A single memo launched a strategy to control media, courts, and public opinion, reshaping American democracy. To reclaim it, Democrats must build a powerful media and policy network.
Thank you for addressing this.. I felt from the beginning Fox News was like “ state “ propaganda tv was like Russia. Unfortunately it is. We need to pound back. It was the same thing what Trump did in NC. But, this time Gov. Newsom punched back. And knew where to attack. But, he can’t do it all. We need all democratic strategy for the Dem governors to unite and punch back. The DNC better once the elect a chair better find ways to fight social media. Find other ways to attack aggressively. Harrison was a failure. Who ever they pick has to be young, aggressive, savvy on social media. We need young blood, not 80 year olds running it all. Btw, I’m in my 60’s so I’m not discriminating.
But I think we had the right message and but for Russian Psyops we won! An analysis must consider that we also had voter preclusion, voter intimidation, the stuff that Thom addressed yesterday, that tilted the results.
Biden has 6 days to stand up. Trump is illigitimate and our country was attacked by Russian psyops. We just lost the cold war. It's an emergency
Thank you, Susan and Daniel, I agree with your comments. My little bit is contributing money to keep honest journalism alive. Contributions to,Thom Hartmann, D. Earl Stephens, Joyce Vance, FSTV, local newspapers, and yeah and even the Washington Post. These journalists are points of light in the advancing MAGA darkness.
Yes, I do the same with Thom, Medias( not crazy about)and so many others. But it’s independent journalism, also you should check out The Lever, is good investigative journalism( on a side note). But there’s so much a low income retired woman can afford, 😂. But, we need an infrastructure that can hold them accountable, and aggressive. With the loudest megaphone. Newsom is the first person who gets it. These governors need to unite and combat together.
I’m saying this as many times as I can. Marianne Williamson is running for DNC chair. We should all be SCREAMING for her to get it. She gets what we get. She is sorrowing as we are over this terror that’s overtaken us. But she has what it takes to fight it. Her energy - principles- ideas- smarts.
Yes, she’s an outsider.. saw her on Don Lemon a couple weeks ago. She changed my mind about her. But does she talk about social media? She was on MSNBC yesterday morning as well on The Weekend a show ( YouTube). I wish Thom could get her on. Also though Congress needs to show their face, not the same people. We need to see new faces on podcasts, and independent media. I’m afraid the elite will do the same as they did to AOC a couple weeks ago. Yes, experience matters, but fresh ideas, and outside the box. Dems are too traditionalists( who knew, 🤣).
This article is a DIY guide to creating an oligarchy. As we have experienced here in the USA, it works. I do question whether or not reversing the process is even possible at this point in time. Are there any billionaires left who have not bent the knee to our new Fuhrer Don? Are there any laws enforced to prevent abuses of civil rights? Most major newspapers are already owned by MAGA oligarchs. Even-handed news does still dominate the MSM, but even that is leaning righter and righter as they are slowly snatched up by right-wing billionaires. Then there is one propaganda source Thom overlooked - evangelicals. Those so-called Christians who are encouraging their flocks every Sunday to overlook Trump's long history of lying, cheating, stealing, and sexual philandery because, well, he opposes abortion and he sells bibles. It is so Christian to deport refugees, seek the death penalty for crimes, and harass and bully kids and adults with gender-related (LGBTQ) birth anomalies.
The closest thing to a Democratic evangelist was Carter, who brought the same people to the tent who now consider Trump as the instrument of Jesus.
In 1976, Carter carried every single state from the old Confederacy except Virginia, where Ford prevailed, just as Trump swept the entire South but for Virginia in 2024.
Yes, that is true about Carter. What still astonishes me is that it is also true of Trump. I thought this time around, the Baptist and Pentecostal types would shun Trump for his degenerate lifestyle.
Spot on Thom. You did neglect to include ALEC, American Legislative Exchange Council. They have made it possible for right wing state legislators to simply submit bills, without having to do the work of researching and crafting the necessary verbiage for passing the bills and enacting the laws supporting their agenda. ALEC roots go back to '73 the same time Powell and SCOTUS began rendering the decisions that lead to massive campaign financing by billionaires.
