How Fox News works

[WhatTheBuck 28781]

1 hour ago, Lurch said:

That comment can be found in here

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/03/12/raj-shah-fox-trump/

Yeah, I wound up finding it in the Tucker Carlson thread.

May as well post the whole article.

Quote

Ex-Trump aide at Fox wrestled with election lies, network’s interests

Documents show Fox Vice President Raj Shah privately derided the White House’s narrative of a stolen election. But he also pushed back on efforts to dispute the claims.

By Rosalind S. Helderman and Josh Dawsey
March 12, 2023 at 6:00 a.m. EDT

As Rudy Giuliani railed about voter fraud from the lobby of the Republican National Committee’s headquarters a few weeks after the November 2020 election, rivulets of hair dye running down the side of his face, an executive at Fox Corporation let loose in text messages with his reaction.

“This sounds SO F------ CRAZY btw,” wrote Raj Shah, who had served as a senior aide in Donald Trump’s White House for two years before his hiring at Fox. “Rudy looks awful,” a deputy wrote back, prompting Shah to respond that “he objectively looks like he was a dead person voting 2 weeks ago.”

But Shah’s job at Fox was to protect the company’s brand, then under pressure from Trump allies who wanted to push Giuliani’s wild claims of a stolen election and who were abandoning the network for more hard-line options like Newsmax and One America News. So when a Fox News reporter went live on air just after Giuliani’s news conference concluded and declared that some of what the president’s lawyer had said was “simply not true,” Shah reacted with alarm.

“This is the kinda s--- that will kill us,” he texted the deputy. “We cover it wall to wall and then we burn that down with all the skepticism.”

The texts are drawn from more than a million pages of internal Fox correspondence released in recent weeks as part of a defamation lawsuit filed against the company by Dominion Voting Systems. The cache has revealed how Fox executives, producers and hosts expressed private doubts about Trump’s false election claims even as the network amplified the allegations on air.

The emails and text messages involving Shah offer a particularly vivid example of the pattern, demonstrating how elements of Fox, the Republican Party and the then-president’s own staffers spent years accommodating some of Trump’s worst impulses and amplifying some of his lies. When it came to the baseless election fraud narrative — including that counting dead voters had lifted the Democrats to victory — many of these people were aware of the likely falsity of the allegations but were unwilling to anger Trump or his supporters by clearly stating so publicly.
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Shah is also a reminder of how Trump’s operation had become fused to the nation’s most watched conservative news channel, whose coverage had helped fuel his rise before his 2016 election. Shah was part of a long line of Trump underlings who passed back and forth between Trump’s orbit and Fox’s on- and off-air ranks.

Former Fox News co-president Bill Shine was hired as deputy White House chief of staff in 2018, picked in part because Trump was impressed by his experience overseeing television that appealed to the conservative base.

That same year, one of Trump’s closest advisers, Hope Hicks, was named head of corporate communications for New Fox, the successor to Fox News’s parent company, 21st Century Fox, after a two-year stint in the White House. She left Fox to return to the Trump administration in March 2020, as the reelection campaign heated up. Numerous Trump aides found post-government jobs as pundits on Fox’s airwaves.

In the lawsuit, scheduled to go to trial in Delaware next month, Dominion argues that Fox defamed the company by broadcasting falsehoods claiming its machines were used to help Joe Biden defeat Trump. Fox has said it was covering newsworthy claims, not promoting or endorsing them, and has accused Dominion of “distortions and misinformation in their PR campaign to smear FOX News and trample on free speech and freedom of the press.”

Shah, who remains at Fox, declined to comment through a company spokesman.

Before joining the White House, Shah, 38, worked for the Republican National Committee in four election cycles, focusing on opposition research against Democrats. As the party’s research director, Shah led the 2016 efforts to promote stories related to Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server and her work at her family’s foundation.

After Trump won, Shah became a White House spokesman. In an administration where the top figures often battled to be in the news media and in the Oval Office, Shah liked to keep a lower profile, only occasionally speaking on camera and, unlike many others, reluctant to angle for one-on-one meetings with the president.

John Kelly, a former Trump chief of staff, said he had been impressed by Shah’s competence in a chaotic White House. Shah was popular among competing factions of the White House staff, five former administration officials said.

“He never struck me as that much of a Trump devotee,” Kelly said. “He seemed to be a guy that was trying to do a good job in a really difficult environment, and he was a straight shooter.”

