Media

Why is Trump Doing (and the Media Covering) His Newsless Coronavirus Briefings?

Posted by on August 11, 2020 at 1:44 pm. 2 Comments :

Last April Donald Trump fired himself as the Coronavirus Task Force spokesmodel. It was a termination necessitated by the obvious harm he was doing to his already floundering reelection campaign and the campaigns of his fellow Republicans. No one lamented his three month absence considering the fact that, due to his ignorance and ego, he had nothing of value to contribute anyway.

Donald Trump TV Set

Trump himself complained that the briefings served no purpose and were a waste of time. “The American people are getting nothing but Fake News,” he whined about an event where he was the dominant speaker. That’s quite a confession.

So it was with some surprise that Trump renewed his canceled broadcasts last month. The new version of the Trump Virus Show was recast with only the eponymous star. The supporting cast of doctors, epidemiologists, and other experts were sacked, presumably because their knowledge and ability to communicate upstaged Diva Donald.

So now we are, once again, witnessing the absurdity of the President of the United States being reduced to the daily recitation of dry statistics that could be easily read by an intern or an elementary schooler, either of whom would do a better job. Trump’s stodgy, emotionless oratory couldn’t possibly be more annoying.

This ought not to be dismissed as just another peculiarity of the Trump Era. There is, of course, a deadly pandemic ravaging the nation and the world. The economy is in shambles with a record number of people unemployed, high rates of evictions and foreclosures, business bankruptcies increasing, and more Americans seeking assistance from welfare agencies and food banks.

Yet somehow Trump finds the time to stand before the press – who he repeatedly maligns in Stalinist terms as the “enemy of the people,” – and performs his reality TV shtick. He disseminates provable lies, yells at and insults reporters, shamelessly lavishes undue praise on himself, and viciously attacks Democrats – and even Republicans – that he perceives as adversarial or disloyal.

Most of the time consumed in Trump’s “briefing” is wasted on matters having nothing to do with the COVID-19 pandemic. He regales in the performance of the stock market, which his policies are artificially propping up for the benefit of the wealthy and is a poor indicator of the economy that is currently in recession. He weaves fictions about his alleged legislative achievements. And he desperately invents electoral news that casts him as the victor in contest that exists only in his demented mind.

These charades are actually poorly disguised alternatives for the campaign rallies and other blatant politicking that he can’t pull together. Trump is reported to be despondent after weeks of not getting his ego stroked by worshipful disciples. So he demands attention by pretending to stage news conferences that are devoid of any actual news.

For that reason, the media should show some integrity and decline to service Trump’s pathetic and narcissistic neediness. He has proven repeatedly that he has nothing newsworthy to convey. So by showing up, the press is acting as his campaign’s communications staff. They are giving him free airtime and allowing him to spread his propaganda, lies, and hate speech.

If Trump wants to rant about Democrats and pay tribute to himself, he can pay for ads like any other candidate. In the meantime, the press can send junior reporters with cameras to document Trump’s meltdowns and then air whatever turns out to have some substantive news value, if anything. Short of that, the media needs to step back and stop helping to further Trump’s electoral aspirations.

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

Chicken Trump Flees Fake News Conference For Fear of Being Asked Questions

Posted by on July 2, 2020 at 12:17 pm. 4 Comments :

The character (or lack thereof) of Donald Trump is on display every day, and it isn’t a pretty picture. In addition to his pathological lying, infantile name-calling, flaming racism, and malignant narcissism, Trump also flaunts his unabashed weakness and cowardice. He is the first American “leader” who has actually bragged about being “the most fabulous whiner.”

Donald Trump Chicken

On Thursday morning Trump held something that he called a “news” conference to announce the details of the latest jobs report. However, it was nothing but a self-serving public statement wherein he spoke for a few minutes, then left without taking a single question. The reasons for that were obvious after a quick analysis of his remarks.

First of all, the jobs report had some surface level good news that 4.8 million people had returned to work in June. But looking just slightly below the surface reveals that this report is not at all encouraging. None of those jobs were newly created. They were all just a small fraction of workers being called back from furloughs. More troubling is the fact that there are still more than 30 million people unemployed. The unemployment rate of 11.1% is still higher than at the peak of the Great Recession. And there were 1.4 million new unemployment filings. That’s likely to increase significantly next month reflecting that more than half the country has reinstated lockdown rules due the surging coronavirus pandemic.

