Media-crity

I'm getting sick and tired of the CP (conservative press, aka corporate media) and their damned games. The CP has been constantly harping on MVP's delay in granting interviews with detailed descriptions of her policy agenda. They're warning that she'll lose the election unless she satisfies their demands for access.

These are the same people who will gather in large groups to spend an hour or two watching and listening as Narciss-sissy Assholini uses them as his audience of willing fools while he regurgitates the same old got-damn litany of lies and grievances he's been repeating since he began his 2024 campaign in 2020. It's hard to separate his deliberate lies from crap that originates in plain old ignorance and stupidity, but it all gets reported as essential legitimate information.

Q NOTES # 1236: Useless

I can remember when the major news media organizations served a valuable purpose by keeping politicians under their investigative microscopes, which may or may not have kept those politicians honest, but at least kept the public reasonably well-informed when they were making trouble.

Decades have passed since Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of the Washington Post were digging out the facts about what all the president's men were up to, and the term news media has increasingly been used in reference to television news programs, most of which are less about accurate reporting of events, and more about providing "infotainment" or even worse, blatant right-wing propaganda. That has made the mainstream news media sources useless to me, although MSNBC occasionally presents some accurate reporting.

Added 4:04 PM: How many candidates for the Republican party's nomination for president have promised to start slitting the throats of federal bureaucrats on their first day? I can't think of any. Between the numerous criminal indictments facing the waste of shit, and the pledge made by Runny DeSanitized in his speech, it's safe to consider the former GOP a thing of the past, like dinosaurs.

Q NOTES # 888: Saturday Slop Jar

I've reached a stage where very little, almost none, of my information intake comes from cable news channels. When there's something on TV I think I need to see, like the House Select Committee J6 hearings, I rely on MSNBC exclusively for coverage. I never watched Fox, and I gave up on CNN years ago. I won't be returning to CNN again since the current CEO has committed to making the network a warmer, friendlier place for Trumplickan assholes. 

FTS. Trumplickans are completely predictable, and none of them will ever say anything I need to hear.

The only thing any Trumplickan could say that I'd want to hear would be something like, "Your honor, I plead guilty as charged on all counts."

Added 3:17 PM: There are Trumplickans running for office in November who are apparently trying to avoid binding themselves too tightly to Donald Adormi. This is possibly a reaction to the current thinking: They'll win an election that's a referendum on Joe, but lose one that's a referendum on the waste of shit. 

Some of these worthless goobers test an approach in which they allegedly love his policies without mentioning loving the man. Meanwhile, in the part of America where sanity and reason still exist, it's understood that the waste of shit really isn't about policies; he's about ego gratification, raising piles of donated money, and entertaining his fan club on TV and social media. 

[His "policies" were anything Moscow Mitch or Stephen Miller handed him for his unique signature. Oh yeah, also that noise about building a border wall that Mexico would pay for in full--]

Another platter of chicken-fried dog turds drenched in rat piss gravy being passed around among right-wing TV chatterboxes is the belief that Donald Adormi can win the 2024 nomination from his prison cell. I think the rest of the fantasy is that he'll be released as soon as he wins to take his rightful place in the White House, probably for the rest of his life. I wonder if discussion of this sort is a morale booster for the waste of shit.

Q NOTES # 817: Choosing Ignorance over Information

 After watching almost every minute of the House Select Committee hearing on MSNBC last night, I have to say that www.electoral-vote.com has provided an excellent review of the matters that were covered, and what it all means. The site also features a handy summary of the Trumplickan reactions as presented by hardcore right-wing propaganda media like Fox News, Newsmax, etc. It's helpful to know what the mental defectives and bottom feeders who are still subservient to D. Evil 45 are being told, without having to watch it personally. It's hard to decide who's worse: the gutter trash shoveling the Trumplickan bullshit, or the misfits gobbling it up. 

Added 5:33 PM same day: The early ratings numbers are being reported, and in terms of viewership, it was a damned blowout. ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, and CNN were watched by roughly 18.3 million people in all, while the D. Evil 45 suckathon on Fox News was  seen by maybe three million. Things will get interesting  if word of mouth results in more people watching the remaining hearings in June.

Q NOTES # 775: Twenty Questions, Part IV

Ninth question: Why does that foxy Jen Psaki insist on making life boring for many so-called journalists in the White House media pool? A better question is why media organizations aren't hiring journalists who are willing and able to do the necessary work, to replace thumb twiddlers who preferred the 2017-2020 clown carnival.

If the public hearings planned by the House 1/6 committee attract the level of interest the Senate Watergate hearings did, my outlook on life will improve immediately. 

Politicus USA revisits some of the lowlights of Donnie Dump's tenure in the White House, in case we needed a reminder of the close call we managed to survive. It's bad enough that a maniac was in charge of the country for four years, and it's worse to realize that so many people who thought it was wonderful are still allowed to live here and vote.