In 2019, Shah left the White House and briefly worked for a major pro-Trump lobbyist and donor, Brian Ballard. “He understands crisis communications at a very high level,” Ballard said.

Shah then took a job as senior vice president of Fox Corp., where he came recommended by fellow White House alum Hicks. He arrived as the company was facing newly organized criticism of its coverage and boycotts of its advertisers. He testified in a January lawsuit deposition that he was hired to conduct “brand protection” for Fox and its properties, including Fox News.
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One of his main jobs is to monitor problems — negative stories, online threats, rising criticism — that could affect the company’s bottom line and orchestrate ways to defend the hosts and the network.

Shah has relied on right-wing social media influencers to defend some of the criticisms, and has hired consultants at times. A former Fox employee said Shah worked closely with Tucker Carlson’s team and was trusted by the prime-time hosts as a vigilant defender against critics. He also served at times as a liaison between Fox executives and the prime-time hosts.

“There was a need for someone who could spot and put out political fires,” the former employee said.

In the documents, Shah emerges less as Trump’s man-on-the-inside at Fox than as a bridge between the then-president’s world and the network, and a reliable translator of Trump’s base for Fox’s management.

After Fox News called Arizona for Biden on election night, earlier than other networks, part of Shah’s job became to manage the rage of Trump and his supporters.

In testimony to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, Hicks recalled that it was Shah whom she contacted on election night to find out how Trump’s team could complain about the Arizona call. She testified that Shah suggested the White House contact Jay Wallace, the president of Fox News, and provided his phone number.

In private text messages the following day, Shah made clear that he personally believed that Fox News’s Decision Desk had probably been correct when it concluded that Trump could not overtake Biden’s narrow lead in the key swing state, even though votes were still being tallied.

“What is the latest from Trump world?” a Washington lobbyist texted Shah. “Are we done or is AZ really still in play?”

“I don’t really think AZ is in play. I’m also seeing Fox’s perspective, where we called it early and are catching heat for this,” Shah responded.

By the following week, anger at the network among Trump’s supporters had spiraled. Shah became concerned that Fox’s viewers might be tuning out.

“Want to ask, even though it seems impossible, but is the idea of some sort of public mea culpa for the AZ call completely and totally out of the realm? Or some programming that’s focused on hearing our viewers grievances about how we’ve handled the election?” Shah inquired on Nov. 10 of Fox News PR Chief Irena Briganti.

Shah’s proposal was rejected on grounds that it would spark dissension between the network’s news and opinion employees, a narrative Fox could ill afford while already under fire.

As conservative anger at Fox grew and Trump’s allegations about the election results began to mount, Shah and his team monitored declining ratings with worry and arranged to survey Fox viewers about their reactions. It was a tactic drawn from the political campaigns with which Shah was familiar.

“Our brand is under heavy fire from our customer base,” he wrote in an email commissioning the survey. “Our concern is Newsmax and One America News Network,” he wrote in another email, naming two right-wing outlets that were more aggressively embracing Trump’s views and that Fox feared could eat into the network’s viewership.

“I’ve shared my thoughts … that bold, clear and decisive action is needed for us to begin to regain the trust that we’re losing with our core audience,” he wrote in an email the next day.

The Giuliani news conference on Nov. 19 deepened Fox’s dilemma. The former New York mayor appeared alongside attorney Sidney Powell, whom Giuliani referred to as one of the campaign’s “senior lawyers.” Powell had by then been featured repeatedly on Fox, where she lobbed false allegations that voting machines sold by Dominion had been manipulated in key swing states to flip votes from Trump to Biden.

Privately, however, texts released in the lawsuit show that Fox hosts and producers were growing frustrated with Powell. “Sidney Powell is lying,” Carlson wrote in a Nov. 17 text.

On the night of the news conference, Carlson opened his show expressing doubts about Powell. He told his viewers that he had taken her claims “seriously” but had been urging her to produce evidence of her claims without success. “She never sent us any evidence, despite a lot of polite requests. When we kept pressing, she got angry and told us to stop contacting her,” he said.

The monologue earned Carlson some pushback from the right, including from Powell herself, who appeared on Fox rival Newsmax to declare Carlson “abrasive” and “disrespectful.”

