Mediaboss Marketing

MANDEL NGAN

InfoWars' Alex Jones believes that the government was behind September 11th and Sandy Hook. Now, he has the ear of the leader of the free world.

White House counselor and serial liar Kellyanne Conway had a hell of a weekend, frantically walking back her comments about the "Bowling Green massacre," a terrorist attack on American soil that might have helped to justify President Trump's Muslim ban... except for the tiny detail that no such incident ever occurred. Although the Internet had great fun at Conway's expense, the line of argument she deployed in her statement was legitimately alarming. Here's how she put it:

There was very little coverageI bet it's brand new information to people that President Obama had a six-month ban on the Iraqi refugee program after two Iraqis came here to this country and were radicalizedand then they were the masterminds behind the Bowling Green massacre. I mean, most people don't know that, because it didn't get covered.

Conway now claims that she meant to refer to the "Bowling Green terrorists," two men arrested in Kentucky in 2011 for providing material support to Iraqi militantsmeaning the incident she cited still did not involve attacks on U.S. soil, but whatever. Because all serial liars have one another's backs, President Trump doubled down on Conway's comments in a speech delivered on Monday, making the breathtaking assertion that terrorist attacks have become so commonplace all over the world that the media isn't even reporting them anymore.

Radical Islamic terrorists are determined to strike our homeland as they did on 9/11, as they did from Boston to Orlando to San Bernadino, and all across Europe. Youve seen what happened in Paris, and Nice. All over Europe, its happening. Its gotten to a point where its not even being reported. And in many cases the very, very dishonest press doesnt want to report it. They have their reasons, and you understand that.

First of all, the idea that the media is reluctant to talk about these attacks should strike anyone who regularly watches cable news as absurd, since Fox News loves nothing more than throwing up a hysterical, all-caps terror-related chyron and shouting about it for what feels like eight uninterrupted hours. More troubling, though, is the source from which President Trump appears to be copying his homework. As Aaron Blake of the Washington Post astutely points out, the loudest drum-banger for the idea that the media "covers up" terror attacks is InfoWars, the tinfoil-hat-adorned Angelfire-looking site helmed by Alex Jones, the Loose Change producer who thinks the government was behind Sandy Hook.

President Trump's tendency to parrot his media outlets of choice is well-documented, and this isn't the first time he has fawned over Jones in particular. But the reason this talking point is so dangerous is because it purports to tidily account for the gaping holes in the lies the President tells in support of his agenda. The falsehood that the media doesn't report terrorist events is literally impossible for most Americans, whose source of information on terrorist attacks is the media, to verify. So when Trump argues that America needs to ban Muslims or reject refugees or do God knows what else, and cites vague "terrorist attacks" as justification, he can dismiss the lack of corresponding evidence as attributable to reporting, not to reality.

The press' role in a democracy is to report the facts so that the public can form their own opinions about their leaders' actions. And if Trump's assertion that the press is withholding this information is pretty scary, his willingness to fill in those gaps with the dystopian fever dreams of Alex Jones is off-the-charts terrifying.

MORE STORIES LIKE THIS ONE

Go here to see the original:
Donald Trump Is Getting His Information From America's Most Dangerous Conspiracy Theorist - GQ Magazine

President Donald Trump speaks at the beginning of a meeting with lawmakers in the Roosevelt Room of the White House Feb. 2, 2017 in Washington, D.C.Brendan SmialowskiAFP/Getty Images

Ideas

It has been widely acknowledged that, upon swearing the Oath of Office, President Donald Trump would be in direct violation of the foreign-emoluments clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Never heard of the foreign-emoluments clause? Youre not alone. Its tucked away in Article I, Section 9, of the Constitution. It's clause number 8. It states, in pertinent part: "... no person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under [the United States], shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office or Title of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince or foreign State.

This clause was included in the Articles of Confederation and, later, in the Constitution itself. It was borne out of the Framers obsession with preventing in the newly minted United States the sort of corruption that dominated 17th and 18th century foreign politics and governments characterized by gift-giving, back-scratching, foreign interference in other countries and transactions that might not lead to corruption but, nonetheless, could give the appearance of impropriety.

Where Trump runs afoul of the foreign-emoluments clause is that, first and foremost, he is a businessman with significant financial interests and governmental entanglements all over the globe. Indeed, as Norman Eisen, Richard Painter and Laurence Tribe stated at the Brookings Institution, Never in American history has a [President] presented more conflict of interest questions and foreign entanglements than Donald Trump. Moreover, Trumps businesses dealings are veiled in complicated corporate technicalities and lack transparency.

