Fox News is now “Trump News Network (TNN)” Says Former Anchor

Fox's Chemistry Formula For Trump Loyalists 

Always about Me, Me, Me, only Me, Me, Me, always Me

(see ref in above tweet)

The full coverage of this story is here from former Fox anchor (Andy Levy). Very interesting, his take on this – which a lot of people already knew was the story but from a former insider – very eye-opening point of view.

He said the cable channel has turned into “Trump News Network” and is in a difficult position due to President Trump’s praise of its political coverage and because “the president’s base has become its (Fox’s) lifeblood.”

His comments were based on Trump’s recent tweet wherein he calls for a contest between media organizations — but not including Fox — to see who could win the “FAKE NEWS TROPHY” for “The most-dishonest, corrupt, and or distorted” coverage. (Tweet is posted above – my emphasis added).

Levy went on to say: “The people who should be the most embarrassed by this are the ones at Fox News, and I suspect a solid handful of them are. The press is not supposed to be on the side of people in power ever. The press is supposed to be adversarial, the press is supposed to question, the press is not supposed to curry favor with authority.”

I totally agree with Levy’s assessment in that statement – but with Trump, the PR guru – all bets are off the table. His thrives on being front and center, the only one in the room, the only one who get attention in the limelight that he controls – it’s his insecure, selfish, arrogant, stuffy, carefully-controlled persona, and that has been his whole like.

Fox news should be ashamed of the way they pander to and highlight Trump and others in that circle.

Nothing is apt to change – Trump has set the scene he wants for only his self-promotion no matter what and regardless of all costs (monetary or otherwise) – to the country as a whole, it is costing plenty in both time, money, and our national prestige worldwide.

Thanks for stopping by.

Donald J. Trump is a Compulsive Serial Liar Without Doubt - Wake Up America

Example - See More Below

How can anyone – let alone the country as a whole ever believe this man – really?

His latest round of BS passing as truth:

1.  Trump Now Says That Wasn't Him on Access Hollywood Tape 

2.  Donald Trump is now claiming that the infamous 'Access Hollywood' tape might not be real

3.  Trump Now Says the Access Hollywood Tape May Be Fake

I rest my case - not much else to say or add to that.

Thanks for stopping by.

Out of Sorts With Daddy: Kushner and Trump-Kushner Maybe On Their Way Back to NYC

Non-effective Except for Self-Promotion & Fatter 

Bank Accounts

Background from Newsweek: Trump entrusted Kushner (his son-in-law) who had no government experience, with such hefty tasks as:

1.  Rewriting the U.S. foreign trade agreements.

2.  Ending the opioid epidemic.

3.  Reforming the VA.

4.  Leading relations with China.

5.  Forging peace in the ME.

Now, however, Kushner’s portfolio has been reduced to just “forging peach in the ME.” All that are steps since John Kelly began his reign as White House CofS, replacing Priebus back in July (according to close W/H sources).

Now Kushner may be deep doo-doo with the Mueller investigation and his role in meetings with and contacts with Russians – many that he failed to report as contacts.

To make matters worse or at least more serious – get this double and triple-sourced part of the story here from Business Insider:

President Donald Trump reportedly wants Ivanka Trump-Kushner and hubby Jared Kushner to leave Washington, DC and go back to New York. 

The president is said to have grown increasingly frustrated with Kushner's political advice in recent months.

More so, Jared Kushner and Ivanka are central figures in the Russia investigation, and Trump reportedly wants them to avoid negative press coverage. 

This according to a Vanity Fair report. Also Trump is said to be growing increasingly frustrated with Kushner, i.e., “He keeps pressuring them to go,” one source told Vanity Fair. 

Background: Kushner and Ivanka both are central figures in special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation.

Note: Related to Kushner vis-à-vis Mueller heat on him; yes or no from here.

Mueller is reportedly investigating Trump's role in crafting a misleading statement his son, Donald Trump Jr., released after it emerged that he met with a Kremlin-connected lawyer at Trump Tower in June 2016.

Mueller is also building an obstruction-of-justice case against Trump, related to his decision to fire FBI director James Comey in May.

Kushner is a central figure in both events — he attended the June 2016 meeting, and multiple media reports have said that he strongly urged Trump to fire Comey.

He was also with Trump in Bedminster, New Jersey during a weekend in early May, when Trump put together a draft letter laying out the reasons he wanted to fire Comey. 

