Donald Trump's fight with Fox News and Megyn Kelly, explained

If anyone is interested in Donald Trump and tuned into this past Thursday night's GOP debate on Fox News, you witnessed the attempted take-down of the GOP presidential front runner by the very organization that made him the front runner in the first place. As a result, sensing a hoodwinking in progress, Trump lashed out and has continued to lash out against Fox and one of it's debate moderators, Megyn Kelly. 

Vox.com's Ezra Klein explains how Fox's build-up and tear-down of Donald Trump goes beyond Megyn Kelly. It's about Fox New's lust for power,ratings and money. Klein also states how ultimately it's a fight that Trump can't win:

On Friday, Donald Trump said that Fox News's Megyn Kelly had it out for him during the first Republican presidential debate. And he had a theory as to why.

"She gets out and she starts asking me all sorts of ridiculous questions," Trump told CNN. "You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her... wherever."

So how did we get to the point where the leading Republican candidate for president is accusing one of Fox News's signature hosts of going on a PMS-fueled rant against him? The answer is surprisingly complex.

It's not just about what happened at Thursday's debate. It's also about the way Fox News had, until Thursday, been inflating the Trump bubble, and the broader tension between Fox News's role as a ratings-obsessed cable network, an actual journalistic outlet, and one of the most important institutional actors in the Republican Party.

But let's start with what happened at the debate, and why it left Trump feeling so betrayed.

There's been an internal war at Fox News over Donald Trump

Until Thursday, Fox News had been one of Trump's most important allies. The liberal media watchdog group Media Matters notes that between May 1st, 2015, and July 31st, 2015, Donald Trump was given, by far, the most airtime of any GOP presidential contender, with 31 appearances on the network; Jeb Bush, by contrast, only had 7.

And more than simple airtime, Fox News's hosts defended Trump when the rest of the media was piling onto his more noxious comments.

When Trump said Mexico was sending rapists and criminals into America, Fox News contributor Monica Crowley said Trump "is saying things that need to be said."

When Trump blasted Senator John McCain's war record, Fox News's Steve Doocy said, "if you listen to his comments in total...he's not critical of John McCain the war hero, he's critical of his Senate record." Harris Faulkner said "McCain is not admitting that he kind of started this whole thing."

Erik Bolling, a member of Fox News's 'The Five," said, "I like what Donald Trump is saying, I like what he's doing." On Fox and Friends, Trump was compared to St. Augustine and Mr. Smith from Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. And on his radio show, Sean Hannity, one of Fox's key primetime personalities, gave Trump the ultimate compliment. He compared him to Ronald Reagan:

• One of the greatest moments of Ronald Reagan's presidency, he was at Reykjavik. And Gorbachev was pushing him to give up Strategic Defense, what liberals called, derisively, 'Star Wars.' And he said, 'nyet' [no], and he walked away from the table. And eventually it led to peace. That's like Trump's art of the deal.

But there's been at least one powerful critic of Trump at Fox News: Rupert Murdoch. On July 22nd, New York Magazine's Gabriel Sherman, author of a biography of Roger Ailes, reported that there was a schism at Fox News over Donald Trump.

• According to sources, Murdoch has tried — and failed — to rein in Fox News Chairman and CEO Roger Ailes, who, insiders say, is pushing Fox to defend Trump’s most outlandish comments. This week, Ailes told his senior executives during a meeting that Murdoch recently called him and asked if Fox could "back off the Trump coverage," a source told me. Ailes is said to have boasted to his executives that he told Murdoch he was covering Trump "the way he wanted to."

Murdoch loathed Trump so much that he took to Twitter to make his feelings known. "When is Donald Trump going to stop embarrassing his friends, let alone the whole country?" he asked.

Fox News went after Trump at the GOP debate

Donald Trump's post-debate tantrum has been an embarrassment. But it's not, on some level, a surprise.
After months when Fox News was his main ally, Trump stepped onto the Fox News debate stage and suddenly found the network seemingly committed to his destruction.

The first question was designed to embarrass Trump in front of a national audience of Republicans. Bret Baier began the debate by asking, "Is there anyone on stage, and can I see hands, who is unwilling tonight to pledge your support to the eventual nominee of the Republican party and pledge to not run an independent campaign against that person?"

Trump had already made clear that he wouldn't take that pledge. But Fox News began the debate by making sure every Republican in the country knew Trump wouldn't take that pledge. It was a question designed to embarrass him, and Baier kept turning the screws.

"Experts say an independent run would almost certainly hand the race over to Democrats and likely another Clinton," Baier told Trump. "You can't say tonight that you can make that pledge?"

And, for Trump, it went downhill from there.

Megyn Kelly's first question for Trump exposed his rampant misogyny in front of a national audience. "You've called women you don't like 'fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals,'" she began.

Trump, of course, interrupted. "Only Rosie O'Donnell," he said with a smile.

Kelly wasn't having it. "For the record, it was well beyond Rosie O'Donnell," she replied. "You once told a contestant on Celebrity Apprentice it would be a pretty picture to see her on her knees. Does that sound to you like the temperament of a man we should elect as president, and how will you answer the charge from Hillary Clinton, who was likely to be the Democratic nominee, that you are part of the war on women?"


Trump's answer was a master class in how to excuse sexism and wield the politics of white male resentment. "I don't frankly have time for total political correctness. And to be honest with you, this country doesn't have time either," Trump replied.

