Joe Walsh

Lying Fox News Host Lies that Trump Has Never Lied to the American People

Posted by on August 30, 2019 at 12:23 pm. 3 Comments :

The mission of Fox News from its inception was to advance the goals of the nationalist right-wing and the Republican Party. But when Donald Trump came along they transformed noticeably into a State TV propaganda outlet devoted single-mindedly to this president and his hostile and demented ravings. Virtually every program lavishes praise on Trump and viciously maligns his critics.

Fox News, Donald Trump

What’s worse, is that there is no lie that is beneath the already sunken principles of Fox News. They are taking their cues from a president who has already told more than 12,000 lies since his inauguration. The legacy of the Trump presidency (contrary to his delusional hopes) will surely include this historically depraved achievement, along with caging babies and being a puppet for Vladimir Putin.

As if to to emphasize the enthusiasm Fox News has for lying about Trump, one of his favorite Fox hosts, Stuart Varney, conducted a dumbfounding interview with conservative Republican Joe Walsh who is challenging Trump for the GOP nomination for president. Walsh is hardly a pristine representative of political ethics, but in this segment (video below) of Varney’s program he shines with uncharacteristic virtue, and makes Varney look like a flaccid Trump sycophant and cult follower.

Walsh began by correctly observing that “We’ve never had a situation like this where we have a president that we fundamentally cannot believe.” A surprisingly skeptical Varney asked Walsh for an example. That was his first mistake. Walsh quickly provided an example from just the day before when Trump’s own staff admitted that Trump lied at the G7 summit when he said that he held high level phone calls with China about tariffs. Walsh’s example led to this bizarre exchange and ludicrous denial:

Varney: That’s not a lie. Let’s not get technical. If the man said – and he did – that high level talks had been held with China, that is not a lie. They were held with China.
Walsh: Stuart, he said there were high level phone calls with Chinese officials. His staff admitted that was not true, that he lied in order to manipulate the market.
Varney: Okay, give me another one.
Walsh: Stuart, you really don’t believe that that’s a lie?
Varney: No I don’t.

It is impossible to have a coherent discussion with someone who hears a flagrant falsehood, but denies what he just heard and tries to move past it in complete blindness. Varney simply accepts whatever Trump says as the truth, even if his own staff says that it isn’t. This isn’t political loyalty. It’s cult worship. And it continued further as the interview progressed:

Walsh: Do you believe this president lies?
Varney: No.
Walsh: You don’t believed he’s ever lied?
Varney: He exaggerates and spins.
Walsh: Okay, do you believe he’s ever told the American people a lie?
Varney: No.

Walsh finally gave up in exasperation as he realized that Varney’s doctrinal programming was impenetrable. He has clearly adopted the first order of a cult: Believe only the Leader. Everyone else is lying. And this isn’t even the first time this week that a Trump shill has claimed that Trump never utters anything less than the God’s honest truth. On CNN Chris Cuomo interviewed Trump’s 2020 campaign Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany. She also insisted that Trump has never ever told a lie. Trump’s new press secretary, Stephanie Grisham, said that she doesn’t think his lies are lies. This is all reminiscent of Kellyanne Conway’s “alternative facts,” And Rudy Giuliani’s “Truth isn’t truth.”

No rational person could ever assert that Trump has never told a lie. Trump has lied about things big and small. He’s lied about tariffs being paid by China; about his polling; about the size of his crowds; about Obama; about the environment; about the border wall; and always about the news being fake. But Trump’s disciples regard him as a messiah who is an infallible manifestation of perfection. Which is precisely how Trump regards himself, having recently declared that he is “The Chosen One.” And sadly, his Deplorables believe that too.

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

Fox News Accidentally Says that Donald Trump is An Unelectable Slimeball

Posted by on August 26, 2019 at 3:25 pm. 6 Comments :

Some of the best moments on Fox News occur when they have no idea what they are talking about. This happens with some frequency considering the low bar that Fox sets for hiring pundits and commentators. The prerequisites for a job at Fox News are primarily the willingness to lie effusively on behalf of Donald Trump and his Republican Nationalist Party, and blond hair.

Donald Trump, Fox News

On Monday morning’s episode of Outnumbered there was a perfect example of this tendency that Fox has to stumble onto something truthful without ever knowing they did so. The program had a segment on the just announced candidacy of radio host and, former Tea Party Republican, Joe Walsh, for the GOP nomination for president. He’s a longshot challenger to Trump, but his conservative credentials and passionate denouncements of Trump could take a toll on the embattled and mentally infirm incumbent. While discussing Walsh’s prospects in the race, Fox host Shannon Bream sought to itemize his weaknesses by revisiting some his previous abhorrent statements (video below):

“This is what Joe Walsh said: ‘Obama’s a Muslim. He’s an enemy and a traitor.’ He said this about Kamala Harris: ‘If you’re black and a woman you say dumb things, lowered bar.’ He also got duped by Sacha Baron Cohen about arming toddlers and kindergartners with guns. […] I think critics might say it’s astonishing that he even thinks he can run right now.”

Okay, then. That’s now the Fox News criteria for establishing when someone is unfit to run for president, There were four standards laid out: Calling Obama a Muslim, calling Obama an enemy, saying black women are stupid, and getting punked by a hoaxster. Let’s see how Trump stands up.

In March of 2011, Trump was interviewed on the Laura Ingraham radio show prior to her joining Fox News. Among Trump’s noxious remarks was praise for the racists who insisted that President Obama was not an American. “A lot of the so-called Birthers,” Trump said, “these are great people. These are really great American people.” Much like the “very fine” Nazis Trump gushed over a few years later. He went on to say of Obama that…

“He doesn’t have a birth certificate, or if he does, there’s something on that certificate that is very bad for him […] perhaps it would be that where it says ‘religion,’ it might have ‘Muslim.’ And if you’re a Muslim, you don’t change your religion.”

