Hi Bill, thanks for copying this post. I have long been aware of Fox being shown exclusively in hotel lobbies, breakfast rooms and bars. From October 2013 until the end of March 2015 I lived in the same hotel in Washington, DC. I will not name any names as I don't want anyone fired. But, I became friendly with the staff and hotel manager. When I asked if they could turn on NBC instead of FOX, the Manager told me he couldn't do that because FOX paid the hotel chain headquarters to play only FOX in any publicly used rooms. What I watched in my room was my own business.
In my hotel rooms and at home I watched NBC or CNN until May 2023 when I started getting the same disinformation from those channels that was on FOX. By then I had been living in a senior apartment for two years. I got so angry I asked maintenance to disconnect my cable and have not watched TV since - I kept the set so I can watch my DVDs. I now get all my news from my computer, mostly Substack.
I do have an advantage, having majored in Science, I learned critical analysis - question everything. If it isn't logical, ignore it. So I ignore any garbage spewing from trump or jd.
The other, even greater reason trump won is the lack of really good education in the majority of red states. Don't take my word, the statistics are on line. Those mainly republican States have historically NOT educated their children as the legislators don't value education. 9 of the top 10 States are in the Northeast plus Colorado. Number one is Massachusetts. All of the bottom ten are red States.
Yes, so grateful our grandchildren are in one of the best school systems in the country. At a recent town meeting, there was a vote to boost the ed budget = higher taxes. It was passed with overwhelming support.
If we won't spend money on our kids - education, nutrition and healthcare...we really don't give a flying F**K about the future of our species. It is a big DUH. No?
Agreed, Bill, BUT, mediocre persons like trump who apparently had daddy buy his college degree for him (he obviously learned nothing) don't give that flying f**k you mention. And the oligarchs seem to equate intelligence levels with wealth - uh, sorry guys wealth has nothing to do with intellect it's totally dependent on which genes you receive at birth. And I don't care what he claims, Elon is NOT a genius, he is a successful con artist. So by their thinking only their kids deserve an education. Bulls**t
I agree that the right-wing media is extremely powerful. However, they gained that power only because they amplified and twisted several real grievances. The folks in fly over country know that the coastal elites look down on them and don't spend much time thinking about their interests. They know that the coastal elites will go on evolving until they become human beings that are basically not recognizable to the folks in fly over country. They know that coastal elites have only a marginal concern for the economic welfare of those who have lost out by globalization. This is shown by the initial reaction of the coastal elites to the shutting down of coal mines: “Learn to code.”
My fear is that the coastal elites will never take the concerns of fly over country seriously. They just don't care that much about their dumb country cousins.
Building new factories in red states that MAY employ SOME MAGA believers is way too abstract and uncertain. I think the only way Dems can regain the trust of MAGA is by creating a new right that will help to ensure the future of every single American citizen. That's why I have proposed that the heart of the Democratic program for 2026 and 2028 should be: “Free lifetime job retraining for every American citizen.”
"Fly over" grievances are real. I agree. Dems betrayed them when Clinton signed NAFTA with no significant help. No requirement that the companies that shuttered the only employment in town take social and financial responsibility for deserting them.
But the problem is all over the country. People are working multiple jobs and can't make it. Can't find reasonable rentals - if any. Healthcare, child care all are unaffordable.
And then there is the "gig worker" scam. Bust your ass for mini money with NO benefits. It is indentured servitude all over again.
We need a financial revolution. The Dems need to lead the impoverished peasants in reclaiming a reasonable life in the richest nation to have ever existed. There is NO excuse for poverty in America. Just a reason. The rich are way too rich.
Yet employers keep saying they can't find skilled workers to fill vacancies. Rather than revamping our entire economic system with an uncertain outcome, I'd rather try preparing the unemployed and underemployed to fill existing vacancies. We can also give employers generous tax exemptions for apprenticeship programs.
All of these tools are already in place. The job training programs, the apprenticeship programs, the government funding to pay for both. They've been in place for decades.
But the average American wouldn't know where to access this stuff. It needs to be as easy as visiting a post office or a Social Security office. Perhaps there could be a Federal Retraining Accessibility Office in every single community college.
