The Dark Side of the First Amendment
Recently, Fox style news was denied access to Canadian air waves because of a Canadian federal law against lying or misleading information purporting to be actual news. While it is too bad that the US cannot have a similar law, there are complications with First Amendment freedom of speech rights that prevent it. Fox Cable News is the dark side of the First Amendment. Bleepholes have a right to make noise too. It is this aspect of free speech that allows Fox Cable News to package their Sedition Lite brand of infotainment and purvey it like filtered cigarettes to teenagers.
Since studies show that once most folks make up their minds about something, facts no longer sway them but only force them to take refuge in denial, what is to be done about the pernicious influence of this lying bloviation of journalistic pap?
Fox news is not propaganda in the classic sense, for it contains no true ideology. It is propaganda without a cause, the propaganda of gossip, an inchoate syllabus of prejudice without plan or purpose other than to incite the morbid interest of unhappy fools.
While smothering any journalistic responsibility under the cloak of entertainment, its only entertainment value is political self abuse. In this, it finds a ready audience. The lame, the halt, and the blind line up in eager droves, not to be healed but to be assured that their defects are really evidence of a superior nature. Their egos are stroked as professionally and efficiently as a bald headed man in an adult massage parlor.
No snake oil salesman of yore can claim to be more reptilian than the talking heads of journalistic travesty called Fox. Their relationship to truth is that of mugger and victim. Their only interest in reality is how to bend it to their advantage. Their only interest in their audience is how to squeeze profits out of them. These are people who will say anything and everything with a straight face and soulful eyes while groping in your pockets for loose change.
Have no doubts about it, Murdoch and his accomplices are not your friends anymore than a tapeworm is a pet. More tics than vampires, they do not wish your destruction but instead seek to prolong their feast indefinitely. If you've ever seen a dog overrun by fleas you have a pretty good idea of their place on the body politic.
I will not call them unpatriotic for every flea loves its dog, but then fleas are incapable of changing their profession. What the employees of Fox news do they do on purpose voluntarily and they make a good living at it.
The true product of Fox news is doublethink and newspeak, not the communication of useful information. Their reasoning is circular, their research nonexistent. They do not seek to inform but to reaffirm pre-existing concepts, concepts so blatantly unreasonable that they cannot support themselves under the slightest pressure of observation. This is why their only shield is denial and their weapon of choice is lies, but all things have their limitations.
As Orwell points out, the ultimate result of doublethink is 2+2 = 5. The Wikipedia citation quotes him on this:
“In the end the Party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it. It was inevitable that they should make that claim sooner or later: the logic of their position demanded it…”
So too, Fox News is finally approaching the 2+2 = 5 demarcation point. The logic of their position demands it because the only position they have is whatever comes to mind that is the opposite of what Liberal thought suggests. Right or wrong, they’re agin’ it if a Liberal is for it. That’s all they know. They are not conservative for that would require actual thought. They are reactionary. They create nothing. Unable to imagine the new they are doomed to redefine the old and in this fate they can find nothing that will save them from the consequences of 2+2 = 5.
After being discovered using file footage to beef up reports of crowd size in demonstrations at our nation’s capitol, Fox has repeated itself by using footage of demonstrators in shirt sleeves under clear skies outlining palm trees in the background as coming from midwinter demonstrations in Madison, Wisconsin. Clearly, 2+2 now equals considerably more at Fox than 4. They have come to the end of their pendulum’s swing and now is the time to push back. The Wisconsonites shouting, “Fox lies!” from behind Fox reporters are evidence that "you can’t fool all of the people all of the time,” especially on TV. Since Fox actually fought and paid for the legal right to lie in Florida courts, there is no reason not to award them every credit for their achievement. That “Fox lies!” is becoming a popular meme is due to their own diligence and no other's. It is only up to us to remind folks of it. Oh! Is that a real fact, or a Fox fact?
Any closed mental system is a dialectic of sorts, even when closed by ignorance, stupidity or stubbornness. Fox is now trapped in a cycle of lies that was once their bulwark and is now a gaping hole in their defense. When dealing with a Fox fan do not confront them directly, question their source. Better yet, make them question it. Palm trees in Wisconson? Are you sure? The burden of proof is now theirs. All right wing claims are now Fox facts unless proven otherwise. Redirect their energy, do not oppose it. Simply deny any validity to talking point factoids and insist that the two of you determine what is real here and now, then wait for 2+2 = 5.
Reductio ad absurdum is the proper response to 2+2 = 5. Take their own ideas and run with them. Here’s abortion for example:
Nobody is for abortion so don’t defend it. It’s a lose – lose argument. What is at issue is human rights. The rights of “the unborn” to be specific, not women's rights, and since there is no one to speak for them, the politicians will. But abortion is only the tip of the iceberg, what about preventive measures? One fourth to one third of all pregnancies result in miscarriages. In Utah, if a woman cannot explain how or why she miscarried by accident she is liable to criminal homicide. Georgia has planned similar legislation as well as several other states. But is this enough? Women often abort before they even know they are pregnant. Shouldn’t they be required to register their sexual activities and keep verifiable records of their subsequent actions post intercourse? And what about their partners in crime? There can be no “prenatal homicide” without a man’s involvement. Surely he’s more at fault than the driver of a getaway car! Will men be required to sign an affidavit of potential responsibility every time they get lucky? And afterwards? Did they do anything to cause stress on the potential mother of the potential citizen? Did they not follow through with a second date? Did they forget to bring flowers? Shouldn’t there be regulations about that stuff? Perhaps all sexually active citizens should be registered! Women could be required to take regular pelvic examinations at state clinics to make sure their equipment is in order. As for men, you need a license to drive, a license to hunt, and have to demonstrate a level of knowledge and ability to perform them. Shouldn’t men at least be required to know as much about sex as they do about operating a machine? If blastocysts are people, their deaths cannot go uninvestigated and a caring government cannot turn away from any intrusive, embarrassing or disgusting method of abusing women just because they might object.
Naturally a strategy based on taking Tea Party nonsense at face value is best performed in good humor. Never apologize for being a dreaded liberal and never bother to defend it either. What are they going to do? Call you a commie? There are no commies anymore, they’ve all become venture capitalists. What? Is Venezuela going to take over the world? Duh!
Keep smiling, it keeps things in perspective. Friendly doubt mingled with a hint of scorn and indifference is more effective than red faced protestations. It is the concept that is vile, not the poor schnook what’s been duped into it, therefore we must separate the messenger from the message. You will only be identified as an elitist snot if people think you’re laughing at them.
Fox lies. It’s entertainment. Why aren’t you laughing? Most of the Fox dupes are locked in by fear and half truths. They are what they are, the natural prey of confidence men and gamblers. We must not gratify them by sharing their malaise and fearing too. To engage an argument on their level and be serious about their nonsense is to lend it the semblence of verity. Their poison is strong, but their fangs can’t pierce a rubber boot. Practice this phrase, “Ha! Fox lies!” and use it whenever you get the opportunity. Use it often and repeatedly. Laughter is superior to fear.