But no matter what happens with this piece of shit, his message will still be going strong in places where stupid people devoid of critical thinking skills gather with those filled with similar fears and hate. (See Carlson’s pushing of the Replacement Theory) And there’ll be no shortage of messengers eager to take his place.
A free press is an indispensable part of the foundation of our democracy, even if too few people today understand that. Fox News – a devoted mouthpiece for Republican lies and corruption – with people like Carlson and those of similar ilk, presents one of the greatest threats to that foundation and the rule of law.
But as vile as Carlson and a number of his fellow Fox Newsies are, they couldn’t survive without a willing audience. Like former President Donald Trump, they didn’t create the MAGA base. They conned it, encouraged it, legitimized it, and unleashed it.
That’s why I’m concerned that the big news is going to be about Carlson losing his job. Yes, it’s a big story, but it’s like cutting out just a small part of the cancer and declaring the operation a success.
The threat to our country is far beyond Carlson. And it’s more than just Fox News. It’s an entire Right-wing information bubble. An ecosystem developed to envelop its followers in an alternative universe, and to keep them there so they can inundate them with lie after lie after lie.
This is a world where some of the news stories we hear from legitimate sources are never reported, and others are spun into almost unrecognizable form. This is what we’re up against. This is what we’re going to be up against for a long time.
The truth can’t rest. The pressure on companies that sponsor this network of liars can’t stop. We can celebrate Carlson’s demise for maybe a day, then we must realize that nothing has really changed.
We can hope that this will start a purge of Fox’s lineup of liars, but don’t count on it. That would be wishful thinking, and when they stakes are this high that’s one of the worst things we can do.
There’s some dispute as to whether author George Orwell actually said, “The further society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those who speak it.” But, it’s still true.
I can’t think of a better reason to be hated than for telling the truth. That challenge doesn’t go away just because a scumbag like Carlson is shown the door. He’ll be back.
Until then, it’ll be like he never left.
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Musings of a Nobody 