A Befuddled Trump Both Admits and Denies that He Was ‘Waving Around’ a Classified Document

The debate over the fitness of elderly politicians has been raging in recent weeks. Some of the arguments have accurately pointed out Donald Trump’s glaring cognitive deficiencies. But for the most part it has been a feast of Republican Trump supporters falsely disparaging President Biden, despite his unprecedented record of achievements.

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Donald Trump, Insane, Straight Jacket

The mental decline of Trump has been obvious to anyone observing him impartially. He disgorges rambling rants about subjects that often have nothing to do with whatever the topic of the conversation was. He repeats himself relentlessly (a symptom of logorrhea, a communication disorder that causes excessive wordiness and repetitiveness, which can cause incoherency). And he unleashes streams of anger, paranoia, and malignant narcissism, with every utterance or online comment. He is especially triggered by even the slightest criticism.

SEE THIS: Trump Suffers Mental Collapse Over Poll that Asks About His Obviously Collapsing Mental Health

On Thursday Trump was interviewed by former Fox News host, Megyn Kelly. This was a particularly surprising event considering how viciously he has attacked her in the past, and that he even refused to participate in a Republican primary debate because she was a moderator. Apparently they are both desperately seeking attention, and are willing to debase themselves to get it.

The interview briefly touched on an interesting matter that involved one of Trump’s pending indictments. Earlier this year it was revealed that among the classified documents that Trump had stolen, was one that he took to his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf resort, and reportedly shared with others who had no security clearances. Which is a serious breach of national security and federal law. What follows is part of the exchange between Trump and Kelly that could keep both psychologists and prosecutors very busy in the coming weeks and months….

Kelly: Why would you be holding up a newspaper saying, “This is still secret. I could declassify it if I was president.”
Trump: I would have to look at it.
Kelly: But you told Bret Baier (of Fox News) that that was a newspaper or a magazine article.
Trump: I could have declassified it. I also told Bret Baier – as I remember, I don’t know, it was a long time interview – But I also told Bret Baier that it wasn’t a classified document.
Kelly: What were you waving around in that meeting? Because it certainly sounds like it was an attack plan.
Trump: I’m not going to talk to you about that because that’s already been, I think, very substantiated, and there’s no problem with it.
Kelly: Well, it hasn’t been substantiated. Jack Smith says it was an attack plan.
Trump: Let me tell you. Here we go again. I’m covered by the Presidential Records Act. I’m allowed to do what I want to do. I’m allowed to have documents.

Let’s unravel that barrage of bullcrap, shall we?. When first asked, Trump claimed that the document he was wagging was one that he could declassify. Which would mean that it wasn’t already declassified. But since he was not president at that time, he absolutely could not declassify it and, therefore, it was classified when he was showing it to others.

Then Trump tried to claim that he couldn’t remember because it was a “long time interview,” whatever that means. Either he was trying to say that it happened a long time ago (it’s been a whole two and half months ago), or that the duration of the discussion was long (it was less than an hour). Either way, his excuse makes no sense.

Then Trump says that the document wasn’t actually classified at all. Which would make his claim that he could declassify it rather odd.

Then, when Kelly confronted Trump with the allegation that the document was an attack plan – which would surely have been classified – Trump bugged out and refused to answer her questions. Which suggests that either he knew that the document was classified, or that he was afraid he was about to incriminate himself. Or perhaps, both.

Finally, Trump resorted to his tedious fallback excuse that he was “covered by the Presidential Records Act (PRA)” and “allowed to do what I want to do.” Which is not at all what the PRA says. In fact, it states explicitly that “Presidential records automatically transfer into the legal custody of the [National] Archivist as soon as the President leaves office.” The law that grants him the right “to do what I want to do,” exists only in his diseased mind.

In short, Trump goes back and forth from asserting that the document was classified to insisting that it wasn’t. All the while inventing powers that he imagined he had, and eventually providing a badly twisted analysis of a law that he clearly doesn’t understand. And yet he wants people to believe that he is a “stable genius,” and that Biden is an incompetent and senile criminal mastermind. Which would actually be quite an accomplishment.