Shah swung into action and deployed his contacts in Trump’s world, appearing to act more as a political operative than a traditional news network executive.

“After criticism from social media for Tucker’s segment questioning Attorney Sidney Powell’s outlandish voter fraud claims, our consultants and I coordinated an effort to generate Trump administration pushback against her claims,” Shah wrote in an email to his bosses a few days later. He continued: “We encouraged several sources within the administration to tell reporters that Powell offered no evidence for her claims and didn’t speak for the president.”

Indeed, on Nov. 22, Trump’s campaign issued a statement, attributed to Giuliani and fellow campaign attorney Jenna Ellis, declaring that Powell was “practicing law on her own” and was “not a member” of Trump’s legal team.

Despite his behind-the-scenes lobbying, Shah counseled a middle course in dealing with her claims on air. On the day after Carlson publicly challenged Powell, Shah and a Carlson producer weighed whether Carlson should devote time in his next show to Powell’s claim that she had an affidavit that would link Dominion to Venezuela.

“Might wanna address this, but this stuff is so f------ insane. Vote rigging to the tune of millions? C’mon,” Shah wrote.

Carlson’s producer, Alex Pfeiffer, responded: “It is so insane but our viewers believe it so addressing again how her stupid Venezuela affidavit isn’t proof might insult them.”

Shah advised that Carlson should mention the affidavit noting it was “not new info, not proof” but then quickly “pivot to being deferential.”

Pfeiffer, who has since left the network, answered that the delicate dance was “surreal.”

“Like negotiating with terrorists,” he added, “but especially dumb ones. Cousin f----- types not saudi royalty.”

In the following weeks, Trump continued to court voices who embraced his false claims the election was stolen — and Powell continued to appear on Fox.

On Jan. 3 — three days before the Capitol was attacked by Trump supporters as Congress met to confirm Biden’s win — Shah exchanged text messages with another former White House spokesman, Josh Raffel, who had been primarily responsible for handling communications for Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, and her husband, senior adviser Jared Kushner.

Raffel flagged to Shah a tweet noting that Trump’s daily schedule now carried with it the vague assurance that the president would make “many calls and have many meetings” and “work from early in the morning until late in the evening.”

“I think what they meant is The President will wake up early and commit many, many crimes including but not limited to obstruction of justice, attempted fraud, and treason in an effort to conduct a coup. Then he’ll fly to a rally in furtherance of the same,” Raffel wrote. (Now a public relations executive in New York, Raffel declined to comment on the text.)

“It’s really disheartening,” Shah responded. “The only clear cut evidence for voter fraud is the failed attempts from Trump.”

 

[HenryJames 66052]

 

[ChiTownDoc 21154]

1 hour ago, HenryJames said:

 

 

[DigglerontheHoof 21199]

1 hour ago, HenryJames said:

 

[C-Man 27225]

2 hours ago, WhatTheBuck said:

Yeah, I wound up finding it in the Tucker Carlson thread.

May as well post the whole article.

 

Quote

“I think what they meant is The President will wake up early and commit many, many crimes including but not limited to obstruction of justice, attempted fraud, and treason in an effort to conduct a coup. Then he’ll fly to a rally in furtherance of the same,” Raffel wrote. (Now a public relations executive in New York, Raffel declined to comment on the text.)

[Beau Vine 54226]

Kilmeade throws like Ray Kinsella's dad.

[Sawbonz 27561]

3 hours ago, HenryJames said:

 

There is going to be nothing left when Trump gets through w him

 

Edited March 13, 2023 by Sawbonz

[HenryJames 66052]

 

[Chooky 13307]

4 hours ago, HenryJames said:

 

Trump should respond to this by having Hannity scramble around the driving range while he fires golf balls at him.

[TexasEd 8067]

Dumbasses throwing while wearing sports coats.

[Paul Wesley 3278]

5 hours ago, HenryJames said:

 

I'm impressed that he can throw a baseball with his little high-heels on.  

Edited March 13, 2023 by Paul Wesley

[Horn Dog 9854]

3 minutes ago, Paul Wesley said:

I'm impressed that he can throw a baseball with his little high-heels on.  

In high heels and strategically placed on the pitchers mount and still looks like a short little meatball.

[Red Five 40857]

This guy is going to lose the "who do you want to have a beer with" test so incredibly badly. I've only heard him speak a few times in my life and I really don't ever want to hear it again. 

[Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand 13585]

"A defamation lawsuit against Fox News by voting machine company Smartmatic appears to be headed to trial after the New York Supreme Court gave the green light last week.

An analysis by The Guardianfound that the $2.7 billion lawsuit could be "more dangerous" than the $1.6 billion lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems."

https://www.msn.com/en-US/news/politics/another-crisis-is-building-at-fox-news-as-second-defamation-lawsuit-gets-green-light-for-trial/ar-AA18zUgU?ocid=sapphireappshare

[WhatTheBuck 28781]

1 hour ago, Sawbonz said:

There is going to be nothing left when Trump gets through w him

 

[Longhorn_Fan68 33870]

I weep inside every time I see his fucking face and remember that he was potus.

[4th&Five 41546]

14 minutes ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

I weep inside every time I see his fucking face and remember that he was potus.

It truly never gets less amazing.  People actually voted for that buffoon to run the country.

[hayden_horn 11362]

8 hours ago, Hornius Emeritus said:

The way that reads it sort of indicates that the producer ranks the FOX-watching audience below Saudi terrorists.

 

[YGIFS 19450]

3 hours ago, Beau Vine said:

Kilmeade throws like Ray Kinsella's dad.

(after several limp-wristed throws to another adult on the diamond)...

Mason DeSantis, "Hey dad?  You wanna have a catch?"

Ron DeSantis, "I'd like that, son." 

Mason DeSantis smiles.

Ron DeSantis suddenly guns a fucking slider at Mason's head at 91mph.  

 

Jokes aside, he was wearing a sportcoat and talking.  I mean, I hate the guy but he really wasn't that bad if we're honest.  Then again, the camera angle and editing did seem weird.  Like when Trump threw out that pitch in 2004, it really wasn't that bad.  Let's be honest.  Watch them cast a fishing line and we can really have some laughs,  DeSantis m for all his faults and husky section of Gymboree wardrobe fails, has done some "masculine/manly" shit in his past.  Trump has done exactly fucking nothing.  

[Lurch 5930]

It truly never gets less amazing.  People actually voted for that buffoon to run the country.

Buttery males

[Pato del Muerto 52497]

91 mph sliders aren’t quite so common for Ron to have it in the bag. 

[Biff Tannen 45683]

27 minutes ago, 4th&Five said:

It truly never gets less amazing.  People actually voted for that buffoon to run the country.

And MILLIONS of them will do it again, given the chance.

[Paul Wesley 3278]

1 hour ago, 4th&Five said:

It truly never gets less amazing.  People actually voted for that buffoon to run the country.

I'm in the still-can't-fucking-believe-it camp with y'all.  

He's on YouTube telling an interviewer that he's never asked God for forgiveness, he mocked a disabled reporter, he called actual flag-waving Nazis "very fine people," he paid hush money to a pornstar with campaign funds (a crime for which his lawyer went to jail), and he invited his followers to DC and directed them to overthrow American democracy. 

And people who claim to be patriotic Christians are just lined up to vote for him again.  

I mean... I've had to reconsider a whole lot of things that I thought I understood.  I chalk most of it up to right-wing propaganda that these people absolutely cannot distinguish from news.  

[tx 3 putt 76954]

2 hours ago, Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand said:

"A defamation lawsuit against Fox News by voting machine company Smartmatic appears to be headed to trial after the New York Supreme Court gave the green light last week.

An analysis by The Guardianfound that the $2.7 billion lawsuit could be "more dangerous" than the $1.6 billion lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems."

https://www.msn.com/en-US/news/politics/another-crisis-is-building-at-fox-news-as-second-defamation-lawsuit-gets-green-light-for-trial/ar-AA18zUgU?ocid=sapphireappshare

 

[WhatTheBuck 28781]

50 minutes ago, Paul Wesley said:

I mean... I've had to reconsider a whole lot of things that I thought I understood.  I chalk most of it up to right-wing propaganda that these people absolutely cannot distinguish from news.

I’m on the verge of telling my mom that I can only conclude that she chooses to get all her “news” from Fox News and Newsmax because she wants them to lie to her. Despite what she might say, she doesn’t care about truth. Deep down she knows they’re lying to her and she doesn’t care. It’s just easier that way. 

