A poll of Fox News viewers believes that the Mueller probe should continue, and that it will find impeachable offenses.

Courtesy of Fox News:  

Most voters think it is important to continue investigating whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia -- but more believe President Trump will fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller before he’s done. 

About two-thirds, 67 percent in the latest Fox News poll, say it is at least somewhat important the investigation continues, and 56 percent think it’s likely that Mueller’s probe will find Donald Trump committed criminal or impeachable offenses.

And those are FOX NEWS viewers.

The numbers are much higher for the truly informed.

Some members of the Senate are also concerned that Trump will fire Mueller.

Courtesy of the NYT:

The Senate Judiciary Committee fired a political warning shot at the White House on Thursday, advancing on a bipartisan vote long-stalled legislation to allow special counsels such as Robert S. Mueller III to appeal their firing to a panel of judges and possibly be reinstated. 

Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, has stated unequivocally that he will not bring the bill to the Senate floor for a vote. But with four Republicans, including the committee’s chairman, Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, joining Democrats to vote in favor of it, the measure sent a clear message to President Trump that there would be serious consequences to firing the special counsel. 

Even senators who voted against the legislation warned Mr. Trump against trying to dismiss Mr. Mueller. Senator Orrin G. Hatch of Utah, the longest-serving Senate Republican, said that “firing Mueller would cause a firestorm and bring the administration’s agenda to a halt. It could even result in impeachment.”

I think that if Trump tries to fire Mueller that even Republicans like Mitch McConnell will turn on him, and then his days will truly be numbered.

Your face when you start an interview with Donald Trump vs your face when you finish an interview with Donald Trump.

The start of the interview vs. the end of the interview. (The faces tell it all.) pic.twitter.com/BW7BfsOjKe

— Richard Hine (@richardhine) April 27, 2018

Watching these three try and fail to protect Trump from himself was pure comedy gold.

Just in case you are still not aware of how badly Donald Trump crashed and burned during his Fox and Friends interview yesterday, I present this tweet as proof.

As a citizen you should know how much the president really lost it by the end of this interview today... pic.twitter.com/3cnueHZl45

— Maddow Blog (@MaddowBlog) April 27, 2018

Keep in mind that was just one small piece of a rambling 30 minute interview, during which Trump seemed to be purposefully committing political and legal suicide.

Here are some other highlights (Or if you prefer, lowlights.).

On his, at the time, pick to head the VA Ronny Jackson:

"(Jackson) has a perfect record. He's got this beautiful record unblemished."

Boy that worked out well didn't it?

Decision to fire James Comey:

"I did a great thing for the American people by firing him."

Uh huh.

On interfering with the Mueller investigation:

" I'm very disappointed in my Justice Department but because of the fact that it's going under, and I think you'll understand this, I have decided that I won't be involved. I may change my mind at some point because what's going on is a disgrace."

"And our Justice Department, which I try and stay away from, but at some point I won't."

So he MIGHT interfere. But then again, he might not.

Trump history lesson:

"If you go back to the Civil War it was the Republicans that really did the thing." 

Yeah, you know the Republicans did the thing, at that place, during, you know, the time.

Trump grades his own presidency:

"I would give myself an A+."

I have to wonder if after this bizarre performance even Trump's most staunch supporters would give his presidency anything but an F-?

Devin Nunes is investigating the State Department because he cannot follow a simple narrative.

Courtesy of Fox Business: 

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes said Sunday his review of FBI and Justice Department “electronic communication” documents shows no intelligence was used to begin the investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 election. 

“We now know that there was no official intelligence that was used to start this investigation. We know that Sidney Blumenthal and others were pushing information into the State Department. So we’re trying to piece all that together and that’s why we continue to look at the State Department,” Nunes told Maria Bartiromo on “Sunday Morning Futures.” 

The California Republican said he is now investigating the State Department due to signs of “major irregularities,” in an effort to figure out how information about former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos – who reportedly met with a foreign policy expert and Cambridge professor with connections to the CIA and Britain’s MI6 in London in 2016 – was obtained by the FBI. 

So if Nunes would bother reading the New York Times he would know exactly how the FBI found out about Papadopoulos connections with the Russian Cambridge professor:

During a night of heavy drinking at an upscale London bar in May 2016, George Papadopoulos, a young foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign, made a startling revelation to Australia’s top diplomat in Britain: Russia had political dirt on Hillary Clinton. 

