RNC

Bernie Sanders Live Tweeted ‘Dictator’ Trump’s Horror Show Speech – And It Was Awesome

Posted by on July 22, 2016 at 11:06 am. 1 Comments :

In a marathon 74 minute harangue, Donald Trump accepted the nomination of the Republican Party for President of the United States. The speech recounted a vision of America as a dystopian hellhole where every citizen should be shivering under their beds. And when he wasn’t trying scare the bejeebus out of everyone, he was enumerating the reasons they should all hate each other, and especially Hillary Clinton.

Bernie Sanders

In the opening of his speech Trump promised that “there will be no lies,” a bold claim from someone with a long record of pathological lying (see the Trump Bullshitopedia). And this Trump speech didn’t fare well with the fact checkers either. He also made promises to bring back jobs from overseas (presumably his own clothing manufacturing), destroy ISIS, repeal ObamaCare, and end violence and crime in America (not reduce it, end it). Of course, he never proposed a single policy that would achieve any of those goals in his speech, nor in the prior twelve monts of his campaign.

Watching all of this from his lair in Vermont was Sen. Bernie Sanders. Sanders was privileged to have been mentioned in Trump’s speech in a particularly delusional passage wherein Trump insisted that “His supporters will join our movement.” Because what self-respecting Democratic Socialist wouldn’t rush to support a wealthy, racist, right-wing, wannabe dictator? Not surprisingly, Sanders had a few things to say about Trump’s fear mongering tirade. So he took to Twitter (#RNCwithBernie) to engage in a running commentary. Here is his contemporaneous response to Trump’s lecture on how awful america is:


FYI: Sanders tweet about Trump’s dictatorial tendencies was the most retweeted tweet during Donald Trump’s acceptance speech.

Bernie Sanders, of course, has endorsed Hillary Clinton for president. But his movement continues along with his positive vision to reform the nation so that everyone can benefit from its vast riches. He wants all Americans to be represented by politicians who take seriously their pledge to serve the people. He is a strong advocate of voting rights and opposes the GOP’s efforts to disenfranchise minority and low-income citizens. And he has fought for decades on behalf of the working class that is a trickle-down afterthought of Republicans like Trump.

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

The vast majority of Sanders’ supporters would never consider backing an elite, narcissistic, throwback to an era of 1930’s Aryan supremacy. Trump’s exceedingly dark outlook on both the present and future of America is anathema to the progressive mindset. Trump’s speech revealed to the nation that he is just pitching a warmed-over version of Pat Buchanan’s rightist populism. That isn’t going to sell to Sanders’ supporters, or to most of the country’s voters.

Speechwriter Exposes Trump Camp’s Lies About Melania’s Plagiarized Speech

Posted by on July 20, 2016 at 1:23 pm. 2 Comments :

The controversy over Melania Trump’s plagiarized speech at the Republican National Convention stubbornly refuses to go away. Following the initial revelation that several passages were blatantly lifted from a 2008 speech by Michelle Obama, Donald Trump’s defenders mobilized to deny reality and try to convince America that they could not believe their own eyes and ears.

Michelle Obama/Melania Trump

The Trump campaign manager, Paul Manafort, dismissed it as being a coincidental collection of commonly used words. That was after he baselessly blamed it all on Hillary Clinton. Chris Christie excused it because only part of it was plagiarized. Trump spokesperson Katrina Pierson complained that Michelle Obama thinks she “invented the English language.” RNC Spokesman Sean Spicer turned it back on Michelle Obama saying that she plagiarized My Little Pony. Trump Communications Director Jason Miller reduced it to “included fragments that reflected her own thinking.” The Trump people simultaneously said that Melania wrote the speech herself (which she told NBC’s Matt Laurer), but that any problems were the fault of her team of writers.

Today the speechwriter came forward with a totally new account of what happened. She released a letter on Trump Organization stationary (image below) taking the fall for the whole affair:

“My name is Meredith McIver and I’m an in-house staff writer at the Trump Organization. I am also a longtime friend and admirer of the Trump family.”

