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Thread: Are Newsmax, OANN, and Fox Media threats to American Democracy?

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    Default Are Newsmax, OANN, and Fox Media threats to American Democracy?

    Most of the information presented by Fox OAN and Newsmax pretends to be news but is opinion. Opinion that appeals to a segment of society that already agrees. Opinionated presentation targets divisive issues rather than reporting or analysis. It is an internal political correctness that sees news or politics through an agreed upon lenses that is often anti-democratic, anti-science, and even anti-intelligence. These media sources pretend to be conservative they are not. They conserve nothing, they posture, dismiss, and divide.

    It is an irony that Fox has become worse in an attempt to keep OAN and Newsmax at bay. Viewers are money. Modern American so called Conservative media now vies for the ridiculous if it feeds a bias, a hate, or criticizes. Add to this the death of local media along with the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine, Citizen's United, and the goose is cooked. Dark Money now rules.

    Add online media sources that appear in searches and news feeds. Many of these are dark money supported sites pretending to be news when they are agitprop. Political power and corporate power do not like democracy. Democracy too often muddies the water, a citizen sees the world differently than a government bureaucrat or a profit seeking corporate officer. How does that corporation control democracy, it controls the information media presents and it targets information based on the social profiles of its viewers, often white and rural. Dog whistles dominate.

    Democratic government is the favorite bogeyman of autocratic government. Lesser players in this game of deception include Breitbart, Townhall, and a host of sites that can be found in Internet searches - questionable sources are covered in links below. Online trolls have also proliferated in online social media. Some even gravitate to conspiracy sites or ideas of secession. This divisiveness takes many forms such as private schools, religious separation, and isolated rural community settings. Public education is too democratic, too open. How for instance could a pandemic become something other than a pandemic. Gaslighting from Fox ET AL have created a world of doubt. America leads the world in Covid-19 deaths, misinformation has consequences.

    So how do we understand the topic question when media is opinion, distortion, dog whistles, targeted, oppositional, using loaded words, words meant as pejorative or audience specific? Content without thought, words like 'cancel' 'woke' 'leftist' 'liberal' 'socialist' 'border' 'trans' 'guns' etcetera. What do they really mean outside the club? Their appeal is to tribe, to emotion, not content or analysis. Misinformation and distortion weaken a nation's political conversation. Ask always who benefits, what is its purpose, and is the information news or opinion. Seek sources that explain without always pointing fingers.

    Daniel Pipes wrote. "First, democracy is more than holding elections; it requires the development of civil society, meaning such complex and counter intuitive institutions as the rule of law, an independent judiciary, multiple political parties, minority rights, voluntary associations, freedom of expression, movement, and assembly. Democracy is a learned habit, not an instinctive one, that requires deep attitudinal changes such as a culture of restraint, a commonality of values, a respect for differences of view, the concept of loyal opposition, and a sense of civic responsibility."

    'The Five Biggest Threats Our Democracy Faces'

    https://www.brennancenter.org/our-wo...emocracy-faces

    And the SCOTUS threat:

    https://www.theguardian.com/books/20...mp-republicans

    Information Sources to check:

    https://iffy.news/
    https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/fake-news/
    http://politics.flackcheck.org/patterns-of-deception/

    One online news site I recommend: https://www.theguardian.com/us


    "Let us wage a moral and political war against the billionaires and corporate leaders, on Wall Street and elsewhere, whose policies and greed are destroying the middle class of America." Bernie Sanders
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    "I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: 'O Lord make my enemies ridiculous.' And God granted it." Voltaire

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    Quote Originally Posted by midcan5 View Post
    Are Newsmax, OANN, and Fox Media threats to American Democracy?
    No. Ignorance and a flawed educational system are the threats to American Democracy. Too many political leaders want to teach people what to think instead of teaching them how to think.

    Misinformation, "yellow journalism" and other media rhetoric have been around since the days Egyptians were writing on papyrus. Censorship is not the solution.

    Critical thinking, the ability of Americans to tell the difference between fact and opinion, is the best defense for democracy.
    God bless America and those who defend our Constitution.

    "Hatred is a failure of imagination" - Graham Greene, "The Power and the Glory"

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dutch Uncle View Post
    No. Ignorance and a flawed educational system are the threats to American Democracy. Too many political leaders want to teach people what to think instead of teaching them how to think.

    Misinformation, "yellow journalism" and other media rhetoric have been around since the days Egyptians were writing on papyrus. Censorship is not the solution.

    Critical thinking, the ability of Americans to tell the difference between fact and opinion, is the best defense for democracy.
    Since that is never going to happen (teaching critical thinking), what's wrong with requiring opinion and other slanted presentations to be clearly labeled as such, and equal time given to an opposing point of view?
    "Conservatism is the blind and fear-filled worship of dead radicals." -- Mark Twain

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    Quote Originally Posted by ThatOwlWoman View Post
    Since that is never going to happen (teaching critical thinking), what's wrong with requiring opinion and other slanted presentations to be clearly labeled as such, and equal time given to an opposing point of view?
    Why is it never going to happen? People want life to be better for themselves and their kids. That's natural. When they believe they are being unfairly blocked from attaining those goals then people will begin to protest. Life is unfair, but our government is supposed be fair per the Constitution. We, the People have a right to protest any bias.

    That said, transparency is always good. Truth in advertising. If something is 70% bullshit, it should be labeled as such.
    God bless America and those who defend our Constitution.

