It's amazing how the media handles right-wing bullshit

[maxrandb]

It's not hard to see the pattern.

Watching MSNBC and CNN fall all over themselves to "cover" the latest fart out of right-wing media is fascinating.

Seems that some obscure filing from the Bill (most corrupt AG ever) Barr appointed counsel John (how the fuck does the still have a job) Durham, has the right-wing exercised to the point of political assassinations.

Of course, Durham's filing is all bullshit. The media knows it's all bullshit.

When my kids were younger, they were full of bullshit. One day, my kids were playing by my "old" truck. My daughters name was scratched into the tailgate of the truck, in my daughters handwriting, and she was holding a rock in her hand.

She insisted that it wasn't her, and that maybe someone else, or a bird had done it. Her story was bullshit. I knew it was bullshit. She knew it was bullshit. I showed her how to use wax and a buffer. The scratch ended up faintly visible, and I still have that truck. Today, when I see the faint scratches, it makes me smile.

You know what I didn't do? I didn't go to my wife and report my daughters story as if there was something to it. I didn't bring in avian experts to talk about how "it was possible that a bird had done it, but unlikely".

Just watched a show where they initially got it right about the Durham bullshit, and basically called it bullshit. They then spent about 20 minutes discussing the bullshit, and explaining how the right-wing thinks the bullshit was the greatest scandal in the history of scandals.

By the time they were done, you could almost forget the most important thing...IT WAS ALL BULLSHIT

That is not an accident.

Whether it's this, or Benghazi, or Butter-Emails, or Vince Foster, or Whitewater, or Climate Scientist emails, or Wikileaks, or Tan Suits, the story morphs from bullshit, to wow, look at how outraged the right-wing is at this bullshit.

Damn, sure looks like a lot of people are pissed about this bullshit. Damn, the right thinks this bullshit is Watergate, Tea Pot Dome, the Whiskey Rebellion and 9/11 rolled into one.

The media get away with this because they treat right-wing outrage as "news".

It's a tired and old trick.

Some obscure nothing-burger bullshit happens. Faux News, hate radio and right-wing media get outraged by it. They beat it 24/7.

Soon, the news is NOT that something is bullshit, it's that there is outrage about the bullshit, so there must be something to it

Lather-Rinse-Repeat!

[Atticus]

1. Well said and needed. nt

[Dustlawyer]

2. CRT in schools is a recent prime example.

No one was teaching CRT except a few law schools. Now it is the RW cause of the year.

[maxrandb]

60. Good point

Most Americans are too damn busy, or tired to research stuff. Hell, a lot of us yell at the microwave because it takes too long to cook something.

The left expect Americans to read to paragraph 4 to get the truth.

The right understands that all they need to do is say; "hey, buddy, they're teaching your kid that you're a racist", or read; "Jason's penis gleamed in the sun" from a library book.

That's why it doesn't matter much that someone went into detail to prove this right-wing story is bullshit.

A lie can travel around the world 3 times before truth gets its pants on.

[uponit7771]

95. +1, M$M takes ques from MAGA media because they rate well thinking they'd excist if GQP takes over

[gab13by13]

3. I get tired of saying this because people bash me for saying it,

cable news is owned and managed by right wingers. If those cable news anchors didn't ask the question why Trump had a secret server connected with Putin's bank, it's a right wing tactic to omit that question. Oh the horror, someone discovered Trump's secret server connected to Putin's bank and we must make sure that Trump's right to talk secretly with Putin is not infringed upon.

Start watching cable when Nicolle comes on, it's better for one's health.

[Farmer-Rick]

21. The filthy rich own all the media

Even your internet connection is owned by one of the 600 filthy rich Americans. Most EVERYTHING that makes a vast amount of f wealth is owned by a filthy rich person.

They are pretty cunning about what will keep them rolling in stolen loot and keep you poor. They aren't smart, just willing to abuse everyone if it gets them more loot. Like pirates back in the 1700s, the are abusive and cruel. They know others suffer when they up their life saving cheap medicine price up over 300 percent. But they don't care. That is their super power, they don't care if others suffer.

So, if you are a filthy rich person and you could care less who suffers, who dies, who gets abused, then you support the GOP.

All those people who support the GOP who are NOT filthy rich are stupid, easily manipulated, ignorant door mats.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

92. Thats why I say

An owned media isnt a free media. Corporate owners tell them what they can report,or what they cant.

Yeah media costs money but that does not mean it should be owned.

Maybe taxes could pay for it. Maybe a donation system or both. No fund drives people pay what they can.

[Boomerproud]

4. Excellent analogy.

I guess money does talk.

[Diamond_Dog]

5. K&R

I couldn’t have said it better.