Trump’s phony fifteen minute press conference may be the shortest of his presidency. And no wonder. He was clearly afraid to face questions from the free press that he maligns in Stalinist terms as “the enemy of the people.”. He was afraid he would be asked about coronavirus deaths nearing 130,000, and cases exceeding 50,000 in a single day for the first time. He was afraid he would be challenged on his lies about Russia paying bounties to Taliban militants to kill American soldiers. And Trump was surely scared about having to field specific questions about this jobs report. He’d rather just unload his spin, waddle off the stage, and get back to satisfying his Twitter and Fox News addictions.

Consequently, Trump said nothing about the Russian bounty story that is, without a doubt, the most flagrantly treasonous conduct ever alleged against a U.S. president. As for the pandemic that is reaching new and tragic heights of cases and fatalities, Trump dismissively referred to them as “hotspots,” continuing to downplay the peril that he still thinks will “disappear” by magic. “Now we’re opening it up,” Trump boasted, “and it’s opening up far faster than anyone even thought possible. And more successfully.” If this is his idea of “success,” let’s hope we never see what he would call failure.

It would be an understatement to say that things are going badly for Trump lately. His standing in the polls is lower than any incumbent president in modern times. Speculation is growing that he might choose to drop out of the race, even on Fox News. His cherished cult rallies aren’t drawing the throngs of adoring disciples that he requires to satiate his ravenous ego. So it’s likely that he will continue to be ducking out of the public eye for the foreseeable future. If there’s one thing that we can rely on, it’s that Trump is a coward who would rather skulk in his bunker than face the prospect of accountability for his failures and crimes.

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

Trump Vows to Expose His Own Followers to the Coronavirus to Spite the Media

Posted by on June 15, 2020 at 11:59 am. 2 Comments :

A callous disregard for human life has become the hallmark of the Donald Trump presidency. He has made repeated attempts to terminate and/or sabotage Obamacare. His economic and tax policies have punished millions of working people, while benefiting corporations and the wealthy. He has presided over the decimation of the environment. And as a result of his negligence, incompetence, and even deliberate malfeasance, more than 116,000 American have been lost to COVID-19 (coronavirus).

Donald Trump Virus

This week Trump will resume the cult rallies that, until the coronavirus pandemic, were the primary source of the ego-stroking that his malignant narcissism requires. Every public health expert has warned that it is too soon – and therefore gravely irresponsible – to hold such an event while infections are continuing to rise. That’s specifically true for Tulsa, Oklahoma, the site of Trump’s rally on Saturday. The Tulsa City-County Health Department Director Bruce Dart told The Tulsa World that…

“‘I’m concerned about our ability to protect anyone who attends a large, indoor event, and I’m also concerned about our ability to ensure the president stays safe as well. COVID is here in Tulsa, it is transmitting very efficiently,’ Dart added. ‘I wish we could postpone this to a time when the virus isn’t as large a concern as it is today.'”

These warnings are falling on deaf ears in the Trump camp. Just as he did in the early months of the pandemic’s spread, the Trump administration is dismissing the risks and pretending that everything is just fine. Several weeks ago he ceased to hold the daily briefings by his White House Coronavirus Task Force. Perhaps he believes that by selling his Trump-branded face masks everyone will be immunized. This second wave of Trump delusionally downplaying the scientific realities is certain to have the same disastrous results. Not that Trump cares about any of that. He tweeted Monday morning that…

That is a Twitter tirade that is just oozing with the block-headed idiocy for which Trump is so well known. First of all, Trump is unsurprisingly lying about the press coverage of the demonstrations where citizens were spontaneously expressing their outrage over the murder of George Floyd and other unarmed African-Americans at the hands of the police. The media extensively reported on the potential health risks posed by demonstrators. However, they also made obvious distinctions between these protesters (not “rioters and looters” as Trump derisively calls them) and Trump’s cultists. The demonstrations were all outdoors, where the risk of transmission is lower. And the vast majority of protesters wore masks. Trump’s rally will be held indoors with people who, like Trump, reject the necessity for social distancing and facial coverings.

