Fox News pulled off the air in Britain. They could not find an audience dumb enough to watch apparently.

Courtesy of CNN:

Rupert Murdoch and his sons are pulling Fox News off the air in Britain. The network's parent company, 21st Century Fox, has announced that the controversial news channel will no longer be broadcast in the U.K. after failing to attract an audience. 

The network has also become a lightning rod for critics seeking to spoil the Murdochs' planned $15 billion takeover of Sky, the top pay TV provider in the U.K. 

"Fox News is focused on the U.S. market and designed for a U.S. audience and, accordingly, it averages only a few thousand viewers across the day in the U.K.," 21st Century Fox said in a statement. 

"We have concluded that it is not in our commercial interest to continue providing Fox News in the U.K.," it added.

Yes a cable news station designed to attract the most ignorant viewers in the country, fill their empty heads with lies and conspiracy theories, and then send them to the polls to vote for the most corrupt politicians imaginable.

Apparently that is a model which does not work outside of America.

Gee lucky us.

So I guess Britain will not have to deal with shit like this.

Watch Jesse Watters get duped by the fake shark photo on national television pic.twitter.com/sbDLuavvzS

— Eric Koch (@EricDKoch) August 29, 2017

This, this is why we have Donald Trump.

Leaked email confirms that Trump Modeling agency is closing its doors. Gee, I wonder why?

Courtesy of Mother Jones:

One of President Donald Trump's favorite businesses will go the way of Trump Steaks, Trump University, Trump Airlines, and Trump Magazine: his embattled New York modeling firm, Trump Model Management, has officially told its business associates around the world to prepare for its closure, according to an email obtained by Mother Jones. 

Over the weekend, Corinne Nicolas, president of Trump Models, informed industry colleagues of the pending closure of the 18-year-old agency, in which Trump owns an 85 percent stake (according to his most recent financial disclosure). "The Trump Organization is choosing to exit the modeling industry," Nicolas wrote in the email. "On the heels of the recent sale of the Miss Universe Organization, the company is choosing to focus on their core businesses in the real estate, golf and hospitality space." (The Trump Organization sold the Miss Universe Organization, which also runs the Miss USA beauty pageant, to the talent agency WME-IMG about 18 months ago, following a controversy over then-candidate Trump's remarks about Mexican immigrants.) 

Mother Jones reported last week that the firm was on the brink of collapse, and the New York Post confirmed on Friday that Trump's agency was indeed shutting down.

You may remember that the Trump Modeling agency had recently been in hot water when it was revealed that some of the models did not have valid visas to be working in this country, and that the agency ripped them off and treated them more like livestock than human beings.

One has to wonder if there were even that many booking agents interested in hiring a model associated with Donald Trump these days?

My guess is that there is not.

I guess bombing Syria can't solve every problem, can it Donnie?

Of eight shows pitched to television executives Sarah Palin's judge show was seen as least appealing.

Courtesy of TV News Check: 

Of eight first-run syndicated shows being pitched at NATPE in Miami Beach this week, a judge show featuring one-time GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is least appealing to viewers surveyed by Katz Television. 

Only 21% of the respondents said that they would watch or might watch Palin Rules, which was developed by Larry Little, the producer who launched Judge Judy, and distributed by Barry Wallach and Lee Villas. 

For the survey, Katz tested “awareness and interest” among 404 adults, 18 or older and geographically dispersed, via Ourmedia.com, Katz’s standing panel of TV viewers.

I guess that explains why we learned last week that the show was dead in the water because it did not "resonate" with the audience.

Seems like that may have been an understatement.

Not surprising, but it does mark yet another failure for the Wasilla Wendigo. 

So instead she launches a website, and hires somebody to ghostwrite it for her.

I am not sure what the end game is for something like that, but I have every confidence that Sarah Palin will fail to reach it.

MSNBC seems to be laboring under the delusion that Sarah Palin's new gig as a reality TV judge could make her millions. Hah!

So get this from MSNBC: 

According to TMZ, producers for a long-rumored new reality court show have lobbied to trademark “Palin Rules” as its title. The program, which will be in the same mold as “Judge Judy,” “People’s Court” and “Judge Joe Brown,” was first reported on back in March, with the show’s producer Larry Lyttle pledging that the former 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee will preside over “the courtroom of common sense.”

Okay so that's all relatively factual and we covered that here yesterday.

Here is where MSNBC goes off the rails: 

This is certainly not the first time a Palin has dipped their toe in the reality show genre. She hosted “Sarah Palin’s America” for two years on TLC, headlined “Amazing America With Sarah Palin” for the Sportsman Channel, and later launched an ill-fated subscription channel largely devoted to her political screeds and daily life. Her daughter Bristol has broken out as a reality star in her own right, with a high profile stint on “Dancing With the Stars” as well as a Lifetime series – “Life’s a Tripp” – which last just one season. 

Still, her stint as a TV judge could prove to be her most ambitious and lucrative foray into entertainment to date. If “Judge Judy” is the model, Palin could become a millionaire many times over. Currently, that show’s star – Judy Scheindlin – is earning upwards of $40 million a year, making her the 43rd highest paid celebrity in America according to Forbes. And Celebrity Net Worth reports that Scheindlin is worth a total of $250 million.