[jaxexpat]

6. The worst is that the "Lather-Rinse-Repeat!" part is, itself, RW propaganda.

Whether it's on MSNBC or FOX, it's platforming the RW bullshit.

[gab13by13]

8. Yes, I stopped watching cable,

except for Nicolle, Chris, and Rachel, and now Rachel is gone.

I used this many years ago to explain the importance of the narrative;

Fox News says that Obama beats his wife.
CNN says it needs more information.
MSNBC says, no he doesn't.

All 3 are talking about Obama beating his wife.

The narrative is controlled by the right.

[CrispyQ]

66. That's a great analogy. -nt

[LiberalFighter]

84. Rachel is not gone. She is on hiatus for a few weeks.

[paleotn]

7. They hate being called the liberal media...

and the scribblers and yackers will go out of their way in an attempt to dispel that notion, not realizing that the reich will hate them no matter what they say or print. They're the perfect scapegoat for fascists.

Secondly, there's the 24/7 "news" cycle. There's just not news and associated facts to fill the hours. They've got to ramble on and on about something and bullshit works as well as anything.

Thirdly, money. The more sensational the bullshit, the more eyeballs they get, the higher their ratings, the more money they can demand from sponsors. Les Moonves at CBS, in a moment of unintended honesty, said pretty much that about Trump. It's not about the importance of the 4th estate in a liberal democracy anymore. It's about lining pockets.

[gab13by13]

9. I'm going to get my hair cut,

and on the way I will be listening to the real liberal media, to Stephanie Miller.

[DeeDeeNY]

10. The reason John Durham still has a job -

It was explained this morning on Morning Joe - it has something to do with his being appointed by TFG as special counsel so he isn’t answerable to the Justice Dept. Makes about as much sense as DeJoy still running the post office.

[zaj]

11. Truth, but... It's a catch 22

Do you give attention to a child throwing a tantrum and/or a terrorist sending out a threatening message?

Sometimes the answer is yes... because it will help (soothe the child and/or the public)

Sometimes the answer is no... because it amplifies, celebrates, and encourages the bad behavior.

[Chainfire]

12. It is the difference in "news" and "propaganda."

News is what happened, propaganda is what they want you to believe happened. For a large part, news reporting died with the era of the Murrow Boys.

If you haven't figured it out yet, everything that happens in our world is bought and paid for. We are delusional to think that we have a choice of what happens. What little choice that we have had is being eroded with every passing day. If we are going to survive in the future we will have to learn to quit questioning what we are told and go with the flow as directed by those with the gold. The right wingers have figured that out already and they are angry that we are still holding out.

It is much like religion. You have to surrender you soul to find peace.

[Moostache]

56. I know now how an average Roman citizen felt as the empire fell...

This is all kabuki theater level horse shit.

The entire media is a waste of time - does not matter if its a slant I agree with in general or a propaganda hit piece I completely refute - the FORMAT and the REPETITIONS are IDENTICAL.

Host - give a description of a statement / issue / situation / report
Host - insert a softball question for guest / panel to opine over
Guest 1 - attack one side's sanity
Guest 2 - attack one side's intentions
Guest 3 - attack the opposition party as evil
Guest 3 - also get cut off by Host

Host - insert snarky comment with the wink-wink, nudge-nudge sublety of Monty Python's skit
Guest 1 - agree with host and amplify the attack
Guest 2 - try to out agree Guest 1 and breathe fire
Guest 3 - give up amplfying and just state the opinions offered as "everybody KNOWS" truisms

Host - continue snarky conclusion with more BS trigger words, gestures and smirks

Cut to commercial
Lather.
Rinse.
Repeat.

4 blocks; 60 minutes, rigidly timed for commercial breaks

A-block:
kicks off and runs 20 minutes
3:30 of commercials

B-block:
either continues A-block with added panelist or starts 2nd story
runs 12 minutes
3:30 of commercials

C-block:
usually a minor puff piece or recap of previous story that is dying in interest...
runs ~8 or 9 minutes
3:30 of commercials

D-block:
recap of story in A-block, reinforce one side "bad" other side "good", offer no new facts or nuance or depth
runs 3-4 minutes (uses "stay with us, a lot left to cover" segue)
3:30 of commercials

~44-45 minutes of "air"
~14-15 minutes of "ads"

Lather.
Rinse.
Repeat. (with new host and panels, same topics, same format, same hot takes, same conclusions)

These things sometimes get milked for a week or so before a new outrage must replace the old, unresolved one and grab people's attention with a new crisis/outrage/statement and then just hit the recycle buttom.

Seriously, I would not be surprised to learn that 2 or 3 meta producers collude with the station and network owners to produce the whole sordid affair as "reality-based information exchanges" or some other sophistry terminology code words.

