THE GREAT AMERICAN-MEDIA SPRING CLEANING: TUCKER CARLSON IS VANISHED FROM CONSERVATIVE FOX NEWS

 

The Perched Eye blog is 14 years old,  from 2009 with President Obama's election. Our focus has been eclectic ...  the styles and directions of American politics and culture, with an occasional comment on the impact of new technologies. Our observations sometimes attract a critical eye, but the 'pen' remains unblunted.

OK. Tucker Carlson is gone from the media stage,... so far. (Gargle with vinegar and salt.)

For years I’ve wanted the too-contrived, over-practiced, Botox-job voice of Tucker Carlson to disappear from conservative media, specifically from Fox News (Tucker’s employer and Cuckoo’s nest for other MAGA-Republican mouthpieces such as Sean Hannity.)

And lo, Fox News apparently fired Tucker last Friday, April 21 (2023). ‘Apparently’ because Fox held it in close to the chest, then announced Tucker’s ‘leaving’ on Monday morning, April 24, 2023. This is the timeline of things according to media and Fox PR.  

Tucker was ‘evaporated’ from Fox News with such an expertly wielded fly-swat … a fingerprint of the behind-the-mirror Murdoch style (the Rupert Murdoch family own Fox News.), that it has left much of the media (right and left) in shock, e.g.,  Tom Boggioni's piece  in Raw Story  (‘Did he kill someone?’ Critics stunned by Tucker Carlson’s abrupt departure from Fox News”, April 24, 2023.)

Further, Tucker’s abrupt ‘disappearing’ has so far been marked by the absence of both a ‘lead-up’ fanfare and the ‘traditional’ send-off last show — the protocol that usually bookends the end-of-tenure for such media stars as Tucker Carlson. Instead here has been only a simple ‘thank’s for your service’ from the Fox network.

Without the guidance of a traditional ‘leaving protocol’, Fox News has dropped it in our laps to weave our own ‘splain‘n’… from fog and mirrors. The media has to do its best with ‘Nada’…consequently, it stands agape, ’strung out and tongue-hanging.’ ‘Marvelous,’ because we see now how desperately conservative media needs a lead mule.

(Carlson himself claims he had no clue that last Friday, April 24, was to be his final day employed by Fox News…certainly, we didn’t have a clue, we, the audience to the conservative media circus. 

The ‘hidden-meanings’ flavor of Carlson's departure is like the ‘wake and ripple’ of a submerging shark.)

But shark fins do reappear, and we best be ready to administer the harpoon when we see Tucker again at the mike spewing his poison. (Alternet surmises about potential scenarios for Carlson’s resurfacing... somewhere.)

In defense of Democracy, Tucker Carlson should never again be allowed to ‘poison and warp’ America’s minds with his ‘transmissible’ toxicity of hate, racism, fear, and misogyny… all combined, interestingly and like Donald Trump, with an abject bowing to Russia, America’s sworn and very palpable state enemy.

AlterNet reports that Russia Today is hinting at possibly swooping to invite Tucker to join their own ‘news’ staff (AlterNet: ”Russian state outlet RT reaches out to Tucker Carlson.”

Personally, it’s a mystery how Tucker has gotten away with his too-close support of Russia’s foreign policy and propaganda. In this respect, it wouldn’t be a shock to see him again 'at desk’ willingly 'punditing' as a RUSSIAN ASSET at Russia Today…because, well, Tucker is so well-trained in warping Truth without moral remorse…and with a deep, grudging, hate for America. Carlson, in sum, is a privileged, trust-fund, spoiled brat who suckingly bites the hand that feeds him.

(Note: Tucker’s vanishing act so far comes off as masterful Media Empire scripting designed to minimize audience fallout…and it appears this has been accomplished to some degree.)

However, Fox News’ stage crafting may be lost on Tucker’s support base, who are too used to being passively fed, with no thought required, to fill in the blanks. 

Second, Tucker’s base are mostly a self-selected bunch who are intellectually unequipped to deal with subtlety. (The Carlson base need direct, crude, dog-whistle ‘triggering’ to energize and send them howling in the desired direction.)