Bill, thanks for posting a link to this on HCR's Dec 8 post. I, too start my days with coffee and HCR, and view you as one of my fellow students auditing her graduate level "History and Politics" class.
As you know from my posts there, I am a retired cop, and have many of my friends from that profession that have become dyed in the wool MAGA followers. The assessment of the information sources they use is accurate, and we've got to catch up to those techniques. Corporate media is dead; it either needs resuscitation or burial.
Well done. Speaking about the origins of popular anger. If the Democrats can't put together a Health care proposal immediately and get it out in front of the public before they lose the capacity to make any kind of legislative statement (without a majority somewhere, they can't even make a proposal), they are not agile enough to be representing us.
Such an easy project. Medicare for All phased in over three to five years. Start with the kids, then the 50+ crew. And/or what if we covered everyone who has a child? Eventually, as more younger and healthier folks are added to the risk pool, from an actuarial point of view, the more financially viable the project becomes.
Huge Dem talking points: "health care for profit is wrong!" "universal health care in the richest nation to have ever existed is just common sense...and more efficient!" "health care via ER is stupid and cruel".... and so much more.
I agree that right wing media is the bull horn over powering the left messaging. Can the left boycott the products advertised on right wing media with enough effect to make a difference? If it’s all about the money, how can we redirect the money from right wing media power brokers?
Good one Bill, and a point well taken that most of the Democratic leadership and consultant class won't want to hear or take seriously because it would require a paradigm change in their approach to politics in general and elections specifically. Mr. Obama's annual speech which he gave yesterday and to which I don't have a link handy, made much the same point and is also worth reading.
Pretty eye-opening, Bill. I was just thinking yesterday about how babies learn, grow, and develop into one belief system or another, and it's all about what they hear and experience around them.
The echo chambers of the right are ubiquitous and consistent. Somehow, I'd like to get their believers to predict, for themselves, what the next four years will bring, and set some limits for what is acceptable. Otherwise, they'll continue to drift in the currents driven by the right.
I actually disagree …we allowed “FEAR” and intimidation to go unfettered ! We not only allowed Trump to lie and slander we “allowed” him to threaten people’s lives with “crush us like vermin” and call us the “enemy within “! We allowed liberals to intellectualize about “freedom of speech” to include lying , treason and death threats and if you don’t think that made minorities and the marginalized lose faith in the ability of democrats to protect them by enforcing the laws as they were intended you’re not paying attention !
We allowed Brad Raffensperger to be bullied mercilessly and sued for defamation of character by a pathological liar and a textbook malignant narcissist and we did NOTHING!!! Trump’s suit should have been thrown out !! Brad had the courage to tell the biggest bully and wanna be dictator that he wouldn’t “find 11,780 votes “ and Biden/Harris didn’t run to his aid…the media didn’t cover the insanity of why allowing Trump to persecute the truth tellers and the heroes was not just wrong …it’s downright evil and the man does not believe in the Golden Rule ! He and his Spiritual Advisor /Paula White believe in the Satanic Prosperity Gospels of “the RICH are CHOSEN” and “Greed is a good thing…material things are what matters …money and financial success are the things to worship “ which is the ANTIthesis of anything CHRIST ever preached !
We allowed Trump and the media to let all of Trump’s threats all of his execution and off with their heads threats which should have disqualified him!! Period !!! His threats against Vindman , Comey , Hillary , Adam Schiff and even Biden …enough is enough !!! After his they’re “eating cats and dogs” should have been the end of it
!! Full stop ! He should have been disqualified when he told us he was going to “fix it so good we would never have to vote again “! Then there is his misuse of power when he threatened Kim Jong Un to a nuclear weapons duel on 1/2/18 ;the man should never have access to nuclear codes again !!
You can start a new channel but what journalist? What content provider is going to be willing to write against Trump ?! We don’t support the truth tellers !!! We didn’t support Khashoggi …we didn’t support Steve Herman (remember the Mayo Clinic debacle where Pence & Trump wanted his license for disclosing they had all been told to wear a mask and they refused ) …how about Vance going after Robert Kagan for writing a negative opinion piece on Trump ?? They’re killing the truth tellers these days …do you think Katie Johnson (the child he raped at Epstein’s ) went silent because she lied? She was threatened …her family’s life was threatened ….why do you think Jack Smith dropped everything ? Why do you think Mitt Romney is so quiet and he has more money than Trump ?! Getting a media channel willing to stand up to the bullies is not enough …until we call out the illegal threats and intimidation and hold these people accountable for it everyone is too scared to say anything !
