Although it was hard to imagine Fox News’ rhetoric getting any more inflammatory or divisive, the network has found a way. Not surprisingly, it’s in sync with Donald Trump.
Media Matters published the post I was still formulating this morning:
With the midterm elections only four weeks away, a slew of Fox News commentators are warning their conservative viewers that they are physically imperiled by a “violent” leftist “mob” and must vote to keep Republicans in power in order to protect themselves. Their argument is an effort to turn out the GOP base by weaponizing conservative criticism of the protestors who opposed Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court.
“Anyone who sits right of center, anyone who’s a Trump supporter, we’re all targets” of public harassment from the left, contributor Tomi Lahren explained on Fox & Friends Tuesday morning. “The average citizen, if you’re on the right, should be concerned and in danger.” Sebastian Gorka, a former White House aide now at Fox, similarly argued that the Democrats had “normalized violence in America,” comparing the need to fight back against that purported effort to the Revolutionary War.
In addition to Gorka and Lahren, Media Matters noted the violence-infused rhetoric of Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson.
Media Matters argues that Fox is taking its cues from the GOP and Trump given that Republicans have weaponized anti-Kavanaugh protests as a dangerous “mob” that threatens the rule of law. “You don’t hand matches to an arsonist, and you don’t give power to an angry left-wing mob. That’s what they have become. The Democrats have become too extreme and too dangerous to govern,” Trump said at a rally over the weekend.
But I’m not sure which flame thrower was the chicken and which the egg. What we do know is that Carlson has been playing this dangerous game for quite some time:
On July 21, Carlson baselessly theorized, “The left has run out of possible verbal attacks on President Trump – there are none left – all that’s left is violence.”
On August 13, Carlson “covered” the anniversary of the white supremacists' Unite The Right rally by fear mongering about left-wing violence: He called white supremacy “incredibly rare,” then went on to dishonestly depict “left-wing extremism and violence” as “a growing crisis.” “[T]he truth is they would hurt you if they could,” he said.
On August 27, Carlson “just wondered,” “[H]ow long before someone convinces himself that we need to storm the White House, we need to take action, like physical action here? That’s the terminus of this, right? How could it not be?”
On September 20, Carlson used the imagery of a race war to smear Democrats. Attacking Democrats for complaining about an “all white, all male” group of Republican senators judging Christine Blasey Ford’s allegations that Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her, Carlson accused them of “splitting the country into tiny, warring groups” because it “helps them maintain their power. … Divide and conquer, whatever it takes.”
On October 2, Carlson fear mongered that opposition to Kavanaugh is about “white genocide.”
So it’s no surprise that Carlson has ramped up his dangerous talk. Last night, the race-obsessed Carlson likened Democrats to genocidal Africans - while pretending he’s the “responsible” adult:
CARLSON: It’s exactly the kind of things that Hutu leaders in Rwanda were saying in the early 1990s. Responsible people do not talk like this. And yet suddenly it is everywhere on the left and not just the professional wackos pounding on the front door of Supreme Court. The line between dangerous extremist and U.S. senator is blurring on the left.
You’re half right, Tucker: Responsible people do not talk like this. No responsible network would allow this dangerous drumbeat. Recently, Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott claimed she wanted to dial down incendiary rhetoric. Instead, the network is turning up the flames.
As I have previously written, Pizzagate has proved that this kind of talk can provoke violence. Maybe getting out the vote is what these folks are only after. But it’s pretty clear they're skating dangerously close to provoking physical confrontation(s) – and that if it happens, you can count on them blaming the left.
Watch Carlson sound like a Rwandan Hutu who thinks you won’t notice if he projects enough of the hate speech elsewhere below, from the October 8, 2018 Tucker Carlson Tonight, via Media Matters.
Reich-wingers like Ross Neilson sure love to dish it out, BUT THEY JUST CAN’T TAKE IT!
’Nuff said.