About three weeks earlier, Mr. Papadopoulos had been told that Moscow had thousands of emails that would embarrass Mrs. Clinton, apparently stolen in an effort to try to damage her campaign. 

Exactly how much Mr. Papadopoulos said that night at the Kensington Wine Rooms with the Australian, Alexander Downer, is unclear. But two months later, when leaked Democratic emails began appearing online, Australian officials passed the information about Mr. Papadopoulos to their American counterparts, according to four current and former American and foreign officials with direct knowledge of the Australians’ role. 

Okay so yes there was "official intelligence" communicated from the Australian intelligence services to our own FBI.

And as Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee Nunes HAS to know this.

So WTF?

Yesterday Nunes also suggested the DNC's decision to sue the Trump Campaign, the Russians, and Wikileaks was nothing more than a fundraising scheme, and that they should actually be suing themselves.

Courtesy of the Washington Examiner:  

"This is nothing more than a scam to keep their base fired up," Nunes, who is chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said during an interview Saturday with Fox News' Judge Jeanine Pirro.

"This is about the extreme left, the socialist left, wanting to never accept that the president of the United States was rightfully and duly elected, carried a number of states that nobody expected him to carry," the congressman said. "So this is a fundraising scheme. It's nothing more, nothing less. It's a fundraising scheme because the Democrats are out of money, and that's what this is about."

The lawsuit Nunes was asked to comment on alleges a conspiracy between the trio to disrupt the 2016 presidential campaign in order to get Donald Trump elected. The DNC's complaint was filed Friday in a federal district court in Manhattan, N.Y. 

Nunes started out his answer quipping, "Well, they ought to be suing themselves." 

"They are the ones that colluded with the Russians. So they're the ones that have an FEC violation, they didn't report that they were paying Fusion GPS, right? That they were digging up dirt on the trump campaign. None of that was reported, so they ought to be suing themselves. This is nothing more than a scam to keep their base fired up."

The "extreme left?"

The "socialist left?"

If that he who is identifying as those never wanting to accept Donald Trump as their president then I think that about 70% of the country is now identified as the "extreme socialist left."

And if true that sounds pretty good for the Democrats heading into the 2018 election cycle.

Sean Hannity and Donald Trump don't simply share lawyers, they are late night snuggle bunnies.

Courtesy of WaPo:

The phone calls between President Trump and Sean Hannity come early in the morning or late at night, after the Fox News host goes off the air. They discuss ideas for Hannity’s show, Trump’s frustration with the ongoing special counsel probe and even, at times, what the president should tweet, according to people familiar with the conversations. When he’s off the phone, Trump is known to cite Hannity when he talks with White House advisers. 

The revelation this week that the two men share an attorney is just the latest sign of how Hannity is intertwined with Trump’s world — an increasingly powerful confidant who offers the ­media-driven president a sympathetic ear and shared grievances. The conservative commentator is so close to Trump that some White House aides have dubbed him the unofficial chief of staff. 

This portrait of the interactions between the president and the talk-show host is based on interviews with more than a dozen friends, advisers and associates of the two men, some of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations. 

For a president who feels, intensely, that he is under siege, Hannity offers what he prizes: loyalty and a mass audience. And Trump, in turn, has directed his supporters to Hannity’s show — urging people on Twitter last week to watch the commentator attack special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, who heads the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 campaign. 

Their bond intensified during the 2016 campaign and has grown stronger during Trump’s time in office. 

“The bottom line is, during the heat of the campaign when relationships are forged, he was always there, offering good advice, in person and on television,” former deputy Trump campaign manager David Bossie said of Hannity. “The president sees him as an incredibly smart and articulate spokesman for the agenda.”

"Incredibly smart?"  Sure, okay.

The article goes on to say that Trump and Hannity talk several times a week, and that Hannity  even helps him with his tweets. (Well that explains a lot.)

In fact it is almost as if Hannity has a desk in the White House.

Shit, more like he has his toothbrush in the master bathroom.

Essentially Trump and Hannity are engaging in the Right Wing cable television version of phone sex.

"Oh Donald you are so masterful, and your hands seem gigantic over the phone."

"Oh Sean you are so creepily flattering, and I love how you carefully manipulate me into saying and tweeting crazy things that are damaging our country. I can't quit you."

I really think that this was Roger Ailes' fantasy all along.

