Campaign 2016

Wingnuts Spin Trump’s Sexual Assault As OK Because – Oh Look, It’s The Clintons

Posted by on October 8, 2016 at 9:03 am. 1 Comments :

By now everybody has heard Donald Trump describe how easy it was for him to sexually assault women. His comments were a grotesque and candid display of his real character, or more correctly, lack of it. Following the release of the recordings, Trump attempted to dismiss them with a typical non-apology apology that shifted the blame to others. He released the following statement:

Donald Trump

“This was locker room banter, a private conversation that took place many years ago. Bill Clinton has said far worse to me on the golf course – not even close. I apologize if anyone was offended.”

So Trump is apologizing only “IF” someone happened to be offended, but not “FOR” his offensive remarks. It’s an old method of placing responsibility on the poor sap who was foolish enough to listen to him. What’s more, this is not anything like the locker room banter that I’ve ever witnessed. This a confession to criminally aberrant behavior.

However, perhaps the worst part of his dodgy apology is that he couldn’t refrain from using it as an opportunity to smear his political foes. Bill Clinton had nothing to do with this, and Trump’s accusation was arbitrary and utterly unprovable. But that didn’t stop him or his surrogates from leaping feet first into politicizing his boorishness. And most of them employed the same faulty defense. For instance:

Sean Hannity sought to whitewash Trump’s ugliness by first saying that “Nobody’s gonna defend this. You can’t defend – it is wrong, it is inappropriate, it is outrageous. I don’t think anyone’s gonna argue with that.” After which Hannity argued with it for the remainder of his show. Along with his guests, Monica Crowley and Jeanine Pirro, he waived off Trump’s tales of sexual assault and weaved in the affairs of Bill Clinton that have already been worked over in the media for years.

Then there was CNN contributor Scottie Nell Hughes who said that “The words of Donald Trump are bad. But they’re not near as bad as the actions of Hillary Clinton since she’s been in office. There are four soldiers in Benghazi right now, that are not with us right now because of Hillary Clinton’s actions.” Aside from that having been proven untrue by at least four Republican led congressional committees, it has no bearing on Donald Trump.

But no one came close to Trump’s ex-campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, who now works for CNN. In an interview with Wolf Blitzer he made the insanely audacious claim that “What we don’t know, and I’m not trying to change the subject here, we don’t have any understanding of what Hillary Clinton has said in those meetings with Wall Street where she was paid for these speeches. She’s never released those transcripts. For all we know, the same things are being said in that regard.”

Let that sink in. Lewandowski is actually implying that Clinton’s speeches to Wall Street executives might have been about how she sexually assaulted people. No wonder they paid her so much. You can’t get porn like that from a former Secretary of State on the cheap. And note also that Lewandowski wasn’t trying to change the subject. It makes you wonder what he thought the subject was. And while your wondering, WTF was Blitzer doing when Lewandowski made that disgusting accusation? He thanked him and went to commercial.

There was one thing that Lewandowski said that actually made sense. In defending Trump he asserted that America isn’t electing a Sunday school teacher, they’re electing a leader. And Trump’s remarks show the nation that “You’ve got a leader who talks tough. He’s been very bold. He speaks from the heart. People understand that. They know Donald Trump.” Indeed, he speaks from the heart. And apparently his heart is poisoned with perversion and hate. And yes, that is the Donald Trump that we know all too well unfortunately.

Finally, Trump himself made a video to take another crack at expressing remorse. This time he admitted that he was wrong and apologized. However, he continued his effort to minimize his grossness and redirect the outrage to his mortal enemies, the Clintons:

“This is nothing but a distraction from the important issues we’re facing today. […] I’ve said some foolish things. But there’s a big difference between the words and actions of other people. Bill Clinton has actually abused women and Hillary has bullied, attacked, shamed, and intimidated his victims. We will discuss this more in the coming days.”

Once again, the Clintons have nothing to do with his bad behavior. Additionally, the problem with all of this is not his words. It is, in fact, his actions as he himself describes them. He was not simply spewing profanities, he was talking about things he actually did. His video apologia also contained his “pledge to be a better man tomorrow.” That’s all well and good, but it’s something he should do on his own time, not while residing in the White House.

