Wayne Besen

August 11, 2017 • The Wayne Besen Show, Uncategorized • 1924

Trump ‘Hand Measuring’ Contest with Kim Jong-un, Risks War

I’ve listened to the experts reassure us that a war with North Korea is unlikely. I’m not at certain as they are. The mistake the experts make is analyzing this crisis from a rational perspective. That all goes out the window with a president who is irrational.

Experts try to pacify us by suggesting that adults will likely intervene and save the world from a president who governs by mood swing. Somebody will stop him, they say – the Generals or Congress.

But isn’t that what we heard during the campaign. “Let the crazy man-child rant and rave,” said the Republican establishment, the donors, the Republican National Committee, the Bush cartel, Paul Ryan, the Koch Brothers.

But, in the end, there was nobody to save us. Nobody spanked Trump and put him in his room. And now, he sits in the oval office, tweeting insults, with his hand on a nuclear suitcase that controls 6,800 nuclear bombs.

If you want to get inside the president’s head, to figure out what he might do with North Korea, go out, get drunk, and quickly spin around five times. That’s probably a better way to do it, than the normal way we usually assess these matters.

Trump’s poll numbers are dismal, he’s failed to pass meaningful legislation, and Special Counsel Robert Mueller pursues him like a bloodhound approaching a steakhouse.

Trump is an egomaniac and the biggest narcissist, since, well, the actual Narcissus of Greek mythology. He is in love with himself and will do anything to ensure his personal survival. Even if this means letting Kim Jong-un destroy Seoul, South Korea, Tokyo, or Guam.

Trump is desperate to change the subject or Russia, and saber rattling will only last so long. He’ll soon need an actual war, so he can accuse the media or anyone else who asks questions about the Russia investigation of being unpatriotic. This may be his way of attempting to silence his critics.

Today, Trump said his original threat to North Korea of “fire and fury,” wasn’t “tough enough” and that the U.S. military was locked and loaded. Which made it sound like Trump should be locked up, and made the statement while he was loaded.

Like his puppet master, Vladimir Putin, Trump’s power and appeal to his base is that he is tough. That’s why this, um, “hand measuring contest” with Kim Jong-un, could end in a mushroom cloud. Trump is a lousy negotiator who has painted himself into a corner, and like a corned rat, he may feel compelled to strike out, to salvage his tough guy reputation.

The consequences could not be greater. A fight with North Korea could lead to a Great Depression. North Korea would likely retaliate by destroying Seoul, which is the same distance as Washington, DC is to Baltimore. A second strike would likely be aimed at Tokyo.

Japan is our fourth largest trading partner and South Korea is our 6th largest trading partner. If these major cities are badly damaged or destroyed, this would have an immediate impact on our economy. Not to mention the tragic loss of tens of thousands of lives.

There is also the risk of World War 3. If we dropped a nuclear bomb on North Korea, the fallout could potentially kill citizens of South Korea, Japan, Russia, or China. Would China or Russia sit by idly if we killed their citizens or made major cities uninhabitable?

Here’s a thought experiment. How would the United States respond, if Russia nuked Tijuana, and the fallout killed 25,000 people in San Diego, and made the city unlivable for decades? You could easily imagine the overwhelming political pressure at home to retaliate – which could spiral into World War 3.

If the fallout from an American bomb floats over Vladivostok or Beijing, all bets are off on what happens next. Kim Jong-un knows that the location of North Korea makes the consequences of attacking it – especially with nuclear bombs – unthinkable. That is his leverage and why he makes his radical threats.

Unfortunately, he is directing these warnings at an American president who might not fully comprehend the situation. Yes, we can and will beat North Korea in a war. The question is, at what cost, in blood and treasure. This is a calculation, I’m not sure Donald Trump is capable of making. And that’s why we are living in dangerous times.