One down. Moving on, there is always a Trump tweet that manages to demonstrate his utter idiocy and/or hypocrisy. And in this matter there’s one where he literally posted a comment that said: “Obama is our worst enemy.”

Two down. Moving on, Trump is a well-known misogynist who’s past is replete with harassment, assault, and ceaseless bullying and insults. But specific to the standard set above, he has been especially demeaning to women of color in Congress and the media. His remarks about sending several congresswomen “back where they came from” was only the most recent incident. On many occasions he blatantly attacked African-American reporters for doing their job. For instance, he shouted down Abby Phillip of CNN saying “What a stupid question that is. What a stupid question. But I watch you a lot. You ask a lot of stupid questions.”

Three down. Moving on, Trump was also the victim of a prank call. Comedian “Stuttering” John Melendez (of Howard Stern’s radio show) got through to Trump on Air Force One by pretending to be New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez. The call was directed to Trump by his son-in-law and senior advisor, Jared Kushner.

So that’s all four of the criteria enumerated by Bream that make it “astonishing that he even thinks he can run right now.” Of course there are innumerable other reasons that Trump’s campaign is astonishing. They include his brazen violations of the law by welcoming and encouraging Russia’s attack on our election; his obstruction of justice; his breach of the Constitution’s emoluments clause; his overt racism and support for white nationalists; his coziness with brutal foreign tyrants; and his 12,000+ lies to the American people.

And that’s just for starters. Trump has disparaged American intelligence agencies. He has sided with Vladimir Putin against the U.S. His economic idiocy (tax cuts for the wealthy, benefit cuts for Social Security and Medicare, trade war, bullying the Fed, etc.) will likely lead to a severe recession. So it will be interesting to see if Fox News will hold Trump to the same standards they laid out for Walsh. Or even if they will hold him to the principles that the GOP used to advocate. Don’t hold your breath.

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

Fox News Promotes Crazy Ex-Congressman’s Unhinged, Islamophobic Rant

Posted by on December 7, 2015 at 7:56 pm. 4 Comments :

On a day that has seen two Fox News loudmouths suspended for using profanity on the air, and the leading Republican presidential candidate (yep, Donald Trump) propose banning all Muslims from entering the United States (an idea so repulsive that Dick Cheney (!) said it “goes against everything we stand for and believe in”), there is still another lowlife wingnut competing for recognition as asshole of the day.

Fox Nation Joe Walsh

Former Illinois representative Joe Walsh (R-Loon) is a world-class nutcase who has called for beheading members of the media. He posted a video on his Facebook page (see below) to express his dismay over something he thought he heard Attorney General Loretta Lynch say. The resulting tirade was a spectacularly deranged descent into rank Islamophobia. So obviously Fox News featured it on their community website, Fox Nation, so as to spread the hate to the biggest audience possible.

Walsh: You got a problem Loretta Lynch? Well this is for you and everybody else in this country who is trying to shut me up.

[This paranoid douchebag seriously believes that scads of people are trying to shut him up, when there probably aren’t a dozen who even know that he’s talking]

Walsh: You come out today and you say you’re going to prosecute Americans who use anti Muslim speech? That doesn’t happen in this country. I can say whatever I want about Christians, Jews or Muslims.

[Actually, Lynch never said anything like that. More on that point later]

Walsh: I think Islam has a real freaking problem, alright? There is a cancer in Islam, and if they’re not going to learn to assimilate, I don’t want them in this country. You got a problem, Loretta Lynch, with me saying that? Then throw me in jail. […] Well you know what? I hope that there is a backlash. There should be a backlash. I’m going to encourage a backlash. And do you know what Loretta Lynch? If that bothers you, prosecute me.

[And not only is Walsh paranoid and delusional, he’s bitterly racist. And he is not shy about advocating violence]

Now let’s take a look at what Lynch actually said:

Lynch: When we talk about the First Amendment we [must] make it clear that actions predicated on violent talk are not American. They are not who we are, they are not what we do, and they will be prosecuted. My message not just to the Muslim community but to all Americans is: we cannot give in to the fear that these backlashes are really based on.

Notice that Walsh is trembling with anger at the thought that his God given right to hurl noxious insults at Muslims who have never harmed him might be infringed upon by the chief law enforcement officer of the land. He is absolutely furious that she would suggest something so un-American.

The only problem with Walsh’s bitchfest is that Lynch didn’t suggest anything of the kind. What she said plainly referred to “actions” not words. And in America, if you engage in violent actions that were incited by the sort of crackpot rhetoric that Walsh is dishing out, you can and will be prosecuted. It is also possible to be prosecuted if speech is deemed to have incited violence, but there has to an imminent threat and a direct causal association and intention. That’s much harder to prove.

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

So Walsh’s howling harangue was a big waste of time and energy wherein he completely misunderstood what Lynch said. It accomplished nothing other than to reveal what an ignorant, racist dickwad he is. It’s also an ideal illustration of what President Obama was warning against in his speech last when he said…

“We cannot turn against one another by letting this fight be defined as a war between America and Islam. That, too, is what groups like ISIL want. ISIL does not speak for Islam. They are thugs and killers, part of a cult of death […] the vast majority of terrorist victims around the world are Muslim. If we’re to succeed in defeating terrorism we must enlist Muslim communities as some of our strongest allies, rather than push them away through suspicion and hate.”