Trump Threatens to Ditch GOP Convention in North Carolina, the Only State that Wanted It.

The United States is witnessing the unprecedented spectacle of a president devolving into total mental collapse right before our eyes. Donald Trump seems to know that America is literally sick to death of him. His prospects for reelection have been squandered by his tragically inept mishandling of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. And his most desperate attempts to recover are sinking in a turbulent sea of his own making.

Donald Trump Walking the Plank

If Trump happens to check his favorite pollster, the disgraced and ultra-biased Rasmussen, he will see his approval at 43%, matching his low point going back two and a half years. Other polls such as Reuters (42%) and even Fox News (44%) affirm that rating. He is losing to Joe Biden in every head to head match up nationally, as well as in most of the crucial swing states.

This grim reality has apparently driven Trump off the deep end. His Twitter feed is dripping with psychotic distress. He’s accusing MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough of murder. He’s feuding with his former Attorney General, Jeff Sessions. He’s insulting critics (mostly women) as being skanks (Hillary Clinton), overweight (Stacy Abrams), and stupid (Michigan AG Dana Nessel). He even retweeted Jesse Watters of Fox News saying that President Obama will be in prison soon. And speaking of Fox News, Trump is alternately lashing out at it and embracing it with schizophrenic fury.

On Monday morning, Trump hammered out four tweets that are further evidence of his mental infirmity. He is extremely upset with with the Democratic governor of North Carolina, Roy Cooper, for not guaranteeing that the state will be fully open for business by the time the Republican National Convention is scheduled to be there. Due to the coronavirus, there may still be restrictions of certain activities and crowd sizes. But Trump is insistent that the convention be permitted to operate at full capacity no matter how many lives could be lost.

That’s no surprise coming from the president who has presided over nearly 100,000 American deaths to date that are directly attributable to his negligence, incompetence, and even deliberate malfeasance. Trump’s twitter opus whined that…

I love the Great State of North Carolina, so much so that I insisted on having the Republican National Convention in Charlotte at the end of August. Unfortunately, Democrat Governor, @RoyCooperNC is still in Shutdown mood & unable to guarantee that by August we will be allowed…

full attendance in the Arena. In other words, we would be spending millions of dollars building the Arena to a very high standard without even knowing if the Democrat Governor would allow the Republican Party to fully occupy the space. Plans are being….

made by many thousands of enthusiastic Republicans, and others, to head to beautiful North Carolina in August. They must be immediately given an answer by the Governor as to whether or not the space will be allowed to be fully occupied. If not, we will be reluctantly forced…

to find, with all of the jobs and economic development it brings, another Republican National Convention site. This is not something I want to do. Thank you, and I LOVE the people of North Carolina!

True to form, Trump is demonstrating that he is more concerned about his own welfare than that of the American people, even his own supporters. If he is set on cramming thousands of people into an arena-sized petri dish, then they should be quarantined there for 14 days following the convention to prevent them from spreading the coronavirus as they fan out across the nation to their homes. There have already been numerous reports of spiking infection and death rates in states that have loosened restrictions.

What Trump isn’t addressing in his threat to ditch North Carolina is that there may mot be any alternatives available. When the RNC originally put out the call for cities to host the convention, they ended up with with only Charlotte, North Carolina submitting a bid. That’s unheard of in the convention business. And it wasn’t because of economics, logistics, or security. The Democrats got eight bids to host their convention. So obviously the problem was Trump.

Consequently, there has been some speculation that Trump might move the event to his Doral golf resort in Miami, although he denies it. However, in his denial he accused the New York Times of engaging in that speculation, which the Times didn’t do. This is just Trump’s routine practice of disinformation to muddy the waters around whatever scandalous hole he’s trying to dig himself out of at the time.

Being as it is only about 13 weeks until the convention is to be held, there isn’t nearly enough time to find another host city that could ramp up quickly enough to pull off this large of an event. That’s even if there is a city that wants to, which was not the case when the original opportunity presented itself.

What’s more, the GOP has already invested heavily in the North Carolina site and would have to forfeit those expenditures if they cancel. So the likelihood is that the convention will proceed in Charlotte under whatever conditions the state mandates, and Trump will have to suck it up. Of course that means he will just blame the Democrats in North Carolina for his failures and elevate the hysteria in his tweets.