These are just a few examples of the coordinated spin from Trump and his allies. Clearly they have decided that the way to approach this is to pretend it doesn’t matter and besides the Clintons did it too. That’s a defense worthy of nine year old, which may be the emotional age of Trump.

The video itself was embarrassing. And the proof of that is that after it was aired on Fox News, anchors Gregg Jarrett and Arthel Neville noted that Trump was awkwardly reading the statement and said that it was “almost painful” to watch. They observed that he was clearly reading something that his speechwriters had written for him. And when you’ve lost Fox News…

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

See for yourself:

Donald Trump Live Tweeted The VP Debate And Was Predictably Idiotic (TWEETS)

Posted by on October 5, 2016 at 7:15 pm. 2 Comments :

Last night Mike Pence and Tim Kaine met for the first and only vice-presidential candidate’s debate. The general consensus is that vice-presidents are campaign appendages that have little impact on voters. Most Americans are making their decisions based on the top of the ticket. That is a dangerous fact for Donald Trump because, even as his running mate had a relatively decent night at the debate, it isn’t going to move the dial noticeably.

Kaine/Pence

More important is the performance of Trump himself. And during the VP debate he proved, once again, that he is a petty and ignorant man whose instincts will drive people away. Trump announced prior to the VP debate that he would be live tweeting the proceedings. In fact, he mostly re-tweeted comments from his fans. What follows are some of the tweets he posted with commentary:

Great opening tweet, Trump.

The problem is, he’s also much more likable than Trump. (And I can spell “likable” correctly).

Holy insult, Batman. Trump really hit him where it hurts.

Funny, Pence was complaining that Clinton and Kaine insulted people too much. Has he met his running mate?

Based on what?

Typical. Rather than talk about the plans, Trump sinks to a personal comment he couldn’t possibly know anything about.

Pence’s state improved because he was governor during the Obama boom years. Kaine’s state was hampered because he was governor during Bush’s Great Recession, but it came roaring back during the Obama administration. Thanks Obama.

Are you friggin’ kidding me? Trump & Putin. Yes, It’s Really a Thing

Everybody drink! He got in the Trump campaign’s slogan.

Thanks for that completely unbiased opinion. Go ahead and be proud of Mike, because he must be so ashamed that he ever agreed to run with you.

Late Update: Trump tweeted this hysterically ironic comment the morning after the debate:

What an appropriate close to a laughable debate commentary. Can’t wait for the next debate.

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

Taxing Trump: The Donald’s New Excuse For Losing A Billion Dollars Is Total Bullsh*t

Posted by on October 3, 2016 at 7:43 pm. NO Comments :

The New York Times reported this weekend that Donald Trump lost nearly a billion dollars in 1995. He then used those losses to offset his subsequent earnings. The result is that he may not have paid any federal taxes for almost twenty years.

Donald Trump

The Trump camp’s excuses since these revelations were that he didn’t do anything illegal and that his tax evasion was evidence of his financial brilliance. Both of those claims, however, are suspect. Without his returns over several years it is impossible to verify. If he is so certain that his tax returns will show what a genius he is, then why is he so afraid to release them?

With that in mind, Trump gave another stump speech today in Pueblo, Colorado. That provided him another opportunity to explain how a genius like him could lose a billion dollars in one year. His rambling justification was barely coherent, but more importantly, patently false. He said that:

“The news media is now obsessed with an alleged tax violation from the 1990s, at the end of one of the most brutal economic downturns in our country’s history. The conditions facing real estate developers in that early-90s period were almost as bad as the Great Depression of 1929 and far worse than the Great Recession of 2008 — not even close.”

Not even close? Here are the facts. The Great Recession of 2008 was the result of corrupt real estate deals and sub-prime mortgages. The GDP declined 5.1 percent, unemployment peaked at 10 percent, and it lasted for a year and a half. There were over 3.1 million foreclosure filings. By comparison, during the recession in the early 90s the GDP declined only 1.4 percent, unemployment peaked at 7.8 percent, and it endured for a relatively modest eight months. Foreclosure filings during that recession were in the range of about one million.