Okay so first MSNBC lists off all of Palin's failed attempts to start a successful franchise, which of course includes the fact that she was unable to renew her contract with Fox News, and then it goes on to suggest that this time she could somehow become just as successful as the very qualified and entertaining Judge Judy.

Which begs the question, "In what universe could that happen?"

Not only is Palin uniquely unqualified to render a legal judgement on anything, after all she has been sued over copyright infringement, her family was involved in a brawl which required a police response, and her son is currently facing a court case over domestic abuse, but she also demonstrates no ability to hold an audience past the first couple of episodes with any of her attempts to break into TV.

Sure a number of folks will tune in to the premiere just in the hopes of seeing her crash and burn, but if that does not happen and instead it becomes as routinely boring as her internet channel, reality show, and Facebook page, that audience will disappear as quickly as political candidates requesting her endorsement. 

Remember that as of right now, NO networks have even demonstrated an interest in this program, much less offering to pay her millions of dollars.

Despite aggressive partisan opposition, and a ridiculously hyperbolic rally against it, Obama's Iran nuclear deal becomes yet another victory for our "lame duck" President.

I lost count. How many victories is this for me now?

Courtesy of TPM:  

Senate Democrats voted to uphold the hard-fought nuclear accord with Iran on Thursday, overcoming ferocious GOP opposition and delivering President Barack Obama a legacy-making victory on his top foreign policy priority. 

A disapproval resolution for the agreement fell two votes short of the 60 needed to move forward as Democratic and independent senators banded together against it. Although House Republicans continued to pursue eleventh-hour strategies to derail the international accord, the outcome in the Senate guaranteed that the disapproval legislation would not reach Obama's desk. 

As a result the nuclear deal will move forward unchecked by Congress, an improbable win by Obama in the face of unanimous opposition from Republicans who control Capitol Hill, GOP candidates seeking to replace him in the Oval Office and the state of Israel and its allied lobbyists in the U.S.

Gee it's hard to imagine that a rally featuring Ted Cruz, Donald Trump, Michele Bachmann, and Sarah Palin had absolutely NO impact whatsoever on this deal going forward. But there you have it.

Of course that does not mean the Republicans are done stomping their feet and holding their breath in frustration.

This from HuffPo:

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Thursday that all options are on the table in the fight to stop the Iran nuclear deal from moving forward, including suing the president. 

 Boehner said a lawsuit against President Barack Obama over the deal is "an option that is very possible.” 

Just hours after returning from summer recess, Boehner found himself in the middle of a revolt mounted by conservative members of his caucus who want to delay a vote on a resolution of disapproval on the Iran deal, insisting the administration broke the law. 

After an afternoon meeting on Wednesday, Republicans emerged with a new strategy on how to handle votes on the deal, deciding to hold three instead of one. The first vote, which is expected Thursday, will be on a resolution stating Obama did not submit all the documents related to the Iran deal and therefore the 60-day congressional review period has yet to start. A possible lawsuit would be based on that premise.

This kind of reminds me of the drunk that gets his ass handed to him in a bar fight yet gets to his unsteady feet, puts up his dukes, and then asks the coat rack if it has had enough yet. 

Face it Republicans you lost.

Again.

To the President that you all organized to stop at every opportunity.

God I love this!

"The Duck Commander Musical" will shut down due to poor ticket sales. Seriously, who saw that coming?

Courtesy of Wonkette: 

No one could have predicted that a Vegas musical about the loathsome Robertson family — those jerkwads who hunt ducks and hate homos and believe the only reason people don’t go around cutting off dicks is because the Bible says — would fail harder than Carly Fiorina running a major corporation. (Topical jokes!) And by no one, we mean everyone, even those without God on their speed dial: 

A musical based on the family featured in the “Duck Dynasty” reality TV series is closing in Las Vegas, a little more than a month after it opened. 

“The Duck Commander Musical,” based on the book “Duck Commander Family” by Willie and Korie Robertson, will shut down on May 17 after typically selling less than 100 tickets per performance despite heavy discounting, the Las Vegas Sun reports. 

I wonder, how many drugs does a person have to do in order to make this seem a like a good idea?

Maybe if were staged in Nashville instead of Las Vegas it might have had a better run. Or better yet in Gilley's, that bar from "Urban Cowboy."

I wonder if it's true that the musical accompaniment was made up of duck calls and somebody blowing over the top of a half empty jug of moonshine?

New York Times suggests that Tea party politicians actually win by losing, while using Sarah Palin as the example that proves their point.

So Jennifer Steinhauer, of the New York Times wrote an article yesterday that was ostensibly about Chris McDaniel's failed bid to unseat Thad Cochran. (And of course his refusal to admit that he has lost.)

Steinhauer makes the argument that while these politicians lose their elections, sometimes multiple elections, they somehow come out winners since they are now seen as strident voices outside the beltway who are not forced to compromise their principles in order to pass legislation or get reelected.