The Trump Organization does or has done business in Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Panama, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, St. Martin, St. Vincent, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and Uruguay. And, while serving as President, Trump, through his interest in the Trump Organization, will continue to receive monetary and other benefits from these foreign powers and their agents.

Examples of existing business arrangements that constitute violations of the foreign-emoluments clause include: Chinas state-owned Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is the largest tenant in Trump Tower, and the state-owned Bank of China is a major lender to Trump. Trumps business partner in Trump Tower Century City in Manila, Philippines is Century Properties, which is run by Jose Antonio , who was just named special envoy to the United States by the president of the Philippines. Further, many Trump Organization projects abroad require foreign government permits and approvals, which amount to substantial financial benefits that also constitute foreign emoluments.

Presidents and public officers often utilize blind trusts so as not to violate the foreign-emoluments clause. A truly blind trust involves an arrangement wherein the public officer has no control whatsoever over the assets placed in the trust that means no communications with, from or about the trust, and no knowledge of the specific assets held for his benefit in the trust. In the case of Trumps ownership in the Trump Organization, this could be achieved only by a complete liquidation of the assets, with the proceeds to be invested by an independent Trustee, without Trumps involvement or knowledge. Trumps decision to continue the business of the Trump Organization, continue to maintain his substantial ownership of the organization and turn the management of it over to his children, is woefully inadequate in addressing the emoluments clause .

Worse, taking the position that the foreign-emoluments clause doesnt even apply to him, Trump has stated that: I can be President of the United States and run my business 100 percent, sign checks on my business. And: The law is totally on my side, meaning, the president cant have a conflict of interest.

To address this unprecedented corruption of the Oval Office and this threat to our Constitution and our democracy, we believe Congress must move forward now with an impeachment investigation of President Trump. More than 575,000 people from across the country have already called for this, joining a new campaign launched moments after President Trump took the Oath of Office. The Presidents possible conflicts of interest have become increasingly apparent.

In the meantime, instead of starting to make America great again, the 45th President should read the Constitution and make the President honest again.

After all, he swore to uphold the Constitution.

Continued here:
Why We're Calling for Congress to Impeach Donald Trump | Time.com - TIME

Wall Street Journal

Tech CEOs Take a Stand Against Donald Trump's Immigration Order Wall Street Journal A legal filing from scores of U.S. technology companies opposing President Donald Trump's immigration order draws a new line in the industry's complicated relationship with the administration that is likely to have repercussions beyond the standoff in ... The mind of Donald TrumpBBC News President Trump's Immigration Ban Faces a Major Legal TestTIME Tech Giants Rail Against Donald Trump's Immigrant Ban In Legal BriefHuffington Post all 1,423 news articles »

Link:
Tech CEOs Take a Stand Against Donald Trump's Immigration Order - Wall Street Journal

Salon

Donald Trump Says 'Negative Polls Are Fake News' New York Times Opposition to President Trump's travel restrictions on certain countries was mounting on Monday, but Mr. Trump remained defiant and unbowed. Mr. Trump turned to Twitter early Monday and began challenging polls that showed his travel order was not ... Donald Trump denounces negative polls, coverage as fake newsSalon Donald Trump says 'any negative polls are fake news'The Independent all 33 news articles »

Here is the original post:
Donald Trump Says 'Negative Polls Are Fake News' - New York Times

Its widely known that 19 th Century Mexican dictator Porfirio Diaz once said, Poor Mexico: So far from God; so close to the United States. Its less well-known that his predecessor, Sebastin Lerdo de Tejada, looked at the stretch of land between the two countries and said, Between the strong and the weak, the desert. There was little doubt who was who.

Starting with Franklin Roosevelt, U.S. presidents have worked to heal those historical grievances and build a closer, more mature partnership. But now, President Donald Trump's talk of sending in troops to deal with "bad hombres;" building a wall between our countries; imposing a 20% border tax, and re-negotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement in a way that helps the U.S. while hurting Mexico threaten to return us to the bad old days. This stance won't just hurt America economically. If we humiliate Mexico, a proud and important country, we will undo years of progress; stoke anti-American sentiment; and possibly turn a friend into an enemy making both countries less secure.