Fox News’ way of removing Tucker Carlson from American airways is like a neat surgical excision of a smelly tumor. Let’s hope Fox‘s surgery will last…although, knowing the greed of Fox News (i.e., the Murdochs), the return of the Murdochs' media cancer will always be possible.

Despite all this turmoil, Tucker’s bad seed might sprout anew from the dank murk of Fox News and siblings such as One America News (OAN).

A final thought: has Tucker Carlson forgotten how ‘Big Wheels’ turn? They have a habit of hitting the hubris-filled in the ass. Cocky Tucker might soon find himself in a ‘Gulag Resort’, sitting neck-deep in ‘it’ with no toilet paper but his left hand. Such would be fitting irony. Karma.

(From Medium, April 25, 2023)

RANTING, AGAIN, ABOUT YOUNG, WHITE MALE MASS SHOOTERS: HAS AMERICA BECOME A PROSTITUTE CULTURE…IN ADDITION TO BEING A GLOBAL HIGHWAY THIEF

The Perched Eye blog is 12+ years old,  from 2009 with President Obama's first term. Our focus has been eclectic ...  the ways and directions of American politics and culture, and occasionally summarizing the potential impact of new technologies. Pericles21's observations sometimes attract a critical eye, but the 'pen' remains unblunted.                                                                                                                                                                                  -------------------

These are thoughts brought on by the recent slurry of mass shootings in Detroit, Wisconsin, and recently on July 4th, 2022, in Highland Park, Illinois. (SEVEN DEAD AND MORE THAN 39 WOUNDED.)  But Higland Park was not a singular American shooting over the Holiday weekend - in Chicago alone, more than 57 people were shot in that time.  But the response is the usual pablum it seems, from conservative media ...  by those droning, thoroughly-practiced voices speaking misinformation from constantly mirror-rehearsed faces that whine, wring hands and gloss over the fact that the shooters are all intentionally targeted and deeply researched and psychologically-profiled naive young brains they feed into…for big bucks…(and Murdoch is not even a natural American nor even a primary citizen of America).  

Oh, America...!. America has sold so much of our souls…to any ‘comer’ with the bucks…is this the definition of a “prostitute culture?” I think so.

Have mass shootings become America's too-real perpetual Halloween reality? It seems so. But what is worse is that the American political 'gear works' are frozen in place, unable to even discuss gun control or even delve into the causes of why is it nearly always the same shooter profile - the young, barely-adult-age white male. This is not coincidental and personally speaking, America's social structure needs to be investigated.

There is something strange, discordant, macabre, frightening, and unsettling why in America, a social and governmental stasis has occurred that seems to block any response to these shootings except to report them as just today's 'fix'....then we move on, expectantly holding our breaths for the next big-box killing. (Sorry, 'Big-Splash' killing.)

This blogger is enraged that the 'Why the killings?' hasn't been discussed, factors identified and solutions proposed. America is not stupid...although it might be venal to the extreme. But too many young white males are drifting off the path and killing too many people in 'one sitting' for these mass shootings not to be linked, 'a thing' unto themselves. Of course, it is all too clear that linking these killings is a taboo thing...there are tender racial-political-religious toes to protect and the NRA listens closely to control-talk...with open and deep pockets to line those of key congressional leaders...and it's all legal. Damn. 

“When are we going to ‘wise up and get very real’ about the actual perps, the puppet masters who fill young (nearly exclusively white) male brains with exaggerated self-images of superiority and exceptionalism over ‘lessers’ (read people of color)? All this seems to lead to self-loathing and destructive emotions among the targeted because they don’t, and can’t, live up to those comic book icons they are supposed to achieve in ‘real’ life? Of course, an adult or very-savvy youngster would know to reject what is obviously hyped to someone else’s advantage …but such ‘street wisdom’ is certainly not a skill of some young, impressionable, dissatisfied raised or living in the sanitized suburbs or in a typical ennui-filled existence of mashed-potatoes, experientially sound-proofed majority race American life. An American wasteland washed over by cacophonous ‘dread’, dread music with satanic under-voiced hints and sometimes explicit urgings to actually use one of Daddy’s deadly-looking gun-case items. Such is American life and such is an example of America’s ticket price to pay for living in the gear-works of the Golem. 