[ChiTownDoc 21154]

38 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

I’m on the verge of telling my mom that I can only conclude that she chooses to get all her “news” from Fox News and Newsmax because she wants them to lie to her. Despite what she might say, she doesn’t care about truth. Deep down she knows they’re lying to her and she doesn’t care. It’s just easier that way. 

You’re on the verge of that?   I know it’s your Mom, but that’s treating the situation with kid gloves.  Prob a few years late on the convo but better late than never.  

[Longhorn_Fan68 33870]

2 hours ago, WhatTheBuck said:

I’m on the verge of telling my mom that I can only conclude that she chooses to get all her “news” from Fox News and Newsmax because she wants them to lie to her. Despite what she might say, she doesn’t care about truth. Deep down she knows they’re lying to her and she doesn’t care. It’s just easier that way. 

i mean, what's she gonna do, ground you? set her straight already

[WhatTheBuck 28781]

1 hour ago, ChiTownDoc said:

You’re on the verge of that?   I know it’s your Mom, but that’s treating the situation with kid gloves.  Prob a few years late on the convo but better late than never.  

I’ve been pointing out the lies for a long time. I’ve been telling her Fox News is a propaganda outlet for the GOP for a long time. They’re not a news network. I’ve told her they’re brainwashing her but I’ve tried to give her the benefit of the doubt that she’s just being unwittingly deceived.

[C-Man 27225]

4 hours ago, YGIFS said:

Let's be honest.  Watch them cast a fishing line and we can really have some laughs,  DeSantis m for all his faults and husky section of Gymboree wardrobe fails, has done some "masculine/manly" shit in his past.  Trump has done exactly fucking nothing.  

[Neonmoon 38129]

Banks fails because of non-whites 

If you don’t want to give Fox News clicks, just go to the Oscars thread to see people complain about Oscars pushing CR stuff because EEAAO won. same same. 

[Pato del Muerto 52497]

It was a nice try to go all the way back to Obama for that truly shitty and horrible take but last I checked the banks last failed in 2008 which was before Obama could do something like force dei into any industry. 

[safe sex 11724]

Lmao it's hard to be a more American movie than EEAAO.

[Dnaguy 11964]

12 hours ago, HenryJames said:

 

And the cats in the cradle and the silver spoon.

Little boy blue and the fat Buffoon.

When ya gunna run Ron, I don’t know when

But we’ll get together then, yeah

You’ll know we’ll have a good time then

 

Edited March 14, 2023 by Dnaguy

[YGIFS 19450]

9 hours ago, longhornmatt said:

Meet the affirmative action DEI hire that was in charge of Silicon Valley Bank:

Note to self, not only trim the base of my dick.  But also near the top.  Just to be sure.  

[The Royal We 3072]

10 hours ago, longhornmatt said:

Meet the affirmative action DEI hire that was in charge of Silicon Valley Bank:

Good call Cucker! DEI was most definitely the downfall of SVB. 3 women on the leadership team, but not a whole lot of melanin in the room.

[yoladu 4094]

on the right, 2nd down.

Edited March 14, 2023 by yoladu

[Nice Guy Eddie 13512]

On 3/12/2023 at 11:18 PM, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

 

 

I'm not saying that CNN or MSNBC doesn't have elitist types at the top as well but it's a complete farce for anyone to think that Fox News is anything but elite types who only cater to the bottom for $. And they hate their audience more than anyone.

[NameAlreadyInUse 5112]

20 hours ago, WhatTheBuck said:

I’m on the verge of telling my mom that I can only conclude that she chooses to get all her “news” from Fox News and Newsmax because she wants them to lie to her. Despite what she might say, she doesn’t care about truth. Deep down she knows they’re lying to her and she doesn’t care. It’s just easier that way. 

So I tried this awhile ago.  She didn't like it.  She didn't disagree.  She kept right on watching and believing.  Good luck.

[StassneyHorn 6575]

Just make your mom cry

[Patricio Swayze 17058]

It truly never gets less amazing.  Allegedly educated people on this site actually voted for that buffoon to run the country.

[WhatTheBuck 28781]

18 minutes ago, NameAlreadyInUse said:

So I tried this awhile ago.  She didn't like it.  She didn't disagree.  She kept right on watching and believing.  Good luck.

Yeah, it won’t change anything. But it will give me a chance to just draw a line in the sand and call her out on her bullshit from then on. There are two things she often says that aren’t true. One is, “I never lie,” and the other is, “I’m always seeking the truth.”

