Rush Limbaugh

Trump Bashes Fox News Even While Cowering in His Fox News Bunker

Posted by on October 10, 2020 at 2:16 pm. 1 Comments :

The madness that consumes Donald Trump continues to manifest in bizarre and troubling ways. He’s making public demands that his Attorney Genuflect, Bill Barr, indict and prosecute Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Joe Biden. He’s holding coronavirus Super Spreader affairs at the White House, which he has already turned into a COVID-19 “Hot Zone.” And he insists that he’s way ahead of Biden in the “real” polls that are published in the crevices of his decaying grey matter.

Donald Trump, Fox News

If that isn’t enough, Trump is also attacking his Ministry of Propaganda (aka Fox News). This isn’t a new behavioral glitch. Trump has frequently lashed out at Fox News when he didn’t think that they were sufficiently adoring. It’s his way of “working the refs” to ensure constant adulation. But in the past couple of days it has reached a crescendo. For instance, during a marathon radio gabfest with Rush Limbaugh on Friday, Trump whined that…

“It’s a problem. Fox is a problem. […] When Roger Ailes ran Fox, I mean, Roger had a very strong point of view. It’s totally gone. And I think it’s influenced by Paul Ryan. […] They’re going the way of CNN, and they’re going the way of MSNBC, and it’s a shame. I mean, it’s a shame. When I watch it, I look at the people they hire. I mean, I could tell you some of the anchors, they’re so bad.”

First of all, Trump’s fond remembrance of the late Fox News CEO Roger Ailes is touching because they share so much in common. Particularly the fact that they are both serial sexual predators. But Trump’s complaint about Paul Ryan, the former GOP House Speaker who now has a seat on the Fox board of directors, reveals that Trump has no idea what a board of directors does. They are part time business advisors who have zero input into programming.

In addition to Trump’s comments on Limbaugh’s radio program, he made similar comments on the radio show of Fox News host Mark Levin. He was attempting to make a point about the differences between his 2016 campaign and the current one:

“One of the biggest differences is Fox. Fox is a whole different ballgame than it used to be. Fox was great. Fox was great. Fox is no longer great.”

Among the reasons that Trump has arrived at this conclusion are the polls that Fox News has recently published. The most recent one shows him trailing Biden by ten points. But trump has been upset with Fox’s pollsters for quite a while. And you can be sure he was driven to new lows by the one that found that a majority of voters say that he doesn’t have the “mental soundness” to serve.

What makes all of this even more peculiar is that while Trump has been amping up his attacks on Fox News, he has also been spending more time there. In the past four days Trump has done interviews on Fox with Maria Bartiromo, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson (with Marc Seigel), and Mark Levin. And he has another “interview” with Bartiromo on Sunday. He apparently has no idea that he’s only reaching people that are already voting for him. It’s all for his ego and the lack of any notion of how he can rescue his floundering campaign.

The many hours Trump is devoting to Fox News is severely cutting into his golf and Twitter time. It also indicates that he has nothing else of importance to do. But most of all it shows that his whining about how disloyal Fox has been to him is just a charade. He knows that Fox News is his official State TV network and is vital to his nefarious schemes for the future. And he knows that Fox won’t punish him for his fake hostility toward them. They have a parasitic relationship wherein they are both addicted to each other. And while that may satisfy their immediate cravings for attention, it won’t keep Trump from circling the electoral drain.

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

PROJECTION: Trump and Fox News Attack Nancy Pelosi’s Mental Fitness

Posted by on October 9, 2020 at 1:15 pm. NO Comments :

The mental state of Donald Trump has been questioned for many years, even in the earliest days of his presidency. More recently, however, the signs of his cognitive lapses are impossible to ignore. His frequent incoherent ramblings, blatant contradictions, and unbridled hostilities are clear symptoms of a severe psychological breakdown. And it isn’t helping matters that, due to his COVID-19 diagnosis, he’s on several medications that are known to produce mood disorders.

Donald Trump

Not surprisingly, Trump is attempting to cast his cerebral decay onto his perceived political foes. It’s form of a psychotic response that seeks to “project” ones own faults onto others. Trump has been doing that for months to Joe Biden, but has utterly failed to make any of it stick. In fact, polls show that a majority of voters regard Trump as the one who “doesn’t have the mental soundness to serve.”

