Trump has bitterly and falsely maligned for years, is “paying him back” saying that “It looks like the ‘Deep State’ has turned on the President.” Taking the bait in that loaded question, Grisham replied that…

Grisham: [Trump] has made no secret since the day he took office that this has been a “witch hunt” against him and there some really terrible people in the “Deep State” working against him and working against this country. This is dangerous for the country. […] The President has people working actively against him in his own government. And I just want to talk to the people of this country and let them know that that’s dangerous for them.

What we have here is the official spokesperson for the President of the United States telling a national television audience of glassy-eyed Deplorables that Trump believes that the government he is responsible for leading is harboring a cabal of subversives who are plotting to undermine him. It’s a de facto declaration of war against his own subordinates, most of whom are non-political career professionals. And Grisham is employing the familiar “Deep State” rhetoric of Fox’s primetime propagandists and the Internet’s conspiracy crackpot underground.

In the light of these ludicrous delusions, the “Curvy Couch” potatoes of Fox and Friends went on to grill Grisham about Wednesday’s “Storming of the Impeachment Inquiry,” wherein Republican members of the House sought to illegally gain access to private hearings and breach national security while they were at it. In her response to this criminal and childish behavior, Grisham gushed that “I’m glad they did it. Again, the Democrats have been doing everything behind closed doors and in secret.”

Setting aside her dismissal of the flagrant lawbreaking, Grisham is completely wrong in her assessment of the hearings. The hearings are actually attended by members of both parties, who have equal rights to access the evidence and question witnesses. In fact, on the very same episode of this program, the Senior Legal Analyst at Fox News, Andrew Napolitano, schooled the Foxies on the matter:

“I read the House rules. And as frustrating as it may be to have these hearings going on behind close doors – the hearings over which Congressman Schiff is presiding – they are consistent with the rules. And when were the rules written last? In January of 2015. And who signed them? John Boehner. And who enacted them? A Republican majority.”

Napolitano also pointed out that the current hearings are analogous to a grand jury that is never done in public. The public stage comes after a vote on Articles of Impeachment and a trial is held in the Senate. The Republican Bitch Mob, as well as Trump and his press secretary, is purposefully lying about these matters of process that the Democrats are executing properly and lawfully.

The abject fear that is radiating from the White House is staggering. Trump is a severely paranoid individual who is utterly incapable of dealing with his psychoses. The nation has never had a chief executive who suspected his own intelligence agencies of plotting against him. And now it’s clear that other senior officials in his administration are taking up the mantle of his madness. Which makes impeachment all the more imperative. Because if neglected it is clear that this will not end well for America.

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

UNBELIEVABLE: Is Trump Kidding About Syria Like He Was About China and Biden?

Posted by on October 7, 2019 at 1:52 pm. 4 Comments :

If there is one thing that Donald Trump has demonstrated that he excels at, it’s betraying his friends, associates, and even his family, when it suits his purpose. Anyone doing business with him, personal or otherwise, knows that he is likely to turn on them with bitter aggression should they fail to show sufficient adoration and unqualified loyalty. In short, he simply cannot be trusted.

Donald Trump

On Monday Trump provided a horrifying example of his shameless disloyalty. He announced that he will be abandoning America’s Kurdish allies in Syria after they bravely sacrificed their lives on our behalf in the war against ISIS. It’s a decision so impulsive and reckless that it immediately drew rebukes from some of Trump’s staunchest supporters, including Lindsey Graham, Marco Rubio, Nikki Haley, Mike Huckabee, Liz Cheney, even Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell. Even Fox News was torn apart (video below) as Brian Kilmeade argued with his Fox and Friends co-hosts about Trump’s abhorrent betrayal.

Trump’s stated reasoning for throwing our friends under the tank mainly rests on wanting to end a protracted fight on foreign land and handing off that responsibility to Turkey and Europe. It’s a shockingly shallow analysis that completely ignores the security and national interests of the United States. But Trump still foolishly regards himself as a “stable genius” and only heeds his own “great and unmatched wisdom.”

