The vast majority of politically-inspired violence and murders in America over the past two decades have been committed by rightwing extremists. How many are watching Fox News?
I'm pretty disappointed that the trial ended without a full revealing of Fox propaganda efforts and techniques. I felt it could be a 'learning opportunity' for the country. Maybe the next 2+B lawsuit.
Too bad that all Americans did not hear the truth through out the trial exposing all Fox Hosts for their lies and conspiracy falsehoods. Of course, they probably don't listen to lamestreet media which I only do on occasion to find my local weather. NPR used to be a good outlet but....... I wish everyone listened and read Thom Hartmann and his truths, no one pays attention to my posts on facebook as they are un interested in the politics and don't realize the danger were in as they only hear lamestreet media. Very disheartening.
Agree with everything Thom wrote in this article. I totally believe however that the existence of Faux Fascist “news” and the BS they spew on the airwaves is related to the laziness and deliberate willful ignorance of a large segment of American viewers. These viewers (many of whom we are either related to or acquainted with) like and agree with the low information lie peddling alternative reality presented 24/7. Like a commenter made on another news article stated, “a lot of people watch wrestling for entertainment. They know it’s fake and hyped but they watch it faithfully anyway “. A perfect synopsis of most of Faux viewers I suspect but unfortunately there are those that are really gullible and ignorant therefore lost to reasoning or facts. Dominion did what it needed to do as a corporate entity to recoup damages and unfortunately more humiliation of Faux network and Murdoch is going to be left to the next lawsuits coming eventually. Which agency has any teeth to clamp down on networks and other media who willfully broadcasts lies with potentially dangerous outcomes? At least a disclaimer before every “news “ show (Hannity,Dobbs,Pierrot etc.) that states these are opinions and not factual news sources. I’ll never get to see that in my lifetime.
The evidence that was presented and the statement that they lied sets people up for filing civil suits for damages against Fox. I would love to see coalitions of people come together to file suits for instance the families of police officers. Surely they have a solid case and could pool resources to get the damages paid because it is true that financial accountability is needed and Fox must pay out. I’d be so happy is these civil suits destroyed not only the reputations but also the financial stability of Fox, Murdoch and his sinister Fox hosts!
If ethics and morals actually mattered, then yes, they owe the entire nation an apology and we should witness them packing their bags and leaving. But that’s not what happened because 💰💵💸 rules. It’s hard to fault Dominion... they’re a business... that’s how the system is set up. There’s still a case with Smartmatic ... and I would think this bleeds into the J6 investigations. My impatience is surging today.
I know a fair number of people who are 'addicted' to Fox News. They are literally brain-washed by it. They have it on all the time and do not go to any other news sources. This is a true, physiological addiction. We know that 'screen time' is addictive, in and of itself. What to do? Treat it like any other addiction; with kindness and compassion. Nothing else works.
Several of my close family members are victims of the Fox scam. One has frequently chatted with Hannity on the air and has something like 100,000 followers on twitter or FB as a result. His dad was a respected university professor. His son is in a relationship with a lovely and sweet trans person who identifies as female which has torn the family apart. Another is impossible to talk to about anything social or remotely political because he has so fully bought into the right-wing insanity they push.
But, these people were all primed for this deception. They were steeped in either the evangelical or the Catholic faith. They will not open the pages of a real book even with a gun held to their head. They are absolutely certain that their education was completed in twelve years and nothing more is required of them. What has been done to them, and what needed to be changed?
Lip service. Patronization. Every single day I hear and read rather obscure or generalized commentary from adults – mostly seniors I believe, about “our youth”, “students”, “privatizing schools”, the removal of “civics classes”, “the unfair treatment of teachers and the demonization of teacher’s unions”, the necessity of a well-informed and well-educated citizenry”, etc., etc.
But has anyone thought to ask the students what they think? Actually, yes. There have been uncounted surveys and studies with direct inquiries to students. All quickly disappear into a Black Hole.
TO WHOM IT MAY (OR MAY NOT) CONCERN:
Weak tea, weak-kneed, half-assed support for youth and democracy is not going to cut it.
For the record. When we cannot be fully honest with ourselves, we cannot be honest with others.
Collateral Damage: Out of Mind – Out of Sight – Why Do Responsible Adults Ignore the Conspicuous Plight of These Children? Citizens weakened and compromised by brainwashing institutions will not ever rescue a failing democracy.
