Mediaboss Marketing

Published on February 6th, 2017 | by Zachary Shahan

February 6th, 2017 by Zachary Shahan

If youve been paying close attention to US politics this past month, I probablydont need to tell you whats been going on. If you havent been, well, I cant even find theword to describe it its been a mix of insanity, corruption, hypocrisy, lies (aka alternative facts), irony, fictional history, idiocy, chaos, and looming disaster. In other words, just anothermonthin the life of a con man from Queens.

Before getting into the focus of the article, though, I want to highlight that I thinkDonald Trumps counterproductive policies and approach to politics are actually much less about him conning people and much more about him being conned, and simply being a person who doesnt carefully evaluate pretty much anything. The clearest understanding I have of Trump is that he is justa rich old white man who has sat on his couch watching Fox News for too long. Of course, beyond that, he golfs with Rush Limbaugh, talks to Sean Hannity on the phone, and has branded himself as successful and rich for decades (even when he was deep, deep in the red and his family members reportedly handed overmillions of dollars to bail him out). But the mainpoint is he has been heavily brainwashed by the extremist right-wing propaganda machine, just like so many other old white grandpas. When you consider thepoint that he basically doesnt read,the fact that most of this propaganda comes straight through Fox News and talk radio is not so surprising.

If you look at Trumpspast political comments and criticisms of Obama, they often came straight from Fox Newsand Rush Limbaugh. His simplistic (in many cases very harmfully simplistic) solutions to problem after problem come from talking heads on Fox. (He admits as much in the interview clip with Chuck Todd in the video above, in which he basically says he gets his information and ideas from TV news and we know he heavily prefers Fox News).

Trumpsdeep and broad anger, his feeling that America was under attack by an unpatriotic (obviously incorrect)and Muslim (obviously incorrect) Obama, and the fear (my God, the fear) it all comes straight from the right-wing propaganda machine most powerfully represented byFox News, but also viaso many other propaganda outlets Trump has mentioned or retweeted(and, of course, Republican politicians themselves).

Think about it. Think about any Donald Trump proposal. Did it not come straight from watching Fox, listening to Rush Limbaugh, or chatting with buddies Sean Hannity andBill OReilly (and now Steve Bannon, Kellyanne Conway, etc.)? Is Trump not just a crazy, angry grandpa who has watched too much Fox?

Watch this clip (starts 6:56 into the video with that link) and then this movie trailer.

I think this also helps to explain why much of the public felt like he understood them, why his communication approach was so effective on so many people hes one of them. He may be a billionaire (or millionaire) living in a penthouse inNew York City, but he basically sits in front of the TV and gets angry watching Fox News. Rumor has it that his current aides have a tough time pulling him away from the TV and getting him to tame this bad habit.

But, now, that brings me to the core topic of this article. In summary:the hypocrisy,it burns.

There are so many things Trumphas now done that, if they had been done by Obama, the faces of Fox News hosts and Republican politicians would be bubbling red and exploding. Yet, because its one of their guys instead of a black Democrat, it doesnt matter its good even! As a preface to a list of some of these things, though, I think its relevant to note something else: Iveheard that Trump wasnt actually bornin the US that hes Scottish. What Im told is that no one has seen his birth certificate, and that theres not even any legitimate, proven record of him going to elementary school in the US. This could be a huge deal. I think its something we should look into for years to come. I may even hire a private investigator.

(Yes, that birth certificate part is all a joke, butseriously, thats what Trump, Fox News, and others said about Obama and didfor years!)

Anyway, here aresome very legitimate matters to consider:

1. What if Obama selected the longtime CEO of a giant solar energy company to be secretary of state? Picking winners and losers? Crony capitalism?

2. Furthermore, what if that company had been known to conceal information relevant to the public good and was causing health problems and premature death for millions of people?

3. Furthermore, what if that company had billions of dollars of deals with Russiathat got compromised by US sanctions on Russia from its invasion of an ally neighbor?

4. Speaking of Russia What would the response be if Obama won the election after Russia hacked into the Republican Party and its presidential campaign emails and leaked them to Wikileaks? What would the result be if the entire US intelligence community said that Russia did this in order to try to get Obama elected and Obamas reaction was to berate these US intelligence agencies, claim that they are wrong, and praise Russias responses to the matter? (What if this is something the FBI was investigating but didnt make public even though it made public nonsense investigations about Obamas opponents emails at critical times during the election.)