However, Trump’s actual reasons are more likely to involve issues he hasn’t mentioned. For one, there is his personal financial affairs in Turkey. And then there is his affection for and allegiance to authoritarian dictators like Erdogan. And of course he may just be attempting to divert attention from the breaking news related to his impending impeachment. That includes the revelation that there are now multiple new whistleblowers lining up to tell the truth about him. And there was a court ruling that requires him to produce eight years of his tax returns.

Another major problem with Trump’s announcement on abandoning the Kurds is that there is very little reason to believe him. He is a notoriously pathological liar (more than 12,000 lies documented) who often contradicts himself in the space of a single sentence. What’s more, even his supporters are lately excusing his most ridiculous comments as “jokes.” That was the case when he appeared before a media scrum and asked Ukraine and China to investigate Joe Biden. That is literally the crime that is fueling Congress’ impeachment inquiry.

So it didn’t take long for suck-ups like Rubio, Rep. Jim jordan, Sen. Ron Johnson, and a frantic flurry of Fox Newsers to insist that it was just a joke. But if that was just a joke, despite being said without a hint of a smile and reiterating similar prior statements, then which of Trump’s comments are we supposed to take seriously? It seems that every time he says something that is offensive, dangerous, contrary to U.S. policy, or just objectively stupid, he or his defenders say he was only kidding. Here are a few examples:

Consequently, the American people have no reason to believe Trump when he says he will withdraw from Syria. But even worse, Syria, Turkey, the Kurds, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Europe likewise have no reason to believe him. After all, he may just be kidding. His word is about as trustworthy as a snake oil salesman or a Trump press secretary (but I repeat myself). And while it is troubling that Trump makes absurd and dangerous decisions like this one about Syria, it is equally troubling that he can’t be believed about this or anything else.

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

John Bolton Texts Fox News Live to Say He Resigned, Contradicting Another Trump Lie

Posted by on September 10, 2019 at 12:12 pm. 3 Comments :

The administration of Donald Trump continues to be a hot mess. Having already achieved a record number of departures of White House top staff, Trump has just parted ways with his fourth National Security Advisor, John Bolton. Sources say that Trump and Bolton argued about the President’s foiled scheme to bring the Taliban to Camp David.

Donald Trump, John Bolton

The break up with Bolton leaves Trump’s national security team littered with “acting” heads, including National Security Advisor, Homeland Security Secretary, Director of National Intelligence, and Chief of Staff. These are all critical posts that have a particular significance during these times of international turmoil. Trump is awkwardly juggling relations with Iran, North Korea, Afghanistan, China, Russia, and many more foreign hot spots that threaten American interests. But the nation under Trump’s “leadership” lacks competent management in the jobs that oversee those crucial areas of statecraft.

Trump announced Bolton’s dismissal in his usual way – via Twitter saying “I informed John Bolton last night that his services are no longer needed at the White House. I disagreed strongly with many of his suggestions, as did others in the Administration, and therefore I asked John for his resignation.” It isn’t surprising that Trump and Bolton disagreed. That was apparent even before Bolton was hired, and anyone paying attention knew it. But Trump’s staffing decisions are based on the shallowest criteria, such as how they look on Fox News.

Not surprisingly, Bolton had a different view of how his separation came about. Contrary to Trump’s claim that he asked Bolton to resign, Bolton says – also via Twitter – that he made the offer first. And just to drive the point home, Bolton live-tweeted Fox News where his pal and former colleague, Brian Kilmeade of Fox and Friends, read the tweet on the air:

So Bolton, a former Fox News contributor, hasn’t been unemployed for an hour and he’s already angling for his old job at back at Fox. But the more important question going forward is which Trump-fluffing Fox News shill will Trump name as the next National Security Advisor? There are several prospects in the the Fox family who would meet Trump’s low standards for work in his White House: 1) Be willing to lie unflinchingly for Trump; and … well, that’s pretty much it.

