Loretta Lynch

Scandal Starved Fox News Devours Moldy Story on Clinton and AG Lynch

Posted by on February 17, 2020 at 3:01 pm. 16 Comments :

Ever since Donald Trump delivered his Dystopian State of the Union address a couple of weeks ago, he has demonstrated his failure to grasp the consequences of having been impeached. He has embarked on a campaign of paranoid expulsions of perceived enemies from his own administration. And he has exposed a diseased and frightened mindset that makes it plain that he hasn’t learned a thing, as some terminally naive Republican senators presumed he would.

Donald Trump, Fox News, Fake

Among the Trumpian atrocities that have occurred in recent weeks is the brazenly biased interference of Trump’s Attorney Genuflect, Bill Barr, in the case of convicted felon, and longtime Trump political guru, Roger Stone. This was an ethical breach so egregious that more than 2,000 former Justice Department officials from both parties have called for Barr’s resignation.

The Trump playbook on responding to charges against him is as predictable as it is shallow. He merely seeks to manufacture similar charges against his opponents. However, there isn’t anything that could be plausibly be asserted with regard to the administration of justice by Democrats that is remotely comparable. So Trump World is stretching completely out of shape to fight back on this one.

What they have apparently settled on is a revisitation of a meeting between Bill Clinton and Attorney General Loretta Lynch at an Arizona airport four years ago. There was never any evidence of anything improper in that meeting, although Republicans latched unto it like a pack of rabid hounds hoping to uncover some wrongdoing. Despite their best efforts, they failed utterly. Clinton, after all, was not the President, and Hillary was no longer in government, so neither had any influence to wield. Therefore, any comparison of that event to Trump putting pressure on Barr is ludicrous.

But that didn’t stop Fox News from interviewing an author whose new book promises “explosive new information” about the “Secret on the Tarmac.” Christopher Sign joined the “Curvy Couch” potatoes on Fox and Friends to discuss what was introduced as “the tarmac meeting that rocked 2016.” Co-host Steve Doocy began by asking Sign a flagrantly leading question (video below):

Doocy: From the get go, this just didn’t add up, did it?
Sigh: Not at all. When I broke this story we knew something had occurred here that was a bit unusual. It was a planned meeting. It was not a coincidence. It was planned. And this details everything that they don’t want you to know and everything they think you forgot. But Bill Clinton was on that plane for 20 minutes and it wasn’t just about golf, grandkids, Brexit.

And that’s the entirety of this “explosive new information.” Sign did not reveal anything else about what took place or what was said. When asked how he knew that something was going on, he replied that “I have a source that walks me through it from point A to point b to point Z. And my source saw it all unfold.” Once again, Sign provides no details about what his alleged source told him. Only that Clinton arrived at the airport and waited briefly until he could board Lynch’s plane, where they spoke for about twenty minutes.

Shocking, isn’t it? There is no evidence of any plot or any even any potential benefit from this allegedly clandestine rendezvous. There is no indication that Sign’s source was on the plane or witnessed any of the discussions. The confirmation that the meeting lasted only twenty minutes suggests that there couldn’t have been anything of importance taking place, and certainly nothing that couldn’t have been discussed on the telephone.

So how does their scenario explain why Clinton and Lynch would have needed to meet at an airport in Arizona? Neither Sign, nor anyone at Fox News, can explain what might have been so controversial about this. And the reliance on an unidentified source should make the whole thing invalid according to Trump, who has frequently insisted that such sources don’t actually exist.

Trump himself weighed in on this pathetic excuse for a scandal at the time, tweeting…

Notice that Trump, as he is wont to do, nearly doubled the time Clinton supposedly spent on Lynch’s plane. And it’s surely no surprise that Trump thinks it would be impossible to talk about one’s grandchildren for half an hour, because he probably can’t even name his. Most grandparents can go on for hours about their grandkids. That’s how desperately wretched this attempt at concocting a scandal is. Fox News is really scraping the bottom of the barrel these days.

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

Fox News Hideously Twists Loretta Lynch’s Inspiring Message As Calling For ‘Blood and Death’

Posted by on March 6, 2017 at 12:42 pm. 3 Comments :

Former Attorney General Loretta Lynch broke many barriers during her tenure as head of the Justice Department. Not the least of which was being the first African American woman to hold the position. She has been a committed advocate of civil rights for decades. And she has always supported peaceful, legal efforts to advance the cause.

Loretta lynch

That makes the recent headlines in the right-wing media all the more troubling. Lynch recorded a video message (posted below) upon leaving the Justice Department when President Obama’s term as president expired. It is an inspiring appeal to all Americans to continue the struggle for equal justice under the law. The brief statement serves as a reminder that the fight for equality has “never been easy.” Here are her remarks in full:

“I know that this is a time of great fear and uncertainty for so many people. I know it’s a time of concern for people who see our rights being assailed, being trampled on, even being rolled back. I know that this is difficult. But I remind you that this has never been easy.

“We have always had to work to move this country forward to achieve the great ideals of our founding fathers. And it has been people, individuals, who have banded together. Ordinary people who simply saw what needed to be done and came together and supported those ideals who have made the difference.”

“They’ve marched, they’ve bled and yes, some of them died. This is hard. Every good thing is. We have done this before. We can do this again.”

It seems hard to believe that anyone could find fault in that positive message that exalts American values. But conservative bigots and their media outlets would not be deterred from doing just that.

The ultra-rightist, conspiracy theory website, WorldNetDaily, took the lead with an article that heinously misrepresented Lynch. They maliciously turned her words into a call for blood and death. WND clipped the part where Lynch honored those who sacrificed so much to bring about equality and gave it a new and hateful meaning. They headlined their story “Loretta Lynch: Need more marching, blood, death on streets.”

Obviously Lynch was not advocating for more blood and death. That’s an interpretation that can only be made by a blindly partisan and deliberately dishonest bigot. She was saluting heroes from the past who advanced the cause of liberty. People like Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, whose mission was always one of peaceful protest. The violence came from the opponents of equal rights for all.

After WND published their hit piece it circulated throughout the right-wing echo chamber. Most prominently, it was featured on the Fox News community website (and lie factory), Fox Nation, with the same headline. And it didn’t stop there. The wingnut network embraced this slanderous theme. It was also published on a variety of right-wing sites including Alex Jones’ Infowars, the Gateway Pundit, and the Drudge Report.

This is how the alt-right, white supremacists distribute their hate-speech. And it isn’t a coincidence that all of these outlets are on Donald Trump’s favorites list. His presidency has emboldened the worst elements of our national character. When Klan groups openly celebrate the election of Trump, someone they regard as one of their own, it should set off alarms. But Trump’s tepid response to his most fervent and vile followers continues to serve as encouragement to the racist right. And the smears against Lynch are just the latest examples of how committed bigots will distort reality to further their mission of hate.

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.”