To have Fox News take over the running of this country, and lead it to the glorious conservative dystopia that dominated his masturbatory fever dreams.

Too bad he did not live long enough to see it.

And hopefully WE will live long enough to see it all come crashing down around Donald Trump's ears.

Sean Hannity actually has THREE lawyers in common with Donald Trump.

Nothing to see here, nothing! Now stop looking for something!

Courtesy of The Atlantic: 

Sean Hannity has had no shortage of lawyers. In court on Monday, his name was disclosed as the third “mystery client” of Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen. Though Hannity says he was never actually Cohen’s client, he does appear to have used the legal services of other well-connected Trump-world lawyers in a different matter a year ago. 

On May 25, 2017, KFAQ, a radio station based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, received a cease-and-desist letter signed by two lawyers for Hannity: Victoria Toensing and Jay Alan Sekulow. Toensing’s signature sits above her name and that of her husband Joseph E. diGenova, the members of diGenova and Toensing LLP, who are identified as “Counsel for Sean Hannity,” according to a copy of the letter obtained by The Atlantic. 

Sekulow is also identified in the letter page as a “Counsel for Sean Hannity.” Sekulow is now the only known personal attorney for President Trump working full-time on the response to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s inquiry. Sekulow recently announced that diGenova and Toensing had been hired to join him, before reversing course. 

The letter to the radio station was sent before Sekulow joined Trump’s team. The letter was sent in response to accusations against Hannity made by the controversial conservative activist Debbie Schlussel. During an appearance on the Pat Campbell show on KFAQ last April, Schlussel said Hannity had been “creepy” towards her and had invited her to his hotel room.

It should be noted that even though diGenova could not join Trump's team due to "conflicts of interest," reports are that he is still giving Trump legal advice.

Another thing to be noted is that both Sekolow...

...and diGenova have been frequent guests on the Sean Hannity Show.

And yes, the topic has often been the Mueller investigation.

So to be clear Hannity consistently invites his lawyers on TV to defend Donald Trump who is also seeking their legal counsel.

Well it's a good thing there is no conflict of interest here.

Just in case you were wondering who was responsible for the attack on Syria yesterday, well the answer of course is Fox News.

Courtesy of Think Progress:  

On Friday morning, Fox & Friends host Ainsley Earhardt suggested that military strikes in Syria could be useful to divert attention from the unflattering portrayal of President Trump contained in former FBI Director James Comey’s book. 

“If the president, and France, and the U.K decide to strike Syria, don’t you think that story would be a bigger story than Comey’s book that’s released on Tuesday?” she said.

Earhardt’s suggestion came while Trump is reportedly still considering a potential military strike against Syria — and amid an edition of Fox & Friends that was largely devoted to sullying Comey’s reputation.

That's right folks, we now live in a country where the foreign policy is determined by an airhead sitting on a couch spouting nonsense to a cable news audience.

A cable news audience which includes the president of the United States.

By the way if you are looking for a little bright spot of joy to be taken from this attack on Syria, you can find it by watching Alex Jones lose his mind over his hero's decision to launch this military strike.

Alex Jones on Trump launching strikes in Syria... pic.twitter.com/FkPt3xnok4

— Andrew Peng (@TheAPJournalist) April 14, 2018

And it gets even better.

This only gets more bizarre, and I’m going to stop watching.

Alex Jones on Trump’s decision to approve strikes against Syria (continued): “He said Hillary’s the founder of Al-Qaeda. Well, you’re the butt boy of Al-Qaeda, Trump” pic.twitter.com/Dy08J1rwxF

— Andrew Peng (@TheAPJournalist) April 14, 2018

I think perhaps this is the base that Trump was trying to hold onto.

There are actually a LOT of these videos of Jones frothing at the mouth and screaming expletives at his cameraman, but they are too over the top to show even here on IM.

By the way, I for one am not distracted from the Mueller investigation, or the FBI investigation of Michael Cohen. Just in case anybody was wondering.

Sarah Palin's pals Diamond and Silk get kicked off Facebook after their videos are deemed "unsafe for the community."

.@DiamondandSilk: "If a privately owned bakery has to go against their Christian values to bake a cake, then Mark Zuckerberg is going to have to suck it up buttercup and allow Diamond and Silk to speak our truth." pic.twitter.com/LnukaSjwD4

— Fox News (@FoxNews) April 8, 2018

Courtesy of Raw Story:  

Diamond and Silk,” the two North Carolina sisters who have profitably promoted themselves as Donald Trump’s biggest fans, took to Fox & Friends and Twitter this weekend in a panic after Facebook determined their content –primarily videos — is “unsafe to the community,” causing their traffic to collapse while hitting them in the pocketbooks. 