    "Hatred is a failure of imagination" - Graham Greene, "The Power and the Glory"

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    Quote Originally Posted by ThatOwlWoman View Post
    Since that is never going to happen (teaching critical thinking)
    why not?
    Is it because Socrates is a dead white guy?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dutch Uncle View Post
    Why is it never going to happen? People want life to be better for themselves and their kids. That's natural. When they believe they are being unfairly blocked from attaining those goals then people will begin to protest. Life is unfair, but our government is supposed be fair per the Constitution. We, the People have a right to protest any bias.

    That said, transparency is always good. Truth in advertising. If something is 70% bullshit, it should be labeled as such.
    It's not going to happen because parents do not WANT it to happen. Hell, in some school districts they don't even want their kids to learn basic things like sex ed and/or basic science like evolution. They certainly don't want them to learn to question authority, which is what critical thinking boils down to. If you teach them that, why they might start questioning YOUR authority, or the words in the Bible, and we can't have *that,* now can we?

    ""Knowledge-Based Education – We oppose the teaching of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) (values clarification), critical thinking skills and similar programs that are simply a relabeling of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) (mastery learning) which focus on behavior modification and have the purpose of challenging the student’s fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority."" -- Texas GOP (source: https://www.austinchronicle.com/dail...ical-thinking/ )
    "Conservatism is the blind and fear-filled worship of dead radicals." -- Mark Twain

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    Quote Originally Posted by anatta View Post
    why not?
    Is it because Socrates is a dead white guy?
    See post right above this response to your question.
    "Conservatism is the blind and fear-filled worship of dead radicals." -- Mark Twain

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    Quote Originally Posted by ThatOwlWoman View Post
    It's not going to happen because parents do not WANT it to happen. Hell, in some school districts they don't even want their kids to learn basic things like sex ed and/or basic science like evolution. They certainly don't want them to learn to question authority, which is what critical thinking boils down to. If you teach them that, why they might start questioning YOUR authority, or the words in the Bible, and we can't have *that,* now can we?

    ""Knowledge-Based Education – We oppose the teaching of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) (values clarification), critical thinking skills and similar programs that are simply a relabeling of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) (mastery learning) which focus on behavior modification and have the purpose of challenging the student’s fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority."" -- Texas GOP (source: https://www.austinchronicle.com/dail...ical-thinking/ )
    Idiots will always exist. The key, IMO, is to teach the parents why it's best for their kids to be taught skill sets that will make them competitive in a competitive world. If parents want to keep their kids in a bottle so that they grow up to be dumbasses, then it's up to the kid to unfuck him/herself at age 18....while hating their parents for being fucking morons.
    God bless America and those who defend our Constitution.

    "Hatred is a failure of imagination" - Graham Greene, "The Power and the Glory"

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    Wouldn't censorship be against the !st. Amendment?
    Common sense is not a gift, it's a punishment because you have to deal with everyone who doesn't have it.

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    Quote Originally Posted by RB 60 View Post
    Wouldn't censorship be against the !st. Amendment?
    Yes. OTOH, children are minors and the parents are voting citizens. They're free to keep their kids stupid and blind to reality.
    God bless America and those who defend our Constitution.

    "Hatred is a failure of imagination" - Graham Greene, "The Power and the Glory"

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dutch Uncle View Post
    Yes. OTOH, children are minors and the parents are voting citizens. They're free to keep their kids stupid and blind to reality.
    Schools have been keeping them home for over a year now. Hard to explore reality on a 10" screen.
    Common sense is not a gift, it's a punishment because you have to deal with everyone who doesn't have it.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dutch Uncle View Post
    Idiots will always exist. The key, IMO, is to teach the parents why it's best for their kids to be taught skill sets that will make them competitive in a competitive world. If parents want to keep their kids in a bottle so that they grow up to be dumbasses, then it's up to the kid to unfuck him/herself at age 18....while hating their parents for being fucking morons.
    That's not very healthy. But that's what makes conservatives: The ability to block out things like reality, empathy, compassion, diversity, and an appreciation for different opinions and ideas. It's far more important to march in lock-step with your brethren, and make sure that your kids do as well. I think we've all known uber-religious parents, for example, that don't want their kids exposed to even other Xtian sects, let alone completely different religions. Or to secular and non-approved movies, books, music, pop culture. Remember when the RC church tried to tell parishioners what movies and books to avoid?
    "Conservatism is the blind and fear-filled worship of dead radicals." -- Mark Twain

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    Quote Originally Posted by RB 60 View Post
    Schools have been keeping them home for over a year now. Hard to explore reality on a 10" screen.
    Like this forum? LOL

    Have you ever taken a Khan Academy course? I've gone over a few for fun. A few years ago I was helping my niece catch up in school with math being her weak point. We covered geometry.


    Are you saying you never used Youtube to learn how to disassemble a weapon? Build a fence? Anything? A lot can be learned from a 10" screen.
    God bless America and those who defend our Constitution.

    "Hatred is a failure of imagination" - Graham Greene, "The Power and the Glory"

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    Quote Originally Posted by RB 60 View Post
    Wouldn't censorship be against the !st. Amendment?
    Only if it's the govt. doing the censoring. I say let them show what they want, but insist that opposing POVs be given similar amounts of time for rebuttal. You know, like we used to do.
    "Conservatism is the blind and fear-filled worship of dead radicals." -- Mark Twain

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    Quote Originally Posted by ThatOwlWoman View Post
    Only if it's the govt. doing the censoring. I say let them show what they want, but insist that opposing POVs be given similar amounts of time for rebuttal. You know, like we used to do.
    We still do. MSNBC, CNN, NBC, CBS, ABC to name a few.
    Common sense is not a gift, it's a punishment because you have to deal with everyone who doesn't have it.

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