One candidate could be Walid Phares, a longtime right-wing pundit and advisor to Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. Phares distinguished himself as an Islamophobe and a crackpot conspiracy theorist with claims that tied President Obama and Hillary Clinton to the Muslim Brotherhood. Another candidate could be retired Gen. Jack Keane who makes frequent appearances on Fox defending Trump blindly for whatever the atrocity of the day happens to be.

However, a more likely candidate would be this favorite of Sean Hannity, Dan Bongino, a former Secret Service agent who was a presenter on the recently shuttered NRA-TV before becoming a full-fledged Fox contributor who sometimes fills in for Hannity. Bongino has already caught Trump’s eye with a book that makes wild assertions about the “Deep State” spying on Trump. The President has tweeted about or retweeted Bongino 84 times. Typically they are just factless tributes to Trump’s imaginary awesomeness and virginal innocence, such as…

So we can expect the next National Security Advisor to be a worshipful member of the Trump cult. And he will join a team of hacks who have never been confirmed by the Senate because, according to Trump, “I like ‘acting’ because I can move so quickly.” In other words, he likes “acting” because he can just pull sycophantic, unqualified names out of his arse without having to get the constitutionally mandated consensus of the Senate. And sadly, in these troubled times that’s what America has to suffer though with our wannabe dictator in the White House.

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

Trump-Fluffing on Fox News: Hosts Promote Bed-Buggy Doral Resort for the 2020 G7

Posted by on August 27, 2019 at 11:57 am. 3 Comments :

In his closing remarks at the G7 summit in France, Donald Trump managed to deliver an infomercial for his Doral Miami Golf Resort to host the next G7 summit in 2020. It was a painfully self-serving spectacle that is also a likely violation of the Constitution. At the very least it’s a predictably Trumpy exhibit of greed and an utter lack of ethics.

Fox News Friends

Not surprisingly, Fox News weighed in on the idea the following morning. On Fox and Friends the “Curvy Couch” potatoes did a segment (video below) agreeing with Trump that Doral would be the perfect place for the summit. Even though there are thousands of hotels and conference centers across America that would be ideal for such an event. It’s just a weird coincidence that the site owned by Trump happens to be the best place of all. Who would have thought?

The segment began with Steve Doocy introducing Trump’s sales pitch from France. And it was all downhill from there. Brian Kilmeade jumped in to insist that there was no favoritism involved because Trump “would want to do it there anyway. It’s just the perfect site … Trump Tower is not available.” Then Doocy acknowledged the potential legal problems, but also provided an excuse:

“Critics say the use of his property for official business violates the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution. I’m sure the president has asked the lawyers, ‘Hey, how can I donate this, how can we possibly work around it?”

The Emoluments Clause prohibits the President from accepting money, or anything of value, from foreign governments or persons. So if the representatives of the G7 had to actually pay Trump in order to attend the next summit, that’s a pretty obvious violation. Even if the site was donated, the publicity would have to be considered something of enormous value and, therefore, illegal. What’s more, Doocy is playing clairvoyant by surmising with certainty that Trump would have consulted his lawyers. You know, geniuses like Rudy Giuliani. But based on his past, that actually seems like the last thing Trump would do.

Ainsley Earhardt also contributed to the unpaid advertisement by remarking that “It would be a beautiful place, though, for world leaders to go and see what our country looks like.” Because all of America looks exactly like an elite golf spa in Miami? She then declared that Doral was “representative” of the country, before adding that “I’ve never been to Doral.” So in other words, she’s an expert, by Fox News standards.

None of the Fox friends bothered to mention that Doral had a serious problem with bed bugs a couple of years ago. But Trump couldn’t resist bringing it up:

Trump’s denials are in keeping with his tendency to lie about virtually anything. Even though – as in this case – he settled a lawsuit against the resort for the infestation. Trump and the Foxies also neglected to mention that Doral has been suffering a severe financial drought. It’s net operating income has dropped 69 percent in two years. So that would make Trump’s promotion of it even more suspicious as an attempt rescue another one of his floundering business enterprises.

