The Fox News/Dominion Settlement is Not Enough For Me

Sometimes the only way to make a point is to hit it where it financially hurts.

Earlier this week, Fox News settled with Dominion for a total of $787.5 million for the lies they told about the 2020 Presidential election.

It’s not enough for me. Instead of having the balls to sit in a courtroom and be judged by a jury of their peers (in which they would have surely been found guilty), they took the coward’s way out and settled. Granted, there is still the lawsuit from Smartmatic. But I cannot help but feel that this is far from the preferred outcome.

I would be content with a combination of the following:

• The network is forced into bankruptcy, blackballed, and forced to close its doors.
• Rupert Murdoch was personally bankrupted and legally compelled to admit to wrongdoing. Furthermore, he is banned from running any future US-based company.
• The network’s stars are legally forced to state (either verbally or in the text on the screen) that they are there to entertain the audience, not the deliver the “news”. They knowingly lied to their audience to keep the ratings up and shareholders happy.
• The carriage fees (aka the money paid to include the channels in their lineup) are refunded to the cable companies and their customers. It is no longer included in the basic channel lineup and must be requested.
• Fox News replaced as the main “news network” on American military bases.
• They must admit wrongdoing in a direct way and pay the legal fees of any person or company that has been forced to go to court because of the lies they told.

Though only time will tell how this finally ends, I am looking forward to the day when they get their just desserts.

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Trust the Plan: The Rise of QAnon and the Conspiracy That Unhinged America Book Review

Conspiracy theories have existed for as long as humanity has been conscious of the wider world. What matters is if they are allowed to flourish or sent to the shadows.

Trust the Plan: The Rise of QAnon and the Conspiracy That Unhinged America, by Fever Dreams co-host Will Sommer, was published last month. After diving into the world of QAnon, he reveals what built it up to the movement it has become and what can be done to stop it.

The narrative is a combination of first-person interviews and an examination of the elements of this perspective. Built up since the 2020 Presidential election, the internet (and social media by extension), a number of influential politicians, and world events, QAnon’s influence has spread across the globe.

My first thought is to laugh at these people. Anyone with a brain can see the holes that a truck can go through. But then it becomes a problem when those with influence start to believe the theories and follow through on them.

What gives me hope is that it is possible to stop QAnon. We just have to buck up and do what needs to be done.

Do I recommend it? Absolutely.

Trust the Plan: The Rise of QAnon and the Conspiracy That Unhinged America is available wherever books are sold.

Republican Fuckery Part X: The Mall Shooting in TX, the Train Accident in East Palestine, The Lies That Fox News Tell & Nikki Haley is Running for President

The purpose of a democracy is to allow differing opinions to exist in one space. The point is to allow everyone to speak without fear of retribution. But once all is said and done, the hopeful end is sort of agreement.

Last week, the sound of gunfire was heard in a mall in Texas. One person was killed and three were injured. Where is Greg Abbott? I know it is foolish to ask, but it has to be said. Is so concerned about his base and his donors that the lives of ordinary Texans are secondary?

One of the major headlines of the past week was the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. The long-term environmental impact of the hazardous chemicals that have seeped into the ground and the town’s water supply is unknown at this moment.

While other politicians immediately stepped forward, the state’s newest Senator, J.D. Vance took his sweet time to speak up. This makes me wonder where his priorities are. Is his focus on the voters and making sure that the regulations are in place to keep them safe and healthy? Or is he prioritizing the lies and half-truths of the Republican party?

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A post shared by Leslie Jones (@lesdogggg)

The big revelation coming from the right over the last few days is that the good people at Fox News knew that the claim that the 2020 Presidential election was rigged is a lie. Instead of admitting to the public what they knew, they went ahead with it. Their ratings are more important than anything else.

And finally, the opening bell of the 2024 Presidential election has been rung. Former South Carolina Governor and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley have announced that she is running for President. While on paper, she comes off as reasonable and closer to the political center than others in her party.

The problem is that the paper is far from opaque. Specifically, when she called out the 1619 Project while confusing Danielle Moodie with the project’s creator, Nikole Hannah Jones. Anyone with a brain can see that they look nothing alike.

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A post shared by Danielle Moodie (@deetwocents)

G-d help this country if the right gets their way.

Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America Book Review

In their own unique way, every American President has left his own mark on history.

Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America, by Maggie Haberman, was published last fall. This biography goes beyond what is expected for the genre. Haberman goes beyond the bluff and bravado to reveal the real man.