“In working with Melania Trump on her recent First Lady speech, we discussed many people who inspired her and messages she wanted to share with the American people. A person she has always liked is Michelle Obama. Over the phone, she read me some passages from Mrs. Obama’s speech as examples. I wrote them down and later included some of the phrasing in the draft that ultimately became the final speech. I did not check Mrs. Obama’s speeches. This was my mistake, and I feel terrible for the chaos I have caused Melania and the Trumps, as well as to Mrs. Obama. No harm was meant.”

So it turns out that the lines were indeed lifted from Obama’s speech after all. And it was Melania who did it. McIver is taking responsibility for not checking Melania’s work. However, everyone on the Trump team who vociferously denied any remote possibility of plagiarism, even ridiculing the notion, are now exposed as either liars or fools.

McIver went on to say that she offered Trump her resignation, but that he refused to accept it saying that “people make innocent mistakes.” This was an “innocent mistake” that made Melania look awful in her national coming out, and resulted in two days of distractions from the whatever messages Trump was hoping to convey at the convention. (That may be a blessing in disguise considering the fright-fest that Trump put on yesterday). And in the end, Trump thinks it was all a positive development:

Almost as significant as the admission that the speech was plagiarized is the discovery that Michelle Obama is “A person [Melania] has always liked.” That may not sit well with a crowd that regards the Obamas as foreign interlopers bent on destroying America. For the record, Donald Trump was also a big fan of Obama at one time, as he wrote in his book “Think Like A Champion.”

Apparently Melania et al couldn’t find any Republican women who expressed the same values that Michelle did. But stealing lines from a historic speech is a funny way of showing your admiration. And that’s why this episode remains significant. It demonstrates that Trump’s fabled management skills are just another fraudulent PR scam. This speech would have to have been reviewed by numerous people before allowing the candidate’s wife to take it out onto the stage. But they couldn’t handle something as simple as sourcing a speech. And Trump’s want’s us to trust him with the nuclear codes?

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

McIver Letter

Hurricanes, Riots, And Viruses, Oh My. Is God Trying To Tell Republicans Something?

Posted by on July 19, 2016 at 5:52 pm. NO Comments :

In the past Republicans, and their evangelical emissaries, have been quick to declare that natural disasters and other civil disturbances were indications of God’s disapproval for sinful behavior. They believe that the calamities that wreaked havoc on Haiti, New Orleans, the Jersey shore, and even acts of terrorism like the massacre in Orlando, were divine messages conveying God’s anger and were intended as punishment for sinners.

God's Pissed

Today there is a report that the Republican National Convention may be suffering from an outbreak of biblical-style pestilence. Several delegates have come down with symptoms consistent with the norovirus which, according to the Centers for Disease Control, is:

“…a very contagious virus that can infect anyone. You can get it from an infected person, contaminated food or water, or by touching contaminated surfaces. The virus causes your stomach or intestines or both to get inflamed. This leads you to have stomach pain, nausea, and diarrhea and to throw up. These symptoms can be serious for some people, especially young children and older adults”

The good news is that treatment for the norovirus is covered by ObamaCare. However, this potential health crisis could still threaten to upend a convention that has already been roiled by human-made catastrophes like Melania Trump’s blatant plagiarism of a 2008 speech by Michelle Obama. But this is just one symptom of a much larger problem for the the GOP.

Civil unrest has been a constant threat for the RNC since back in March when Donald Trump raised the specter of violence at the convention if he wasn’t crowned king of the Republican Party. He literally warned that “I think you’d have riots.” Having set that tone, Trump’s followers began planning to attend the convention fully armed and prepared for a righteous battle. The city of Cleveland has had to take extraordinary steps to try to prevent bloodshed.

And that’s not all. The last GOP convention in Tampa, Florida, in 2012 was also beset by tribulations. They were forced to cancel the first day due to the approach of Hurricane Isaac. That was actually the second consecutive Republican convention that was interrupted by a hurricane. The 2008 affair in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota was cursed by Hurricane Gustav.