The latter one I’ve called her out on before. Many times. I pointed out to her that when I was young she told me not to watch MASH or All in the Family because she’d read in one of her Christian magazines that they’re bad. She never tried sitting down and actually watching either show.

She told me that D&D was evil and I shouldn’t play it. Guess where she heard that? My friends and I used to play it in our family room while she was home. She could’ve come and watched. She never did. She still believes it’s evil, btw.

She doesn’t believe in evolution. I asked her if she would read a book explaining evolutionary biology if I gave it to her. She said she would. She’s a nurse so I figured she could understand it. She never read it. I gave it to her for Christmas. When I gave it to her, my sister was still celebrating the gift her husband gave her of Going Rogue by Sarah Palin. Everyone was so excited for her. My mom took her book and quickly hid it away so no one else could see. (I gave her The Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins which I know would be fairly incendiary for a religious person to read but suck it, churchie, it’s a great book.)

I reminded her when the Jan. 6 Committee hearings were on. She watched a little, not much. I texted her on Jan 6 during the assault on the Capitol and she replied that what really outraged her was the vandalism that occurred during the BLM protests after the murder of George Floyd.

I’ve told her that if she were really seeking the truth then she wouldn’t watch Fox News. Or at the very least she’d watch some other news sources. Read a little. I’ve warned her that even if she could find a news source that is perfectly objective and unbiased in every way, it would seem to her to be a liberal news source because she’s used to getting her news from such a biased source. An absence of a bias for will seem like a bias against.

Now with all the evidence coming out of the Dominion lawsuit, it’s time to compile it all together and send it to her with links and everything. I’ve told her some of the things that are being reported and she responded, “If you can trust the source.” I got a little hot and exclaimed that one of the sources was Rupert Murdoch himself testifying in a court of law. Can you trust that source? Because if you can’t trust that source then go u’ve created a world in which you’re free to believe or disbelieve anything on a whim, you’re free to believe whatever you want to believe and truth has no meaning anymore. (Yes, I know that is exactly what she’s doing. I figured I should suggest it first to give her a chance to see it for herself before I pass judgment and level the accusation against her.) She agreed that Rupert’s sworn testimony was a good source.

So when I compile all the evidence and submit it to her, evidence that no reasonable person could review and not conclude that Fox News is merely posing as a news service and routinely, knowingly broadcasts lies, and when she continues to watch it and repeat things they tell her as if they’re true, I will tell her she’s a liar. She doesn’t seek the truth. She doesn’t want the truth. She can’t handle the truth. She wants the lies. She knows she wants the lies, and when she says she never lies, she’s lying. Worse yet, she knows she’s lying. She’s not just lying to herself. It’s not like when George said to Jerry that it’s not a lie if you believe it. She’s lying to me with full knowledge that she’s doing so. That will be the only explanation and don’t bother trying to deny it. You can’t gaslight me.

And then she can have her wish and I’ll stop talking politics with her. When she brings anything up I’ll just remind her that she believes in lies and is living in a fantasy world. When I want her opinion, I will tune to Fox News and get it straight from the source. I know their game plan and know what they’ll be saying before I do. It’s a basic playbook. I’ve told her before that I don’t expect to change her mind, but I’m not letting her go to her grave saying no one ever told her the truth and I’m not going to my grave saying I never tried. Well, at least I tried.

[The Royal We 3072]

20 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

Yeah, it won’t change anything. But it will give me a chance to just draw a line in the sand and call her out on her bullshit from then on. There are two things she often says that aren’t true. One is, “I never lie,” and the other is, “I’m always seeking the truth.”

The latter one I’ve called her out on before. Many times. I pointed out to her that when I was young she told me not to watch MASH or All in the Family because she’d read in one of her Christian magazines that they’re bad. She never tried sitting down and actually watching either show.

She told me that D&D was evil and I shouldn’t play it. Guess where she heard that? My friends and I used to play it in our family room while she was home. She could’ve come and watched. She never did. She still believes it’s evil, btw.

She doesn’t believe in evolution. I asked her if she would read a book explaining evolutionary biology if I gave it to her. She said she would. She’s a nurse so I figured she could understand it. She never read it. I gave it to her for Christmas. When I gave it to her, my sister was still celebrating the gift her husband gave her of Going Rogue by Sarah Palin. Everyone was so excited for her. My mom took her book and quickly hid it away so no one else could see. (I gave her The Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins which I know would be fairly incendiary for a religious person to read but suck it, churchie, it’s a great book.)