Trump is also purposefully misleading with his assertion that the demonstrations were limited to “Democrat run cities.” Even if that were true, it wouldn’t make any difference. They’re still Americans in massive numbers speaking out about injustice. But the fact is that these protests stretched across the nation with hundreds of thousands of participants in more than 2,000 cities, many of which are run by Republicans. For instance, San Diego, CA, Waco, TX, Mobile, AL, Colorado Springs, CO, and Palm Beach, Fl, to name just a few.

Perhaps the most disturbing part of Trump’s tweet is his stand in defiance of what he imagines to be the media “trying to Covid Shame” him. Really? Is he really taking a stance against this imaginary media plot to humiliate him by doubling down on his commitment to put the lives of his own supporters at risk? Just to show the press that he has no capacity for shame? Most Americans already knew that.

As for Trump, he knows full well the peril that his rally poses for those who attend. That’s why he is forcing all of them to sign an agreement not to sue him or his campaign if they contract or die from the coronavirus. That’s an outright admission of knowledge of harm, and an overt attempt to dodge accountability. You would think that would be a red flag for potential rally-goers. But these are Trump supporters and, as he has said, he loves the poorly educated. And with this rally they are getting yet another opportunity to prove him right.

UPDATE: Trump Senior Counselor Kellyanne Conway says that there will be temperature checks for rally-goers and that masks and hand sanitizer will be distributed. For a million people? Of course there won’t really be a million people, but the venue holds 19,000. It is highly improbable that they will have 19,000 face masks and bottles of hand sanitizer to give away. And temperature checks for that many people (at 5 seconds each, if that’s possible) would take more than 26 hours.

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

HUH? White House Lawyers Tell Court That Trump is Afraid Reporters Will ‘Moon’ Him

Posted by on June 7, 2020 at 1:27 pm. 3 Comments :

Donald Trump has a well-established and all-consuming hatred for the media. That’s despite his fierce embrace of it when he needs to disseminate his lies and propaganda. It’s further affirmation that he is an unstable heap of contradictions and logical short-circuits. One day he is bellowing in Stalinist terms that “the media is the enemy of the people.” The next day he’s retweeting the Washington Post or Fox News (about which he has an abundance of other acute cognitive lapses.

Donald Trump, Subway

Trump’s aversion to media is rooted in two character flaws that dominate his warped persona: dishonesty and fear. With regard to his ceaseless deceit, Trump is a pathological liar who has been documented as having told more than 18,000 lies since his inauguration. With regard to his snow-flakiness, Trump trembles like a reed in a hurricane whenever the press dares to tell the truth about him. For an alleged “leader of the free world,” Trump whines like a colicky infant in the face of ordinary scrutiny by the media. His obsession exceeds the standard parameters of paranoia.

Last year Trump’s White House press office blew a gasket when Brian Karem, a report for Playboy Magazine, engaged in banter with Nazi-apologist, and Trump shill, Sebastion Gorka. Afterward, press secretary Stephanie Grisham suspended Karem’s White House press pass. Karem sued to get his credentials restored and won a court judgment on the basis that his constitutional rights of freedom of the press (1st Amendment) and due process (5th Amendment) were infringed. The White House appealed the ruling and Karem once again prevailed. But in the course of the proceedings we learned something peculiar about Trump and his regime. The ruling in the case admonished, and even mocked, White House attorneys saying that…

“Raising the specter of the absurd, the White House argues that it cannot be the case that ‘the Press Secretary would be powerless to take action even were a reporter to “moon” the President, shout racial epithets at a foreign dignitary, or sexually harass another member of the press corps.’” […] “The White House can rest assured that principles of due process do not limit its authority to maintain order and decorum at White House events by, for example, ordering the immediate removal of rogue, mooning journalists.”

That’s right, in seeking to censor a journalist, Trump’s lawyers argued that there was some risk that reporters would bare their behinds to the President and they sought legal relief from that terrifying prospect. Of all the things that Trump is afraid of, this may be the most delectably bizarre. Perhaps this fear played a role in Trump retreating to the White House bunker this week when protesters where gathered across the street at Lafayette Park. And one cannot help but wonder if this contributed to Trump’s decision to deploy the military against American citizens, each of which is armed with a possibly loaded derriere.