Trump either doesn’t know what he’s talking about or he’s lying through his teeth (or both). But the kicker is that the recession Trump is blaming for his misfortune ended in 1991. Trump’s tax filing with the billion dollar loss was for 1995. So it had nothing to do with the recession that was over four years prior.

What this tells us is that it was his notoriously deficient business skills that caused his financial downfall. While other businesses were in the midst of a healthy recovery, Trump’s businesses were collapsing. His bankrupt casinos in Atlantic City were already accounted for in 1991 and 1992. By 1995, the year he filed the billion dollar loss, he had already restructured his debt. Plus he had two more bankruptcies yet to occur (2004 and 2009).

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

If that’s what Trump regards as brilliant financial management, then God help us all if he should become president. He is not only one of his generation’s worst businessmen, he obviously doesn’t mind lying about his shortcomings in order to further his own selfish interests. It would be nice if the media would put these facts into proper context so voters are informed when they go to the polls. Trump’s supporters, of course, will believe whatever nonsense he shovels. But the rest of us deserve better from the press we patronize.

Where’s The Outrage? Trump Maligns Soldiers With PTSD As Weak ‘People [Who] Can’t Handle It’

Posted by on October 3, 2016 at 12:31 pm. 1 Comments :

As if the nation needed another reason to be nauseated by Donald Trump’s ignorance, intolerance, and insensitivity. This morning Trump spoke before a meeting of the Retired American Warriors PAC, a right-wing superPAC created less than two months ago by Trump supporters. Trump delivered some prepared remarks via the TelePrompter he once said was disqualifying, then took some questions from the decidedly friendly audience.

Soldier

One of the questions addressed the problems associated with veteran suicides and mental health issues like PTSD. The gentleman asking the question framed it as an advocacy of faith-based solutions. Trump ignored that and went straight to a tone-deaf and insulting response:

“When you talk about the mental health problems, when people come back from war and combat and they see things that maybe a lot of the folks in this room have seen many times over and you’re strong and you can handle it but a lot of people can’t handle it.”

Well, that’s revealing. Apparently Trump believes that veterans suffering from PTSD are too weak to handle the horrific aftermath of their wartime service. In his view soldiers who performed courageously, but who were traumatized by what they experienced aren’t strong enough to handle it.

That is the sort of callous commentary that could only come from someone who evaded military service with four deferments and a medical disqualification. You have to wonder how veterans with PTSD will feel when they hear a candidate for president saying this. It certainly won’t promote their recovery and wellness to know that they are thought of as weak.

In other remarks at the event Trump blatantly dodged a question about what his plan for defeating terrorism would be. He also insulted the whole of the military by characterizing it as “depleted.” This is a theme he has made a staple of his campaign that also regards America as less than great. It’s a theme that includes an aversion to soldiers who were captured (i.e. John McCain). Candidate Trump has belittled American military leaders by claiming that he knows more about ISIS than they do. And he held a phony telethon to raise funds for vets, but ended up stiffing them.

It’s unfathomable that, after all of that, anyone in the military could support Trump for president. His ignorance of, and disdain for, the nation’s armed services ought to be of concern to all veterans and active duty soldiers. What’s more, his utter failure as a businessman should worry anyone who thinks that he might have solutions to problems in the military infrastructure or world affairs.

This new display of contempt is only the latest evidence of his unfitness to serve as president and commander-in-chief. It will be interesting to see if the media bothers to report it and put his candidacy in the proper context.

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

Hysterical Trump-Mocking Mexican Beer Ad Airs On Fox News

Posted by on September 30, 2016 at 12:37 pm. NO Comments :

Viewers of Monday night’s presidential debate were treated to a royal drubbing of historic proportions. Hillary Clinton so thoroughly hammered Donald Trump that the famously teetotaling Republican may have gone out afterward and actually got hammered. At least that would explain his TWI (Tweeting While Incoherent). However, Fox News viewers were also entertained by a commercial that directly addressed a prominent Trump campaign theme.

Tecate Beer/Trump

The ad for Tecate Beer began with a panoramic aerial shot of the southwestern desert representing the U.S./ Mexican border. As it focused in on a long and imposing barrier the narrator said:

“The time has come for a wall. A tremendous wall. The best wall.”