On Friday morning House Speaker Nancy Pelosi held a press conference to announce that she is sponsoring legislation that would codify the Constitution’s 25th Amendment, a key provision of which addresses how Congress can respond if “the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.” Despite the fact that Pelosi explicitly stated that this bill would not go into effect until after Trump’s term is over, he nevertheless took it personally and lashed out predictably on Twitter:

Trump managed to demean both Biden and Pelosi in that childishly retaliatory tweet. Although he might not have understood exactly what he was he was saying because he’s actually conceding that Biden will be the president to whom the legislation will apply. But that didn’t stop Fox News from quickly agreeing and posting an article on their website with the headline, “Trump and others question Pelosi’s mental fitness after she suggested pres. may not be fit for office.”

Indeed, Pelosi has questioned Trump’s mental fitness, as have many others. However, the “others” mentioned in Fox’s headline as questioning Pelosi’s fitness consist of White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany and … well, that’s it. No one else is mentioned at all. Trump, however, has worked overtime to disparage Pelosi with another of his infantile nicknames, “Crazy Nancy.” He has used that derogatory label at least 33 times on Twitter just this year. That’s about once a week. But Trump has called many others on his enemies list crazy as well, including Robert Mueller, Bernie Sanders, etc.

Trump’s behavior bespeaks an inherent weakness of character. He is incapable of forming an intelligible argument to reply to his critics, so he resorts to these impotent and immature tactics out of frustration and fear. And these emotional anchors are only going to weigh on him more in the coming weeks as the election, and his impending loss, draws closer. Which might explain behavior like that he demonstrated while co-hosting Rush Limbaugh’s radio show on Friday. While discussing his foreign policy conflicts with Iran, Trump dropped an F BOMB on the national broadcast. And if that aint crazy…

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

Are Trump’s Cult Rallies Breeding Grounds for the Coronavirus?

Posted by on February 27, 2020 at 12:55 pm. 6 Comments :

On Wednesday Donald Trump held a press conference wherein he typically underplayed the risks of the spreading coronavirus (Covid-19). He repeatedly portrayed it as being effectively under control, which is not remotely true. He even contradicted the officials he introduced as the team he was putting in charge of the matter. With the exception of Vice-President Mike Pence, they were decidedly more cautious and stressed aggressive actions to confront the impending dangers. See the video below where Rachel Maddow breaks down this contradiction.

Donald Trump Virus

Around the world there are preventive measures being taken to mitigate the risks. International conferences and festivals are canceling their events. Amusement parks, concert and sporting arenas, schools, and other locations that attract large gatherings are closing down to reduce the potential for exposure and infection. But despite these precautions being undertaken by concerned operators, there is a conspicuous enterprise that is thumbing its runny nose at the advancing virus: The Donald Trump Reelection Campaign!

That’s right. Trump is continuing to schedule and host the rallies that assemble thousands of his cult followers in sweaty, confined venues where they are tightly packed and subject to precisely the sort of transmission conditions within which the virus proliferates. None of these StormTrumpers are screened for symptoms, and their anonymity would make it impossible to trace infection origins should some of them later be diagnosed with the virus.

Ordinarily this might be regarded as an alarmist position considering the low (at this point) infection rate in the United States. And one could reasonably complain that the same concerns should be raised about Democratic political events. However, there is a profound difference that makes the prospective perils entirely dissimilar.

By belittling the scope of the coronavirus threat, Trump is actually increasing its potential for harm. And the Trump-fluffers in the press (especially Fox News) are making matters even worse by not just undercutting responsible warnings, but actually advancing conspiracy theories that assert there is no threat whatsoever. Rush Limbaugh told his listeners that the virus was nothing more than the common cold, and that it was being hyped by Democrats to hurt Trump.

This campaign of trivialization is insuring that it is Trump’s supporters who are the least informed about the reality of this budding pandemic. They are, therefore, the most likely to dismiss the risks and behave in ways that could escalate the incidence of infection. So while supporters of Democratic candidates may gather in public, they are likely to be heeding common sense advice to wash their hands, use sanitizers, cough or sneeze safely, and even stay home if not feeling well. But the Trump cultists who aren’t buying the seriousness of the outbreak, will be more likely to ignore such precautions. Consequently, they will be more likely to transmit and acquire the infection.

