A Poll About @realDonaldTrump's Tweets Without an Obvious Answer

Trump's tweets from July 1, 2016 at 10:10 AM EDT.

This morning, for the third morning in a row, the official presidential statements in tweet form from the account of @realDonaldTrump have been used to attack "Crazy Joe Scarborough" and "dumb as a rock Mika" Brzezinski; he also threw in shots at NBC, Comcast, and CNN. Over ten percent of his tweets since becoming president have been targeting journalists, aimed at the "failing New York Times" and "Amazon Washington Post" as well as CBS and ABC. They are all, in his opinion, "Fake News," and his supporters are buying it. Only Fox News, Breitbart, Infowars, and The National Enquirer escape the wrath of his little twitterfingers.


So here's the question. With more news breaking every day about the pre-election collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government to affect the November results, isn't it in his interest to do everything he can to discredit the messengers who are reporting #TrumpRussia breakthroughs every day?

POLL
Are the non-stop media attacks from @realDonaldTrump the rantings of an elderly TV addict or a conscious attempt to kill the messenger?

— True Blue Liberal (@TrueBlueLiberal) July 1, 2017

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Saturday Evening Update:
The Tweeter In Chief ended this day the same way he started it, while also adding the phrase "Modern Day Presidential" to the language.

Trump's Tweets from 7/1/2017 captured at 8:30PM EDT.

[Almost] Back to Business As Usual in the GOP/Fox Universe

After yesterday's Twitter misstep by the current resident of the White House, he was attacked from both sides of the aisle for reverting to his true bullying misogynistic personality (with a healthy dollop of his professionally-unexamined female blood obsession). Among the Republicans who attacked the anti-Mika Brzezinski tweets was Ben Sasse of Nebraska who responded, "Please just stop. This isn't normal and it's beneath the dignity of your office."

This morning Senator Sasse was on Donald Trump's favorite show Fox and Friends and called for a change in strategy to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act:

A few minutes later, the president (whose own understanding of the mechanics of drafting and passing laws is less than rudimentary) tweeted this:

Looking at the time stamps on those tweets, it looks as though the official presidential statement in tweet form might have come before the Fox broadcast, but a CNN reporter retweeted by Sasse confirms the original sequence:

The sequence, however, is actually immaterial. The real point is that the GOP White House, the GOP Senate, and the GOP television network are all getting back on the same page and are rededicating themselves to working hard to achieve job one, removing health insurance from the poor and middle class in order to give large tax cuts to the very rich. Hooray! The world is back to normal!



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HOLD THE PRESSES! While I was writing this, it seems that a certain television addict in the White House switched the channel from Fox News to MSNBC, and got his tweeting back on track.

Watched low rated @Morning_Joe for first time in long time. FAKE NEWS. He called me to stop a National Enquirer article. I said no! Bad show

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 30, 2017

Trump Tweet Translator:
"#PresidentBannon needs to give me more things to do. It's not good for me to have too much time to watch TV. Sad." https://t.co/np3XL8Wlt0

— True Blue Liberal (@TrueBlueLiberal) June 30, 2017

The One Video to Watch on the 71st Anniversary the Hiroshima Bomb.

It may have been lost in the shuffle as Trump scuffled with gold-star families and crying babies, but the most important campaign moment of the week may have been this conversation about the current Republican nominee for president and nuclear weapons that took place on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" show on Wednesday, August 3. This snippet will only take a couple of minutes of your time.

"Be careful America, and be careful Republican leaders. Your party is blowing up." (Mika Brzezinski at 1'33" above)

It won't be just a party blowing up if Trump is elected. Personally, I don't see how anyone concerned about the safety of the world can remain undecided about their choice for president after watching that short video.


----
...or this one:

#TrumpDebateConditions
8) No mean 'gotcha' questions like that trick question about the so-called 'nuclear triad'! https://t.co/BpZlsPas06

— True Blue Liberal (@TrueBlueLiberal) August 10, 2016

Another Typical Television Day of All Trump All The Time

At this rate of overexposure we'll be sick of him before he and Melania even begin to upgrade all the drapes and upholstery in the White House with solid gold threads.