Keep naming names, people. There are a lot of masks obscuring the enemy (yeah, I said it). We're living in a perpetual state of Scooby do episodes where the villain has like 7 different masks on. Peel them off.
Meidastouch has been holding out to the public that it has overtaken Fox et al in social media. I have given them some unsolicited advice. Every time they are defamed on Fox et al they should get a lawyer and sue. Dominion vs Fox exposed the underbelly. What has happened to the Fox shareholder derivitive suit in Delaware?
Likewise why hasn't DNC sued Fox over their publishing lies? The DNC PAID big money to advertise on Fox di=uring the 2000 cycle. At a mininmum Fox should not have spread lies.
Comcast is spinning off a number of its cable networks into a new, independent company called "SpinCo":
Networks: USA Network, MSNBC, CNBC, SYFY, E!, Oxygen, and the Golf Channel
Digital assets: Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow, and SportsEngine
The spin-off is expected to take place in August 2024 and will be tax-free for existing shareholders. Comcast's remaining company, "RemainCo", will focus on other areas of the business, including streaming, broadband, wireless, and theme parks.
Comcast's decision to spin off its cable networks is a reflection of the changing media landscape, where streaming platforms are becoming increasingly dominant. The new company will be able to operate more independently and focus on its own priorities. It may also be able to attract new partners and investors.
Some say that the spin-off could lead to more options for customers, who may be able to curate subscriptions based on their interests. Others are concerned that the changes could make it more difficult for consumers to find what they're looking for, and that paying for multiple services could become a burden.
Comcast Plans To Spin Off Its Cable Networks And Digital ...
Nov 26, 2024 — Comcast Corp (NASDAQ: CMCSA, $43.20; Market Capitalization: $165.3 billion), a massive conglomerate that provides broa...
Conventional cable is history. Investing in it iseems like investing in 8-track players. Smart TV and access of television through the internet is replacing ridiculous highly ComCast cable charges for the privilege of watching snippets of programs between unlimited ads, many pushing "ask your doctor" for drugs that supposedly cure conditions viewers never knew existed.
Only the USA and New Zealand permit pushing pharma ads on public TV. Thank our bribed politicians for continuing to allow that.
I dumped cable TV a decade ago before it was fashionable to actually subscribe to award-winning investigative journalists instead. Haven't watched Fox since.
After you see the data and research "critical thinking" and "evidence-based reasoning." You would do well to study both. Neither is labeling people you do not know or name-calling. Check the data before presuming to know what you do not the next time.
Considering that the Dems and Pubs slop at the same trough, and the Dems sat back, and allowed the Republicans to build and dominate the base of America, and that Dems have proven to be loyal opposition (loyal to the money powers) I think it is time for a popular uprising.
Marianne Williamson is currently running for the DNC chair. Support her. She knows and gas what it takes. I don’t know how to put clips in these texts. Look up MW wants to be a megaphone
An absolutely terrifying picture of the threat posed by high controllers with unlimited wealth and a singular focus to play the long game and takeover the government by the new corporate kings.
Nailed it Thom! People who do not want Trump and his MAGA cult to control their lives need to be mindful of the onslaught and its origins. Now the Republican plan is on steroids and it is being assisted by Putin and the oligarchs that have rallied around Trump.
Putin has evidence of the deals he has cut with Trump, the oligarchs, and other Republicans. They will do his bidding in order to keep him from exposing them.
It is the climate crisis, stupid. Call out everyone that blames Democrats for what Republicans want to perpetuate. We are not responsible for their actions. Put the blame where it belongs.
While I am shuttering with the evidence that we have unconsciously allowed all the domination of the Republican Right, I feel an inspiration from you Thom to fight back. Just reflecting on how utterly pacifistic the Harris campaign was, even the debate itself. I would like some higher up to literally get into Trump's face and get into a verbal fistfight. Newsom is capable but I want him to be our next President, so he has to be careful. But after seeing him interviewed on a Right Wing Fox newscast, we need to get not behind but with him. He has the foresight to enhance all that you are advocating, Thom. Keep in UP!