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

PRIORITIES: Trump’s Rage-Tweets Focus on Bashing Democrats, Ignore Coronavirus

The importance of the Super Tuesday primaries cannot be overstated. It’s results have reshaped the Democratic race to be the party’s nominee for president. But that is surely not the only story with national significance. The nation – and the world – continues to be threatened by an emerging health crisis that has the potential to be become a pandemic.

Donald Trump, Toilet, Bathrobe

These situations require the thoughtful and forthright attention of our leaders, from local medical facilities right up to the White House. So this would be a good time to see how Donald Trump is spending his precious time at this hour of need.

While news reports confirm that both infections and fatalities in the U.S. are increasing, Trump seems unperturbed by these developments. His Twitter feed on Wednesday morning consists of fourteen tweets, and not a single one addresses the coronavirus. Instead, Trump appears to be fully consumed by the drama in the Democratic presidential primary. Fully half of his tweets were attacks of one sort or another on the Democrats vying to oust him in November. And the majority of those were missives aimed Mike Bloomberg, who Trump derisively refers to as “Mini.” For instance…

It’s pretty hysterical that a pretend billionaire like Trump, whose bankruptcies and other business failures are legendary, attacks Bloomberg for not “having what it takes.” Bloomberg is worth over $58 billion. Also, Trump is lying about what Bloomberg spent on his campaign. But even if it were true, it would be less than 2% of of his wealth. And Bloomberg has promised to spend “whatever it takes” to defeat Trump.

That’s why Trump is so scared. He knows that Bloomberg has the resources to bury him politically. And whether Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders is the beneficiary of those funds, and Bloomberg’s digital operations, they will create the sort of “wall” that Trump can only dream about.

Trump fired off three other tweets about Bloomberg that were equally as insulting and devoid of substance. But he also went after Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. He continues to spin a deranged conspiracy theory that everyone in the Democratic Party is plotting to “crush Bernie Sanders.” And Trump is positioning himself as an advocate for Sanders, who he claims is the victim of a rigged system. Obviously Trump loathes everything about Sanders. So this dishonest expression of concern is rooted in something more sinister. As Trump tells it…

So what’s Trump’s game? He wants us to believe that he considers Sanders an easier opponent to beat. However, he didn’t come to that conclusion on his own. It also happens to be the view of his pal, Vladimir Putin. The Russian campaign to sow discord and chaos within the Democratic Party has been in operation for months. Sanders was notified of it earlier this year. And virtually everything Trump is doing and saying is aligned with the Russian agenda. It is no coincidence that Putin’s perspective and Trump’s are so tightly bound.

In addition to those anti-Democratic tweets, Trump also posted what amounts to a confession that he intended to obstruct justice when he appointed Jeff Sessions to be his Attorney General:

It’s hard to be any clearer that Trump expected Sessions to terminate the Mueller investigation. And when that didn’t happen, he fired Sessions and installed a more obedient lackey, Bill Barr. Now Trump is celebrating Sessions’ difficulties in winning back his old senate seat. And the reason that Trump believes Sessions is getting what he deserves is that Sessions wasn’t sufficiently loyal. Of course, that isn’t in the job description of the Attorney General. What Trump is looking for is a bootlicking sycophant, which is also not in the job description of the Attorney General, or any other cabinet position.

The larger problem that all of this represents is that, while America is worried about the emergence of a potential pandemic, Trump is obsessed only with his prospects for retaining power. That may not be news to anyone who has been paying attention to our Narcissist-in-Chief, but it is nevertheless troubling. The United States is presently burdened with a self-absorbed, wannabe dictator who is content to allow millions of Americans to suffer rather than fulfill the obligations of his job. And therein lies the most urgent reason to make sure that Trump’s presidency ends as soon as possible.

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

Trump Flunky Lewandowski Admits Lying to the Media, AKA the American People

On Tuesday the House Judiciary Committee tried to get former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski to respond a few questions about his interactions with Donald Trump. It predictably descended into a chaotic spectacle of deflection, lies, and bogus claims of “privilege” in order to avoid providing honest answers to simple questions. Lewandowski demonstrated a keen ability to parrot the obnoxious rhetorical patter of Trump as he showed complete disrespect for the truth.

Corey Lewandowski

In his testimony, Lewandowski repeatedly tried to claim that he could simply refuse to answer questions because Trump asked him not to. That has no basis in the law or reason. In fact, it is brazen contempt of Congress, which members of the Committee are reviewing to determine whether or not to press charges. Lewandowski also implicated himself and Trump in a conspiracy to obstruct justice by putting pressure on then-Attorney General Jeff sessions to drop or otherwise hamstring the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller.