I reminded her when the Jan. 6 Committee hearings were on. She watched a little, not much. I texted her on Jan 6 during the assault on the Capitol and she replied that what really outraged her was the vandalism that occurred during the BLM protests after the murder of George Floyd.

I’ve told her that if she were really seeking the truth then she wouldn’t watch Fox News. Or at the very least she’d watch some other news sources. Read a little. I’ve warned her that even if she could find a news source that is perfectly objective and unbiased in every way, it would seem to her to be a liberal news source because she’s used to getting her news from such a biased source. An absence of a bias for will seem like a bias against.

Now with all the evidence coming out of the Dominion lawsuit, it’s time to compile it all together and send it to her with links and everything. I’ve told her some of the things that are being reported and she responded, “If you can trust the source.” I got a little hot and exclaimed that one of the sources was Rupert Murdoch himself testifying in a court of law. Can you trust that source? Because if you can’t trust that source then go u’ve created a world in which you’re free to believe or disbelieve anything on a whim, you’re free to believe whatever you want to believe and truth has no meaning anymore. (Yes, I know that is exactly what she’s doing. I figured I should suggest it first to give her a chance to see it for herself before I pass judgment and level the accusation against her.) She agreed that Rupert’s sworn testimony was a good source.

So when I compile all the evidence and submit it to her, evidence that no reasonable person could review and not conclude that Fox News is merely posing as a news service and routinely, knowingly broadcasts lies, and when she continues to watch it and repeat things they tell her as if they’re true, I will tell her she’s a liar. She doesn’t seek the truth. She doesn’t want the truth. She can’t handle the truth. She wants the lies. She knows she wants the lies, and when she says she never lies, she’s lying. Worse yet, she knows she’s lying. She’s not just lying to herself. It’s not like when George said to Jerry that it’s not a lie if you believe it. She’s lying to me with full knowledge that she’s doing so. That will be the only explanation and don’t bother trying to deny it. You can’t gaslight me.

And then she can have her wish and I’ll stop talking politics with her. When she brings anything up I’ll just remind her that she believes in lies and is living in a fantasy world. When I want her opinion, I will tune to Fox News and get it straight from the source. I know their game plan and know what they’ll be saying before I do. It’s a basic playbook. I’ve told her before that I don’t expect to change her mind, but I’m not letting her go to her grave saying no one ever told her the truth and I’m not going to my grave saying I never tried. Well, at least I tried.

This all hits a little too close to home.

My relationship with my mom got really toxic during Covid/TFG's presidency.  We had to basically make a pact to not discuss politics so we could try to maintain a healthy relationship.  But she tells me she doesn't watch Fox News.

[C-Man 27225]

49 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

Yeah, it won’t change anything. But it will give me a chance to just draw a line in the sand and call her out on her bullshit from then on. There are two things she often says that aren’t true. One is, “I never lie,” and the other is, “I’m always seeking the truth.”

The latter one I’ve called her out on before. Many times. I pointed out to her that when I was young she told me not to watch MASH or All in the Family because she’d read in one of her Christian magazines that they’re bad. She never tried sitting down and actually watching either show.

She told me that D&D was evil and I shouldn’t play it. Guess where she heard that? My friends and I used to play it in our family room while she was home. She could’ve come and watched. She never did. She still believes it’s evil, btw.

She doesn’t believe in evolution. I asked her if she would read a book explaining evolutionary biology if I gave it to her. She said she would. She’s a nurse so I figured she could understand it. She never read it. I gave it to her for Christmas. When I gave it to her, my sister was still celebrating the gift her husband gave her of Going Rogue by Sarah Palin. Everyone was so excited for her. My mom took her book and quickly hid it away so no one else could see. (I gave her The Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins which I know would be fairly incendiary for a religious person to read but suck it, churchie, it’s a great book.)

I reminded her when the Jan. 6 Committee hearings were on. She watched a little, not much. I texted her on Jan 6 during the assault on the Capitol and she replied that what really outraged her was the vandalism that occurred during the BLM protests after the murder of George Floyd.

