Fox News - Clear and Present Danger to America
Oct 9, 2015 13:17:18 #
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Thu Oct 08, 2015 at 06:43 PM PDT.
Fox News - Clear and Present Danger to America
by Haikukitty .
This is my first diary and its going to be long. Ive been mulling over something that happened to me for almost a week now, I thought Id become less angry and disappointed, but I just cant get over it. Fox News is destroying my family. You think Im exaggerating; Im not. Watching their decline is like watching my own decline when I was an addict. Except this time the drug is propaganda and lies.
First, a little background is necessary. I come from a fairly typical, conservative, middle-class Protestant family. (How they got stuck with a progressive, pagan, recovering addict daughter is a mystery to us all!). My dad worked for the government for about 30 years, for everybodys favorite big brother, the NSA. He took early retirement and has a pension for the rest of his life. My mom does real estate still and never worked a full-time job after the kids were born. Typical white, privileged family who dont know how incredibly lucky they are.
My parents, nevertheless, were decent people. Typical conservatives: unintentionally selfish and unaware of their privilege, but not bad people at heart. They were casually racist in what I considered a passive, mostly harmless way by which I mean they considered themselves superior to people of color, but in spite of that underlying belief, they treated others kindly. They still tended to meet each individual as an individual, regardless of the persons race.
(As an aside, I dont actually believe any racism is harmless. I only mean I considered the attitude just a vestige of their upbringing in the pre-civil rights era and it didnt seem to prevent them from treating everyone fairly. They were never hateful to persons of color, they were just sort of semi-consciously "superior.)
Sorry for the long back-story, but its important for context about what upset me so much.
Last week, I went over to my parent's house for dinner. It was the day of the Oregon school shooting. Fox News was on Fox News is ALWAYS on.
I generally NEVER discuss politics with them anymore, not since the 2008 election, if I can possibly avoid it, because they have become more and more strident and less and less anchored in reality. But the tragedy of the Oregon shooting seemed uncontroversial to me so I made the mistake of saying, It's so sad. Another school shooting. I read today it's the 45th mass shooting this year.
Obama was on-screen giving his response at the time. And my father starts complaining that hes getting ready to say something bad, something about gun control. And I'm surprised, I kind of sarcastically reply, Yeah, and that's a CRAZY idea. (Not terribly diplomatic of me).
My dad starts screaming, actually screaming, that gun control wont work because the criminals wont follow the rules and will steal guns or buy them illegally. That really irritated me after the 45th senseless shooting, so I replied, Ill bet you money this shooter legally acquired the gun he used.
Well, that REALLY set him off. He starts screaming at the TV that he hates that fucking n***r, he can't stand that man, he'd like to take a gun and shoot him in the head RIGHT NOW.
Our president. Spoken by a lifelong civil servant.
I was speechless. Angry, disturbed, and very disappointed.
First of all, hes not a gun person. He actually does own a gun - an antique rifle from my granddad. I dont think that hes ever shot a gun recreationally in his life. Secondly, my dad was never a yeller. Lastly, he worked for our government for 30 years, so expressing the desire to murder our democratically elected president, even hypothetically, seemed beyond the pale.
My mother chimes in that HER problem with him is that hes a Muslim. Beyond the obvious fact that if you say youre not a Muslim, youre not (and how else could you prove it anyway?), it wouldn't matter if he was. I said to her You have problem with him because you think hes a bad president. It wouldnt matter if he was Muslim if he was a good president, right? vainly trying to get her to base her objections on some kind of factual basis, however misguided.
She agrees, Well, hes not a good president! I think we're getting somewhere here. I say, OK! Then its NOT because hes Muslim, its because you think hes a bad president, right??
No, its because hes a Muslim. Well, alrighty then. Case closed.
The point of this long-winded rant is that THESE ARE NOT MY PARENTS. These are pod people. Hate-filled, fearful, bigoted, willfully ignorant pod people.
Their level of discourse, their understanding of the issues of the day has declined steadily over the years as they have watched Fox's daily propaganda. And their belief that they are the only ones who know the "real truth" has increased proportionately. Obviously, this has been exacerbated by a more virulent racism than I was aware of, but the tone of Fox News encourages and blesses latent racism and acts as a hothouse for it grow larger.
These are people who I used to have spirited but intelligent political discussions with. Thats gone now. Those people are gone.
In all other ways, they remain competent, functioning adults. My mom still works, they both are very computer-literate and active. Yet they believed that Dearborn, Michigan was under Sharia law. They believe that Planned Parenthood is selling baby parts for profit. They believe our President is a Kenyan Muslim Socialist.