According to the dictionary, the words dago and wop are offensive terms used to insult people of Italian descent. Since both words are offensive, I won't ever use either to refer to any Trumplican politicians in the news, no matter how much they deserve to be insulted.

The Dept of Homeland Security is preparing to go to war against Russian disinformation, in a manner of speaking. Tenth question: Why does this have Trumplican bowels in an uproar?

Added 6:00 PM Sunday 5/1: After her visit to Ukraine, there's no doubt that Madam Speaker is a badass compared to a wussy boy like Donnie Dump.

Traitors

When a right wing asshole like Tucker Carlson makes an outrageous anti-American statement, followed by the "just kidding" disclaimer, it's understood he's not kidding.

From Nancy LeTourneau @ Washington Monthly: There are reasons to include so-called christian nationalists among the most dangerous enemies of America. 

The Dope Defense

During football season, I usually buy the Friday newsstand editions of USA Today or Houston Chronicle for their sports and entertainment sections. If there's anything that catches my eye in the op-ed pages, I read that too.

Which explains how I came across a Chronicle column under the headline "Incompetence is not impeachable offense" by some right-wing asshole named Marc A. Thiessen, who gets his opinions published in The Washington Post originally. I wasn't familiar with the name, but a quick google search revealed he's a conservative from the Donald Rumsfeld branch of the (R) party, and wrote speeches for Bush 43.

The premise of the column I read this morning elaborated on something I'd seen online last week before the impeachment hearings became a TV show: The (R)s know Donny Shmenge is under Putin's control and is guilty of everything he's suspected to have done regarding Ukraine fuckery. Since there's no way to prove he's innocent, they'll try a variation of the not guilty by reason of diminished capacity defense.

This Thiessen dick wad argues that Shmenge is, at any given moment, one or more of the following: incompetent, erratic, incoherent, irrational, or impressionable. Shmenge doesn't know how to perform the duties of his position, so he surrounds himself with evildoers like Rudy Kazootie, who can manipulate him with conspiracy theories and assorted crazy notions. Even then, he changes his mind from hour to hour, producing chaos and confusion.

This nonsense goes on for several paragraphs, and eventually wraps up with the conclusion in the headline. My reaction is that I would thoroughly enjoy watching Shmenge personally embrace this defense, especially the parts about being incompetent and dependent on subordinates who can manipulate him with false information. I'm imagining his Twitter rampages blaming Rudy, Mick, Mitch and Mike for taking advantage of his gullibility and lack of preparation.

I won't disagree that Shmenge is being manipulated, but the people pulling the strings aren't his subordinates in the White House. They're his superiors in Moscow.

Atonement and Other Stuff

It's always sweet when some (R) who has access to TV coverage starts hitting the news shows to admit he fucked up badly when he supported Donnie Phartz. This week, the (R) who's atoning is Anthony Scaramucci. We need a few thousand more to follow suit.

Added 5:20 PM: On a slightly different topic, whenever I've been in Walmart or one of the local grocery stores recently, I've noticed that USA Today has been replaced on the newspaper racks by some fish wrapper called The Epoch Times. I've never picked it up, since the name pretty clearly suggests the content (a load of shit that I have no interest in whatsoever). Today, I'm learning a little more about who they are and what they're up to.

Added 6:29 PM: Encouraging words from Political Wire

Added 10:32 PM: Sane people throughout the world pointed at him and laughed after he said he really did, no joke, want to buy Greenland. Still pretending to be Mr. Hot Shit in the world of awesome real estate deals when he's really just a third-rate TV bozo. Anyway, Donnie Phartz, who has the psychological and intellectual qualities of a deeply disturbed 2nd grader, cancelled out his planned trip to Denmark. Is he a flaming asshole? Fuck yeah.

Optics

Robert Mueller testified before two House committees yesterday. The so-called liberal media are reporting this as a big win for Donnie Stink Eye since Mueller's solemn appearance on TV didn't match the zany reality show standard that Donnie has conditioned Americans to expect.

Add the idiotic incompetence of so-called liberal media to the list of reasons we're suffering through the Dark Age of Covfefe now.

Outfoxed

Serious question: Which is worse, a country where the president controls the right-wing media, or a country where the right-wing media control the president?

Another serious question: Why in hell is Precious Lindsey Graham the go-to authority for pronouncements on how things are and how things are gonna be? Every time I look, he's being quoted like he has the final word on everything, but he really doesn't.

A few years ago, I cancelled my subscription to the local newspaper because virtually every word of state and national political news was provided by Associated Press. One day, I realized I couldn't take any more of their bullshit. Now, I put AP in the same category as The Hill and Politico: Mostly Unreadable Crap.

