Trump's gift to the press is Candy Karoline. At least she's better looking than Joseph Goebbels, by Hal M. Brown

 

Joseph Goebbels served his master well as his minister of propaganda. Without television Hitler didn't need a pretty face.

I watched Rachel last night when she explained unequivocally that Trump was intent on becoming a dictator and implied that anyone who denied this was a fool. If you watched this you may have had trouble falling asleep and woke from a nightmare in the wee hours of the morning. It may have crossed your mind that it is in these hours that Trump was wide awake and sending out a post on what probably should be called "Terror Social" announcing his latest assault on democracy.

How many of us look at the news on TV or online and ask ourselves "what did Trump do today?"

Just now having turned off MSNBC because they had John Larroquette on talking about the new "Night Court." I consider this their fiddling while Rome is burning. On CNN I watched a clip of Trump's Press Secretary, Karoline Leavit, lambasting the mainstream press for lying while effusively praising Trump for always telling the truth. This led me to write about her today.

Here's an article about her which people in India are reading.

This sentence jumped out at me:

The lifelong Trump loyalist is a avid gun-lover and shared a video on Instagram showing her unloading a machine gun at a firing range with the caption “Joe Biden come and take it”. 

Obviously she likes having a husband old enough to be her father. She seems to have a crush on someone old enough to be her grandfather.  Have I gone to far in suggesting this? How important is pleasing Trump to her? Consider this from the Hindustan Times:

Karoline Leavitt is a new mother who gave birth to a son in July last year amid Trump's election campaign. Leavitt refused to take a maternity leave and rejoined work four days after giving birth following an assassination attempt on Trump.

In the press conference she also announced that she was inviting podcasters, social media influencers, and new media voices to apply for press credentials. You can watch the video here.

At least she didn't call them journalists. Does anybody expect to see someone from The Bulwark or Salon added to the White House press corps?

Maybe I should apply.

I post my Substacks (formerly blogs) on several platforms. They are on Substack where, if you want to submit your email, you can be notified of all new blog posts. They are on HalBrown.org. They are also on Stressline.org I also post them on Medium because this enables them to be easily found on internet searches.

 

If Rachel Maddow isn't on the top of Kash Patel's media hit list, after last night's take-down she is now, by Hal M. Brown

 

Rachel Maddow is known for wearing the same black outfit on all of her shows. Kash Patel wants to put her in prison orange. Patel aspires to be Trump's Hermann Göring with his own Gestapo.

Background: Nazi Gestapo.

Bottom:  Hermann Göring and Hitler

To fully appreciate why I titled this the way I did, watch the 11 minute segment of last night's Rachel Maddow show (here).

Here are some screen grabs:

Talking about J6 insurrectionists

Blaming J6 on the FBI

Veiled threat about prosecution the media

Like most of us, I knew about his book which listed some 60 people he labeled enemies of the state and that he included the anti-Trump media in general.

I knew about his saying that on his first day he'd close the FBI building and turn it into a museum of the deep state. 

He also insisted on a far right podcast that he can prove that the FBI was responsible for the J6 attack on the Capitol.

I knew about his children's book series with the stupid names for Hillary and Biden.

I didn't know about the extent of his grandiose narcissistic grifting and his hawking self-aggrandizeing merch. Rachel covered that, but it isn't in the video clip.

I wonder if Patel is the only nominee who has his own website featuring Donald Trump and a plea for donations to his own foundation on the main page.

Check out the crap he is selling on his website (here).

He says this one is perfect "for the wall of your man cave."

This is a version of the Donald Trump Punisher logo that he's adopted to promote himself. I don't kmow who first came up with it, and frankly, I don't give a damn.

Today HuffPost published 

Donald Trump’s Most Controversial Cabinet Picks Face Skeptical GOP Senators

The confirmation battles over Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be a test of how much Trump has changed the Republican Party.

There's no mention of Kash Patel in the article.