The two, dubbed by MSNBC host Joy Reid as “Cubic Zirconia and Rayon,” (real names Lynnette “Diamond” Hardaway and Rochelle “Silk” Richardson), have become recognizable regulars on Fox News where they are notable for siting side-by-side and opining on the political topic du jour. 

However things have taken a turn for the worse in the past six months as Facebook informed the two that their videos are unacceptable on the social media site.

Not typically a fan of censorship, but I cannot say I am going to shed a tear over this.

 These two women are TERRIBLE!

I mean look who they hang out with.

Clearly Facebook is dead serious about cleaning up their platform.

I for one am going to pay closer attention to what I post on the Immoral Minority Facebook page.

Not looking to give anybody an excuse. 

CNN's Brian Stetler points out the damage done by Donald Trump's "Addiction to Fox News."

Courtesy of Mediaite:  

CNN’s Brian Stelter today opened by talking about how President Trump‘s “addiction to Fox” is having a lot of real-world consequences. 

He brought up the past week of big news on immigration and troops being sent to the border, following the President’s tweet after watching a segment on Fox News. 

“The line where Fox News ends and where Trump begins,” Stelter said, “is getting blurrier by the day.” 

He brought up the initial Fox News coverage, followed by the primetime coverage, of the migrant “caravan” as indicative of how Trump’s “addiction to Fox and to other pro-Trump commentators leads to impulsive actions.” 

Stelter said deploying the National Guard to the border is a “PR stunt” for a President who “wants to give his Fox friends something to celebrate.”

Very well said.

Donald Trump is addicted to fake news and conspiracy theories, and what better place to find them than Fox News?  (Well, besides Info Wars of course.)

If Trump were just an every day citizen this might be a pain in the ass to his family, but probably nothing more.

But as America's Commander-in-Chief Donald Trump can take the bullshit from Fox News and weaponize it to cause real harm to our country, and our country's allies.

Wait, people still interview Sarah Palin?

Courtesy of Fox News Insider:

The 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate said she sees "hypocritical double standards" when it comes to the left's push for more gun control measures. 

She said all Americans have the constitutional right to protect themselves and their families in the same way celebrities and politicians are protected. 

"We have every right, we have a God-given right that’s codified in our Bill of Rights to protect ourselves and to protect our property and our families. It’s not just a select few that government will choose who gets to be protected. The movie stars, the politicians in D.C., those in a courthouse, no. The Bill of Rights does apply to every single citizen of the U.S.," she said. 

Responding to President Trump's renewed calls for border security, including using U.S. troops, Palin said it's "obvious" why Democrats are opposed. 

"I think that they just fear that Americans aren’t gonna vote Democrat, so by golly they’ll import people who will," she said. 

Palin said those in favor of "globalization" want cheap labor and Americans are getting "sick of it." 

"It comes back to either supporting the rule of law, our legal immigration system, or supporting and incentivizing illegal immigration with no expectation of assimilating any of the people into our culture or anything else. It’s really whack. People are really sick of it," she said. 

It's really whack?

Do you know what else is "really whack?" The fact that Sarah Palin does not understand that you cannot "import" people who will vote the Democratic ticket because they are not yet US citizens.

Unless of course Palin buys into that conspiracy theory that claims the 3 million votes that Hillary Clinton beat Trump by in the popular vote were cast by illegal aliens.

But that's just crazy, right?

Of course the idea that ANYONE would seek an opinion about ANYTHING from this whack-a-doodle has been is equally crazy.

Rachel Maddow is killing it.

Courtesy of Forbes:  

In March, The Rachel Maddow Show finished as the highest-rated show in cable news, with an average total audience of 3.058 million viewers--the show's best-ever performance in the 9 p.m. ET hour. FNC's Hannity was second, with 3.000 million viewers. Maddow also won among viewers 25-54, the demographic most valued by advertisers, finishing March with an average audience of 671,000 compared to Hannity's 616,000. CNN finished a distant third in the hour, with 382,000 viewers 25-54. 

MSNBC has been experiencing a dramatic rise in ratings, finishing the first quarter of 2018 as the only cable news network to grow compared to Q1 2017: MSNBC ratings were up 30%, while both Fox News and CNN experienced declines. 