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Matt Gaetz Embraces Tucker Carlson’s Vulgar and Racist ‘Great Replacement Theory’ Rant

Florida’s QAnon supporting, alleged sex trafficking congressman, Matt Gaetz, seems more determined than ever to dig himself deeper into a pit of scandal with his every public utterance. After all, this is the cretin whose perversions, lies and criminality are so toxic that even Fox News has blacklisted him.

Matt Gaetz, Prison

Gaetz’s legal and ethical problems may have temporarily receded from the headlines, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t still drowning in the muck of his swampiness. The Daily Beast is reporting that his defensive maneuvers have revealed a “scorched earth” strategy that indicates just how worried he is about his future:

“Gaetz is personally represented by Marc Mukasey, who has defended the Trump Organization in several high-profile disputes […] Separately, the Gaetz campaign—Friends of Matt Gaetz—also looked north when in June it retained New York-based trial lawyer Marc Fernich. Fernich’s client list includes child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Mexican drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, and convicted sex trafficker Keith Raniere.”

You’ve got to be pretty desperate to hire the same lawyers who represented Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein – and lost. In the meantime, Gaetz is reaching out to the Trump cultists who are the foundation of his moral and financial support. On Saturday he tweeted a shout-out to the Fox News Senior White Nationalist, Tucker Carlson. His message was a blatant embrace of a Nazi-inspired campaign to foment fear and racist violence:

“@TuckerCarlson is CORRECT about Replacement Theory as he explains what is happening to America.

The ADL is a racist organization.”

Tucker Carlson has been peddling the white replacement theory for months. It’s an abhorrent lie that propounds a plot, often attributed to Jews, that foreigners are being imported to overwhelm the White population socially and politically.

In a recent tirade by Carlson, he specifically targeted George Soros, a billionaire philanthropist who is one of the right’s favorite foils. He was also a Jewish refugee from Nazi anti-Semitism. Carlson’s harangue focused on Soros’ efforts to help resettle our Afghan allies in the United States, which Carlson said was just another means of replacing his White majority with foreign “invaders”.

Shortly afterwards the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) called for Fox News to fire Carlson. That led to this vulgar exchange between Carlson and former Fox News host Megyn Kelly:

Kelly: Today there’s more blowback on whether you’ve been pushing for the “Great Replacement Theory.” You said that this was gonna happen on your show last night. Sure enough, the ADL comes out and comes after you.
Carlson: F**k them! What liars.

When Gaetz tweeted that “TuckerCarlson is CORRECT about Replacement Theory,” this crude and bigoted boorishness is what he was responding to. And his appended charge that “The ADL is a racist organization,” is a nauseating and baseless insult to an organization that has been fighting discrimination and racism for over a hundred years. However, it is precisely what you would expect from a desperate and hateful sleazeball who is struggling to stay out of prison.

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

Trump’s Egomaniacal Plot to Upstage the Democratic Convention

There is nothing that irritates Donald Trump more than when he is not the center of attention. His malignant narcissism kicks in bigly if something in the news cycle is deemed more important than his promulgation of lies, undeserved boasts, infantile insults, or relentless hostility and petulant whining. After all, this is the man-baby who once bragged that he is “the most fabulous whiner.”

Donald Trump, Subway

The Democratic National Convention will begin on Monday, August 17, and run until Thursday August 20. This is the quadrennial event where the Party’s nominee is officially designated and the campaign’s themes are rolled out as the election season gears up for the last lap to Election Day. Ordinarily, both parties suspend their political activities during their opponents’ convention. It’s a courtesy that allows each to present their best case to the American people without belligerent interruptions.

Of course, nothing about the Dystopian Era of Trump is ordinary. And his arrogance and vanity won’t allow him to shut his mouth for a few days to honor the respectful traditions of a functional democracy. Trump is succumbing to his unique brand of snotty conceit with the announcement that he intends to spend his time during the Democratic convention heckling them and otherwise making an ass of himself. USA Today reports that

“President Donald Trump will hit the road next week while Democrats rally around Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris during the Democratic National Convention. […] A week-long series of events will include a visit to the city where Biden was born — Scranton, Pennsylvania — on Thursday, Aug. 20, the same day the former vice president is scheduled to deliver his acceptance speech.”

