Xi Jinping

Fox News Aims at Biden with Crackpot COVID Conspiracy, but Hits Trump as a Puppet of China

Posted by on November 20, 2023 at 1:03 pm. 2 Comments :

The propagandists at Fox News must be getting pretty desperate for potential pseudo-scandals to gin up against President Biden and the Democrats. Every attempt they have made to malign the President has resulted in an embarrassing blowback that drenched themselves in their own slime.

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Donald Trump, Coronavirus

Ever since Republicans assumed their razor thin majority in the House of Representatives, they have tried to defame Biden as a mastermind of corruption and/or a flailing incompetent. But for some reason their preposterous characterizations of him as a flailing mastermind of corrupt incompetence don’t seem to be sticking. Perhaps that’s because they have zero evidence of any wrongdoing and are utterly incapable of advancing their ludicrous allegations.

FOR INSTANCE: GOP Oversight Chair Spins Litany of Lies Alleging Biden Financial ‘Scandal’ that Doesn’t Exist

Consequently, Fox News is scraping the bottom of the barrel for new bullpucky to throw at Biden. They are now seeking to reprise long ago debunked conspiracy theories that failed to do any damage to Biden when they were originally offered up as outrage fodder for the feeble-minded MAGA cult. On Fox News’ “Mornings with Maria Bartiromo,” the Trump-fluffing host asked her guest, Republican Rep. Brad Wenstrup, a question that reeks of the bile that Bartiromo is so well known for…

Bartiromo: Is there a chance that China released this virus on America intentionally? Disrupt the country. Get Donald Trump out. Get your man in there, Joe Biden. And they cover it up.
Wenstrup: Well they certainly didn’t try to protect America, did they? So whether it was intentional or accidental, they seemed to be aware of it. And as I recall – and I could be wrong on this – President Xi was telling Donald Trump everything’s okay. And Donald Trump was repeating everything that President Xi said. Now Democrats call president Trump a liar, but it seems that he was just repeating what President Xi said and, obviously, it was more dangerous.

There’s a lot of asininity to unpack in there. Let’s begin with the fact that is beyond absurd to suggest that China created a virus that would kill more than a million of their own citizens, and tens of millions of others around the world, just so they could upset a single election in the United States. What’s more, why would they want to get rid of Trump, who had done a lot of business in China, and has been an ardent admirer of its president, Xi Jinping?

As for Wenstrup’s reply, he seems to think that it was China’s obligation to protect America from COVID, rather than the duty of Trump, the alleged American president. And Wenstrup went on to assert that Trump’s role in protecting Americans consisted solely of “repeating what President Xi said.” Which is a pretty harsh criticism of Trump that Wenstrup doesn’t seem to notice. But actually, it was worse than that. Trump effusively – and repeatedly – praised Xi for his efforts to safeguard the world from the deadly pandemic. He said that…

China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi!

…and that…

[President Xi] will be successful, especially as the weather starts to warm & the virus hopefully becomes weaker, and then gone. Great discipline is taking place in China, as President Xi strongly leads what will be a very successful operation. We are working closely with China to help!”

As late as February 29, 2020, Trump was still impressed that “China seems to be making tremendous progress. Their numbers are way down.” And in his own remarks, Trump relentlessly downplayed the known dangers of the virus:

  • “We have it very much under control in this country.”
  • “It’s going to be just fine.”
  • “It’s one person coming in from China.”
  • “We’re doing a great job with it.”
  • “It’s going to have a very good ending for us.”
  • “We’re in great shape.”
  • “We have 12 cases – 11 cases, and many of them are in good shape now.”
  • “Just stay calm. It will go away.”
  • “You have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero.”
  • “It’s going to disappear. One day it’s like a miracle — it will disappear.”

Most of those remarks were made when Trump already knew they were lies. He revealed in tape recorded comments to Bob Woodward – for his book RAGE! – that he knew just how dangerous the virus was, saying that…

“You just breathe the air and that’s how it’s passed. And so that’s a very tricky one. That’s a very delicate one. It’s also more deadly than even your strenuous flus. This is deadly stuff. […] I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down.”