However, the most striking remarks by Lewandowski came when he was asked by the Committee’s legal counsel, Barry Berke, about comments he made on MSNBC’s The Beat with Ari Melber. Lewandowski told Melbar that he had no conversations with Mueller regarding Trump’s efforts to interfere with the investigation. But, as Berke got Lewandowski to admit, that was not true. Then, in his defense, Lewandowski said that “I have no obligation to be honest with the media.”

Let that sink in. A top associate of the President of the United States admitted before Congress, and on national TV, that he lies to the press. Of course, we all know that Trump lies shamelessly nearly every time he opens his mouth. And his official spokespersons openly admit that they employ “alternative facts” to avoid telling the truth. But this admission is particularly galling because it was said with pride as if it were a virtue.

What the American people need to remember is that lying to the media is actually lying to them. No one tells anything to the press because they want the press to know it. They talk to the press in order to relay their comments to the public. So when Lewandowski says that he has “no obligation to be honest with the media,” he really saying that has no obligation to be honest with the American people. And that is also the established doctrine of the Trump administration.

Lewandowski proved that he couldn’t care less about lying to the public when he appeared on CNN the day after his congressional hearing. Why CNN even bothered to interview someone who brags that he will lie to them is troubling in itself. But Lewandowski was, ironically, true to his word by lying flagrantly throughout what turned into a mud-slinging shoutdown by Lewandowski (video below). Among the glaring untruths were his contention that the Mueller Report concluded that there was “no collusion, no obstruction” by Trump. That was contracted by Mueller himself when he testified before Congress. Also, Lewandowski was forced to admit that he had never even read the Mueller report. He also lied about whether the report he hadn’t bothered to read contained ten documented instances of Trump obstructing justice.

The media really needs to show better judgement when booking guests. They should not be helping admitted liars gain a national platform to propagate their lies. That is a disservice to their audience and it stains the reputation of the press. People like Lewandowski, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, amd Kellyanne Conway should be confined to Fox News where their their lies are appreciated and disseminated to glassy-eyed Deplorables who consume lies like candy. And that may also apply to the biggest liar of all, Donald Trump.

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

Fox News Accuses Rachel Maddow of Pro-Mueller Bias, Ignored Hannity Campaigning with Trump

The hypocrites at Fox News are out in force following the midterm elections that returned Democrats to the majority in the House of Representatives. Which isn’t really any different than the way the Fox News hypocrites were behaving before the midterms. But it’s clear that they intend to continue distorting reality for their glassy-eyed and willfully ignorant viewers.

Rachel Maddow, Fox News

In an article on the Fox News website Thursday, their media correspondent, Brian Flood, sought to criticize MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow for exhibiting a bias in favor of special counsel Robert Mueller. The piece was not addressing anything she did on her program, but rather a tweet she posted that reported the grassroots reaction to Donald Trump firing his Attorney General, Jeff Sessions. That dismissal, and the appointment of Trump flunky Matt Whitaker as Acting Attorney General, was the latest attempt by Trump to obstruct justice by undermining the Mueller probe. Maddow’s tweet simply reported that there were protests planned to advocate for members of Congress to protect Mueller from any interference by the Trump regime:

That tweet was the basis for the article by Flood who characterized it as pro-Mueller and implied that there was something untoward about Maddow posting such a comment. He wrote that:

“Maddow is a leftist activist but was recently paired with Brian Williams during MSNBC’s Election Night coverage. News organizations typically use nonpartisan anchors for such assignments.”

Setting aside the false assertion that Maddow is a leftist activist (to which Maddow had a light-hearted reply), Flood is actually admitting that Fox is not a “news organization” because their election night programming used flagrantly partisan anchors – Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham – in their coverage. They were planning to use Sean Hannity as well, according to their pre-broadcast press release, but Hannity was an unexplained no-show. You have to wonder if that had anything to do with Hannity’s campaign stumping for Trump on stage with the President at his last cult rally of the election season.

What’s interesting is that Flood found it necessary to publish a misleading article about Maddow’s alleged bias, but he never published anything about Hannity nuzzling up to Trump on stage, or the anchor chairs occupied by Carlson and Ingraham. It’s a good thing Fox News abandoned their “fair and balanced” slogan last year. Because their own media correspondent can’t live up to it.