Trump has a long history of trying to manipulate the media to upstage Democrats or grab attention for himself from whatever else the press deems newsworthy. He has been doing this at least as far back as the Republican presidential primaries in 2016, Trump bowed out of a Fox News debate because he was afraid to face moderator Megyn Kelly. Then he scheduled his own media event at the same time, pretending it was a benefit for veterans. However, he later lied about and failed to disburse the funds he raised until after he was caught by the press.

More recently, Trump tried to upstage the first joint appearance of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris by scheduling another of his pointless coronavirus briefings (which the media should not be covering at all). And today Trump attempted to grab the spotlight again by announcing a phony “peace” agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. Trump even employs this tactic by saying something outrageous and despicable to deflect the outrageous and despicable thing he said the day before.

If Trump goes through with this cynical and self-serving charade during the Democratic convention, Democrats need to reciprocate during Trump’s Republican convention the following week. They should schedule newsmaking affairs during Trump’s most engaging events. Which should be easy to counter-program considering that the GOP’s speakers are likely to be less than compelling. They haven’t released a list yet, but in 2016 they featured such luminaries as Duck Dynasty’s Willie Robertson, has-been Scott Baio, Ben Carson, and Ted Cruz.

If Democrats place Barack Obama’s first public appearance with the Biden/Harris ticket during Trump’s acceptance speech on the 27th, how many people do you think will be watching Trump? We already know what he’s going to say: Democrats are radical leftists who want open borders, crime in the streets, gun confiscation, and Satan worship.

Plus, Democrats will give healthcare to all citizens, pursue racial justice, seek income equality through fair taxation and corporate responsibility, and reverse the perils of climate change. Oh wait, those are all things that the American people favor overwhelmingly. Along with restoring America’s reputation internationally, and taking steps to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

So bring it on, Don. The American people already despise you. Trump has never reached 50% in approval polling, a feat that no other president can claim. He is currently losing to Biden in every national poll, as well as in most polls of the crucial swing states. His desperate antics are not likely to rescue his floundering campaign now. All he has left is cheating and Russia. But those are indeed serious threats and Democrats need to be vigilant and determined to overcome them. While things are looking pretty good for Biden and the Democrats, this is not the time to stand down.

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

Fox News is Scaring Off Advertisers With Their Relentless Trump-Fluffing, Lies, and Racism

The Fox News chickens are coming home to roost. Or perhaps more accurately, they are flying the coop. Since its inception, Fox News has devoutly propelled a far right-wing agenda. They have steadfastly promoted conservative politicians and policies and shamelessly defended Republicans from any and all criticism. Their reward for such partisan bias was the devotion of glassy-eyed regressives whose loyalty produced high ratings and revenue.

Donald Trump Fox News

However, there was also a price to pay. In 2011 they discovered the hard way that wingnut extremism was not a sustainable business model. That’s when they were forced to fire Glenn Beck for venturing too far into bigotry and conspiracy theories. Beck’s audience was still substantial, but advertisers were shunning him like the plague. So Fox News eventually cut the cord.

Sadly for Fox News, they don’t seem to have learned anything from that disaster. In the years that followed, Fox has continued to spew propaganda and outright falsehoods in the service of GOP politics. And since the inauguration of Donald Trump the level of bombast and junk journalism has grown precipitously. In the past year Fox News has exceeded their wildest dreams as purveyors of state-approved disinformation. Primetime on the network is stuffed with Trumpeteers, and the rest of the day’s roster is no less reverential.

Recently Fox lost some of its star power due to sexual misconduct allegations. Their biggest attraction, Bill O’Reilly was fired after multiple woman came forward with stories of harassment and abuse. Eric Bolling was also dismissed for similar reasons. Megyn Kelly chose to leave due to her own experiences with deviants like O’Reilly and CEO Roger Ailes. However, while their replacements may be free of salacious scandal (for now), they are decidedly more extreme in their politics. Consequently, the advertising prospects for Fox News are once again in decline. TVNewser is reporting that:

“Fox News has taken the most significant hit with -17 percent less spend on news programming in September 2017 vs. September 2016. CNN also saw a small decrease, down -1 percent, while MSNBC was up +2 percent.”