So even if it was a Chinese plot – especially if it was a Chinese plot – it would have been the duty of American leadership to foil it. Instead, it was Trump’s negligence, incompetence, and deliberate malfeasance, that was most responsible for the spread of the pandemic in the U.S. And Trump was aided by a cowed Republican Party that obediently devoured everything their Dear Leader excreted.

Back then, as now, Fox News played its role as Trump’s Ministry of Disinformation. And then, as now, they couldn’t care less who gets hurt.

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PITY PARTY? Trump Clown Show Mocks Americans Suffering in Coronavirus Depression

Posted by on May 11, 2020 at 1:17 pm. 3 Comments :

As if it weren’t enough that Donald Trump neglected to act for two months as COVID-19 (coronavirus) spread throughout the nation – or that he trivialized it’s impact as being “totally under control” and that cases were “going down to zero” very soon, or that he blamed Democrats, China, and anyone but himself for the tragedies resulting from his incompetence – it’s agonizing to watch him continue to put the lives of more Americans at risk because his ego won’t permit him to take responsibility and act responsibly. Even worse, he actually brags about his flagrant failures.

Donald Trump, Pennywise

Trump’s rush to send Americans back into a still dangerous workplace has the stench of hypocrisy. He can’t even keep the coronavirus out of the White House with daily testing, but he expects average folks to become the “warriors” in his battle to save corporations and the stock market. And they won’t have the testing, protective gear, or medical care that he and his comrades have.

In this environment of blatant privilege for the wealthy and the politically connected elite, Trump has proven that he just doesn’t care about the hardships of others. So he sent Peter Navarro, his advisor on trade and manufacturing, out to mingle with the Trump-fluffers at Fox News. Navarro’s visit with the “Curvy Couch” potatoes of Fox and Friends (video below) was jam-packed with the sort of happy-talk propaganda that totalitarian regimes are so fond of.

Navarro lead off with a callous characterization of the hard times that most Americans are struggling to cope with. He referred to the criticism of Trump’s dreadful mishandling of the deadly coronavirus pandemic with this tone-deaf phrasing: “That was a pity party yesterday on the Sunday shows.” Of course. Because what’s a more self-indulgent demonstration of whiners feeling sorry for themselves than a population ravaged by a fatal and infectious virus? Particularly one that has resulted in the deaths of more than 80,000 people, many of which were preventable had there been competent leadership. Navarro elaborated saying that…

“This is not the Great Depression. Anybody that thinks this is the Great Depression doesn’t understand either history or economics. […] Here’s what we have here. We have President Donald J. Trump who built up the strongest and most beautiful economy in three and half years. And then the Chinese communist party dropped a virus on the world that, within sixty days, has temporarily shut us down. And all we need to do here is focus on the mission, the original mission of Donald J. Trump […]

Now it’s gonna be a long process because of the structural adjustments that are gonna take place as we adapt to the virus socially, culturally, and economically. But this Great Depression pity party stuff I saw yesterday, this aint that..”

For an economic advisor, Navarro sure sounds a lot like a PR shill. He begins by failing to grasp that the economic decline, the collapse of markets in equities and bonds, and the 20+ million Americans who are now unemployed, actually fit the definition of a depression with painful precision. And he dresses up his fan fiction in tributes to Dear Leader Trump, who he believes has that divine gift of being able to do no wrong. Naturally, he adopts his master’s habit of shoveling any and all blame unto others, in this case China. And while China shares it’s measure of blame, it was Trump who praised President Xi saying that “I think he’s handled it really well,” and that his management of the budding pandemic was “strong, sharp and powerfully focused.” Trump effusively complimented Xi well into February.

Now, suddenly, it’s all China’s fault, Trump’s lazy and lethal disregard is being ignored, and the White House rhetoric is simultaneously insisting that our tribulations are both temporary and “a long process.” The confusion emanating from the Trump administration is indicative of their utter lack of any idea of what to do. They are paralyzed by ignorance and their desperation to avoid any political fallout, especially with regard to the presidential election in November, which currently has Joe Biden beating Trump nationally, as well as in many of the crucial swing states.

Nevertheless, Navarro thought it would be a good idea to go on Fox News and demean Trump’s critics – which includes the majority of American voters – as a pity party. It’s a pity that these cretins don’t have more sympathy for the sick and the scared and the families of the deceased. But then heartless narcissism has been the Trump brand from the very beginning of his occupation of the white House. And there’s no reason to expect that to change.

