Eleanor Roosevelt famously said, “With freedom comes responsibility.” That includes the responsibility of media outlets that use the word “news” to present factual information…
Another great essay, Thom. Your ideas are excellent; unfortunately unless the Democrats control all three branches of government, and the majority of state governments, none of them will be implemented. I admit to being discouraged we can ever slay the dragon that is Fox. The males are addicted to the short, tight skirts and low cleavage of Fox's blond "journalists," and their angertainment. Even being caught out in the Dominion lies, and Fox's hefty financial penalty didn't seem to make a dent in their viewership. Fox is still on at the military bases, and in the airports in military towns. In the red states I have visited (most of them), it is on in the restaurants, the doctor's offices, the reception areas of most businesses, etc. Fox is truly a hydra, that the Republicans/Right Wing has nurtured. Even in my blue state, it was on in the room while I waiting for a mammogram. One thing we can do, which I did, is ask that the channel be changed.
I see Fox as a window of opportunity for trial lawyers. Fox settled a $787 million defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems after Fox broadcasters falsely alleged Dominion was involved in altering results during the 2020 presidential election. Fox also faces a $2.7 billion lawsuit from Smartmatic USA Corp.
Fox News had to pay $12 million to settle two lawsuits brought by Abby Grossberg, a former producer for host Tucker Carlson. In one of her lawsuits, Grossberg alleged that she faced a hostile and sexist work environment while working on Carlson's show. In 2016, Fox News paid $20 million to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by former anchor Gretchen Carlson against Roger Ailes. Former Fox President Bill Shine was accused of enabling Ailes' repeated harassment with payoffs, promises and threats. Each denied the accusations. Yet each would lose their jobs. So did others as more accusations poured forth against other senior men at the network, including former Fox hosts Bill O'Reilly, Eric Bolling and Ed Henry, executive Francisco Cortes, and reporter James Rosen, among others. O'Reilly and others reportedly had to pay more than $200 million. https://money.cnn.com/2018/04/04/media/bill-oreilly-defamation-suit-denied-settlement-under-seal/index.html
Many more to follow.
Pension funds from New York City and from Oregon are the lead plaintiffs in a shareholder lawsuit that alleges Fox Corp. breached its fiduciary duty by exposing itself to defamation lawsuits during its coverage of the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
In September 2023, New York City’s five public pension funds, as well as the Oregon Investment Council and the Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund, filed shareholder derivative lawsuits against Fox for breach of fiduciary duty. The lawsuits allege Fox’s board of directors knew that Fox News was promoting former President Donald Trump’s false claims that he was the true winner of the 2020 election without regard for whether the assertions were true and thus created significant exposure to defamation charges.
Every time Fox permits lars like Trump to appear and repeat lies without issuing disclaimers, I'm sure their insurance companies audit for potential liability.
Viewers who rely on false info to their detriment may have the right to sue.
Moreover, the statute of limitations re Jan 6 has not run......did Fox contribute?
Excellent commentary as usual. Fox will face a legal reckoning at some point. The $789 million settlement with Dominion Voting was apparently just the cost of doing business as they continue to lie about factual and easily disprovable matters. I'd like to see, and am working on, a class action from people with enough direct, personal injury to sustain a standing challenge that even this compromised SCOTUS has to honor. Climate change comes to mind- Murdoch et al are running propaganda as news primarily to protect his fossil fuel wealth (other oligarchs like Musk and Thiel have their own financial reasons for backing a dictator wannabe). People who lost their homes or loved ones from Helene can trace a direct line from Murdoch lying about climate change to the nation's failure to reduce carbon to a rise in oceanic surface temperatures to an increase in storm severity. Liability with big oil and purveyors of false information about climate is joint and several.
Murdoch must be brought to court. Remember News of the World in UK. But as Joe Stalin once said “Paper will put up with anything printed on it.” Democracy is ill equipped to counter these regular infamous lies, unless laws are changed of course. Vote blue!
Democracy did fine with the Fairness In Broadcasting and anti Monopoly Laws. Throw in Citizens United and I forget the name but the law that said because a Corporation is a person, and people lie, it's ok for them to lie in advertising. I think it was Adidas and the claim they were made in the USA. The entire Corporations are people has to go or enforce the death penalty on those who cause death and destruction. They used to do that.