This is by no means a call for all Americans to cower in their basements like doomsday preppers awaiting Armageddon. But it is a warning that there are real concerns and that some simple measures can be taken to mitigate risk. But if any community of people are dismissive of the facts that are available, those communities should be avoided. Suffice to say that you are likely to be safer among a crowd of cautious Democrats who trust science, than a swarm of oblivious Republican Trumpsters in denial.

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

Fox News Marches Lock-Step with ‘Impeaching Trump Will Hurt Democrats’ Talking Point

Posted by on September 26, 2019 at 3:20 pm. 8 Comments :

This week just keeps getting worse for Donald Trump. First it was revealed that a whistleblower charged him with serious breaches of national security in a conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Then he was forced to release the memo containing an account of that phone call that was disturbing and incriminating. And on Thursday the text of the whistleblower’s complaint was also released after the White House could no longer persist in suppressing it. Simultaneous to this, his Director of National Intelligence, Joseph Maguire, was grilled about his conduct with regard to the whistleblower complaint in a pair of congressional hearings.

Fox News, Impeach Trump

In addition to that, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that the House or Representatives would be formally conducting an impeachment inquiry. Much of the work on that had already begun, but this made it official. Trump’s response to these events was to panic-tweet dozens of bootlicking testimonials by worshipful disciples in politics and the press. It was a barrage of sycophantic adoration and utterly dishonest rationalizations for his flagrantly unlawful acts. It was most assuredly not the behavior of an innocent man.

Not surprisingly, Fox News was prominently featured among these tributes to Trump’s treason. Their mission to shield Trump from any and all harm continues as the news gets ever more precarious for his dangling presidency. And what appears to be a coordinated offensive by Fox news is taking shape. Thursday’s messaging was strikingly aligned across many of its programs. What they are pitching is that, regardless of how terrible this all looks for Trump, it’s really much worse for Democrats. For instance:

  • Karl Rove on Fox’s Daily Briefing told host Dana Perino that “Impeachment is a losing issue for Democrats.”
  • Rush Limbaugh warned Democrats that “They’re not thinking about blowback.”
  • Newt Gingrich offered his stale analysis that “When [Pelosi] starts an investigation the person who’s gonna get clobbered is Joe Biden.”
  • Tucker Carlson turned to frightening Democrats, saying that they “have just become so obsessed with destroying Donald Trump, that they’re destroying themselves.”
  • Sarah Huckabee Sanders summed it all up by asserting that “All this is doing is helping [Trump] get reelected.”

WOW! That sounds pretty darn awful for Democrats. And by extension, it sounds like Trump and his Republican Nationalist Party should be celebrating. In fact, they ought to be thanking Democrats and promoting their efforts to impeach Trump at every opportunity. After all, it’s only going to help Trump get reelected and crush the Democrats’ hopes for majorities in Congress. If Republicans really believe what they are saying, then all of this drama over impeachment should be putting them in good mood.

However, for some reason that isn’t the case. Even after insisting that the Democrats are destroying themselves, and that Trump will be the beneficiary, they are still whining incessantly and demanding that all efforts to impeach Trump be halted. Trump himself is threatening legal action, which is not an option with regard to impeachment. And his Twitter feed is blowing up with more tweets and retweets than ever, almost all which are nasty reactions to his pending impeachment.

Apparently, Trump and his minions are not really as happy about him being impeached as they are trying to pretend. The reality is that his violations of law, ethics, and his oath of office, are more than sufficient to warrant impeachment and removal from office. And no one knows that better than Trump. He is aware of what he’s done and what the consequences are. And that is why he – and the Cult of Deplorables he leads – have been scared into incoherence. It’s almost pathetic enough to feel sorry for them. Nah, not really.

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

Trump Confirms that Fox News Shills Are His Chief Influencers in Psycho ‘National Emergency’ Speech

Posted by on February 15, 2019 at 10:51 am. 3 Comments :

It’s official. The most aggressively biased Fox News propagandists are acting as Donald Trump’s primary advisors on the question of a “national emergency” to fund his precious vanity wall, as well as a host of other issues. In a Rose Garden address, the President cited the entire primetime roster on Fox News when asked about which conservative voices shape his views.