Blending the information she gathered from both sources and interviews (including with you know who), she reveals what most of us (hopefully) already knew. He is not completely cold, but treats others as it suits him. He holds a grudge like nobody’s business. He goes for what he wants and if that means stepping on a few toes along the way, so be it.

Like all of us, he is human and complicated. What makes him dangerous is not just his ego. It is that others are willing to feed and take advantage of that ego to get ahead. Instead of being a leader and stepping up, he is more than willing to blame others for his mistakes and thinks that being in politics is the same as owning his own company. What is worse is that others have copied him.

He is everything we should not want in anyone in office. Moreover, this book is a warning about what could happen should he (G d forbid) win the 2024 Presidential election.

Do I recommend it? Absolutely.

Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America is available wherever books are sold.

Thoughts On the Second Anniversary of 1/6

When a historical event is known by its date alone, it represents a moment in time that will never be forgotten.

First, there was 12/7. Then there was 9/11. The newest date on this list is 1/6.

Two years ago today, “protestors” charged into the Capital building, believing the lie that the former President had fraudulently lost the 2020 Presidential election.

Some days it feels like a lifetime ago. On other days, it feels like it was yesterday. Before January 6th, 2021, I was still hoping that there was still a semblance of American democracy. These days, it looks like a cracked mirror that is barely held together by masking tape.

The feeling I have about that day is similar to the one I had after 9/11. There is a sense of innocence lost and a cynical feeling that is unnatural. Despite this country’s flaws (however numerous they may be), I still believe in its ideals.

The question is, are we bold to strive for those ideals, or are we forever lost to partisanship and infighting?

Letitia James and Fani Willis may be the Ones Who Save Us From You Know Who

It has been said that where there is smoke, there is fire. If that is true, there has been smoke coming out of a famous NYC building owned by you know who for a very long time.

Earlier this week, New York state Attorney General Letitia “Tish” James announced that she has filed a lawsuit against he who shall not be named, and his three eldest children. In short, it claims that their namesake organization and its leadership have been committing financial fraud as a standard business model for years.

Of course, his response was a racist slur. Which we have learned over the years is par for the course.

When you type a nasty racist slur that starts with J and autocorrect changes it to "Peekaboo" pic.twitter.com/arm9sBtDUP

— Mrs. Betty Bowers (@BettyBowers) September 21, 2022

In Georgia, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has pulled together a grand jury investigation. The purpose is to determine if he and his supporters violated state laws in an effort to overturn the results of the 2020 Presidential election.

Starts at 1:15

As pointed out in yesterday’s episode of the podcast The New Abnormal (which starts at 5:19), both James and Willis are African American women. I think it speaks to where this country is going politically. These women understand that if they don’t stand up for what is right and the rule of law, there is a chance that no one will.

The only way to shut down a bully is to beat them at their own game. The former President is a bully. Until it is made crystal clear that he and his cronies are not above the law, they will continue to act with impunity.

The US and the Holocaust Review

There is a famous quote about history. As cliche as it sounds, it is the truth

If we don’t learn from the past, we are doomed to repeat it.

The new PBS three-part documentary series, The US and the Holocaust premiered this past weekend. Co-created and co-directed by Ken Burns, Lynn Novick, and Sarah Botstein, actor Peter Coyote narrates the story of the near destruction of European Jewry from 1939 to 1945.

Within the film, there are interviews with historians, survivors, and readings from respected actors such as Meryl Steep, Paul Giamatti, and Liam Neeson. It does more than share what the events in our history books have already told us. It takes the viewer back in time to show what led the Shoah and repeats what most of us (hopefully) know. Though it’s been nearly a century since World War II, it is clear to me that we have not learned from the experiences of that generation.

The thing that hit me immediately is that there are far too many parallels to what is happening now both in the United States and around the world. Xenophobia and hatred have once again become the norm. We have a former President who has authoritarian tendencies, refuses to accept the results of the previous Presidential election, and has convinced many that he is the victim.

What made me angry was the spoken and unspoken complicity of a majority of Americans at the time. Though this country is supposed to be the land of immigrants and freedom. Instead, it became a land of isolation and hypocrisy. That hypocrisy was clear in the first episode when the connection was made between the Nazi’s racial laws and Jim Crow.

Do I recommend it? Absolutely. In fact, I would say that it is required viewing for every American.