The fact that Fox’s competitors didn’t suffer the profound losses that Fox did is evidence that the problems at Fox News are not due to some industry-wide weakness. It’s more likely due to the reluctance of advertisers to be associated with nutcases like Sean Hannity. There’s confirmation of that in the reporting of the unit cost for ads on Fox. Newcomer Tucker Carlson is pulling in $12,200 per ad. Hannity is getting only $8,500. What makes that significant is that Hannity is the higher rated program of the two. In fact, it’s the highest rated show on Fox News.

So Hannity is valued thirty percent less than a lower rated program. That can only be because ad buyers are scared off by Hannity’s increasingly lunatic conspiracies and brazen Trump-fluffing. The effect is likely leaking into other programs as well. As Carlson’s lunacy becomes more evident, expect his ad buys to shrink. Likewise, the Laura Ingraham Angle, which premieres next week, is already generating bad press.

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

All of this is very troubling for Fox News. But it’s heartening for America. One of the right’s favorite societal institutions, the free market, is demonstrating the folly of an alleged “news” network abandoning all pretenses of legitimate journalism. Will this force Fox News to change their ways. Doubtful. Fox’s management, Rupert Murdoch and family, have plenty of money with which to prop up their propaganda outlet. But they will be less able to disguise their deceitful intent, and will likely continue to shed advertisers and viewers.

Serial sexual predator Bill O’Reilly goes Full Psycho in taped rant to the New York Times

If there is anything positive resulting from the disgusting Harvey Weinstein affair, it’s that perhaps the impunity of deviants like him will no longer be tolerated. Women have become emboldened to discuss their experiences and hold violators accountable. The problem will not go away overnight, but this is a necessary, if painful, first step.

Bill O'Reilly Megyn Kelly

Unfortunately, some of the outrage generated by Weinstein is selectively applied. While his career and company are likely over, there are other known abusers still operating in places of power. Including in the White House, where Donald Trump’s admitted crimes have not cost him his privileged position. Part of the reason that Trump gets away with it is that he has supporters at a powerful media outlet who excuse his sexual misconduct. Fox News has fiercely defended the President despite the evidence, and his own confessions.

The irony of that, of course, is that Fox News is guilty of the same repulsive behavior. At the top of the list was their former CEO Roger Ailes, His termination was followed by that of their biggest star, Bill O’Reilly. It has since been discovered that O’Reilly paid $32 million to settle a case of sexual harassment and abuse. And a few weeks later Fox News, with knowledge of the settlement, renewed his contract. There were other victims who were also paid millions prior to this. So the message from Fox News is that they have no problem with employees who commit sexual crimes. You have to wonder how the women at the network feel about that.

However, you don’t have to wonder how O’Reilly feels. He has been thoroughly unrepentant. In fact, he has furiously attacked his accusers despite his having paid many of them to buy their silence. His adamant denials fly in the face of the facts. Even the response by Fox News, who saw the evidence and chose to fire him, speaks to his guilt. But that didn’t stop him from going into a white hot rage when the subject came up in an interview with the New York Times (video below):

“We have physical proof that this is bullshit. Bullshit. OK? So it’s on if you want to destroy my children further. Alright? Cause it’s all crap. Why don’t you be human beings for once? This is horrible.”

“It’s horrible what I went through. Horrible what my family went through. This is crap and you know it. It’s politically and financially motivated. And we can prove it with shocking information.”

Where to begin? Let’s start with O’Reilly’s claim that he has “physical proof that this is bullshit.” If that’s true, then what is he waiting for? Why doesn’t he produce it and clear his name? The only thing that he’s put forward are photos his attorney posted of thank you notes from Megyn Kelly, who has disclosed that she was among his victims. Of course, those notes mean nothing. Abused women are often reluctant to rock the boat. They fear disclosing the circumstances of their abuse due to the prospect of retaliation, shaming, etc. And they have seen their abusers get off scot free while they suffer personally and professionally.

As for O’Reilly’s concern about his children being “destroyed,” that’s a peculiar line of defense. Particularly considering that O’Reilly recently lost a custody battle for his children that included charges of battery against his ex-wife that was witnessed by his young daughter. The children both petitioned the court to live with their mother.

