Quotes Of The Day -- STFU, Trump

"Trump’s 10-minute Oval Office address Wednesday night reflected not only his handling of the coronavirus crisis but, in some ways, much of his presidency. It was riddled with errors, nationalist and xenophobic in tone, limited in its empathy, and boastful of both his own decisions and the supremacy of the nation he leads.

"Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average fell in real time with virtually each word Trump uttered, signaling a lack of confidence among investors that he had control of the crisis and previewing another bloodbath once the markets opened Thursday morning." -- Phil Rucker, Ashley Parker and Josh Dawsey, "Inside Trump's Failed Attempt to Calm Coronavirus Fears."

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"Trump spoke from the Oval Office exactly five weeks to the day since the end of his impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate, which left him with essentially unchecked power after the Republican-led Senate voted against his removal. So much has happened since the trial, which already seems as if it happened in another era, but there is a through-line: Trump himself, constantly conflating the national interest with his personal interest. As the coronavirus spread and the President initially ignored, downplayed, and lied about it—even dismissing coverage of the risks as a media-inflamed “hoax”—the costs of the Senate’s impeachment decision have been cast in sharp relief. It will be a long time before we can reckon with the full damage done by an Administration whose incompetence, disinformation, and sheer bungling in the early stages of the crisis have been at once predictable and breathtaking."  Susan Glasser, on Very Stable Genius Donald "Dr. Trump, PhD'oh" Trump being less equal to the moment of any President in her memory, demonstrated most recently by his disastrous speech on Wednesday.

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"You’re so bad at conveying accurate virus information, you make the Fox News channel sound like the Scientific American. If you were a medical doctor, the board of examiners would yank your license. The county prosecutor would then jail you for thousands of counts of malpractice. After that, he’d charge you with manslaughter for serving as the virus’ accomplice." -- Jack Shafer, Politico, telling Trump to shut the fuck up about coronavirus, advice the malignant moron is not going to follow, btw.

Your "Liberal" Media Proves Otherwise -- Again

We have two articles today, by two ostensibly "liberal" newspapers -- the once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle and New York Times --  that demonstrate just how Republican-wired their national news staffs are (not to mention the Bezos Bugle's neo-con editorial board).  Let's begin with this front page Bezos Bugle story on ... the delay in lowering the flag for the five service members killed in Chattanooga (!).  Gee, unless you're a reader of right-wing propaganda sheets you might not have known this was an issue.  Thanks, Bezos Bugle, for catapulting the bullshit!  The title of the piece is "Under Fire for Inaction, Obama Orders Flags Lowered for Chattanooga Victims."  Here's the lede:

President Obama, facing growing criticism from conservatives and some veterans, ordered all American flags on federal grounds to be lowered to half-staff for the remainder of the week to honor the five service members killed at a naval reserve center in Chattanooga, Tenn.

The move was announced Tuesday, five days after the shooting rampage and just minutes after Obama delivered a speech here at the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention...

So, clearly the President, weak and unpatriotic as he is, had to be shamed into lowering the flag, right "reporters" Steven Mufson and Greg Jaffe?  This is certainly worth an above- the- fold front page "news" item!  For a little insight, let's note at this point that both Mufson and Jaffe were hired from the right-wing Wall Street Journal, which even before its acquisition by the ever-foul Rupert "Arrrgh!" Murdoch was a mouthpiece for the Republican establishment.  A little later in their piece they note:

The midsummer tempest highlighted how Obama — six years into his tenure as commander in chief — continues to be pressed to defend his patriotism, his support for the military and his toughness.

Those questions have grown especially pointed in the wake of the agreement with Iran to limit its nuclear program. Republican critics of the deal have blasted it as too weak and conciliatory, and insisted that tougher sanctions and threats of force would have been more effective in bending Iranian will.  (our emphasis)

Well, with water carriers in the media like Mufson and Jaffe, the Republicans have had no trouble spreading "questions" about the President's "patriotism, his support for the military and his toughness" ever since he took the oath of office.  All you have to do is say, "It's out there," and let the bullshit fly.  Also, the segue into the Iran nuclear agreement:  what, are these two on AIPAC's payroll, too?

Turning to the New York Times, Steve M. at No More Mister Nice Blog picks up on a Times article on Donald "Rump" Trump and his personal and ideological relationship with Fox "News" that would have left you grossly misinformed:

If you read this story, you don't even learn the basic fact that Trump had a regular weekly segment on the morning show Fox & Friends from April 2011 until last month -- nor do you learn that the April 2011 start date coincided with a period when Trump was pondering a White House run while obsessing over birtherism, a subject to which Fox dedicated 52 separate segments over a two-month period, from February to April 2011. (With regard to Fox & Friends, Trump praised the show's hosts -- "they're great people" -- at a campaign appearance yesterday.)

If you read this story, you never learn that Fox gave more coverage to Trump than to any other Republican presidential candidate in June of this year...

There's a lot more that Steve covers in terms of the rather obvious (but missing in the article) links between Rump, Murdoch and Fox "News" Chief Roger "Jabba the Nut" Ailes.  But, again, who were the "reporters" for the Times?  Former Wall Street Journal writer Amy Chozick and former Bezos Bugle writer Ashley Parker.  As Steve says, "It's terrible reporting," except if you're a Republican-wired shill embedded in what is supposed to be a straight news operation.  In that case, as with the Mufson/ Jaffe "reporting," job well done!

UPDATE:  It seems the New York Effing Times is having its credibility shred in its pursuit of Hillary Clinton.  Bastards.