The whole thing is exhaustuing, stupid, leaves people ill-informed and hyper-agitated (just like kettling a crowd to precipitate a riot).

Someone wake me when a REAL development or change actually happens...because all I see right now in media is bullshit, served with horse shit sauce and accompanying a dog shit pate...

[maxrandb]

57. "Journalistic Mutual Masturbation"

is the sophistric terminology code words I use to describe it.

[sinkingfeeling]

13. And that is why I ignore 98% of the US news media. They

just can't provide the facts. They spend 24/7 giving opinions about it.

[OldBaldy1701E]

16. Opinions generate more hits (income) than facts. They are not in it for the integrity. (n/t)

[doc03]

14. This morning I turned Morning Joe on. I watched for I don't know maybe a half hour

Durham and Hillary Clinton was the subject. Not Ukraine, not Trumps endless investigations. No, it is some bullshit about something
Faux News dug up about Hillary Clinton six f---g years ago. What will it be tomorrow, Benghazi?

[brooklynite]

19. So you made a judgement based on 30 minutes of a three hour show?

Story 1: Trump's accountant.

Story 2: Ukraine.

Story 3: Hillary story (framed as: "ridiculous gobbledygook&quot

[doc03]

35. I got sick of hearing the Clinton bullshit and shut it off. I could have watched Faux for that nt

[tishaLA]

64. To be fair to MJ, they also had Marcy Wheeler on

to thoroughly debunk the case--after John Heilemann and an NBC reporter had debunked other parts of it--and they let her talk, didn't interrupt, and she basically destroyed all the RW talking points.

https://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/tech-exec-was-trying-to-keep-obama-safe-from-hackers-says-journalist-133212741524

[kentuck]

15. They are very good at distraction.

I guess we are just supposed to believe they are ignorant?

[oldsoftie]

17. If you were watching Morning Joe, that's exactly what they revealed it to be. Bullshit.

I don't have any problem with them covering it. Its happening. So its news. But they had a reporter on who has been following it from the start & she explained what was real and what wasn't.
And that the one person charged is likely to ask that it be dismissed.
And they laughed at Trump
Seems fine to me.

[overleft]

18. The people who own the giant media companies need to be held much more accountable.

[wnylib]

26. But how?

[pandr32]

41. Yes they do!

[nvme]

50. WE NEED TO HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE!

TELL THEM WE STOP BUYING THEIR FUCKING FLOOR WAX IF THEY DON'T TOE THE LINE. WE CAN VOTE WITH OUR DOLLARS. IT DOES WORK.

[brooklynite]

20. Can anyone point to an actual mainstream media story that says this is serious?

[Kid Berwyn]

40. Here ya go, my Friend*.

Fox News is mangling Special Counsel John Durham's latest Trump-Russia filing

by Peter Weber, Senior editor
The Week, Tue, February 15, 2022

On Friday night, Special Counsel John Durham filed a pretrial motion on possible conflicts of interest by the lawyer representing Michael Sussmans, a cybersecurity lawyer Durham has charged with allegedly lying to the FBI. But he also "slipped in a few extra sentences that set off a furor among right-wing outlets about purported spying on former President Donald J. Trump," Charlie Savage writes in Monday's New York Times.

Trump and allied media organizations say Durham's filing, as Fox News' Brooke Singman put it in a widely cited early report, shows that lawyers for Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign "paid a technology company to 'infiltrate' servers belonging to Trump Tower, and later the White House, in order to establish an 'inference' and 'narrative' to bring to government agencies linking Donald Trump to Russia." Those claims were repeated Monday on Fox News' daytime news and prime time opinions shows.

"But the entire narrative appeared to be mostly wrong or old news," the conclusions "based on a misleading presentation of the facts or outright misinformation," Savage writes. Gabriel Malor, a lawyer who writes for several conservative media outlets, lays out a few specific points on Durham's filing, including that it never uses the word "infiltrate" or accuses the Clinton campaign of ordering Sussmans or anyone else to pass the tech company's analysis of DNS data to the FBI or CIA.

Savage summarizes the competing narratives from Durham and the cybersecurity experts who compiled the contested DNS data, adding that the right-wing mischaracterizations "involve dense and obscure issues, so dissecting them requires asking readers to expend significant mental energy and time — raising the question of whether news outlets should even cover such claims." Lawyer Marcy Wheeler, who writes at Emptywheel, has a lot more detail about Durham's filings and Kash Patel's involved role in this story.

CONTINUES…

https://news.yahoo.com/fox-news-mangling-special-counsel-064744668.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall

* And I mean it.

[spanone]

55. and...

