Fox's Murdoch, the Bigger Lie
One Six. It's not over because the world hasn't quit shifting.
The Fox News damage done through its pan network compulsion to lie unfolds with what seems to be Tucker Carlson’s snowball of January 6 video, to the avalanche it has become.
Through this one Dominion law suit we are getting a birdhouse entrance peek to a warped cavern of suspicious personalities and a mystery of intent.
Here’s Rudy, “blaming the dog”. Jenna Ellis is seated to his left.
Today Jenna Ellis, former Trump attorney faced the law review in her home state of Colorado. (She’s the one that sat downwind of Rudy Giuliani in that famous moment at trial.) Jenna admitted she lied repeatedly. She lied on Fox, MSNBC, and other networks. The lies were laid out for all to see and she was censured. That means a strong look, a finger wagged firmly but she has been publicly called to account for her behavior. Although not disbarred, we know what she is capable of and wouldn’t be hired to litigate a mouse in a suit against a cat, for me. MeidasTouch does a lovely job of spelling out her day as a defendant.
In the larger picture of the world, there are increasingly reasons why a Trump or GOP White House in 2024 is something we are working to avoid.
Meanwhile, Fox news continues to tell falsehoods daily even though people outside the hermetically sealed minds of Fox viewers are entertained, horrified as we are educated about each lie. Although the anchors have acknowledged their deceit, they continue to offer false narratives. The Carlson admission of “hating trump, passionately” is especially perplexing. Why continue the charade? Most people can understand imperiling oneself for a family member, spouse or loved one, a mentor perhaps. But, for a man you so dislike? There has to be some sort of balance to life. To risk ones career, job, reputation, for someone you hate, passionately? Hard to reconcile. There must be a bigger agenda.
Seeing Fox news as the blight they are seems obvious breaking their own records for awful, daily. It takes little convincing, yet more understanding. The comment by Murdoch saying the My Pillow Guy’s advertising aren’t red or blue they are green, indicates it’s all about the money. No doubt money runs him as it does business generally. Every business has an aim beyond the necessity of making the nut, expanding and other logical things but another reason too. Cosmetics, money and enhance beauty. Real estate, sell homes to help folks. There is a heart as well as a head. Nobody can be passionate (Murdoch is billions passionate, its true) about their work unless there is a steak of the heart in it. Foxes aim is not selling or telling the news truthfully to enlighten the country so, what’s the deal here?
Interestingly when looking over the Dominion suit and then looking at the Fox talking heads at work they are impressively non committal in the program. They nod a lot when the falsities begin. Show off their pen that never makes notes, ask riveting questions like, “Really?” But they brought the sellers of fake on and they did indeed know what they were there to talk about. The guests were there, in fact, in truth, to sell the Big lie and all the little ones to support it.
To be very clear, the Dominion suit and the information that stem from it only covers the election where Donald J. Trump failed to win the presidential election against Joe R. Biden. We know Fox supported Trump with supportive coverage before the 2016 election, through the win, inauguration till now. We remember how they, along with Sean Spitzer went over and over, on and on about the size of 45’s inauguration crowd.
Rupert Murdoch in his deposition in prep of the Dominion suit was quite frank about the lies. He knew. We also found out because of the suit, that Murdoch gave information to Jarred Kushner about the Biden ads before they were run giving an edge to the Trump team. More should be made about the criminal aspect of that. It’s not about ads for breakfast cereal and which one is better, this is the presidency of the United States and spilling proprietary information is not bad, it’s abysmal. Why did he do it?
Rupert Murdoch and Wendy Dang prior to Mr. Murdoch filing for divorce in 2014.
A note on the relationship of Murdoch to the Trumps. His former wife (Married in 1999 and divorced in 2014), Wendy Dang is god mother to one or more of Ivanka’s children. It is a deep and long relationship that deserves more time, for now, Rupert is no stranger to the family, personally. But the help is more than personal, it’s business for a wider scope of folks. In perusing Wikipedia, there’s an note in Wendy’s profile that states,
In early 2018, The Wall Street Journal published a story suggesting that Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, longtime friends of Murdoch, were warned by US intelligence agencies the Murdoch may be using her relationship with them to further the goals of the Chinese government.
Watching Katie Turr today on MSNBC, she touched, with Peter Baker on the heating topic of China and the possibility of armed conflict China doesn’t want to have but may have anyway. Sounds like a bully threat and it is. Peter Baker explains, the threats are over Taiwan. We, the US, have boldly stated they will not be allowed to colonize the country, a democracy. China is calling for taking back Taiwan. “Reunification”. As it’s said these days, put a pin in that.
Watching also on MSNBC, the wonderful Nicole Wallace, it was mentioned that Sean Hannity in an interview (aired in a podcast or radio so voice only) with Trump, TFG said that if he had been in office for a second term he would have allowed Putin to annex parts of Ukraine. In other words, there would have been little or no resistance, little or no assistance to Ukraine in the fight for their country against the brutal and unprovoked attack by Putin’s Russia. The statement, Nicole told, was absent from the interview when aired again on cable tv. Why delete that nugget when it’s a particularly important stance for a fella who has raised his hand in a bid for the 2024 presidential run? Would it be upsetting to the viewers? Too real? Too much truth?
Murdoch gives top secret information about Biden’s campaign to Kushner, essentially handing Trumps campaign inside information. He admits to his lies and the lies of his employees. He’s not at this time making any move to rein them in although many people have noticed a general move away from Trump to other possible candidates in 2024, there is no indication of remorse or reversing the behavior.
And Jared, what’s he up to these days? He did get the two billion dollars to invest in his new firm for MBS aka Mister Bone Saw, Crown Prince of Oil, no, yes, Saudi Arabia, who has also been named the prime minister (in September of 2022).
With Jared’s dad in law’s brand in hot water in New York, the family has generally branched out with plans for a large resort in UAE and the golf aspect of the brand has been making waves with the very controversial LIV tours, a professional golf tour financed by Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia.
Puzzling?
Unless one plays the very long game as the Koch’s, China, the GOP, the NRA, anti abortionists have taken. The very long game that would free a prisoner from Alcatraz. One chip, one millimeter of progress a day will add up to freedom one day. In the case of the US, well, you know where we have come and seemingly quickly. The schools were used through defunding etc. Guns now flood the county to increased gun violence and near daily shootings. The rights of women and children narrowed everyday. Each and every one of us was smacked, blindsided by one or more of the recent turns of events. We will fight for the rights we are losing. Rupert is playing the long game. Quite personally, I don’t think it’s about Trump but he is the tool for now. Rupert is one of many playing the long game with, one assumes, the Koch’s, with China, with Russia for a shift in world power that reduces the US status not by elevating their countries, making them better, but by diminishing ours.
When you hear the phrase “it damages democracy”, understand, it will never be the complaint that gets people to back off the behavior. The damage being done is the plan. We will applaud the disappearance of Trump and others that will inevitably be incarcerated. There will be more at the door. Fox and Murdoch need more exposure as to just how inadvertent or how purposeful Murdoch’s involvement is in politics and government. It’s great to cover politics if you’re in the news, it’s not great if you are influencing politics because you’re in the news.
Changing the direction of world politics is a tremendous undertaking and we are watching it take place. We know that, as we are aware and resisting the marginalization of democracy and it’s impeding replacement of autocracy. It’s a move that is sneaky and underhanded, criminal and cruel. Turing over every rock is important if we are to keep this democracy of ours.
Information and truth are the enemy of autocrats.