He never sent the letter — White House counsel Don McGahn advised him against doing so — but he fired Comey days later. That decision ultimately led to Mueller's appointment as special counsel.

Trump according, again to the Vanity Fair report is frustrated with Kushner's political advice. Kushner reportedly advocated for Trump to back Alabama Republican candidate Luther Strange in the runoff against Roy Moore, which Strange ended up losing.

My input: Whew boy, the stuff is getting really deep.

As they say, the proverbial handwriting is on the wall, and in true Trump M.O. style – that is: Blame everyone around him, hold them accountable even with insults in the press, or worse, firing them, or forcing them to resign, etc., all the while he ducks responsibility himself and plays the role as “only me – that’s all that matters.”

Next axe and whose neck is on the line – we could find out shortly.

Thanks for stopping by.

NSC Chief H. R. McMaster: Step Right Up, Your Marching Papers, Sign Here Sayonara Baby

Active Duty (Army Lt.Gen.) and Trump's National Security Advisor

Pretty startling story: NSC Advisor H.R. McMaster was unsparingly critical of President Donald Trump at a July dinner with Oracle CEO Safra Catz, according to a report Buzz Feed News just published. 

McMaster called Trump an “idiot a dope” with the intelligence of a “kindergartner,” Buzz Feed reported while citing five unnamed sources with knowledge of McMaster’s and Catz’s conversation at Oracle. 

A sixth unnamed source told Buzz Feed News that McMaster made similar comments directly to the source in private, and said Trump did not have the smarts to understand the subjects the NSC deals with.

The White House referred TPM’s request for comment to the NSC, which did not immediately reply. Michael Anton, a spokesman for the NSC told Buzz Feed News that “actual participants in the dinner deny that General McMaster made any of the comments attributed to him by anonymous sources,” then added: “Those false comments represent the diametric opposite of General McMaster’s actual views.”

Other Sources for this Report:

1.  White House denies that McMaster called Trump idiot in conversation with Israeli CEO

2.  H.R. McMaster reportedly thinks Trump is an idiot with the brain of a kindergartner

3.  Report: McMaster Called Trump Dope with the Smarts of a Kindergartner

My 2 Cents: So, is McMaster the next to go. But, notice that he is still an active duty Army officer (*Lt. Gen.), and that raises several interesting scenarios,

Stay tuned … in the meanwhile watch the W/H and their denials and excuses, etc.

Thanks for stopping by.

More "Winners and Losers" Under the GOP So-Called Tax Reform Plan

He Cometh, He Taketh, and He Enjoyeth the Most

Tax Breaks Are Good and Needed from Time-to-Time

(Who really benefits the most is the critical question)

GOP Tax “Reform Plan” – some Winners and Losers – short analysis here from TPM in part.

SOME OF THE WINNERS:

 • Wealthy individuals and their heirs win big in the “overhaul” of the inheritance tax on multimillion-dollar estates. Democrats wave the legislation’s targeting of the tax as a red flag in the face of Republicans, as proof that they’re out to benefit wealthy donors.

• The House bill initially doubles the limits — to $11 million for individuals and $22 million for couples — on how much money in the estate can be exempted from the inheritance tax, then repeals it entirely after 2023.

Then there’s the alternative minimum tax (ATM): A levy aimed at ensuring that higher-earning people pay at least some tax. It disappears in both bills.

This is a “cha-ching for Trump’s far-flung property empire and the holdings of his daughter Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner.”  

The Senate bill lets pass-through owners deduct some of the earnings and then pay at their personal income rate on the remainder.

• Corporations win all around, with a tax rate slashed from 35 percent to 20 percent in both bills, but would have to wait a year under the Senate version.

Trump and the administration view it as an untouchable centerpiece of the legislation.

• U.S. oil companies with foreign operations would pay reduced taxes under the Senate bill on their income from sales of oil and natural gas abroad.

• Beer, wine, and liquor producers would reap tax reductions under the Senate measure.

• Companies that provide maintenance for aircraft services get an updated win. The Senate bill clarifies that under current law, the management companies would be exempt from paying taxes on payments they receive from owners of private jets as well as from commercial airlines. That was requested by OH Sens Rob Portman (R) and Sherrod Brown (D) – Ohio is home to “NetJets,” a big aircraft management company: Portman (overall Yes) / Brown (overall No).