I consider myself a progressive Democrat, I was against executing Dylan Roof (instead of Sean Hannity and ilk). These sole shooter, ‘foundling’ (yet often parent-possessing) white males are set mentally adrift by a constant shit-stream of deliberately misinforming, inciteful BS spouted every day, every hour on the conservative media outlets. Those thoroughly practiced voices, and constantly mirror-rehearsed faces intentionally target and pose for the deeply researched, psychologically-profiled, and naive young brains they feed into…for big bucks…(and Murdoch is not even a natural American nor even a primary citizen of America). 

America has sold so much of our souls…to any ‘comer’ with the bucks…is this the definition of a “prostitute culture?” I think so.

SINCE 2009, THE GOP HAVEN'T CHANGED... EXCEPT AN ATTEMPTED OVERTHROW OF GOVERNMENT

PERICLES21 very recently reviewed some early posts, from 2009 on, to see how the GOP reacted to the election of President Obama - to try to see any changes or shifts...or improvements in GOP attitudes. This kind of distanced self-assessment is often helpful if not sobering as opinions, perspectives and mental edges can soften. 

But, lo and behold, doesn't this April, 2009 post title and lead-in read uncannily like it was written today? (The only change seems to be the 2009 Tea Party graduates actually tried to overthrow the  American government on January 6, 2021): The GOP Ship of Fools' sails on, forever seeking. Eventually, they might realize they are dead in the water because they forgot to raise the anchor. Until ten, the GOP rows furiously only pausing their Sysiphian effort to pat themselves as the GOP vessel sits deadin the water.

"---- April 12, 2009 PERCHEDEYE----

SUNDAY, APRIL 12, 2009

The GOP Today - Resigned, Near-Dead, But Still Tea Bagging...So, It Isn't all Bad, Right?

"Right now, the only GOP action [to nullify Obama's election to POTUS] is a half-hearted call to insurrection, [Hmmm, they're consistent] aka the New Tea Party movement. But as usual with the GOP these days, their knack for stepping ankle deep in nasty stuff and then ...g leefully, as if they are doing something terribly witty, shoving said foot into mouth, ... .."                                                                                                             AND                                                                                                                                            "the GOP is lost in a kind of political 'mannerism' where they remember the postures but have lost any idea of the meanings and contexts of their awkaward and jerky mimicry of conservativeness. The result is the derangement of Limbaugh, the Innanity of Hannity, the Dreck of Beck, and Michelle Bachmann's stupid utterances accompanied with her really strange, vapid and pat-on-back-expecting-look-at-me-daddy false smiles. The GOP sputterings are not down-to-earth, nurturing oatmeal but dry sawdust and dull nails.)                                                                                                                                        AND FINALLY                                                                                                                                                      The GOP Ship of Fools sails on, forever seeking ... something. Eventually, they might realize they are dead in the water because they forgot to raise the anchor. Until then, the GOP rows furiously only pausing their Sysiphian effort to pat themselves as the GOP vessel sits dead in the water.                  

Pericles21's 2009 post  seems prescient about the GOP's Tea Party new clothes, it 'struck gold,' nay platinum, because then and especially now, the Republican Party's eagerness to win (willy-nilly anything, it seems) resulted in bastardizing itself into a Tea Party-ing cult of  imperfect face-actors and fascist ideologues. In 2009, the GOP set future frames for its ineffectual faux-ness by attacking the newly installed President Obama through violating standards of decency, ethics and journalistic professionalism. 

2009's Republican 'messaging', if it can be called that, was delivered by a core of right wing Fox News faces featuring Michelle Bachman ( ), Russ Limbaugh (Fox News uber-idol, recently deceased), Sean Hannity (Limbaugh's apparent successor, Trump pal) and others, notably Fox News' upstart face-man, Tucker Carlson. They still constitute the peanut gallery of American right wing shouters.