In March, MSNBC's programming in prime time, daytime and total day all broke records for the network. The network's prime-time lineup averaged 2.398 million total viewers, finishing as the No. 2 network across all of cable TV. While Fox News continued its run as the top-rated network in cable news, MSNBC's prime lineup was up 8% from 2017, while both Fox (down 18 percent) and CNN (down 16 percent) were off year-over-year. 

The March ratings results suggest Fox News' unrivaled status as the dominant force in cable news may be facing one of the strongest challenges in years.

I know that people are starting to turn away from cable news, and looking for alternative information sources, but for my money MSNBC is consistently the highest quality news that you can get via television.

Their reporting is top notch, they have tons of contributors from the world of print journalism, and they deliver the facts in a straightforward manner.

Sure they lean left, but then typically so do the facts.

And Rachel Maddow is clearly the shining jewel in the MSNBC crown.

Even if I think I know a story that I have been reporting on all day, she will almost always add a different dimension to it, and dredge up facts that had not yet been reported.

By the way she also terrifies those on the Right, who constantly attack her, and Donald Trump, who takes great pains not to.

Donald Trump patches Fox News host Lou Dobbs in on "senior level calls" White House.

Courtesy of The Daily Beast:  

It’s not just that President Donald Trump loves Dobbs’ show and his on-air style. It’s not just that the president asks West Wing aides and confidants if they’ve seen specific, recent segments of Dobbs’ program, or that Trump calls the cable-news personality semi-regularly to gossip or solicit counsel, or that he’s boosted Dobbs on his Twitter account. It’s not just that the president has sat for a friendly interview with Dobbs or that he is on a first name basis with “Lou.” 

Indeed, much of this can describe Trump’s relationships with various other television personalities. What sets Dobbs apart is the degree to which the president views him as a political and populism godfather, the #MAGA Socrates to Trump’s Plato. 

As such, Dobbs doesn’t get to just interview and socialize with the president, he is involved in some of the administration’s more sensitive discussions. During the first year of the Trump era, the president has patched Dobbs in via speakerphone to multiple meetings in the Oval Office so that he could offer his two cents, according to three sources familiar with these conversations. Trump will ask Dobbs for his opinion before and after his senior aides or Cabinet members have spoken. Occasionally, he will cut off an official so the Fox Business host can jump in. 

Dobbs, these sources all independently recounted, has been patched in to senior-level meetings on issues such as trade and tax policy—meetings that featured officials such as senior policy adviser Stephen Miller, former top economic adviser Gary Cohn, former chief strategist Steve Bannon, trade adviser Peter Navarro, and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.

I'm sorry, when did Lou Dobbs receive his security clearance again?

You would think that a reality show guy would know that just because somebody acts like a know it all on TV, that does NOT mean that they know it all.

Lou Dobbs is at least as dangerous as John Bolton, and now both of them, as well as those idiots on the Fox and Friends couch, are guiding this lunatic's decision making.

Donald Trump dines and plays golf with Sean Hannity. Oooh, somebody might be getting a White House gig soon.

Courtesy of The Hill: 

President Trump reportedly dined with Fox News personality Sean Hannity at the president's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida this weekend.

The Palm Beach Post also reported that Trump golfed with Hannity on Saturday. 

“The president was in a very good mood. He seemed very, very happy,” longtime Republican operative Larry Casey, who was a guest at the club, told the Post. 

Casey added that he saw the two golfing together, while the president remained uncharacteristically silent on social media. 

Their meetings come as the White House searches for a replacement for Hope Hicks, Trump's longtime aide and White House communications director. Hicks's last day in the White House was on Thursday.

On the one hand you would think that common sense dictates that hiring Sean Hannity as you communications director would ridiculous on its face, but then you might thing "Why in the hell am I attributing common sense to any decisions that Donald Trump might make?"

And of course Hannity is likely far more effective for Trump lying his ass off for him on Fox News, then he would be lying his ass for him to reporters at he White House.

(Here he is begging James Comey to come on his show, while at the same time attacking Anderson Cooper and CNN as "fake news.")

Tonight @seanhannity jealous that James Comey is doing a town hall with @andersoncooper attacks Cooper for a third day in a row for the #KarenMcDougal #StormyDaniels interviews.
Hannity then comically begs Comey to do an interview with him. pic.twitter.com/2VNCgjpMmw

— Richard W. (@IceManNYR) March 29, 2018

However I actually think that Hannity's job is in jeopardy at Fox, and that he might be looking for a soft place to land, which would make a gig at the White House much more attractive to him.