SOME OF THE LOSERS:

• An estimated 13 million Americans could lose health insurance coverage under the Senate bill, which would repeal the “Obamacare” requirement that everyone in the U.S. have health insurance based on the latest CBO analysis.

Eliminating the fines for not having healthcare is expected to mean fewer people would obtain federally subsidized health policies (thus saving money for the GOP to give to “winners” as their breaks).

• People living in high-tax states would be hit by repeal of federal deductions for state and local taxes under the Senate bill (SALT provision). The House has only a partial repeal (and it passed). That result of a compromise allows the deduction for up to $10,000 in property taxes.

• Starting in 2021, many families making less than $30,000 a year would face tax increases under the Senate bill (according to Congress’ nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation).

• By 2027, families earning less than $75,000 would see their tax bills rise while those making more would enjoy some reductions (the same analysts say), with the individual income-tax reductions in the Senate bill ending in 2026.

Some of my other coverage below: FYI –

1. http://danzview.blogspot.com/2017/11/gop-tax-reform-plan-for-america-mostly.html

2.  https://politicalrapids.blogspot.com/2017/10/boo-happy-halloween-gop-tax-reform-on.html

3.  http://weaselwart.blogspot.com/2017/11/gop-tax-code-reform-plan-expert.html

B/L if there is in fact a bottom line: It ain’t over yet – the public is starting to wake up and react. Will it matter – usually when the public competes with big money, well we know who usually wins.

Stay tuned and thanks for stopping by.

Real Donald Trump: What He Wants to Hide Not What the Country Deserves to Know

Donald J. Trump New Book Pending: “Art of Backpedaling”

“Hell yes, I believe you Vlad. You know how crappy 

our intelligence hacks are”

Wow – talk about Trump double-talking, backpedaling or whatever we choose to call his M.O. this take the proverbial cake – some prospective from Axios here:

Background: On Saturday November 11, Trump lashed out at former heads of our intelligence agencies, claiming there are plenty of reasons to be suspicious of their findings and dismissing them as “political hacks” (re: Russian interference in the 2016 election).

Then Trump told reporters while traveling with him to Hanoi that Putin had again vehemently denied the allegations. The two spoke during an economic conference in Danang, Vietnam. 

Trump danced around questions about whether he believed Putin but stressed Putin's denials, adding: “Every time he sees me, he says: ‘I didn't do that,’ and I believe — I really believe — that when he tells me that, he means it.” Trump then said it makes no sense for him to belabor the issue when Russia could help the U.S. on North Korea, Syria, and other issues.

Some of the Contrast:

Then former CIA director John Brennan said Sunday on CNN's “State of the Union” about Trump dismissing former officials — including himself — calling them “political hacks in an attempt to delegitimize” the IC (Intelligence Community) assessment that Russia interfered in the election.

Brennan said: “I think Putin is very clever in terms of playing to Mr. Trump's interest in being flattered. And also I think Mr. Trump is, for whatever reason, either intimidated by Putin, afraid of what he could do, or what might come out as a result of these investigations.” 

Then former DNI (Director of National Intelligence), James Clapper, also on “State of the Union” called the threat from Russia “manifest and obvious,” then added: “To try to paint it in any other way is, I think, astounding and, in fact, poses a peril to this country.”

Questions about whether Trump believes the assessment about Russian election-meddling have trailed him since January, when he said for the first time, shortly before taking office, that he accepted that Russia was behind the election-year hacking of Democrats that roiled the White House race.

Fast forward to Sunday, and now Trump is having to have it both ways about that Russian interference.

Trump now says (1) he believes the U.S. intelligence agencies when they say Russia meddled and (2) Putin's sincerity in claiming that his country did not, adding: “I believe that he feels that he and Russia did not meddle in the election.” (Trump at a news conference in Hanoi with Vietnam's president), concluding: “As to whether I believe it, I'm with our agencies … as currently led by fine people, I believe very much in our intelligence agencies.”

Our IC’s long have concluded that Russia meddled in the 2016 election to help the Trump defeat Hillary Clinton. A special counsel's examination of potential collusion between Moscow and Trump campaign aides so far has led to several indictments against Trump's former campaign chairman (Paul Manafort and another top aide (Rick Gates) for crimes unrelated to the campaign, and a guilty plea from a Trump foreign policy adviser (George Papadopoulos), and multiple congressional committees continue investigating.

