Depressingly readable is the best way to describe Paul Barry’s revealing biography of Rupert Murdoch. I placed the word mongrel in the title of this piece but it could just as easily used scumbag which means a contemptible or objectionable person. It is a story about one man. A man with a love for money, power, influence, acquisitions, wives, children and even scandal. Scandal makes money.
Murdoch: forever brutal – » The Australian Independent Media Network
News Corp chief Rupert Murdoch was stunned when he heard about Donald Trump’s $750 tax bill, saying he has not seen a tax payment that high before.
Murdoch Shocked To Learn Of Trump’s Tax Bill: “$750 Is Extraordinarily High” | The Shovel
Beech reports that much of the world is also shocked to hear President Donald Trump talking like the leader of a banana republic and saying that he might not accept the election results if former Vice President Joe Biden wins in November.
‘I Feel Sorry for Americans’ — the World Grieves for the US Because of Trump’s Disastrous Presidency | The Smirking Chimp
“Senator Bernie Sanders is planning to mount an aggressive campaign to counter potential attempts by President Donald Trump to delegitimise the results of the November election, warning that Democrats and Republicans alike must do “everything that we can to prevent that from happening.”
Bernie Sanders sounds alarm on a Trump ‘nightmare scenario’
Donald Trump tries to portray himself as pro-worker. Nowhere is this absurdity better exposed than in the decisions of his National Labor Relations Board, which have over and over again favored bosses rather than workers.
Trump Claims He’s Pro-Worker. But His Labor Board Is Trying to Destroy Worker Organizing.
Over the next 48 days, let us do all we can to deliver a decisive victory for Joe Biden on November 3. And once we do that, let us remain vigilant to see to it that Trump allows for the peaceful transition of power.
The Possibility That Trump Will Not Voluntarily Leave | The Smirking Chimp
As the West Goes Up in Flames, Trump Couldn’t Care Less | The Smirking Chimp
Nonetheless, Americans have a clear choice. In a few weeks, when they decide whether Trump deserves another four years, climate change will be on the ballot. The choice shouldn’t be hard to make. Like the coronavirus, the dire consequences of climate change – coupled with Trump’s utter malfeasance – offer unambiguous proof that he couldn’t care less about the public good.
As the West Goes Up in Flames, Trump Couldn’t Care Less | The Smirking Chimp
Trump is Netanyahu’s Muppet (ODT)
Trump appears to have made the decision to cut $5.5 billion in US AID funds to the Palestinians in part on the basis of his rage about Abbas allegedly being a baby-killer, which was a Netanyahu lie. It seems likely that Netanyahu and Trump are responsible for the deaths of Palestinian children through this deprivation.
Gullible Trump was manipulated by Netanyahu’s Deep Fake Video of Mahmoud Abbas to Cut off Palestinians
The choice shouldn’t be hard to make. Like the coronavirus, the dire consequences of climate change – coupled with Trump’s utter malfeasance – offer unambiguous proof that he couldn’t care less about the public good.
Trump doesn’t care if wildfires destroy the west – it didn’t vote for him | Robert Reich | Opinion | The Guardian
My thought for the day It is clear that from whatever way you look at it that Trump lied and people died. PS: For the complete list of Trump’s lies about the coronavirus (John Lord) click here.
Donald Trump: The fool on the hill is full of rage – » The Australian Independent Media Network
Stone also said federal authorities should seize all Nevada ballots, federal agents and GOP state officials should “physically” block voting, that Trump should nationalize police forces, and that Trump should order widespread arrests
Roger Stone calls for Trump to seize total power if he loses the election | Media Matters for America
But there is a difference or two between now and 2016. For one, Trump is an incumbent; a re-election campaign is a much different thing. He’s not an upstart spitting at the castle walls. Now he’s inside – and just about everyone can see that he let in the COVID-19 dragon.
Donald Trump’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week
In 2016, thanks largely to the antiquated, nonsensical design of its creaky electoral system, the U.S. presidency was awarded to a candidate who lost the election by nearly 3 million votes to his opponent. This elderly man, a functionally illiterate game show host and petty real estate grifter with an unbroken, lifelong trail of stiffed creditors, unpaid workers, disastrous bankruptcies, acrimonious divorces and criminal allegations, oozes at every moment a grotesque, seething and conspiracy-laced resentment against women, minorities, immigrants and what he nearly always calls “the Democrat Party.” He pours this toxic ensemble into a cocktail shaker with empty embarrassing braggadocio, adding in equal portions of a genuinely bottomless ability to lie shamelessly and an all-around lack of even the most rudimentary ability to head the executive branch of the most powerful country in the world. The resulting concoction has been force-fed to us for nearly four years now. It is the worst drink I’ve ever had.