Oh, and Ross, if you’re reading this, yes, I give leeway to readers who have been long time, constructive members of our community and yes, I would have stepped in and asked anyone to cut out the personal attacks on you but you never did. And just because someone insulted you is no excuse for you.
Since you hate us so much, I’m sure you won’t miss being here. I can assure you, we will not miss you.
;^)
Dan Bongino Was Reportedly Banned From Fox News Show After Becoming ‘Unglued’
by Caleb Ecarma | Oct 10th, 2018, 9:41 am
In a lengthy profile, The Daily Beast reported that NRATV host Dan Bongino is banned from appearing on Shannon Bream’s Fox News show after an altercation occurred on-set.
“He became unglued and was banned from this show,” a source told The Daily Beast regarding the incident. “He’s not someone who would typically be on the news shows.”
“Furthermore Ellon does this mentally handicapped, infants ramblings not violate your code of conduct you are so keen to tell me about every time I post?”
Hmmmmmmmmmmm Herr Neilson, obviously it DOES NOT, because if it did, I would have been BANNED from this site A LONG TIME AGO!
Furthermore Herr Neilson, I usually back up what I state with CREDIBLE LINKS. Here is a link that shows the fourteen characteristics of FASCISM, which is also known as NAZISM. If YOU possess any CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS (which I very seriously doubt due to your earlier use of the term “fake news” which was VERY BRILLIANTLY DEFINED by Kevin Koster), you will quickly realize how many of these characteristics fit Fuehrer Adolf Twitler’s (i.e. Trump’s) regime to a T:
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Fascism/14_Characteristics_Fascism.html
I will be happy to, and will do so in my reply to the only adult I have met thus far on the blog….Kevin.
Furthermore Ellon does this mentally handicapped, infants ramblings not violate your code of conduct you are so keen to tell me about every time I post? Another bias echo chamber huh? Shocking.
Your all caps sentence showed me all I need to know.
You understand literally nothing about reality and are probably some overweigh, unloved autist. Hence your comical and deranged political views. NAZZZZIIII!!!!! WAHHHHHH
you are the sort of scrawny, socially rejected, mentally handicapped teenager that recruits for ANTIFA. People like you will never amount to anything, nor will you be able to convince a single person of your demented, twisted views. You are a total failure of a thinking person, despite what you proclaimed about yourself earlier..
Critical thinking skills = NAZIIII!!!!!!
hahahahahah you lose. Now please do not embarrass me or yourself with further infantile ramblings, As I will no longer reply to you, you have shown your worth.
“…..Please do not even bother speaking to me unless you have some actual content, I do not humour infants.”
Hey Ross: let me state this LOUD AND CLEAR:
IT TAKES AN INFANT TO KNOW ONE, YOU BROWNSHIRT-WEARING, GOOSE-STEPPING, RIGHT ARM EXTENDING NAZI!!
For starters, let me repost what Ellen said earlier:
“You want to call Media Matters fake news? Tell us which facts they got wrong and back it up with your own.”
We’re STILL waiting for YOUR response on that, Herr Neilson……………
[cue the chirping crickets]
You pretentious, infantile rambling aside you have once again failed to say anything of worth or of note, and instead have ironically shown your lack of critical thinking skills.
Ohhhh scary…A stern warning … from some random, know-nothing on the internet hahahah im very very scared.
Kidding aside, this was probably the most painfully stupid, cringey comment I have seen on this blog yet, and that is saying something. I am glad you deem yourself intelligent, however your comment indicates the exact opposite. I know the left likes to chant meaningless buzzwords like trained chimps however your play with fire bit at the end was particularly painful. What a child haha.
Please do not even bother speaking to me unless you have some actual content, I do not humour infants.
When you play with fire, YOU WILL EVENTUALLY GET BURNED!
’Nuff said.
As for Ellen, once again your hypocrisy is on display, I do not see you dishing out warnings to the thoughtless little lemmings calling me names and hilariously calling me a troll (Hilarious because they are literally too stupid to understand the definition of a troll, meanwhile calling me low IQ….yet more irony).