The Republicans have a very effective system to remove its rhinos out of its party. The Dems need to do as the Repubs do and remove its rhinos out of the Dem party. Biden's presidency was taken out by two rhinos in the senate as his budget was lowered 4 fold. Biden's record 16 million jobs would have been much greater if his budget had been upheld and democracy right to vote would have been made a right with the necessary safeguards.
Biden blew the chance to co-opt them. We need a bigger tent, not a pup tent.
The record shows that Trump will inherit the best economy, the most efficient government in American history.
I think if you ask Manchin today, he would support extensiion of the voting rights act. That would have changed everything. Got to know how to handle head cases. Should have made him the chair. Provided more pork to WVA.
All you say is true. If we didn’t know it before, we now feel it in our guts. Thom, please tell me: why are not MORE of us supporting Marianne Williamson for DNC chair???
She gets what you get. She said that if she were DNC chair, she’d immediately contact the best story tellers of our time, Lin Manuel Miranda for starters-- because she gets the need to TELL THE COMPELLING STORY-- and we have such, it’s just getting drowned in lies.
I don’t know why there is such passivity. All I know to do is to talk her up. It is so puzzling. She has a huge constituency but maybe they aren’t political. I bet that’s it.
Your analysis is fabulous except it’s missing the catalyst that made all of that ignite - our corrupt schools. I keep pointing this out to our intellectual leaders yet you keep missing this. You can hear teacher whistleblowers at WhiteChalkCrime.com. Please do as our schools did more than dumb us down. They hollowed us out.
It’s despicable what the republicans are doing and even more so that people are falling for it. Our public forum has turned into a shouting match where the loudest voice wins. If we can’t have intelligent conversations without blatant lying I fear that our country will revert to a land of barons and serfs. Are we that stupid?
Right. I was just communicating via text with my 78-year-old cousin in Ohio, who, when I described the horrors of the California wildfires, wrote she was sending them love from her heart for their loss and then said it is the democrat's fault there isn't enough water. Sigh. I had filled her in on the facts but said nothing about the lack of water, only the dry conditions and Santa Ana Winds that make it ripe for a fire to start every year. She texted back: listen to Fox News. They told us how the democrats are hiding that they are at fault for a lack of water. I didn't contradict her but sent her a link to Calmatters.org that describes Newsome's rebuff of Trump's lies about the water supply because Newsome didn't allow water to be taken due to the need to protect the smelt in the Delta and his made-up; name for a report that doesn't exist. I hope she reads it. I told her I would listen to the Fox News report (I mean B.S.), which I didn't say.
I made buttons I wear to the grocery saying "I TOLD you so" with a second pinned under it saying "Don't Blame Me". Given away a dozen to fellow shoppers.
Thank you for addressing this.. I felt from the beginning Fox News was like “ state “ propaganda tv was like Russia. Unfortunately it is. We need to pound back. It was the same thing what Trump did in NC. But, this time Gov. Newsom punched back. And knew where to attack. But, he can’t do it all. We need all democratic strategy for the Dem governors to unite and punch back. The DNC better once the elect a chair better find ways to fight social media. Find other ways to attack aggressively. Harrison was a failure. Who ever they pick has to be young, aggressive, savvy on social media. We need young blood, not 80 year olds running it all. Btw, I’m in my 60’s so I’m not discriminating.
I'm in my 80's and I agree.
But I think we had the right message and but for Russian Psyops we won! An analysis must consider that we also had voter preclusion, voter intimidation, the stuff that Thom addressed yesterday, that tilted the results.
Biden has 6 days to stand up. Trump is illigitimate and our country was attacked by Russian psyops. We just lost the cold war. It's an emergency
Thank you, Susan and Daniel, I agree with your comments. My little bit is contributing money to keep honest journalism alive. Contributions to,Thom Hartmann, D. Earl Stephens, Joyce Vance, FSTV, local newspapers, and yeah and even the Washington Post. These journalists are points of light in the advancing MAGA darkness.