Look I don't know, we're just speculating here.

But what I do know is that if Trump gave Sean Hannity a job in his communications department, he might as well go ahead and tap Sarah Palin for a cabinet position as well, because he has already crossed over the line of lunacy at that point.

After getting walloped by the Parkland students Laura Ingraham decides to take a vacation. Might as well, it's not like she has any advertisers left.

David Hogg Rejected By Four Colleges To Which He Applied and whines about it. (Dinged by UCLA with a 4.1 GPA...totally predictable given acceptance rates.) https://t.co/wflA4hWHXY

— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) March 28, 2018

 Courtesy of Variety:  

Laura Ingraham is taking avacation next week. Now the question is whether a controversy swirling around the host will go on hiatus as well. 

The popular Fox News Channel host – her “Ingraham Angle” was the fourth most-watched cable-news program in February – told viewers Friday night she would not appear on air next week as she took what she described as a pre-planned break around the Easter holiday with her children. Substitute hosts are expected to fill in for her on the program. 

She leaves in the midst of heightened scrutiny. Ingraham set off an imbroglio Wednesday with a Twitter post mocking Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student David Hogg, one of the students who has spoken out about gun control prominently since a February 14th shooting incident at the Parkland, Florida school left 17 people dead. Her tweet linked to a report noting Hogg had been rejected from four California colleges. Her tweet also said Hogg “whines about” the rejections. 

That extremely immature attack resulted in a call for a boycott of Ingraham's advertisers and as of right now these are the businesses that have turned their backs on her:

Atlantis Bahamas 

Expedia 

Hulu 

Jenny Craig 

Johnson & Johnson

Liberty Mutual 

Nestle 

Nutrish 

Stitch Fix 

TripAdvisor 

and Wayfair. 

Okay THAT'S a hell of a list.  And there will likely be even more by the end of the day.

Keep in mind that Ingraham is not the ONLY conservative who has been brought to their knees after attacking these Parkland students, and if I were a Right Wing asshole I would be thinking twice about getting on the wrong side of these kids.

They are moving us to the future, and woe be to those that try to stand in their way.

So guess who is now more or less advising Donald Trump.

Courtesy of the Daily Beast:  

At a time when President Donald Trump is eager to surround himself with supportive television personalities, he’s taken a particular liking to a pair of YouTube stars known for, among other things, a pro-Trump, anti-Eminem rap song titled “Trump’s Yo President.” 

Diamond & Silk are not your prototypical Trump boosters. They are African-American women who have relied on the internet for their rise to fame (or infamy, depending on your political posture). They are known, predominantly, for their direct-to-camera, impassioned defenses of the president—and acid-tongued takedowns of his critics. But in recent weeks, the two have had a growing presence on Fox News, which has, in turn, put their commentary squarely on Trump’s radar. And, according to White House officials, he’s impressed. 

Within the halls of the White House, Trump has repeatedly commented to aides over the past several months about how much he enjoys catching Diamond & Silk on TV, referencing specific clips and interviews they’ve done on shows such as Fox & Friends or Hannity, two West Wing officials and an outside Trump ally tell The Daily Beast. 

According to those close to the president, Trump finds their unabashedly loyalty, as well as their style and flair, “fantastic.”

Yeah I guess we should have anticipated this after Diamond and Silk were photographed with the Wasilla Wendigo at Mar-a-Lago.

I wonder how much longer it will be before these two get joint appointed to run the newly created "Dark Skinned People Outreach Program" that Trump will surely create in order to convince the black folks that he loves their votes almost as much as he loves white people votes?

Tucker Carlson gets a little panicky about white people becoming the minority in America.

#ICYMI Check out the segment from tonight about the changing demographics in America pic.twitter.com/eM1VJkN8OG

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) March 20, 2018

 Courtesy of Vox: 

On his top-rated Fox News show Tuesday night, conservative pundit Tucker Carlson opined on demographic change and immigration in America, saying that though “most immigrants are nice ... this is more change than human beings are designed to digest,” and asking viewers, “How would you feel if that happened in your neighborhood?”