The Twitter feed of @realDonaldTrump on the morning after the Indiana primary, May 4, 2016.

Enjoy!

The Trumpism of the Day

The quote of the day from the improbable GOP frontrunner came during an interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program yesterday. When asked to name his foreign policy advisors, Trump answered:

“I’m speaking with myself, number one, because I have a very good brain and I’ve said a lot of things."

Hearing that, one can't help but wonder where that very good brain gets its data. Unfortunately, I think we already know. As with the people who support him, he admitted on CNN back on August 19th that he learns much of what he knows about the world from watching TV (which, until his highly-publicized romantic breakup with Megyn Kelly, meant an almost exclusive diet of Fox News' paranoid world view):

Finding this screen grab from last summer made me realize that we can all learn a lot from watching television; Mr. Trump seems to have gained some weight on the campaign trail. Hasn't he learned yet that all seasoned politicians are experienced bulimics who vomit out their endless trail of obligatory campaign meals and required ethnic snacks?

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Update at 3:30pm EDT
The foreign-policy-expert/candidate now also gets bonus bogus information from unverified internet postings as well as his television!

via GIPHY

Today in Corporate-Media "News"

Why should today be different from any other in our Trump-dominated media landscape?

From the @realDonaldTrump Twitter feed, 16 March 2016.

After ranting about "lies, deceit, viciousness" among the "disgusting reporters" who showed up for his incoherent victory speech last night, those lying, deceitful, and vicious reporters (or, at least, their ratings-obsessed corporate overlords) are anxious to have the short-fingered vulgarian on their screens again this morning. The media were also told that last night's event was supposed to be a press conference, but the candidate took no questions from the reporters he berated in front of his tuxedoed and bejeweled guests at his Mar-a-Lago Club.
If the media had any guts, they'd be giving all their airtime to John Kasich this morning and ignoring this man who bullies them into lying on their backs in submission.

This is the purpose for which I started TrueBlueLiberal.org in 2004...

...so I take complete credit for this significant rehabilitation of the word 'liberal'!

Proportion of Dem caucus-goers and voters identifying as "liberal":

IA
2008: 54%
2016: 68%

NH
2008: 56%
2016: 68%

NV
2008: 45%
2016: 70%

— Rachel Maddow MSNBC (@maddow) February 22, 2016

Exposing the Other EPA, the "Environmental Policy Alliance"

It's important to look behind the curtains to expose the paid political consultants doing the bidding of corporate interests in ads like these:

Of course it's ridiculous to paint those concerned about the effects of fracking on the environment as the flat-earth science deniers when that crown belongs to those who stop their ears and scream to avoid hearing about climate change, but big lies repeated often, and broadcast on TV, have a way of working their way in the public conversation. So who are the people behind that other EPA, the "Environmental Policy Alliance," which created this ad about Colorado citizens who voted against fracking? It's a front group of a well-connected Washington PR firm, Berman & Co, which also operates front groups defending corporate interests in all areas from tobacco to liquor to dietary fat to oil and gas fracking. Here's its leader, Rick Berman, smirking his way through an interview with Rachel Maddow in 2010.


And here's a long list of Berman & Company's current list of front organizations polluting the public debate with corporate money.

Other Berman Front Groups

• ActivistCash.com
• AFT Facts
• American Beverage Institute
• AnimalScam.com
• Big Green Radicals
• Center for Consumer Freedom
• Center for Economic and Entrepreneurial Literacy
• Center for Organizational Research and Education
• Center for Union Facts
• CREW Exposed
• CSPI Scam
• Defeat the Debt
• EmployeeRightsAct.com
• Employment Policies Institute
• Enterprise Freedom Action Committee
• EPA Facts
• Green Decoys
• Hands Off My Bacon
• HumaneWatch.org
• Interlock Facts
• Interstate Policy Alliance
• LaborPains.org
• LEED Exposed
• Maternity Pens
• MinimumWage.com
• NegligentDriving.com
• No Drink Tax
• ObesityMyths.com
• PETA Kills Animals
• Physician Scam
• Protecting Bad Teachers
• Responsible Limits
• Rethink Reform
• Rotten ACORN
• SEIU Exposed
• Sweet Scam
• Teachers Union Exposed
• The New Prohibition
• Tipped Wage
• Unite Here Exposed
• Vote Our Future
• WorkerCenters