I say this as an American citizen who has seen the relationship from both sides of the border. As an impulsive young college student on the G.I. Bill in the early 1950s, I was inspired by the movie The Treasure of the Sierra Madre to move to Mexico in search of gold. Mexicans joked that I was the only American who'd ever swam the wrong way across the Rio Grande.

I never did find gold but I did find manganese. It helped me build a global mining business. My customers included the U.S. government, which needed our manganese for its strategic stockpile. For decades, I lived and worked among some of the most famous artists and intellectuals in Mexico, along with old miners, prospectors, and working-class Mexicans of all backgrounds. What I found were people willing to work hard to create a stronger and more prosperous future for their country.

After signing NAFTA in 1993, America's partnership with Mexico our third-largest trading partner helped build a nation where its citizens don't have to go north to have a future. Contrary to Trumps alternative facts, illegal immigration from Mexico has been falling since 2009, as a Washington Post article recently reported. Mexico and the U.S. have worked to share intelligence and fight drug trafficking and transnational crime. The U.S. has also relied on Mexico to stop between 200,000 and 300,000 undocumented immigrants from entering Central and South America before they ever reach the U.S. border.

By putting Mexico in the crosshairs, Trump threatens to halt all of that progress. One idea that Trump is considering is a 20% border tariff against imports from Mexico to pay for a southern wall. As many wonder how the tariff could get passed along to U.S. consumers in the form of more expensive items in the grocery store and at Wal-Mart , U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham may have captured the sentiment best in a recent tweet . "Simply put, any policy proposal which drives up costs of Corona, tequila, or margaritas is a big-time bad idea. Mucho sad."

But there's far more at stake in our relationship with Mexico. Having a prosperous, peaceful, and friendly neighbor along our 1,900-mile southern border is vital to Americas national security. What difference does it make when a neighbor is hostile and unstable? Just ask South Korea.

The stronger Mexico is economically, the less incentive there is for residents to cross the border, and the more resources Mexico has to invest in security, development, and institutions all of which benefit the U.S. The answer to making America great again is not to make Mexico more poor. President Trump's position has already driven the peso to a record low against the U.S. dollar. More isolation could tank Mexico's economy ironically, creating precisely the conditions that could drive undocumented immigration through the roof.

In just about two weeks as president, Trump has managed to bring old resentments back. His threat to send the U.S. army to Mexico reminded me of an experience I had in the central Mexican village of Charcas in the mid-1960s. With my business more established, I had helped build a school there and visited a classroom one day, when I saw a map of North America in which the U.S. looked much smaller. Meanwhile, Mexico stretched over the entire American West. As I gazed in wonder, a little girl looked up and asked: "Seor Weiss, why did you steal half our country?"

She was talking about the half Mexico had lost in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that had ended the Mexican-American War in 1848, which the map represented. That legacy is a big part of why Mexico has often had a difficult relationship to say the least with its powerful neighbor.

Former Mexican President Vicente Fox says Trump represents the return to that time of "the ugly American" and the "hated gringo." Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, who has instituted difficult but crucial reforms supported by the U.S., has seen his approval ratings essentially tank after meeting with Trump. Meanwhile, populist and extreme left-winger Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who has been called Mexico's Trump, is gaining ground for the 2018 presidential elections.

What can we do? I agree with The Economist's recent suggestion on how to handle a bully. Mexico should highlight its many positive contributions; try to influence Trump to re-negotiate rather than scrap NAFTA, and strengthen Mexico's domestic economy.

Mexico should also open regular channels with some of the Trump Administration's more practical officials like newly appointed U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis. In Mexico, U.S. Ambassador Roberta Jacobson a career diplomat should focus on public outreach to show that our president's disrespect does not represent the American people.

And for the rest of us in the U.S., we should all watch a 2004 film directed by Sergio Arau called " A Day Without a Mexican." It imagined what would happen in California if Mexicans suddenly disappeared from every job. The result was chaos. The film's message? We should appreciate what we have before it's gone.

To do otherwise wouldn't just be mucho sad but mucho dumb.

Stanley A. Weiss is a global mining executive and founder of Washington-based Business Executives for National Security. His memoir, "Being Dead is Bad for Business, will be published by Disruption Books on February 28, 2017.

See more here:
Hey Donald Trump: Making Mexico Go Broke Would Actually Be Mucho Dumb - Fortune