Now, twelve years later in April, 2021, we have the familiar Fox News crew from 2009, with some added accolytes and less a few attritioned members (essentially the same clown-faced, right wing actors) doing their 'same-old', now stridently attacking Obama's vice President, Joseph Biden, America's newly elected President (much to the relief of 75-83% of Americans). 

The Fox News gang have evolved their craziness with often 'off-planet-sounding' conspiracy scenarios that one would think can only come out of twisted and nearly ruined minds.

While 2021's Fox News gang yell out their conspiracy fantasies more stridently they are less believable because America has heard it before, and fell for the hype and elected the Tea Party poseur, Donald Trump. 

Trump's White House shift could be summarized as, 'What's in it for me, personally, money-wise, get that cash.... America was supposed to be my big ticket out of debt and be really, real rich ... I was supposed to lose the 'f..ing' election and make BANK ... somebody owes me! Chomp, chomp, good burger.'And, ' 'Pandemic? Who cares how many die, how can that be cash-converted... for me?'

Trump's deeply imprinted grift mentality and incompetencies while tinkering with reality (as POTUS) nearly caused America to have a truly big Fall but we were saved just in time by JOE  BIDEN'S SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE AND ETHICS AND TEAM AND ... A  LOT MORE.  

 

WHAT LIES AHEAD FROM THE TRUMP DEBACLE?

Today, Pericles21 wrote a comment on John Amato’s Nov 27, 2020, ‘Crooks and Liars’ article on the future political effect of the 2020 election and was drawn back in memory to the honor of sitting in a small group college seminar listening to Hannah Arendt’s impromptu explorations on human vulnerability to authoritarianism manipulations and specifically on the rise and inhuman atrocities of 1930s-40s totalitarian Nazism (The Origins of Talitarianism, H. Arendt, 1951).  (The remarkable thing about Hannah Arendt is that her explorations, though not satisfying to everyone, were in my opinion 100 percent sincere ... one could tell by her visible pain in attempting, again, after no doubt many such presentations, to express ‘The Answer’, and we still haven’t figured this out.) Although Arendt’s thoughts, explorations and writings did not ‘close the book’ on authoritarianism, Arendt did leave vital ‘thought equipment’ outlining a path to frame, ‘see’ and describe how the human conditions leading to ‘modern’ authoritarian leadership and excesses (such as Trumpism’?). 

One feels that Hannah Arendt would be saddened but perhaps in a resigned yet ever hopeful way not shocked, that her musings and writings on authoritarianism continue to be sought out and critically pertinent after nearly a century ... and raise the same questions in current times! 

In his article referred to above, John Am@to asks ‘what did we learn from the rise, four years of the atrump ‘presidency’ and  the recent election details?  And, ‘can we prevent a future Trump?’ 

One answer, if not the most at-fault agent, is the pernicious effect of deliberate misinformation spread by profit-focused media outlets such as Fox News and similar right-wing outlets. But, in this blogger’s view, is this a too simple jand too quick jump to hand out ‘blame’ ... no matter how satisfying that might feel?  Does such an ‘easy’ labeling actually help create an opposite atmosphere of fear of expressing opinions, i.e., an equivalent misdeed?  

And an important corollary question is, ‘who will be the judge of media boundaries?’ 

Here is Pericles21’s comment on the John Amato article:

“Newsmax CEO Admits Airing Conspiracy Theories As News”  (John Amato, Crooks and Liars, Nov 27, 2020):

Pericles21: “We must be careful of capricious and dangerous censorship, I.e., ‘What is, or is not, News?’ And ‘who or what entity shall judge on that question?’  Why can’t we simply rely on the robustness of American ‘freedom of the press’? Hmmm ... but that ‘freedom’ got us Fox ‘News’, and Trump, didn’t it!!”  