The Quote of the Week Came from Phil Donahue

"I’d very much like you to see the behavior of the congressmen. They were summoned to the White House by WHIG, White House Iraq Group. This is a Karl Rove committee that included the advertising warriors who named our invasion “Shock and Awe,” and “Rolling Thunder,” like video games. And they gave them their talking points: “A smoking gun will become a mushroom cloud”; “The longer we wait, the more dangerous he becomes”; “Saddam has more weapons of mass destruction than Hitler ever had”; “I see Hitler in Saddam Hussein.” And they read this, they’re looking down at the piece of paper, in what was at most a shell debate, that led to the deaths of over 4,500 service people, men and women both, not to mention how many injuries, we’re not even sure, we’re not even sure how many Iraqis are dead, and the refugees are in the millions.
This is unbelievable. You’ve got to see this debate. It’s truly a very instructive piece on what you can do if you scare the people. George Bush took this nation, the mainstream media included, and led it right into this war. It was an amazingly executed, brilliantly executed, plan. The politics of fear. ..."
--Phil Donahue

This is from an interview with Elias Isquith in Salon that was published on July 10 with the title, "Phil Donahue’s vindication: Media icon unloads on Fox, Cheney and what happened at MSNBC; Legendary TV host was fired for opposing Iraq war. Here's how he feels seeing the return of those who got it wrong." I couldn't resist repeating this particular part of the interview because he again speaks about the pivotal role of the public relations team, the White House Iraq Group, or WHIG, that lied us into the war, and which I tried to beat the drum about on both trueblueliberal.org and whiggate.blogspot.com since 2005. Every time WHIG comes up in the news again, I make sure I check one thing; I search The New York Times to see if they have yet mentioned the White House Iraq Group in their news pages.  I may be missing something, but I still cannot find it mentioned outside the comments sections and opinion pages. If America's Paper Of Record (which gladly printed WHIG's aluminum-tube lies under Judith Miller's byline) doesn't recognize the existence of the WHIG, did it exist?

(This is being cross-posted on both the TrueBlueLiberal and Whiggate Update blogs)

The Fine White Whine You Hear Today Is Coming from The Garden State.

"Over the past few weeks, the liberal media and Trenton Democrats have relentlessly attacked the Governor despite his strong, decisive leadership. It's time to stand up to MSNBC, the liberal media and their attacks."

This quote from the NJ GOP looking for money is going straight to the crooked New Jersey Governor's only possible defense, whining about the big bad liberal meanies of the so-called liberal media picking on America's Favorite Fat Fuck, Christopher "Christ" Christie. It seems clear now that if he manages to stay out of court, he will run for the GOP Presidential nod in 2016. His main campaign strategy to appeal to the rabid right-wing base? It's obvious. More whining about how attacks on Christ Christie by the bullying elitist atheistic eastern liberal press (and liberal blogs that label him America's Favorite Fat Fuck) mean that he must be doing something right.

"The people of New Jersey deserve better than the partisan witch hunt they’re currently witnessing on television every night. Thank you for standing with Governor Christie..." Wah Wah Wah

The Fine White Whine of the Day Comes from the White-Whiner-in-Chief, Reince Priebus

"Until [Griffin] takes internal corrective action and personally apologizes—not just to the RNC but to all right-of-center Americans—I’m banning all RNC staff from appearing on, associating with, or booking any RNC surrogates on MSNBC."  Reince Priebus whined. "Wah wah."

And what caused this fit of pique?