So with this virus outbreak this is the third Republican convention that appears to have stirred God’s wrath. After hurricanes, riots, and viruses, what’s next? A plague of frogs? At some point you need to ask the question: Is God trying tell Republicans something? Is their aversion to many of the principles espoused in the bible causing these divine adversities?

After all, Jesus was a proponent of the poor; of feeding the hungry (food stamps) and healing the sick (ObamaCare). The bible commands believers to welcome immigrants in Exodus 22:21 saying “Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt.” And even the environment is sacred as noted in Genesis 2:15 which says that God’s orders for humans with regard to his creation were “to cultivate and care for it.”

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

In reviewing these sins of the Republican Party it is easy to draw conclusions. Anyone with an open mind can clearly see that God is pissed. It may be wise to stay away from GOP conventions, or vote for their candidates, until these issues are resolved and Republicans change their evil ways. And at the top of the list is dispensing with Donald Trump who says that he has never asked God for forgiveness despite having already committed all seven of the deadly sins.

EPIC FAIL: Donald Trump Wrangles The Most Laughable Roster Of Speakers For His Convention

Posted by on July 14, 2016 at 9:44 am. 10 Comments :

With the Republican National Convention set to begin next week, Donald Trump finally released the schedule of speakers. Two weeks ago Trump tweeted that “The speakers slots at the Republican Convention are totally filled” and promised to release the list the next day. That highly anticipated announcement took two weeks to materialize. Perhaps the reason is that the list, as just revealed by the New York Times, is an embarrassing collection of has beens and D-List denizens of the tabloids. Other than speculation about who Trump will select as a running mate (which Fox News may have inadvertently revealed), this is the most hotly sought after convention news, but the Trump camp is treating it as an afterthought.

The Times, however, is reporting that the lineup is “lacking many of the party’s rising stars” and relies instead on “Trump’s eclectic collection of friends, celebrities and relatives.” What’s more, in an effort to transform the convention into a shallow spectacle that draws on Trump’s Reality TV experience, the nightly schedule has been assigned dramatic themes akin to chapters in a soap opera:

“There are plans to emphasize different themes each night of the convention. Mr. Trump wants to touch on a few of his favorite hot-button issues, like the 2012 attack on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, former President Clinton’s infidelities and border security.”

Really? Trump and his handlers actually think it’s a good idea to dredge up Benghazi, which multiple investigations, including those led by Republicans in Congress, absolved Hillary Clinton and the Obama administration of any wrongdoing. Even the latest Special Committee, after spending two years and seven million dollars, found nothing of significance that wasn’t already known or reported by one of the seven other congressional committees (which didn’t stop Fox News from desperately trying to find a way to spin it negatively).

And the night devoted to “President Clinton’s infidelities” is certain to be a major draw to anyone interested in twenty year old personal scandals that were thoroughly reported at the time and have been resolved by the Clinton’s who, to their credit, preserved their family and their marriage vows. Contrast that with Donald Trump, who has openly bragged about his adulterous ways and is currently on his third wife (so far).

The list of speakers obtained by the Times is a revealing look into the weakness of Trump’s support and his inability to produce an event that voters will find relevant to their lives. Rather than praise for the candidate, the schedule is focused on negativity toward his opponent and the Americans who he has already maligned for the past year. From the Times:

Night 1: A Benghazi focus, followed by border patrol agents and Mr. [Jamiel] Shaw, whose son was killed by an undocumented immigrant. Senator [Tom] Cotton, Mr. [Rudy] Giuliani, Melania Trump, Ms. [Joni] Ernst and others.

Night 2: A focus on the economy: Mr. [Dana] White, president of the U.F.C.; Asa Hutchinson, the governor of Arkansas; Michael Mukasey, the former United States attorney general; Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, a vice-presidential possibility; Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader; Tiffany Trump; Donald Trump Jr. and Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin.