My speculation of the confab between Putin and Trump:HANOI (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday attempted to clear up confusion over whether he accepts Russian President Vladimir Putin's denials of meddling in the U.S. election last year.

At a news conference in Vietnam, Trump distanced himself from remarks he made on Saturday in which he suggested he believed Putin when he said there had been no Russian meddling in the election that took him to the White House.

The comments had drawn criticism at home because U.S. intelligence agencies have long since concluded there was Russian meddling.

"As to whether I believe it or not, I’m with our agencies, especially as currently constituted," Trump said at a news conference with Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang.

"As currently led, by fine people, I believe very much in our intelligence agencies."

He was careful to make clear he sided with the intelligence agencies under his own leadership.

Former U.S. intelligence director James Clapper had told Reuters: "The fact the president of the United States would take Putin at his word over that of the intelligence community is quite simply unconscionable."

The Russian issue has clouded Trump's first year in office and his comments on Saturday were a distraction from his five-nation Asia tour.

Trump said he still believed Putin did not think there had been Russian meddling.

"I believe that President Putin really feels, and feels strongly, that he did not meddle in our election," Trump said, while adding: "What he believes is what he believes."

Trump said he was not interested in arguing with Putin over meddling and wanted to get on with Russia to work on world problems including North Korea, Syria and Ukraine.

Trump has called allegations of campaign collusion with Moscow a hoax. A special counsel, Robert Mueller, is conducting an investigation that has led to charges against Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort and his associate Rick Gates.

U.S. intelligence agencies have also concluded Russians interfered to tip the election in Trump's favour through hacking and releasing emails to embarrass Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and spreading social media propaganda

Putin to Trump: I didn't do anything to disrupt your election.

Trump to reporters: I believe Putin.

For anyone who trusts and believes Putin and Trump and their statements, then consider this scenario (purely my input):

1.  Suppose Putin actually did not did not disrupt the election process as he and millions of us say.

2.  That makes our intelligence agencies out to be a false pack of liars and incompetent boobs.

3.  Suppose Putin's is only to impact and see a total breakdown not of our electoral system, but of our total entire democratic system of government.

4.  Putin gains a valuable ally in Trump who now fully agrees with Putin and his honesty.

5.  What we see now seems to underscore that scenario is working. 

Just look at our total government disruption and clever devious PR war against anyone who goes against Trump and whatever he says or does and who does not trust him.

What do we call all this? Anarchy comes to mind damn quickly: Trump's way or no way.

Stay tuned – this ain’t over yet.

Thanks for stopping by.

Emperor Donald XLV Has Spoken: "I'm the only one that matters" — WTF Moment in History

Man in the Middle: Arrogant Spoiled Narcissist Out of Control

The following from Salon.com is a super excellent very in-depth analysis of Trump the man – the man we now call president.

I note: It is about the best I have seen to date just short of an actual officially-approved medical professional view of him.

My concerns are just like those raised in the Salon article about the fears, doubts, uncertainties, documented statements and video clips of Trump in his own words, the well-known and documented facts about him, and about all the suspicions many people still hold about him when asking “how will Trump govern.” Those concerns are valid and now in plain view while still developing practically on daily basis, and they are not pretty.

  

A few highlights from the Salon article written by Digby are in this short introduction (my emphasis added):

“President Donald Trump is overseas right now, doing personal appearances at his properties and making a fool of himself. So far, he's asked Japanese car makers to start making cars in the United States, apparently ignorant of the fact that three out of four Japanese-branded cars and trucks are already manufactured in America.”

“And he hawked U.S. military equipment as if he were selling Trump steaks on YouTube.” That wasn't the worst of it.”

“He also told American and Japanese troops that no nation should underestimate American resolve. Then he quipped: Every once in a while, in the past, they underestimated us. It was not pleasant for them, was it?”

“Trump's previous foreign trips have also been embarrassing, but he seems more off-kilter than usual this time. That's obviously because of the pressure he's under back home, with the indictments of his former campaign officials by special counsel Robert Mueller. That pressure has once again brought out into the open the authoritarian impulses that are becoming more and more pronounced by the day.”

“Back when Trump took out full-page ads calling for capital punishment and allowing police to brutalize citizens, he was just another tabloid blowhard.”

“And during the presidential campaign, when he endorsed torture and war crimes and made racist comments about a judge's Mexican heritage, people assumed he was just being hyperbolic.”

