It’s likely to be a slow week all around, but that should give this group good opportunity to discuss something other than Trump tweets. Yesterday, a simple “thank you” got me thinking for hours.
I have a (bad) habit. I simply will not sit in a doctor’s office or restaurant where I am forced to listen to Fox News without any other options without complaining. Saturday night we were in my favorite restaurant and all 3 monitors were on Fox. So I politely asked for at least one other option, making it quite clear that I found Fox offensive. The Hispanic waiter was relatively new, and I didn't want to put him in a bad place so I tried to be low key.
Progressives are far too shy about things like this. I was relatively sure that some previous patron had asked that the monitors be tuned that way. The brain-dead do assume that everyone should be propagandized that way all the time too. The idea that all 3 monitors were Foxed would appeal to someone who wanted to eat without cognitive dissonance.
What happened next was what was significant. The waiter smiled, went back to get the manager, and the channel was changed. Then he slipped back and thanked me. I started a conversation: “I really do find that offensive.” He responded: “Can you imagine having to work with that on all day? It is so sad.” Forcing someone to work for minimum wage in what can only be described as a hostile work environment has to be against some law. If the boss made subtle ethnic slurs or implied that women were responsible for misogyny, he’d be fired. So why is he allowed to blast the same messages at the employees via Fox?
Now, here’s the thought. On rare occasions we can dent Fox or Sinclair with some very targeted advertiser boycotts but the global reach of that mind-numbing propaganda conspiracy is really sophisticated and has far more “science” behind what they do than just putting talking points in the crawl. It’s like digging through Facebook to figure out how the Russians botted us.
What would happen if a union (say, representing Las Vegas hotel workers?) filed a lawsuit against a restaurant for creating a hostile work environment? Now, don’t click off. I have very little confidence that such a suit would get to second base. But the first stage in any such suit is discovery. (That is, of course, why Roy Moore or Donald Trump would never sue a woman accuser for libel despite the offal that comes out of their mouths at press conferences.)
If Fox representatives were deposed on where they get the orders for what they publish, how much independence they give reporters, etc. it might make some amazing headlines. It’s like that lawsuit on climate change that some brave young people are bringing against industries. When they have to testify under oath what they know, heads will explode.
Just a thought. But in the interim, in addition to a big tip or a smile for the desk clerk, follow my example and ask someone to turn off Fox in a restaurant or waiting room this weekend. You may earn some thanks yourself, and make a very small dent in Fox’ aura. That’s because those folks need to believe that their view is the only one. They steal your lawn signs and bumper sticker their cars to that end. Make their day miserable; turn off Fox in public venues.