When Fox edited the tape of Trump, omitting “the enemy within” in front of one of their biggest national audiences, was probably the biggest example of dangerous fake news of the campaign. It turned out to be a disaster for them because Harris called them on it. She didn’t know it was altered, but she knew the truth and she stuck with it. That face that Bret Baier would do that to her, knowing it was a false set up, clearly shows what everyone knows, that Fox is nothing but sleaze in the service of fascism and profit. I don’t mean to be extreme, but maybe it’s time for Robert to die and for the rest of his children to take over. Then they can turn Fox into what CNN once was, a leading source of real news, accurately reported, with very little “talking head” analysis.
There is currently a legal battle going on between Murdoch's children. From NPR:
"Well, right now, that [irrevocable] trust was set up so that all four of these eldest Murdoch children would have an equal say in what the family trust decided to do with the shares that really control the two halves of the Murdoch empire. That is the print side that does the Journal and Post, as you mentioned, and, of course, the broadcast side that has Fox News. And he wants to undo that".
What he wants is for Lachlan, the most radical right/wing fascist of the bunch to have full control, as the others want to go in other directions.
"... Let's not forget James Murdoch, his other son, has endorsed Kamala Harris for president, not Donald Trump. And so that's a huge question of the tone. James Murdoch and two of his sisters want to pull it more to the center. And the second thing is the other Murdoch kids may well want to sell off other properties rather than let their brother Lachlan run it.
The case is filed in Nevada, notoriously sympathetic to what the billionaires want.
I am letting my long subscription to WaPo lapse. I go over there now mostly to needle them on the comments board. They are now just another Murdoch tabloid.
Does anyone else wonder this? If the Magats want to install a Christian Nationalism on the US I would think that those 10 Commandments that they bellyache about all the time should be extolled. Maybe by first adhereing to the admonition to NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS! And maybe those 2 Commandments about NOT COVETTING wives or goods should be thrown in as well. And of course there is that 1st one, I am the Lord they God, thou shalt not have false Gods before me. Don't you wonder what Yaweh would say about trump & his cult? Asking for an atheist who would love to know how all these supposed Christian & religious zealots get around all this???
In theocracies, those rules are meant to be broken, because the breaker of those rules is then liable to severe sanctions from whoever is wielding religious power. Everyone knows the rules will be broken, and then only enforced on "the small folk," or those big fish who are being a nuisance in some way.
Fox is a toxic cancer in the body politic. The only way to treat a cancer is to eradicate it from the "system". To let it metastasize is fatal. Faux Nooze must have it's broadcast license revoked and Murdoch needs to have his fast tracked and suspicious "citizenship" revoked thereby allowing him to be deported as an enemy of the Republic.
Murdoch apparently wants to resurrect a world-girdling Anglo-Saxon empire based on the same kind of racism that drove the British empire. But I would say that, as dangerous as Murdoch has been to democracy, Elon Musk, a refugee from racial equality, is giving Murdoch stiff competition in the race to disfranchise us commoners.
I see this era as the invasion of the cucurbits, MuskmElon and the Great Trumpkin, married to each other because they cantaloupe, and gourd-ging themselves on the public's money.
Jeffrey: It isn't just the Anglo Saxons, judging by the tweet Murdoch made, that caused so much grief in the Jewish community, he is a Zionist, His tweet:" Why Is Jewish owned press so consistently anti- Israel in every crisis?" Murdoch by his own lights is pro Israel.
“My own perspective is simple: We live in a world where there is an ongoing war against the Jews. ... Now the war has entered a new phase. This is the soft war that seeks to isolate Israel by delegitimizing it. The battleground is everywhere: the media … multinational organizations … NGOs. In this war, the aim is to make Israel a pariah. ... Every day, the citizens of the Jewish homeland defend themselves against armies of terrorists whose maps spell out the goal they have in mind: a Middle East without Israel.” – Rupert Murdoch upon being honored by the ADL, October 12, 2010, he was also feted as a Power Jew, along with Putin, by the Algemeiner club https://observer.com/2016/03/algemeiner-celebrates-power-jews-at-packed-manhattan-gala/
I have been anguishing over this comment, the last thing I want to so is throw a long on the fire of antisemitism, because I do not believe the tropes or that Jews are evil and in on a world wide plot, if there is world wide plot it is out of Vatican city, and it has conquered the U.S.A. the Heritage Foundation, Federalist Society , the US conference of Catholic bishopsand the American Judicial system starting with SCOTUS.