Fox news IS propaganda, very dangerous propaganda.The harm it has done and continues to do cannot be overstated.
Thanks for listening. I just had to get this off my chest.
Thu Oct 08, 2015 at 06:43 PM PDT.
Fox News - Clear and Present Danger to America
by Haikukitty .
This is my first diary and its going to be long. Ive been mulling over something that happened to me for almost a week now, I thought Id become less angry and disappointed, but I just cant get over it. Fox News is destroying my family. You think Im exaggerating; Im not. Watching their decline is like watching my own decline when I was an addict. Except this time the drug is propaganda and lies.
First, a little background is necessary. I come from a fairly typical, conservative, middle-class Protestant family. (How they got stuck with a progressive, pagan, recovering addict daughter is a mystery to us all!). My dad worked for the government for about 30 years, for everybodys favorite big brother, the NSA. He took early retirement and has a pension for the rest of his life. My mom does real estate still and never worked a full-time job after the kids were born. Typical white, privileged family who dont know how incredibly lucky they are.
My parents, nevertheless, were decent people. Typical conservatives: unintentionally selfish and unaware of their privilege, but not bad people at heart. They were casually racist in what I considered a passive, mostly harmless way by which I mean they considered themselves superior to people of color, but in spite of that underlying belief, they treated others kindly. They still tended to meet each individual as an individual, regardless of the persons race.
(As an aside, I dont actually believe any racism is harmless. I only mean I considered the attitude just a vestige of their upbringing in the pre-civil rights era and it didnt seem to prevent them from treating everyone fairly. They were never hateful to persons of color, they were just sort of semi-consciously "superior.)
Sorry for the long back-story, but its important for context about what upset me so much.
Last week, I went over to my parent's house for dinner. It was the day of the Oregon school shooting. Fox News was on Fox News is ALWAYS on.
I generally NEVER discuss politics with them anymore, not since the 2008 election, if I can possibly avoid it, because they have become more and more strident and less and less anchored in reality. But the tragedy of the Oregon shooting seemed uncontroversial to me so I made the mistake of saying, It's so sad. Another school shooting. I read today it's the 45th mass shooting this year.
Obama was on-screen giving his response at the time. And my father starts complaining that hes getting ready to say something bad, something about gun control. And I'm surprised, I kind of sarcastically reply, Yeah, and that's a CRAZY idea. (Not terribly diplomatic of me).
My dad starts screaming, actually screaming, that gun control wont work because the criminals wont follow the rules and will steal guns or buy them illegally. That really irritated me after the 45th senseless shooting, so I replied, Ill bet you money this shooter legally acquired the gun he used.
Well, that REALLY set him off. He starts screaming at the TV that he hates that fucking n***r, he can't stand that man, he'd like to take a gun and shoot him in the head RIGHT NOW.
Our president. Spoken by a lifelong civil servant.
I was speechless. Angry, disturbed, and very disappointed.
First of all, hes not a gun person. He actually does own a gun - an antique rifle from my granddad. I dont think that hes ever shot a gun recreationally in his life. Secondly, my dad was never a yeller. Lastly, he worked for our government for 30 years, so expressing the desire to murder our democratically elected president, even hypothetically, seemed beyond the pale.
My mother chimes in that HER problem with him is that hes a Muslim. Beyond the obvious fact that if you say youre not a Muslim, youre not (and how else could you prove it anyway?), it wouldn't matter if he was. I said to her You have problem with him because you think hes a bad president. It wouldnt matter if he was Muslim if he was a good president, right? vainly trying to get her to base her objections on some kind of factual basis, however misguided.
She agrees, Well, hes not a good president! I think we're getting somewhere here. I say, OK! Then its NOT because hes Muslim, its because you think hes a bad president, right??
No, its because hes a Muslim. Well, alrighty then. Case closed.
The point of this long-winded rant is that THESE ARE NOT MY PARENTS. These are pod people. Hate-filled, fearful, bigoted, willfully ignorant pod people.
Their level of discourse, their understanding of the issues of the day has declined steadily over the years as they have watched Fox's daily propaganda. And their belief that they are the only ones who know the "real truth" has increased proportionately. Obviously, this has been exacerbated by a more virulent racism than I was aware of, but the tone of Fox News encourages and blesses latent racism and acts as a hothouse for it grow larger.
These are people who I used to have spirited but intelligent political discussions with. Thats gone now. Those people are gone.
In all other ways, they remain competent, functioning adults. My mom still works, they both are very computer-literate and active. Yet they believed that Dearborn, Michigan was under Sharia law. They believe that Planned Parenthood is selling baby parts for profit. They believe our President is a Kenyan Muslim Socialist.