5. What if Obama continuously praised Vladimir Putin and said its no big deal that Putin killed political opponents and that it had happened in the US as well?

6. What if Obama lashed out on Twitter to claim a US civil rights iconwho risked his life and was almost beaten to death fighting for justicewas all talk, no action during a weekend meant to remember and honor the epic battle that hero was a part of.

7. What if Obama passed a poorly planned andprobably unconstitutional ban on travel from various legitimate visa holders, green card holders, and other travellers, was then blocked by our court system (one of our key checks on power), and then lashed out at our court system for using its inherent right and expertise to block this unconstitutionalban?

8. What if Obama made pointless, nonsensical rules like government agencies have to repeal two regulations for every new regulation they create?

9. What if Obama attacked and pissed off leaders of China, Australia, the UK, Germany, Iran, and others in his first two weeks on the job?

10. What if Obama obsessively attacked the media and any criticisms of him that the entertainment industry sent his way?

11. What if Obama picked a record number ofbillionaire friends to head up key cabinet positions? (And after hypingdraining the swamp on the campaign trail!)

12. What if Obama focused on cracking down on Wall Street Goldman Sachs in particular and then nominated or installed four former or currentGoldman Sachs people fortop positions and immediately worked to roll back critical regulations on Wall Street put in place after the recession to protect the economy?

13. What if Obama went a record length before holding a press conference (waited monthslonger than other presidents had)?

14. What if Obama had a vast global business that he was unwilling to stop running after becoming president, one that lent itself to special treatment from political players around the world?

15. What if Obama never released his tax returns, despite allegations that he didnt pay federal income tax for nearly 20 years, and despite allegations that they might reveal close ties with foreign governments?

16. What if Obamalied dozens of times in his first two weeks on the job?

17. What if Obama fired the Acting Attorney Generalfor doing her job just days before she would be leaving the position anyway?

18. What if Obama called refugees illegal immigrants andwanted to ignore the countrys duties under the Geneva Conventions?

19.What if Obama neglected to mention Jewish people on Holocaust Remembrance Day?

20. What if Obama claimed there was widespread voter fraud in the election and essentially all the people (approximately 3 million of them) voted against Obama? (Note: Thats conveniently the number Trump would need to have actually beaten Hillary Clinton in the popular vote.)

21. What if Obama obsessed over the size of his inauguration crowd andlied that it was the largest ever when there was clear evidence it wasnt close to the size of his predecessors inauguration crowd?

22. What if Obama contrary to the US intelligence community claimed that torture worked and indicated he might bring it back?

23.What if Obama used his National Prayer Day speech to hype his entertainment career and bash Arnold Schwarzenegger?

24. What if Obama came into one of the worst economic crises in American history and left with the economy on solid feet? Oh, wait, that wasObamas story unfortunately for Fox News, the jobs were in solar energy, wind energy, electric transport, and other arenas Obama specifically supported.

The hypocrisy it burns.

But remember, we now live in Don the Cons scary reality.

Buy a cool T-shirt or mug in the CleanTechnica store! Keep up to date with all the hottest cleantech news by subscribing to our (free) cleantech newsletter, or keep an eye on sector-specific news by getting our (also free) solar energy newsletter, electric vehicle newsletter, or wind energy newsletter.

Tags: Chuck Todd, Donald Trump, Fox News, hypocrisy, Kellyanne Conway, Obama, Republicans, Rush Limbaugh, Russia, Sean Hannity, Steve Bannon, Vladimir Putin

Zachary Shahan is tryin' to help society help itself (and other species) with the power of the typed word. He spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as its director and chief editor, but he's also the president of Important Media and the director/founder of EV Obsession, Solar Love, and Bikocity. Zach is recognized globally as a solar energy, electric car, and energy storage expert. Zach has long-term investments in TSLA, FSLR, SPWR, SEDG, & ABB after years of covering solar and EVs, he simply has a lot of faith in these particular companies and feels like they are good cleantech companies to invest in.

Go here to see the original:
What If Obama Did This? & Where's Trump's Birth Certificate, By The Way? - CleanTechnica