"Honestly Megyn," he continued, "if you don't like it, I'm sorry. I've been very nice to you, although I could probably maybe not be, based on the way you have treated me. But I wouldn't do that."

It turned out he would do that. But we'll get to that in a second.

The next question to Trump came from Chris Wallace. And here, again, the question was designed to embarrass the candidate.

"Mr. Trump, it has not escaped anybody's notice that you say that the Mexican government, the Mexican government is sending criminals -- rapists, drug dealers, across the border ... you have repeatedly said that you have evidence that the Mexican government is doing this, but you have refused or declined to share [that evidence]. Why not use this first Republican presidential debate to share your proof with the American people?"

But the demolition effort didn't end with the questions. As soon as the debate ended, Fox News cut to a focus group being conducted by pollster Frank Luntz. The entire segment was about how the focus group came in liking Trump and left loathing him. It was a festival of Trump hatred.

Look at the debate from Trump's perspective. His onetime friends at Fox News crafted the questions to embarrass him and then, once he was off the air, cut to a focus group — and who knows if that was a real focus group or actors who were coached on what to say — who told the whole country that Trump had lost the debate. 

And there's nothing Donald Trump hates like being called a loser....

Continue 

The Shellder of Knowledge

Over the weekend GOP Presidential Candidate Herman Cain dropped out of the race to seek his party's 2012 presidential nomination to take on President Obama come November. Last night on the Daily Show, Jon Stewart classically ripped into Cain for referencing a somewhat ambiguous line from the Pokemon 2000 movie.

You just can't make this stuff up...

Hat tip goes to my son Stephen for finding me this clip posted on pokememes

5 Reasons Why Chris Christie Would Be A Horrible President

This post from Addicting Info hits on all the points as to why our Governor, Chris Christie, would be a disaster as president. The post is not mean-spirted, just a matter-of-fact telling of how it is. Christie maybe the latest GOP flavor of the day and making people sit on the edge of their seats waiting like eager children for a double scoop of Rocky Road ice cream but the bottom line is, he is on the wrong side of many issues that are important to the average person.

The new Republican face of the week is Governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie. After constantly saying “no” over and over when questioned whether he will run for president, Christie is possibly having a change of heart. Added into the mix of current candidates, Christie would surely shake things up. His anti-worker stance in New Jersey has been popular among conservatives, but hated by many others. Here are 5 reasons why Chris Christie would be a horrible president.

1. War on Workers - As we look around the country, the war on workers has grown. Conservative governors such as Scott Walker in Wisconsin and Rick Scott in Florida, have stepped on the average worker and union member as they’ve seen their rights stripped away at every turn. Chris Christie is one of the names on the list that has gone after union rights. In order to get his budget under control, instead of asking the wealthiest members of his state to contribute, Christie attacked union members and forced them into pension and health care cuts and froze their raises in the future.

2. Anti-Education - Like many other conservatives, the attack on public education is nothing new. Republicans look to privatize schools, manipulate the curriculum and cut more spending out of their budget to preserve the tax breaks for the wealthiest members of their state. Christie has cut over $1 billion in public education since coming into office, which effects both teachers and students. Public education cuts have more to do than just tightening the budget, they are also a great way to break apart public sector unions. Public school teachers are part of a larger public sector union, which are one of the top contributors to Democratic campaigns. Like his Republican friends, Christie looks to destroy unions in order to weaken the Democratic party, even at the expensive of working Americans.

3. Destroying Social Security - Out of all the government programs, none has stood the test of time and been as successful as Social Security. Before the great President Franklin Roosevelt signed Social Security into law, over 75% of seniors lived in poverty, today that number is less than 10%. Chris Christie has followed the GOP stance on Social Security and calls for privatization and raising the retirement age. Currently, seniors over the age of 65 receive benefits. Christie and the Republicans have looked to raise the retirement age to close to 70, forcing the elderly to work even longer despite the average life expectancy in the US to be only 73. While Democrats look to preserve the program, Christie and the Republicans look to destroy it.

4. Christie, of course, loves the rich - While middle-class families lost their property tax rebates, got kicked out of health care programs and schools lost over $1 billion in funding causing massive tuition hikes, Chris Christie pushed to give tax breaks to top income earners. The “token” line of defense for Christie and the Republicans is that if you lower taxes, businesses will want to stay in the state, build and create jobs. This is proven to be false on many occasions. Many pharmaceutical companies have left Christie’s state of New Jersey and headed for states like California and Massachusetts not because of the tax rate, but because they have better research and development centers. Cutting taxes on the rich at the expensive of the middle-class is not just wrong, but deplorable.

5. His Health - When discussing a political candidate, people should stay away from personal matters unless it would really be detrimental to the office. Chris Christie has been criticized, and rightfully so, for his out of control weight problem. Christie has had a history of medical problems, and was even taken to the emergency room in July because of severe breathing problems and an asthma attack. Obesity is one of the leading causes of heart failure, and Christie is the perfect example of someone who needs to take better care of themselves. The issue with Christie’s weight has nothing to do with his politics, but maybe instead of trying to take care of the country, he should try to take care of himself first.

Dems to target McCain for Medicare non-vote

    The Hill news is leading this morning's edition with the following story:

Senate Democratic leaders are poised to blame Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) for the chamber’s failure to advance Medicare legislation.

The measure that would avert a sharp cut in payments to physicians stalled in the Senate on June 26 by one vote. McCain, the GOP presidential candidate, did not attend the vote and has yet to declare his position on the issue.

Click on the headline to read the story