Tucker Carlson Isn’t The Only Far-Right Fraudster
The U.S. Senate needs to launch hearings to determine the full extent of Fox News’s fraud.
by Bob Cesca
WASHINGTON, DC – It’s not just Fox News that’s lying to its fans. Most of the Red Hat entertainment complex is doing the same, but the distinction is that, now, we have irrefutable evidence proving Roger Ailes’s disinformation factory has, until now, successfully orchestrated what could be a 25 year conspiracy to commit fraud against its most loyal viewers.
During his deposition in the $1.6 billion Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit against the network, Rupert Murdoch summed it all up in one convenient sentence: “It is not red or blue, it is green.”
In case you missed the reference – that’s green as in cash. The motivation is to make as much money as possible, and in order to do so, Fox News has adopted an extremist posture and a fiction-based programming model because that’s where the money is – and money is all that matters at the network. Not facts, not accuracy, not political preference. Murdoch doesn’t care whether the money is made with red politics or blue politics, as long as the result is more green to augment his personal wealth. It just so happens that red politics came with a trove of previously untapped viewers. So, red politics to make a shit-ton of green.
I’ve watched many of the radio stations I worked for be taken over by nationally syndicated cranks, and deejays I used to work with transformed into culture warriors – not because they were particularly driven by Republican politics, but because that’s where the money is.
Rupert Murdoch and his underlings at Fox News are pandering to a certain demographic of viewers by telling them what they want to hear, rather than what’s true. Network executives and hosts possess a sociopathic mindset in common with Murdoch and other CEOs: the bottom line, in this case ratings and ad revenue, is the only goal, and they don’t really care how that goal is accomplished – journalistic ethics and basic respect for its viewers aren’t even part of the calculus. As long as the network isn’t angering the demo, they’re all fine with putting any old bullshit on the air.
Tucker Carlson, in particular, surely doesn’t believe most if not all of what he says. And why should we ever give him the benefit of the doubt? He’s a soulless entertainer – the carnival barker outside the freak show telling gullible yokels that there’s a genuine chicken-girl inside and if they just pay him five bucks they can see for themselves. It’s the old P.T. Barnum maxim: there’s a sucker born every minute. He’s in this because he was offered Bill O’Reilly’s coveted time slot and a hearty contract with copious ratings bonuses – the bigger his ratings the more cash he makes. That’s why he’s doing this, facts be damned.
Wrecking havoc with American democracy and defrauding his own viewers was never a deal breaker, especially for a guy who was fired from two of the other cable news networks. It’s nothing but a gig to him, and it’s accompanied by the prestige and power he craves. It was never a matter of helping to solve complex political issues or to push a legitimate agenda, it was always about solving one issue: how will Tucker keep working in TV and make lots of money doing so.
To be clear: there’s nothing wrong with earning a paycheck commensurate with what the marketplace will bear. Tucker and his colleagues, however, are earning their salaries by exploiting the rage and ignorance of millions of Americans, while helping to disassemble the republic with intentionally corrosive, divisive fiction.
In a private text exchange, Tucker described his true feelings about his audience’s messiah, Trump: “I hate him passionately.” But on the air and on the convention circuit he pretends to admire Trump because his audience does. He’s manipulating his viewers into believing certain things are true when documentation proves he believes so much of it is literally crazy. It’s kind of amazing he’s made it this far without he and his co-conspirators being exposed.
The U.S. Senate needs to launch hearings to determine the full extent of Fox News’s fraud – no way this is solely confined to the 2020 election. How much of Fox News’s reporting about 9/11, or Obamacare, or mass shootings, or voting rights, or the climate crisis is based on lies and shoddy sources? I think we know the answer to that question, but it’s always better to have evidence.
The awkward truth is that Fox News isn’t the only far-right platform that’s lying to its audience for ratings, profit, and social media reach. Of the two “sides” of the political debate, the conservative side has historically raked in more green despite the well-worn conspiracy theories about “Soros checks.” (I’m still waiting for mine.)
Many of the far-right talkers, be they broadcasters or podcasters, are former FM deejays who simply made a career choice to become conservative talk show hosts. As personality-driven radio began to die off starting in the early 2000s, I’ve watched many of the radio stations I worked for be taken over by nationally syndicated cranks, and deejays I used to work with transformed into culture warriors – not because they were particularly driven by Republican politics, but because that’s where the money is.
It’ll be a shame if Dominion loses this lawsuit, but the information that’s emerged out of the process has been invaluable. We need more like this. The future of the republic depends on marginalizing the chaos-for-profit disinfotainment industry. I doubt it’ll ever go away completely, but it doesn’t need to. More of the a-holes behind the curtain need to be exposed for the fake wizards they are, and it has to extend beyond just Fox News. Former colleagues of these people need to come forward with evidence. If necessary, more lawsuits against Fox News should be queuing up.
How much more damage can our democracy endure under the ponderous weight of Tucker Carlson’s careerism and Ruper Murdoch’s business model? With another frenetic presidential election growing larger in the window, not much.
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Republicans Are Afraid Of Mayor Pete (And They Should Be)
Mysteriously, the right has been very concerned with Pete Buttigieg’s job performance. Why?
by Justin Rosario
If one were to go by social media, one would think that Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg is personally responsible for the train derailment in Ohio. Both of them. And the FAA computer glitch in January. And every pothole between Anchorage and Miami.
Why is Mayor Pete the worst Transportation Secretary in all of American history?!
But let’s not kid ourselves; the furore over Buttigieg’s job performance is not about train derailments or computer glitches. This is all about the 2028 presidential election. Republicans and their alt-left allies are filling their diapers at the prospect of a Pete Buttigieg candidacy, and their tactics are designed for one thing, and one thing only…. Continue reading here.
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Need to reintroduce the "Fairness Doctrine" and pass same in congress.