This is Wayne Besen, with your Daily Reality Check.
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August 10, 2017 • Uncategorized • 1854

Scientists Leak Terrifying Environmental Report, Fearful Trump Will Suppress It

Top scientists want you to know that temperatures in the Unites States are the warmest in 1,500 years. Temperatures have risen dramatically since 1980. These are the dire findings in a new climate change report drafted by scientists in 13 federal agencies.

Scientists leaked this report because it contradicts Trump’s backward stand on climate change. These experts are terrified that the report will be hijacked and the truth suppressed by extremists in the Trump administration.

Their fears are well founded. The landmark report awaits final approval by Trump – that’s if he can stop tweeting.

The report warns that it is “extremely likely” that more than half of the global mean temperature increase since 1951 can be linked to human influence. The fear is Trump will say something like, “all the experts thought it was extremely likely Hillary Clinton was going to beat me. They were wrong. What do the experts know?”

The report also finds, with “very high” confidence that the number and intensity of colder nights has decreased, while the occurrence and severity of warm days has escalated since the 1960s. Since Trump and many Republicans are at war with science, they will distort the term “very high confidence” to mean scientists are uncertain – when, in fact, there is virtually unanimity among scientists who aren’t employed by the industrialist Koch brothers.

Trump has already embarrassed the United States and put the world at risk by withdrawing from the Paris Accords. I guess Trump is making America great again by joining Syria and Nicaragua as the only countries in the world to reject the historic climate deal.

Many leading Republicans remain in denial, despite last year being one of hottest on record since 1880. This makes 2016 the third year in a row to set a new record for global average surface temperatures.

The report warns:

“It is very likely that the accelerated rate of Arctic warming will have a significant consequence for the United States due to accelerating land and sea ice melting that is that is driving changes in the ocean including sea level rise threatening our coastal communities.”

Climate change deniers say that fixing the problem will be expensive. To which I reply: Not nearly as expensive as the cost of New York City, Miami, and the world’s largest naval base at Norfolk, Virginia going under water.

The report also cautions that if we don’t mobilize to reverse climate change, it could lead to longer heat waves, more intense rainstorms, and quicker destruction of coral reefs.

As if on cue, Europeans are enduring a brutal heat wave they’ve dubbed “Lucifer.” Temperatures have also reached as high as 104 degrees in Seattle and 107 degrees in Portland, Oregon.

Is this the way we really want to live – assuming we’ll continue living.

A terrifying New York Times op-ed by science writer Peter Brannen, compared the consequences of what we are now doing to the earth, to the end of the Permian period 252 million years ago. Elevated levels of carbon dioxide in the air also marked this period. The result was the loss of 90-percent of sea life and 75-percent of life on land. The end of the Permian Period was known as the “Great Dying.” It took 10 million years for the planet to recover.

According to paleoclimatologist Lee Clump:

“The rate at which we’re injecting CO2 into the atmosphere today, is 10 times faster than it was during the End-Permian.”

Climate Change prophet Al Gore’s new movie is out, An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power. I suggest everyone see it to fully grasp the enormity of the climate change crisis that confronts us.

When the history books are written, President Trump may be remembered as a divisive, lying, corrupt, treasonous, buffoon. But those failures might pale in comparison to Trump’s legacy as the man who arrogantly and stupidly ignored the dire warnings of scientists worldwide, and put the earth on a path to irreversible ruin.

We have to act, to ensure this new climate report is signed off on. Go to my website WayneBesenShow.com. Click the tab “Take Action.” Find your member of Congress and urge them to support the release of the federal climate change report. If we act together, maybe, just maybe, we can stop the madness and mayhem.

Coming up next, while racial segregation has declined, it has been replaced with economic segregation in our major cities. I discuss this disturbing phenomenon with Richard Kahlenberg of the Century Foundation – right after this short break.
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August 7, 2017 • Uncategorized • 2164

Newsweek: Trump is a Lazy, Low Energy, Loser

A lazy, low energy, loser. That is what Newsweek essentially called Trump in a devastating cover story. They compared our president to the underachieving show salesman Al Bundy, in the sitcom Married for Children. And for those in red states, yes, that comparison is actually an insult.