The first two episodes are available for streaming on the PBS website. The third will air tomorrow night at 8PM.

P.S. After I watch or read anything about the Holocaust, I can’t help but think of what the victims or the descendants might have given to the world. The late performer Olivia Newton-John was Jewish on her mother’s side. Her maternal grandparents got out while it was still possible to do so. If they hadn’t, it is very likely that she would have never been born and therefore, not entertained multiple generations of audiences.

Electable: Why America Hasn’t Put a Woman in the White House . . . Yet Book Review

Over the last half a century or so, there has been a shift in regard to women and politics. Many nations across the world have had at least one female in the highest office in the land. Except for one….the United States.

Electable: Why America Hasn’t Put a Woman in the White House…Yet, by Ali Vitali was published last month. Dissecting the events of the 2020 Presidential election, she examines how it was both history-making and business as usual. Though there were a good amount of female candidates (Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, etc), Joe Biden still ultimately won the Democratic nomination.

She also deconstructs previous elections (the 2008 and 2016 Presidential elections to be specific) and how both Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton were viewed by the press and the voters. As usual, the questions of “likability” were applied unequally. The qualities that were questionable or just plain wrong in terms of the female candidates were brushed off as completely fine for their male counterparts.

Throughout the book, Vitali asks two important questions:

1. When will we finally be able to say “Madame President” in this country?
2. When will women and men truly be equal, both legally and socially in the US?

This book is an important and vital read. It is a reminder of the fact that the glass ceiling is still intact and how far women still have to go. Given our present political circumstances (i.e. Roe V. Wade being overturned in June), we need to take a hard look in the mirror and ask why only a man can be President.

Do I recommend it? Yes.

Electable: Why America Has Not Put a Woman in the White House…Yet is available for purchase in bookstores.

Thoughts On President Biden’s Speech

There is a reason why the Presidential pulpit is called the bully pulpit. It gives whoever is in the position a unique spotlight and opportunity to speak to the nation as they wish to.

On Thursday, President Biden gave a speech, calling out the right-wing Republicans and the MAGA believers. While praising Republicans who are willing to work with their Democrat colleagues, he was not afraid to speak directly to those who are ready and willing to destroy this country based on lies.

Some said that he went too far. I disagree. Without pushing the envelope over the edge, he told the country the truth about our potential future. Unless we do everything in our power to secure our democracy, the prospects for our nation to continue on the path set by the founders look pretty bleak.

Among the many issues that have been created and/or magnified is the claim of election fraud. It started, as we all know back in 2020 and continues to this day. What makes it worse is that it has trickled down the political pipeline. Arizona Gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake made the following statement about the results of her primary election and the possible outcome of the general election:

“If we don’t win, there’s some cheating going on. And we already know that.”

This is the game they are playing. If they win, everything is fine. If they lose, it was not because the majority of voters went for the other candidate. This is not the reaction of a mature adult who understands that you cannot get what you want whenever you want it. This is a tantrum taken by a spoiled child who cannot bear to be told no.

@uncle.damn

#duet with @therecount #fyp Looney Losing #LauraLoomer 🤪 #BlancaTears

♬ original sound – therecount

We have two choices come November. We can either protect our future and our children’s future by keeping the American democracy alive. Or, we can give in to big babies, fascists, and wannabe autocrats. The choice is ours, I only hope we can make the right one.

Liz Cheney’s Loss Was Inevitable. She Maybe The One Person Standing Between the Republicans and the American Democracy

Elections are more than votes for a specific political office and the person who has won the race. They represent the values of the voters and the politicians who are running for that specific position.

Last week, Liz Cheney lost the primary vote for her congressional seat. The margins between Cheney and her opponent were not small.

What I find revealing and scary is that Cheney only lost because she is a vocal opponent of he who shall not be named. Unlike her chickenshit colleagues, she has the backbone to say the quiet part out loud. It does not matter that in the past, she voted consistently with her party. The sole deciding factor was her stance on you know who.

I hate to say it, but Cheney may be one of the few individuals on the right who is able to save our nation and our democracy from her fellow Republicans. Unfortunately, she is one of only a few who stands by her beliefs, and more importantly, will hopefully be able to hold onto their seat.

I won’t go as far as to call her a hero. But in standing up for the country and our ideals, she proves that the American spirit is alive and well. Even when some have twisted that spirit to fit their own perspective.

 “Stand for what is right. Even if it means standing alone.” — Suzy Kassem