Donald Trump, Fox News

This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who has been paying attention. Trump is known to consult his “braintrust” at Fox News frequently, even in nightly phone calls with Sean Hannity before bedtime. In fact, it was Hannity who gave the order for Trump to declare a national emergency in the first place. So when Trump stepped out onto the White House lawn to announce that he would sign the bipartisan congressional bill to fund the government – despite the fact that it contained no money for a wall – he answered an inquiry about the right-wing pundits he is known to rely on without hesitation or shame (video below):

Kelly O’Donnell, NBC News: Mr. President, could you tell us to what degree some of the outside conservative voices helped to shape your views on this national emergency?

Trump: Look, I would talk about it. Look, Sean Hannity has been a terrific, terrific support of what I do. Not of me. If I change my views he wouldn’t be with me. Rush Limbaugh, I think he’s a great guy. He can speak for three hours without a phone call. Try doing that sometime. For three hours he speaks. He’s got one of the biggest audiences in the history of world. I mean this guy is unbelievable.”

Of course, Hannity would withdraw his support if Trump didn’t continue to advance the same radically rightist views that Hannity holds. That’s the whole point. And it’s why Trump doesn’t change his views. He fears losing Hannity’s support, and that of the Fox News Deplorables who are glued to him and the rest of the network’s crackpots. And it’s predictable that Trump admires Limbaugh’s ability to ramble on incoherently for hours on end. It’s a “skill” that they share. Then Trump continued:

Trump: They don’t decide policy. In fact, if I went opposite…I mean they have somebody, Ann Coulter, I don’t know her. I hardly know her. I haven’t spoken to her in way over a year. But the press loves saying Ann Coulter. Probably if I did speak to her she’d be very nice. I just don’t have the time to speak to her. I would speak to her. I have nothing against her. In fact I like her for one reason. When they asked her like right at the beginning, ‘Who’s gonna wing the election? Donald Trump.’ And the two people that asked her that question smiled.

So Trump doesn’t know Ann Coulter. Well, except for his admission that he has spoken to her during his presidency. And the fact that she has appeared with him at his rallies. And he claims that she is one of his conservative critics, but then cites her prediction that he would become president as the one reason he likes her. Then he went on:

Trump: Laura’s been great, Laura Ingraham. Tucker Carlson’s been great. I actually have a couple of people on CNN that have been very good. I have some on MSNBC the other day. They did a great report on me. I say ‘Where the hell did that come from?’ I think it was the only one in over a year.

And there you have it. Trump filled in the rest of the Fox News primetimers, all of whom he praised as being “great” because they are such constantly slobbering sycophants. As for the MSNBC segment, he actually tweeted about that last week, but included a video clip that was deceitfully edited to cut out the criticism and to make it appear as if it was wholly positive.

Trump’s speech was predictably deranged as he stumbled from one topic to another without any connecting logic. It was a smorgasbord of his unhinged rants that are familiar to anyone who has seen him at his cult rallies. He even did a childish, sing-song style bit about how he expects the legal challenges to his emergency declaration to go down. This performance was, in fact, sufficient to justify the reported considerations by former FBI official, Andrew McCabe, to remove Trump from office via the 25th Amendment for being mentally unfit to serve. But then, we already knew that.

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

Trump’s Braintrust (Fox News) is Pushing Him to Declare a National Emergency to Get His Border Wall

Posted by on January 11, 2019 at 12:07 pm. 4 Comments :

The presidency of Donald Trump has distinguished itself for its hostility to the media and the Constitution’s protection of a free press. His tedious whining about “fake news” and his Stalinist references to the media as “the enemy of the people” are evidence of his desire to poison the public’s minds in order to suppress criticism of him and his administration.