The article begins by pointing out Trump’s legendary hypocrisy. When President Obama went golfing on August 15, 2011, Trump Tweeted: Barack Obama played golf yesterday. Now he heads to a 10 day vacation in Martha’s Vineyard. Nice work ethic.”

In another 2011 tweet, Trump wrote: “Obama plays golf to escape work while America goes down the drain.” He told his followers in August 2016, “I’m going to be working for you, I’m not going to have time to go play golf.”

You know what’s coming now. The part where I tell you that Trump is completely full of it:

In little more than 6 months in office, Trump has golfed 40 times. The website Trump Golf Count estimates Trump’s habit has cost the American taxpayers $55 million. The New York Times found that the president has visited Trump-branded properties a grand total 56 days, nearly a third of his time in office.

Politico adds, George W. Bush didn’t golf for the first five months of his presidency, while Obama did not golf during his first four months in office. Trump waited two weeks before he teed up and hit the links.

The Newsweek article kneecaps the president, listing his victieis in the Lazy Olympics:

• One solo press conference since his inauguration

• Just one single trip west of the Mississippi since taking office

• Zero visits to Iraq and zero trips to Afghanistan

• Yet, Trump had time to send 1,029 tweets

• Elaine Godfrey of The Atlantic calculated that Trump watches about five hours of television a day

• A Washington Post investigation found that Trump’s schedule was “awfully light…. We are left to make one of two assumptions,” the Post wrote. “Trump either is hiding a lot of his presidential business from the public, or he is not doing much at all.”

• Reuters weighed in and found that in Trump’s first 100 days in office, he “made fewer appearances outside of the presidential bubble than his three immediate predecessors.”
•
The Washington Post, reports that there are still 350 key administrative positions in which no one has been nominated.

• There has not been a single key piece of legislation passed, even though Republicans control the White House, Senate, and House. Most notable is the GOP’s inability to pass healthcare.

Somewhere, “Low Energy” Jeb Bush is reading this article and feeling vindicated. If he’s up from his nap.
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August 7, 2017 • The Wayne Besen Show • 4875

Donald Trump Should Fire Mike Pence

If Donald Trump has cause to fire anyone in his administration, it’s Mike Pence. The Vice President is an ambitious, two-faced serpent, who is serving his own oversized ego and aspirations – far more than the president’s agenda or the American people.

The New York Times reports that Pence is, “creating an independent powerbase” and “promoting himself as the main conduit between the Republican donor class and the administration.”

A mere six months into Trump’s regime, the V.P. has his own political fundraising apparatus – the Great America Committee. The Times reports that it has “overshadowed” Trump’s America First group, raising more money in disclosed donations.

Most Vice Presidents hire a chief of staff with government experience, so they can help achieve the president’s goals – for better, or in this case, worse. Much worse.

But Pence took the unprecedented step of hiring Nick Ayers as his chief of staff, a man who has never worked for the federal government, but is an experienced campaign operative. Hmm, I wonder why Pence made that move?

Pence has been able to get away with sabotaging his boss because he realized that as long as he publically kissed the ring of the Boy King, Trump wouldn’t notice the V.P’s skullduggery.

But Pence’s early game of chess has severely undermined Trump because, as the Times writes, “other Republicans eying the White House have taken note.” This has led to an early arms race for 2020, with Senators Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Tom Cotton of Arkansas, and Gov. John Kasich of Ohio, ramping up their campaigns and visiting early primary states, such as Iowa and New Hampshire. To distinguish themselves, they will have added incentive to criticize the president, which will undermine his goals.

Mike Pence is a disloyal and untrustworthy aide. He’s like the child who gets caught unwrapping the Christmas gifts the week before Christmas. He’s the child who opens up the Cracker Jack box from the bottom so he can get the prize first, instead of patiently waiting.

