Tag Archives: Fox News

media news

Obama: What if I did this?

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Barack Hussein Obama, speaking to a crowd of college students the other day, raised a fascinating subject out loud.

The 44th president of the United States wondered, “What if I did any of this?” He explained himself. “What if I had banned Fox News” from the White House briefing room? The outcry from the right, he said, would be vociferous.

He is correct. What’s more, the right would have been justified in expressing anger at a president banning a media organization from access it was giving to other such media outlets.

Then he went on. He noted how Donald Trump has banned some news outlets that have been critical of his policies from access to White House sources. “It’s not a partisan issue,” President Obama said. “It’s about who we are as a culture,” he added.

Indeed, the very people who would be angry as hell at a Democratic president doing such an outrageous thing have grown silent as their guy, Trump, seeks to silence The Associated Press, CNN and MSNBC as they seek to cover the events dictated by the current president.

Obama also noted that “a good many of my predecessors” would be aghast at what is transpiring these days within the White House now run by Trump, the MAGA morons who back him and Elon Musk, the richest man on Earth.

Trump has declared his desire to see MSNBC taken apart. By whom or what, he doesn’t say. The implication, though, is clear. He wants to sic the government on the left-leaning network. Trump, who is astonishingly ignorant of the Constitution, seemingly doesn’t know that the First Amendment declares that a “free press” must be kept free of any government interference.

President Obama was spot on in delivering his rhetorical question. He is right to question aloud where we are as a culture that allows people to accept as normal the machinations of a wildly out-of-control chief executive who exhibits every sign imaginable of wanting to run this country as a dictator.

media news

No ‘war on Christmas’

Bill O’Reilly is still off the air, which makes me happy in that I won’t have to listen to the blowhard lament the so-called Liberal Media War on Christmas.

The war has never existed. It never will. O’Reilly used his Fox Propaganda Network platform to declare regularly that the media sought to rid society of Christmas references, apparently because the media comprise — in O’Reilly’s view — godless heathens who dismiss the religious significance of the holiday.

That ain’t true. Neither is the media’s war on the holiday true.

The only “enemy” of the spirit of Christmas lies within the corporate executives of the companies that profit from all the gift-buying that occurs between the day after Christmas and New Year’s Day.

And do you remember when Donald Trump declared his intention in 2016 to make businesses wish customers a Merry Christmas? That was a singularly stupid proclamation, given that a president has no legal authority to issue such an order.

So, the Christmas buying season is upon us. Millions of Americans will put up their Christmas trees, decorate their homes with Santa, Rudolph, Mrs. Claus, elves and, yes, Nativity Scenes to commemorate the holiday.

There will be no war on Christmas!

crime news

‘Something has to change’

Brett Baier, one of the propagandists who works for the Fox Propaganda Network, said this week, “Something has to change dramatically. There may be events that we don’t know. There may be other legal challenges that he faces” in order for Ron DeSantis to secure the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

OK, here’s a dramatic change for you to ponder. GOP voters have to come to their senses if they have any hope at all for their party to defeat President Biden next year.

By that I mean the Republican core of fanatics must abandon any thought of nominating a twice-impeached, indicted former POTUS for another go-round that is assuredly going to end in defeat for him and for what once was known as the Republican Party.

On second thought, if GOP primary voters are stupid enough to hang with Donald John Trump, they will deserve the shellacking they are going to get come Election Day.

And, yes, Trump is going to face “other legal challenges” along the way. You are welcome to take that straight to the bank. It’s gonna happen.

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media news

What about those tapes?

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy turned over about 40,000 hours of video recording of the 1/6 insurrection to Tucker Carlson, the former star of the Fox Propaganda Network.

Fox canned Carlson this past week. My question now is this to the speaker: What about the video recordings you turned over to Fox? Are you going to get them back or is Carlson now free to use them whenever and wherever he pleases?

Carlson edited the video heavily while trying to develop a narrative on Fox that the insurrection wasn’t a violent attack on the government, that it was just a bunch of tourists out for a stroll through the Capitol grounds.

It was all part of The Big Lie that Carlson fomented after the 2020 presidential election.