Yes, I do the same with Thom, Medias( not crazy about)and so many others. But it’s independent journalism, also you should check out The Lever, is good investigative journalism( on a side note). But there’s so much a low income retired woman can afford, 😂. But, we need an infrastructure that can hold them accountable, and aggressive. With the loudest megaphone. Newsom is the first person who gets it. These governors need to unite and combat together.
He won’t do it.
Never up never in. Besides the attack on our sovereignity, they're targeting him personally, his son, his brother Jimmy for prosecution.....
Unlike Trump, Biden really played football, can take a hit...and dish it out.
I’m saying this as many times as I can. Marianne Williamson is running for DNC chair. We should all be SCREAMING for her to get it. She gets what we get. She is sorrowing as we are over this terror that’s overtaken us. But she has what it takes to fight it. Her energy - principles- ideas- smarts.
Yes, she’s an outsider.. saw her on Don Lemon a couple weeks ago. She changed my mind about her. But does she talk about social media? She was on MSNBC yesterday morning as well on The Weekend a show ( YouTube). I wish Thom could get her on. Also though Congress needs to show their face, not the same people. We need to see new faces on podcasts, and independent media. I’m afraid the elite will do the same as they did to AOC a couple weeks ago. Yes, experience matters, but fresh ideas, and outside the box. Dems are too traditionalists( who knew, 🤣).
This article is a DIY guide to creating an oligarchy. As we have experienced here in the USA, it works. I do question whether or not reversing the process is even possible at this point in time. Are there any billionaires left who have not bent the knee to our new Fuhrer Don? Are there any laws enforced to prevent abuses of civil rights? Most major newspapers are already owned by MAGA oligarchs. Even-handed news does still dominate the MSM, but even that is leaning righter and righter as they are slowly snatched up by right-wing billionaires. Then there is one propaganda source Thom overlooked - evangelicals. Those so-called Christians who are encouraging their flocks every Sunday to overlook Trump's long history of lying, cheating, stealing, and sexual philandery because, well, he opposes abortion and he sells bibles. It is so Christian to deport refugees, seek the death penalty for crimes, and harass and bully kids and adults with gender-related (LGBTQ) birth anomalies.
Praying for a Jimmy Carter like evangelist to set up a big tent and proselytize our faith!
What do you mean?
The closest thing to a Democratic evangelist was Carter, who brought the same people to the tent who now consider Trump as the instrument of Jesus.
In 1976, Carter carried every single state from the old Confederacy except Virginia, where Ford prevailed, just as Trump swept the entire South but for Virginia in 2024.
He wasn't perfect, but close enough to perfect to bring all Baptists and Pentacostals under the tent. https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=Be31JM4Wblo
Yes, that is true about Carter. What still astonishes me is that it is also true of Trump. I thought this time around, the Baptist and Pentecostal types would shun Trump for his degenerate lifestyle.
Spot on Thom. You did neglect to include ALEC, American Legislative Exchange Council. They have made it possible for right wing state legislators to simply submit bills, without having to do the work of researching and crafting the necessary verbiage for passing the bills and enacting the laws supporting their agenda. ALEC roots go back to '73 the same time Powell and SCOTUS began rendering the decisions that lead to massive campaign financing by billionaires.
Fact bombs and the namable. Thom, thank you.
Keep naming names, people. There are a lot of masks obscuring the enemy (yeah, I said it). We're living in a perpetual state of Scooby do episodes where the villain has like 7 different masks on. Peel them off.
Very interesting .. are there any efforts underway to start addressing this, or are the democrats simply giving up the ship
Soros' son has been buying radio & TV stations. Republicans are agahst! https://www.foxnews.com/politics/house-oversight-probes-fccs-expedited-approval-soros-purchase-200-radio-stations-ahead-election
Meidastouch has been holding out to the public that it has overtaken Fox et al in social media. I have given them some unsolicited advice. Every time they are defamed on Fox et al they should get a lawyer and sue. Dominion vs Fox exposed the underbelly. What has happened to the Fox shareholder derivitive suit in Delaware?