It gives a hole new meaning to the threat of assassination. Butt, to be fair, Trump has never been able to deal with other people’s wise cracks. And it would get confusing if he weren’t the only arsehole in the room. So getting rid of Karem and the other potential mooners is a policy that he could really get behind. In fact, that’s something everyone can drink to. So bottoms up, America!

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

JOURNALISTS BEWARE: Trump Admits that He Will ‘Use’ and then ‘Dump’ You

Posted by on May 4, 2020 at 3:12 pm. 5 Comments :

In seems implausible that anyone who has paid attention for the last three years could be surprised to discover that Donald Trump is a man utterly without honor. He behaves like a colicky infant, bragging undeservedly, insulting his perceived enemies, and lying about all things great and small.

Donald Trump, Snake Tongue

When this array of acute personality flaws are present in one demented and egocentric man-baby, the result can be catastrophic. And sadly, that’s precisely what we are suffering through now as Trump’s negligent and incompetent mishandling of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic has cost tens of thousands of American lives. The dire situation is actually getting worse according to the Trump regime’s own internal estimates that now predict the number of deaths could nearly double to 3,000 per day by June.

Despite these grim facts, Trump continues to flagrantly lie about the tragedies on the near horizon. He’s pushing to “reopen” the country to allow more businesses to operate in ways that will surely contribute to spreading the virus and increasing the death toll. And he persists with his propaganda and happy-talk in order to persuade his glassy-eyed cult followers that the worst is over and that those who still advocate caution are just trying to hurt him. In the end, all Trump really cares about is Trump.

On Monday morning Trump revealed just how afraid he is of his rapidly floundering approval, as well as his declining prospects for reelection. He tweeted one of the most repugnant and desperate comments that’s ever slithered through his Twittery fingers:

The sleazy reference that Trump is alluding to here concerns the death of an intern, Lori Klausutis, who worked in then-congressman Joe Scarborough’s office. Her death was attributed to a heart problem and the autopsy found that there was no evidence whatsoever of foul play. So Trump is reanimating this grotesque conspiracy theory in order to attack Scarborough who is now hosting a program on MSNBC. True to form, Trump resorts to childish insults, calling Scarborough “psycho” and his wife/cohost, Mika Brzezinski, “crazy.” Which are ironic choices for someone as mentally unstable as Trump, and who exhibits many of the symptoms of malignant narcissism and acute dementia. He also displays his perverse fetish with ratings, despite lying about about Morning Joe whose ratings are pretty good.

However, in addition to Trump’s nauseating rehashing of a two decade old intern conspiracy, Trump is also making an interesting confession in this tweet. He says of Scarborough and Brzezinski that he “used them beautifully in the last Election” and “dumped them nicely.” That’s an unambiguous admission of his intentional exploitation of journalists to achieve his nefarious ends.

It’s also a warning to all journalists that they should never trust Trump. Like all sociopaths, he is only in this for whatever benefit he can derive for himself. And he will roll over anyone who he regards as an obstacle. Even to the extent of slandering them with vicious lies. So the press better recognize that obsessive behavior and protect themselves from it.

Trump cannot be trusted and he must not be tolerated. In his own words he admits that it’s his intention to destroy the credibility of the press. As he told Lesley Stahl when she asked why he attacks the media, “You know why I do it? I do it to discredit you all, and demean you all, so when you write negative stories about me no one will believe you.” What more do you need to know?

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

This Trump Tweetstorm is a Frightening Display of a Psychotic Meltdown in Real Time

Posted by on April 26, 2020 at 12:42 pm. 3 Comments :

The downward spiraling mental state of Donald Trump has been observable for many months (years?). However, it has never been as unmistakably deranged as is evident in his latest Sunday tweetstorm. This is behavior that ought to be of concern to every America, even the presidential bootlickers in Congress and the Trump-fluffers at Fox News.

Donald Trump Zombie

The bizarre rhetoric that Trump unleashes in this Twitter tantrum comes shortly after he bailed out of his Coronavirus Task Force briefings (aka Trump 2020 Reelection Campaign Infomercials). Having proposed one of the most preposterous notions of his presidency – that ingesting disinfectants could cure COVID-19 – Trump reportedly has chickened out of appearing at future briefings. And in anticipation of the loss of that platform, Trump is now lashing out wildly at the free press.