Night 3: Ms. [Pam] Bondi; Ms. [Eileen] Collins; Newt Gingrich, a former House speaker; Senator Ted Cruz of Texas; Eric Trump; Ms. [Natalie] Gulbis; and the nominee for vice president.

Night 4: Mr. [Tim] Tebow; Representative Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee; Gov. Mary Fallin of Oklahoma; Reince Priebus, the Republican National Committee chairman; Gov. Rick Scott of Florida; Mr. [Peter] Thiel; Mr. [Thomas] Barrack; Ivanka Trump; Donald J. Trump.

Wow! I can hardly wait. In addition to Benghazi, Trump will spend a portion of the first night on his racist immigration proposals by featuring speakers intent on demeaning Latino-Americans. His second night’s economic focus is headlined by the president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, who will be followed by crowd pleasers like Mitch McConnell and Scott Walker. The third night welcomes Florida’s Attorney General, Pam Bondi, who also stars in an alleged bribery scheme wherein she sought a campaign donation from Trump before shelving an investigation into his phony university. And on the fourth night, which ought to be the grand finale, Trump is trotting out a failed NFL quarterback who is currently unemployed, and a couple of fellow billionaires. And of course his family is distributed on various nights throughout the convention.

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

Where are the GOP’s leading lights and rising stars? Most are not even attending the convention. None of the living Republican presidents will be there. Nor will the past two GOP candidates for president. Nor will at least a third of the sitting Republican senators. And only three out of the seventeen Republicans who ran for president in 2016 will appear at the podium, and one of those (Ted Cruz) hasn’t even endorsed Trump.

This may be one of the most pathetic political conventions in modern times. The animosity Trump has sown among his peers via his abhorrent policies, inherent hostility, and childish behavior, has doomed him to casting a third rate affair that will produce more laughter than enthusiasm for his candidacy. Personally, I think my satirical lineup would way more fun:

Trump's RNC

The Republican Party Platform Is More Worried About You Getting Off Than Getting Shot

Posted by on July 12, 2016 at 7:13 pm. 7 Comments :

The nation is currently undergoing the heart-wrenching anguish of senseless violence and loss of life. Last week saw an unusually painful series of events that included the killings of citizens by over-zealous police officers, followed by a brutal attack on good cops who were protecting a peaceful protest of such killings. In both cases guns played a prominent part in needless slaughter.

Gun Lady

Fox News, and the rest of the conservative media, immediately launched an assault on #BlackLivesMatter, branding them racists and hostile for their efforts to draw attention to the far too frequent incidents of African-Americans becoming victims of police misconduct. The blame from the right extended even further to include President Obama and Hillary Clinton, whom they alleged were directly responsible for the Dallas shootings. It requires an unfathomably perverse logic to make those associations but, as it turns out, it isn’t even the craziest thing the right has done this week.

Reports from the Republican National Convention’s Platform committee reveal that they have unanimously approved an amendment declaring that:

“Pornography, with his harmful effects, especially on children, has become a public health crisis that is destroying the life of millions. We encourage states to continue to fight this public menace and pledge our commitment to children’s safety and wellbeing.”

Everyone can agree that protecting children from nefarious types who would harm them, or exploit them for deviant purposes, is a worthy goal. However, Republicans are making an Olympian leap of reason by designating pornography in general as a “public health crisis.” Never mind that they don’t bother to cite any references to professional journals or medical studies to validate that claim. They simply expect it to be taken on faith.

RELATED: New Study Explains Why Fox News Is Obsessed With Sex And Porn

What makes this absurd is that these are the same Republicans who have fought fiercely to prevent gun violence from being studied as a public health crisis. The Republican majority in Congress, at the behest of the NRA, passed legislation that explicitly prohibits government agencies, such as the Centers for Disease Control, from appropriating funds to conduct research on gun violence and injury prevention. And this was after prior studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine established that gun ownership is a risk factor for homicide in the home. The American Psychological Association agrees and has lobbied to eliminate the GOP’s freeze on funds for research:

“APA endorses the provision to end the freeze on federal gun violence research. This ban has significantly hampered psychological scientists’ ability to systematically assess the risk of assault and other weapons to the public, and to determine the effectiveness of various preventive measures. APA supports increased federal funding for research on the causes and prevention of gun violence, including attention to violence in media, to jump start this field after so many years of neglect.”