Likewise why hasn't DNC sued Fox over their publishing lies? The DNC PAID big money to advertise on Fox di=uring the 2000 cycle. At a mininmum Fox should not have spread lies.
Also what about a hostile takeover of the Comcast broadcasting properties? That would be a start. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/h/hostiletakeover.asp
Comcast is spinning off a number of its cable networks into a new, independent company called "SpinCo":
Networks: USA Network, MSNBC, CNBC, SYFY, E!, Oxygen, and the Golf Channel
Digital assets: Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow, and SportsEngine
The spin-off is expected to take place in August 2024 and will be tax-free for existing shareholders. Comcast's remaining company, "RemainCo", will focus on other areas of the business, including streaming, broadband, wireless, and theme parks.
Comcast's decision to spin off its cable networks is a reflection of the changing media landscape, where streaming platforms are becoming increasingly dominant. The new company will be able to operate more independently and focus on its own priorities. It may also be able to attract new partners and investors.
Some say that the spin-off could lead to more options for customers, who may be able to curate subscriptions based on their interests. Others are concerned that the changes could make it more difficult for consumers to find what they're looking for, and that paying for multiple services could become a burden.
Comcast Plans To Spin Off Its Cable Networks And Digital ...
Nov 26, 2024 — Comcast Corp (NASDAQ: CMCSA, $43.20; Market Capitalization: $165.3 billion), a massive conglomerate that provides broa...
How about NBC?
Conventional cable is history. Investing in it iseems like investing in 8-track players. Smart TV and access of television through the internet is replacing ridiculous highly ComCast cable charges for the privilege of watching snippets of programs between unlimited ads, many pushing "ask your doctor" for drugs that supposedly cure conditions viewers never knew existed.
Only the USA and New Zealand permit pushing pharma ads on public TV. Thank our bribed politicians for continuing to allow that.
Says the guy who bought the Fox garbage.
I dumped cable TV a decade ago before it was fashionable to actually subscribe to award-winning investigative journalists instead. Haven't watched Fox since.
After you see the data and research "critical thinking" and "evidence-based reasoning." You would do well to study both. Neither is labeling people you do not know or name-calling. Check the data before presuming to know what you do not the next time.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/251268/number-of-pay-tv-households-in-the-us/
Considering that the Dems and Pubs slop at the same trough, and the Dems sat back, and allowed the Republicans to build and dominate the base of America, and that Dems have proven to be loyal opposition (loyal to the money powers) I think it is time for a popular uprising.
Marianne Williamson is currently running for the DNC chair. Support her. She knows and gas what it takes. I don’t know how to put clips in these texts. Look up MW wants to be a megaphone
MW, Ruthy, is all love and light, and that won't win the day, because it hasn't, ever in the history of the world.
Beam her up!
An absolutely terrifying picture of the threat posed by high controllers with unlimited wealth and a singular focus to play the long game and takeover the government by the new corporate kings.
With all handwringing aside , what have we Democrats been doing to fight these garbage in Republicans?
Really , where have we been ? Is this recent news ? I think not.
I think we’ve rested on our” we know we’re right” laurels.
We’ve been so disgusted with their bad character and behavior, somehow we thought it would turn around.
Well , it’s time to get some real movement going. Who ever inherits the DNC needs to be capable of seeing the need for immediate action for change.
I think the Danger of ‘when they go low
We go high’ is in thinking our placidity will work . It’s not and it won’t.
We need to kick some a**, Democratically of course.
Marianne Williamson is ready to do what we want. Why are we not all supporting her for DNC chair??
Marianne Williamson is ready to kick ass!!! We need to support her for DNC. chair!!!
The. Blame. Game.
Nailed it Thom! People who do not want Trump and his MAGA cult to control their lives need to be mindful of the onslaught and its origins. Now the Republican plan is on steroids and it is being assisted by Putin and the oligarchs that have rallied around Trump.
Putin has evidence of the deals he has cut with Trump, the oligarchs, and other Republicans. They will do his bidding in order to keep him from exposing them.