Nothing will happen as a consequence of my writing these words. I can predict that with almost complete confidence. Sadly, time, and many previous attempts to sound the alarm over several decades have proven that the many people, many of them professionals employed as educators and in fields dealing with the issues and adversities of children who often proclaim their concern for children actually do not care about children all that much when push comes to shove. They neither push, nor shove on behalf of children. They see mediocracy, ignorance, and confusion and they say or do nothing.
One could disagree with me on what must be done to solve problems. One could challenge my facts and evidence. However, that would require a sincere concern and a willingness to face hard realities and to stop denying the validity of what I and a handful of others have been saying.
Rarely will anyone engage or make the slightest attempt to dispute my statements and conclusions. And if anyone ever does, they invariably quickly revert to the position that they will do their own “thing” (which is to recycle ineffectual nostrums and platitudes and do nothing meaningful) and that I should do my own thing and not bother them with the vagaries of childhood angst and miseducation.
There is simply no longer any way around the realization that people generally and the media only give lip service and only suppose or pretend that they care about kids. They care when the kids are their own family or part of a certain select circle. I can no longer deny this regrettable truth.
Over and over, I have offered the stark revelations of bona fide professional researchers utilizing sophisticated methods and statistics, which provide indisputable data and factual evidence that large numbers of students enrolled (involuntarily or under the legal mandates of compulsory attendance laws) in traditional schools, suffer from anxiety, alienation, stress, feelings of inadequacy, rejection, frustration, and anomie. Perhaps 20 -25% are in a constant state of befuddlement. Panic attacks and suicidal ideation too often ending in suicide are commonplace among youth, and many others turn to deviance, bullying behavior, criminality, or violence. They are drowning in a sea of academic and institutional abstraction.
Crickets is what I get, without fail. I get Zilch in the way of visible or actionable concern. Nada. It is either no response at all, or a cursory and insulting reply which reveals arrogance and indifference. If anyone cares, they have failed to give me the slightest indication.
School reform is the biggest cruel joke of all time. Every variation on every theme has been tried in every location with little or no success and with no large-scale or long-term effect. Ho hum. Who cares? Everyone knows it. On some level everyone is aware that “the system”, meaning the authoritarian bureaucracy made absolutely essential and absolutely immutable by compulsory attendance law is wholly and permanently incompatible with the sort of change which would relieve the discomfort children constantly feel and would eliminate the conditions which are inherently oppressive. Speak about it at your own risk and prepare to be ignored.
These statements are only for the record. I anticipate no willingness to act or to even engage in discussion on anyone’s part. The conscientious objectors have chosen not to object on this score.
But I am obliged to ask that anyone who fails to take these issues seriously please, please do not try to convince me that you truly feel care or compassion for children, or for that matter that you are concerned that democracy is in peril because the citizenry are not alert and informed. They are conditioned to obey, to follow, and to remain passive, and the law guarantees it. Your silence is deafening.
Inaction signals apathy. Benign neglect when the conditions children endure are onerous, aggravating, frustrating, damaging, and futile can only be interpreted as a belief that some of those children do not really matter or that some deserve to be treated as second-class citizens. They are controlled and they are disciplined and discipline and control are systematically internalized so that they are prepared in advance for a Trump, a DeSantis, or a Ron Johnson.
I do see concern about “gifted students”. I see that well-behaved “A”, “B”, and “C” students get a degree of attention and tolerance. However, in well over half of all classrooms, there are huge cracks through which as many as one-third of the students of all descriptions can easily fall. This is merely how it is. Everyone speaks in eloquent prose about serving all children and leaving “no child behind”. But no one is so naïve or ignorant of the reality to be unaware that the ways in which children are failed and failed repeatedly in these calcified institutions are many and large except through willful ignorance.
The throw-away culture throws away one-third of its youth. These are the multitudes for whom reading more than two paragraphs is a bore and exceeds their attention span. These are the countless victims for whom intellectual matters are of no interest and which provoke the fear that they will lead to chaos and destructive willfulness. The despoilers waste their greatest potential.
Why should I be surprised? Why should it shock me that liberal/progressives have their own blind spots and lapses of conscience not unlike conservatives?
Please do not say you care anymore. Do not continue to tell the lie. If you cared, you would not have blithely accepted the utter blather and nonsense that “change is in the air”, the threat is only from the bad guy anti-union billionaires and privatizers, or that “we put men on the moon because of our excellent schools”. If you still do not know that those are ludicrous fabrications, you need to go back to school (and look around with both eyes open). If you cared I do not believe you would conveniently ignore the bitter truth and the conspicuous facts flashing bright red warnings in all directions.