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

Impeachable: Trump Threatens to Abuse His Power With Retaliatory Investigations of Democrats

The midterm election for 2018 is now history. And the results are indeed historic. Democrats have taken control of the House of Representatives at a critical time. Donald Trump has had two years to run rampant with illegal conduct by himself, his family, and his cabinet. That unfettered freedom to violate the law is now over. Democrats are already preparing to take affirmative steps to finally hold him accountable.

Donald Trump Impeach

And Democrats in Congress are not alone. Special counsel Robert Mueller has been quietly advancing his investigation into Trump’s collusion with Russia and obstruction of justice. Trump has been quiet about this as well for the past month or so. And the reason likely has something to do with his abject fear of what Muellser is uncovering.

LATE UPDATE: Trump has just tweeted that he accepted the resignation (fired) Attorney General Jeff Sessions. That makes everything below even more troubling. Obviously Trump isn’t wasting any time trying to obstruct justice and remove any barriers to his tyrannical will.

Trump is also clearly frightened by the results of the election, and it’s showing in his first responses to them. Now that Democrats have the majority in the House they will have the chairmanships of every committee. That includes Adam Schiff at Intelligence, Elijah Cummings at Oversight, and even Maxine Waters at Financial Services. All of these new chairs, and many more, are dedicated to pursuing enforcement of the law. No wonder Trump is scared. So much so that he tweeted an overt (and unlawful) threat:

That is an unambiguous confession that Trump plans to abuse the power of his office. If he had any legitimate information regarding wrongdoing by Democrats, he would have already taken measures to persecute them for it. He is, in effect, admitting that he has no real charges to bring, but he will engage in deliberate judicial misconduct to retaliate against the honest representatives of the people for doing their job. It’s the perverse sort of political revenge that is generally employed by dictators.

At a Wednesday morning press conference, Trump reiterated his intention to abuse his presidential power by directing the Senate to participate in his campaign of vengeance. Under normal circumstances the Senate would have no part of serving as an attack squad for a corrupt White House, These are not normal circumstances and this Republican Nationalist Party controlled Senate would likely sign on. Without pretending that his actions were anything but personally vindictive against Democrats that he regards as the enemy, Trump told the press that:

“They can play that game, but we can play it better. Because we have a thing called the Senate. And a lot of very questionable things were done between leaks of classified information and many other elements that should not have taken place.” […] “And I think it would be very good for me politically.”

Once again, if there were any unlawful leaks of classified information, or any other legal misdeeds, why isn’t Trump or his Justice Department already investigating them? Because they exist only in Trump’s spiteful imagination. And what’s worse is that he doesn’t even have any shame about admitting that this would be a purely political ploy.

Also in the press conference, Trump threatened that any attempts to hold him accountable by issuing subpoenas would result in unspecified retaliatory subpoenas against unnamed Democrats. He added that his vengeance would mean that “government comes to a halt. And I would blame them.” And when asked if he would be able to work with Democrats in Congress while he was engaged in phony investigations of them, he angrily replied that “If they do that then all of this is a war-like posture.”

Remember, he’s talking about fellow Americans who were elected by citizens to represent them. Like the media that he calls the enemy of the people,” Trump, in his warped and malignantly narcissistic brain, also regards duly elected members of Congress as his enemies. He is literally declaring war on constitutional servants of the people. That’s actually called a civil war – or treason. And before too long he’s going to find out that that isn’t a particularly smart move.

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

Wannabe Dictator Trump’s New Attack on Kavanaugh Accusers: ‘Look Into the Lawyers’

Trump has made it a priority in his administration to assault the institutions that comprise most of what best defines America. Most notably, the media which he repeatedly refers to in Stalinist terms as “the enemy of the people” (which has not worked out very well for him). But he is also a devout foe of academia, science, the arts, intelligence, and even religion when it doesn’t serve his purposes. But no institution has taken more of the brunt of Trump’s animus than the law.

Donald Trump

In the past short but unbearable two years, Trump has expressed his disdain for the agencies of the government that draft, maintain, and implement the law. He rages against Congress for not bowing down to his authority and passing his favorite legislative initiatives like funding the border wall. He regards the FBI as beholden to secretive, subversive, “Deep State” forces intent on destroying his presidency. He puts more faith in the words of Vladimir Putin than he does in his own intelligence professionals with regard to whether Russia unlawfully interfered with the 2016 (and 2018) election.