Donald Trump, Fox News

That said, no president has ever been more closely intertwined with a media enterprise than Trump is with Fox News. Before his election he was a regularly scheduled contributor to Fox and Friends with a segment called “Mondays with Trump.” He limits his interviews to Fox News on a nearly exclusive basis. His administration is infested with former Fox News staffers. They include: Deputy Chief of Staff, Bill Shine, who was the president of the network before being fired for mishandling incidents of sexual harassment; ambassador to the United Nations nominee, Heather Nauert, a former Fox host; National Security Advisor, John Bolton, an ex-Fox contributor.

In addition, Trump employs current Fox News anchors as his de facto cabinet, getting advice on everything from the economy to military engagements, to taxes and more. Sean Hannity is reported to talk with the President almost every night before bedtime. Lou Dobbs is often on conference call during Oval Office meetings. Jeanine Pirro is a favorite consultant on legal matters. And Trump is frequently live-tweeting whatever he happens to be watching on Fox, day and night.

Recently, Trump was prepared to sign a bipartisan bill to keep the government open. But when Fox Newsies heard that it didn’t provide funding for his idiotic vanity wall, they went berserk. Subsequently, Trump reversed course, and now we find ourselves in what is about to become the longest government shutdown in history. Which makes it all the more troubling that many of Trump’s Fox faves are now imploring him to declare a national emergency as a tactic to fund the wall that has nothing to do with any emergency, and that most Americans oppose. For instance, as reported by Media Matters:

Sean Hannity: So, with the president speaking, I’m guessing he’s going to declare a national emergency. […] victims of crime happening in this country, that should be enough of a national emergency.

Lou Dobbs: This is the president of the United States. He says a wall should be built; that it’s a national emergency. At that point, the nation should rally behind him. […] It is a national emergency, it is a crisis, and there could be no rational disputation of that.

Lou Dobbs (again): I really believe that the way forward here is for him to declare a national emergency, and simply sweep aside the recalcitrant left in this country.

Stuart Varney: I think this total refusal to negotiate has pushed the president to the point where he has to declare an emergency on the border.

Rush Limbaugh: And so they empowered the executive branch with the National Emergencies Act. He can confiscate private businesses, if he wants. All he has to do is declare it a national emergency.

Gregg Jarrett: The National Emergency Act authorizes the president to declare an emergency, and nobody can second-guess him. He has unfettered authority. […] he can use the military, redirect them for construction of an unauthorized project, whatever it is, the president wants it to be. That can be the barrier wall, and nobody can stop him from doing it.

Bob Bianchi (Fox guest): To me, politically, it makes perfect sense. [for Trump to] invoke my powers as the president under the National Emergency Act and under one of these sub-acts that allows me to move funds around to build this border wall.

Tom Fitton (on Tucker Carlson Tonight): It is a national emergency when we have a thousand plus miles of unsecured border in our southern area without any ability to figure out who’s coming across. We know the terrorists are targeting [the] southern border.

Considering how gullible Trump is, and how easily influenced he is by his Fox News brain(?) trust, it’s a foregone conclusion that he’ll declare a national emergency. However, contrary to the ravings of Trump and Fox, he does not have unfettered authority to do so. It will undoubtedly be challenged in court. And since the facts don’t support any claim to a crisis, he’ll almost certainly lose. In the meantime, millions of people are hurt and the nation is stifled by Trump’s ignorance and ego. Hopefully that can all be avoided by Congress waking up and doing the right thing. But given the abdication of its civic duty, Mitch McConnell’s Senate has to be considered a long shot.

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

Senile or Surrender? Trump’s Rambling Tweets Don’t Mention Border Wall Funds to End Shutdown

Posted by on December 22, 2018 at 10:22 am. 2 Comments :

There has been considerable speculation for the past couple of years about whether Donald Trump is mentally stable or capable of performing his duties as president. His psychological condition has been questioned by mental health professionals and politicians from across the ideological spectrum. And now as the U.S. government is being shutdown over funding for Trump’s vanity border wall, those questions are getting harder to ignore.