In fifteen tweets Trump never once mentions the coronavirus pandemic. This departure from sanity really speaks for itself. So here it is with minimal annotations (Note: Trump has already deleted some these tweets, but you can search for them here):

“The people that know me< and know the history of our Country say that I am the hardest working President in history. I don’t know about that, but I am a hard worker and have probably gotten more done in the first 3 1/2 years than any President in history. The Fake News hates it!"

“…the hardest working president…”? No one is saying that but his glassy-eyed disciples who regard temper tantrums and insults as “work.”

“I work from early in the morning until late at night, haven’t left the White House in many months (except to launch Hospital Ship Comfort) in order to take care of Trade Deals, Military Rebuilding etc., and then I read a phony story in the failing @nytimes about my work….”

What Trump thinks is work is tweeting and watching Fox News. Also, Trump left the White House< numerous time in February and March to attend his cult rallies.

“….schedule and eating habits, written by a third rate reporter who knows nothing about me. I will often be in the Oval Office late into the night & read & see that I am angrily eating a hamburger & Diet Coke in my bedroom. People with me are always stunned. Anything to demean!”

You have to wonder who these “people” in his bedroom are. Trump doesn’t bother to name the reporter or link to the article because he knows it’s all true. And it’s notable that he frequently claims that any story that doesn’t name its sources is fake news. Therefore, we can assume that this tweet is as well.

“When will all of the “reporters” who have received Noble Prizes for their work on Russia, Russia, Russia, only to have been proven totally wrong (and, in fact, it was the other side who committed the crimes), be turning back their cherished “Nobles” so that they can be given….”

Trump, of course, was impeached (forever) due to his crimes. Not only have they not been proven wrong, they have been confirmed with additional evidence. And it isn’t “Noble,” it’s Nobel, you ignorant dotard. Also, there is no Nobel prize for journalism. Trump is probably thinking of the Pulitzer, if you call what he does “thinking.”

“….to the REAL REPORTERS & JOURNALISTS who got it right. I can give the Committee a very comprehensive list. When will the Noble Committee DEMAND the Prizes back, especially since they were gotten under fraud? The reporters and Lamestream Media knew the truth all along….”

Indeed the media knows the truth, which why they were awarded “Nobles.” The problem is that Trump hates the truth, particularly when it is applied to him.

“….Lawsuits should be brought against all, including the Fake News Organizations, to rectify this terrible injustice. For all of the great lawyers out there, do we have any takers? When will the Noble Committee Act? Better be fast!”

Here Trump is once again attempting to intimidate the free press with bogus legal harassment. I hope he follows through because it would be entertaining to see him get laughed out of court.

The quantity of certifiably insane dialog in these tweets may set new records for Trump. His malignant narcissism, sociopathy, hostility, pathological lying, and obvious desperation and fear jumps out at readers who aren’t unreachably brainwashed. Trump is clearly suffering new lows in his mental decline. And his continuing in office is becoming ever more perilous for the nation. Especially during an ongoing pandemic crisis. If there were ever a time to invoke the 25th Amendment it is NOW!.

UPDATE: As if the above weren’t enough, Trump’s paranoid hysterics continued through the afternoon with specific rage against his most sycophantic cable TV shills at Fox News:

“@FoxNews just doesn’t get what’s happening! They are being fed Democrat talking points, and they play them without hesitation or research. They forgot that Fake News @CNN & MSDNC wouldn’t let @FoxNews participate, even a little bit, in the poor ratings Democrat Debates…..”

“….Even the Radical Left Do Nothing Democrats laughed at the Fox suggestion. No respect for the people running @FoxNews. But Fox keeps on plugging to try and become politically correct. They put RINO Paul Ryan on their Board. They hire “debate questions to Crooked Hillary”….”

“….fraud @donnabrazile (and others who are even worse). Chris Wallace is nastier to Republicans than even Deface the Nation or Sleepy Eyes. The people who are watching @FoxNews, in record numbers (thank you President Trump), are angry. They want an alternative now. So do I!”