Finally, O’Reilly despicably tries to turn this into a pity party with himself as the victim. Poor Bill. It must have been so horrible for him to be called out for his abhorrent and predatory perversion. And all because he has mysterious, unnamed financial and political enemies determined to destroy the valiant culture warrior.

The only thing this latest audio rant proves is that Bill O’Reilly is an unstable and unremorseful monster. He thinks he’s entitled to hurt anyone he wants to advance his own interests. It’s an acute form of malignant narcissism that has him convinced of his superiority and the irrelevance of others. Remind you of anyone?

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

Watch Fox News Try to Smear Democrats By Turning Antifa Into the ‘New’ New Black Panthers

The Fox News propagandists have been fiercely battling the flood of bad news for Donald Trump and the Republican Party. Lately there has been more than the usual onslaught of lies and ignorance. Consequently, they have escalated their use of a hollow tactic that has come to be known as “Whataboutism.” So anytime someone brings up something negative about Trump or the GOP, Fox News responds with “What about this other thing?” It’s a means of avoiding a coherent defense when you obviously don’t have one.

Fox News

That strategy was in full force Monday morning when Fox News hosted a couple of pundits to discuss violent protests. The premise put forth by Fox was that “leftists” were not being sufficiently condemned for their acts of violence. The main reason for that is that leftists have not been engaging in any organized violent activities. What Fox News tried to pin on Democrats was behavior by the shadowy and leaderless group of anti-fascists known as Antifa. (See video below).

But here’s the problem with that. Antifa is not a Democratic movement. They do not campaign for Democrats. They do not vote for Democrats. None of them run for office as Democrats. And actual Democrats do not appear at their events. On the other hand, the alt-right, white nationalist, KKK crowd are tightly bound to Republicans. They openly campaign for GOP candidates and celebrate their electoral victories. Particularly that of Donald Trump. They feature GOP representatives at their rallies. And they have even run for office as Republicans.

It is entirely appropriate to expect a group of pro-Republican extremists to be renounced by the Republican Party. And when Trump failed to do so after the Charlottesville tragedy, he was effectively welcoming their support. However, Democrats cannot be expected to distance themselves from a group that they are in no way affiliated with. They can renounce violence broadly, and they have done so repeatedly. But they aren’t responsible for a group that isn’t among their supporters.

The efforts by Fox News to falsely tie Antifa to Democrats is reminiscent of their prior attempts to do the same with the ludicrous New Black Panthers. That was a group that may have had no more than four members, but Fox News built them up into a national terrorist enterprise. It was largely Megyn Kelly who focused on this nonsense. But now many hosts, contributors, and guests on Fox are pounding the Antifa drums.

This morning’s segment was a perfect example. Anchor Sandra Smith began by alluding to “Violence breaking out as thousands of left and right protesters descending on Berkeley.” The alt-right protesters were referred to as peaceful, but their motives were exposed simply by where they chose to protest. They knew that Berkeley would not be an especially welcoming locale. They were inviting counter-protests. But Fox’s Republican pundit, Lisa Boothe, immediately went on the attack against Democrats.

Boothe: I think we’re just seeing a lot of violence and a lot of hate in this country, and we have for a number of years recently. We saw it with the violence in Fergusson and Baltimore, where people are getting way out of hand. And I think what we really need to see is people marginalizing some of these hate groups. […] Unfortunately, we’re not seeing that same rebuke of groups like Antifa. I’ve not seen one Democratic leader say that these groups should stop their ways, should stop what we saw in Berkeley. Where is Congresswoman Barbara Lee who represents the thirteenth district of California? Where is former Speaker Nancy Pelosi?

Boothe completely avoided the alt-right’s record of violence and murder to blame Democrats for not denouncing a tiny fringe group that they have nothing to do with. The group would already be marginalized were it not for the publicity they get on Fox News. And contrary to Boothe’s tunnel-blind assessment, Democrats have condemned all violence of the sort that Boothe is addressing. The Democrat on the segment, Christie Setzer, had some trouble getting in her comments.

Setzer: I was just as horrified as most people by what transpired in Charlottesville. And I was equally inspired by what happened in Boston. Which is to say that there was a small number of neo-Nazi, KKK, and other hate groups who were calling themselves a free speech rally, but in fact were organized by a lot of the same people who were in charlottesville. And they were surrounded by 40,000 peace-loving, good Bostonians saying ‘We will not accept hate in our city, in our town, in our country.’