But none of these reasonable arguments has moved the the Republican Party to act reasonably. Under the banner of their presumptive nominee, Donald Trump, they are becoming more radically conservative than ever. With this platform they are asserting that pornography is a public health crisis despite the lack of any credible evidence. But they won’t allow gun violence to even be studied by medical professionals even though existing research indicates a very real problem. It is emblematic of the GOP’s shift to the ultra-right with other platform items that include opposing marriage equality, supporting gay conversion therapy, and declaring coal to be “clean” energy.

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

Today President Obama and others paid tribute to the fallen officers of the Dallas Police Department. And while these solemn events are unfolding, the Republican Party is making it easier for other maniacs, like the one that murdered five cops, to acquire and use weapons that escalate the body count. But at least we’ll be safe from the horror of nakedness.

Exclusive: Donald Trump’s List Of Speakers For The Republican National Convention Just Leaked

Posted by on July 10, 2016 at 5:17 pm. 15 Comments :

The Republican National Convention is now just one week away. Preparations are being made for what Donald Trump and his campaign are promising will be a unique event that will bring more entertainment value to the normally staid political gathering. Among the most highly anticipated announcements is who will share the podium during the four day televised spectacle.

While there have been rumors that assembling a roster of speakers has been difficult, Trump insists that enthusiastic supporters are clamoring to speak on his behalf. A week ago Trump proudly tweeted:

When Wednesday arrived, however, there was a change in plans, as revealed in another tweet:

Trump was making reference to the just concluded FBI inquiry into Hillary Clinton’s email that determined that no charges should be filed. Apparently Trump wanted some extra time to exploit this news and spread his conspiracy theories about a rigged system. Instead he spent most of the day defending the blatant anti-Semitism of a tweet he posted a few days earlier. After which he still did not provide the list of convention speakers as promised.

Well now the News Corpse Satire Desk can put an end to the suspense. A flyer advertising the convention’s biggest attractions has been acquired from sources at the RNC (see below). And true to form, it appears to be an unprecedented extravaganza that will feature the sort of celebrities that set paparazzi hearts afire. They include some of the most popular luminaries of the Republican elite straight from the country clubs of Trump’s private golf resorts. For instance: Sean Hannity, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Ted Nugent, Sarah Palin, David Duke, Ted Cruz, Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson, and the fabulous Ivanka.

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

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that is not to be missed. So get your tickets ASAP, or mark your calendar as full for most of next week as you sit in front of your televisions to enjoy a festival of wingnut glitterati unlike anything you have ever seen before – or ever will again, we hope.

Trump's RNC

YIKES: Trump Delegates Promise To Be Packing Heat At The GOP Convention

Posted by on July 1, 2016 at 2:14 pm. 4 Comments :

From the “What Could Possibly Go Wrong” file:

The Republican convention will begin in a couple of weeks but the fireworks have already started. There is a vibrant #NeverTrump movement that is furiously organizing to prevent Donald Trump from becoming their party’s nominee. And an unprecedented throng of loyal Republicans have vowed never to vote for Trump. They include the two past Republican presidents and the two past Republican candidates for the office.

Donald Trump

Trump’s rallies have frequently been the scene of violence directed at protesters, which Trump encourages and even offered to pay the legal fees of anyone arrested for such an assault. He has bragged that his followers are angry and once described a pair of supporters who beat up a homeless Latino man as “passionate” people who “love their country.” He even boasted about having his own concealed carry permit and virtually dared evildoers to bring it on.