Well, he’s gone from Fox. Speaker McCarthy must be compelled to get those recordings back … realizing, of course, that Carlson can reproduce them anyway.

The damage is done, but McCarthy needs to cut his losses — and the losses suffered by Americans concerned about what happened on that horrifying day of insurrection.

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media news

Fox settles; now … tell the truth

The Fox Propaganda Network is going to pay a lot of money to Dominion Voting Systems, thanks to a settlement announced today just as Dominion’s defamation trial was set to begin.

Dominion sued Fox for $1.6 billion. The network agreed to pony up $787.5 million, roughly half the amount Dominion had sought.

Then we’ll have a statement from Fox. Maybe soon. Fox will have to make some sort of apology to Dominion, acknowledging that it lied when it continued to broadcast phony allegations that Dominion rigged the 2020 presidential election results to elect Joe Biden.

Dominion did nothing of the sort. Fox’s on-air talking heads knew they were spreading The Big Lie. Yet they did it anyway. Therein rests the primary reason I will forever refuse to put the word “news” in Fox’s title; it does nothing but spread propaganda designed to promote a certain point of view and denigrate others who adhere to different views.

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media news

No thanks on propaganda

There once was a time when I would watch the Fox channel. Yes, it’s true. Even this so-called progressive American patriot would watch certain programs on the admittedly conservative media outlet.

I am going to declare here that I no longer watch Fox. It’s been a good while since I have dialed the network up on my TV. Why? Because I have known for a good while what has become clear now in the defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Machines against the network.

The network once billed itself as a “news” outlet. It is nothing of the sort. It is now a propaganda organization. Thus, I have declared my intention to refer to Fox as the Fox Propaganda Network.

I would no more collect my information from the Fox network than I would listen to, say, Josef Goebbels, tell me about what the Nazis were doing to “preserve racial integrity” in Europe during World War II. Or the Kremlin seeking to “explain” how it is “winning the war” against Ukraine, which it says began at the Ukrainians’ provocation.

The Fox Propaganda Channel lied to its viewers about who won the 2020 presidential election, despite its TV personalities admitting privately that Joe Biden won the election and that the guy who lost it is nuttier than a Snickers bar.

They didn’t bother to tell their viewers the truth. They were more worried about Fox’s TV ratings than they were committed to doing the right thing … which was to tell the truth.

Sickening.

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crime news

Keeping up with violence

That insurrection thing keeps growing wings and legs and it is beginning to take off in directions that few of us saw coming.

U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy gave the Fox Propaganda Channel about 40,000 hours of video showing the 1/6 assault develop in real time. Then the network’s chief propagandist, Tucker Carlson, shows carefully edited versions of the video and proclaims the assault on our government that day was no biggie.

Fox ought to fire Carlson for lying to his viewers. McCarthy ought to be impeached for giving Fox grist to further the lie about the assault. The attorney general and local prosecutors ought to indict a former POTUS for inciting the assault, for seeking to overturn the 2020 presidential election result and for obstructing justice in the wake of the pilfering of classified documents from the White House.

I concede that the first two things won’t happen. The third one likely will occur.

The crowd that stormed the Capitol on 1/6 intended to do serious harm to our system of government. Some of them wanted to kill the vice president, Mike Pence. Others of them sh** on the floor of the Capitol. Many others beat cops nearly to death.

Yet Carlson called it a peaceful protest? That they were “sightseers”? And McCarthy said he didn’t see Carlson’s broadcast the other evening?

I can’t stand this.

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media news

‘News’ becomes propaganda

When does news become propaganda? It happens when an organization that purports to be “fair and balanced” in its reporting of the news allegedly hides the truth and foments The Big Lie.

A company that manufactures voting machines has alleged that Fox News — the aforementioned “fair and balanced” organization — knew that Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election but rather than tell the truth it promoted the Big Lie offered by the moron who lost the election, Donald J. Trump.

The Fox propagandists continued to suggest that the voting machines had rigged the election by wiping out Trump votes and adding mythical votes to Biden’s total.

Dominion Voting sued Fox for a couple of billion bucks and is coming out on top in the preliminary court rulings.