Am I being impolite? You did not want to be forced out of your comfort zone to look at the ugly side of forced schooling? Do I seem angry? You are effing right I am angry. I am livid about the self-delusion of so-called educators who pedal lovely projections of children soaking up their hand-delivered knowledge when no such thing is happening, and about the legions of others who would rather coast and capitulate than start a fight for children or democracy. What is the refusal to see or to take seriously and at face value empirical evidence if not cowardice?
If Rupert Murdoch had been a Chinese mogul and owner of Fox, we would have revoked his citizenship or clamored for banning the “News” organization the way politicians in both parties are calling for Tik Tok to be banned or purchased by Americans. The damage Rupert Murdock has done to America and American democracy is existential and should warrant a revocation of his citizenship.
In the few years since he emerged on the media scene, Americans are so polarized, their institutions of governance, the Congress and the Judiciary are empty shells of their old selves. Hate is rampant, decency defenestrated and American exceptionalism has become a joke. When are we going to call for Rupert’s citizenship to be revoked. He is destroying a 200+-year experiment!
"What percentage of the population has personality disorders? An estimated 9 percent of U.S. adults have at least one personality disorder. Also, a person may have more than one personality disorder."
Specifically about those with anti-social disorders "....it is three times more common among men than women. Individuals with antisocial personality disorder often also have co-occurring mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder or substance use disorders."
America and other countries that have fallen victim to the Murdoch empire have a built-in audience dying to hear just what they preach. And if it seems there are many more of them than when you grew up, there is. The population doubled over a 30 year period. Nine percent of US adults equals 23,155,150.
Add in the internet where these folks can connect and build layer by layer their stupid, vile theories and conspiracies, then throw in the seeds FOX plants and you end-up with murder, mayhem, and insurrection.
FOX and the Murdochs should be sued out of existence.
I don’t buy it, Tom. Ashli Babbitt and her ilk weren’t victims, they were enthusiastic participants. Anyone listening to and believing the BS that is Fox News deserved what they got; stupidity is not a disease.
I'm pretty disappointed that the trial ended without a full revealing of Fox propaganda efforts and techniques. I felt it could be a 'learning opportunity' for the country. Maybe the next 2+B lawsuit.
Fox has done incredible damage to our country...greed over truth. Thom’s analysis is spot on!
The damage is done . The damage is being done. And the damage will continue to be done.
Fox has to pay the money , but even as the suit went on , the damage was continuing .
There are Fox people that continue to lie every day and night on Fox.
It reminds me of the class action suit for ‘ Round Up’ The weed killer that kills people.
Big money from lawsuit But have they taken it out of stores or production .
Are the going to stop with the deadly lies now ?
I think that is sadly unlikely .
More people will die or be ruined.
And so it continues.
Too bad that all Americans did not hear the truth through out the trial exposing all Fox Hosts for their lies and conspiracy falsehoods. Of course, they probably don't listen to lamestreet media which I only do on occasion to find my local weather. NPR used to be a good outlet but....... I wish everyone listened and read Thom Hartmann and his truths, no one pays attention to my posts on facebook as they are un interested in the politics and don't realize the danger were in as they only hear lamestreet media. Very disheartening.
Agree with everything Thom wrote in this article. I totally believe however that the existence of Faux Fascist “news” and the BS they spew on the airwaves is related to the laziness and deliberate willful ignorance of a large segment of American viewers. These viewers (many of whom we are either related to or acquainted with) like and agree with the low information lie peddling alternative reality presented 24/7. Like a commenter made on another news article stated, “a lot of people watch wrestling for entertainment. They know it’s fake and hyped but they watch it faithfully anyway “. A perfect synopsis of most of Faux viewers I suspect but unfortunately there are those that are really gullible and ignorant therefore lost to reasoning or facts. Dominion did what it needed to do as a corporate entity to recoup damages and unfortunately more humiliation of Faux network and Murdoch is going to be left to the next lawsuits coming eventually. Which agency has any teeth to clamp down on networks and other media who willfully broadcasts lies with potentially dangerous outcomes? At least a disclaimer before every “news “ show (Hannity,Dobbs,Pierrot etc.) that states these are opinions and not factual news sources. I’ll never get to see that in my lifetime.
The evidence that was presented and the statement that they lied sets people up for filing civil suits for damages against Fox. I would love to see coalitions of people come together to file suits for instance the families of police officers. Surely they have a solid case and could pool resources to get the damages paid because it is true that financial accountability is needed and Fox must pay out. I’d be so happy is these civil suits destroyed not only the reputations but also the financial stability of Fox, Murdoch and his sinister Fox hosts!