Oh for christ's sake, here he comes with his national emergency bullshit again. I could swear we just sat through that movie last night.

SUCKERS !!!

Donnie Drizzle makes a big production of fussing and fuming on Twitter about The New York Times. But he uses NYT to circulate bogus news stories his staffers concoct as misdirection plays. He knows the newspaper's still viewed as a credible source, making it a handy tool to trick people into thinking what he wants them to think.

Anyway, Charles Pierce @ Esquire nails down the latest Donnie scam, the one about Rod Rosenstein and the 25th Amendment.

Updated 12:26 PM Saturday: Okay, the name to watch in this matter is Bill Shine, who was an exec at Fox News until a few months ago. 

Pulling the plug?

Apparently, two of the three main cable news networks (CNN and MSNBC) have realized that covering Donnie Dipshit's "campaign" rallies is a waste of everyone's time. There's a strong case to be made that, even with Russia juicing the deck, Donnie wouldn't be in the White House now without the millions of dollars worth of free media coverage he received from the networks in 2015-16. As a veteran of TV reality shows, Donnie knew exactly how to make sure he was constantly surrounded by cameras, microphones, and reporters, all waiting to make his next belch or fart the top story of the day.

In a perfect world, every second of media coverage devoted to The Big Orange Hemorrhoid would be used for truthful, critical analysis of his incompetence, corruption, and psychotic criminal behavior. Since that won't happen, the next best thing would be a total Donnie TV blackout. That would effectively starve him out, since he couldn't tolerate being totally ignored by television. And, since THAT won't happen, maybe we can finally reach a point where the only favorable TV coverage will be limited to Fox News, the official White House propaganda channel. The only people watching FNC are MAGA maggots who are already beyond redemption.

Do we REALLY need to see this shit on TV?

The Gray Lady

Several years ago, when I still relied on words printed in ink on paper for information, I subscribed to The New York Times. Back then, The NYT was considered the news media gold standard. Anyway, I mailed in the subscription form, but the newspapers were never delivered as promised. I cancelled the subscription with a nasty letter when the first monthly bill came, but I still get NYT renewal offers several times every year.

As it happens, I no longer have any interest whatsoever in paying to read the content of The New York Times, for reasons discussed by Charles Pierce at Esquire.

Paul Krugman

If Russian asset Yuri Nation is successful in his attempted destruction of the United States, the news media will own a big chunk of the blame. Paul Krugman explains why that's true.

Matt Lower (sic)

I knew I was finished with TV news programs (other than Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O'Donnell) after I watched some of this Matt Lauer bullshit last year. Matt just got the axe, unfortunately much too late. The way that asshole treated Hillary Clinton compared to the way he sucked up to Donnie Dogfarts made me want to puke, and I haven't forgotten it.

Dead End Kids

Alternet discusses the reason the so-called precedent (sic) still enjoys the devotion of roughly 35 percent of American voters, and suggests that Democrats may never win their support.

Fortunately, winning the hearts and minds of Don Cornholio's dead-enders may not be necessary in the overall scheme of things.

Loserville U.S.A.

Added 1:53 PM Sunday 28 May: Something I suspected is now confirmed to be true: Panel discussions on Fox News are scripted so the token liberal always loses the argument on any issue. This guarantees the bubble where dead-enders live never pops.

An unbecoming becoming

A few weeks ago, Fatso read a speech to Congress, his state of the onion (sic) address, and some media asshole peed in his panties on CNN and declared that Fatso became the President that night.

That lasted about 36 hours, until Fatso's next rampage on Twitter.

In a desperate attempt to divert attention from various investigations of his Russian connection, Fatso blasted a Syrian air base with 50,000,000 dollars worth of Tomahawk missiles, and another media asshole peed in his panties on CNN and declared that Fatso became the President AGAIN.

Why are the talking heads on CNN so eager to fall for a con man's bullshit? And how many times does that fat motherfunker (sic) get to become president? 

Blackballed

The White House has decided that news organizations which are updating their reports on various investigations of Comrade Creamsicle will no longer be invited to listen to Sean Spicer's mind-numbing recitation of lies, falsehoods, fantasies, and undiluted horse shit. Among those who can't play with Spicer anymore are CNN, the New York Times, and the Associated Press.

Looking on the bright side, it seems like a number of the main players in the media universe will eventually be forced to stop reporting the so-called precedent's (sic) version of reality. They can then fill the empty space with real journalism and analysis. If I never smell another one of Sean Spicer's verbal turds, I'm good with that. Fuck him.

Wrong place, wrong time

As much as I want to give them the benefit of the doubt, it sometimes seems like a significant number of Americans are totally fucked up.

All the facts are not in yet (paraphrasing Gen. Buck Turgidson), but we may be getting a lesson in the danger of looking a little bit like someone else, especially when the media are stirring things up with half-assed analysis.