It seems that there was an MSNBC tweet about a Superbowl advertisement that read "Maybe the rightwing will hate it, but everyone else will go awww: the adorable new #Cheerios ad w/ biracial family".  It was taken down and MSNBC apologized (though neither action seems necessary), but Reincey had his reason to cry (even though the RNC and GOP were never mentioned by name). They are really reaching for things to be offended by now.

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UPDATE 1/31/2014:
I would like to thank MSNBC for reinforcing the stereotype of liberals as spineless wimps when confronted with the white whine of complaint. Network President Phil Griffin fired the writer of the offensive tweet and the RNC has lifted its boycott of the network.
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Consider Joining the #PhoneFree4th as a Protest Against #NSA Surveillance After Reading This

I happened to catch my first bit of MSNBC in a while last night and there were Lawrence O'Donnell and a cast of normal 'liberal' characters reporting on the 'Edward Snowden on the run' story rather than the substance of any of his revelations about the overreaching of our massive national security state. Maybe they have been discussing those important issues while I haven't been around a television, but everything I've been seeing has been on the intellectual level of a Where's Waldo picturebook.

Read this "Seven Myths About Edward Snowden, NSA Whistleblower" article by Chase Madar in The Nation because it's one of the exceptions. He even includes a bonus myth, "Myth 8: The Democratic Party cares deeply about civil liberties," which ends with the following point:

"...Though the surveillance enjoys support from Democrats and Republicans alike­, the opposition to it is equally bipartisan, with veteran social democrat Representative John Conyers co-sponsoring a bill to rein in the NSA with Tea Party freshman Representative Justin Amash, two ideologically antipodal Michiganders united in defense of civil liberties. Nice Democrats, please know this: the NSA surveillance program will someday be in the hands of a Republican president—will you support it then?"

Would any of us be questioning Edward Snowden's motives and defending the NSA's overreach if George W. Bush were still in the White House? Or if Mitt Romney had been elected?

There is not a whole lot that individual Americans (and "foreigners") can do against the NSA. I suggested a symbolic #PhoneFree4th protest to cut down on the radio chatter for a day. Independence Day seems appropriate. A lot of people on the left and right try to put words into the mouths of the Founding Fathers who signed the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia on that first July 4th, but can any of us entertain a scenario in which they would recognize or approve of our current national security mania?

#MittsMissingReturns (Part Eleven) -- Fox & CNN are ready to move on already

Watch (courtesy of Media Matters for America) a video showing how two of the major cable news channels are willing to ignore the fact that the Republican Presidential candidate is obviously hiding something seriously wrong in his financial history:

Why the business and financial history of someone whose main qualification for President is his self-proclaimed (but unverifiable) business and financial acumen should be considered tangential or a distraction is beyond me. His tax returns seem central to understanding who this candidate is. The demand for more than the two partial returns from 2010 and 2011 is not a case of Birtherism Redux, though that is certainly the way the GOP, Fox, and (maybe) CNN, would like to portray it, and us.
We'll keep up the call for 10-12 years of Mitt Romney's tax returns here on TrueBlueLiberal.org and with the #MittsMissingReturns hashtag on Twitter, but the media won't necessarily be working with us. I'm not looking forward to Candy Crowley's role as the impartial moderator for the single debate between Joe Biden and Paul Ryan.

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Catch up with the lengthening list of installments in the #MittsMissingReturns saga by clicking on any of these links:

• #MittsMissingReturns [part one], July 3 
• #MittsMissingReturns (Part Two), July 6 
• #MittsMissingReturns (Part Three),  July 10
• #MittsMissingReturns (Part Four) -- In a Nutshell, July 14 
• #MittsMissingReturns (Part Five) -- In Which Mitt Romney Gives a Typically Squirrelly Response, July 16
• #MittsMissingReturns (Part Six) -- Herman Cain Weighs In, July 25
• #MittsMissingReturns (Part Seven) -- Romney Finds One Issue on Which He's 100% Consistent, July 26
• #MittsMissingReturns (Part Eight) -- Another Lesson in Mitt's Lying Laugh, July 31
• #MittsMissingReturns (Part Nine) -- Mitt Romney vs. Harry Reid, August 4
• #MittsMissingReturns (Part Ten) -- In which Paul Ryan makes Mitt Romney throw up in his mouth a little, August 13

And keep tweeting with #MittsMissingReturns on Twitter.