Catholics are only 23% of the population and yet they have captured the organs of government.
For every Stephen Miller, there is a repentant Steven Cohen. The loudest and most ferverent and hard working defenders of Democracy can be found working hard to protect it and without naming names, regular posters and authors on substack. I too have been called a Jew lover and a Jew hater.
Jews like all religious, ethnic identities are a mixed bag, left wing, right wing. Jews will joke and criticize themselves, and there are Jews AIPAC and ADL call antisemitic. Christians will do the same, but on religion will not, never, ever and that is Islam. They may, hesitatingly, criticize Iran for hanging young girls who won't wear the hijab, but that is about it. There is, occasionally, obligatory horror and condemnation of terrorist killings, like Oct 7th, but that is about it, it is always followed with a but, "but they made them do it".
I frankly don't care about any of that, how could I, I am not a god and can't solve the worlds problems, it will take a major catastrophe to do that, by wiping out the species.
Humans are complex critters, there is no one size fits all, and they can't be pigeonholed and sterotyped though we sure do try.
As individuals we should be considered, but when coming at us as a group?
My Dad was a Marine, as were his friend, whom I new, soft sentimental teddy bears, but put them in uniform, with rifles in their hands, hanging on to the door of a Higgins boat, and Katy bar the door. Thus the human condition, fraught with contradictions and hypocrisy's
I would like to find the good in people, but people make it oh so hard, especially when they identify as part of a group.
What concerns me is WTF is life going to be like in 2025 and thereafter, and the capitalists, anti capitalists, imperialists, religionists, ethnicitiest, genderists, nationalists are working over time to make life on earth a living hell.
We used to watch Limbaugh when he was on TV in the early 90s for comedy when there was an equally outrageous preacher show afterwards. Both were hilarious and we never thought anyone would take them seriously. Ten years later in driving from Seattle to NY on a camping trip we could not get any news on our pickup radio. Everything was insane preaching either political or religious--the same thing. It was then we understood how someone so stupid as W. Bush could get elected and start wars.
Perhaps if we had a better education system we would have more critical thinkers as they do in Finland. But the repubs are doing everything they can to tear down the existing system by sending funds to private schools which leaves the less wealthy with a diminished education making them more susceptible to the influence of Fox "news." There is a complicated web of attacks on us to keep us living on the edge, bad health care and insurance scams that lead to bankruptcy, consolidation of food suppliers which allows for price control. And yet the MAGA influenced blame the Democrats for the problems caused by the Republicans. WTF?
As always, You've Nailed it. The question is it possible to have a Democracy with Fox News and the Like? The answer is Yes, that being said,our government has been broken down and continues to be attacked by the Traitors who represent trump in Congress.They all need to have their day in a Court of Law. I don't dignifie putting the News word in association, when referring to Fox anymore. I simply say " Fox channel" Excellent piece this morning ☕ Thom and will reStack ASAP 💯👍🇺🇸💙🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊
More than Rupert Murdoch there is a guy most people have never heard of, and that’s entirely on purpose. While he may not be super well-known, he’s the CEO & Founder of what may be a company that quite literally owns the world: BlackRock. His name is Larry Fink.
BlackRock is a lot more powerful than people know. They control and own:
• Most US Banks (such as Bank of America and Chase Bank).
• Major oil companies (like Exxon and Chevron).
• All of the major pharmaceutical companies in the world (such as Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson).
• Most of the mainstream media (such as CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC).
• The supervision of nearly 10% of all stocks traded worldwide.
They quite literally hold a slice of every pie in the world. In fact, they have a whopping $10 trillion in assets — nearly half America’s total GDP.
BlackRock is so influential that the US and Chinese Governments even relied on the company to escape recessions.
________________________________________
Being the Founder & CEO of such a mega-conglomerate, Fink is now quite powerful as well. He currently sits on both the Council on Foreign Relations and the World Economic Forum.
In the words of Henry Kissinger, “Whoever controls the money controls the world”. No other company in history has had as much influence as BlackRock.
