In an article in the NY Times yesterday, it is reported that media mogul and owner of FOX News, Rupert Murdoch, is trying to change his irrevocable trust to consolidate the right leaning slant of the outlet. A Nevada commissioner ruled “resoundingly” against Murdoch, and in a “scathing” ruling stated that Murdoch was acting in bad faith in attempting to amend the trust. Murdoch is trying to consolidate leadership of the media empire in one son, Lachlan, the one offspring who agrees with his right wing positions. This is not about money, Lachlan’s three siblings would still get their inheritance: it’s about control and keeping FOX News where it is, a huge influencer of American public opinion.
One can sense Trump’s hands all over this.
Fox News has continually promoted a fictional narrative about Trump and the 2020 election, shaping American’s views of not only Trump and MAGA, but of Democrats and our country. I would argue FOX won the election for Trump, and we are witnessing the rewards in nominations to his cabitnet of FOX news hosts and personel. Trump and Mudoch (and son) want to turn FOX into state tv. The beginnings of authoritarianism. But I have hope that this can be stopped. If Murdoch does not win an appeal on this, the media empire will be weakened, Trump will be weakened.
I have been thinking a lot about the alleged CEO killer because it’s a puzzle, an odd thing to figure out why he did this. A lot of us have felt the pain of insurance denial, and for some it has been life altering, so this also leads us to conflicting feelings—no one should have been killed, but then it could be said that insurance companies kill people when they unreasonably deny benefits. To add to this mixture is the fact that since the shooting, jokes and humor about this event are plentiful; that’s horribly disturbing. Are we so desensitized by gun violence, or hate large insurance corporations so much as to render it unreal? The New Yorker has a good article about our reaction to this murder, called A Man Was Murdered In Cold Blood And You’re Laughing? by Jia Tolentino. I offer a few excerpts here:
“Traditionally, our society fixates on only one version of this: direct physical violence committed by a person intending harm. The pretty girl killed by a boyfriend, the C.E.O. shot on the street, the subway dancer strangled by the ex-marine. You don’t even need a human object—people are generally more troubled by the Zoomers throwing soup at paintings in a weird bid to raise attention about climate change than by the more than ten thousand farmers in India who die by suicide every year in part because of the way erratic and extreme weather renders their debts insurmountable. If one were to, hypothetically, blow up an unoccupied private jet in protest of the fact that the wealthiest one per cent of the global population accounts for more carbon emissions than the poorest sixty-six per cent, this would be seen by many people—like Thompson’s murder, and unlike the tens of thousands of human deaths per year already caused by climate change—as a sign of profoundly alarming social decay.
A person who posted on Reddit’s r/nurses forum, whose profile describes her as an I.C.U. nurse, wrote, “Honestly, I’m not wishing anyone harm, but when you’ve spent so much time and made so much money by increasing the suffering of the humanity around you, it’s hard for me to summon empathy that you died. I’m sure someone somewhere is sad about this. I am following his lead of indifference.” Reading this, I thought about the statistic, from 2018, that health-care workers account for seventy-three per cent of all nonfatal workplace injuries due to violence. Nurses, residents, aides, specialists—they are asked to absorb the rage and panic induced by the American health-care system, whose private insurers generate billions of dollars in profit and pay executives eight figures not despite but because of the fact that they routinely deny care to desperate people in need.”
Also, I recommend a recent episode of The New Yorker radio hour about Trump’s immigrant deportation plans. I learned a lot, and I warn you, it’s very unsettling.
On a personal note, I am blown away by your kindness, and want to thank many of you who generously donated to help me fund my trip to Washington to live-draw the Inauguration and Women’s March! Thank you to Catherine, Elizabeth, Noelle, Richard, Puppet Show DBA, Vicki, Kenneth, Royce, Intellitek, Inc, Amy, Patrice, Alison!!
Happy Tuesday, see you tomorrow. I head back east!
FOX spreads FICTION that creates FRICTION and leads to FRACTIONS of truth and decency, while keeping uninformed Americans from knowing what's true and what's real. Unfortunate Americans are the hens that FOX watches over.
Another good perspective and cartoon; thank you.
Though we currently have one shooting/killing from the left (one of very few--trying to think of another), and it is awful, I submit just one of numerous recently (including Jan 6) from the right to compare how each is handled in the news and even by us Dems.
Recall Kyle Rittenhouse? He gained notoriety for shooting and killing two people during protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in 2020. While these two deaths and one injured person were not quite as clear cut as the NYC obvious murder, he crossed state lines with guns to attend a left rally after a fatal police shooting.
He had his guns drawn at the time. His general intent seemed to, at minimum, aggravate whatever situation in which he found himself. The right supported him throughout the trial and after.
My point being, as with candidates, there is a very different line Dems must walk in this country and our line is far thinner and sharper than the GOP's.
I don't agree with much that's going on but it seems GOPers have wide ranging anger deployment options and Dems have virtually none.
On a brighter note, Jon Stewart interviewed a candidate for National DNC chair, Ben Wikler, during the 2d half of his Dec 9 show and he's fantastic, IMO.