That’s right. This beer ad was stepping into the contentious debate over immigration and Trump’s blockhead solution to a problem he clearly doesn’t understand. But it doesn’t stop there. The narrator continues:

“The Tecate beer wall. A wall that brings us together. This wall may be small, but it’s going to be huge. You’re welcome, America.”

And with that Donald Trump has lost the beer vote. Can the white, non-college educated, working class citizens who have formed his base still support him after this? These are the folks about whom Trump said “I love the poorly educated.” They are the voters that the media is constantly asking “Which candidate would you rather have a beer with?” [Note: that has always been one of the most idiotic questions ever asked. It implies that some souse at the end of the bar who might be good company would make a good president]. Consider also that no one can have a beer with Trump because he doesn’t drink. He claims that he has never even tasted alcohol. That’s just another way in which the elitist, trust fund baby, billionaire Trump cannot relate to ordinary Americans.

This comical ad actually raises a serious issue. It’s one that Trump’s critics have articulated repeatedly. You solve problems by building bridges, not walls. Trump’s racist attacks on Latinos and his shallow grasp of international relations are brilliantly exposed and extinguish in these thirty seconds.

The marketing team for this Mexican brew deserves respect for their creativity and courage. And buying time on Fox News to air it was a stroke of genius. Not because Fox viewers will get it and come to their senses. They won’t. But because it will earn more media attention for trolling the network that created Trump and has served as the PR division of his campaign. Well done.

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

Deplorable Trump Shames Non-Christians At Rally, Asks ‘Should We Keep Them’? (VIDEO)

Posted by on September 29, 2016 at 1:29 pm. 1 Comments :

From the very first day of Donald Trump’s campaign for president he’s used tactics and language that is patently offensive and divisive. The central theme of his “movement” is expressed in his slogan “Make America great again.” There is an explicit suggestion in it that America isn’t currently great. Trump’s solution is to build walls and separate Americans from one another on the basis of race and religion.

Donald Trump

At a rally yesterday in Iowa Trump displayed the ultimate result (final solution?) of a political message that drives people apart. In a portion of his stump speech he sought to brag about the support he gets from evangelical Christians. It’s a curious base of followers considering his transparently phony adoption of faith for political gain. Nevertheless, they have flocked to him in surprising numbers. In recognition of that, Trump called on his conservative Christian disciples to identify themselves by raising their hands. But then he went a horrifying step further:

“Raise your hand if you’re NOT a Christian conservative. I want to see this, right? Oh there’s a couple people. That’s all right. I think we’ll keep them, right? Should we keep them in the room? Yes, I think so.”

Well, isn’t that generous of him? They can stay in the room. But maybe they should be required to wear yellow badges and have their passports stamped with red letters. Making non-Christians identify themselves in a public setting after praising the faithful is disconcerting at best and overtly threatening at worst. Who exactly was he speaking to? The Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Atheists, Muslims, etc.? He has already proposed prohibiting Muslims from entering the country, and now all non-Christians may be ejected from his rallies. Unless he decides that he needs their votes to ascend to power. Even as a joke (which will probably be his excuse) this is nauseating.

More likely he is speaking to the white, Christian supremacists of the alt-right movement that has embraced his candidacy. The CEO of his campaign, Stephen Bannon, is also the chief executive of Breitbart News, the leading alt-right website. And you can rest assured that those audiences hear Trump’s message loud and clear.

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

The bald-faced bigotry of Trump’s remarks yesterday is consistent with the familiar prejudices that have permeated his campaign. It’s impossible to separate the rabid devotion of racists like David Duke from the Trump movement. His supporters ought to be asking themselves how they can vote for someone who has such a strong appeal among such despicable hate mongers. And if they can still justify putting someone like Trump in the White House, they are proving that Hillary Clinton was right. They are deplorable.

And doesn’t the rally in this video look familiar?

BUSTED: Trump Used His ‘Charity’ To Pay Off His Own Legal Settlements

Posted by on September 20, 2016 at 4:09 pm. NO Comments :

This summer has seen a flurry of unscrupulous, if not illegal, revelations about Donald Trump’s “charitable” foundation. Previously it was disclosed that he had used funds designated for charity to make a dubious political contribution (bribe?) to the Florida attorney general. Her office was investigating Trump University at the time, then dropped the case within days of the donation. There was another hundred grand donated to Citizens United just as they were engaging in a battle with the New York attorney general who was investigating Trump. He also spent charity funds on personal items including portraits of himself and sports memorabilia. He also spent charity funds on personal items including portraits of himself and sports memorabilia.

Donald Trump

Now David Fahrenthold of the Washington Post is reporting a new breach of philanthropic ethics. IRS filings by the Trump Foundation show that charitable funds were used to settle Trump’s personal or business debts. That would be a violation of the law under a statute that forbids “self dealing.” Charitable funds must be used for charitable purposes and may not personally benefit the donor. However, Trump diverted more than a quarter of a million dollars that inured solely to his benefit. According to Fahrenthold:

“In one case, from 2007, Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club faced $120,000 in unpaid fines from the town of Palm Beach, Fla., resulting from a dispute over the size of a flagpole.

“In a settlement, Palm Beach agreed to waive those fines — if Trump’s club made a $100,000 donation to a specific charity for veterans. Instead, Trump sent a check from the Donald J. Trump Foundation, a charity funded almost entirely by other people’s money, according to tax records.

“In another case, court papers say one of Trump’s golf courses in New York agreed to settle a lawsuit by making a donation to the plaintiff’s chosen charity. A $158,000 donation was made by the Trump Foundation, according to tax records.”

So Trump improperly used foundation funds to pay off his personal legal debts. Even worse, the funds held in his foundation were mostly donated by others. Trump has not made a contribution to his own foundation since 2009. Consequently, Trump’s personal obligations were paid for by money that others had donated to his charity. Those donors probably did not anticipate that their generosity would be utilized for that purpose. Fahrenthold enumerated other smaller incidents, as well as the potential legal consequences:

“If the Internal Revenue Service were to find that Trump violated self-dealing rules, the agency could require him to pay penalty taxes or to reimburse the foundation for all the money it spent on his behalf. Trump is also facing scrutiny from the office of the New York attorney general, which is examining whether the foundation broke state charity laws.”

Trump failed to respond to inquires by the Post. That, along with his persistent refusal to release his tax returns, raises questions about his honesty and transparency. The evidence that Trump has been running his foundation as a personal slush fund is mounting. Not to mention the same accusations have been made about his campaign. Trump the candidate has paid millions of dollars to Trump the businessman for facility rentals and merchandise. Contrast that with the positive reviews of the Clinton Foundation.

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

It may be too soon for the legal questions surrounding these affairs to be answered, but the political answers are clear. Trump is a failed businessman who lacks common ethics. He will con, lie, cheat, and steal in order to enrich himself at the expense of others. Anyone who could support such a man for president can legitimately be called deplorable.

LMFAO: Trump Takes Credit For Sh*t He Didn’t Do (Again) – Twitter Bites Back

Posted by on September 20, 2016 at 11:47 am. 3 Comments :

From the start of his campaign Donald Trump has attempted to fool people into thinking he has inspired a vigorous political debate. The truth is that he hasn’t had single original thought in fifteen months. That hasn’t stopped him from claiming that no one talked about immigration until he came along. Or that he was the first person ever to condemn terrorism. Likewise, he thinks his exploitation of veterans launched the nation’s concern for them. He even stole the Birther issue which he used to launch his candidacy.

Donald Trump

Today he took credit for something else for which he was an obvious latecomer. In a tweet meant to criticize Hillary Clinton, Trump whined:

“Do people notice Hillary is copying my airplane rallies – she puts the plane behind her like I have been doing from the beginning.”

Wow, that Hillary Clinton is a real jerk. How dare she steal that brilliant idea that Trump conceived with his own tremendous brain. Can’t she come up with ideas of her own? And while we’re at it, let’s condemn these slime buckets who traveled through time to swipe Trump’s strategic breakthrough.

Beginning with this guy:

And then there was Mitt Romney:

That war deserter John McCain:

Mission accomplisher George W. Bush:
https://twitter.com/ParkerMolloy/status/778243857406361600

The Great Communicator himself, Ronald Reagan:
https://twitter.com/ParkerMolloy/status/778243982577008640

And I’ll throw in a Naked Gun reference just for fun:
https://twitter.com/BrianLynch/status/778246227305476096

Donald Trump’s narcissism is totally off the scale. He’s the guy who comes late to the New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square and takes credit for the ball dropping. His perverse obsession with himself has led him to declare that “My primary consultant is myself.” In the White House Trump would surely continue this blatant conceit, which could have disastrous consequences. In the best case scenario it would just make America the laughingstock of the world.

