Kevin Koster commented on Fox News Inflates Trump’s Above-Average Market Rally Into ‘Outpacing Past Presidents’
2019-12-28 13:39:36 -0500
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Payne also made blatantly false statements about the “media” supposedly “trying to talk the economy into a recession last year”. And that’s NOT what happened at all.
In reality, the economy has mostly continued to recover from the W Recession, along the same trajectory it was on with President Obama. In 2018, there was a sugar high effect from the GOP Tax Transfer, as the super-wealthy received massive tax cuts. There was also a sugar high factor that came from some goosed-down withholding on people’s weekly paychecks starting in January 2018, so that working class and middle class employees saw a bit more every week, and then of course spent it.
But 2018 also included a terrible final quarter, where Pence’s childish spokesman undid all the gains of the first three quarters by instigating a massive tariff war with China and gloating about it. This wasn’t “the media” talking anyone into a problem – it was Pence’s childish spokesman.
2019 saw the stock market recover from that hole, which is why the year’s results look better in the short term. 2019 also saw the working class and particularly the middle class suddenly realize in March that the Tax Transfer had actually hurt them in many cases. People’s expected tax refunds in 2019 were replaced in millions of cases by large tax bills, since their tax burdens had been increased but their deductions had been erased – and the lowered withholding only meant that they owed even more. And those voters are going to get a reminder of how bad the Tax Transfer hurt them again in 2020 – and one would think they’d remember that hit when they go to the polls in November.
Fox News should ask itself why the Pence White House continues to be so unpopular in spite of the economy continuing to benefit from the improvement seen under President Obama. Under normal circumstances, Pence should be at an 80 percent approval at this time. The reality is that the Pence White House has been hateful to everyone but its limited base, and most voters aren’t happy with them. And the thing about voters who are feeling relatively comfortable when they get into a voting booth is that they tend to remember that this was the White House that put children in cages, that cheerled bigotry and that skyrocketed their taxes. Not to mention that this White House was just impeached for abuse of power and obstruction.
In reality, the economy has mostly continued to recover from the W Recession, along the same trajectory it was on with President Obama. In 2018, there was a sugar high effect from the GOP Tax Transfer, as the super-wealthy received massive tax cuts. There was also a sugar high factor that came from some goosed-down withholding on people’s weekly paychecks starting in January 2018, so that working class and middle class employees saw a bit more every week, and then of course spent it.
But 2018 also included a terrible final quarter, where Pence’s childish spokesman undid all the gains of the first three quarters by instigating a massive tariff war with China and gloating about it. This wasn’t “the media” talking anyone into a problem – it was Pence’s childish spokesman.
2019 saw the stock market recover from that hole, which is why the year’s results look better in the short term. 2019 also saw the working class and particularly the middle class suddenly realize in March that the Tax Transfer had actually hurt them in many cases. People’s expected tax refunds in 2019 were replaced in millions of cases by large tax bills, since their tax burdens had been increased but their deductions had been erased – and the lowered withholding only meant that they owed even more. And those voters are going to get a reminder of how bad the Tax Transfer hurt them again in 2020 – and one would think they’d remember that hit when they go to the polls in November.
Fox News should ask itself why the Pence White House continues to be so unpopular in spite of the economy continuing to benefit from the improvement seen under President Obama. Under normal circumstances, Pence should be at an 80 percent approval at this time. The reality is that the Pence White House has been hateful to everyone but its limited base, and most voters aren’t happy with them. And the thing about voters who are feeling relatively comfortable when they get into a voting booth is that they tend to remember that this was the White House that put children in cages, that cheerled bigotry and that skyrocketed their taxes. Not to mention that this White House was just impeached for abuse of power and obstruction.
Kevin Koster commented on Rep. Gaetz Likens Speaker Pelosi To ‘Demented’ ‘Non-Santa Claus’ Not Delivering Articles of Trump Impeachment
2019-12-28 13:33:57 -0500
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Gaetz continues his record of behaving like an angry Frat boy – the one who enjoys hazing the pledges, drinking way too much and then pawing the women who come to the parties before getting slapped and then announcing that he never liked them anyway. The only place I can think he will have a career after he’s done with his stint in Congress is on Fox News – which is probably what he has in mind. Like Ted Cruz, he’s engineered his career to set up for that.
Kevin Koster commented on Fox Trolls Trump’s Christmas ‘Unity’ Hypocrisy – Right Before Promoting His Campaign’s Tips For Besting Liberals During Holiday
2019-12-26 14:29:24 -0500
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Americans already got the message of what the Pence White House and its childish spokesman really think of them. Forced pleasantries aside, the stench of hatred is pretty overwhelming.
And I think by now that deplorables have learned not to dare throwing these nonsense talking points at me. I no longer have them at my dinner table and I do not tolerate their bigotry when I encounter it in public. The only response they are likely to get is a loud, firm “NO. STOP LYING. YOU ARE KNOWINGLY SUPPORTING BIGOTRY AND LIES. SHAME ON YOU.”