[Kid Berwyn]

71. Thank you! For those wondering about MSM...

The USA needs a course in the History of Journalism:

The Lewis Powell Memo: A Corporate Blueprint to Dominate Democracy

The Powell Memo (also known as the Powell Manifesto)

The Powell Memo was first published August 23, 1971

Introduction

In 1971, Lewis Powell, then a corporate lawyer and member of the boards of 11 corporations, wrote a memo to his friend Eugene Sydnor, Jr., the Director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The memorandum was dated August 23, 1971, two months prior to Powell’s nomination by President Nixon to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Powell Memo did not become available to the public until long after his confirmation to the Court. It was leaked to Jack Anderson, a liberal syndicated columnist, who stirred interest in the document when he cited it as reason to doubt Powell’s legal objectivity. Anderson cautioned that Powell “might use his position on the Supreme Court to put his ideas into practice…in behalf of business interests.”

Though Powell’s memo was not the sole influence, the Chamber and corporate activists took his advice to heart and began building a powerful array of institutions designed to shift public attitudes and beliefs over the course of years and decades. The memo influenced or inspired the creation of the Heritage Foundation, the Manhattan Institute, the Cato Institute, Citizens for a Sound Economy, Accuracy in Academe, and other powerful organizations. Their long-term focus began paying off handsomely in the 1980s, in coordination with the Reagan Administration’s “hands-off business” philosophy.

Most notable about these institutions was their focus on education, shifting values, and movement-building — a focus we share, though often with sharply contrasting goals.* (See our endnote for more on this.)

So did Powell’s political views influence his judicial decisions? The evidence is mixed. Powell did embrace expansion of corporate privilege and wrote the majority opinion in First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti, a 1978 decision that effectively invented a First Amendment “right” for corporations to influence ballot questions. On social issues, he was a moderate, whose votes often surprised his backers.

CONTINUED...

http://reclaimdemocracy.org/powell_memo_lewis/

Additional important history to know...

Alex Carey: Corporations and Propaganda

The Attack on Democracy

The 20th century, said Carey, is marked by three historic developments: the growth of democracy via the expansion of the franchise, the growth of corporations, and the growth of propaganda to protect corporations from democracy. Carey wrote that the people of the US have been subjected to an unparalleled, expensive, 3/4 century long propaganda effort designed to expand corporate rights by undermining democracy and destroying the unions. And, in his manuscript, unpublished during his life time, he described that history, going back to World War I and ending with the Reagan era. Carey covers the little known role of the US Chamber of Commerce in the McCarthy witch hunts of post WWII and shows how the continued campaign against "Big Government" plays an important role in bringing Reagan to power.

John Pilger called Carey "a second Orwell", Noam Chomsky dedicated his book, Manufacturing Consent, to him. And even though TUC Radio runs our documentary based on Carey's manuscript at least every two years and draws a huge response each time, Alex Carey is still unknown.

Given today's spotlight on corporations that may change. It is not only the Occupy movement that inspired me to present this program again at this time. By an amazing historic coincidence Bill Moyers and Charlie Cray of Greenpeace have just added the missing chapter to Carey's analysis. Carey's manuscript ends in 1988 when he committed suicide. Moyers and Cray begin with 1971 and bring the corporate propaganda project up to date.

This is a fairly complex production with many voices, historic sound clips, and source material. The program has been used by writers and students of history and propaganda. Alex Carey: Taking the Risk out of Democracy, Corporate Propaganda VS Freedom and Liberty with a foreword by Noam Chomsky was published by the University of Illinois Press in 1995.

Source: TUC Radio

Part 1: https://tucradio.org/podcasts/newest-podcasts/alex-carey-corporations-and-propaganda-part-one-of-two/

Part 2: https://tucradio.org/podcasts/newest-podcasts/alex-carey-corporations-and-propaganda-part-two-of-two/

[calimary]

80. The infamous Powell Memo. Really turned America on its head.

That should have been a fifteen-alarm fire for Dems back then, and as usual, they rolled over and went back to sleep - TOTALLY unsuspecting about the potential evil put in print here, which was soon to be not just the wolf at our door but already inside, breathing down our necks. The building of all those damn "institutions" hellbent on killing American democracy started with this.

"The memo influenced or inspired the creation of the Heritage Foundation, the Manhattan Institute, the Cato Institute, Citizens for a Sound Economy, Accuracy in Academe, and other powerful organizations."

Any questions about where the beginning of the end began, THERE IT IS, in the third paragraph of the Introduction, the chief destroyers - named.

[Kid Berwyn]

87. Absolutely need to answer their 24/7/366 scheissnozzle.

Nixon put Powell on the Supreme Court, 4 of 6 Tricky nominated. The Federalist Society has put most of the justices since Reagan. SCOTUS has put property over democracy ever since. And the rich get richer.