Setzer attempted to continue her remarks to insist that “We don’t want violent protests anywhere.” But Smith interrupted her saying that she “wanted Lisa to have the last word.” Never mind that Boothe had the first word and much longer uninterrupted time. Boothe used her conclusion to say that “We’ve seen the media prop up groups like Antifa.” Then complained again that Democrats had not denounced them, even though Setzer just did.

Boothe’s last comment, however, was true. It is the media that has propped up Antifa. Primarily the conservative media. They need it to deploy their Whataboutism tactic whenever there is violence from the alt-right supporters of the GOP. Some members of Antifa may be well-meaning anti-fascists, and who can argue with that? But the faction within the group that advocates violence is counterproductive to their own goals. That said, they still have no affiliation with the Democratic Party and it is dishonest for Fox News to make that linkage. But being dishonest has never stopped Fox before from disseminating lies in support of the Republican agenda. So we can expect this promotion and hyperbole about Antifa to continue until Fox News finds some even newer fake movement to promote.

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

STOP HANNITY: Movement Begins to Shame Advertisers on the Trump-Fluffing Fox News Program

The rapid decline of Fox News over the past year has been an awesome spectacle. It began with the allegations of sexual harassment against CEO Roger Ailes. He was later fired and, shortly thereafter, died following a fall in his home. Then Bill O’Reilly was also terminated after numerous allegations of sexual misconduct.

Sean Hannity Fox News

Additionally, some executives were likewise dismissed for their own inappropriate behavior. And Fox News lost their rising star, Megyn Kelly, who joined NBC where her program is a ratings failure. Greta Van Susteren, also quit Fox for a show on MSNBC that has already been canceled. Most recently, Eric Bolling, host of two Fox News programs has been suspended for allegedly sending lewd pictures to network colleagues.

Fox’s reputation for being a brazenly biased mouthpiece for Republican politics is morphing into one of perversion and misogyny. But don’t worry – their mission of right-wing propagandizing is still being pursued in earnest by many remaining shills. Chief among them is Sean Hannity, who has escalated his efforts to promote Donald Trump. His program has become an unabashed platform for exalting and defending Trump no matter the circumstances.

Hannity has been performing some wild rhetorical acrobatics to that end. He has whirled from insisting that Trump was totally innocent of any collusion with Russia, to arguing that such collusion wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all. More offensive are his ventures into conspiracy theories. Hannity has made a project of promoting the totally debunked story about Seth Rich. This fake news asserts that Rich, a former DNC staffer, was murdered for his involvement in hacking the Clinton/Podesta emails and sending them to Wikileaks. It’s a fascinating story that would be even more compelling if any of it were true.

As Hannity has ramps up the crazy on his show, he is beginning to attract some push-back from proponents of ethical journalism. Media Matters has initiated a campaign to “Stop Hannity” from further staining the airwaves with his lies and hate. They have previously engineered similar campaigns that targeted Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly. Both of them were eventually booted from their perches at Fox and now languish in near obscurity. It’s safe to say that Hannity is nervous. The Stop Hannity home page spells out how Media Matters intends to hold him, Fox News, and their advertisers accountable:

“Spreading misinformation is Hannity’s business model, and now he’s doing it on behalf of the Trump administration. His propagandizing has become so odious that he was condemned by some of his coworkers, who reportedly told The Daily Beast that the host was ’embarrassing’ the network and that ‘some people need to be fired.’

“It’s past time for Hannity to go. If Fox won’t fire Hannity, then advertisers should run as fast as they can, or else they run the risk of being complicit in his deceit and recklessness. Advertisers will get burned if they continue to associate with Hannity — plain and simple.”

This movement has only just begun, but it is already showing progress. Most notably, ultra-conservative pundits and websites are rising up in anger about this grassroots activism. The Daily Caller, Newsbusters, Western Journalism, and YoungCons have all posted stories labeling Media Matters a far-left provocateur. What’s more, Hannity’s ratings are suffering among the key advertiser demographic of 25-54 year olds. For the most recent week for which there is complete ratings data, Hannity lost the whole week to his time period competition on MSNBC, The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell. For the same week the Rachel Maddow Show was the highest rated program on all of cable news. Fox News was accustomed to dominating the ratings charts for years, but those days seem to be gone.

