Did you notice the moving vans in front of the White House with the Fox News logo on them? No, well you just aren’t looking hard enough because they are in plain sight. You think The Don is already watching too much Fake Fox News, well now he will experience it in surround sound, 24/7.
With McMaster out and John Bolton in; John Dowd in, and Joseph DiGenova in (and then out-more about this later), we are watching the final stage of The Oval Office transformation in to Trump Towers. It is a remarkable thing to witness: a news organization committed to conspiracy theories merging with the president of the United States: Reality TV president meets Unreality TV.
This merger emboldens a narcissist whose malignancy is reinforced by an equally venal media outlet where truth has no meaning. You get an embattled man fortified by shameless, unscrupulous hacks who will say anything to distract us from the truth. The Greatest Liar meets the greatest lying machine; this marriage of unreality, will throw the kitchen sink at the truth, at the law and at democracy. It will be a scorched-earth policy. And as Mueller closes in on The Don’s transgressions, be it collusion, obstruction of justice and/or money laundering, the greatest fox of them all, will be cornered by the facts And it will come down to this: Will the Republicans really stand up to this heinous man, this fox, who proclaims to be America’s great champion, but who is really a despot, wannabe, a thug, representing a clear and present danger to our country.
Can’t you just see it now: “Live from the Oval Office this is Sean Hannity.” The Don won’t even have to go in to the TV room. When it comes down to it, Fox is like the state run TV, RT, in Russia spewing out a version of reality that is akin to the reality Putin wants to portray to its people.
Like any good narcissist, The Don wants to be surrounded by people who will be totally loyal and think he is wonderful. Difference of opinion and dissent are not tolerated. Do you think it is a coincidence that both McMaster and Tillerson were fired almost immediately after they firmly denounced Russia’s involvement in the poisoning of Russians living in England? From The Don’s point of view maybe it was Russia or maybe it was that same 400-pound kid that hacked in to the DNC. To The Don, Russia is being maligned the same way he is. The entire investigation is a ‘witch hunt.”
The Don’s interest in lawyer, Joseph DiGenova, was related to his performance on Fox News. Here’s what he said on one of his recent appearances:
“There was a brazen plot to illegally exonerate Hillary Clinton and, if she didn’t win the election, to then frame Donald Trump with a falsely created crime.” He added, “Make no mistake about it: A group of F.B.I. and D.O.J. people were trying to frame Donald Trump of a falsely created crime.”
When The Don saw DiGenova, he turned to John Kelly and said: “Screw Dowd, that’s my man!”
Turns out DiGenova and his wife, Victoria Toensing, won’t be joining The Don’s legal team as The Don changed his mind.
Toensing is representing Mark Carallo, who if you recall, left the administration when he was concerned that Hope Hick’s actions (regarding the infamous meeting between Don Jr, Manafort and Kushner) may have constituted obstruction of justice. Just a small conflict of interest, don’t you think?
Just shows you the vetting process that goes on. The Don watches DiGenova on Fox News: he loves what he says about him and insists on hiring him before even meeting with him. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t hire a lawyer I haven’t met to defend me in getting out of a speeding ticket!
The second reason the couple didn’t get the gig was that The Don thought they were disheveled looking. (That didn’t stop him from hiring Steve Bannon!) Guess the Don was concerned about what the couple would look like if he had to appear on TV with them. Could bring the reality show ratings down and tarnish his image.
Perhaps The Don should go for Laura Ingraham, who hosts her own show on Fox News. She is a lawyer and actually clerked for Supreme Court Justice, Clarence Thomas. Given Thomas’s renowned silence throughout his career, I wonder what they talked about. Do think he revived the Anita Hill pubic hair on the can of Coke episode? Definitely dialogue The Don would know something about.
How about Fox’s own Jeanine Piro? The lawyer and former judge has her own TV show as well. She’s the one who said that the F.B.I. needed an overhaul and that some, at the F.B.I., should be hauled out by handcuffs. We know The Don would love to see this, too. Maybe we should get Stormy Daniels to weigh in on the handcuff thing as well.
Not to be outdone by Mad Dog Mattis, we now have to deal with Madder Dog John Bolton, a warmongering right-winger, appointed National Security Chief, and a regular commentator on Fox News. Here are a few of his comments that even have some Republicans worried.
In a 2015 op-ed in the New York Times headlined “To Stop Iran’s Bomb, Bomb Iran,” Bolton wrote that “the inconvenient truth is that only military action will accomplish US objectives in Iran.”
“Time is terribly short, but a strike can still succeed. The inescapable conclusion is that Iran will not negotiate away its nuclear program. Nor will sanctions block its building a broad and deep weapons infrastructure.”
“The threat is imminent, and the case against pre-emption rests on the misinterpretation of a standard that derives from prenuclear, pre-ballistic-missile times. Given the gaps in U.S. intelligence about North Korea, we should not wait until the very last minute,” he said. “It is perfectly legitimate for the United States to respond to the current ‘necessity’ posed by North Korea’s nuclear weapons by striking first.”
Bolton views were so worrisome that senators blocked votes on his confirmation to be U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. He ultimately got the job through a recess appointment by George W. Bush.)
My favorite Bolton line regarding the U.N. was that ‘if it lost 10 stories it wouldn’t make a difference.” Well that depends. It could be the Don’s chance to replace the 10 stories and call it “The U.N. at Trump Towers.” Then suddenly The Don would just love, love, love the U.N.
Then there were the comments about how his diplomacy skills. According to a former ambassador, he “dealt with visitors to his office as if they were servants with whom he could be dismissive and negative.” Bolton was known to bully and intimidate. He was also known to distort intelligence and tried to push the C.I.A. to produce information to conform and confirm his views. There were numerous incidents where Bolton tried to remove people from their positions because they challenged his misuse of intelligence information. No wonder The Don wants him around: two peas in a pod.
This is what Carl W. Ford Jr., a former assistant secretary of state for intelligence and research in the Bush administration, had to say about Bolton: “I believed then, as I believe now, he lacks any of the qualities to be a senior government official,” Mr. Ford said last week. “It has been my experience that his mouth is much bigger than his brain.” Sound familiar!
Now there is news that Bolton gave a pro gun speech in Russia and may have funneled Russian money to the The Don’s campaign through the NRA. Just love, love, love the NRA.
With the increase presence of foxes in the White House, dissent is being relegated to the dung heap and the echo chamber increasingly resonates with the sound of The Don’s voice. Some say he has found his stride and is taking hold of his presidency. That’s not how I see it. I think the greatest fox of all has just been emboldened so all of us hens better watch out!
OMFG TRUMP - Tales From the Other Side 