________________________________________
The fact that BlackRock is a major shareholder in dozens of major companies (Twitter, Amazon, Google, and Facebook, just to name a few) is very important because it means that for any of these companies to decide on company policy, they must now also consult with BlackRock before doing so.
BlackRock’s influence over 90% of the mainstream media might also be why you’ve probably never heard of them (and why most people haven’t).
Controlling media is a very important step in BlackRock continuing to extend its control over the world, because if everyone knew the consequences of them holding nearly $10 trillion in assets, questions would start to be raised.
Such an unchecked amount of power (especially under the wing of Fink being the sole company owner) means that the guy has unparalleled amounts of power over the world that we may yet to truly understand.
Bringing back competition is the operating idea. Break up the monopolies. It's done in other industries, why not corporate broadcasting, to other-name news organizations?
In its coverage of the Bret Baier/Kamala Harris interview, Newsweek described Fox as a “conservative-leaning network”, apparently unaware that they describe themselves as an “entertainment network” when unsuccessfully defending lawsuits. Incompetence and dereliction like Newsweek’s are why Murdoch has succeeded at the expense of the MSM’s credibility. Fortunately we have Thom Hartmann, Substack, and a brilliant group of writers of all stripes.
Another great essay, Thom. Your ideas are excellent; unfortunately unless the Democrats control all three branches of government, and the majority of state governments, none of them will be implemented. I admit to being discouraged we can ever slay the dragon that is Fox. The males are addicted to the short, tight skirts and low cleavage of Fox's blond "journalists," and their angertainment. Even being caught out in the Dominion lies, and Fox's hefty financial penalty didn't seem to make a dent in their viewership. Fox is still on at the military bases, and in the airports in military towns. In the red states I have visited (most of them), it is on in the restaurants, the doctor's offices, the reception areas of most businesses, etc. Fox is truly a hydra, that the Republicans/Right Wing has nurtured. Even in my blue state, it was on in the room while I waiting for a mammogram. One thing we can do, which I did, is ask that the channel be changed.
I see Fox as a window of opportunity for trial lawyers. Fox settled a $787 million defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems after Fox broadcasters falsely alleged Dominion was involved in altering results during the 2020 presidential election. Fox also faces a $2.7 billion lawsuit from Smartmatic USA Corp.
Fox News had to pay $12 million to settle two lawsuits brought by Abby Grossberg, a former producer for host Tucker Carlson. In one of her lawsuits, Grossberg alleged that she faced a hostile and sexist work environment while working on Carlson's show. In 2016, Fox News paid $20 million to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by former anchor Gretchen Carlson against Roger Ailes. Former Fox President Bill Shine was accused of enabling Ailes' repeated harassment with payoffs, promises and threats. Each denied the accusations. Yet each would lose their jobs. So did others as more accusations poured forth against other senior men at the network, including former Fox hosts Bill O'Reilly, Eric Bolling and Ed Henry, executive Francisco Cortes, and reporter James Rosen, among others. O'Reilly and others reportedly had to pay more than $200 million. https://money.cnn.com/2018/04/04/media/bill-oreilly-defamation-suit-denied-settlement-under-seal/index.html
Many more to follow.
Pension funds from New York City and from Oregon are the lead plaintiffs in a shareholder lawsuit that alleges Fox Corp. breached its fiduciary duty by exposing itself to defamation lawsuits during its coverage of the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
In September 2023, New York City’s five public pension funds, as well as the Oregon Investment Council and the Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund, filed shareholder derivative lawsuits against Fox for breach of fiduciary duty. The lawsuits allege Fox’s board of directors knew that Fox News was promoting former President Donald Trump’s false claims that he was the true winner of the 2020 election without regard for whether the assertions were true and thus created significant exposure to defamation charges.
Every time Fox permits lars like Trump to appear and repeat lies without issuing disclaimers, I'm sure their insurance companies audit for potential liability.
Viewers who rely on false info to their detriment may have the right to sue.
Moreover, the statute of limitations re Jan 6 has not run......did Fox contribute?
UN-FOX my CABLE BOX
great minds. see below.