And I think by now that deplorables have learned not to dare throwing these nonsense talking points at me. I no longer have them at my dinner table and I do not tolerate their bigotry when I encounter it in public. The only response they are likely to get is a loud, firm “NO. STOP LYING. YOU ARE KNOWINGLY SUPPORTING BIGOTRY AND LIES. SHAME ON YOU.”
Kevin Koster commented on Ex-Dem Van Drew On Fox: ‘So Proud To Be Associated With You … You Truly Represent What News Media Should Be’
2019-12-26 02:54:56 -0500
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I found it extremely interesting that Fox News and the general pile of Right Wing media played the impeachment vote as “bipartisan” opposition and that “only Democrats” voted for it. That’s flat out untrue.
If the opposition can really be called “bipartisan” with Van Drew (on the verge of switching parties), Peterson and Golden joining (and Gabbard refusing to show any spine), then the vote in favor must also be considered effectively bipartisan, with Justin Amash being a noteworthy Republican sticking his neck out about this.
It’s true that the GOP frantically moved to get him to “independent” status before these votes were held, but let’s just stay with the parties these guys were in when they were elected during the last time the voters were able to choose. Amash was elected as a Republican in November 2018 and only was pushed out as of June 2019. I’d consider him effectively a Republican vote in favor of impeachment.
So either we consider this to have been “bipartisan” on both sides of the issue – OR we can consider this to be a scenario where it was completely on party lines, with the Republicans refusing to admit anything. But the Right Wing doesn’t get to have this both ways.
If the opposition can really be called “bipartisan” with Van Drew (on the verge of switching parties), Peterson and Golden joining (and Gabbard refusing to show any spine), then the vote in favor must also be considered effectively bipartisan, with Justin Amash being a noteworthy Republican sticking his neck out about this.
It’s true that the GOP frantically moved to get him to “independent” status before these votes were held, but let’s just stay with the parties these guys were in when they were elected during the last time the voters were able to choose. Amash was elected as a Republican in November 2018 and only was pushed out as of June 2019. I’d consider him effectively a Republican vote in favor of impeachment.
So either we consider this to have been “bipartisan” on both sides of the issue – OR we can consider this to be a scenario where it was completely on party lines, with the Republicans refusing to admit anything. But the Right Wing doesn’t get to have this both ways.
Kevin Koster commented on Fox & Friends Helps Mitch McConnell Pretend His Planned Sham Trump Impeachment Trial Is Legit
2019-12-25 17:39:09 -0500
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McConnell is not the only Right Winger who’s been smug enough to openly declare what they’re doing these days. Mulvaney and Sondland have also openly stated what’s been going on. It’s not like any of this is a mystery to anyone.
The Pence White House was gooning it up with the new president of Ukraine, figuring that they could get away with it since they’d just gotten away with all the shenanigans from 2016. Their assumption, which isn’t an unreasonable one, was that they could just do it again, given that they had a dedicated Right Wing media machine and a lot of terrified Republican legislators to run cover for them. And from what we can see, that’s what is now happening.
It’s nice that Pelosi is running a delaying action here, but the outcome is really not in doubt and it never has been.
The Pence White House was gooning it up with the new president of Ukraine, figuring that they could get away with it since they’d just gotten away with all the shenanigans from 2016. Their assumption, which isn’t an unreasonable one, was that they could just do it again, given that they had a dedicated Right Wing media machine and a lot of terrified Republican legislators to run cover for them. And from what we can see, that’s what is now happening.
It’s nice that Pelosi is running a delaying action here, but the outcome is really not in doubt and it never has been.
Kevin Koster commented on Stephen Miller: Donald Trump Is The Anti-Racist President
2019-12-22 14:58:28 -0500
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Stephen Miller is a despicable man who has committed vicious acts and frankly hate crimes against multiple ethnic groups. He has cloaked his hatred in the language of bigoted white nationalism and he has gloated about the vicious actions he has taken. Any morally decent society would simply shun him.
This is a man who speaks with hatred about immigrants, who gleefully endorses vicious treatment of asylum seekers and who pursues the most hateful course possible, whenever possible. And this is a man who has been confirmed by those who have dealt with him and by his own written words to be a blatant racist.
The fact that Fox News is trying to normalize him is telling. The fact that Fox News thinks that going just a little short of Miller’s viciousness is okay, as in going just to the “Tucker Carlson” level, is also telling. This is part of a long-term strategy to move the center of debate in this nation WAY over to the Far Right.
In reality, both Carlson and Miller are extremists and both should be ashamed of themselves.
This is a man who speaks with hatred about immigrants, who gleefully endorses vicious treatment of asylum seekers and who pursues the most hateful course possible, whenever possible. And this is a man who has been confirmed by those who have dealt with him and by his own written words to be a blatant racist.
The fact that Fox News is trying to normalize him is telling. The fact that Fox News thinks that going just a little short of Miller’s viciousness is okay, as in going just to the “Tucker Carlson” level, is also telling. This is part of a long-term strategy to move the center of debate in this nation WAY over to the Far Right.
In reality, both Carlson and Miller are extremists and both should be ashamed of themselves.