 There is no doubt, in the minds of the majority of American voters (an excess of 7 million votes over Trump voters in 2020) that Trump and Trumpism was a bullet that America blessedly dodged ... and actually dodged back in 2016 when Hillary Clinton won the majority vote. How Hillary won but still ‘lost’ her election must be answered and preventive, but equitable, measures designed and implemented ... such as finally removing or neutralizing the Electoral College.

 

 

THE DEBATE DEBACLE WAS NO SURPRISE BUT CHRIS WALLACE’S MODERATOR ATTEMPT WAS A FLOP

This post is a reaction to an October 1 (2020) article in CNN news (Failure of Imagination: Why Trump can still shock the media) that covers the September 29 (2020) First Presidential Debate of the 2020 election. By several media accounts, the debate was a ‘Sh...tshow’ and much cyber print has been given to what contributed to that outcome. This blogger, Pericles21, was strongly unimpressed especially by the non-performance of the moderator, Chris Wallace, who is touted as a ‘star’ Fox News element (anchor or actor - depending on one’s attitude about Fox News).

Note: Pericles21, in ’normal’ universes, has a warm respect for Mr Wallace but to be kind, the debate was very far from home.

Àn opinion overall - even a dummy expected Trump to ’perform’ at his most outrageous level. so why was the media apparently.taken by surprise? 

A second opinion - as to why the debate fell apart: of course the main actor, Trump, carries most of the weight for that failure but there was also a second factor, and not always a minor actor, the media moderator Chris Wallace who just plain failed to be an effective moderator. Wallace’s performance was a cringe-worthy side show as he struggled to keep control of the debate but then fell to preserving what little dignity left in the debate and belonging to him personally.  After 15 minutes, Wallace’s priority seemed to be to save what remained of his packaged media facade - the cultivated, stiff, poseur posture and out-of-touch fake voice modulation. (Does he whine in real life?)  Wallace appeared to be struggling to step outside from his ’poseur’ media straight jacket but he was never successful. He never became a ’real’ and moderating agent. Wallace looked so trapped in a faux media costume, desperately trying to maintain his image as Trump ranted away and just chased Wallace around.  Wallace should go on retreat and try to figure out who he is, what current America is all about and what side/pov he feels comfortable with. He was nearly as much a turn-off as DT.

The Rigging of the 2016 Election: Was American Intelligence Just Flummoxed by the Audacity of Trump and Russian Hacking, and Paralyzed by Jurisdictional Compartmentalizing (Self-Interest ), And/ Or Has American Democracy Operated Successfully But Against Itself

PREFACE:
Pericles21 believes that in the 2016 election process, America was attacked and conquered by a known, long term and actively detrimental declared enemy state, Russia, in a modernized, non-shooting, non-bombing war largely without America knowing of the war going on or how to respond (e.g., FBI Director Comey's seeming indecision about what to do about Apparent Russian interference and relationship with the Trump campaign the spring and summer 2016).

Pericles21 also believes that since losing that 2016 war, the American public remains confused, overwhelmed by the sophistication that requires a new vocabulary in attendance to the digital world of networks, cryptology, cyber-intelligence, second and third degree crowd-behavior influencing (cyber-social networking nudging), 'cutouts' and good old fake proxies. What a fine world we Americans have naively lived and loved in for at least 40 years. But, 'Hey' if there is one good thing we Americans do well is to continue a good thing and 'naivete' feels so good (and 'Roseanne' is on tonight so don't bother us), so we will try our best to continue to exist in a fine state of denial assisted with a little OxyContin and Beer. We will do our best to maintain behind the wall of ignorance of the sophisticated, non-traditional ways our own culture was attacked, penetrated, taken over and then weaponized against us. What a 'thing'!