If ethics and morals actually mattered, then yes, they owe the entire nation an apology and we should witness them packing their bags and leaving. But that’s not what happened because 💰💵💸 rules. It’s hard to fault Dominion... they’re a business... that’s how the system is set up. There’s still a case with Smartmatic ... and I would think this bleeds into the J6 investigations. My impatience is surging today.
I know a fair number of people who are 'addicted' to Fox News. They are literally brain-washed by it. They have it on all the time and do not go to any other news sources. This is a true, physiological addiction. We know that 'screen time' is addictive, in and of itself. What to do? Treat it like any other addiction; with kindness and compassion. Nothing else works.
Sign me up for the class action lawsuit!
Another well-done essay, Thom.
Several of my close family members are victims of the Fox scam. One has frequently chatted with Hannity on the air and has something like 100,000 followers on twitter or FB as a result. His dad was a respected university professor. His son is in a relationship with a lovely and sweet trans person who identifies as female which has torn the family apart. Another is impossible to talk to about anything social or remotely political because he has so fully bought into the right-wing insanity they push.
But, these people were all primed for this deception. They were steeped in either the evangelical or the Catholic faith. They will not open the pages of a real book even with a gun held to their head. They are absolutely certain that their education was completed in twelve years and nothing more is required of them. What has been done to them, and what needed to be changed?
Lip service. Patronization. Every single day I hear and read rather obscure or generalized commentary from adults – mostly seniors I believe, about “our youth”, “students”, “privatizing schools”, the removal of “civics classes”, “the unfair treatment of teachers and the demonization of teacher’s unions”, the necessity of a well-informed and well-educated citizenry”, etc., etc.
But has anyone thought to ask the students what they think? Actually, yes. There have been uncounted surveys and studies with direct inquiries to students. All quickly disappear into a Black Hole.
TO WHOM IT MAY (OR MAY NOT) CONCERN:
Weak tea, weak-kneed, half-assed support for youth and democracy is not going to cut it.
For the record. When we cannot be fully honest with ourselves, we cannot be honest with others.
Collateral Damage: Out of Mind – Out of Sight – Why Do Responsible Adults Ignore the Conspicuous Plight of These Children? Citizens weakened and compromised by brainwashing institutions will not ever rescue a failing democracy.
Nothing will happen as a consequence of my writing these words. I can predict that with almost complete confidence. Sadly, time, and many previous attempts to sound the alarm over several decades have proven that the many people, many of them professionals employed as educators and in fields dealing with the issues and adversities of children who often proclaim their concern for children actually do not care about children all that much when push comes to shove. They neither push, nor shove on behalf of children. They see mediocracy, ignorance, and confusion and they say or do nothing.
One could disagree with me on what must be done to solve problems. One could challenge my facts and evidence. However, that would require a sincere concern and a willingness to face hard realities and to stop denying the validity of what I and a handful of others have been saying.
Rarely will anyone engage or make the slightest attempt to dispute my statements and conclusions. And if anyone ever does, they invariably quickly revert to the position that they will do their own “thing” (which is to recycle ineffectual nostrums and platitudes and do nothing meaningful) and that I should do my own thing and not bother them with the vagaries of childhood angst and miseducation.
There is simply no longer any way around the realization that people generally and the media only give lip service and only suppose or pretend that they care about kids. They care when the kids are their own family or part of a certain select circle. I can no longer deny this regrettable truth.
Over and over, I have offered the stark revelations of bona fide professional researchers utilizing sophisticated methods and statistics, which provide indisputable data and factual evidence that large numbers of students enrolled (involuntarily or under the legal mandates of compulsory attendance laws) in traditional schools, suffer from anxiety, alienation, stress, feelings of inadequacy, rejection, frustration, and anomie. Perhaps 20 -25% are in a constant state of befuddlement. Panic attacks and suicidal ideation too often ending in suicide are commonplace among youth, and many others turn to deviance, bullying behavior, criminality, or violence. They are drowning in a sea of academic and institutional abstraction.
Crickets is what I get, without fail. I get Zilch in the way of visible or actionable concern. Nada. It is either no response at all, or a cursory and insulting reply which reveals arrogance and indifference. If anyone cares, they have failed to give me the slightest indication.