The “V” in vice president stands for vulture, with Pence impatiently circling overhead, while taxpayers fund his scheming and dreaming.

President Trump has already fired many people. Some deserved the ax, such as Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci. Others were unfairly targeted, such as former FBI director James Comey.

But, Donald Trump has every right to fire Pence for insubordination. It’s time to lower the curtain on Mike Pence’s ambitions, before Pence starts measuring the Oval Office drapes.
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August 4, 2017 • The Wayne Besen Show • 1638

Trump Dupes West Virginians into Hurting Their Own Families

Reality Check Segment

PODCAST

In today’s full podcast (Friday, Aug. 4, 2017), Wayne questions how West Virginians could support Trump when his policies devastate their state. Wayne also discusses Trump and Russia, legalizing pot, the cruelty and uselessness of health insurance companies, and he interviews Bob Reiter, Secretary Treasurer for the Chicago Federation of Labor about unions in the Age of Trump.

Donald Trump is the most unpopular president in modern times – with his approval rating at a paltry 33%. Trump failed on healthcare reform, and was humiliated with leaked transcripts from his private calls with the leaders of Mexico and Australia.

Yesterday, the Russia investigation took an ominous turn with Special Counsel Robert Mueller turning to a grand jury in Washington.

So, if you’re Trump, what do you do to lift your spirits? You stage a raucous rally in West Virginia, a state where he beat Hillary Clinton by 42-points.

The crowd received a special treat. Turncoat Democratic governor Jim Justice switched parties live on-stage. This wasn’t surprising. The Washington Post reports that Gov. Justice is “a billionaire coal magnate who declined to endorse Hillary Clinton in 2016.”

Justice is famous for bringing a plate of cow manure into the state Capitol to express what he thought about a Republican-passed budget proposal. Well, at least he got something right.

In fine Trumpian tradition, Gov. Justice also appears to be a deadbeat. The Post reports that state tax department has filed four liens this year against of one of Justice’s companies, citing nearly $1 million in unpaid taxes, interest and penalties related to his coalmines.

Trump used the rally to push back against the Russia investigation:

“Most people know there were no Russians in our campaign; there never were. We didn’t win because of Russia; we won because of you. Are there any Russians here tonight? Any Russians?”

Probably not. The Russians are likely waiting where we usually find them — in the White House, or back at Trump Tower, palling around Don Trump Jr.

While Trump says, “we won because of you,” he is breezily dismissing the incontrovertible fact that the people at his rally were surely victims of Vladimir Putin’s influence campaign, which flooded the Internet with conspiracies and lies about Hillary Clinton.

At the rally, the president forcefully called for the repeal of the Affordable Care Act. How would this affect West Virginians?

• According to Forbes, West Virginia is the nation’s second poorest state.

• 34-percent of non-elderly West Virginians are on Medicaid.

• 184,000 West Virginians would lose health insurance.

• A study by the New England Journal of Medicine found that for every 455 people who gained coverage one life was saved. That translates into 409 dead West Virginias each year.

• An estimated 16,000 jobs would be lost by 2019.

• Nearly $350 million would be lost in tax revenue over five years.

• The Urban Institute estimates West Virginia would lose $14 billion in federal funds between 2019-2028, including $12 billion supporting Medicaid/CHIP. CHIP, by the way, stands for the Children’s Health Insurance Program. You know, protection for their own children.

Given these numbers, the majority of people in West Virginia are either nihilistic masochists, who put party before the health of their own families. Or, they simply aren’t aware that replacing ObamaCare with TrumpKill – will ensure they can’t go to the doctor when they’re ill. Which is kind of sick, if you think about it.

The lyrics in John Denver’s famous song about West Virginia, “Take Me Home, Country Roads”, are “Life is old there, older than the trees.” If ObamaCare is repealed, don’t bet on it.

This is Wayne Besen’s daily Reality Check. Until we meet again, have a great day.
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