The segment was focused on a National Geographic article featured in the magazine’s April issue. Though the article, centered on the Pennsylvania town of Hazleton, was titled “As America Changes, Some Anxious Whites Feel Left Behind,” Carlson focused his remarks on the growth of Hazleton’s Hispanic population, which has increased exponentially since 2000 — a change that Carlson said “makes societies volatile.” 

But he saved his strongest words for “our leaders ... who caused all this,” who, in his words, live in neighborhoods that “are basically unchanged — they look like it’s 1960. No demographic change in their zip code.” He concludes, “Our leaders are for diversity, just not where they live.”

My favorite line is  “How would you feel if that happened in your neighborhood?”

Perhaps Carlson should have some native Americans on and ask THEM that question.

It kind of sounds as if Tucker is suggesting that the uptick in violence that we have seen is due to the fact that there are more brown people in the country these days.

And his argument is not that THEY are being violent, but that there very presence incites violence from those who were here before them.

Essentially white people, right?

So rather than educate everybody to be more tolerant by teaching our children about different cultures and customs, while trying to create more inclusive activities in communities to unite the people living there, we should instead start blocking nonwhites from entering the country?

Let's call that the "Fox News solution. "

Cable news analyst quits and sends final message to his Fox News peers.

Courtesy of Buzzfeed: 

On March 1st, I informed Fox that I would not renew my contract. The purpose of this message to all of you is twofold: 

First, I must thank each of you for the cooperation and support you've shown me over the years. Those working off-camera, the bookers and producers, don't often get the recognition you deserve, but I want you to know that I have always appreciated the challenges you face and the skill with which you master them.

Second, I feel compelled to explain why I have to leave. Four decades ago, I took an oath as a newly commissioned officer. I swore to "support and defend the Constitution," and that oath did not expire when I took off my uniform. Today, I feel that Fox News is assaulting our constitutional order and the rule of law, while fostering corrosive and unjustified paranoia among viewers. Over my decade with Fox, I long was proud of the association. Now I am ashamed. 

In my view, Fox has degenerated from providing a legitimate and much-needed outlet for conservative voices to a mere propaganda machine for a destructive and ethically ruinous administration. When prime-time hosts--who have never served our country in any capacity--dismiss facts and empirical reality to launch profoundly dishonest assaults on the FBI, the Justice Department, the courts, the intelligence community (in which I served) and, not least, a model public servant and genuine war hero such as Robert Mueller--all the while scaremongering with lurid warnings of "deep-state" machinations-- I cannot be part of the same organization, even at a remove. To me, Fox News is now wittingly harming our system of government for profit. 

As a Russia analyst for many years, it also has appalled me that hosts who made their reputations as super-patriots and who, justifiably, savaged President Obama for his duplicitous folly with Putin, now advance Putin's agenda by making light of Russian penetration of our elections and the Trump campaign. Despite increasingly pathetic denials, it turns out that the "nothing-burger" has been covered with Russian dressing all along. And by the way: As an intelligence professional, I can tell you that the Steele dossier rings true--that's how the Russians do things.. The result is that we have an American president who is terrified of his counterpart in Moscow. 

I do not apply the above criticisms in full to Fox Business, where numerous hosts retain a respect for facts and maintain a measure of integrity (nor is every host at Fox News a propaganda mouthpiece--some have shown courage). I have enjoyed and valued my relationship with Fox Business, and I will miss a number of hosts and staff members. You're the grown-ups. 

Also, I deeply respect the hard-news reporters at Fox, who continue to do their best as talented professionals in a poisoned environment. These are some of the best men and women in the business.. 

So, to all of you: Thanks, and, as our president's favorite world leader would say, "Das vidanya."

Okay that last remark was right on target.

The above is a message from now retired Lt. Colonel Ralph Peters, and former Fox News "expert."

There has been virtually no time in the past where I have found anything admirable about this guy, but apparently there is an ethical line that even HE will not cross.

Now let's watch and see if any other Fox News folks reach there limit in the next few months. 

Trump hires lawyer who embraces conspiracy theory that FBI and Justice Department worked together to frame him.

Courtesy of the New York Times: 

President Trump hired the longtime Washington lawyer Joseph E. diGenova on Monday, adding an aggressive voice to his legal team who has pushed the theory on television that the F.B.I. and Justice Department framed Mr. Trump.

“Former U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia Joe DiGenova will be joining our legal team later this week,” said Jay Sekulow, one of the president’s personal lawyers. “I have worked with Joe for many years and have full confidence that he will be a great asset in our representation of the President.” 