Kevin Koster commented on Fox News Incites Murderous Desires In Its Viewers
2019-12-18 14:24:47 -0500
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Eyes makes a good point. The viciousness of angry Right Wingers has gotten to an extremely dangerous point – where we have plenty of these guys openly making dark comments about a “civil war” and about using their guns to kill those with whom they disagree.
We just had a few of these people show up at an Armenian genocide commemoration in Los Angeles because they wanted to scream at Adam Schiff. So they disrupted the event, screamed profanity and tried to get into fistfights with a group of Armenian Americans who included elderly survivors and family members. When they were finally ejected from the event, they stomped outside and gloated about having done what they did. (They also repeated blatant lies about Schiff’s record that angry Right Wingers have been trying to throw around the internet without success.)
These people bristle for some reason when they are appropriately described as deplorable. And then they go and do things like this that justify the description yet again.
When this miserable epoch of our history is concluded, and I do hope that those active Dem voters in the swing states can make that the case as soon as possible, the deplorables must be faced with the consequences of their bigotry and viciousness. I frankly do not every want to hear another angry Right Winger talk about morality or values again. If they do it in front of me, my response has become a simple “NO. YOU VOTED FOR HATRED. YOU ACTED WITH HATRED AND VICIOUSNESS AND BIGOTRY. SHAME ON YOU.”
We just had a few of these people show up at an Armenian genocide commemoration in Los Angeles because they wanted to scream at Adam Schiff. So they disrupted the event, screamed profanity and tried to get into fistfights with a group of Armenian Americans who included elderly survivors and family members. When they were finally ejected from the event, they stomped outside and gloated about having done what they did. (They also repeated blatant lies about Schiff’s record that angry Right Wingers have been trying to throw around the internet without success.)
These people bristle for some reason when they are appropriately described as deplorable. And then they go and do things like this that justify the description yet again.
When this miserable epoch of our history is concluded, and I do hope that those active Dem voters in the swing states can make that the case as soon as possible, the deplorables must be faced with the consequences of their bigotry and viciousness. I frankly do not every want to hear another angry Right Winger talk about morality or values again. If they do it in front of me, my response has become a simple “NO. YOU VOTED FOR HATRED. YOU ACTED WITH HATRED AND VICIOUSNESS AND BIGOTRY. SHAME ON YOU.”
Kevin Koster commented on WTF, Rudy Giuliani?
2019-12-18 14:17:39 -0500
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Eyes is correct. Giuliani’s purpose at this point is to keep the Pence White House’s base appeased, and to confuse everyone else as much as possible.
The obvious intention of the Pence White House’s childish spokesman, and of Fox News and Right Wing media, has been to smear the daylights out of Joe Biden and his son in advance of the 2020 election. Even with the facts showing that the Bidens did nothing wrong, the impression will be the same as what happened with Clinton in 2016 – many uninformed observers will assume the worst, figure “they’re all corrupt” and the overall turnout will be dampened.
I would add that Giuliani is being especially brazen here because he knows that Pence’s childish spokesman is going to get away with his behavior yet again. By holding the GOP caucus together in both houses, the Right Wing has teed it up for Fox News and AM Radio to play the entire impeachment as just a “Democrat ruse”. (Forgetting of course that various Dems in the 1990s voted for impeachment out of their displeasure with Bill Clinton’s behavior, and that the current GOP has completely fallen into lockstep regardless of the facts…)
The key to 2020, as it’s always been, will be for the 2-3 million active Dem voters across the swing states who stayed home in 2016 to show up and vote this time. And that point must be hammered home every single time these smears and lies are thrown around.
The obvious intention of the Pence White House’s childish spokesman, and of Fox News and Right Wing media, has been to smear the daylights out of Joe Biden and his son in advance of the 2020 election. Even with the facts showing that the Bidens did nothing wrong, the impression will be the same as what happened with Clinton in 2016 – many uninformed observers will assume the worst, figure “they’re all corrupt” and the overall turnout will be dampened.
I would add that Giuliani is being especially brazen here because he knows that Pence’s childish spokesman is going to get away with his behavior yet again. By holding the GOP caucus together in both houses, the Right Wing has teed it up for Fox News and AM Radio to play the entire impeachment as just a “Democrat ruse”. (Forgetting of course that various Dems in the 1990s voted for impeachment out of their displeasure with Bill Clinton’s behavior, and that the current GOP has completely fallen into lockstep regardless of the facts…)
The key to 2020, as it’s always been, will be for the 2-3 million active Dem voters across the swing states who stayed home in 2016 to show up and vote this time. And that point must be hammered home every single time these smears and lies are thrown around.
Kevin Koster commented on Yes, Indeed, Fox News Is A Threat To National Security
2019-12-14 01:41:05 -0500
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The current state of Fox News is fairly consistent with what it’s always been from the moment it was launched. As Ellen notes, it’s always been intended to be Right Wing propaganda – there to slake the hatred and anger of the viewers, and to push GOP politicians and thus the centerline of political discussion ever farther to the Right.
If we look at the history of this endeavor, and include with it the work of AM Radio shouters like Limbaugh and his copycats, we can see that the major problems started back in the late 1980s and have only compounded themselves since then.