It is the climate crisis, stupid. Call out everyone that blames Democrats for what Republicans want to perpetuate. We are not responsible for their actions. Put the blame where it belongs.
While I am shuttering with the evidence that we have unconsciously allowed all the domination of the Republican Right, I feel an inspiration from you Thom to fight back. Just reflecting on how utterly pacifistic the Harris campaign was, even the debate itself. I would like some higher up to literally get into Trump's face and get into a verbal fistfight. Newsom is capable but I want him to be our next President, so he has to be careful. But after seeing him interviewed on a Right Wing Fox newscast, we need to get not behind but with him. He has the foresight to enhance all that you are advocating, Thom. Keep in UP!
The Republicans have a very effective system to remove its rhinos out of its party. The Dems need to do as the Repubs do and remove its rhinos out of the Dem party. Biden's presidency was taken out by two rhinos in the senate as his budget was lowered 4 fold. Biden's record 16 million jobs would have been much greater if his budget had been upheld and democracy right to vote would have been made a right with the necessary safeguards.
Biden blew the chance to co-opt them. We need a bigger tent, not a pup tent.
The record shows that Trump will inherit the best economy, the most efficient government in American history.
I think if you ask Manchin today, he would support extensiion of the voting rights act. That would have changed everything. Got to know how to handle head cases. Should have made him the chair. Provided more pork to WVA.
Thank you, Thom. Very well put.
The Ds watched a pimple grow into a cauliflower-sized media-tumor on the body politic's forehead.
Now that the tumor's offspring have riddled American politics, the sky is falling, for real.
I am so angry at their corrupt DNC machine that I could spit. There was no counterpunch.
They've let the greatest nation in the history of the world (land theft and slavery notwithstanding) become:
- a vassal state to be puppeteered by Vladimir Putin the tyrant
- exploited by homicidal maniac Netanyahu
- misruled by a demented jackhole felon from Queens
JESUS !!!
It's as if the Ds are Bruce Willis's Detective Malcolm Crowe in "The 6th Sense."
They were running around for decades not realizing they were already dead.
All you say is true. If we didn’t know it before, we now feel it in our guts. Thom, please tell me: why are not MORE of us supporting Marianne Williamson for DNC chair???
She gets what you get. She said that if she were DNC chair, she’d immediately contact the best story tellers of our time, Lin Manuel Miranda for starters-- because she gets the need to TELL THE COMPELLING STORY-- and we have such, it’s just getting drowned in lies.
I don’t know why there is such passivity. All I know to do is to talk her up. It is so puzzling. She has a huge constituency but maybe they aren’t political. I bet that’s it.
Your analysis is fabulous except it’s missing the catalyst that made all of that ignite - our corrupt schools. I keep pointing this out to our intellectual leaders yet you keep missing this. You can hear teacher whistleblowers at WhiteChalkCrime.com. Please do as our schools did more than dumb us down. They hollowed us out.
It’s despicable what the republicans are doing and even more so that people are falling for it. Our public forum has turned into a shouting match where the loudest voice wins. If we can’t have intelligent conversations without blatant lying I fear that our country will revert to a land of barons and serfs. Are we that stupid?
Right. I was just communicating via text with my 78-year-old cousin in Ohio, who, when I described the horrors of the California wildfires, wrote she was sending them love from her heart for their loss and then said it is the democrat's fault there isn't enough water. Sigh. I had filled her in on the facts but said nothing about the lack of water, only the dry conditions and Santa Ana Winds that make it ripe for a fire to start every year. She texted back: listen to Fox News. They told us how the democrats are hiding that they are at fault for a lack of water. I didn't contradict her but sent her a link to Calmatters.org that describes Newsome's rebuff of Trump's lies about the water supply because Newsome didn't allow water to be taken due to the need to protect the smelt in the Delta and his made-up; name for a report that doesn't exist. I hope she reads it. I told her I would listen to the Fox News report (I mean B.S.), which I didn't say.
I made buttons I wear to the grocery saying "I TOLD you so" with a second pinned under it saying "Don't Blame Me". Given away a dozen to fellow shoppers.