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

WTF? At Clinton’s Post-Terror Press Avail 3 Out Of 4 Questions Were About Trump

Posted by on September 19, 2016 at 5:36 pm. 2 Comments :

For much of the summer conservatives busied themselves counting the days that elapsed since Hillary Clinton held a press conference. To them it indicated that she had something to hide. The truth was that she was concentrating on local media and one-on-one interviews. She was hardly avoiding the press. However, if she wanted to she had ample reason. Her press conference this morning is a perfect illustration of why Clinton might be justified in dodging these affairs.

Hillary Clinton

Following a weekend of bombings and stabbings attributed to terror-linked suspects, Clinton delivered a statement and took a few question from reporters covering her campaign (video below). She began by offering her support to the communities affected by the attacks. She also expressed concern for the victims and determination to prevail over the perpetrators saying, in part:

“Like all Americans, my thoughts are with those who were wounded, their families and our brave first responders. This threat is real, but so is our resolve. Americans will not cower, we will prevail. We will defend our country and we will defeat the evil, twisted ideology of the terrorists.”

After her remarks, Clinton invited the press to ask questions. You might think this would be a good time to dig deeper into her plans to defeat the enemy. But that would only be true if you considered the enemy to be Donald Trump. Because the press seemed far more interested in him than in ISIS. Here are the four questions Clinton was asked by our intrepid journalists:

First Question:

Unidentified Reporter: The person of interest in this case is an Afghan immigrant, now U.S. citizen. What do you say to voters who may see this as a reason to consider supporting Trump’s approach to terror and immigration?

What do you say to those voters? Who gives a flying flapjack! Voters who are considering Trump’s approach to fighting terrorism are considering an approach that doesn’t exist. And his followers don’t care. In over fifteen months of campaigning he has yet to articulate a coherent policy. Trump’s ISIS “plan” consists of bashing Clinton and President Obama, while boldly declaring from the comfort of his gold-encrusted penthouse that he will bomb the sh*t out of them. Despite the obtuse phrasing of the question, Clinton’s reply was thoughtful, covering law enforcement, intelligence gathering, and immigration reform. All while respecting the civil liberties of American citizens and residents. Voters considering Trump have no interest in such trivialities.

Second Question:

Monica Alba, NBC News: Secretary Clinton, the White House has labeled these lone wolf attacks a top concern and given these weekend’s events, what more specifically should be done and what would you do specifically beyond what President Obama has done? Is the current plan enough?

Remember that question. You won’t hear another like during this event. It actually addressed a substantive issue and Clinton was able to respond in kind.

Third Question:

Jennifer Epstein, Bloomberg Politics: Are you concerned that this weekend’s attacks or potential incidents in the coming weeks might be an attempt by ISIS or ISIS sympathizers or, really, any other group, maybe the Russians, to influence the presidential race in some way, And presumably try to drive votes to Donald Trump who, as you said before, widely seen as perhaps being somebody who they would be more willing to — or see as an easier person to be against?

Once again, the question was framed with an eye on how Trump figured into it. The reporter couldn’t simply inquire as to Clinton’s thoughts on the events of the day. Apparently the electoral consequences of terrorism are more important than defeating it. Nevertheless, Clinton soldiered on to provide an answer:

“We know that a lot of the rhetoric we’ve heard from Donald Trump has been seized on by terrorists, in particular ISIS, because they are looking to make this into a war against Islam rather than a war against jihadists, violent terrorists, people who number in the maybe tens of thousands, not but tens of millions.” […and…] “we know that Donald Trump’s comments have been used online for recruitment of terrorists. We’ve heard that from former CIA Director Michael Hayden, who made it a very clear point when he said Donald Trump is being used as a recruiting sergeant for the terrorists. We also know from the former head of our Counterterrorism Center, Matt Olsen, that the kinds of rhetoric and language that Mr. Trump has used is giving aid and comfort to our adversaries.”