Donald Trump

In a series of tweets on Saturday morning, the President predictably ranted about the shutdown that he previously took pride in creating. Even after saying on national television that he would take full responsibility for it, Trump tried to blame the Democrats who had already agreed to a Continuing Resolution with senate Republicans. It was only after wingnut rightist media cranks like Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh and the “Curvy Couch” potatoes of Fox and Friends complained that Trump reversed course and reneged on his word to sign the CR. But his morning’s tweetfest might be revealing some weakness in his resolve:

Setting aside the obvious lie that Trump is “working hard,” it’s notable how he is now tying the debate to only “Border Security.” Didn’t he leave something out there? Trump didn’t mention his wall in that tweet or the others that followed. And border security (minus the wall) has always been a part of the Democratic platform. Of course his omission may just be due to his inability to concentrate on anything for more than half a minute, unless it’s a mirror. But it might also be an indication that he recognizes that Democrats are not going to pacify his ego and allocate funds for a useless wall.

Trump later tweeted that he would having a big lunch with a bunch of people to discuss the matter. It’s comforting to know that he will be well fed while tens of thousands of Americans will not be getting paid this holiday season.

In addition to the border wall issue, Trump also tweeted about his intention to retreat from Syria. His remarks were especially reckless and dangerous:

First of all, ISIS is far from defeated. Estimates by his own administration say there are 30,000 ISIS fighters in Syria. On Friday his press Secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said that Trump had destroyed 99.9 percent of ISIS in Syria. If you do the math, that would mean that they started out with thirty million – which is patently absurd because that’s almost twice the total population of Syria.

However, Trump’s remarks that Turkey “should be able to easily take care of whatever remains,” are even more troubling. He’s right if what he means is that Turkey will take care of (i.e. slaughter) our allies, the Kurds, as soon as we leave. And he doesn’t bother to mention the fact that our retreat will leave the country to Russia and Iran for the foreseeable future. Vladimir Putin even praised Trump’s decision to run away. And it’s among the reasons that Defense Secretary Mattis resigned in protest, along with the U.S. special envoy to the coalition to defeat ISIS.

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

So as usual, Donald Trump is doing everything he can to please our enemies (especially Russia), while working overtime to harm our allies. And his efforts on the domestic front are even worse as he shuts down the government for Christmas and shows no sensitivity for the plight of fellow citizens. With every day Trump demonstrates that he is working against the American people (who don’t want the wall), and solely on his own behalf. Including even more instances of obstruction of justice to escape accountability for his many criminal activities. It’s long past time for him to go.

Sean Hannity Will Be Trump’s ‘Special Guest’ at a Rally, Violating Even Fox News’ Low Standards

Posted by on November 4, 2018 at 3:46 pm. 4 Comments :

Trump’s national campaign tour in support of his Republican Nationalist Party is reaching a fever pitch as we approach the last few days before the election. In a late breaking press release, Trump has announced that he will have two special guests joining him at his cult rally in Missouri: Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh.

Donald Trump Sean Hannity

Of course Limbaugh and Hannity are not exactly a match for Oprah and Obama. But there are other contradictions in this turn of events that deserve attention. For instance, a few years ago Limbaugh soured on the GOP and promised to never carry water for the party again. Apparently he got over it.

A bigger problem is Hannity’s addition to this reality show lineup. That’s the same Hannity who Trump calls before beddy-bye every night. And this isn’t the first time that Hannity has unethically stumped for Trump. He was even admonished by his bosses at Fox News for it. If you can believe it, Fox News has some journalistic standards that are obviously rather low, but they exist. Or so we thought. Back in 2016 Fox rebuked Hannity for appearing in a Trump campaign video. This is what News Corpse published at the time:

Hannity taped a tribute to Donald Trump that appears in a new web ad. Curiously, he is identified only as “Sean Hannity, TV personality.” Not only did they leave out his Fox News affiliation, but they reduced him to the status of Kim Kardashian or Ryan Seacrest. In the clip Hannity unequivocally states his support for Trump and outlines his reasons why.

“One of the reasons I’m supporting Donald Trump this year is number one, he’s going to put originalists on the Supreme Court. People that believe in fidelity to the Constitution, separation of powers, co-equal branches of government. He’s a guy that will vet refugees to keep Americans safe. And of course he’s gonna build that wall. He says he’s gonna have Mexico pay for it. That’s fine, as long as we secure the country and, of course, we don’t want people competing for jobs. He said he will eliminate Obamacare, make us energy-independent, and as somebody who’s been a marksman since I’m 11 years old, protecting our Second Amendment rights are paramount to me.”