We really are up against it. We must get serious about restoring democracy. That starts with messaging, information and news. Like the Founders put the free press in writing in the First Amendment, they only business named in the Constitution.

[BComplex]

22. THIS is the most important post, probably ever, on any message board in history.

THIS is what fux nooze, and other nefariously financed propaganda stations, has done to this country, and therefore, the world.

THIS shit has to be called out at every turn.

Great post, maxrandb!!!

[Bernardo de La Paz]

31. Relax. It's a very good post. Okay. . . . nt

[BComplex]

86. Ha!

[CaptainTruth]

23. Damn good post! You're 100% correct.

It disgusts me too.

[ificandream]

24. it depends on how you look at it

To me, the Durham story read like bullshit no matter which way you looked at it. But if MSNBC and CNN didn't report it, they'd be as crooked as Fawks. They have to report it. It's out there and it's happening. And I think you're overestimating its impact. Again, it's total bullshit, as you say. How could anyone read it and not think it's bullshit? Don't give it more importance than it has. Don't let it stay in your head. The right loves to get our attention by pulling things out of a hat that have no meaning and making a circus out of it. That doesn't mean we need to play the game with them. (P.S. I worked at a daily paper for 37 years.)

[JustAnotherGen]

25. #TrumpCrimeFamily

#TrumpEvadesTaxes

That's my response to the media. Fugg (as malaise would say) them all.

The only story on my radar today is the one about Jack Mitnick, Trump's Tax Evasion, and Mazar's USA.

The fact that the right wing are pushing this false narrative at this time, tells me all I need to know. AG Tish Jame's evidence is going straight down to Alvin Bragg. They've got the summamabeyotch.

[Solomon]

27. Damn this is a righteous rant!

Extremely well done. I agree with every word of it.

[msfiddlestix]

28. ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️

Love your personal story comparison, and that's great you still have that truck with faintly revealing scratches... fond memories.

Wonder if you've brought it up on various occasions during family gatherings..

you nailed it. I cut the cord years ago, but I picked up on the story on DU yesterday (which is where I come to catch up) didn't need to see that POS Durham yapping his trump boot licking bullshit. But I have to say I'm really quite stunned he still has a job with Justice after that.

THAT I find outrageous.

TY!

[maxrandb]

99. Yes, it still comes up at family gatherings

If I ever get rid of it, I am keeping the tailgate and mounting it on my garage.

[msfiddlestix]

100. Absolutely.

Totally gotta mount that treasure., if needs must part with the other parts..

I have to imagine you've got in running order after all these years.. or I guess I'm assuming it's been "all these years"

probably projecting from my age perspective.

[Diraven]

29. The most ridiculous part of this

Is the claim by the RWM that this proves the Clinton campaign spied on "the Trump White House" AFTER he was already the president in the White House. Um, did the Clinton campaign also invent a time machine? They're willfully ignoring the obvious fact when Trump was in the White House THERE WAS NO CLINTON CAMPAIGN BECAUSE SHE HAD ALREADY LOST THE ELECTION TO TRUMP.

[maxrandb]

98. It's just catapulting the propaganda

I have been in meetings where it's the loudest voices win.

The right has his down to a science.

[mountain grammy]

30. Excellent post.

I think if I hadn't given up cable news and the Sunday shows a long time ago I'd be batshit raving mad. Interviews that leave bullshit 'right there' and go to a commercial. Can't remember the first time I heard that, but remember sitting there with my mouth gaping while the interviewer just 'moved on' from the bullshit statement just made by his guest and knew we were finished.

[barbtries]

32. I'm not sure amazing is the right word.

i was thinking destructive. amazingly destructive. your dear daughter might have had herself convinced by now that she never vandalized her dad's truck if you had acted the way corporate media acts these days.

it's killing us. I've pretty much stopped watching for the sake of my blood pressure.

[malthaussen]

33. Neal Stepenson wrote one of the great rants about bullshit...

... in the Necronomicon. A paraphrase: "But that's bullshit. Surely you can see that. Wouldn't it be a useful part of your intellectual tool-kit if, when a wet, steaming pile of bullshit lands on your head, you could say 'My goodness, this appears to be bullshit!'"

He also had a great riff on "Bullshyte" in Anatham.

But really, the media basically makes its living on bullshit. So it's no surprise they like to fondle it for hours at a time if they can.

-- Mal

[c-rational]

34. Spot on post about the corporate media and how they use their power to unduly influence

public opinion. I recall in the summer of 2016 asking why the medial kept asking if HC was honest. It was a BS question. Asked often enough, people start to wonder why people keep asking about her honesty. All of this is effective as society has been dummed down by those who control the purse strings.