BLOG PRIMARY (A little late maturing in a daily amazed and increasingly scared blogger's mind):
The above 'Preface' is a point of view reflected in John Schindler's thorough and sobering article in the 'Observer' ('Here’s How the FBI Investigation Into Russia and Trump Campaign Actually Started', May 28, 2018)
America was outclassed and outfought on a battlefield that had no soil, no water no air. America's educational priorities, or rather, 'de-emphases' away from real science, science rationality, mathematics and cyber education all combined to help defeat us. (America's commodified, comercial-prioritized culture also played a key role in 'plumping', desensitizing our national awareness to being attacked as Russian agents posing as business players walked freely in plain sight along America's streets.)

Also, that 2016 war we just lost, was an asymmetric war - America was attacked but did not (could not?) respond.
Instead of shooting bullets, America's enemy saw and used vulnerable leverage-points in America's own culture - our hugely popular (and influencing) social websites and our mostly right-wing, loud and inciting, emotionally histrionic 'news' venues that claim 'entertainment' status when confronted with factual challenges to their 'news'. In this regard, Russia's weapons of choice were signally, Facebook and Fox News (especially in the latter, the loud, emotionally strident views of Sean Hannity who has been outed as having a discarded mistress, a hook into Tump's dark shade Fixer 'Lawyer' and perhaps even a nipple at. he belly of the ever nurturing )of greedy piglets) Grand Sow, the collective group of Russian oligarchs munching and slurping on the rich far East provinces of the former USSR, all under the watchful eye of the Great Boar himself, Grand Uncle Vladimir.

In that 2016 war America just lost, our huge military budget ($700 Billion asked this year) and advanced war machines were useless. Our 'advanced', decadently expensive, evolved but still essentially traditional weapons we are so proud of sat idle and irrelevant.

COMMENTARY:
Pericles21 believes that American intelligence agencies and politicians, and a large portion of America's general population, who are still scratching their heads about the surprising 2016 election of Donald Trump (aka 'RICO Dedito'), were and remain naive about the re-shaping of warfare and the increasingly clear alliance between Russia (along with other other national interests) and Donald Trump. Americans are also in denial of how Russia used non-traditional warfare to take control of and 'guide' that election through sophisticated cyber-invasion techniques ('hacking') and equally sophisticated manipulation of American voting predispositions. And we are recently become aware of the compromising of America's right wing (Trump supporters)'entertainment' icons, e.g., Sean Hannity.

But not only America's general population were caught unaware of or frozen in the headlights of the Russian attack. America's intelligence defenders seem equally naive not to have expected that America would one day be 'attacked' with the same indirect, non-exposive 'weapons we have been using to accomplish regime change in critical foreign areas for the past 100 years (the sinking of the battleship 'Maine', the many interferences in the mid-East, Indo China, Africa, South America, etc).

When the compromising relationship between Trump and Russia apparently became clear by early 2016, it appears the FBI and the NSA were restricted or delayed in non-interfering (read 'noon-cooperative') stasis by, in retrospect, our Congress's somewhat naive imposition onto the FBI and NSA of jurisdictional hegemony and a administratively old school (Prussian?) perspective that prioritizes non-interfence if not competitive relationships between these intelligence realms.

It is not surprising, therefore, that this intelligence infrastructure of easily administrated (by un-informed elected officers), clean boundaried and separate jurisdictions should fail America in the face of not only increased vulnerabilities of electronic digital communications and networks but the accelerating expertise in penetrating (cyber-hacking) inadequately protected systems.

Opinion. America's inattention to, and/or lack of committed (loyal), deeply trained, expertise to develop cyber defenses and protect America's potential, 'Multi-Front vulnerabilities in our culture as well as our digital systems, has led to a gross vulnerability of American social and cyber systems to penetration, take over and psychological manipulations. We saw that happen in the 2016 election.

-------
Work in progress but the above had to come out or be next week (July 10, 2018)irrelevant

that outcome, were and remain naive about world political realities and the non-traditional forms of warfare that have been written on for centuries (e.g., Lao Tsu's and Mao's 'Little Red Book')

A clear, if not concise article by John Schindler in the Observer [May 28, 2018,'Here’s How the FBI Investigation Into Russia and Trump Campaign Actually Started', May 28, 2018]
https://observer.com/2018/05/what-did-the-fbi-do-in-2016-about-russian-connections-to-donald-trump/

[Personal: Comey (FBI Director) and NSA couldn’t grasp how Trump, a candidate for President, could do such a thing?]