Time will tell if this campaign will be as successful as those aimed at Hannity’s former colleagues. But the track record of Media Matters on these actions is formidable. Advertisers have good reasons to be wary of associating themselves with a conspiracy monger like Hannity. And the more people that jump on this bandwagon, the more it can achieve. To that end, be sure to sign up at Stop Hannity and participate in the advertiser education program they are conducting. It’s a worthwhile cause because, as Ted Koppel told Hannity to his face, he is “bad for America.”

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

Ex-Fox News Anchor Greta Van Susteren’s Failing MSNBC Show is Abruptly Canceled

Score one for the free market. Six months ago MSNBC hired Greta Van Susteren to host an early evening hour program. It was a peculiar choice considering the network’s success with their more progressive personalities in primetime. There was never a good case to be made for a former Fox News host succeeding on MSNBC. Their existing audience surely wasn’t clamoring for more Fox-style news analysis. And no one who watches Fox would be caught dead tuning in to MSNBC.

Greta Van Susteren

Nevertheless, the network’s management took the plunge. An apt metaphor considering how deep the ratings for Van Susteren’s show sank. The show was virtual sinkhole in the schedule. Both its lead-in and lead-out had more viewers and better ratings. People were clearly changing the channel when Van Susteren’s show started.

Van Susteren’s weakness occurred while the rest of the network’s program’s were soaring to record highs. Rachel Maddow has frequently beaten her Fox News competition and landed at the top of all cable news programming. The same is true for her colleague Lawrence O’Donnell. Van Sustern wasn’t even performing as well as Maddow’s and O’Donnell’s repeats.

So after six months, MSNBC management has seen the light and diplomatically announced a parting of the ways. Network president Phil Griffin said:

“MSNBC and Greta Van Susteren have decided to part ways. Greta is a well-regarded television veteran and one of only a few broadcasters who can say they’ve hosted shows at all three major cable news networks. We are grateful to her and wish her the best.”

Griffin also revealed that Van Susteren’s time slot will be filled by Ari Melber. Melber is the network’s legal analyst and host of the weekend show The Point. He has also been a frequent fill-in host for several of the network’s programs. He should be a capable, if not exciting, addition to the schedule. On the down side, he’s just another cable news white guy. Weekend anchor Joy Reid would have been a better, and more stimulating, choice.

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

It remains to be seen if MSNBC has realized the folly of their ways. They recently hired or promoted other right-wingers like Hugh Hewitt, Bret Stephens, Charlie Sykes, and George Will. And their big get, Fox News star Megyn Kelly, is already off to a disastrous start. Her NBC Sunday Night show premiered to abysmal ratings and went down from there. NBC execs are already somewhat frantic that she will kill the Today Show when she debuts in September. Time will tell.

Fox News Succumbing to Reality? Network Ditches Their ‘Fair and Balanced’ Slogan

The past year has seen some profound changes in the conservative world. And it’s not just the election of Donald Trump. Although that was a tectonic shift that put a novice political enigma with no discernible principles at the helm of the GOP (Greedy One Percent). And as if that wasn’t earth-shattering enough, the party of family values fell in line behind an adulterous, irreligious, walking contradiction machine. Somehow Republicans were able to embrace a narcissistic, wannabe dictator who spent years insulting them.

Fox News

In the right-wing mediaverse, Fox News has also undergone an upheaval. They lost their founder and CEO, Roger Ailes, and their biggest Star, Bill O’Reilly, to sex scandals. The same improprieties resulted in several other notable Foxies leaving the hen house. They include Megyn Kelly, Greta Van Susteren, Gretchen Carlson, Andrea Tantaros, and Bill Shine, the executive who replaced Ailes. While Rupert Murdoch is still the lord master of Fox, it’s his kids who are the operational managers now.