This list of right-wing tripe is typical of the propaganda that Fox and Hannity regularly dispense. Nothing in it varies from the conservative politics that dominate the network. What’s unusual is that Hannity delivers his testimonial in an official Trump advertisement. Along with fellow asshats like Ted Nugent, Hannity plants a wet kiss full on the mouth of his hallowed hero. Unfortunately, he failed to get permission from his Fox bosses before contributing his services. That reckless disobedience resulted in Fox News taking swift disciplinary action:

“We were not aware of Sean Hannity participating in a promotional video and he will not be doing anything along these lines for the remainder of the election season.”

Well, that ought teach him. While distancing themselves from Hannity’s impropriety, Fox firmly forbade him from further misconduct. And that appears to be the extent of his punishment. He wasn’t suspended. His pay wasn’t docked. There doesn’t even seem to be a demand to remove his segment from Trump’s ad. What’s more, they gave him permission to continue his partisan antics after the election.

This absence of consequences isn’t the least bit peculiar. Why would Fox News punish Hannity for doing in an ad what he does everyday on his program?

Everything written at that time applies perfectly today. Hannity is still a Trump-fluffing shill, and Fox News still doesn’t care about upholding any journalistic principles. Nothing changes for these dishonest, unethical propagandists who are now working for the State. Pathetic.

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

UPDATE: Both Fox News and Hannity made statements that he was only going to Missouri to interview Trump and would not campaign on stage with him. They lied. Not only did Hannity speak at the rally, but so did Fox’s Jeanine Pirro. More proof that Fox News is the State TV affiliate of the Trump White House.

UPDATE II: Fox News finally commented on this with a weak, meaningless statement saying only that it “does not condone any talent participating in campaign events” and that it “was an unfortunate distraction and has been addressed.” Addressed how? Fox doesn’t say. Hannity also posted a thoroughly dishonest tweet (which he later deleted, but is preserved here) saying that his appearance “was NOT planned.” Yeah right. It was literally featured in the White House press release saying that he would be a “special guest.” Is he trying to tell us that he was the only person who didn’t know that Trump would call on him (and Pirro) to speak?

Crybaby: After Joking About Hurricane Irma, Alt-Right Icon Milo Yiannopoulos’ House Is Destroyed

Posted by on September 11, 2017 at 2:08 pm. 2 Comments :

As Hurricane Irma is downgraded to a tropical storm, its destructive consequences are still being evaluated. There is no doubt that it was the most powerful hurricane recorded in modern times. Dozens of fatalities have already been reported in its wake, and the numbers are expected to increase. The human tragedy is only just beginning to be fully understood as flood waters continue to rise.

Milo Yiannopoulos

These facts didn’t stop conservative pundits and politicians from belittling Irma’s impact. Prior to its landfall in Florida, Rush Limbaugh unleashed his conspiracy theory that the media was over-hyping it to juice their ratings. Some commentators assessed the aftermath as less than what they were led to believe by a panicky press.

They should tell that to the families who lost loved ones and homes. And no doubt the estimated six million people who are without power would disagree. Affected communities will continue to struggle with blocked roads and closed hospitals and schools. And, sadly, two Palm Beach officers died in the line of duty.

Among those who sought to underplay the disaster was the alt-right leader, Milo Yiannopoulos. He’s a former Breitbart author who was pilloried for comments defending pedophilia. He’a also a proud climate science denier. Prior to Hurricane Irma’s landfall in Florida he thought it would funny to joke about the imminent danger. As reported in The Independent:

“Mr Yiannopoulos, a former Breitbart News writer and editor and a vocal supporter of Donald Trump, had earlier appeared to joke about the destruction the hurricane had caused. Last week, as the storm hit the Caribbean, he wrote on Facebook: ‘In more positive Irma news, Richard Branson’s Necker Island has been devastated.'”

“And, as the hurricane headed towards the impoverished Caribbean island of Haiti, he said: ‘Irma is about to finish what Hillary started: leaving Haiti in ruins.’ That was a reference to Hillary Clinton, who faced questions during her presidential campaign against Donald Trump over the work of the Clinton Foundation in Haiti following the devastating 2010 earthquake there.”