Hasn’t he hit rock bottom yet? He’s gonna zone out and fall into a hysterical coma. Or overdose on Adderall. Bear in mind that Trump is engaging in these egomaniacal, manic outbursts on Melania’s birthday. Not to mention a global pandemic.

UPDATE II: This is getting ridiculous. Trump just tweeted that his misspelling of Nobel (as Noble) was intentional sarcasm. Yeah, sure. The last time he tried that excuse (Friday) he later admitted that he was lying. And it’s notable that he deleted all of those allegedly sarcastic tweets.

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

Rude and Nasty? Trump Panic-Tweets at the Media for Not Fawning Over His Failures

Posted by on April 18, 2020 at 2:45 pm. 4 Comments :

It’s Saturday and time, once again, for the regularly scheduled Donald Trump Twitter Tantrum. The Tweeter-in-Chief didn’t disappoint his glassy-eyed disciples this weekend. He blasted out 48 tweets before mid-afternoon, 29 of which were retweets devoted to falsely accusing Democrats of blocking new funding for small businesses. As is often the case, Trump is just venting because he’s utterly incapable of accomplishing anything via reasoned persuasion or bipartisan compromise the way an intelligent, experienced president would.

Donald Trump

In fact, it’s the Republicans who are living up to their reputation for callous indifference to the needs of the people by refusing to negotiate over including funds for hospitals and workers. Trump’s four dozen tweets were somehow pounded out while he says he was “Spending the morning speaking to @fema and Military relative to CoronaVirus. Also, spoke to leaders of various countries including Poland, South Korea and Bahrain.” They must have been brief conversations, because he was simultaneously suffering a hemorrhage of media madness. He began with a typical lament that members of Congress were not being sufficiently grateful for the generosity he shows them by pretending to do his job:

So Trump is once again upset that Congress and the press have failed to genuflect before his majesty and “total authority.” His Tweet thread continued with a complaint on behalf of Vice-President Pence, who Trump says spoke with Democratic Senators and “gave them everything that they would have wanted.” Now really, what’s the likelihood of that being true?

Trump concluded that “nothing that anyone could have said … could make [the Democrats] happy.” Then he accused them of being “RUDE and NASTY.” Which seems improbable considering that’s the standard emotional status of Trump himself. What’s more, he said that this was the Democrats’ “political playbook” that they intended to use “right up to the election on November 3rd,” because “they feel that this is the only way they can win,” and that “America will not be fooled!!!” (Trump’s exclamation points). In other words, history’s most bitterly partisan White House occupant is accusing others of being partisan, albeit with zero evidence other than his petulant whining. However, he’s right that most Americans will not be fooled, which is precisely why he’s so scared.

Trump capped his rage-ranting with a post that rehashed his familiar and false blathering about the media’s use of unidentified sources and “officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity.” Never mind that his own White House communications Office regularly gives “background briefings” that prohibit reporters from attributing the comments to anyone but “senior administration officials.” It’s also notable that no one uses anonymous sources more than Trump, who is constantly claiming that “some people say” some ludicrous things that support whatever lie he’s in the midst of telling.

Trump’s harangue goes on to assert that the media will “make up a phony quote from a person who doesn’t even exist,” and that “The American people should demand NAMES!” Of course, Trump has never been able to document a single case of a non-existent source. To the contrary, he frequently threatens to uncover the “leaker,” which is an admission that one exists and is telling the truth. Otherwise, why would he bother to investigate?

As for the American people demanding names, Trump is wailing impotently into the void. The American people are satisfied that the media is doing its job. They understand that the use of unidentified sources is a long established and necessary means of acquiring inside information that politicians often want to keep concealed. And polls show that people trust the media more than they trust Trump.

Even so, Trump’s desire for a public demand for named sources is less objectionable than one he floated last month when he proposed that the media be forced to reveal their sources. That’s a flagrantly unconstitutional proposal and an assault on the free press. But it isn’t surprising coming from Trump who frequently refers to the media in Stalinist terms as “the enemy of the people.” Talk about rude and nasty.

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

Happy Easter from Donald Trump During a Pandemic

Posted by on April 12, 2020 at 7:27 pm. 2 Comments :

On this holy day for America’s Christian faithful, Donald Trump has spent the day demonstrating just how important the holiday is to him.