It’s bad enough that Fox News is a 24/7, State TV, propaganda machine for Trump and his Republican Nationalist Party. But is there nothing too unethical for this so-called “news” network to do on behalf of their Dear Leader? They have already appeared at Trump’s political cult rallies. And they can be relied upon to defend any atrocity that Trump commits, while viciously maligning his critics. Now they are even serving as the sales agents for his failing golf resort. It would be oddly comforting if this were the bottom of the Fox News/Trump abyss. But every time it seems we’re there, they find a way dig even deeper.

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

Fox News is Already Trash-Talking Mueller’s Upcoming Congressional Testimony

Posted by on June 26, 2019 at 11:31 am. 1 Comments :

When you are Donald Trump’s State TV media mouthpiece, why should you wait three weeks until one of the most potentially consequential congressional hearings of all time? That must be the thinking in the editorial suites of Fox News as they prepare to malign and belittle Robert Mueller, who will be testifying before the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees on July 17.

Fox News, Robert Mueller

On Wednesday morning the “Curvy Couch” potatoes of Fox and Friends brought up the subject of Mueller’s upcoming testimony. They were clearly worried about what he might say and how the public might respond to a complete airing of the conclusions of the special counsel’s investigation. That may be because objective analyses of the report agree that it is a virtual criminal indictment of Trump and his associates.

The report states unequivocally that there was Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election that was intended to help Trump and hurt Hillary Clinton. It states that Trump could have been indicted, but for a controversial Justice Department memo that recommends against the indictment of a sitting president. And it enumerates at least ten instances of obstruction of justice committed by Trump.

Much of these conclusions were lost in the media cacophony that erupted when the report was released. And most the cacophony was orchestrated by Fox News and Trump’s dishonest and tedious repetition his “no collusion, no obstruction” mantra.

So when Mueller testifies next month it will be the first time that the American people will hear the special counsel explain the often ambiguous passages in his report. He will surely be asked whether he would have indicted Trump were it not for the DOJ memo. He will be asked if he was referring to impeachment when he said that the Constitution provided ways to hold the President accountable other than through the criminal justice system. He will be asked to make a distinction between not having sufficient evidence to indict and not having any evidence. And he will be asked about the spurious charges that he and his team were conflicted, and claims that the investigation was biased from the start.

It will interesting and informative for most Americans to hear the answers to these and other questions. But not for the Trump-fluffers at Fox News. They would prefer to sweep Trump’s crimes under the carpet. And with that goal in mind, they have already begun a campaign to denigrate the hearings and slander Mueller (video below). Fox and Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade came out swinging wildly on Wednesday saying that…

“I don’t think he knows the details of the report. He is like the King of England on this. He assigns the people. They’re gonna say ‘Why are most of them Democratically affiliated? Aren’t you concerned about the perception if you hire people like that to do this job? Do you understand why some feel there was an agenda in there?'”

Really? First of all, there is no King of England. But more to the point. Kilmeade’s assertion that Mueller was ignorant of the details of his own report is ludicrous. And Kilmeade failed to back up that nonsense with anything resembling logic or reason. In fact, he immediately veered off into a rant about the makeup of the special counsel’s team. And even that was a lie. Mueller himself is a lifelong Republican who was appointed by a Republican (Rod Rosenstein), who was appointed by Trump.

This is just another example of Fox News shilling for the President they worship like a cult leader. They are laying the groundwork to dismiss whatever truths come out of the hearings. Because there is nothing more dangerous to Trump’s Republican Nationalist Agenda than the truth. So be prepared for more of this unhinged hostility between now and July hearings. And expect Trump to join in with his own deflections and lies. In fact, Trump has three weeks to contrive some national “emergency” to completely torpedo the hearings or otherwise diminish their effectiveness in informing the American people. This is how aspiring dictators behave. And Fox News is fulfilling its role as Trump’s Ministry of Propaganda.