So can you either abide by your own rules or abandon them all together? I know the left lives off hypocrisy and special pleading/benefits but it is rather tiresome and immediately apparent to anyone with half a brain who is impartial…Another reason why you will lost the midterms. See Victor the Crab.
As for Kevin once again I applaud, check this blog about 9PM British time and you shall find my response.
I did not say “I” was up for debate. I said you were welcome to post here to engage in respectful debate.
No, I am not retracting anything. I backed up each and every assertion with a link. You have provided no facts, no evidence, no links. You even seem to have missed the point of the post which is not about whether Carlson is correct or not (thought I obviously think not). It’s about his use of inflammatory, divisive language, which you seem to love. Despite my warning, you are still throwing around insults – all of which are completely devoid of facts. But I let you stay because Kevin Koster engaged with you.
You want to call Media Matters fake news? Tell us which facts they got wrong and back it up with your own.
First, we need to correct the unfortunate misuse of the phrase “fake news”. In its actual meaning, it refers to clickbait stories one might see on Facebook or on various entertainment sites – stories saying “We say goodbye to The Rock” just to see if they can get gullible people to try that link. During the 2016 campaign, there was plenty of this going on regarding politics – mostly a series of false stories about Hillary Clinton supposedly being fired from the Watergate investigation (she wasn’t) or being a craven murderer (she isn’t). There was even a false story about Donald Trump slagging Republicans at the same time. So that would be “fake news”.
This term has been badly used by Donald Trump for some time since the 2016 election, apparently to refer to actual news media and journalists who don’t report his opinions as fact. But that’s a matter of a Right Winger not liking the reportage, not a matter of the reportage being false. The problem here is that the Pence White House and so many of its followers and pundits seem to think it is acceptable to misuse this phrase just because a would-be bully does so. It is not. Frankly, using that phrase in this manner diminishes both the argument one is making, and the person making the argument.
Second, Tucker Carlson is knowingly making false statements. He’s also willfully forgetful about the “Tea Party” mobs who angrily stormed Town Halls and public gatherings throughout President Obama’s terms, usually to do odd things like assert that President Obama was born in Kenya. And he’s willingly forgetful about the actual violence being committed in this country, about the sheer volume of Right Wing assaults and gun attacks we’ve been seeing – a number that sharply increased after Trump squeaked through in 2016. He’s willingly forgetful about the actual murder we saw committed last year, by angry Right Winger James Alex Fields, who knowingly drove his car into protestors in Charlottesville and killed Heather Heyer for having the temerity to speak out against the Nazis who were trying to overrun that town. The protestors we saw over the past weeks at the Capital were not driving their cars into crowds of Senators and they weren’t shooting at them. They were loudly expressing their 1st Amendment rights – something that Carlson formerly defended when it was people speaking out against President Obama.
Finally, it’s unfortunate that you would make jokes about a situation like the one we are seeing with the newly cemented Radical Right Supreme Court. There are millions of people around the country who will be affected by the rulings that Kavanaugh and Gorsuch (the latter in a stolen seat) were handpicked to help inflict. As decades of jurisprudence are steadily jettisoned by this court, one wonders if you will be as quick to make jokes like this. We’re already seeing some unfortunate Right Wing gloating and sneering about having succeeded ramming this man onto the high court. For example, West Virginia Councilman Eric Barber (who claims to be an independent) thought it would be fun to post “Better get you’re coat hangers ready liberals”. Is this what we can expect from the Right Wing for the upcoming years?
Secondly Tucker is absolutely correct. They are violent, deranged children. Look at the kavanaugh protests….LOL weren’t they “cute”?
PS I notice you state that you are up for debate as long as it is civil, so could you reply to me on the last post we spoke of? I am awaiting refutation….If none can be offered do you mind retracting your story and making corrections? Do not wish to contribute to the fake news epidemic we are facing right?