Perhaps the most battered victim in the field of law enforcement is the Department of Justice itself. Trump has relentlessly pummeled his own attorney general, Jeff Sessions, with withering insults and open disrespect. He recently stated that “I have no attorney general.” And of course, he fired his director of the FBI, James Comey, and replaced him with Christopher Wray, who then became the new designated butt of Trump’s malice. And Trump’s hatred for the FBI and the DoJ goes even deeper to lower level officials like Andrew McCabe, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, and Bruce Ohr.

Now in the midst of a melodrame involving his morally flawed Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, Trump is becoming more desperate and more disparaging. With the number of accusers coming forward with tales of sexual misconduct by Kavanaugh growing, Trump has segued from attacking the accusers themselves to attacking their legal representation (video below):

“These are highly unsubstantiated statements from people represented by lawyers. You should look into the lawyers, their representation.”

That’s a disturbing outburst from a president of what is supposed to be a free democracy. Trump explicitly makes known his suspicion of “people represented by lawyers.” Which is pretty funny considering that he is represented by an army of them. But on the other tiny hand, it’s also understandable in that his long-time personal attorney, Michael Cohen, is now cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller, and providing testimony that is likely damaging to Trump. Another factor driving Trump’s dislike of lawyers could be concluded just by looking at who his lawyers are (I’m looking at you Rudy Giuliani).

What’s more, Trump’s admonition to – the media? – that they “should look into the lawyers,” portends the sort of government heavy-handedness that is characteristic of totalitarian regimes. And it may even be a bit of an anti-Semitic dog whistle to his base that automatically assumes an evil undercurrent to their imagined Jewish domination of the law (and banking, and Hollywood, and whatever else their rancid imaginations dream up). That’s especially suspicious since Michael Bromwich (a Jewish lawyer who also represents Andrew McCabe) just joined the legal team representing Christine Blasey Ford.

What exactly does Trump hope to achieve with an examination of the lawyers representing Kavanaugh’s accusers? Does he think they will be exposed as collaborators in the Deep State? Will he discover some cabal of commie subversives? Maybe he thinks they’re all ambulance chasing money grubbers. Does he hope that when “looked at” they will run for cover and leave their clients without a defense?

Trump is obviously afraid of lawyers. He frequently threatens to sue anyone that looks at him funny. But he eventually skulks away in cowardice and disgrace. He has suffered numerous defeats at the hands of lawyers representing those he has harmed in business. For instance, earlier this year he was ordered to pay $25 million to the defrauded students of Trump University.

The most visible legal opponent of Trump, Stormy Daniels’ attorney Michael Avenatti, scares Trump so badly that he has never tweeted about him even once. And Trump still has more than a dozen other women who have made charges of sexual harassment and assault against him, and may file lawsuits of their own. So maybe Trump’s proposal to have the lawyers looked into is just his latest attempt to silence and/or bully them. Yeah, that’ll work.

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

Poor Trump: He’s ‘Sad’ that He Doesn’t Have an Attorney General Who Will Help Him Obstruct Justice

For someone who has sold himself as being tough and unbending, Donald Trump sure whines an awful lot. But then again, he actually did say that “I am the most fabulous whiner.” So America should not be all that surprised when he incessantly complains about how he is being treated so unfairly and that everybody is out to get him.

Donald Trump

The latest example of the Crybaby-in-Chief’s infantile carping came during an interview with The Hill on Tuesday. There was little in the way of actual newsworthy revelations in the discourse, but Trump did let it be known that he was a sad puppy. “I don’t have an attorney general,” he said. “It’s very sad.” He went on to whimper that he’s “not happy at the border,” and “not happy with numerous things.” Poor baby.

His problem lies mainly with Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who Trump thinks has let him down. He believes that when Sessions recused himself it was unnecessarily hurtful to Trump. He said that Sessions was “mixed up and confused” at his confirmation hearing and that “it turned out he didn’t have to recuse himself.” Of course, that wasn’t the truth. Sessions was required by law to recuse due to his personal relationship with Russian operatives and his involvement in the campaign that was under investigation.

On Wednesday, Trump awkwardly tried to walk back the comments in the interview. The morning press gaggle inquired about his remarks concerning Sessions (video below). “I’m disappointed in the Attorney General for numerous reasons,” he said. “But we have an attorney general.” Well, that clears that up. However, when he was asked if was going to fire Sessions, he gave a clear signal of no confidence saying that “We are looking at lots of different things.” So maybe he will fire Sessions. Or maybe he’ll throw him into an alligator-infested swamp. Or maybe he’ll dress him up like a Barbie doll. You know, lots of different things.