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

State TV (aka Fox News) Whines that US Media Isn’t Doing Enough Trump Fluffing

Posted by on June 5, 2019 at 12:50 pm. 5 Comments :

For the past week Donald Trump has been reaffirming his role as America’s Ambassador of International Embarrassment. On this brief junket he has managed to insult the Duchess of Sussex (Meghan Markle), feud with the Mayor of London, call for a boycott of an American company in order to punish CNN (an unconstitutional, impeachable offense), Breach diplomatic protocol by attacking Joe Biden from foreign soil, and send orders back home to a former staffer (and current Fox News executive) to unlawfully defy a congressional subpoena.

Donald Trump, Fox News, White House

Despite all of this evidence of his foreign fiasco, the fact that Trump has once again proven to be an incompetent, self-absorbed, loudmouth who is allergic to telling the truth, hasn’t stalled the devotional bootlicking of Fox News. On Wednesday morning the “Curvy Couch” potatoes of Fox and Friends were primed to report on Trump’s “triumphant” mission to the United Kingdom. So in pursuit of that goal they invited their ultra-rightist media shill, Joe Concha, to opine on how Trump was maligned at the hands of the U.S. press corps. The premise that Fox tried vainly to peddle was that, while Trump was hammered here at home, he was beloved in the U.K. That phony propaganda resulted in this absurd exchange (video below):

Co-host Brian Kilmeade: “This state visit to the U.K. earning glowing reviews – get this – in Britain. But back here in the U.S. – or whatever planet we’re on – the American media is telling a whole different story.”
Concha: (on the British press): “They’re on the ground. They know how London works. They know the people. And they’re portraying this thing a lot more positively, as you just showed, than the U.S. media who’s concentrating almost solely on these protests. […] That’s the problem. We’re getting way too many opinions based solely on speculation and how people perceive things instead of what people see on their screens.”

Kilmeade’s assertion that the British press was unanimously “glowing” was based on a few headlines that he featured in a graphic. The only problem is that not one of them actually praise Trump. In fact, they were merely Trump paying tribute to the Queen:

  • Donald Trump praises ‘eternal friendship’ at state banquet (BBC)
  • Trump hails ‘common values’ uniting UK and US (Financial Times)
  • Donald Trump state banquet speech: US President says Queen embodies ‘patriotism that beats proudly in every British heart’ (Evening Standard)
  • ‘Treasured Friendship’ Trump in tribute to ‘great, great’ Queen who inspired UK to win WW2 (The Sun)

Meanwhile, those same news sources also ran with these headlines that Fox News ignored:

  • Anti-Trump protesters mix humour with expletives {BBC)
  • Trump sends mixed messages on US-UK trade deal (Financial Times)
  • Protesters cry ‘Nazi’ as Donald Trump attends D-Day event (Evening Standard)
  • Donald Trump sparks massive NHS row as he says health service must be on the table (The Sun)

So Fox News is blatantly disinforming their viewers about the coverage of Trump by the British media. It is, in fact, nearly identical to the coverage in the U.S. And if it’s negative, that’s only because he’s such a predictable screw-up.

But what’s truly bizarre is Concha’s complaint that there are “way too many opinions” in the U.S. press. And he’s saying that, unironically, on Fox News. What’s more, his criticism that coverage is “based solely on speculation and how people perceive things” is downright laughable considering he’s saying it to Kilmeade who, just the day before, told viewers that “boos” from the crowd when Ivanka Trump and John Bolton walked by were for Bolton. How Kilmeade divined that was unexplained.

This is the sort of feverishly pro-Trump hackery that is the hallmark of Fox News. They are so determined to exalt Dear Leader at every opportunity that they utterly abandon reason and reality. And above all, they continue to push the notion that the media would be so much better if only it slobbered over Trump the way they do. Yet somehow they they still believe that they should be taken seriously as a news network.