Donald Trump, Twitter

As usual, Trump was manning his Twitter machine and blasting out a flurry of frantic tweets that mainly expressed his rage and hostility and ignorance. It’s hardly what you would call piety. For instance…

Congress was too distracted? Trump himself said he was too distracted to deal with the coronavirus. In other words, he was admitting that he chose to prioritize his impeachment over the lives of the American people.

This is Trump celebrating that there are disaster declarations in all 50 states. That isn’t winning. By definition, it’s a disaster! But Trump’s mind was on his mortal enemy, the free press.

Trump, who said that he takes no responsibility for the management of the coronavirus crisis is shifting that responsibility to others.

For the record, there was no China ban. More than 40,000 came into the country after the alleged ban. Also, Trump just retweeted a message advocating that he fire Dr. Anthony Fauci.

To be clear, Trump is “working hard” to slander the media for telling the truth about him. He warned us that he would do this. When asked by Lesley Stahl why he attacked the press, he replied “You know why I do it? I do it to discredit you all, and demean you all, so when you write negative stories about me no one will believe you.” And there you have it. That’s Easter in the Trump White House.

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

WHAT PANDEMIC? Narcissist-In-Chief Trump Tweets About TV Ratings 3 Days in a Row

Posted by on April 10, 2020 at 1:19 pm. 2 Comments :

The American people are courageously complying with the guidelines set by public health experts to maintain social distancing and other measures to mitigate the harm of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. It’s a profound burden that requires families to be separated, businesses to be shut down, and financial sacrifices to be endured. But there is no alternative if this crisis is to be halted with a minimum of suffering and loss. And then there’s Donald Trump.

Donald Trump TV Set

From the earliest days of the pandemic’s spread, Trump ignorantly neglected to take the necessary actions to avert certain human tragedies. He downplayed the threat as a trivial one that would go away by itself in few days with only a handful of victims. He refused to employ presidential powers to direct American industry to produce vital medical supplies and equipment. He repeatedly mislead the public about the impact that widespread illness would have on the nation and the economy. Who can forget his foolish opinion that the stock market is “starting to look very good to me!” it is currently down 6,000 points from it’s high in February.

And all the while Trump has been – in his own words – acting as a “cheerleader” for the country, as opposed to a truth teller. He’s admitting that he lies in order to disseminate a phony rosy scenario whose only purpose is to juice his approval ratings (which hasn’t worked), and boost his reelection prospects (which are also looking bad). Even Trump’s favorite pollster, the rabidly right-wing Rasmussen, just put him at 43& approval, his lowest standing in over five months.

Amidst Trump’s desperate efforts to distort reality with regard to COVID-19, he is also sharply focused on his own public image. As a well known malignant narcissist, Trump has a voracious ego that consumes his every waking hour. His Twitter account is heavily plastered with tributes to himself and praise for imaginary achievements. Included among them are Trump’s own tweets celebrating what he regards as TV ratings victories. In fact, Trump has tweeted about the ratings of the Coronavirus Task Force briefings three days in a row:

What Trump fails to understand is that these ratings are not indicators of his popularity. Viewers who both support and (mostly) oppose Trump watch these briefings. They are interested in what experts like Dr. Anthony Fauci have to say. The Trump team is actually making that harder by briefly refusing to allow Dr. Fauci and others to appear on CNN unless the network submitted to his unethical editorial demands (quid pro quo?). What’s more, the briefings air on multiple networks simultaneously and, therefore, are not comparable to any single network program rating such as The Bachelor.

Finally, Trump is using the ratings not only to glorify himself, but to justify his incompetent, so-called leadership. He is spewing paranoid fantasies of Democrats and other adversaries conspiring to put an end to the task force briefings. In reality, there is only criticism of Trump’s self-serving participation in the briefings. He has no relevant experience or knowledge of the medical or public health issues at hand. He simply reads a bunch of data (that could be read by an intern), then spends the rest of the time lying, bragging, and yelling at journalists. And it isn’t just Democrats who are put off by Trump’s tantrums:

“White House allies and Republican lawmakers increasingly believe the briefings are hurting the president more than helping him.”

