13 Comments

Hi Eric, go visit southwest florida for your Fox News fill. Those people think all of this is overblown and political. It's an elderly population of snowbirds who are out dining, golfing and beaching. As much as I love the sunshine, Bugs Bunny had the right idea when he sawed off the state in one of his cartoons. (google it)

Expand full comment
author

it’s scary right? literally the most vulnerable part of the population

Expand full comment

I credit Bugs with the most apt description of Trump, which also applies to his ignorant enablers in the Foxosphere, "What a moroon!" Although I believe Bugs made that observation about Elmer Fudd, except for replacing the goofy hunting cap with goofier fake blonde hair, Trump definitely demonstrates the same rapier wit, attention to detail, and dogged analytical sense that assured fans that Bugs would live to humiliate Elmer in the next installment. And like Elmer, Trump appears to be totally lacking in the kind of self-awareness that would ever result in humiliation, or even contrition.

Expand full comment

Oh well, quite a few of them might regret that in the coming weeks. Then they'll probably blame the "Mexicans" and Chinese of course. And no need for sawing it off; climate change will take care of that with sea level rise. Most of Florida is underlain by porous limestone, so long before the water is lapping at people's doors they'll have basement flooding, foundations becoming undermined, and lack of drinkable water due to aquifer infiltration. Again, because the bedrock is porous, the only options are abandonment or demolishing and rebuilding everything as a community-on-stilts.

Expand full comment

I wonder how the collective cognitive dissonance of Fox viewers in a red state like Kansas is resolved? Their governor (albeit a Democrat) has taken clear and decisive steps to curb the spread of Covid-19. At some point, when daily lives are dramatically impacted, as opposed to passive television exposure, doesn't reality creep in? Ditto Nevada which has a significant Trump base, whose Democratic governor just closed the casinos. Can reality continue to be suspended when everything around you is changing?

Expand full comment
author

good question. this is a so story so vast, so all-consuming thst , I unlike impeachment for instance, it impacts everyone’s daily life

Expand full comment

Actually I believe it can be for many trump followers. They seem to be so lost in the oblivion of the delusion that they reject reality, even when they are living it.

Expand full comment
author

that would be kind of amazing

Expand full comment

Murdoch is a sociopath. He literally does not care about other humans except as means to an end. So yes, he personally acted prudently, while his businesses acted to maximize profit, which, as noted, involves taking precautions for employees while continuing to sell product. Lots of people seem to have real trouble accepting that sociopaths exist and many of them have positions of power. (Trump is also obviously one.)

Expand full comment
author

I honestly don’t think sociopath is an exaggeration

Expand full comment

Two quick points:

When a media outlet willing echoes what they know or should know is inarguably bullshit, it’s not reporting, it’s not even misinformation— those two are accidental, inadvertent. What it is is disinformation. And it does society real harm.

Also, disgusting as Fox’s personalities are — Hannity, Ingraham, Carlson, Pirro, etc., etc., etc. — the news side shouldn’t be tarred with that brush. The news side is not significantly worse than the rest of the establishment media. I know; super faint praise for the news side but still.

Expand full comment
author

agreed on disinformation. but I’m going to disagree on the news side at Fox

Expand full comment

How much worse do you think Fox’s news side is compared to, say, Norah O’Donnell’s evening farce or CNN when they rely on experts instead of reporting or the Sunday morning shows that usually act as accomplices to Republican disinformation?

The sins of the mainstream media — the disservice to the nation — are massive. More than I can into on typing on the phone. But over simplifying: Legitimatizing Trump; supporting the GOP and Wall Street since the 1980s; the bullshit economic and financial reporting since the 2008 collapse (extending to this minute by blaming the markets’ collapse on Coronavirus full stop). Relying on them for learning what one needs to know is, well, a bad idea.

Expand full comment