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

The Chosen One ‘Hereby Ordered’ American Companies to Obey the Divine Will of Trump

Posted by on August 23, 2019 at 12:09 pm. 3 Comments :

The severity of Donald Trump’s mental infirmity is expanding at breakneck speed. Just two days after Trump proclaimed himself “The Chosen One,” and retweeted an anti-Semitic conspiracy crackpot who declared that Trump is the “Second Coming of God,” his Assholiness is now barking out deranged orders to his “subjects.”

Donald Trump Tyrant Dictator

In another one of his hallmark tweetstorms, Trump went off the rails, then turned around and dug them up with a backhoe. The subject of this nine-tweet opus was the economy and his daft notion that the Federal Reserve is conspiring against him to hurt his reelection prospects and bankrupt America. Of course Trump knows something about bankruptcy, having had at least six of his own. However this tirade was utterly preposterous and downright dangerous.

For one thing, Trump (as usual) has no idea what he’s talking about. He’s furious that Fed chairman Jay Powell hasn’t cut interest rates. His reasoning is that the economy is doing spectacularly well and a rate cut would make it even better. However, anyone with any knowledge of monetary policy knows that you only cut rates when the economy is weakening. So maybe Trump is inadvertently admitting something there. What’s more, cutting rates would provide a huge financial benefit to Trump personally, which may be the real reason he’s pushing so hard for it.

Trump began his rant by insisting (again) that “The Economy is strong and good.” He ridiculed the idea that a recession might be imminent, contrary to the analyses of most credible economists. He then accused his critics of being “willing to lose their wealth” to defeat him in 2020. Which is pretty unselfish of them, don’t you think? Following that, Trump whined some more about the Fed and then fired off the big question:

That’s right. Trump thinks that the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, who he appointed, might be a more fearsome enemy of the United States than the leader of a hostile nation that carries billions of dollars of U.S. debt, has a stockpile of nuclear weapons, and a standing army of more than 2,000,000. Of course, this question is easy for Trump because he doesn’t regard Xi as an enemy at all. He has repeatedly referred to him as his friend. Which leaves only Powell as the foe who must be vanquished.

Nevertheless, Trump goes on to demean China (which won’t help with future negotiations) as an outlaw nation and asserts that “We don’t need China and, frankly, would be far better off without them.” Within minutes of that tweet the stock market took a precipitous dive. However, the most disconcerting part of it was Trump’s assumption of dictatorial powers that he definitely does not have:

There is absolutely no authority in the Constitution, or any other legal document, that allows the President to issue such orders. It is, in fact, antithetical to the concepts of democracy and free markets. It’s ironic that this Republican president who bellows incessantly about the dangers of socialism, would make statements that only a communist tyrant (i.e. Xi, Putin, Kim) could embrace. And yet, none of his fellow Republicans have said a word to refute him.

As if to underscore all of this idiocy, Trump went on to demonstrate just how ignorant he is about world affairs and economics. His last tweet in this series bragged that “Our Economy, because of our gains in the last 2 1/2 years, is MUCH larger than that of China.” The last two and half years? The U.S. economy has always been larger than China. This is like trying to take credit for the Sun being hotter than Pluto.

You have to wonder how Trump’s glassy-eyed disciples can continue to back him when he’s gushing out such ludicrous ideas and proposals. His evangelical supporters haven’t condemned his blasphemous Messiah Complex. And now his GOP backers are silent about his authoritarian commandments and his anti-free-market aspirations for control over American businesses. This type of loyalty has a name, and it’s been said before. Trumpism is not, as he calls it, “the greatest political movement in the history of our Country.” It’s a cult! And it threatens every ideal that Americans have cherished for 243 years.

UPDATE: Trump posted a tweet acknowledging the 600+ decline in the Dow, but made a joke out of it because American businesses and investors (including workers and retirees) losing a fortune is just so funny. But more importantly, he added four more tweets in the afternoon wherein he escalated the tariff disputes with China into a full-blown trade war. Enjoy the coming Great Trump Recession, everybody.

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