Less than 8 Weeks to Save our Democracy from a Grotesque, Bigoted, illiterate Game Show Host and Real Estate Grifter
Trump’s incoherence, his temper, his impulsiveness, his breathtaking ignorance — all of it was well-known among the top tiers of the Republican machinery. … Not once did I ever hear any concern that just maybe they were working to install a useful idiot who truly was an idiot.
The Useful Idiot | HuffPost Australia
President Donald Trump is no stranger to conspiracy-mongering. He’s pushed wild birther theories about his predecessor, Barack Obama, suggested windmills cause cancer and claimed climate change is a hoax manufactured by the Chinese, among other bizarre assertions.
10 Of The Wildest And Wackiest Conspiracy Theories Pushed By Trump This Week | HuffPost Australia
Republican senators, governors, captains of industry, elders, and others who once had power, prominence, some prestige, and maybe even a little pride now meekly wear Trump’s collar and kowtow to his conceits, leaving an entire party with a sole operating principle: “What he said” — even when they can’t figure out what he’s actually saying, or why, or what it means for the U.S. and its people. That’s not a party, it’s a national embarrassment.
There’s nothing left of the Republican Party but Trump’s Maniacal Cackle
He’s certainly more preWW2 German than he was ever American. The Germans are more American than America is at present. (ODT)
More Trump voters said they were loyal to President Donald Trump than they were to the Republican Party, according to a new HuffPost/YouGov poll.
The GOP Is Very Much Trump’s Party, Poll Shows | HuffPost Australia
Does anyone for one moment think Donald Trump wont take full advantage of this? (ODT)
New Delhi: India now has the fastest-growing coronavirus caseload of any country in the world, reporting more than 75,000 new infections per day.
Coronavirus: India’s COVID-19 outbreak is now the world’s fastest-growing
Given everywhere we’ve been over the past four years, there’s almost nothing interesting about this week’s Republican National Convention. The race-baiting. The allegations of a rigged election. The apocalyptic vision of an America under the Democrats awash with criminals and no guns to keep them in check. The idea that all that makes life good (especially in the suburbs) is under grave threat. And the insistence that only Donald Trump – “the bodyguard of Western civilisation” – can save the world. We’ve seen all these moves before.
Donald Trump’s strongman routine has finally failed him
No, really. They stand for nothing except support for Dear Leader. So much for “debating” Republicans.
The Republican Party Officially Has NO Platform, Only Trump | Crooks and Liars
Seven senior officials had their security clearances withdrawn this week, making it impossible for them to continue in their roles. They included the chief financial officer and former interim CEO, Grant Turner, and the agency’s general counsel, David Kligerman, who both said they had been fired for their resistance to the politicisation of the organisation under its new chief executive, Michael Pack, a Trump supporter and ally of rightwing ideologue, Steve Bannon.
SINCE DONALD TRUMP became President, the relationship between the U.S. and China has deteriorated to the point that some observers talk of war. Why is this? In simple terms, America feels threatened by China’s rapidly expanding wealth and influence. Dangerous confrontation has resulted and Australia has been sucked in. How far remains to be seen, but it is not in Australia’s interest to be used by Trump or Murdoch.
It really is and the media just go along with the loop (ODT)
When Axios‘ Jonathan Swan asked Trump about the 158,000 and counting deaths that happened on his watch, the president responded flatly, as of course he would, “It is what it is.” Indeed, but not for long.
via Help, I’m Stuck in a Trump Time Loop. And So Are You. – Mother Jones
“One person involved in the talks said Senate Republicans were seeking to allocate $25 billion for states to conduct testing and contact tracing, but that certain administration officials want to zero out the testing and tracing money entirely,” the Post reported. The relief bill is being written in Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) office and formal negotiations are expected to begin next week, when senators return from recess.
According to the Post, the administration is also aiming to “zero out $10 billion in new funding for the CDC in the upcoming bill” while simultaneously seeking the inclusion of money for a new FBI building.
73,331 people tested positive for the virus, a new daily record for the country, while 962 people died. Over the past week a total of 470,056 people became infected and 5,326 died.
Trump says open schools means open and full. Kids being able to attend, each and every day, at their school. The science should not stand in the way of this.”
Leader ship in Trumpland : Releasing Stone Locking Fauci away (ODT)
But as the Trump administration has strayed further from the advice of many scientists and public health experts, the White House has moved to sideline Fauci, scuttled some of his planned TV appearances and largely kept him out of the Oval Office for more than a month even as coronavirus infections surge in large swathes of the country.
Fauci is sidelined by Trump’s White House as he steps up blunt talk on the pandemic
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