[Submariner]

36. Never forget

ABC, NBC, ABC, Fox, CNN, OAN, NEWSMAX are all owned and operated by the right wing oligarchy in this country. It is because of them most all the talking heads we see on TV are republicans. You can see that in how they frame all their questions, like a right wing talking point.

Occasionally a Rachel Maddow and a Lawrence O'Donnell slips through and their message cannot be ignored.

Hard right wing corporate ownership determines the size of the paychecks of the reporters, so you can bet they tow the line.

For instance, Chris Matthews worked with Jack Welch of GE/NBC fame to fire Phil Donahue, the only MSNBC liberal on TV.

[brooklynite]

39. "Occasionally a Rachel Maddow and a Lawrence O'Donnell slips through"

Pretty incompetent right wing oligarchy. Giving them prime-time slots and paying them top dollar. Its almost as if they WANTED people to watch.

Since nobody else responded, I'll ask you. Can you point to a mainstream media story that suggests the Durham investigation is a serious matter?

[Submariner]

46. Can you point to a mainstream media story that suggests the Durham investigation is a serious matter

That is a trumpian fake news story, so I wouldn't begin to waste my time researching a nothing burger like the Durham swill.

[ificandream]

48. Excellent point.

To take this really seriously is to play into what Fawks and the RWM want you to do.

[brooklynite]

53. IOW, the OP statement that the mainstream media is treating this as serious is also nothing...

[pandr32]

43. Yes. 'Liberal media' is a myth

Some of that media you mentioned actually covers news (ABC, NBC, CNN) , albeit with frequent injections of bothsidesism, and some only cover (and feed) right angst and hardly any real news.

[ificandream]

49. Blame Fawks for confusing news and opinion

The "mainstream" media (I hate that term because it's a right-wing putdown) has standards. The wrong-wing media does not. Don't blur the lines. (I recommend Brian Stelter's great book "Hoax" for a detailed look at how Fawks and Trump slept together during his admin.)

[pandr32]

51. Yep--on purpose

Faux was designed to play to viewers emotions rather than their reason. By making them fearful and telling them they are victims of liberal elites, immigrants, regulations, and 'woke' people trying to force socialism on them--taking away their freedoms and leaving them with high crime committed by Blacks and immigrants they have hit pay dirt.
Now we are left trying to reason with a lot of people while we try to convince them to get vaccinated--never mind that tfg and their 'news' has not been on the level with them about anything.

[ificandream]

59. You are absolutely correct.

And they will keep on as long especially as long as it's popular. Maybe, hopefully, one day it won't have the power it does now.

[StClone]

37. Contextualizing

From Newsweek:

Special Counsel John Durham alleged in a court filing last week that a lawyer for Democrats shared data with a federal agency allegedly showing the use of Russian-made phones near the White House in 2017.

The February 11 filing also accuses attorney Michael Sussmann of lying to the FBI in September 2016, when he said he was not working "for any client" when he presented the agency with purported evidence of covert communications between the Trump Organization and a Russian bank.

Former President Donald Trump has always said he was unfairly smeared by Hillary Clinton's campaign and Democratic operatives who aimed to connect him and his campaign to Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. Durham is investigating the origins of the FBI's probe into Russian interference.

https://www.newsweek.com/what-john-durham-court-filing-alleges-donald-trump-hillary-clinton-1679244

[LogicFirst]

38. As soon as I hear the name of TFG, I change the channel or turn off the t.v.

[llmart]

42. Terrific rant! Sums up nicely what has happened to mainstream media in this country in my lifetime.

I haven't had cable for about 13 years. Don't miss it at all. I watch the BBC news on PBS occasionally but mostly I come to DU to see what's going on. My emotional well being is important to me and watching what passes for "news" these days is incredibly sad. However, I do have to wonder why people would actually pay to be aggravated this much.

[tiredtoo]

44. Sadly ALL main stream media is owned by just a few Oligarchs

It all tends to lean to the right.

[PatSeg]

45. A lot of the MSM is in the business

of selling, encouraging, and promoting outrage. They think it keeps viewers from changing the channel, as so many Americans are addicted to perpetual outrage.