UN-FOX my CABLE BOX
Excellent commentary as usual. Fox will face a legal reckoning at some point. The $789 million settlement with Dominion Voting was apparently just the cost of doing business as they continue to lie about factual and easily disprovable matters. I'd like to see, and am working on, a class action from people with enough direct, personal injury to sustain a standing challenge that even this compromised SCOTUS has to honor. Climate change comes to mind- Murdoch et al are running propaganda as news primarily to protect his fossil fuel wealth (other oligarchs like Musk and Thiel have their own financial reasons for backing a dictator wannabe). People who lost their homes or loved ones from Helene can trace a direct line from Murdoch lying about climate change to the nation's failure to reduce carbon to a rise in oceanic surface temperatures to an increase in storm severity. Liability with big oil and purveyors of false information about climate is joint and several.
UN-FOX my CABLE BOX
Murdoch must be brought to court. Remember News of the World in UK. But as Joe Stalin once said “Paper will put up with anything printed on it.” Democracy is ill equipped to counter these regular infamous lies, unless laws are changed of course. Vote blue!
Democracy did fine with the Fairness In Broadcasting and anti Monopoly Laws. Throw in Citizens United and I forget the name but the law that said because a Corporation is a person, and people lie, it's ok for them to lie in advertising. I think it was Adidas and the claim they were made in the USA. The entire Corporations are people has to go or enforce the death penalty on those who cause death and destruction. They used to do that.
UN-FOX my CABLE BOX
UN-FOX my CABLE BOX
When Fox edited the tape of Trump, omitting “the enemy within” in front of one of their biggest national audiences, was probably the biggest example of dangerous fake news of the campaign. It turned out to be a disaster for them because Harris called them on it. She didn’t know it was altered, but she knew the truth and she stuck with it. That face that Bret Baier would do that to her, knowing it was a false set up, clearly shows what everyone knows, that Fox is nothing but sleaze in the service of fascism and profit. I don’t mean to be extreme, but maybe it’s time for Robert to die and for the rest of his children to take over. Then they can turn Fox into what CNN once was, a leading source of real news, accurately reported, with very little “talking head” analysis.
There is currently a legal battle going on between Murdoch's children. From NPR:
"Well, right now, that [irrevocable] trust was set up so that all four of these eldest Murdoch children would have an equal say in what the family trust decided to do with the shares that really control the two halves of the Murdoch empire. That is the print side that does the Journal and Post, as you mentioned, and, of course, the broadcast side that has Fox News. And he wants to undo that".
What he wants is for Lachlan, the most radical right/wing fascist of the bunch to have full control, as the others want to go in other directions.
"... Let's not forget James Murdoch, his other son, has endorsed Kamala Harris for president, not Donald Trump. And so that's a huge question of the tone. James Murdoch and two of his sisters want to pull it more to the center. And the second thing is the other Murdoch kids may well want to sell off other properties rather than let their brother Lachlan run it.
The case is filed in Nevada, notoriously sympathetic to what the billionaires want.
https://www.npr.org/2024/09/09/nx-s1-5106075/the-legal-battle-between-rupert-murdoch-and-3-of-his-kids
Rupert should die on a plane, just like in Succession, and the kids can destroy each other.
We mapped the extent of Murdoch's media empire in this interactive chart.
"FOX ‘Cancer On Democracy’ symptoms: More false claims of non-citizens voting"
https://thedemlabs.org/2024/10/04/fox-cancer-on-democracy-symptoms-more-false-claims-of-non-citizens-voting/
... and the former News Corp exec now in charge at the Washington Post.
"Will Lewis spreads Rupert Murdoch’s ‘Global Cancer on Democracy” to the Washington Post"
https://thedemlabs.org/2024/06/16/will-lewis-spreads-rupert-murdochs-global-cancer-on-democracy-to-the-washington-post/
I am letting my long subscription to WaPo lapse. I go over there now mostly to needle them on the comments board. They are now just another Murdoch tabloid.
In spirit, if not in fact; Jeff Bezos, no friend of labor or beacon of truth, owns the Post.
Worse is the CEO, a Murdoch-trained hack, who was the "Fixer" for scandals in the UK.
Does anyone else wonder this? If the Magats want to install a Christian Nationalism on the US I would think that those 10 Commandments that they bellyache about all the time should be extolled. Maybe by first adhereing to the admonition to NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS! And maybe those 2 Commandments about NOT COVETTING wives or goods should be thrown in as well. And of course there is that 1st one, I am the Lord they God, thou shalt not have false Gods before me. Don't you wonder what Yaweh would say about trump & his cult? Asking for an atheist who would love to know how all these supposed Christian & religious zealots get around all this???