I’ve told her that if she were really seeking the truth then she wouldn’t watch Fox News. Or at the very least she’d watch some other news sources. Read a little. I’ve warned her that even if she could find a news source that is perfectly objective and unbiased in every way, it would seem to her to be a liberal news source because she’s used to getting her news from such a biased source. An absence of a bias for will seem like a bias against.

Now with all the evidence coming out of the Dominion lawsuit, it’s time to compile it all together and send it to her with links and everything. I’ve told her some of the things that are being reported and she responded, “If you can trust the source.” I got a little hot and exclaimed that one of the sources was Rupert Murdoch himself testifying in a court of law. Can you trust that source? Because if you can’t trust that source then go u’ve created a world in which you’re free to believe or disbelieve anything on a whim, you’re free to believe whatever you want to believe and truth has no meaning anymore. (Yes, I know that is exactly what she’s doing. I figured I should suggest it first to give her a chance to see it for herself before I pass judgment and level the accusation against her.) She agreed that Rupert’s sworn testimony was a good source.

So when I compile all the evidence and submit it to her, evidence that no reasonable person could review and not conclude that Fox News is merely posing as a news service and routinely, knowingly broadcasts lies, and when she continues to watch it and repeat things they tell her as if they’re true, I will tell her she’s a liar. She doesn’t seek the truth. She doesn’t want the truth. She can’t handle the truth. She wants the lies. She knows she wants the lies, and when she says she never lies, she’s lying. Worse yet, she knows she’s lying. She’s not just lying to herself. It’s not like when George said to Jerry that it’s not a lie if you believe it. She’s lying to me with full knowledge that she’s doing so. That will be the only explanation and don’t bother trying to deny it. You can’t gaslight me.

And then she can have her wish and I’ll stop talking politics with her. When she brings anything up I’ll just remind her that she believes in lies and is living in a fantasy world. When I want her opinion, I will tune to Fox News and get it straight from the source. I know their game plan and know what they’ll be saying before I do. It’s a basic playbook. I’ve told her before that I don’t expect to change her mind, but I’m not letting her go to her grave saying no one ever told her the truth and I’m not going to my grave saying I never tried. Well, at least I tried.

She's gone, my man. Gone.

[Captainant 27667]

Behind the Bastards does Fox News and the Dominion lawsuit this week

[Beau Vine 54226]

3 hours ago, NameAlreadyInUse said:

So I tried this awhile ago.  She didn't like it.  She didn't disagree.  She kept right on watching and believing.  Good luck.

I came home from work about 15 years ago and found my parents in my living room watching Fox News.  I walked over to the TV, turned it off, and said, "We don't watch this shit in my house" and that was the only discussion I ever had about it with my parents.  

[Dnaguy 11964]

3 hours ago, The Royal We said:

This all hits a little too close to home.

My relationship with my mom got really toxic during Covid/TFG's presidency.  We had to basically make a pact to not discuss politics so we could try to maintain a healthy relationship.  But she tells me she doesn't watch Fox News.

No one watches Fox News.

it’s just on.

doctors offices.

Boomer houses.

the old folks home.

It ejaculates into the either and the right wing thought sperms race to fertilize the brains of olds and dumbs much like the opening scene of ‘Look Who’s Talking’.

 

[Patricio Swayze 17058]

I came home from work about 15 years ago and found my parents in my living room watching Fox News.  I walked over to the TV, turned it off, and said, "We don't watch this shit in my house" and that was the only discussion I ever had about it with my parents.  

Interesting. What is your stance on letting your parents fuck all morning then lay around in bed while you bring them snacks?


























(Ok, that is probably my last Chief/Chief Jr joke)

[Satchel 6938]

A couple of years ago, I looked at moving my gym membership to a new one closer to my house. Every TV not set to sports stations was set to Fox News. I asked the manager if some could be set to other news stations. He assured me they could not, and backed up his lie by saying the channel setting were managed out of company headquarters in California.

[TexPx 2323]

No one watches Fox News.
it’s just on.
doctors offices.
Boomer houses.
the old folks home.
It ejaculates into the either and the right wing thought sperms race to fertilize the brains of olds and dumbs much like the opening scene of ‘Look Who’s Talking’.
 

Military Bases

[StassneyHorn 6575]

Unless you want every conversation to be about weather, tell them we WILL talk about current events, and you agree that that you won’t let her politics get in the way.

Make your moms cry.