[Pepsidog]

47. Interestingly, I am watching a Turkish historical series on Sultan Abdulhamid II who was the last

competent Ottoman Sultan who ruled for 33 years. The show has 154 episodes between 2 1/2 - 3 hours each. It is riveting tv and as well done or better than most American shows. I would compare it to The Crown. Anyway. I have very little knowledge of this time period leading up to WWI but the show portrayals Sultan Abdulhamid II as a genius political statesman who was a moral rock who worked tirelessly against the West attempts to depose him in an effort to control his petroleum fields. Watching is very frustrating because while he attempts to rule with justice and fairness to all nationalities and religions, the newspapers promoted by the West were full of lies and fake news. It’s like the Fox News of its day. Nothing ever changes. If anyone is interested in watching these shows there are a bunch of them found online. Hundreds of 2-3 hour no commercials episodes that tell the story of The Ottoman Empire from its founding as a tribe the creation of the empire. It’s online at kayifamilytv.com , Netflix has many episodes called Magnificent Century which beautifully cover Süleyman the Magnificent, Ertrugral, Osman, and Alparson. It’s subtitled but easy. Probably a years worth of great tv.

[BlueIdaho]

52. There is no such thing as "the liberal media."

The M$M exists to prop up the monopolized capitalistic economy’s big winners. Period. They are the feedback loop for the RNCult which is owned and operated by a handful of monopolies that control most of the American economy.

[brooklynite]

58. By ignoring it?

[maxrandb]

62. Are you seriously posting Faux News propaganda to make some ridiculous point?

You know what else the media spent 0 Seconds covering? Monkees flying out of my butt.

Thanks for making my point for me.

This story is bullshit.

What you posted is Faux News' attempt to shame and intimidate other media into devoting time to bullshit.

Thanks!

[brooklynite]

63. I'm responding to your complaint about "the media"...

...not about Fox News, which is doing precisely what we would expect them to do.

"The media" is giving this story short shrift, as they should. It seems that only people here are worked up about media coverage.

Watching MSNBC and CNN fall all over themselves to "cover" the latest fart out of right-wing media is fascinating.

[maxrandb]

70. MSNBC devoted the first 20 minutes of today's show to this bullshit story

It appears that they got the message from your Faux News screenshot.

Hell, to this day, Faux would run a graphic that claimed the "liberal media" devoted 0 seconds to Benghazi and Butter Emails.

40% of Americans would believe it.

Here's what I don't understand. It's not like right-wing media is suddenly going to proclaim ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times and Washington Post as "fair and unbiased".

The "liberal media" devoted massive airtime and millions of gallons of ink to Butter Emails. The right still calls them biased.

I never understood how a battered spouse could stay with their partner. How they could blame themselves, and bend over backwards to please their abuser...until I saw how the media responds to right-wing attacks.

[brooklynite]

73. What "show"?

[brooklynite]

74. What "show"?

I watched Morning Joe and they started with Trump'a Accountant, then went to Russia/Ukraine, and THEN went to Hillary, talking at length about what a ridiculous and insubstantial story it was.

I'm still waiting to be shown any story by "the media" (excluding Fox) that suggests this story is a serious matter.

[spanone]

81. 1:06 pm today

[ificandream]

75. Agreed. No Fawks links should be allowed here.

[Mad_Machine76]

61. It's like they're afraid to be dismissive of BS

because then they might get attacked by the right-wing for ignoring something IMPORTANT or something that MAY BECOME IMPORTANT and then they might be called names by the right-wing.

[SWBTATTReg]

65. republican thugs are desperately trying to retain the airwaves, be the news, be relevant.

They're failing. By beating the same old tired drums repeatedly time and time again, seemingly endlessly, they themselves have driven away a majority of their audience (a lot of them have died off from boredom).

You would think that a lot of people would want to deal w/ the real world, deal w/ real issues, instead of fake, made up crap, that rump and his brood comes up w/ on a daily basis (all to hide rump's massive lies).

[KT2000]

67. Excellent!

and right on point. This is so well done you should send it to pertinent media. Loved the analogy of your daughter - the bird did it was a good laugh.

[budkin]

68. That's how we ended up with Donald Trump

It's their main advantage politically.

[druidity33]

69. You got it all wrong...

It's Buttery Males... not Butter-Emails.

[Keket]

72. If a Republican says something and no-one is around to hear it, is it still a lie?

The reality is that Republicans live in a dream world, a fictitious existence, when in reality they are the one's who are actively turning the real world into a nightmare.

Hillary Clinton is a great woman and would've gone down in history had the election not been stolen from her as one of, if not the, greatest president's of all time. The fact that these mindless rubes see fit to denigrate her good name is infuriating.

We need to bring back the Fairness Doctrine and deal a deathblow to the hate radio that allows these lies to propagate. We need to petition our cable companies to remove Fox News and other right wing trash.

We need to boycott any company that sees fit to advertise on a right wing podcast and mass report any podcast that espouses right wing lies.

The future of this country is at stake and we can't let the Republicans corrupt our great nation and denigrate American Hero's like Hillary Clinton.

Keket
~You can be a good person, or you can be a Republican. You can't be both.