This is just my two cents but I was all about Biden/Harris and then Harris /walz and they haven’t inspired me that they have my back because they never stood up for the journalists who were telling the truth !!! I was truly disappointed that I did not SEE the Harris Prosecutor I voted for emerge and that has been very discouraging ! I don’t want to hear one more ;”when they go low …we go high “ again ; we lack the courage and conviction to hold them accountable to the law ! We allowed “corrupt “ “greedy” lawyers to manipulate the letter of the laws against the very intentions for which the laws were written and I find that unforgivable ! We are cowards and we expect journalists to risk their lives while we stand by and twiddle our thumbs ! His threat to Liz Cheney was real and he should be sitting in Jeff Epstein’s old cell awaiting sentencing not readying himself for the Oval Office 🤬
Hi Cathy! You make more than a few good points. Wouldn't you like to have some quality time with Paula White? I'd ask her some questions about Jesus.
"We" meaning the mainstream media made so much money off of Trump's entertainment value that the MSM normalized the behavior you described. The TV networks, the Joe Rogans all profited from every outrageous day that the Orange Menace uttered something bizarre. Trump became a cash cow for ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC and the FOX.
Of course, there is no limit to his entertainment value. He has stretched the limits of decency to such extremes it's getting boring....so now we are supposed to invade Panama and Greenland? What is next? Get ready.There is no limit to Trump's ability to break the barriers of sanity.
If there is a superior intelligent form of life out there watching this like a soap opera...one of them just said: "Honey...wait!!! - he is escalating his nuttiness! He was saying that we should keep our troops home. But now he wants to just grab countries that have done nothing but be good friends. This is better than "Dallas" or "Yellowstone"! "BTW, cancel that trip we were planning to Earth. I think it's getting too weird down there now."
And I think the aliens would be asking: "Why haven't they just arrested this crazy ass dude and held him without bail? The list of offenses are stunningly long. Has the whole apparatus of democracy been hypnotized?"
I just saw this …and almost a month later; I am still saying the same thing ! Now we have an opportunity with Bishop Budde to stand up to these bullies once and for all and crickets ! 😞 Every single Christian , Atheist, Agnostic should be up in arms for them trying to vilify this brave and amazing woman .
Hi Bill, thanks for copying this post. I have long been aware of Fox being shown exclusively in hotel lobbies, breakfast rooms and bars. From October 2013 until the end of March 2015 I lived in the same hotel in Washington, DC. I will not name any names as I don't want anyone fired. But, I became friendly with the staff and hotel manager. When I asked if they could turn on NBC instead of FOX, the Manager told me he couldn't do that because FOX paid the hotel chain headquarters to play only FOX in any publicly used rooms. What I watched in my room was my own business.
In my hotel rooms and at home I watched NBC or CNN until May 2023 when I started getting the same disinformation from those channels that was on FOX. By then I had been living in a senior apartment for two years. I got so angry I asked maintenance to disconnect my cable and have not watched TV since - I kept the set so I can watch my DVDs. I now get all my news from my computer, mostly Substack.
I do have an advantage, having majored in Science, I learned critical analysis - question everything. If it isn't logical, ignore it. So I ignore any garbage spewing from trump or jd.
The other, even greater reason trump won is the lack of really good education in the majority of red states. Don't take my word, the statistics are on line. Those mainly republican States have historically NOT educated their children as the legislators don't value education. 9 of the top 10 States are in the Northeast plus Colorado. Number one is Massachusetts. All of the bottom ten are red States.
Yes, so grateful our grandchildren are in one of the best school systems in the country. At a recent town meeting, there was a vote to boost the ed budget = higher taxes. It was passed with overwhelming support.
If we won't spend money on our kids - education, nutrition and healthcare...we really don't give a flying F**K about the future of our species. It is a big DUH. No?