In theocracies, those rules are meant to be broken, because the breaker of those rules is then liable to severe sanctions from whoever is wielding religious power. Everyone knows the rules will be broken, and then only enforced on "the small folk," or those big fish who are being a nuisance in some way.
This Christian agrees with you completely.
Fox is a toxic cancer in the body politic. The only way to treat a cancer is to eradicate it from the "system". To let it metastasize is fatal. Faux Nooze must have it's broadcast license revoked and Murdoch needs to have his fast tracked and suspicious "citizenship" revoked thereby allowing him to be deported as an enemy of the Republic.
That's the easiest way to fix it after a very public airing of their major lies to the public in a Court Trial of the owners.
Murdoch apparently wants to resurrect a world-girdling Anglo-Saxon empire based on the same kind of racism that drove the British empire. But I would say that, as dangerous as Murdoch has been to democracy, Elon Musk, a refugee from racial equality, is giving Murdoch stiff competition in the race to disfranchise us commoners.
I see this era as the invasion of the cucurbits, MuskmElon and the Great Trumpkin, married to each other because they cantaloupe, and gourd-ging themselves on the public's money.
Jeffrey: It isn't just the Anglo Saxons, judging by the tweet Murdoch made, that caused so much grief in the Jewish community, he is a Zionist, His tweet:" Why Is Jewish owned press so consistently anti- Israel in every crisis?" Murdoch by his own lights is pro Israel.
“My own perspective is simple: We live in a world where there is an ongoing war against the Jews. ... Now the war has entered a new phase. This is the soft war that seeks to isolate Israel by delegitimizing it. The battleground is everywhere: the media … multinational organizations … NGOs. In this war, the aim is to make Israel a pariah. ... Every day, the citizens of the Jewish homeland defend themselves against armies of terrorists whose maps spell out the goal they have in mind: a Middle East without Israel.” – Rupert Murdoch upon being honored by the ADL, October 12, 2010, he was also feted as a Power Jew, along with Putin, by the Algemeiner club https://observer.com/2016/03/algemeiner-celebrates-power-jews-at-packed-manhattan-gala/
According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Report_on_Middle_East_Affairs, Rupert's mother Elisabeth Greene was an orthodox Jew. https://www.wrmea.org/2003-june/rupert-murdoch-and-william-kristol-using-the-press-to-advance-israel-s-interests.html
I have been anguishing over this comment, the last thing I want to so is throw a long on the fire of antisemitism, because I do not believe the tropes or that Jews are evil and in on a world wide plot, if there is world wide plot it is out of Vatican city, and it has conquered the U.S.A. the Heritage Foundation, Federalist Society , the US conference of Catholic bishopsand the American Judicial system starting with SCOTUS.
Catholics are only 23% of the population and yet they have captured the organs of government.
For every Stephen Miller, there is a repentant Steven Cohen. The loudest and most ferverent and hard working defenders of Democracy can be found working hard to protect it and without naming names, regular posters and authors on substack. I too have been called a Jew lover and a Jew hater.
Jews like all religious, ethnic identities are a mixed bag, left wing, right wing. Jews will joke and criticize themselves, and there are Jews AIPAC and ADL call antisemitic. Christians will do the same, but on religion will not, never, ever and that is Islam. They may, hesitatingly, criticize Iran for hanging young girls who won't wear the hijab, but that is about it. There is, occasionally, obligatory horror and condemnation of terrorist killings, like Oct 7th, but that is about it, it is always followed with a but, "but they made them do it".
I frankly don't care about any of that, how could I, I am not a god and can't solve the worlds problems, it will take a major catastrophe to do that, by wiping out the species.
Humans are complex critters, there is no one size fits all, and they can't be pigeonholed and sterotyped though we sure do try.
As individuals we should be considered, but when coming at us as a group?
My Dad was a Marine, as were his friend, whom I new, soft sentimental teddy bears, but put them in uniform, with rifles in their hands, hanging on to the door of a Higgins boat, and Katy bar the door. Thus the human condition, fraught with contradictions and hypocrisy's
I would like to find the good in people, but people make it oh so hard, especially when they identify as part of a group.