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

Fox News Riles Big Baby Trump By Hosting Buttigieg Town Hall Rather than More Trump-Fluffing

Posted by on May 20, 2019 at 12:21 pm. 3 Comments :

For anyone who isn’t yet convinced that Fox News is a wholly owned subsidiary of Trump Cult Enterprises (or maybe vice versa), Donald Trump has helped to affirm this fact himself. In a pair of tweets that reveal just how tightly integrated they are, the reality TV president made it clear that there should be no wavering on Fox’s mission to prop up all things Trump. And that also means shunning non-Trump news.

Fox News Friends

When Pete Buttigieg agreed to appear on Fox News for a town hall, he articulated his justifications for doing so. They were essentially the same as those by other Democrats who mistakenly believe that there is some merit to lending their credibility to a propaganda outfit that hasn’t earned it and doesn’t deserve it. In short, they argue that they need to reach out to Fox’s viewers. But there are other venues to communicate with any Fox viewer who isn’t devoutly pro-Trump. And those who are need not be bothered with. In the meantime, it’s counterproductive to help Fox earn more respect and revenue with which they will trash Democrats.

Nevertheless, Buttigieg showed up for the town hall ready to address what was expected to be an unfriendly encounter. Surprisingly, the audience was fairly receptive to his remarks. In particular they applauded vigorously when he said of Trump’s vile and infantile antics that “It is the nature of grotesque things that you can’t look away.” He also enjoyed a standing ovation at the end that caught anchor Chris Wallace off guard.

But Trump’s reaction to this program was somewhat different. He angrily tweeted that it’s:

Trump is giving away the propaganda game here. He is complaining that Fox News had the audacity to cover someone running for president other than the officially designated candidate of the Fox Nationalist Party. He did exactly the same thing following the Bernie Sanders town hall on Fox. According to Trump, just giving a Democrat one hour out of twenty-four is evidence that the network is “moving to the wrong side.” Even that phrasing indicates Trump’s impression is that Fox News is on his side and against his enemies.

Trump segues from that nonsense to taking a swipe at Wallace who he says “never speaks well of me.” Setting aside the fact that that’s patently false, a more interesting fact is that Trump is so scared of Wallace that he’s never granted him an interview as President. Which is ironic since the rightists in Fox World are always accusing Democrats of fearing Fox. The truth is just the opposite. Media Matters has done the research and found that Democrats appear on Fox News far more often than Republicans appear on CNN or MSNBC.

So what did Buttigieg gain by submitting to Fox? He earned a rebuke from Fox for having done so. The following morning the “Curvy Couch” potatoes of Fox and Friends tore into Buttigieg for speaking candidly about what happens “when you see what goes on with some opinion hosts on this network.” He elaborated saying…

“I mean when you’ve got Tucker Carlson saying that immigrants make America dirty, when you’ve got Laura Ingraham comparing detention centers and children in cages to summer camps, then there is a reason why anybody has to swallow hard and think twice before participating in this media ecosystem.”

That drew the ire of Fox’s Brian Kilmeade who went on an extended rant where in warned prospective Fox guests that they shouldn’t show up if they intend to speak their minds and tell the truth:

“Don’t hop on our channel and continue to put down the other hosts on the channel. If you feel that negative about it, don’t come.”

Perhaps Fox News should publish a guidebook outlining what is and isn’t allowed to be said on their network. Because if you say anything the least bit critical you’re scolded and maligned for having “absolutely no courage” despite your presence in their studio. Then, for good measure, Kilmeade went on to lie about Trump’s tax cuts which Buttigieg correctly said benefited the wealthy. Kilmeade disputed that saying that the cuts were aimed at corporations (Is that better, or even different?) and that “the smallest tax cut was for those who pay the most.”

All of these lies and insults took place the morning after the Buttigieg town hall. They were done without giving Buttigieg an opportunity to respond. There was no Democratic voice on to set the Foxies straight. And the Buttigieg bashing continued on Fox News throughout the rest of the morning broadcasts and surely continued for the remainder of the day.