The only thing that is certain is that Trump’s disappointment stems from Sessions not helping him obstruct justice with regard to the special counsel investigation. He wants Sessions to fire Robert Mueller and put an end to those pesky questions about his unsavory connections to Russia. He’s tired of hearing about all of his former associates (Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, Michael Cohen, etc.) pleading guilty and becoming witnesses for the prosecution. And he’s desperately frightened that he’s going to be held accountable for his treasonous activities.

Trump has good reason to be afraid. The walls are closing in around him and his family. And the potential charges extend beyond the Russia affairs to his personal affairs – both sexual and business related. Trump is a festring legal boil that is ready to burst. So naturally he is lashing out and blaming others for his own failures. Speculation is rampant the Trump will fire Sessions after the midterm election in what may be a much broader purge of anyone he considers less than worshipful. But if he does that he will likely wind up all alone in that big, old drafty White House. So sad.

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

A New Record? Liar-in-Chief, Donald Trump, Squeezes 10 Lies Into a Single Tweet

For someone who has made lying the hallmark of his public persona, Donald Trump is committed to advancing that character flaw to ever new heights. It’s not enough that he has won at least two Lie of the Year awards from PolitiFact, or that he surpassed 5,000 lies since his inauguration. He continues to climb to new summits in the pursuit of prevarication.

Donald Trump Robert Mueller

On Sunday morning, Trump apparently missed church so that he could repeatedly violate the Ninth Commandment: Thou shalt not lie. And he managed to commit this sin ten times in the space of a single tweet. It’s a feat that could compete with the holy spectacles of parting the Red Sea or getting elected president after bragging about grabbing women by their private parts. Here is the miraculous tweet:

Lie #1: It’s not illegal.
Let’s break this down in order. The first lie arrives quickly in the second word, “illegal.” The Mueller investigation is legal by any measure of consideration. It was authorized by Trump’s own attorney General, Jeff Sessions, and is headed by a special counsel, Robert Mueller, who was appointed by Sessions’ deputy, Rod Rosenstein. The entire probe is subject to the review of the Deputy Attorney General, who has approved everything that Mueller is doing.

Lie #2: It’s not a “Witch Hunt”:
This is one of Trump’s favorite ways to malign the investigation. But the absurdity of his attack is evidenced by the fact that so many “witches” have already been found. Mueller has produced dozens of indictments and secured seven guilty pleas/verdicts. And many of these felons are now cooperating with Mueller on broader matters that might include Trump’s collusion with Russia.

Lie #3: Mueller is not searching for a crime:
The special counsel is limited to only those areas of inquiry that are authorized by his bosses at the Justice Department. Everything he has been investigating has been explicitly approved and he has no authority to go beyond those limits without getting additional approvals. His only mandate is to investigate alleged crimes and document what he finds. If there were no crimes committed, he won’t find any.

Lie #4: There was collusion:
No matter how many times Trump whines that there was no collusion, he cannot erase reality. His son and his campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, admit that they met with Russian operatives to get dirt on Hillary Clinton. What’s more, numerous people in Trump’s circle (Mike Flynn, George Papadopoulos, Jeff Sessions, Carter Page, etc.) have met with Russians and lied about about until the evidence made that impossible.

Lie #5: The collusion was not by Hillary Clinton:
There is absolutely zero evidence that Clinton or her campaign had any dealings with Russia. What Trump likes to assert is that the infamous Steele dossier is somehow proof of Clinton’s collusion. But that research was done independently by Christopher Steele, who got information from Russian dissidents, not Kremlin operatives. And Clinton never directed any of that investigation.

Lie #6: There aren’t 17 angry Democrats:
As a technical matter, there are 65 million angry Democrats. But more to the point, Trump is accusing Mueller’s team of being partisan and biased against him. But these are career Justice Department professionals who have shown no bias whatsoever in the conduct of their duties. And the head of the team, Mueller, is a life-long Republican who could overrule any finding that he determined was improperly influenced by personal opinions. Mueller proved his impartiality by removing former FBI official, Peter Strzok, after only two weeks due to the appearance of bias (although none was actually found).

Lie #7: They are not Looking for “anything”:
This is similar to lie #3 where Trump asserts that the investigation is just fishing for anything to hang on him. But once again, Mueller’s authority is strictly overseen by his superiors at the Justice Department. He cannot simply wander off on his own to hook the President.

