So I guess this is a good news, bad news scenario. Fox News is suffering, (that's a shame) but the Trumpers have simply turned the dial to Newsmax TV and OAN, news stations so whacko that they make Fox News look like NPR. It's not like the Fox viewers all started watching MSNBC and CNN because they saw the light. But apparently some did because CNN's ratings are doing so well so that's more good news. Or is CNN doing well because Newsmax TV and OAN is syphoning off viewers from Fox News? It's all so confusing but one thing is clear. The fact that Fox is failing to newbies Newsmax and OAN says that there are around 40% of America that completely lack critical thinking skills and empathy. The real story is that Rupert Murdoch figured out that there are people in the world, especially in this country that would gravitate to this type of a news outlet like flies to shit. So if Fox News dies a slow and painful death, good riddance. But there will always be a conspiracy network to feed these depraved and dangerous people stories that align with their narrow minded beliefs. These folks will believe this election was stolen till the day they die and consider this. There are people today who really believe that in 1947 an alien spaceship crashed in Roswell, New Mexico and that the government covered it up, the same government that these folks often criticize as inept. There is of course, not a shred of tangible evidence to support such an outlandish story. The claim that a massive conspiracy, orchestrated by thousands down to poll workers, stole this election from Trump is an extraordinary claim. The great Carl Sagan said extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. And like Roswell, none exists. But I digress, have a great weekend all!
Your reference to Never Trumpers brings up a couple of points.
One is that republicans actually have been engaged in a coup for more than half a century. We have a through line of Nixon sabotaging the peace talks in 1968 and then his extralegal activities, Cheney and Rumsfeld basically claiming omnipotence under both Ford and Bush II, Reagan and Bush with Iran-Contra, Bush II with Florida and the now seemingly forgotten US attorneys scandal, and of course simply opposing anything that Clinton or Obama proposed. The Never Trumpers might be forgiven on the grounds that it's hard to know you're in a hurricane when you're in the eye of it.
Another is that Democrats aren't going to be able to save the country until they save themselves. By which I mean that we have moderate and conservative Democrats still thinking it might be possible to work with an opposition that is openly treasonous, and liberals who think that only they have the solutions to the world's problems.
A related one is the media failing as usual. A good example is the upset over Biden not appointing enough people on the left. The left sees this as meaning that he will run a conservative administration. The media play it up without stopping to think: republicans have destroyed the federal government. When you have to rebuild something, you want to make it better, but you start with people who actually know how to build in the first place.
Watching Fox “News” go down in flames is exactly how 2020 was supposed to end. Republicans flocking to Newsmax means the GOP has officially become a fringe group and everyone knows it now. This downslide will continue to get worse. But the real bellwether will be the 2022 elections.
Fox's predicament calls attention to inner/other directedness. The journalist is trained to report truth, circulation be damned, while the pretender focuses on tribute in various forms. From the beginning, when Fox offered up the slogan "we report - you decide," I decided not to watch. No regrets.
While there's a big part of me which is experiencing delicious schaudenfreud over this, there's another part of me that's really scared because Newsmax and OANN are even worse than Fox in terms of the disinformation, propaganda, and straight-out lies they spread. They're having a race to see which one of them can become a modern-day Der Sturmer. Added to the more than 100 GOP Reps who just added their names to an amicus brief for that Texas-led lawsuit against the swing states, and we really are at the fascist stage. I don't know where we go, as a country, from here. How do we get back to a point where everyone (or at least most everyone) accepts facts? I can't really see the end of this. Does it end when Trump goes to jail? If he dies?
I don't want to say, "Thoughts and prayers," but thoughts and prayers. Newsmax has a chance to be a player if some moneyed right wingers buy it and rebrand it Trump TV. If they can anchor the network with a big name from Fox (Hannity would be the perfect one), then they have a chance to really compete. OAN is just plain awful - I mean, REALLY bad. They have people on the air who are one notch above podcast level - who the hell is Alex Salvi? I mean, I saw one segment where some "expert" was basically doing a screenshare from his home computer live on the air. Seriously?
All is not lost for Fox. I'm sure the upcoming Fox Weather will be a stellar edition to their brand, filled with people who can't even rate being on Fox Business.
One way the non-authoritarian-friendly media can help with this is to go against their definition of news and, say, a year from now, write the story "A year later, still no evidence of voter fraud, and no cases brought," complete with angry "no comment"s from Rudy Giuliani and his gang.
I don't know whether it will shame conservatives into becoming Americans -- probably not. But if we're focused on what the media can do, that's it.
Just wondering...still remember back in 1998 over 100 editorials called for Bill Clinton to resign over a stained blue dress.
Note how silent those editorial boards are right now...and none of them have called for Trump to resign.