Fox news IS propaganda, very dangerous propaganda.The harm it has done and continues to do cannot be overstated.
Thanks for listening. I just had to get this off my chest.
Oct 9, 2015 20:39:20 #
Oct 10, 2015 00:46:46 #
moldyoldy wrote:
. br br Thu Oct 08, 2015 at 06:43 PM PDT. br br ... (show quote)
Of course, MSNBC is the most unbiased news source in the country, right?
Oh, second.....
Oct 10, 2015 10:38:57 #
AuntiE wrote:
Of course, MSNBC is the most unbiased news source in the country, right?
Oh, second.....
Oh, second.....
Fox gets an F, I have noticed that both are starting to tone down the bias just a little.
Oct 10, 2015 13:04:20 #
moldyoldy wrote:
Fox gets an F, I have noticed that both are starting to tone down the bias just a little.
MSNBC had no choice but the alter their news considering the loss of viewers.
It befuddles me why anyone would watch any of them. There are substantially better news sources. Three hours of television is my schedule; two hours on Tuesday night and one on Friday night and one cannot leave out R A V E N S football.
Oct 10, 2015 18:12:02 #
AuntiE wrote:
MSNBC had no choice but the alter their news considering the loss of viewers.
It befuddles me why anyone would watch any of them. There are substantially better news sources. Three hours of television is my schedule; two hours on Tuesday night and one on Friday night and one cannot leave out R A V E N S football.
It befuddles me why anyone would watch any of them. There are substantially better news sources. Three hours of television is my schedule; two hours on Tuesday night and one on Friday night and one cannot leave out R A V E N S football.
Football is 3 hours, so you are completely used up after that.
Oct 10, 2015 18:40:04 #
moldyoldy wrote:
Football is 3 hours, so you are completely used up after that.
I tend to take care of chores during a game.
I have two programs Tuesday evening and one Friday. Television is just not my thing.
Oct 10, 2015 19:57:41 #
AuntiE wrote:
I tend to take care of chores during a game.
I have two programs Tuesday evening and one Friday. Television is just not my thing.
I have two programs Tuesday evening and one Friday. Television is just not my thing.
Are you in Baltimore?
Oct 10, 2015 21:03:09 #
Oct 10, 2015 21:18:58 #
AuntiE wrote:
I tend to take care of chores during a game.
I have two programs Tuesday evening and one Friday. Television is just not my thing.
I have two programs Tuesday evening and one Friday. Television is just not my thing.
-----------
Let me guess. Tuesday night it's NCIS and NCIS New Orleans. Friday it's Hawaii 5-0 or Blue Bloods.
I saw that because those are Wifie's and my Tuesday and Friday night shows.
AB
Oct 10, 2015 23:38:44 #
alabuck wrote:
-----------
Let me guess. Tuesday night it's NCIS and NCIS New Orleans. Friday it's Hawaii 5-0 or Blue Bloods.
I saw that because those are Wifie's and my Tuesday and Friday night shows.
AB
Let me guess. Tuesday night it's NCIS and NCIS New Orleans. Friday it's Hawaii 5-0 or Blue Bloods.
I saw that because those are Wifie's and my Tuesday and Friday night shows.
AB
Absolutely correct on both nights. Friday is Blue Bloods for me. :thumbup:
Oct 11, 2015 01:11:24 #
AuntiE wrote:
Absolutely correct on both nights. Friday is Blue Bloods for me. :thumbup:
not a blue bloods fan, but like the others.
Oct 11, 2015 12:39:32 #
moldyoldy wrote:
not a blue bloods fan, but like the others.
----------
Well, at least we agree on 3 out of 4. That's not bad! :thumbup:
Do you like NCISLA? I do. I think LL's acting ability is pretty good and I enjoy the banter between the 3 sets of characters.
Oct 11, 2015 13:16:26 #
alabuck wrote:
----------
Well, at least we agree on 3 out of 4. That's not bad! :thumbup:
Do you like NCISLA? I do. I think LL's acting ability is pretty good and I enjoy the banter between the 3 sets of characters.
Well, at least we agree on 3 out of 4. That's not bad! :thumbup:
Do you like NCISLA? I do. I think LL's acting ability is pretty good and I enjoy the banter between the 3 sets of characters.
Of the three, new orleans is my least favorite. Ziva was my favorite person.
Oct 12, 2015 23:37:26 #
moldyoldy wrote:
Of the three, new orleans is my least favorite.
I like it; however, would be okay if I missed it. Do not get between me and NCIS and Mark Harmon!
Quote:
Ziva was my favorite person.
Hmmm, you and Slatten. The two of you could start a club. :idea:
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