Throughout the 1990s, AM Radio and then Fox News by 1996 led a steady drumbeat of angry Right Wing coverage of any event. Major Right Wing spin was put on any event that occurred. If Bill Clinton said something, it was to be ridiculed and attacked. If Bob Dole said something, it was to be celebrated. When the GOP went after Clinton with the impeachment, Fox News was in an ecstatic state, noting the courage of the brave Republicans and the terrible immorality of the Clintons. Bill O’Reilly regularly weighed in on how terrible the Clintons were and how much Clinton deserved to be impeached, convicted and tossed out of the White House. O’Reilly would famously have a tiff with Geraldo Rivera when the latter man had the temerity to note how obviously partisan and pointless the Clinton impeachment had been. To O’Reilly and to pretty much every Fox News personality, Clinton’s actions were the worst thing that had ever happened in the history of the Republic – worse even than Watergate, which they discussed as being a regrettable but smaller event. (And that impeachment turned out incredibly well for the Republicans and Fox News – it put a smear onto the Gore campaign in 2000 and allowed W to play like he was going to “restore morality” to the Oval Office. And it played out just like they wanted.)
Let’s not forget that it was Fox News that called the disputed 2000 election for W before that was even the case. And by poisoning the water when the outcome was in doubt, Fox News set up the propaganda approach that Gore was a sore loser who couldn’t accept that W had won. (No matter that the only actual recount showed that Gore had won the state of Florida by 72 votes…)
For 8 long years of the W White House, Fox News played as the official house organ, even as W led the economy straight into the ditch, and allowed Cheney to lead the military into vicious actions that effectively created ISIS and caused much of the world to draw back in shock and anger. (To this day, W and Cheney cannot travel to various foreign countries as they are wanted for war crimes and there are actual warrants drawn up for them.)
When President Obama had the temerity to be elected to the highest office, Fox News went into overdrive to attack him and delegitimize him. Any and every thing he said and did would be attacked and countered – to a level we’d frankly never seen before. A meeting conducted during President Obama’s inauguration with Right Wing higher-ups like Gingrich and Rove established a strategy to systematically obstruct every single thing they could to stymie that “awful black man in the White House”. Suddenly, we were hearing on Fox News about potential impeachment of President Obama nearly every other week – based on Joe Sestak, or Solyndra or Fast & Furious or Lois Lerner or whatever other boogeyman Fox News wanted to wave. Vicious personal attacks against the Obamas were tolerated and only occasionally given a weak wrist smack.
And after 30 years of constant propagandizing and smearing and attacking, is it any wonder that we’ve reached the nadir we see today? Is it any wonder that Fox News and its fans are living in practically a different reality than everyone else in the world?
Fox News has spent its entire 23 year history trying to poison our discourse. In fairness, they’ve been a threat to democracy throughout their existence.
If we look at the history of this endeavor, and include with it the work of AM Radio shouters like Limbaugh and his copycats, we can see that the major problems started back in the late 1980s and have only compounded themselves since then.
Throughout the 1990s, AM Radio and then Fox News by 1996 led a steady drumbeat of angry Right Wing coverage of any event. Major Right Wing spin was put on any event that occurred. If Bill Clinton said something, it was to be ridiculed and attacked. If Bob Dole said something, it was to be celebrated. When the GOP went after Clinton with the impeachment, Fox News was in an ecstatic state, noting the courage of the brave Republicans and the terrible immorality of the Clintons. Bill O’Reilly regularly weighed in on how terrible the Clintons were and how much Clinton deserved to be impeached, convicted and tossed out of the White House. O’Reilly would famously have a tiff with Geraldo Rivera when the latter man had the temerity to note how obviously partisan and pointless the Clinton impeachment had been. To O’Reilly and to pretty much every Fox News personality, Clinton’s actions were the worst thing that had ever happened in the history of the Republic – worse even than Watergate, which they discussed as being a regrettable but smaller event. (And that impeachment turned out incredibly well for the Republicans and Fox News – it put a smear onto the Gore campaign in 2000 and allowed W to play like he was going to “restore morality” to the Oval Office. And it played out just like they wanted.)
Let’s not forget that it was Fox News that called the disputed 2000 election for W before that was even the case. And by poisoning the water when the outcome was in doubt, Fox News set up the propaganda approach that Gore was a sore loser who couldn’t accept that W had won. (No matter that the only actual recount showed that Gore had won the state of Florida by 72 votes…)
For 8 long years of the W White House, Fox News played as the official house organ, even as W led the economy straight into the ditch, and allowed Cheney to lead the military into vicious actions that effectively created ISIS and caused much of the world to draw back in shock and anger. (To this day, W and Cheney cannot travel to various foreign countries as they are wanted for war crimes and there are actual warrants drawn up for them.)
When President Obama had the temerity to be elected to the highest office, Fox News went into overdrive to attack him and delegitimize him. Any and every thing he said and did would be attacked and countered – to a level we’d frankly never seen before. A meeting conducted during President Obama’s inauguration with Right Wing higher-ups like Gingrich and Rove established a strategy to systematically obstruct every single thing they could to stymie that “awful black man in the White House”. Suddenly, we were hearing on Fox News about potential impeachment of President Obama nearly every other week – based on Joe Sestak, or Solyndra or Fast & Furious or Lois Lerner or whatever other boogeyman Fox News wanted to wave. Vicious personal attacks against the Obamas were tolerated and only occasionally given a weak wrist smack.
And after 30 years of constant propagandizing and smearing and attacking, is it any wonder that we’ve reached the nadir we see today? Is it any wonder that Fox News and its fans are living in practically a different reality than everyone else in the world?
Fox News has spent its entire 23 year history trying to poison our discourse. In fairness, they’ve been a threat to democracy throughout their existence.
Kevin Koster commented on Mitch McConnell Promises Hannity A Sham Impeachment Trial
2019-12-14 01:22:18 -0500
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To answer Eyes, it’s not ethical in that this is not how these matters were intended to be handled, but it’s not outright illegal. In the same way that McConnell’s vicious refusal to hold hearings for Merrick Garland wasn’t outright illegal. It’s just another sign that he’s being typically brazen like today’s Republicans, and he’s making sure you know that he will dump this matter as fast as he can.
The only factor that appears to be slowing him down a little is his uncertainty about the exact number of GOP senators upon which he can depend for a blanket vote. If he knew he could count on every vote, his first course of action would be an immediate voice vote to dismiss the charges and end the matter before even hearing the case. That is the approach I’ve been expecting him to take, as it would present the fastest way out, provide the least exposure to any damaging discussions, and it would be the most brutal way to give a big middle finger to the House and to the rest of the country.
Barring that approach, he’ll take the course discussed here with Hannity – allowing each side to quickly present their case and THEN doing the fast voice vote and once again giving that middle finger to the rest of the country.
I’m not seeing any other plan from the GOP, regardless of their Brer Rabbit shouts of wanting a long trial with lots of witnesses. In reality, the Right Wing is terrified of that idea.
My expectation is that this entire matter will either be over within a day or two of getting to the Senate, or within one hour of getting to the Senate. And then the GOP and the Dems will campaign on the situation for the rest of 2020. And the key to the election will not be the impeachment but will instead be what the key to all elections has always been: Turnout.
The only factor that appears to be slowing him down a little is his uncertainty about the exact number of GOP senators upon which he can depend for a blanket vote. If he knew he could count on every vote, his first course of action would be an immediate voice vote to dismiss the charges and end the matter before even hearing the case. That is the approach I’ve been expecting him to take, as it would present the fastest way out, provide the least exposure to any damaging discussions, and it would be the most brutal way to give a big middle finger to the House and to the rest of the country.
Barring that approach, he’ll take the course discussed here with Hannity – allowing each side to quickly present their case and THEN doing the fast voice vote and once again giving that middle finger to the rest of the country.
I’m not seeing any other plan from the GOP, regardless of their Brer Rabbit shouts of wanting a long trial with lots of witnesses. In reality, the Right Wing is terrified of that idea.
My expectation is that this entire matter will either be over within a day or two of getting to the Senate, or within one hour of getting to the Senate. And then the GOP and the Dems will campaign on the situation for the rest of 2020. And the key to the election will not be the impeachment but will instead be what the key to all elections has always been: Turnout.
Kevin Koster commented on Tucker Carlson Tonight Calls Impeachment A ‘Charade’
2019-12-12 14:24:33 -0500
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Yet another piece of video that Tucker Carlson will be unable to avoid in the years to come. These guys honestly don’t get it.
Kevin Koster commented on Sean Hannity Lies About IG Report, Tells Viewers To Ignore Its Conclusion Debunking Hannity’s ‘Witch Hunt’ Propaganda
2019-12-10 16:19:56 -0500
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It’s been fascinating to watch angry Right Wingers losing their composure over this report. Hannity has repeatedly gone on incoherent rants, as has Limbaugh. Cranks like Glenn Beck are frantically repeating their earlier conspiracy theories as though they hadn’t just been debunked yet again. Disgraced ex-pundits like O’Reilly are simply fuming that Horowitz didn’t give them their red meat moment.
It appears that the basic Fox News approach to this situation has been to take a public stance of “we were proven right” even though the report categorically does the opposite. Hannity is certainly trying that approach, and trying to pretend that the nonsense he’s been spouting for years with John Solomon and Sara Carter is somehow now proven.
The other part of the approach has been for the angry Right Wingers to simply attack Horowitz and dismiss him because he was part of the Obama White House. Just last week, they were celebrating him and saying that his report would spell certain doom for anyone not on the Far Right. Now they’re saying that it’s really the DURHAM report that will have all the goods. Except that all Durham has is an extended version of the Horowitz report. And he has a criminal referral for the one low level attorney who messed around with his second or third warrant application. There frankly isn’t much else to find.
The Horowitz report is useful as a post-mortem of how the FBI followed its procedures, or in some cases, failed to follow those procedures to the letter. Given that this was a process that went on over two years and saw multiple indictments criminal convictions, it’s natural that there were a few issues along the way. But that doesn’t have anything to do with Hannity’s frantic attempts to wave his hands and distract everyone. We’ll have to see what the Durham report says – I wouldn’t expect to see a massive roundup of the Right Wing’s favorite enemies – more like a few smacks on the wrist and a bit of tut-tutting.
By the way, has Hannity’s clock finally struck yet? He spent the last three years ominously intoning “Tick tock, Tick tock”. Did anything ever come from that clock other than a tiny cuckoo bird?
It appears that the basic Fox News approach to this situation has been to take a public stance of “we were proven right” even though the report categorically does the opposite. Hannity is certainly trying that approach, and trying to pretend that the nonsense he’s been spouting for years with John Solomon and Sara Carter is somehow now proven.
The other part of the approach has been for the angry Right Wingers to simply attack Horowitz and dismiss him because he was part of the Obama White House. Just last week, they were celebrating him and saying that his report would spell certain doom for anyone not on the Far Right. Now they’re saying that it’s really the DURHAM report that will have all the goods. Except that all Durham has is an extended version of the Horowitz report. And he has a criminal referral for the one low level attorney who messed around with his second or third warrant application. There frankly isn’t much else to find.
The Horowitz report is useful as a post-mortem of how the FBI followed its procedures, or in some cases, failed to follow those procedures to the letter. Given that this was a process that went on over two years and saw multiple indictments criminal convictions, it’s natural that there were a few issues along the way. But that doesn’t have anything to do with Hannity’s frantic attempts to wave his hands and distract everyone. We’ll have to see what the Durham report says – I wouldn’t expect to see a massive roundup of the Right Wing’s favorite enemies – more like a few smacks on the wrist and a bit of tut-tutting.
By the way, has Hannity’s clock finally struck yet? He spent the last three years ominously intoning “Tick tock, Tick tock”. Did anything ever come from that clock other than a tiny cuckoo bird?
Kevin Koster commented on Fox News Reportedly Canceled Jim Comey Interview After IG Report Exonerated Him
2019-12-09 22:49:24 -0500
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Fox News was hoping that the IG report would give them a bunch of bombshells and red meat, so they could essentially push Comey into a corner. Instead, the actual report shows what the Washington Post predicted – that the FBI probe was completely merited and that there are criticisms of some of the ways that some employees behaved during the probe. (In other words, what nearly any review of a multi-year investigation will show.)
Fox News is now frantically doubling down to say that the big bombshells will be in the Durham report. We’ll see.
Either way, this is NOT the big counter story that the Pence White House had desperately hoped to see. And the public is instead continuing to watch the inevitable march toward Trump’s impeachment.
Fox News is now frantically doubling down to say that the big bombshells will be in the Durham report. We’ll see.
Either way, this is NOT the big counter story that the Pence White House had desperately hoped to see. And the public is instead continuing to watch the inevitable march toward Trump’s impeachment.
Kevin Koster commented on Kilmeade Kisses Up To House Judiciary Republican Claiming Impeachment ‘Good For Us’
2019-12-05 23:59:59 -0500
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I find it curious that angry Right Wingers keep trying the Brer Rabbit approach both to the impeachment and to next year’s election. They keep saying nonsensical things like “I really hope you impeach him!” and “I really hope you run Joe Biden!” as though either of those notions would somehow be bad things for anyone.
My thinking is that the Right Wing is likely to get exactly their wish. They want an impeachment and are looking forward to it? Great! We’ll go ahead with the impeachment since they’re all for it, and then they can explain themselves while we are in trial. They want Joe Biden to be the nominee? May well happen, and they may not enjoy the eventual result of that notion.
This really reminds me of a situation with the LA Lakers back in 2002, where the Portland Trail Blazers spent that entire season bragging that they could easily beat the Lakers in the postseason because they had Ruben Patterson aka the “Kobe Stopper”. They repeated to anyone who would listen that they really hoped that they’d get the Lakers first in the post season. And then they were slotted against the Lakers first in the post season. And the Lakers easily swept them out in 3 games. As the saying goes, be careful what you wish for…
My thinking is that the Right Wing is likely to get exactly their wish. They want an impeachment and are looking forward to it? Great! We’ll go ahead with the impeachment since they’re all for it, and then they can explain themselves while we are in trial. They want Joe Biden to be the nominee? May well happen, and they may not enjoy the eventual result of that notion.
This really reminds me of a situation with the LA Lakers back in 2002, where the Portland Trail Blazers spent that entire season bragging that they could easily beat the Lakers in the postseason because they had Ruben Patterson aka the “Kobe Stopper”. They repeated to anyone who would listen that they really hoped that they’d get the Lakers first in the post season. And then they were slotted against the Lakers first in the post season. And the Lakers easily swept them out in 3 games. As the saying goes, be careful what you wish for…
Kevin Koster commented on Nancy Pelosi Shreds Ex-Fox Reporter Rosen: ‘Don’t Mess With Me’
2019-12-06 13:58:44 -0500
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Typical that Rosen went fleeing back to his Right Wing employer for opportunities to spin it. The video is fairly clear about what happened . He shouted a “gotcha” question and then tried to shout over Pelosi’s response, and then he was appropriately chastised. If Rosen had any integrity, he would have publicly apologized to the Speaker and to his viewers.
I should note that I’m hoping I’m wrong about McConnell pulling his maneuver. I would rather see a full-term trial in the Senate and see if Roberts would compel Mulvaney and the others to testify under oath. I’d love to see the Parnas tapes played in full before the Senate and the nation. I’d love to see the Pence White House try to gaslight the whole thing in real time during an election year.
The whole reason that Pence’s childish assistant and his sycophants are loudly asking for a Senate trial is because they DON’T want one. They’re hoping they can bully the Dems out of even thinking about it. In the same way that they’re loudly saying they want to run against Joe Biden – when in fact they’re terrified of Biden’s numbers and they would much rather run against someone with less experience. This is why I cite the Brer Rabbit approach – they’re trying the game of “Please cook me or eat me but DON’T throw me in the Briar Patch!” They’re hoping the Dems will fall for it. My hope is that everyone is paying attention and not falling for any of this nonsense. From what I can see, they aren’t.
Again, this won’t lead to anything other than a dead end in the Senate – barring anything explosive suddenly being revealed. But it will serve to challenge the viciousness of the Pence White House and remind the nation about what the stakes are in the 2020 election. (We’ll get a second big reminder in March and April when Middle Class employees in Blue States get slammed with another huge tax bill) The real test will come next November, when we’ll find out if the active Dem voters in the swing states have learned their lesson or not.
I should note that I’m hoping I’m wrong about McConnell pulling his maneuver. I would rather see a full-term trial in the Senate and see if Roberts would compel Mulvaney and the others to testify under oath. I’d love to see the Parnas tapes played in full before the Senate and the nation. I’d love to see the Pence White House try to gaslight the whole thing in real time during an election year.
The whole reason that Pence’s childish assistant and his sycophants are loudly asking for a Senate trial is because they DON’T want one. They’re hoping they can bully the Dems out of even thinking about it. In the same way that they’re loudly saying they want to run against Joe Biden – when in fact they’re terrified of Biden’s numbers and they would much rather run against someone with less experience. This is why I cite the Brer Rabbit approach – they’re trying the game of “Please cook me or eat me but DON’T throw me in the Briar Patch!” They’re hoping the Dems will fall for it. My hope is that everyone is paying attention and not falling for any of this nonsense. From what I can see, they aren’t.
Again, this won’t lead to anything other than a dead end in the Senate – barring anything explosive suddenly being revealed. But it will serve to challenge the viciousness of the Pence White House and remind the nation about what the stakes are in the 2020 election. (We’ll get a second big reminder in March and April when Middle Class employees in Blue States get slammed with another huge tax bill) The real test will come next November, when we’ll find out if the active Dem voters in the swing states have learned their lesson or not.
Kevin Koster commented on Judiciary Committee Impeachment Hearing – Open Thread And Live Stream
2019-12-05 12:01:35 -0500
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I find it interesting that Turley advocated the other way when it came to the Bill Clinton impeachment. He testified in front of Congress a little more than 20 years ago, and reiterated his position in 2014, saying that a president could be impeached and removed for their behavior even if they didn’t break the law. Now he’s trying to play a game about making this about something completely different.
I also find it interesting that several of the Republicans were unable to maintain their composure – particularly Matt Gaetz, who humiliated himself with an extremely strange emotional outburst where he began to rant in a singsong voice and shout at the panel for some reason.
I noted that the Dems were trying to simply deal with the legality of the discussion, and to confirm that this course of action is in fact the correct one by the Constitution. The Republicans on the other hand were repeatedly trying to interject confusion and snarky comments, even to the point of interrupting Nadler’s closing statement with even more nonsense.
The question now is how quickly McConnell will move to dismiss the whole thing in the Senate. It’s more likely that he will avoid the big trial situation by simply calling a voice vote and ending the matter as fast as he can. If he lets it get to a trial on the floor, he potentially loses control of its momentum and Grassley won’t be able to gavel the witnesses into silence before they’ve made a mess of things for him.
I also find it interesting that several of the Republicans were unable to maintain their composure – particularly Matt Gaetz, who humiliated himself with an extremely strange emotional outburst where he began to rant in a singsong voice and shout at the panel for some reason.
I noted that the Dems were trying to simply deal with the legality of the discussion, and to confirm that this course of action is in fact the correct one by the Constitution. The Republicans on the other hand were repeatedly trying to interject confusion and snarky comments, even to the point of interrupting Nadler’s closing statement with even more nonsense.
The question now is how quickly McConnell will move to dismiss the whole thing in the Senate. It’s more likely that he will avoid the big trial situation by simply calling a voice vote and ending the matter as fast as he can. If he lets it get to a trial on the floor, he potentially loses control of its momentum and Grassley won’t be able to gavel the witnesses into silence before they’ve made a mess of things for him.
Kevin Koster commented on Fox Host Urges Trump ‘Dump’ ‘Toxic Chumps’ Giuliani, Solomon, DiGenova And Toensing
2019-12-03 03:01:36 -0500
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Based on his pattern, my anticipation is that McConnell will call a voice vote on the floor of the Senate as soon as the impeachment charges are over. He will then ask for a vocal affirmation of yea or nay for dismissing all the charges. He’ll get a majority yea from all of the GOP Senators perhaps save Romney. And then he’ll declare the matter over, high five his buddies on the floor and go to the microphone chuckling about how it’s time for the House to get to work for the American people.
Kevin Koster commented on Bill O’Reilly’s Terrified Dog Breaks The Internet
2019-12-02 11:52:39 -0500
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It’s probably not surprising to see O’Reilly sink to this level. Since his disgrace and humiliation, he’s been reduced to blogging about his dog and pretending he still has a big show from what looks like his home. To get attention, he has begged Glenn Beck and Newsmax to let him come on their webshows every week, where he tries to keep up his act as a “Big Man” of the news. He’s also been reduced to begging Hannity to let him come on that show.
I will say that it’s interesting to see him try to ignore his own history regarding the impeachment of Bill Clinton while he frantically sucks up to the Pence White House’s childish spokesman.
I will say that it’s interesting to see him try to ignore his own history regarding the impeachment of Bill Clinton while he frantically sucks up to the Pence White House’s childish spokesman.
Kevin Koster commented on Republican Congressman Claims He’s ‘Smiling Ear To Ear’ Over Impeachment
2019-12-02 02:47:45 -0500
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Since the GOP seems so eager to have the impeachment trial, it sounds like everyone is agreed. Let’s go ahead and do it. The GOP and Fox News just forfeited their right to ever complain about it again, because they’re asking for it to be done.
Kevin Koster commented on Hannity Angers His Former Colleagues By ‘Offering’ Bill O’Reilly ‘Go Back On Fox’
2019-11-29 18:59:15 -0500
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Bill O’Reilly is desperate to regain the perch he had at Fox News. He would love to be able to have a “triumphant return”, do another couple of seasons of his show and then assume the “elder statesman” position he’s been coveting for the past 5 years. So his pose of “Oh I don’t want to deal with Fox anymore” is a front. Put it this way – do you believe O’Reilly would rather be spending his days vlogging and having to beg for airtime from Glenn Beck, Newsmax and especially from Hannity? Back in the day, O’Reilly and Hannity were known to despise each other, as each thought they were the main guy at Fox News. It has to irk O’Reilly that he now must beg Hannity to include him on his radio show (and occasionally on his Fox News show), and I’m sure it irked him that Hannity made that comment.
O’Reilly didn’t just commit sexual harassment. He was a repeat offender who refused to change his ways, even after Fox News had paid out over 10 million dollars to settle multiple complaints. Granted, this culture started at the top with Roger Ailes, but O’Reilly took full advantage of the opportunity to harass to his heart’s content. O’Reilly wasn’t alone in this (The disgraced Eric Bolling comes to mind), but he appears to have been the most consistent in his terrible treatment of women at the workplace. And all of this was topped off by O’Reilly paying out 32 million dollars to legal analyst Lis Wiehl to settle an egregious harassment situation in 2017. So O’Reilly was no victim here. He was a serial perpetrator who was able to fly under the aegis of Roger Ailes (as Bolling tried to copycat) for 2 decades, but eventually was taken to task. It’s true that his situation with Andrea Mackris got media attention in the early 2000s, but that was actually triggered by O’Reilly himself when he tried to bully her into submission. If anything, O’Reilly learned in the early 2000s that he could get away with his predations if he was willing to pony up a little money sometimes. It wasn’t until 2017 that he was finally pushed out. I have a feeling that Fox News would very much like to rehire O’Reilly but prefers not to deal with the fallout of having more of their former personalities come out in public to denounce them. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them wait a few more years and then try to bring O’Reilly back as that “elder statesman” – but I also expect Gretchen Carlson to immediately call them out the second they try it.
O’Reilly didn’t just commit sexual harassment. He was a repeat offender who refused to change his ways, even after Fox News had paid out over 10 million dollars to settle multiple complaints. Granted, this culture started at the top with Roger Ailes, but O’Reilly took full advantage of the opportunity to harass to his heart’s content. O’Reilly wasn’t alone in this (The disgraced Eric Bolling comes to mind), but he appears to have been the most consistent in his terrible treatment of women at the workplace. And all of this was topped off by O’Reilly paying out 32 million dollars to legal analyst Lis Wiehl to settle an egregious harassment situation in 2017. So O’Reilly was no victim here. He was a serial perpetrator who was able to fly under the aegis of Roger Ailes (as Bolling tried to copycat) for 2 decades, but eventually was taken to task. It’s true that his situation with Andrea Mackris got media attention in the early 2000s, but that was actually triggered by O’Reilly himself when he tried to bully her into submission. If anything, O’Reilly learned in the early 2000s that he could get away with his predations if he was willing to pony up a little money sometimes. It wasn’t until 2017 that he was finally pushed out. I have a feeling that Fox News would very much like to rehire O’Reilly but prefers not to deal with the fallout of having more of their former personalities come out in public to denounce them. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them wait a few more years and then try to bring O’Reilly back as that “elder statesman” – but I also expect Gretchen Carlson to immediately call them out the second they try it.