In the spirit of this overtly hostile political crusade, some Trump delegates are now declaring that they will be coming to Cleveland armed. They are concerned about possible threats to their safety from rampaging protesters or wild-eyed terrorists. One Trump delegate exclaimed “We’re talking about ISIS.” And these self-styled Republican Rambos think that their handguns will protect them from trained jihadis with AR-15s, body armor, and suicide vests. One armed delegate said that…

“There are a whole bunch of things happening: You go to various events, receptions, whatever, outside the convention hall. And you walk on the streets and, you know, people know that you are a delegate, and who knows what the crazy people are going to do? So you’ve got to be vigilant about what’s going on and prepare yourself.”

So they expect the battlefield to expand to include area restaurants, hotels, and city sidewalks. This should make every resident of Cleveland nervous. The introduction of civilians with guns into public settings is asking for trouble. There is a reason that convention facilities, including the one that will be hosting the GOP convention, not do permit firearms. Security professionals know that there is a greater risk of injuries to innocent bystanders when people with no experience get involved in situations that are rife with chaos and panic. Plus, with more people brandishing weapons it makes it harder for law enforcement to know who the bad guys are.

A couple of months ago there was a petition circulating to alter the rules at the arena and allow delegates to take guns into the convention hall. It garnered more than 50,000 signatures before it was discovered that it was started by a gun reform advocate.

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

There are legitimate reasons for citizens to be cautious in public places and to be aware of their surroundings. But that isn’t a license to be paranoid and to exacerbate the problem. Particularly at a political convention where such strong animosities are prevalent. And that is just among the Republicans. Last March Trump was whining about the prospect that he might not have enough delegates to secure the nomination. In an interview on CNN he warned if he were denied his rightful crown that “bad things would happen” and that “I think you’d have riots.” Now, with the “Dump Trump” faction of the party still working to find an alternative candidate, his delegates are strapping on sidearms and swaggering into town with puffed up chests threatening to fulfill Trump’s prophecy. Does anyone think this will end well?

Prophets Of Rage Will Rock Against The Machine At The Republican National Convention

Posted by on June 3, 2016 at 3:51 pm. 3 Comments :

Cleveland, Ohio is the home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It will also be the site of the Republican National Convention next month where the GOP will nominate Donald Trump as their candidate for President of the United States. And those two worlds are about to collide as the supergroup, Prophets of Rage, prepares to invade the city just in time for the GOP’s festivities.

Prophets of Rage

Prophets of Rage is a musical collaboration that includes Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine, Chuck D of Public Enemy, and B-Real of Cypress Hill. Their mission is to “Make America Rage Again.” While all of these musicians, and the bands they represent, are epic rockers, they are also committed progressive activists who fight on behalf of the poor, the homeless, victims of discrimination and abuse, and all the rest of the 99 percent who are too often forgotten by conventional politicians. As Morello told interviewers John Heilemann and Mark Halperin of Bloomberg News, “The times demand a band like Prophets of Rage to rise.” And in the spirit of that, the Prophets just announced that they will be making the pilgrimage to Cleveland to “cause a ruckus” at the GOP convention:

“Well there’s a thing called the Republican National Convention in July, and that will be a perfect place for a band like Prophets of Rage to cause a ruckus, and we will be there on the streets, in the field,” Morello said. “We have a venue and there may be venues that will be spontaneous venues, it’s hard to say. This is the kind of thing you don’t broadcast to the local authorities prior to arrival.”

The prospect of these radicals popping up unexpectedly in the streets of Cleveland might be cause for the Republican Party establishment, and the local police department, to worry. But the GOP convention has already been threatened with riots by none other than their presumptive nominee. In March Trump told CNN that if he didn’t get the nomination at the convention “I think you’d have riots…I think bad things would happen.”

Morello spoke about the group’s view that politics as usual is insufficient to meet the crises that the nation and the world faces today. He found blame enough to go around for both parties saying that staking all of your hopes on hope isn’t going to work, but that “xenophobic, fear-based racism” isn’t going to work either. He complained that the narrative in the media that portrays the electorate as angry misconstrues the message:

“It’s my contention that we can no longer stand on the sidelines of history. Dangerous times demand dangerous songs,” Morello said. “Both Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders are both constantly referred to in the media as raging against the machine. We’ve come back to remind everyone what raging against the machine really means.”