That business about “giving aid and comfort to our adversaries” was quickly snatched up by the Trump camp. They complained that Clinton was accusing him of treason. However, she was only citing the opinion of a counter-terrorism expert. The rest of her comments were accurate and well documented.

Fourth Question:

Nancy Cordes, CBS News: Secretary Clinton, as you know, Donald Trump has had a lot to say about your record on this issue over the weekend. Here’s one more example. “Under the leadership of Obama and Clinton, Americans have experienced more attacks at home than victories abroad. Time to change the playbook.” What’s your reaction to that characterization?

Cordes was referencing Trump’s tweet this morning. It hardly requires a response since it is so patently absurd. Americans have not experienced any near the number of attacks as the victories abroad. There have only been a handful of domestic terrorist attacks. That doesn’t diminish the tragedy resulting from them, but it’s simply a fact that there have been very few. Conversely, the U.S. has conducted thousands of missions in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria, that have eliminated hundreds of terrorists including many of their top commanders. Clinton made that very point and ridiculed Trump’s “irresponsible, reckless rhetoric.”

Change the playbook? Trump doesn’t have a playbook at all, and we’re not even sure that he can read. Clinton, on the other hand, has laid out detailed plans for dealing with terrorism. She has the support of dozens of national security experts with credentials from both parties. While Trump has been shunned by members of his own party who say he is unqualified, ignorant, and dangerous.

The press showed itself in this candidate avail to be obsessed with horse-race politics to the exclusion of anything else. The issues that needed to be discussed today were the ones relating to the attacks in New York, New Jersey, and Minnesota. There were real people with real injuries involved. But the media seemed to be interested in only the political circus generally, and the Trump sideshow in particular. That’s a sad state of journalistic affairs. And it would serve as justification should Clinton want to ditch her press corps for the remainder of the campaign. Unless the media can divest itself of its Trump fetish, they don’t deserve to be taken seriously.

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

LOL: Trump Threatens To Sue New York Times For ‘Irresponsible Intent’ – Which Doesn’t Exist

Posted by on September 18, 2016 at 7:48 am. 2 Comments :

Here’s another case of The Donald trumping satire. In the midst of one of his Twitter tirades, Trump lashed out at his arch enemy (well, one of them), the New York Times.

Donald Trump

Something got stuck in Trump’s craw. As usual, he never mentions what it is he’s upset about, nor offers a substantive rebuttal. He just launches blind rhetorical missiles. This time he began by attacking columnist Maureen Dowd, who he called “crazy,” “wacky,” and “a neurotic dope.” He piled on by calling the Times “failing,” “disgusting,” and “a laughingstock rag.” But the piece de resistance was a legal threat that made no sense at all:

If the prospect of this idiot becoming president wasn’t so scary, it would be the funniest bit of performance art ever conceived. Donald Trump is now inventing legal doctrine and giving it nonsense names. There is no such thing as “irresponsible intent” in tort law. And Trump should be damn glad there isn’t. Because it sounds like something that millions of Americans could sue him for.

What’s more, it would be hard to define what constitutes irresponsibility on the part of a news enterprise. If deliberately dispensing false propaganda were a component of the doctrine, then Fox News could be sued into bankruptcy many times over. For my money, I would sue all of the news outlets that let Trump get away with lying about virtually every subject he has addressed. And what could be more irresponsible than broadcasting Trump’s overt racism and hate speech?

Trump’s litigation threat, despite its dissociation from reality, would violate an actual law. A constitutional one at that. His cavalier approach to the First Amendment should frighten all Americans. This is a candidate for the highest office in the land who has proposed “strengthening” libel laws so he could more easily sue the media he so viscerally hates. To hell with freedom of the press. And when he doesn’t have a legal leg to stand on, he just makes up stuff to shake at his foes. His knowledge of the Constitution is as non-existent as its Article XII, which he actually thinks exists. Maybe that’s where he found “irresponsible intent.”

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

What a pathetic, ignorant, small, and potentially dangerous man. He continues to prove that he is utterly unqualified to be a stamp-licker, much less president. The outer limits of his stupidity have still not been reached. And God help us all if he reaches it as Commander-in-Chief.