I'm returning from a long hiatus about which I really have no other comment. I returned to Kos because I guess it's Silly Season, I mean Election Season, and there are things just too silly not to miss.
But, beyond that I would like to propose a simple method of ending Fox News' reign of error: unsubscribe from your cable TV. In numbers great enough to really hurt the cable providers of the nation (all, what, 3 or 4 of them?)
If you balk at this notion, I want you to first make a list of everything you watch on TV, and rank it by how important it is to you personally.
Then, make a list of everything else you do in your life, and rank it as well.
Finally, make a list of everything you wish you had time to do, and rank it also.
Put all the rankings together. If your TV shows are more important than a majority of the rest of the items on your list, I feel bad for you. And if this is the case, what on earth are you doing on Daily Kos? There's episodes of Lost to be caught up on!
But if you, like most people who do this exercise honestly, realize that the TV is pretty much a giant waste of your time, then you can join the boycott of cable, and end Fox News' reign of error.
My calculation is simple: if even a fraction of the current cable TV subscribers abruptly terminated their service and gave the reason: "because you broadcast the politically divisive lies of Fox News, and I can't support it anymore," I bet it would start getting peoples' attention in a HURRY.
If you are unconvinced that Fox News is worth jettisoning your 500 channels of shit and reruns, think about the following:
Fox News has gone to court to preserve their right to broadcast lies. They KNOW they are doing it. It's not an accident.
Fox News has an agenda, and that agenda is the failure of the Obama Administration and the muzzling of the Progressive agenda. Also not an accident. And if cutting into that organization's ability to enact their agenda is less important to you than an episode or two of mindless prattle by some airheaded celebrity, what are you doing on Daily Kos? There's episodes of The Tyra Banks Show to catch up on.
Now, as for myself personally, I had a Dish subscription up until a couple of months ago. I had some financial issues and canceled it. But, I also canceled it because I was struggling REALLY HARD to figure out what $120 a month was getting me.
Now, you ask, what do I do for news? Well, I haven't watched TV news since the 1980's. Don't miss it. I am consistently better-informed than almost everyone I meet.
What do I do for entertainment? Keep your broadband subscription, and use Hulu, or YouTube. I currently entertain myself in the evenings with commercial-free reruns of the X Files, courtesy of my wife's DVD collection. Last week it was Firefly. Somewhere in my house are 5 seasons of CSI. I also have every episode of Star Trek and TNG. And probably a zillion other things.
It's good TV, there's no commercials, and I'm not continuing to support Fox News.
And I find I am not missing it.
I am not a great organizer. I don't know how to start something like this, but I think it's a no-brainer for Progressives. Television is about as good for your brain as five quarts of beer anyway, so a true Progressive should be able to muster the self-control to turn it off. And a real Progressive will recognize that the only way to get these folks' attention is to eat into their bottom line.
Make cable companies aware that if they continue to include garbage like Fox News in their lineup, they will LOSE SUBSCRIBERS.
This is just my opinion, and you know what they say about opinions.
Have a nice day.