It is an interesting premise, though not one I particularly agree with, however just as Stenhauer is making her point she flubs it with this statement: 

The mother of this strategy is Sarah Palin, the failed vice-presidential candidate who jettisoned her job as governor of Alaska in favor of a personal bully pulpit and a political action committee to support conservatives candidates, who largely covet her nod.

Seriously? Did this woman do NO research into what has happened to Palin over the years since she lost the 2008 election?

Numerous failed reality shows and book tours for her and her entire family, all while becoming a national laughingstock that is only listened to by the fringeiest of the Right Wing fringe, does not a success make.

However Steinhauer seems immune to these obvious facts.

Ms. Palin has given a total of hundreds of thousands of dollars to scores of candidates over the last few cycles. Most recently, her endorsement helped push Joni Ernst past her rivals in a crowded Iowa Senate primary. 

“Sarah Palin’s roaring support will help me to victory, and as a result, make ’em squeal in Washington,” Ms. Ernst said at the time. 

Ben Sasse was also helped by Ms. Palin in his victory over primary competitors in a Senate race in Nebraska.

First off Palin has NOT given hundreds of thousands of dollars to "scores of candidates."  I do not have time this morning to do the research and crunch the numbers but in the last five years I would be fairly surprised to learn that she gave even a hundred thousand dollars of her precious PAC money to candidates, and then it was only in stingy little dribs and drabs. And that does not take into account that she has been paid by some of these politicians to show up and stump for them, so in essence she can often make back her PAC's donation in personal financial gain and then some.

In short, it's all a scam.

And secondly Steinhauer completely ignores the large number of Palin endorsees who have flamed out and crashed into a crater of obscurity.

So yes Chris McDaniel may in fact follow in the footsteps of Sarah Palin. He may write a book that few will read, star in a reality show that nobody will want to see,  get book deals for members of his family that nobody will give a shit about, and get fewer and fewer speaking gigs until finally he is standing in front of the hog exhibit at a country fair talking about taking back this country.

And if that is how failed Tea Party candidates define success, then he should be very, very happy.

After all look how happy Sarah Palin is.

On a related note it appears that not only are some Tea Party candidates following in the Mama Grizzly's footsteps, at least one of their daughters is following in Bristol's: 

US Senate candidate and Baton Rouge Congressman Bill Cassidy releases a statement that says his 17-year-old unmarried daughter is pregnant as she prepares for her senior year in high school. ULM Political Science Professor Joshua Stockley says this revelation shouldn't impact his chances at defeating incumbent Mary Landrieu this fall. 

"It's doubtful Senator Landrieu's campaign or any groups connected with her will find any particular reason to make this a campaign issue." 

Stockley says there is political precedent, as Sarah Palin had to announce her daughter was pregnant as she ran for Vice-President. 

"This really didn't have a significant impact on Sarah Palin. John McCain and Sarah Palin were defeated for very different reasons. None of which you can tie back to Bristol Palin."

That is true. McCain and Palin would have lost whether Bristol got herself knocked up or not. 

Of course it didn't exactly HELP.

Wow, such a brave new political world Sarah Palin has helped create, don't you agree?

I think we have narrowed down the reason that Borders went out of business.

Courtesy of National Confidential:

Sarah Palin’s latest book is causing a headache for the bankrupt Borders book, based on pictures release online. The national chain, closing its doors and attempting to rid itself of inventory, appears to have a Palin sized problem.

Okay I am exaggerating a little bit...maybe. But you have to admit that it certainly did NOT do Borders any favors to purchase all of those crappy books when there was NOBODY who wanted to murder their brain cells by reading them. After all there are only SO many paint chip eaters, and most of them have never actually read one them there books. "Cletus stop trying to push it into the damn VCR slot! You have to open it up and try to make sense outta those squiggly lines."

I like how they said they had a "Palin sized problem." I think we should all start using that in our day to day lives.

"Yeah Bill, you certainly do have a problem, but at least its not a PALIN sized problem!"

Tickets for Sarah Palin's speech in Dallas end up in the bargain bin.

Dallas, Texas:

Ticket prices are dropping for the Friday night gala that features a VIP gathering and speech by former GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin. Instead of $1,000, attendees can pay $250 for one ticket to the 7 p.m. dinner at the Fairmont Hotel in Dallas. Tickets for two to the VIP reception and dinner, once priced at $25,000, now cost $2,000 (and include six non-VIP dinner tickets and a photo with Palin). Organizers say that "ticket sales have been reduced to offer a greater number of people an opportunity to attend."

Priced DOWN from $1,000 to $250?  Not just cut in half once, but essentially cut in half twice? And the reason given is so MORE people can hear her screechy voice saying ignorant things?  Please, NOBODY cuts the price of tickets down to a quarter of its original price if sales are brisk.

And from $25,000 to $2,000 for a chance to see get close enough to see the multiple layers of makeup on the Teabagger Queen's face?  Could it be that even though the media is fixated with Palin that the real people are starting to tire of the three ring circus that is her life?

I wonder how much longer it will be before Sarah is reduced to showing up for the grand opening of an IHOP in Tallahassee, Florida?  Or perhaps a new Piggly Wiggly in Alabama?