More proof that there is no such thing as a "liberal" press.
So I guess this is a good news, bad news scenario. Fox News is suffering, (that's a shame) but the Trumpers have simply turned the dial to Newsmax TV and OAN, news stations so whacko that they make Fox News look like NPR. It's not like the Fox viewers all started watching MSNBC and CNN because they saw the light. But apparently some did because CNN's ratings are doing so well so that's more good news. Or is CNN doing well because Newsmax TV and OAN is syphoning off viewers from Fox News? It's all so confusing but one thing is clear. The fact that Fox is failing to newbies Newsmax and OAN says that there are around 40% of America that completely lack critical thinking skills and empathy. The real story is that Rupert Murdoch figured out that there are people in the world, especially in this country that would gravitate to this type of a news outlet like flies to shit. So if Fox News dies a slow and painful death, good riddance. But there will always be a conspiracy network to feed these depraved and dangerous people stories that align with their narrow minded beliefs. These folks will believe this election was stolen till the day they die and consider this. There are people today who really believe that in 1947 an alien spaceship crashed in Roswell, New Mexico and that the government covered it up, the same government that these folks often criticize as inept. There is of course, not a shred of tangible evidence to support such an outlandish story. The claim that a massive conspiracy, orchestrated by thousands down to poll workers, stole this election from Trump is an extraordinary claim. The great Carl Sagan said extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. And like Roswell, none exists. But I digress, have a great weekend all!
Your reference to Never Trumpers brings up a couple of points.
One is that republicans actually have been engaged in a coup for more than half a century. We have a through line of Nixon sabotaging the peace talks in 1968 and then his extralegal activities, Cheney and Rumsfeld basically claiming omnipotence under both Ford and Bush II, Reagan and Bush with Iran-Contra, Bush II with Florida and the now seemingly forgotten US attorneys scandal, and of course simply opposing anything that Clinton or Obama proposed. The Never Trumpers might be forgiven on the grounds that it's hard to know you're in a hurricane when you're in the eye of it.
Another is that Democrats aren't going to be able to save the country until they save themselves. By which I mean that we have moderate and conservative Democrats still thinking it might be possible to work with an opposition that is openly treasonous, and liberals who think that only they have the solutions to the world's problems.
A related one is the media failing as usual. A good example is the upset over Biden not appointing enough people on the left. The left sees this as meaning that he will run a conservative administration. The media play it up without stopping to think: republicans have destroyed the federal government. When you have to rebuild something, you want to make it better, but you start with people who actually know how to build in the first place.
Watching Fox “News” go down in flames is exactly how 2020 was supposed to end. Republicans flocking to Newsmax means the GOP has officially become a fringe group and everyone knows it now. This downslide will continue to get worse. But the real bellwether will be the 2022 elections.
Fox's predicament calls attention to inner/other directedness. The journalist is trained to report truth, circulation be damned, while the pretender focuses on tribute in various forms. From the beginning, when Fox offered up the slogan "we report - you decide," I decided not to watch. No regrets.
While there's a big part of me which is experiencing delicious schaudenfreud over this, there's another part of me that's really scared because Newsmax and OANN are even worse than Fox in terms of the disinformation, propaganda, and straight-out lies they spread. They're having a race to see which one of them can become a modern-day Der Sturmer. Added to the more than 100 GOP Reps who just added their names to an amicus brief for that Texas-led lawsuit against the swing states, and we really are at the fascist stage. I don't know where we go, as a country, from here. How do we get back to a point where everyone (or at least most everyone) accepts facts? I can't really see the end of this. Does it end when Trump goes to jail? If he dies?
I don't want to say, "Thoughts and prayers," but thoughts and prayers. Newsmax has a chance to be a player if some moneyed right wingers buy it and rebrand it Trump TV. If they can anchor the network with a big name from Fox (Hannity would be the perfect one), then they have a chance to really compete. OAN is just plain awful - I mean, REALLY bad. They have people on the air who are one notch above podcast level - who the hell is Alex Salvi? I mean, I saw one segment where some "expert" was basically doing a screenshare from his home computer live on the air. Seriously?
All is not lost for Fox. I'm sure the upcoming Fox Weather will be a stellar edition to their brand, filled with people who can't even rate being on Fox Business.
It would be nice if Tom Steyer and Mike Bloomberg launched a hostile takeover bid for Fox...
One way the non-authoritarian-friendly media can help with this is to go against their definition of news and, say, a year from now, write the story "A year later, still no evidence of voter fraud, and no cases brought," complete with angry "no comment"s from Rudy Giuliani and his gang.
I don't know whether it will shame conservatives into becoming Americans -- probably not. But if we're focused on what the media can do, that's it.
Try Robin and Linda Williams' version of Mary Had A Baby. Also very nice.