As if to finish off the old era of Fox News, it was just revealed that they are abandoning their long-time slogan, “fair and balanced.” Of course, they never lived up to that or even tried. It was just a marketing scheme to disparage all other news networks as being hopelessly biased. Fox used it to corral their disciples into the cult, where only the cult leader is to be believed. Veteran Fox-watcher, Gabriel Sherman of New York Magazine had the scoop:

“As Fox News moves further into the post–Roger Ailes era, the network is shedding one of its most iconic elements. According to network executives, Fox News has abandoned the marketing slogan ‘Fair & Balanced.’ The decision was made last August after Ailes’s ouster by Fox News co-president Jack Abernethy, because the phrase had ‘been mocked,’ one insider said. Another executive explained that the tagline was ‘too closely associated with Roger.’ Fox executives have been instructed by management to market the network by its other tagline: ‘Most Watched. Most Trusted.'”

Cutting ties to disgraced former management is a generally a good idea. Ailes, who died last month, has become a figurative leper. Even the Ohio University scholarship in his name was discontinued. The same embarrassment of association occurs with the ousted Bill O’Reilly. Megyn Kelly, who resigned to take a new job with NBC, is already showing signs of weakness. Her Sunday night program debuted to meager ratings. And it got worse from there. The second episode dropped by forty-two percent and a 60 Minutes rerun beat it with twice as many viewers. Now there are advertiser boycotts stemming from her decision to interview conspiracy theory kingpin, Alex Jones.

Perhaps the funniest part of this decision to drop the “fair and balanced” lie is that they are replacing it with another lie. The new slogan is “Most Watched. Most Trusted.” Neither of those assertions are true. For the past few months MSNBC has been beating Fox in primetime with the most valued viewer demographic. Rachel Maddow is leading the way, often placing as the highest rated program on all of cable news. And as for “trusted,” Fox News isn’t even in the top twenty according to a survey by Pew Research. It falls well behind all three broadcast networks, CNN, New York Times, Washington Post, and MSNBC.

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

So Fox is continuing in their tradition of deceiving their audience with blatant falsehoods. And regardless of what their slogan is, we can depend on them to be true to their mission of lying. Despite all of the changes taking place at Fox, what is not changing is their intention to serve the propaganda of the right generally, and to always exalt Trump in particular. Some things will never change.

Disgraced, Lying, Sexual Predator (and Former Fox News CEO) Roger Ailes is Dead at 77

The conservative media world is mourning the death of its patron saint, Roger Ailes. The founder and former CEO of Fox News passed away on Thursday just as his latest project, the Donald Trump presidency, was entering intensive care.

Roger Ailes Outnumberd

Ailes will surely be remembered for having built a television network that relied on glitz and glamour to dress up its partisan propaganda as ultra-biased fake news. But he will also be remembered for dividing the nation into hostile political camps by transforming his right-leaning viewers into an army of misinformed, pseudo-patriotic zealots.

Ironically, Ailes’ professional end came as a result of a string of allegations of sexual harassment and abuse. The channel that self-branded as the TV home of family values was, in reality, a broken home that created much suffering and personal loss. Fox News embodied a culture of misogyny that bore deep into its ranks. Following Ailes out the door were its biggest star, Bill O’Reilly, and his own successor, Bill Shine. But that wasn’t until after the damage was done. Female on-air personalities like Gretchen Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Laurie Dhue, Andrea Tantaros, Rudi Bakhtiar, and Julie Roginsky, had all walked out under duress.

Fox News is now struggling to maintain its status as the top cable news network. In recent weeks it has been losing to both MSNBC and CNN in the critical advertising demographic of 25-54 year olds. That is partly due to the unpopularity of its primary benefactor, Donald Trump. American news consumers are switching to networks where they can get more honest accounts of Trump’s corruption and incompetence.

There is a poignant melodramatic quality to the fact that Ailes died less than a year after his termination from Fox News. It’s as if he only lived to spread Republican dogma and smear liberals. When he lost the platform to do that, he gave up.

His Fox News family was understandably torn up by the news. There were tears on almost every program from Fox and Friends to Shepard Smith’s afternoon broadcast. But perhaps the eulogy that best expressed to deranged Fox mindset was delivered by Ainsley Earhardt whose tribute asserted that:

“Many people out there would say that he saved this country by starting the Fox News channel.”

Well, if you say so. This is not the day to point out how utterly delusional that is.

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