Mr. diGenova has endorsed the notion that a secretive group of F.B.I. agents concocted the Russia investigation as a way to keep Mr. Trump from becoming president. “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 said on Fox News in January. 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.” 

Little evidence has emerged to support that theory.

Of course as we know Trump loves him some conspiracy theories, after all it was the Obama birth certificate conspiracy that brought him such national attention in the first place. And a conspiracy theory that suggests that he did nothing wrong and is being framed he would love that most of all.

Bringing this bomb thrower into the mix indicates to me that Trump has NO intention of agreeing to that interview with Robert Mueller.

A total WITCH HUNT with massive conflicts of interest!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 19, 2018

I think all signs point to Trump tripling down and stonewalling the Mueller investigators while tweeting out that he is being framed by his own Justice Department, and is the victim of a massive liberal conspiracy to remove him from office without cause.

Just when you thought this whole thing could not possible get any crazier.

P.S. Just a reminder that there is a tweet for EVERYTHING.

The Failing New York Times purposely wrote a false story stating that I am unhappy with my legal team on the Russia case and am going to add another lawyer to help out. Wrong. I am VERY happy with my lawyers, John Dowd, Ty Cobb and Jay Sekulow. They are doing a great job and.....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 11, 2018

Stupid New York Times being a week too early.

Fox's Shepard Smith claims that many of his fellow hosts are there strictly to entertain, and that he and they "serve different masters."

Courtesy of Time: 

Smith says he’s unbothered by the divergence between his reporting and Fox’s opinion slate. “We serve different masters. We work for different reporting chains, we have different rules. They don’t really have rules on the opinion side. They can say whatever they want. If it’s their opinion. I don’t really watch a lot of opinion programming. I’m busy.” He laughs, enigmatic punctuation that may indicate he’d been trying for a bon mot, or might just be a Mississippi-nice way of indicating he’s said what he’s going to say, bless my heart.

 .........

Unlike some portion of the audience that reflexively switches on Fox News, Smith is disengaged by politics. “I get it,” he says, “that some of our opinion programming is there strictly to be entertaining. I get that. I don’t work there. I wouldn’t work there. I don’t want to sit around and yell at each other and talk about your philosophy and my philosophy. That sounds horrible to me.” 

So to sum up, much of Fox News broadcasting is there simply to entertain, there are no real rules on the opinions side of things, and yet this is Donald Trump's go to source for news and policy advice.

Do you remember that 2012 study which found that people who watched Fox News were less informed than people who did not watch any news at all?

Well apparently that's not a bug.

It's a feature.

And now it features into how the president makes decisions which effect this country, and our world.

P.S. By the way since this story came out suddenly we are learning that Smith is going on a "previously planned vacation."

Thea last time I heard that phrase was when it was used to explain why Bill O'Reilly was not showing up to do his show after those sexual harassment allegations became public.

I hope that is not the case here as Shep is probably the last remaining actual journalist currently working at Fox News.

P.P.S. Here was Hannity's response.

While Shep is a friend with political views I do not share, and great at breaking news, he is clueless about what we do every day. Hannity breaks news daily-Warrant on a Trump assoc, the unmasking scandal, leaking intel, Fisa abuse, HRC lawbreaking, dossier and more REAL NEWS! 9p https://t.co/zJpnnyFTtP

— Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) March 16, 2018

I think Hannity is confusing "breaks news" with "pulls conspiracy theories out of my ass."

Contender for "Worst Person ever" Tomi Lahren apparently kicked her dog five times during Fox New appearance.

Courtesy of Unilad: 

Bad news if you’re a dog: Tomi Lahren is tired of your attitude. So tired in fact, that she is more than happy to indulge animal abuse in the name of a bit of peace and quiet. Sad! 

Yep, the Fox & Friends contributor has announced she had to kick her dog ‘about 5 times’ during a recent TV appearance . 

Lahren shared a video of her pooch Kota on her Instagram berating the little guy for chewing a bone loudly. 

Now Lahren has since denied that she ever really did this, but if you watch the Fox News portion of the above clip you can actually see when she was doing the kicking. Just watch for her mouth to tense up and her body to bob as she punishes her dog for being a dog.

Boy Hillary Clinton certainly nailed it when she called these people a "basket of deplorables."

I wonder what is next for Lahren?

Drowning a sackful of kittens perhaps?