The problem is that Trump is hijacking these briefings and turning them into thinly veiled campaign speeches. This is his alternative to the ego-feasting cult rallies he can no longer hold. And under the circumstances, the media would be justified in delaying their reports for a few minutes so that Trump’s avalanche of lies can be fact-checked. The press is not obligated to air Trump’s lies unchallenged, or to give him free airtime for his campaign.

After the endless propaganda Trump unloads in these affairs, he goes on Twitter to advertise the next episode with boasts of how high the ratings are. This sorry state of affairs proves that Trump is suffering from a unique form of mental derangement that should worry every American. He really can’t distinguish between the presidency and The Apprentice.

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

CLAMPDOWN: Trump’s Politburo Bars Dr. Fauci and Others From Appearing on CNN

Posted by on April 9, 2020 at 11:51 am. 4 Comments :

The abhorrent tyrannical tendencies of Donald Trump continue to be revealed with each passing day. His admiration for brutal dictators like Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, and Kim Jong Un, has long been established in his own words. They are the models of unchecked power to which he aspires. And they are the political figures he most often refers to as his friends, even while he’s bitterly lambasting fellow Americans like Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi.

Donald Trump

On Thursday morning it was reported that Trump has taken another step toward the authoritarian government he craves. And, not surprisingly, it comes in the form of an attack on the media that he despises and routinely refers to in Stalinist terms as “the enemy of the people.” CNN is reporting that Vice-President Mike Pence, who Trump appointed to lead the White House Coronavirus Task Force, is prohibiting the health experts on the team from appearing on CNN:

“Vice President Mike Pence’s office has declined to allow the nation’s top health officials to appear on CNN in recent days and discuss the coronavirus pandemic killing thousands of Americans, in an attempt to pressure the network into carrying the White House’s lengthy daily briefings in full.”

This could not be a more blatant assault on the free press, as well as a flagrant breach of the free speech rights of the doctors and other task force members who have critical knowledge and advice about the deadly pandemic that is spreading throughout the nation and the world. Trump is deliberately depriving the American people of potentially life-saving information in order to extort CNN into complying with his self-serving demands.

UPDATE: While these health experts are forbidden to appear on CNN, they are all over Fox News.

What’s more, Trump is imposing the very same sort of quid pro quo that he used to attempt to strong-arm Ukraine into digging up dirt on Joe Biden. Trump is floating access to these health experts, but with a caveat: “I’d like you to do us a favor though.”

The “favor” that Trump is seeking this time is for CNN to submit to his demands to air all of his task force briefings live. That is a wholly improper ultimatum for a president to impose on news organization. But it’s even more ludicrous considering that Trump has transformed those briefings into thinly veiled campaign events to advance his 2020 reelection prospects. Since he can no longer hold the cult rallies that feed his voracious ego, he is hijacking these briefings and expecting the media to roll over and give him all the free ad time he wants.

The press has been struggling with the question of whether to carry the briefings live, or to delay them for a few minutes so that Trump’s avalanche of lies can be fact-checked. There is no reason to air Trump’s ego-fest when it is so devoid of newsworthy content. Both CNN and MSNBC have exercised some limited editorial discretion to avoid airing Trump’s dangerous disinformation and allowing him to engage in politics in the guise of virus updates. That’s something Fox News would never imagine doing. But Trump is singling out CNN, which he regards a his media nemesis, for this fascistic censorship. CNN reports that…

“Fauci, Birx, FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn and Surgeon General Jerome Adams have all appeared on NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox during the last week, despite the fact that the broadcast networks have generally not covered the briefings that have included the vice president and health officials.”

The media must not give in to this presidential blackmail. They must continue to report honestly about Trump’s tragic failures in addressing this crisis. They must fearlessly expose his negligence, incompetence, and brazen self-interest. They must independently seek the judgment of experts like Dr. Fauci, in defiance of Trump’s orders. They should ask those experts if they agree with Trump’s gag order when they see them at the briefings.

Finally, the media must stick together. If Trump tries to silence any media organization, the others need to show their support by boycotting his briefings and other public events. That’s the only thing that will get through to the Narcissist-in-Chief. Any acquiescence to Trump’s bullying is a severe blow to the principles enshrined in the Constitution. And it’s as deadly to American democracy and freedom as the coronavirus is to it’s citizens.

UPDATE: After significant bad PR, the prohibition on CNN has been lifted.

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