To be clear, I do not watch Fox largely because the network is allegedly doing what I have suspected all along. The networks’ premier hosts — Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity and Maria Bartiromo — all have been heard furthering The Big Lie about the 2020 election.

What’s more, they all have said quite the opposite in private, according to court records. They have referred to the fraud allegations as so much bullsh**, that they were “seriously offended” by suggestions that fraud existed. With all those personal feelings being expressed in private, they still went on the air to promote the specious notion of “widespread election fraud” where none existed.

Indeed, investigators have determined that there was no election fraud in 2020, as the Fox propagandists have suggested. The lawsuit seeks to put an end to The Big Lie.

All of this gives credence to my belief that the right-wing mainstream media comprise liars and frauds masquerading as journalists.

Shameful.

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national news

Of course they clapped … Tucker

Tucker Carlson, the right-wing blowhard who — to the best of my knowledge has zero foreign policy experience — cannot understand why Congress stood in virtual unison and applauded the remarks delivered by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Why, it’s as if Congress has blinders on, said the Fox News gasbag.

Well, as an old guy with whom I once worked, would say, “Well hell, fire and save matches.” 

Of course Congress would stand virtually as one — a couple of right-wing soreheads notwithstanding — to applaud the heroic head of state who is facing the Russian invaders’ onslaught with courage and grit.

And … so damn what if he showed up in his customary olive-drab military wear? Carlson called it a demonstration of “maximum disrespect.” Bullsh**, Tucker! Did you bellow your disgust when independent U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema presided over the Senate wearing a sleeveless denim blouse? Of course not, you nimrod!

Congress wants to help defend a democratic state against an onslaught initiated by a war criminal presiding over the Kremlin. Is it expensive? Well … yeah! It is! No one doubts that the United States is paying a hefty price in sending defensive weapons to Ukraine to help fight the Russian invaders.

Tucker Carlson: Congress Disagrees On Everything Bitterly, But When Zelensky Comes They All Applaud | Video | RealClearPolitics

Moreover, the Ukrainians are putting that expense to good use as they have seized the initiative on the battlefield and have pushed the Russians out of territory they seized.

As for Congress “clapping like seals” at Zelenskyy’s appearance before the joint legislative body, let ’em applaud. The Ukrainian president has earned our admiration.

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media news

Fox News = propaganda arm

First, I must make an admission, which is that I do not watch Fox News to get my “news” from a supposedly legitimate media outlet.

Now, though, comes the gut punch. The idea that Fox News executives would refuse to cover the House 1/6 select committee hearing simply galls me to the max.

I suppose I should take credit for being ahead of the curve by recognizing that Fox News isn’t the credible news agency it proclaims itself to be.

Do you remember how it hailed itself as the “fair and balanced” network, how the channel said, “We report, you decide”? I have said for the past decade or longer that it never has been “fair and balanced.” I long have suspected its “reporting” is of questionable value.

Now we have these reports of commentators such as Tucker Carlson pitching The Big Lie promoted by The Donald; moreover, Carlson has reportedly been standing with Russia in its illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine.

Fellow right-wing zealot Sean Hannity is no better. He has been joined at the hip with Donald Trump since prior to the 2020 election. However, he sank to new lows by appearing as a guest promoter at Trump’s campaign rallies during the 2020 campaign.

Now we have the House select panel sending its evidence of wrongdoing into our living rooms via TV. All the other major networks are broadcasting the hearings live to those of us who want to watch them; I am one American patriot who wants to learn the truth behind what happened during the 1/6 insurrection.

Were I a Fox News devotee, I wouldn’t get that chance. As a method of deterring viewers from sneaking a peak on the hearing being shown on, say, CNN or MSNBC, Fox is airing programs without commercial interruptions. Clever eh? Sure, it’s also quite costly.

Fox News’s decision to forgo covering one of the biggest stories in U.S. history in truth doesn’t affect me in the least, given that I don’t watch the network. It does, though, have an impact on our nation’s political structure.

It feeds the gullibility exhibited by the cultists who still adhere to The Big Lie.

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