We all know why RFJ Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard are dangerous. One imperils the health of the nation and the other puts our national security at risk. I propose that if you add Kash Patel to the list of the three worst yet to be confirmed he is more dangerous than the two of them combined. He is in a position to drive the real top-cops out of the FBI and replace them with a corps like Hitler's Gestapo. 

While real criminals lookig for the federal laws they can break with impunity will celebrate, we should realize that Patel cares nothing about tradtional federal law enforcement. The Gestapo never went after bank robbers and kidnappers.

I think that the Rachel Maddow segment on Kash Patel should be required viewing for every GOP senator. Let them explain how they could vote to confirm this paranoid lunatic who aspires to be Trump's  Hermann Göring.

I post my Substacks (formerly blogs) on several platforms. They are on Substack where, if you want to submit your email, you can be notified of all new blog posts. They are on HalBrown.org. They are also on Stressline.org I also post them on Medium because this enables them to be easily found on internet searches.

Performative sadisim: Cruelty in the closet doesn't count. It's just no fun. By Hal M. Brown, MSW

 

This is a sequel to yesterday's Substact:

Trump and MAGA cohorts don't lack empathy. As sadists, they have perverse empathy.

I wrote this in part as a reaction to the following:

'Cruel': Ex-GOP lawmaker slams Trump's border czar for Dr. Phil stunt: RawStory

Needless to say, Phil McGraw is an embarrasment to me and any self-respecting member of the mental health profession. Here's an example of his empathetic interview technique:

He was filmed taking to a Thai national detained in Chicago by authorities over an alleged history of sex crime charges.

"Have you been deported before?" McGraw asked him. "What have you been charged with? Are you a citizen?" The detainee, in handcuffs, said he wanted to speak to his lawyer.

This is how Adam Parkhomenko and Sam Youngma put it on their Substack in Dr. Phil did what?

Oh what the effing fuck? How gross is this damn country?! It’s like we hit rock bottom of scuminess and then someone remembered to add a reality TV component. Were the Kardashians not available? Is Dr. Oz too busy sucking somewhere else? At what point do we disown Oprah for introducing us to these assholes? And how is it possible that we fucking miss Omarosa already?

I didn't know that a requirement to be a psychotherapist was to enjoy making frightened people uncomfortable, let alone ask to have their lawyer present.

The sadistic Stephen Miller, who has yet to make a guest appearance at a deportation festival, and Tom Homan, are both happy thugs delighted by the power they have been given, so I suppose there's another criterion to apply to their job description. 

Dr. Phil holds a doctorate in clinical psychology, albeit from North Texas State University (rated 220 in national universities). He ceased renewing his license to practice psychology in 2006. I would hope that by now his license would have been revoked. A deportation performance like his would merit a review by any licensed mental health professional  licensing board.

This is how Robert Hubbell put it in his Substack today:

As is often said of the Trump administration, “The cruelty is the point.” Dr. Phil has elevated that rubric to the next level, “The cruelty is entertainment.”

Hubbell went on:

Oprah created Dr. Phil’s celebrity. Her voice is needed to condemn his actions as a PR agent for Trump's deportations. Per the Chicago Sun-Times, “Dr. Phil’s TV channel, MeritTV, was given special access to the operation on Sunday.” 

I saw this photo posted in a comment on the RawStory article.

I couldn't believe it was real so I checked it out. Bizarre doesn't begin to describe a therapist with a gun obsession. Some shrinks publish in journals - he made House Beautiful. 

Obviously, all this is a cruel and sadistic performance meant to be shared in the media.

Trump and his sadist cohorts and followers get a rush out of this. You can bet this is must see TV for Trump, Miller, and the members of his cult. Is it sick? See below:

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For those who want to delve more deeply into what is so very wrong with people like this, I suggest reading the Wikipedia entry about sadistic personality here. You can look at the traits and characteristics and consider which of them apply to Trump and his henchmen, and to those who enjoy watching the deportations.

I post my Substacks (formerly blogs) on several platforms. They are on Substack where, if you want to submit your email, you can be notified of all new blog posts. They are on HalBrown.org. They are also on Stressline.org I also post them on Medium because this enables them to be easily found on internet searches.