The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
Some rare political commentary from an avowed liberal
The good:
We no longer will have to hear Tucker Carlson’s fake laugh, see him feign looks of surprise or disgust, hear him take overstatement to a whole new level. For a time, at least until he crawls out of his funk and reemerges on OAN or on his own Rush Limbaughesque podcast, we won’t have to try to wrap our brains around his absurd illogic and sophistical fallacies—and he is surely a master all of Aristotle’s argumentum-ads, and especially adept at argumentum ad hominems. Is Fox considering becoming more moderate across the board? Has Rupert decided he can’t stomach dropping nearly a billion in cash when one of his right-wing minions (at least in front of the Fox cameras) takes things farther than too far (though nearly everything that comes out of a Fox News program can be seen as “going too far”)? Doubtful, but even if Tucker doesn’t emerge on some other network or on his own podcast, wherever he ends up, he will, much as Bill O’Reilly before him, be forever less visible and ultimately forgotten. These are all “goods,” and much of this is delightful, celebration-worthy good.
The bad:
Rupert Murdock. There isn’t a hope in Hades that someone who worked so hard for so long to establish a “news” brand so focused on monetary gain at the cost of turning a whole nation against itself will ever change his brand. One soldier has been sacrificed, but the battle rages (and many battles are already “won”). Murdock has found a niche that sells—through lies, factual manipulation, fear mongering, blatant racism, absurd personal attacks…(the list is very long). We can’t expect him to let up any time soon. He knows that convincing a large swath of America that white Americans are now the “minority,” that “wokeism” is drowning out American values, that “Critical Race Theory” merely teaches our youth to “hate America,” that assault rifles designed to kill people efficiently and swiftly don’t kill people, people do (and on and on and on)…have gone from being issues Fox News creates out of thin air to being things they now adamantly can report on as part of the American landscape. They have created the tail that wags the dog, but now that the tail is wagging hard, they can sit back and watch the dog. The damage is done; the Fox crazies even anointed their crazy leader, and now the echo chamber has been constructed, the walls erected, the echoes echoing on. Yes, Tucker is gone, but he served his purpose. He did his job well, and its impact will long be felt.
The ugly:
Fox News has almost singlehandedly reshaped the American political landscape and social fabric of our country into one more divided than at any time since the Civil War. The steady stream of libtard-hating, racist-baiting, LGBTQ+ fear mongering drivel coming from Tucker and many others has significantly helped transform our country into one of blue vs. red (with very little purple). Working class people have had their fear and mistrust of politicians transfigured into a hatred for commie liberals, while more “mainstream” Republicans are more than willing to hop on the crazy train so long as their taxes are lowered and their stock portfolios keep growing. While it seems utterly remarkable to write this, a disturbingly significant percentage of Americans genuinely believe that Democrats are baby blood drinking pedophiles, thanks to the really really far right of an already far right “modern” Republican Party. In the 80s-90s-early 00s Republicans learned how to woo the working class; they could always count on abortion, gun rights, bible-thumping to get out enough votes to help them win—causing the working class to ignore the simple fact that the heart of Republican policies make the rich richer, the poor poorer. Fox helped weaponize these stock Republican vote-gaining-devices into far more dangerous and terrifying (and ugly) realities….
While pumping gas this past summer, with the prices nearing $5/gallon on a lovely August day I had spent fishing alone in my canoe on a remote, Adirondack lake, the man next to me looked at me and muttered, “Can you believe these prices. Fuck you, Joe Biden!” I was at first merely stunned by the incongruence of hours of immersion in natural beauty to suddenly be face to face with raw, human vitriol. I bit my tongue while I tried to find something short and sweet I could say to explain that the inflation of gasoline prices had very little to do with Biden. Not responding quickly enough, he said, “oh you must be one of those libtards.” He then turned to a young boy in his car and continued, “look there’s one right there, a libtard.” I stopped pumping though my tank wasn’t full and returned to my car and drove away. It was a striking moment for me that left me deeply saddened. Never before had I been looked at and spoken to with such raw hatred by someone who didn’t even know me, a fellow citizen—a fellow Adirondack citizen to boot. It was unsettling to say the least—and to a certain, significant degree it was an example of the final product of Rupert’s and Tucker’s (and so many others at Fox News) willingness to preach what sells no matter the cost.
Note:
I wrote this soon after hearing the news of T.C.’s firing but held off on posting as it doesn’t fit with the general tone/approach of this newsletter. Upon further reflection, I wondered if my hesitance to post this had something to do with the subject of the post itself and the general fear of “being political” in these politically charged times, and so decided it best to not shy away, given that voicing opinion is, after all, a pillar of democracy.
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Well said.
I remember you telling me about the "ugly" last summer. It greatly disturbs me that a complete stranger would be so bold as to get in your face like this. I'm not sure I could have kept my mouth shut, but you probably took the high road. A jerk who would act like this in front of his child would probably have escalated this further, potentially to something physical. I truly don't know what this country is coming to. I applaud you for this entry!