He’s hilarious, isn’t he? But what’s really funny is what he posted on Facebook after the hurricane passed through his home of Miami. In all caps he whined “MY HOUSE IS GONE.”

Apparently that silly old hurricane blew his home away. In all seriousness, it is never funny when anyone suffers this sort of tragic loss. Natural disasters are not selective and they do not discriminate. Even though some of their victims, like Yiannopoulos, do in overtly racist ways. They nevertheless deserve sympathy and whatever assistance is rightfully theirs from their neighbors and their government. That’s one of the enduring strengths of America and the caring people who live here.

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

However, in Yiannopoulos’ case, he also deserves his share of ridicule and shame for not giving a damn about any of this until it affected him. That’s a common personality flaw of right-wingers. But we also have to be alert to the possibility that he is lying. It would not be unlike him to use the tragedies of others as prank to get attention. Assuming he’s being truthful about his loss, he can apply for aid from FEMA as needed. But he also has to accept the laughter aimed at his blinding selfishness. Maybe he will learn something from it.

UPDATE: As I speculated above, it turns out that Yiannopoulos may be lying. The Miami Herald did a little digging and found evidence that the picture of rubble Yiannopoulos said was his home belongs to someone else. If this is a prank, it is an especially heinous one that exhibits callousness toward real people who are really suffering. But then, that’s pretty much what you’d expect from this sleazeball.

It’s Come To This? Florida Sheriff Has to Warn People NOT to Shoot Into Hurricane Irma

Posted by on September 10, 2017 at 12:40 pm. NO Comments :

Sunday morning is bringing an unprecedented peril to Florida and much of the Southeast. As Hurricane Irma gets closer to population centers it’s size and strength are threatening both life and property. The most important thing now is for anyone who has not evacuated to find shelter and hope for the best.

Hurricane Shooter

That said, there are still surprisingly asinine incidents popping up that make one question Darwin’s theory of natural selection. For instance, Rush Limbaugh broadcast a ludicrous and dangerous conspiracy theory. He said that warnings to evacuate were just a plot by television companies and convenience stores to increase ratings and sell more bottled water. Less than twenty-four hours later he fled his Palm Beach estate, leaving his listeners to the fate of Irma.

However, a Facebook post later appeared to challenge Limbaugh’s idiocy. Ryon Edwards, a twenty-two year old prankster, posted an event coordinated to the arrival of Hurricane Irma. He invited readers to join him in shooting at the hurricane to alleviate any related stress or boredom. They responded in the tens of thousands. This did not go over very well with the law enforcement community. As Time Magazine reports:

“Florida authorities are advising people against firing weapons at Hurricane Irma following a Facebook event titled ‘Shoot At Hurricane Irma’ that garnered interest from over 45,000 accounts.

“‘To clarify, DO NOT shoot weapons at Irma,’ the Twitter account of the Pasco County Sheriff’s office tweeted on Saturday night, just hours before the eye of the storm passed over the Florida Keys. ‘You won’t make it turn around & it will have very dangerous side effects.’ Bullets fired into a storm system like a hurricane can have unpredictable and potentially dangerous trajectories.”

It may seem unnecessary to persuade people not to shoot at a hurricane. But we’re talking about people who think the Second Amendment permits them to take up arms against fellow Americans. And that includes those serving in the police and military that they sometimes praise as heroes. There are no shortage of stories about NRA members who shoot themselves or other innocents for frighteningly stupid reasons. And every Independence Day these cretins fire into the air despite warnings and news of tragic consequences.

The Pasco Sheriff was correct to assume that a fair number of the thousands who joined the Facebook event might take it literally. Many people hold views that are no less absurd. There are those who believe that these hurricanes, and other natural disasters, are God’s punishment for homosexuality. And others are convinced that only the pagans will be swept away. This doesn’t even address all the mainstream Republicans who deny the effects of climate change and the science that predicted these massive weather events.

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

That absence of reason can also infect gun owners who imagine that their bullets in large numbers will turn Irma around. In reality, it’s the bullets that can be turned around, and directly back toward the imbecile who fired it. The fact that a professional law enforcement officer finds it necessary to issue this warning is a sad statement on the state of our nation. But it’s better to make the warning than to regret the suffering after the fact.