The Republican convention promises to be an entertaining affair, and not just because their pending leader is a bombastic, controversy-baiting, former reality TV star who thrives on the adoration of his glassy-eyed followers. Donald Trump has incited his supporters to violence while casting venomous insults at his perceived enemies, usually women and minorities. As Sen. Elizabeth Warren noted, there is “more enthusiasm” for him “among leaders of the KKK” than leaders of the GOP.

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

So expect the convention to reflect those values, the values of their standard bearer. While Prophets of Rage will be stirring up emotions and inspiring grassroots activism outside the convention hall, the delegates inside will be fighting among themselves for an agenda of division and hate. At least we’ll get some awesome music out of it.

As Donald Trump Clinches Nomination The GOP Schemes To Prevent Future Trumps

Posted by on May 26, 2016 at 1:27 pm. 3 Comments :

Political parties are hard-wired to reflexively defend their candidates no matter what controversy arises. They have war room strategists and surrogates at the ready to “clarify” what the candidate really meant when he said that he wants to date his daughter. But you know you have a problem candidate with Donald Trump when the party is revamping its rules, before he’s even officially nominated, in order to short-circuit any possibility of another similar candidate being chosen in the future.

Donald Trump GOP

That’s what is happening today in the inner sanctums of the Republican Party. Insiders have been mulling over procedural changes designed specifically to avert another primary season like the one currently winding down. If they were confident of their prospects in November they would be carving the current rules into stone, but the mayhem and acrimony that characterized the past year for the GOP contestants, and the catastrophic ascendancy of Donald Trump, has party regulars in a tizzy. As reported by the New York Times:

“Leaders of the Republican Party have begun internal deliberations over what would be fundamental changes to the way its presidential nominees are chosen, a recognition that the chaotic process that played out this year is seriously flawed and helped exacerbate tensions within the party.”

It says something about a party when they are so horrified by the choice of their voters that they begin to plot to prevent such an awful choice in the future before their nominating convention commences. Donald Trump represents the very worst of right-wing America: the racist, misogynistic, xenophobic, demagoguery pandering to ignorant celebrity worshipers who don’t care about his frequent lies, hypocrisy, or the absence of any coherent policies. But that’s who the Republican voters chose as their champion to lead the nation and the free world.

The party’s blueprint for a Trump-free future includes rearranging the primary calendar to put less emphasis on the traditional early states of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. Their proposal would keep these states at the front of the line, but pair each with another state to inject some diversity and to prevent any single candidate from gaining unstoppable momentum. They also want to narrow the field of primary voters to just their most loyal constituents. As the Times reports:

“[P]arty activists are also pushing to close Republican contests to independent voters, arguing that open primaries in some states allowed Donald J. Trump, whose conservative convictions they deeply mistrust, to become the presumptive nominee.”

Both of these ideas are actually pretty sound and have been floating around both party camps for years. The artificial exaltation of Iowa and New Hampshire has done nothing but advance candidates who appeal to largely rural, mostly white electorates. Those candidates are not likely to be as popular in states with more diverse and urban voters who make up the majority of the country. And it was never a good idea to permit independents and other non-party members to have a say in selecting candidates for parties to which they don’t belong and may seek to harm.

Ironically, the rules that these party activists are now attempting to alter were put in place after a similarly tumultuous primary season in 2012 that saw Mitt Romney eventually rise from a field of crackpots like Michelle Bachmann and Herman Cain. The GOP chairman, Reince Priebus, was instrumental in changing the rules to limit the number of debates and shorten the primary calendar. He must have noticed that the more people saw of his candidates, the less they liked them. The intention was to reduce the embarrassment caused by their frequent televised brawls.

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

Unfortunately for them, the emergence of Donald Trump and his whiny, hostile, substanceless debate performances insured that the embarrassment would continue for yet another election cycle. And unlike 2012, when the process yielded a credible and arguably sane candidate, 2016 produced a narcissistic, ignoramus with designs on a dictatorship. And now they’re stuck with trying to defend him while simultaneously working behind the scenes to avoid a similarly distasteful fate in 2020.