Lie #8: It’s not unfair:
This is just Trump whining (and he did say that he is the “most fabulous whiner”. This is only unfair to the same degree that any criminal regards his prosecution as unfair. They would obviously prefer not to be under investigation at all. But Mueller’s probe is following all the rules set forth by applicable laws, and if Trump doesn’t like it he’s just behaving the way any other guilty person would. If he were innocent he would expect that the result would exonerate him and welcome the investigation as as an opportunity to clear his name.

Lie #9: It’s not bad for the country:
Let’s face it. This is only bad for Trump. What’s bad for the country is that Trump engaged in such shady and illegal activities that we all have to go through this nightmare. It’s no one’s fault but Trump’s. And he doesn’t get to decide whether his being brought to justice is bad for the country. His conviction will result in his having to pay the price for his crimes. And it will hopefully serve as a deterrent to other aspiring criminals and traitors.

Lie #10: It most definitely is allowed:
Everything that Mueller is doing is strictly according to the law (see Lie #1). Trump didn’t cite any alleged legal violation because there isn’t one. Not that he would be able to understand it if there were. His lawyers haven’t even cited any legal argument for ending the investigation, nor have they filed any motions to do so. The only threat to the investigation is Trump’s frequent warnings that he might interfere with the proceedings because he doesn’t like that they exist. That would just be another incident of obstruction of justice.

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

So Trump’s tweet managed to get everything wrong. It was a panicky outburst that exhibits just how frightened and desperate he is. It’s what lawyers call “consciousness of guilt.” And Trump has demonstrated that so many times it’s impossible to count. One thing for sure is that Mueller is taking all of this into consideration and it will be a part of his final report. Trump is so stupid he has no idea how badly he’s hurting his own case. But that’s typical of malignant narcissists who are always convinced of their own superior intelligence and virtue. And it’s also typical of their eventual downfall.

TFA: Eric Holder Slams Trump and Lou Dobbs of Fox News for Ignorant Tweet About the DOJ

One of the most fascinating aspects of Donald Trump’s dementia is how he frequently expresses something that has the effect of contradicting his intention. He did this recently in a tweet about his “witch hunt” delusion that actually affirmed it. And he did it again in a rant about the anonymous New York Times op-ed that validated the article’s warnings about his unfitness to serve.

Donald Trump, Eric Holder

Well, he’s done it again. On Tuesday morning, when the rest of America was deep in remembrance of the victims of 9/11, Trump decided he would go after his own Justice Department. And he did so with what he must regard as the worst possible indignity he could muster: comparing it to Obama’s Justice Department:

On the surface, what Trump is implying is that his Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, was no better than his predecessor, Eric Holder. But this attempt at insulting Sessions could be interpreted another way. Trump might be saying, inadvertently of course, that the Justice Department is operating exactly as it should be. A change in administrations ought not to alter the mission of the agency, which is to be a nonpartisan seeker of facts and accountability for wrongdoing. So it should, in fact, not be any different under Sessions, than it was under Holder.

Trump, however, is wholly incapable of understanding anything as principled and anchored by ethics as that. What he was aiming at was the refusal of Sessions to turn the department into his own Office of Personal Persecution. Trump is livid that Sessions won’t lead an inquisition against Hillary Clinton and other Democrats who Trump, in his paranoid haze, believes are conspirators in a “Deep State” plot to dethrone him.

As for Holder, he noticed Trump’s harangue at Sessions and observed some differences between the current DoJ and the one that he led. Holder tweeted in response to Trump:

Indeed, Holder took his responsibilities seriously as the nation’s top law enforcement official. He dedicated his service to advancing the rights of all Americans and bringing criminals to justice. His closing acronym, “TFA,” was a reference to the 25th Amendment that provides for the removal of a president who is incapable of carrying out his duties.

Finally, Trump’s tweet was his second of the morning that quoted Lou Dobbs, the Fox News hack who is so infatuated with Trump that he signs most of his own tweets with the hashtags #MAGA and #TrumpTrain. Nothing like being fair and balanced. The other Dobbs quote posted by Trump said:

Needlass to say that is 100% false. There are mountains of evidence that connect Trump directly to Russia and people close to Vladimir Putin. And there is literally nothing that connects Clinton to Russia except for the partial funding of the Steele Dossier, which included sources that were Russian dissidents, not Kremlin operatives. That’s a huge difference.