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

So how exactly did the hour that Buttigieg got justify the countless hours of attacks and lies? The lesson from both Sanders and Buttigieg is that doing these Fox town halls only sets you up for attacks without providing any benefit whatsoever. Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris have stated publicly that they will not be submitting to Fox. The rest of the Democratic field should take heed and do the same.

Fox News Pitifully Spins Trump’s Billion Dollar Losses as ‘Impressive’ – No, Really!

Posted by on May 8, 2019 at 11:54 am. 3 Comments :

Most of the time watching Fox News is a chore that is fraught with frustration due to their brazen and shameless dissemination of lies and unrelenting Trump-fluffing. The network was always a right-wing purveyor of propaganda aimed at advancing a conservative agenda and maligning liberals and Democrats. But in the Era of Trump Fox has devolved into something more akin to Alex Jones conspiracy theorizing and even challenges The Onion for pure, lunatic satire.

Fox News Friends

Wednesday morning Trump’s favorite Fox program, Fox and Friends, demonstrated why they have earned the ridicule of intelligent news consumers everywhere. They did a segment on the breaking news from the New York Times that Trump had suffered massive financial losses in the 1980s and 1990s. The story documented losses that totalled over a billion dollars. This is consistent with many of the stories that detail Trump’s business incompetence that includes going bankrupt at least six times, even with casinos.

In response to the story in the Times, the “Curvy Couch” potatoes stiffened their spines to construct a defense that is so ludicrous it’s hard to believe they allowed it to get on the air (video below). Co-host Brian Kilmeade led off with a series of inane excuses for Trump’s failures. He tried to set the stage with dumbfuckery like this: “[Trump] lost a lot of money over the course of 10 years, if you consider a billion dollars a lot of money.” And he insisted that there was “nothing about this article that should surprise anybody.” Which is true if you’re aware of Trump’s past fiscal fiascos. But then he unleashed this explanation for why Trump’s losses were so spectacular::

“There might be an incentive to go buy that building, to buy that casino, because I’ll take a loss this year in order that on my tax returns because I wanna buy for a rainy day. […] For me, I can’t imagine having that much much money, spending that much money and being in debt. For him it makes sense.”

Of course. It makes perfect sense. That’s what all billionaires do. They buy so many failing properties that they lose their entire fortunes. And because U.S. institutions won’t have anything to do with them, they are forced to turn to foreign banks and Russian mobsters to be rescued. Just ask Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, the Walton family, or – – – oh wait. Never mind. They never did any of that, or lost those sums of money. But Kilmeade wasn’t through. He then offered some examples of Trump’s business prowess:

“In 1987 he spent $29 million on a yacht. The market crashed the next day. So no problem. He held on to it. He bought a shuttle operation. It didn’t do too well. But he held onto it.”

Sure. No problem. Except that Trump had to beg for help from Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal to take that yacht off his hands after creditors initiated default proceedings. He didn’t hold on to it, contrary to Kilmeade’s deliberate lie. Alwaleed also bought Trump out of the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan as it was falling into bankruptcy under Trump. And he didn’t hold onto that shuttle operation either. It folded and was sold off at a steep loss.

This is the sort of flagrant dishonesty that Fox News employs to keep their viewers stupid and devoted to the Trump Cult. Co-host Ainsley Earhardt summed it up for the segment by confidently asserting that:

“If anything, you read this and you’re like ‘Wow, it’s pretty impressive, all the things that he’s done in his life.’ It’s beyond what most of us could ever achieve.”

Well, that’s true. Most of us will never become lawless, self-absorbed, grifters who live to rip off everyone they come into contact with, and then lie about everything they claim to have accomplished. But only Fox News can twist the reality of Trump’s total lack of ethics and business acumen as “impressive.” And only Fox News viewers are willfully blind enough to accept it as the truth.

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