What concerns me is WTF is life going to be like in 2025 and thereafter, and the capitalists, anti capitalists, imperialists, religionists, ethnicitiest, genderists, nationalists are working over time to make life on earth a living hell.
We used to watch Limbaugh when he was on TV in the early 90s for comedy when there was an equally outrageous preacher show afterwards. Both were hilarious and we never thought anyone would take them seriously. Ten years later in driving from Seattle to NY on a camping trip we could not get any news on our pickup radio. Everything was insane preaching either political or religious--the same thing. It was then we understood how someone so stupid as W. Bush could get elected and start wars.
Perhaps if we had a better education system we would have more critical thinkers as they do in Finland. But the repubs are doing everything they can to tear down the existing system by sending funds to private schools which leaves the less wealthy with a diminished education making them more susceptible to the influence of Fox "news." There is a complicated web of attacks on us to keep us living on the edge, bad health care and insurance scams that lead to bankruptcy, consolidation of food suppliers which allows for price control. And yet the MAGA influenced blame the Democrats for the problems caused by the Republicans. WTF?
The slightly more wealthy in Charter and Religious Schools are being nicely programmed with highly edited information and obedience to the hierarchy.
As always, You've Nailed it. The question is it possible to have a Democracy with Fox News and the Like? The answer is Yes, that being said,our government has been broken down and continues to be attacked by the Traitors who represent trump in Congress.They all need to have their day in a Court of Law. I don't dignifie putting the News word in association, when referring to Fox anymore. I simply say " Fox channel" Excellent piece this morning ☕ Thom and will reStack ASAP 💯👍🇺🇸💙🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊
See you soon on FStv 😀!
I use Faux News. It's so appropriate Murdock picked that name.
More than Rupert Murdoch there is a guy most people have never heard of, and that’s entirely on purpose. While he may not be super well-known, he’s the CEO & Founder of what may be a company that quite literally owns the world: BlackRock. His name is Larry Fink.
Here is a (sanitized but still incriminating) bio of Fink: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Fink
________________________________________
BlackRock is a lot more powerful than people know. They control and own:
• Most US Banks (such as Bank of America and Chase Bank).
• Major oil companies (like Exxon and Chevron).
• All of the major pharmaceutical companies in the world (such as Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson).
• Most of the mainstream media (such as CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC).
• The supervision of nearly 10% of all stocks traded worldwide.
They quite literally hold a slice of every pie in the world. In fact, they have a whopping $10 trillion in assets — nearly half America’s total GDP.
BlackRock is so influential that the US and Chinese Governments even relied on the company to escape recessions.
________________________________________
Being the Founder & CEO of such a mega-conglomerate, Fink is now quite powerful as well. He currently sits on both the Council on Foreign Relations and the World Economic Forum.
In the words of Henry Kissinger, “Whoever controls the money controls the world”. No other company in history has had as much influence as BlackRock.
________________________________________
The fact that BlackRock is a major shareholder in dozens of major companies (Twitter, Amazon, Google, and Facebook, just to name a few) is very important because it means that for any of these companies to decide on company policy, they must now also consult with BlackRock before doing so.
BlackRock’s influence over 90% of the mainstream media might also be why you’ve probably never heard of them (and why most people haven’t).
Controlling media is a very important step in BlackRock continuing to extend its control over the world, because if everyone knew the consequences of them holding nearly $10 trillion in assets, questions would start to be raised.
Such an unchecked amount of power (especially under the wing of Fink being the sole company owner) means that the guy has unparalleled amounts of power over the world that we may yet to truly understand.
UN-FOX my CABLE BOX
Hey, we are smart. Let's make more progressive radio happen. Crowd source? Big donors? We can!
Bringing back competition is the operating idea. Break up the monopolies. It's done in other industries, why not corporate broadcasting, to other-name news organizations?
In its coverage of the Bret Baier/Kamala Harris interview, Newsweek described Fox as a “conservative-leaning network”, apparently unaware that they describe themselves as an “entertainment network” when unsuccessfully defending lawsuits. Incompetence and dereliction like Newsweek’s are why Murdoch has succeeded at the expense of the MSM’s credibility. Fortunately we have Thom Hartmann, Substack, and a brilliant group of writers of all stripes.