All of this underscores the differences between what Eric Holder sees as an honest Justice Department and what Trump thinks should be an agency that is obedient to his tyrannical rule. Fortunately, that perverse vision isn’t being carried out – yet. But with Trump threatening to fire Sessions after the midterm elections, who knows.

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

Trump’s Incoherent Whining on Fox News About Anonymous Op-Ed in NY Times Actually Affirms It

We’re two days into the news cycle on the anonymous op-ed that appeared in the New York Times announcing a “resistance” inside the White House to Trump’s dangerous unfitness for office. If anything, the temperature has increased with more insiders coming forward to warn about Trump’s unbalanced mental state.

Donald Trump

Meanwhile, Trump is proving the allegations against him by bellowing at his staff and behaving even more paranoid than usual. He can’t trust anyone around him but his children, and even that might be assuming too much. The effect this has had on him is obvious and profound. He’s tweeted about this, and the related book by Bob Woodward, eighteen times already. He’s clearly obsessed with these credible depictions of his mental infirmities by people who have access to him and reason to know.

So naturally Trump rushed frantically to Fox News in order to get a good tongue bathing in an environment where he would be safe from well deserved criticism. He was interviewed by Fox and Friends co-host Pete Hegseth before the crowd at his Montana cult rally. And the part of exchange that covered the New York Times op-ed pretty much tells you everything you need to know about Trump’s rupturing psychoses. It’s a wholly incoherent rant that he seemed to disgorge in a single, panicky breath. (video below):

Hegseth: Folks here might have seen an anonymous column written in the New York Times. [Audience boos] And I think this audience would say that an attack on you was an attack on the people that voted for you. Are you any closer to knowing who did it and what should be done if you find out who did it?
Trump: Well number one, the Times should have never have done that because really what they’ve done is, virtually, you know it’s treason. You can call it a lot of things, but to think that you have somebody in all of the cabinets – some many people as you know they came forward, they’re writing editorials. They’re all saying you know it’s got to be at a fairly low level. Because so many people today, I was just coming out, and I see all the people that are saying such great things. We have a lot of love in the administration, and the White House is truly as you would say, a well-oiled machine – it is working so well. You know we have – I heard you say yesterday, we have thousands of people that in theory could qualify. So they take one person out of thousands, but what’s unfair – I don’t mind when they write a book and they make lies cause it gets discredited. We just discredited the last one, we discredit all of them because it’s lies. But I’ll tell you, when somebody writes and you can’t discredit because you have no idea who they are – usually you’ll find out, it’s a background that was bad, it may not be a Republican, it may not be a conservative, it may be a deep state person that’s been there a long time. You don’t know where – it’s a very unfair thing. But its very unfair to our country and to the millions of people that voted, really for us. They voted for us.

First of all, go back and read the question. Trump came nowhere near anything that might be considered an answer. What you have there is an insane person insisting that he’s completely sane while proving that he isn’t. Trump began by charging the Times with treason. Obviously, he has no idea what the word means or how to apply it. And this wasn’t a hypothetical comment. On Air Force One this morning Trump said he was asking his Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, to investigate the Times as a “national security” matter. However, he couldn’t explain how a critical op-ed endangered national security. He also said he’s looking into taking some unspecified action against the paper and the author. That would be a flagrant breach of the Constitution’s First Amendment.

Trump went on to extol the “love in the administration,” despite the unprecedented turmoil, resignations and terminations during his first two years in office. His senior staff are reported to have called him “an idiot,” “a moron,” “a liar,” “a baby,” and more demeaning, but accurate epithets. If this is his idea of a “well-oiled machine,” what, in heaven’s name, would a squeaky one look like?

Trump also told Hegseth that “I don’t mind when they write a book” because “we discredit all of them.” Notice that he doesn’t say that he refutes them or offers substantive rebuttals. He astonishingly admits that he goes straight for character assassination. He affirms that by complaining that he can’t discredit the author if he doesn’t know who it is. Of course, he could dispute what was said, but the only thing he’s interested in is attacking the person, not the allegations. That’s because he can’t attack allegations that are demonstrably true.

The more Trump defends himself from charges of mental infirmity, the more he is demonstrating the validity of the charges. And he’s behaving like the cornered animal that lashes out wildly at any perceived threat. That’s the same behavior he’s exhibited with regard to the investigation by special prosecutor Robert Mueller. Trump is clearly afraid and in panic mode. And that is turning his responses to these situations into more evidence against him. So keep ranting, Donnie. You’re signing your own impeachment order.

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