... and Marvin Wilson was number 245 on Rick Perry's list ...

One of the most unforgettable bloodthirsty audience reactions during last fall and winter's series of Republican primary debates was this one at the Reagan Library on September 7, 2011:

Rick Perry's personal death toll was only 234 eleven months ago when the video up above was recorded. Today he increased his deadly gubernatorial record to 245 with the execution of 54-year-old Marvin Wilson. Another important number? His IQ has been recorded at 61 (Wilson's, not Perry's).

I'm sure there are Teapublicans all around the country cheering again at the thought of one more execution and wishing they had America's deadliest governor as their GOP Presidential nominee today.

#MittsMissingReturns (Part Nine) -- Mitt Romney vs. Harry Reid ...

... in which the man who refuses to release his tax returns from the last twelve years on the grounds it might incriminate him ... the man whose stock answer to every question seems to be "elect me on my business experience, but my business is none of your business" ... tells the Senate Majority Leader to "Put Up or Shut Up" with hard evidence about Mitt Romney's low tax rates when all the evidence is in Mitt Romney's hands.

Please watch this video from last night's Rachel Maddow Show in which we see gubernatorial candidate Mitt Romney badgering his opponent for her husband's returns when he wouldn't release his own (she, of course, had released hers).  Revisit the questions about his state tax returns and residency. See his (faux) tough talk on the one issue (his personal financial secrecy) on which he has shown any consistency. This is worth watching in full. And ask yourself when it's done, Do you trust Mitt Romney more than Harry Reid?

 

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Someone needs to "Put Up or Shut Up" but it's not Harry Reid.

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Catch up with previous installments in the #MittsMissingReturns saga by clicking below:

• #MittsMissingReturns [part one], July 3 
• #MittsMissingReturns (Part Two), July 6 
• #MittsMissingReturns (Part Three),  July 10
• #MittsMissingReturns (Part Four) -- In a Nutshell, July 14 
• #MittsMissingReturns (Part Five) -- In Which Mitt Romney Gives a Typically Squirrelly Response, July 16
• #MittsMissingReturns (Part Six) -- Herman Cain Weighs In, July 25
• #MittsMissingReturns (Part Seven) -- Romney Finds One Issue on Which He's 100% Consistent, July 26
• #MittsMissingReturns (Part Eight) -- Another Lesson in Mitt's Lying Laugh, July 31

And keep tweeting with #MittsMissingReturns on Twitter.

The Quotation of the Day About Liberals

Lawrence O'Donnell will be talking about this viral quotation on the Rewrite segment of his MSNBC show, "The Last Word" later tonight:

"What did liberals do that was so offensive to the Republican Party? I’ll tell you what they did. Liberals got women the right to vote. Liberals got African-Americans the right to vote. Liberals created Social Security and lifted millions of elderly people out of poverty. Liberals ended segregation. Liberals passed the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act. Liberals created Medicare. Liberals passed the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act. 

"What did Conservatives do? They opposed them on every one of those things, every one. So when you try to hurl that label at my feet, ‘Liberal,’ as if it were something to be ashamed of, something dirty, something to run away from, it won’t work, because I will pick up that label and I will wear it as a badge of honor." 

-Lawrence O’Donnell Jr.

This could have been posted as my mission statement when I started this blog and John Kerry was pissing me off by running away from the liberal label, and handing the White House (and the meaning of the word) back to George Bush and the conservatives.

So I'll do my small part to spread this virus, as it is appearing around Facebook and blogs:

And as O'Donnell's words were delivered from the mouth of Jimmy Smits on The West Wing: