Tag: Morning Joe

Trump Lives In A Facsimile Universe

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Trump Lives In A Facsimile Universe

D. S. Mitchell

Last week President Trump set off another Twitter firestorm when he began a vicious  attack against MSNBC TV hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough. Trump’s bad behaviors and odd proclivities have made for interesting chatter on their early morning political news show, ‘Morning Joe’.  The Twitter attack came after several months of negative Trump coverage by the two TV hosts.

The heat of the outrage following Trump’s disgusting attack came from a wide swath of the public, Capitol Hill and the media. At the height of the Kerfuffle, Joe and Mika came on their own show as “guests”. The pair answered  a slew of questions from their regular panel.

In short order,  I watched the story shift from Trump’s questionable  mental capacity to an even darker and more sinister sets of behaviors. Behaviors that support the James Comey’s recent testimony; threats and bullying being standard practice by the thug from Queens.

Joe and Mika told a hair raising tale ‘on air,’ of being excessively pressured, or  “blackmailed”, by several White House officials.   The staffers were demanding Joe and Mika call and apologize to the President, for their recent unflattering reporting of Trump on their show.

The pair described many ominous phone calls being made to their children and other family members threatening publication of an ugly National Enquirer story.  Mika stated that White House staffers made frequent phone calls to her, telling her to back off  the negative reporting of Trump.

Not only was there pressure to change reporting, but also to call the president and apologize.  All they needed to do was cave to the threats by the White House thugs.  If Joe made that apology call he was told the negative National Enquirer story would be scrapped.

Joe told his television audience that he had called Jared Kushner directly.  During that conversation  Kushner, confirmed, “All you need to do is pick up the phone and call and apologize, and the National Enquirer story will disappear”.  Joe said he refused to apologize, and things deteriorated into Trump making the subsequent disgusting tweets attacking the two TV hosts.

The Trump attack against the commentators soon segued to how can Trump control what is published in the National Enquirer and how is he using that power to control and manipulate reporters and the news itself?

It is well-known that National Enquirer, CEO  David Pecker has been friends with Donald Trump for decades. Despite Pecker denials of biased reporting favoring Trump it has been obvious for many months that The National Enquirer and TMZ are having a print love affair with Trump. And Pecker has been allowing his personal relationship with Trump to effect editorial decisions at the tabloid.

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WEST WING WARFARE

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West Wing Warfare

D. S. Mitchell

Staff Shuffling

The Daily Beast reports this week that political warfare has indeed broken out at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C. Reports from the White House indicate they are undertaking a major reshuffling of staff. Steve Bannon seems to be the center of most conversation. Over the weekend Steve Bannon was fired from the National Security Council. To date, Bannon continues as Chief Strategist to the President.

McMaster Rejects politicization

There are signs that there are deep divisions in the West Wing. General H.R. McMaster seems to be asserting control over the NSC and solidifying his relationship with President Trump. McMaster is adamant that there is not going to be a politicization of NSC as long as he is at its head. The appointment of Bannon to the NSC had drawn criticism as inappropriate.

Nunes At The Center

The firestorm began when it was learned that 3 NSC officials have been linked to the distribution of classified documents to Devin Nunes. Nunes, a Republican is the Chairman of the House committee investigating Russia and the Trump 2016 campaign. The Chairman is now under ethics investigation for his conduct in the Russia probe. The discovery of the leaks to Nunes has created an earthquake within the administration. There has been fiery accusations against Bannon. Steve Bannon is suspected of releasing documents to Devin Nunes.  The intent attributed to Bannon was to deflect attention away from the Russian “collusion” investigation.

Reliable Sources

Furthermore, reliable sources indicate that Bannon and the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, are at each other’s throats. Kushner apparently drew Bannon’s wrath when he spoke against separating children from their parents at immigrant internment camps. Kushner’s sentiments caused Bannon to label him a “left-wing radical.” Not terms that this Republican administration wants thrown around.  Bannon and other right-wing idealogues are signaling open fear that Trump may be leaning toward what they consider the more liberal influence of his son-in-law.

Talk Radio

Mark Levin, is a right-wing radio host. On his Wednesday night show he said the liberals in the administration are trying to increase their influence over Trump.  He was pointing to Jared Kushner, Gary Cohn, and Dina Powell.  Roger Stone, a long time gadfly and right-wing operative stoked the political warfare. He told “InfoWars” firebrand Alex Jones, that the leaks from the White House were coming directly from Kushner. In fact, Stone accused Kushner of feeding morning TV host Joe Scarborough insider information.

Name Calling

Bannon has called Kushner a “cuck” (cuckservative) “globalist” and “worse than a Democrat”. Reports suggest that Bannon worries that he is slipping in favor and that Jared Kushner is increasingly more important as an advisor to the president. Bannon has a vision to de-construct the government and he see’s Kushner as an impediment to the realization of that dream.

McMaster Tightens Control

As McMaster tightens his control at the NSC, Deputy NSC advisor K.T. McFarland was asked to step down. K.T. was at NSC for only 3 months. McFarland had been appointed to the NSC by Mike Flynn. K.T. is a political commentator and author. McFarland will be assigned as the Singapore Ambassador if she is able to clear Senate confirmation.

Waiting For The Crash

As fast as things happen in this White House we will probably watch it all play out on the political talk shows, next week. As such, I’m here in the CNP office waiting for the sound of crashing metal and glass. My hope is that, after the crash, the American people still have a political system they can count on. I guess, we will just have to wait, and see.

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Tillerson’s Big Lie

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Tillerson’s Big Lie

D. S. Mitchell

Morning Cable

I just watched Christine Romans, on ‘New Day,’ a morning political cable news show on CNN. I like her style, she really knows how to put her guests on the hot seat. Her questions are pointed and intuitive. Sometimes I feel sorry for the guests. LOL. I used to start my morning’s with ‘Morning Joe,” he comes on at 0300 her in the West. But recently Scarborough’s poorly veiled support of Trump is a turn off. If it wasn’t for Mika Brzezinski, I would have turned to ‘New Day’ a lot sooner. After watching New Day I have a choice of half a dozen activities. I either walk, bike or swim for an hour. Next, I grab breakfast. Then I go start research for a new blog post.

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