Agreed, Bill, BUT, mediocre persons like trump who apparently had daddy buy his college degree for him (he obviously learned nothing) don't give that flying f**k you mention. And the oligarchs seem to equate intelligence levels with wealth - uh, sorry guys wealth has nothing to do with intellect it's totally dependent on which genes you receive at birth. And I don't care what he claims, Elon is NOT a genius, he is a successful con artist. So by their thinking only their kids deserve an education. Bulls**t
I agree that the right-wing media is extremely powerful. However, they gained that power only because they amplified and twisted several real grievances. The folks in fly over country know that the coastal elites look down on them and don't spend much time thinking about their interests. They know that the coastal elites will go on evolving until they become human beings that are basically not recognizable to the folks in fly over country. They know that coastal elites have only a marginal concern for the economic welfare of those who have lost out by globalization. This is shown by the initial reaction of the coastal elites to the shutting down of coal mines: “Learn to code.”
My fear is that the coastal elites will never take the concerns of fly over country seriously. They just don't care that much about their dumb country cousins.
Building new factories in red states that MAY employ SOME MAGA believers is way too abstract and uncertain. I think the only way Dems can regain the trust of MAGA is by creating a new right that will help to ensure the future of every single American citizen. That's why I have proposed that the heart of the Democratic program for 2026 and 2028 should be: “Free lifetime job retraining for every American citizen.”
https://kathleenweber.substack.com/p/dems-can-win-by-selling-one-big-idea
"Fly over" grievances are real. I agree. Dems betrayed them when Clinton signed NAFTA with no significant help. No requirement that the companies that shuttered the only employment in town take social and financial responsibility for deserting them.
But the problem is all over the country. People are working multiple jobs and can't make it. Can't find reasonable rentals - if any. Healthcare, child care all are unaffordable.
And then there is the "gig worker" scam. Bust your ass for mini money with NO benefits. It is indentured servitude all over again.
We need a financial revolution. The Dems need to lead the impoverished peasants in reclaiming a reasonable life in the richest nation to have ever existed. There is NO excuse for poverty in America. Just a reason. The rich are way too rich.
Yet employers keep saying they can't find skilled workers to fill vacancies. Rather than revamping our entire economic system with an uncertain outcome, I'd rather try preparing the unemployed and underemployed to fill existing vacancies. We can also give employers generous tax exemptions for apprenticeship programs.
All of these tools are already in place. The job training programs, the apprenticeship programs, the government funding to pay for both. They've been in place for decades.
But the average American wouldn't know where to access this stuff. It needs to be as easy as visiting a post office or a Social Security office. Perhaps there could be a Federal Retraining Accessibility Office in every single community college.
Bill, thanks for posting a link to this on HCR's Dec 8 post. I, too start my days with coffee and HCR, and view you as one of my fellow students auditing her graduate level "History and Politics" class.
As you know from my posts there, I am a retired cop, and have many of my friends from that profession that have become dyed in the wool MAGA followers. The assessment of the information sources they use is accurate, and we've got to catch up to those techniques. Corporate media is dead; it either needs resuscitation or burial.
Ally, as a fellow "classmate" I always pay close attention to your posts!
Thank you!
Well done. Speaking about the origins of popular anger. If the Democrats can't put together a Health care proposal immediately and get it out in front of the public before they lose the capacity to make any kind of legislative statement (without a majority somewhere, they can't even make a proposal), they are not agile enough to be representing us.
Thanks and Yes!
Such an easy project. Medicare for All phased in over three to five years. Start with the kids, then the 50+ crew. And/or what if we covered everyone who has a child? Eventually, as more younger and healthier folks are added to the risk pool, from an actuarial point of view, the more financially viable the project becomes.
Huge Dem talking points: "health care for profit is wrong!" "universal health care in the richest nation to have ever existed is just common sense...and more efficient!" "health care via ER is stupid and cruel".... and so much more.
I agree that right wing media is the bull horn over powering the left messaging. Can the left boycott the products advertised on right wing media with enough effect to make a difference? If it’s all about the money, how can we redirect the money from right wing media power brokers?