Will The Presidential Debate Commission Stand Up To Donald Trump’s Bullying?

Posted by on May 7, 2016 at 12:17 pm. 6 Comments :

Now that Donald Trump has been designated the “presumptuous” nominee of the Republican Party, it is a good time to look ahead to the debates that have been scheduled by the bipartisan Commission On Presidential Debates (CPD). If the recent history of candidate debates within the Republican Party is any guide, Trump’s contribution to the general election match ups could wind up turning the events into feral spectacles of crass immaturity and an avoidance of substance – i.e. pro-wrestling on meth.

Clinton Trump fight

The CPD has been responsible for managing these debates since 1988. It was formed “to ensure that the voting public has the opportunity to see the leading candidates debate during the general election campaign” in an environment that “is not controlled by any political party or outside organization.” While it has not always been a perfect solution, it has provided some measure of independence to prevent the candidates from dominating the process for their own benefit. This year, more than most, there is a significant threat to the independence of the debates as a fair and open discourse that informs voters. That threat is Donald Trump.

Throughout the GOP primary, Trump has forced himself and his rapacious self-interest on the candidates and the media participating in the party debates. Republican National Committee chairman, Reince Priebus, has made a determined effort to turn the debates into PR vehicles for the party by proclaiming that “allowing moderators who are not serving the best interests of the candidate and the party” is “ridiculous.” But that explicit endorsement of bias wasn’t enough for Trump who continued to strive to dominate the process and often got his way. He even refused to negotiate in concert with his party peers, preferring to conduct his own negotiations with the debate organizers and sponsors. Subsequently, Trump’s tantrums succeeded in forcing the RNC and the media to capitulate to his will on several occasions. For instance:

  • Following a contentious debate on CNBC, Trump’s complaints led the RNC to cancel any debates scheduled to be hosted by NBC, which is actually a different network with different management and moderators.
  • With regard to the CNBC debate, Trump’s whining successfully resulted in the debate hosts cutting the planned event from three hours to two in order to accommodate Trump’s lack of stamina and fear of having to answer questions.
  • After the conservative magazine National Review published a special issue that was critical of Trump, the RNC succumbed to his hissy fit by prohibiting the magazine from co-sponsoring a debate with CNN as scheduled.
  • Before the New Hampshire primary Trump exercised his virtual veto power over the New Hampshire Union Leader, the largest newspaper in the state, who was dropped as co-host of an ABC debate after they published an unflattering editorial about Trump.
  • Trump attempted to force the RNC to cancel a debate hosted by the Spanish-language network, Univision. Which was a bold move considering that Univision was never scheduled to host a debate. He took the same position with Telemundo without success.
  • The long-festering feud between Trump and Fox’s Megyn Kelly led to Trump threatening to boycott a Fox News debate unless Kelly was removed as a moderator. Trump followed through by skipping the debate in order to hold a phony telethon for veterans who still haven’t received the money he allegedly raised.

These examples of how the RNC and the media have let Trump dictate the terms of the debates during the primary raise concerns about how the CPD will respond if he tries to command the same tyrannical influence during the general election. Unlike the RNC, the CPD is theoretically not beholden to the candidates of any party, but Trump has demonstrated that he can throw a tantrum that rivals a snotty eight year old video gamer who desperately wants the latest edition of Assassin’s Creed.

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 how the CPD will hold up under the pressure from Trump which, if the past is any indicator, will be as fierce as it is unethical. If they acquiesce to his demands it will demolish both their reputation and the credibility of the debates themselves. These are not meant to be infomercials for the candidates. Their purpose is to provide a candid discourse for voters so that they can make informed decisions. And while we can expect Trump to behave like a petulant child spewing insults and bitching about anything that isn’t flagrantly favorable to him, we have to hope the CPD stays above all of that and conducts fair and probing debates that serve the public interest. Stay tuned.