[ProfessorGAC]

76. Good Post!

And, welcome to DU!

[calimary]

77. It's just another feverish attempt to appear unbiased.

Last edited Wed Feb 16, 2022, 02:38 PM - Edit history (1)

Or as I often vent out loud to my TV, “both sides/! BOTH SIIIIIIIIIDES!!!!!!!!”

[Catherine Vincent]

89. Yes, that is what they are doing

[Blue Owl]

78. K&R

[Beartracks]

82. Yep. When the right is outraged at what they claim is bullshit, it's the outrage that's bullshit.

=========

[Septua]

83. The only thing I watch is MSNBC...

..starting with Deadline White House. The discussions generally identify the bullshit and the outrage it provokes in the sane people and then they delve into the bullshit at length.

Of course, afternoon and evening MSNBC isn't what you'd call straight news, rather analysis of the trending topics. Network evening news is domesticated, so it probably doesn't clarify the bullshit in an attempt to appear unbiased.

But so long as Trump and his disciples continue to dispense the bullshit, somebody has to talk about it.

[LiberalFighter]

85. Which hours do you watch on MSNBC. Not every hour treats the news the same.

The morning and early afternoon are slanted right more. There is a difference in the late afternoon and evening broadcast.

And if you can't watch during those periods record it. I have specific hours recorded in case I miss it.

[Septua]

88. From 3P central on...

I record everything starting at Deadline White House through the 11th Hour. I don't know what 'slanted right' means. But morning and early afternoon seems to be more 'news of the day' while Nicolle Wallace tears into whatever topic of bullshit is trending.

[LiberalFighter]

97. I think you were mistaking my question for someone else.

[Skittles]

90. excellent assessment

it's why I quit watching the "news"

[PatrickforB]

91. Good post. To it I say, "Well, cui bono?"

The media is corporate owned.

The shareholder is king, and shareholder profits are routinely though more important than human life.

When they take the bullshit seriously, the oligarchs, Wall Street, and shareholders benefit by continuing to pound wedges between us. We are almost to the point of civil war because of these wedges, bought and paid for by oligarchs.

Why should this do this? Because if we all hate and mistrust one another, they hope we will not notice how they are picking our pockets, systematically draining our treasury to pad their own pockets.

We mean less than nothing to people like Jeff Bezos, or Elon Musk, or Mark Zuckerberg, and we certainly don't mean much to the CEO class, either. Just cash cows in a capitalist utopia - carefully coached to be rugged individualists while the rich systematically pass risk onto us while they pocket the profits.

Corporate socialism folks.

What gets me is that any time any workers suggest they would like more money or we tell our politicians we want universal healthcare, and it is (GASP!!!!) SOSH-A-LIZM! We can squander trillions on forever wars, nearly a trillion on this year's war budget, feckless tax cuts, and other spending that doesn't materially help us at all. But we cannot afford to spend OUR tax dollars that WE pay in on programs that materially benefit us. Like healthcare. Dental care. Affordable debt-free college.

[BaronChocula]

93. The Establishment media can't seem to resist white nationalist BS.

The more in defense you are of the old order, the more of a pass you get... by other white people.

[burrowowl]

94. A must read! K& R

[ancianita]

96. Republicans don't have politics. They have scripts fixated on legitimizing bullshit.

Last edited Wed Feb 16, 2022, 08:50 AM - Edit history (2)

Money bought that.

That money comes from the divide-and-conquer message flogging machine of their corporate donors, whose fictional personhood goals are meant to outlast human generations. Their media tools provide the emotional overlay.

We -- Joe, especially -- haven't wanted to believe that they could be so thoroughly committed to doing nothing for Americans, just leaving governing alone until their owner donors are in charge.
Now we do. But I'm going with Joe's faith in their ability to change.

If conflict driven governance -- for profit disaster capitalism, of course -- is driven by corporate algorithms, in the U.S. and elsewhere, we have to fight that, too. Algorithms maximize profit through disaster and conflict.

If we humans permanently removed money from politics -- which Koch and media purveyors of 'money as speech' would fight forever -- I believe, with Joe, that

1. Republican tools' rotation of bullshit outrage would settle down;
2. they'd take their human constituents seriously again, leave the algorithm Mammon and followe Jesus' 2nd Great Commandment, maybe even care enough to end their poverty and promote their peace and welfare, thus give Americans constructive reasons, and not just liars, to vote for;
3. buy into the climate model that the economic corporate dogma of growthgrowthgrowth is unsustainable on a finite planet, and then settle down to more peaceful enoughonomics, a state of sustainable living not driven by algorithms.

Then bullshit would be found in nature, where bullshit is usually found.