SUMMY: (NSA & FBI: ““ By mid-July 2016 We knew we had a Russian agent on our hands,”

The FBI-NSA investigation of Donald Trump was kicked off by …routine SIGINT reports..from America’s foreign friends before 2016.

2015: Britain’s NSA’s routine surveillance detected suspicious ‘interactions’ between Trump associates and Russian agents.
Britain passed this info to the U.S. as part of their routine exchange of information.”
Late 2015 and into 2016: NSA’s other intell friends ( Australia, Germany, Estonia, and Poland) all reported interactions between Trump and Moscow.
So, too, did the French and the Dutch—the latter being an especially savvy SIGINT partner of NSA’s.
2016: different foreign agencies targeting the same people began to see a pattern of connections that were given to U.S. FBI
2016: In response to FBI urgency, NSA rose to the occasion, and
by mid-July 2016, “We knew we had a Russian agent on our hands,”

Hannity as Today's Goebbels?

The recent (April 16, 2018) unveiling (here , here, here, and my favorite, Rachel Maddow's analysis and readings of court proceedings that unveiled Hannity) of Sean Hannity as the previously 'cloaked' (hidden) 3rd Client of mob-connected, Trump (and RNC) Fixer of embarrassing situations is highly embarrassing to Dedito (Trump) and the Republican Party whose national deputy chairs all are now seen to be linked by a common thread. That common thread looks to be confined to making relations with former porn stars and models go way ...by payoffs perhaps with political campaign money, suspect non-disclosure agreements and thuggish night-visitations with threats of bodily harm.

This is surreal comedy on one hand, but the descent into the murk gets really dark when Russian intelligence (the Fixer-Lawyer Cohen's cigar buddies) join the scene. And to take it all to the bottom, Dedito's (slavish bootlicking of Russia and especially Putin's ego) looks really like not only does Dedito know Putin more than what America, or Trump's wife, would like, but it's becoming more clear by the day that Putin has Dedito not only by his little twisted fingers but his little cojones.

The picture coming out, to this blogger, is of a masterful scheme to break America by gaining control of America's constitutional estates - the chief executive by Constitution (but which has morphed into an infallible kingship in the minds of many Americans especially the religious right), the courts (the obstructions of Obama appointees by the Republican Congressional majority), the press (thru the 'hard-right' media with entertainers like Sean Hannity, and with hard right media entertainment 'news' like Fox News), and ultimately a completely clueless, amoral, profiteer con artist President, Trump ('Rico Dedito' aka 'Little Fingers Going Down on Racketeering'.

How did this crew gain the White House? By Collusion...but the colluding parties get more numerous and ominous in extent, influence and total subjugation to a master scheme probably set in motion 20 years ago and controlled at least largely by Russian leader, shadow-not-really-defunct KGB master, GRU boss, Mafioso Don, Vladimir Putin. And there are probably more, but less visible mega-players at work. And everything at play is dancing to the script of a master playright (s) whose identity may never see sunlight.

And Hannity's role? He claims not to have used Cohen (Trump's off-and-on Fixer and a guy with 3 clients) and says he might have thrown "ten bucks" now and then to Cohen...and knowing how the chief wise guy, Trump, telegraphs his moves, Hannity probably did give ten bucks to Cohen to satisfy a legal 'show', 'see, I paid him for telling me where to buy the best lawnmower'...for my condo high rise apartment. Meaning? The conversation was all about transfer of communication having nothing to do with legal SERVICE... but much to do with passing instructions and coordinating messages to and from Hannity and his world of hard-right Putin-puppets, and Trump's camp. How else was/is Trump to know what to say, when and how? Think about it, 'Ten Bucks' keeps things nice and friendly ...'don't it Mr Mueller, please'?

https://pics.me.me/onali-rump-trump-can-gra-there-its-fixed-trump-hannity-7939732.png