“When he repeatedly declared his opponent guilty of crimes, even spitting out the nasty jibe: If I were president, you'd be in jail, said to Hillary Clinton in a presidential debate, nobody thought he actually meant it.”

“But after more than nine months of his presidency, it's become clear that Trump truly has no respect for the rule of law.”

Story continues at the above Salon link.

Thanks for stopping by.

"War Breaks Out" Between the Bushes and The Donald: Sit, Pass the Popcorn, Enjoy

“Man in the Middle” and How the Bushes See Him 

How Trump Sees Himself and Wants the World to See Him

Bush views on Trump – pretty stark:

President Geo. H.W. “Poppy” Bush: “I don’t like him. I don’t know much about him, but I know he’s a blowhard. And I’m not too excited about him being a leader. He appears to be driven by a certain ego.”

President Geo. W. Bush: “He does not know how to be president.”

White House via Huckabee-Sanders White House Press Secretary and probably moronic approver of W/H bullshit PR lies and silly-ass statements Stephen Miller said: “If one Presidential candidate (Trump) can disassemble a political party, it speaks volumes about how strong a legacy its past two (Bush) presidents really had.”

My Assessment of this Growing Concern: This is very serious business folks … this government now totally under control of this GOP (President, the House, and Senate and all the departments and such) speaks to slow erosion of our nation despite the crap the GOP rightwing via persons like Miller, Bannon, Hannity, Fox, Alt-right, Neo-Nazis, and most of rightwing nutty Talk Radio spew on a 24/7 basis doing what they can to undermine the country all the while they blame others for “undermine the country.”

Then add this about Mueller options vis-à-vis Trump bashing of witnesses and the justice system overall: Mueller could gag Trump if he continues to criticize and attempts to influence the investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump camp and Russia, according to a Watergate prosecutor by blasting witnesses like Papadopoulos, et al.

How ironic is all that? As I said, this is extremely serious – perhaps the most-serious in our entire nation’s history – at least from my foxhole view.

What do you think?

If FOX Ever Goes Up For Sale, Guess Who is First in Line

Hell why not: Only a slight name change to fit reality 101 right now

Trump and his surrogates — most especially the Fox News lineup (which includes a fleet of conservative pundits who disgrace themselves by facilitating a political distraction game for Trump), obsequious Republicans in Congress, old allies such as Roger Stone (who wound up getting banned by Twitter) and the talk radio crowd — have been frantically fanning Hillary Clinton non-scandals about Uranium One (it was baseless before and baseless now) and the [Steele] Dossier funding (fusion GPS initially was hired by the conservative Free Beacon, which at one time claimed not to know the identity of the Republican outfit that first hired Fusion).

The unhinged rants from Trump’s defenders demanding Clinton be locked up for one or both of these reveal how tightly Trump and the right-wing ecosystem that supports him rely on Clinton as an all-purpose distraction.

Upon a moment’s reflection, the non-scandals make no sense (Clinton was colluding with Russia to beat herself in the election?), have been debunked before and in no way affect the liability, if any, of current or ex-Trump administration figures.

This is “whataboutism” run amok. It does expose the degree to which Fox News has given up the pretense of a real news organization, preferring the role of state propagandist (and it’s not just the evening hosts; the non-scandals now monopolize the rest of the schedule.)

The intensity of Trump’s frenzy underscores the peril in which the president now finds himself. Beyond the (3) indictments unsealed, Trump does not know what special counsel Robert Mueller has uncovered; which witnesses are flippable; what financial documents have revealed about the Trump business empire; and whether, for example, Mueller finds support for an obstruction of justice charge from Trump’s own public dissembling (e.g., hinting at non-existent tapes of former FBI director James Comey).

For someone who insists on holding all the cards and intimidating others, Trump finds himself in a uniquely powerless position.

Related and an excellent documented trail of Trump lies – a reminder as it were.

I conclude: Trump is apt to pull a Nixon as he moves to fire Mueller anyone around Mueller, then he will effectively shut down any and all links to Russia, and then close all investigations leading to his doorway.

Then, this all GOP-run Congress, if they can ever find the guts, will move to impeach and then remove Trump.

Final step: Trump pulls the final Nixon: He resigns.

So, who says history does not repeat itself?

Stay tuned, and as always, thanks for stopping by.