School reform is the biggest cruel joke of all time. Every variation on every theme has been tried in every location with little or no success and with no large-scale or long-term effect. Ho hum. Who cares? Everyone knows it. On some level everyone is aware that “the system”, meaning the authoritarian bureaucracy made absolutely essential and absolutely immutable by compulsory attendance law is wholly and permanently incompatible with the sort of change which would relieve the discomfort children constantly feel and would eliminate the conditions which are inherently oppressive. Speak about it at your own risk and prepare to be ignored.
These statements are only for the record. I anticipate no willingness to act or to even engage in discussion on anyone’s part. The conscientious objectors have chosen not to object on this score.
But I am obliged to ask that anyone who fails to take these issues seriously please, please do not try to convince me that you truly feel care or compassion for children, or for that matter that you are concerned that democracy is in peril because the citizenry are not alert and informed. They are conditioned to obey, to follow, and to remain passive, and the law guarantees it. Your silence is deafening.
Inaction signals apathy. Benign neglect when the conditions children endure are onerous, aggravating, frustrating, damaging, and futile can only be interpreted as a belief that some of those children do not really matter or that some deserve to be treated as second-class citizens. They are controlled and they are disciplined and discipline and control are systematically internalized so that they are prepared in advance for a Trump, a DeSantis, or a Ron Johnson.
I do see concern about “gifted students”. I see that well-behaved “A”, “B”, and “C” students get a degree of attention and tolerance. However, in well over half of all classrooms, there are huge cracks through which as many as one-third of the students of all descriptions can easily fall. This is merely how it is. Everyone speaks in eloquent prose about serving all children and leaving “no child behind”. But no one is so naïve or ignorant of the reality to be unaware that the ways in which children are failed and failed repeatedly in these calcified institutions are many and large except through willful ignorance.
The throw-away culture throws away one-third of its youth. These are the multitudes for whom reading more than two paragraphs is a bore and exceeds their attention span. These are the countless victims for whom intellectual matters are of no interest and which provoke the fear that they will lead to chaos and destructive willfulness. The despoilers waste their greatest potential.
Why should I be surprised? Why should it shock me that liberal/progressives have their own blind spots and lapses of conscience not unlike conservatives?
Please do not say you care anymore. Do not continue to tell the lie. If you cared, you would not have blithely accepted the utter blather and nonsense that “change is in the air”, the threat is only from the bad guy anti-union billionaires and privatizers, or that “we put men on the moon because of our excellent schools”. If you still do not know that those are ludicrous fabrications, you need to go back to school (and look around with both eyes open). If you cared I do not believe you would conveniently ignore the bitter truth and the conspicuous facts flashing bright red warnings in all directions.
Am I being impolite? You did not want to be forced out of your comfort zone to look at the ugly side of forced schooling? Do I seem angry? You are effing right I am angry. I am livid about the self-delusion of so-called educators who pedal lovely projections of children soaking up their hand-delivered knowledge when no such thing is happening, and about the legions of others who would rather coast and capitulate than start a fight for children or democracy. What is the refusal to see or to take seriously and at face value empirical evidence if not cowardice?
If Rupert Murdoch had been a Chinese mogul and owner of Fox, we would have revoked his citizenship or clamored for banning the “News” organization the way politicians in both parties are calling for Tik Tok to be banned or purchased by Americans. The damage Rupert Murdock has done to America and American democracy is existential and should warrant a revocation of his citizenship.
In the few years since he emerged on the media scene, Americans are so polarized, their institutions of governance, the Congress and the Judiciary are empty shells of their old selves. Hate is rampant, decency defenestrated and American exceptionalism has become a joke. When are we going to call for Rupert’s citizenship to be revoked. He is destroying a 200+-year experiment!
This is from Google and it tracks:
"What percentage of the population has personality disorders? An estimated 9 percent of U.S. adults have at least one personality disorder. Also, a person may have more than one personality disorder."
Specifically about those with anti-social disorders "....it is three times more common among men than women. Individuals with antisocial personality disorder often also have co-occurring mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder or substance use disorders."
America and other countries that have fallen victim to the Murdoch empire have a built-in audience dying to hear just what they preach. And if it seems there are many more of them than when you grew up, there is. The population doubled over a 30 year period. Nine percent of US adults equals 23,155,150.
Add in the internet where these folks can connect and build layer by layer their stupid, vile theories and conspiracies, then throw in the seeds FOX plants and you end-up with murder, mayhem, and insurrection.
FOX and the Murdochs should be sued out of existence.
I don’t buy it, Tom. Ashli Babbitt and her ilk weren’t victims, they were enthusiastic participants. Anyone listening to and believing the BS that is Fox News deserved what they got; stupidity is not a disease.