Good one Bill, and a point well taken that most of the Democratic leadership and consultant class won't want to hear or take seriously because it would require a paradigm change in their approach to politics in general and elections specifically. Mr. Obama's annual speech which he gave yesterday and to which I don't have a link handy, made much the same point and is also worth reading.
Pretty eye-opening, Bill. I was just thinking yesterday about how babies learn, grow, and develop into one belief system or another, and it's all about what they hear and experience around them.
The echo chambers of the right are ubiquitous and consistent. Somehow, I'd like to get their believers to predict, for themselves, what the next four years will bring, and set some limits for what is acceptable. Otherwise, they'll continue to drift in the currents driven by the right.
I actually disagree …we allowed “FEAR” and intimidation to go unfettered ! We not only allowed Trump to lie and slander we “allowed” him to threaten people’s lives with “crush us like vermin” and call us the “enemy within “! We allowed liberals to intellectualize about “freedom of speech” to include lying , treason and death threats and if you don’t think that made minorities and the marginalized lose faith in the ability of democrats to protect them by enforcing the laws as they were intended you’re not paying attention !
We allowed Brad Raffensperger to be bullied mercilessly and sued for defamation of character by a pathological liar and a textbook malignant narcissist and we did NOTHING!!! Trump’s suit should have been thrown out !! Brad had the courage to tell the biggest bully and wanna be dictator that he wouldn’t “find 11,780 votes “ and Biden/Harris didn’t run to his aid…the media didn’t cover the insanity of why allowing Trump to persecute the truth tellers and the heroes was not just wrong …it’s downright evil and the man does not believe in the Golden Rule ! He and his Spiritual Advisor /Paula White believe in the Satanic Prosperity Gospels of “the RICH are CHOSEN” and “Greed is a good thing…material things are what matters …money and financial success are the things to worship “ which is the ANTIthesis of anything CHRIST ever preached !
We allowed Trump and the media to let all of Trump’s threats all of his execution and off with their heads threats which should have disqualified him!! Period !!! His threats against Vindman , Comey , Hillary , Adam Schiff and even Biden …enough is enough !!! After his they’re “eating cats and dogs” should have been the end of it
!! Full stop ! He should have been disqualified when he told us he was going to “fix it so good we would never have to vote again “! Then there is his misuse of power when he threatened Kim Jong Un to a nuclear weapons duel on 1/2/18 ;the man should never have access to nuclear codes again !!
You can start a new channel but what journalist? What content provider is going to be willing to write against Trump ?! We don’t support the truth tellers !!! We didn’t support Khashoggi …we didn’t support Steve Herman (remember the Mayo Clinic debacle where Pence & Trump wanted his license for disclosing they had all been told to wear a mask and they refused ) …how about Vance going after Robert Kagan for writing a negative opinion piece on Trump ?? They’re killing the truth tellers these days …do you think Katie Johnson (the child he raped at Epstein’s ) went silent because she lied? She was threatened …her family’s life was threatened ….why do you think Jack Smith dropped everything ? Why do you think Mitt Romney is so quiet and he has more money than Trump ?! Getting a media channel willing to stand up to the bullies is not enough …until we call out the illegal threats and intimidation and hold these people accountable for it everyone is too scared to say anything !
This is just my two cents but I was all about Biden/Harris and then Harris /walz and they haven’t inspired me that they have my back because they never stood up for the journalists who were telling the truth !!! I was truly disappointed that I did not SEE the Harris Prosecutor I voted for emerge and that has been very discouraging ! I don’t want to hear one more ;”when they go low …we go high “ again ; we lack the courage and conviction to hold them accountable to the law ! We allowed “corrupt “ “greedy” lawyers to manipulate the letter of the laws against the very intentions for which the laws were written and I find that unforgivable ! We are cowards and we expect journalists to risk their lives while we stand by and twiddle our thumbs ! His threat to Liz Cheney was real and he should be sitting in Jeff Epstein’s old cell awaiting sentencing not readying himself for the Oval Office 🤬
Hi Cathy! You make more than a few good points. Wouldn't you like to have some quality time with Paula White? I'd ask her some questions about Jesus.
"We" meaning the mainstream media made so much money off of Trump's entertainment value that the MSM normalized the behavior you described. The TV networks, the Joe Rogans all profited from every outrageous day that the Orange Menace uttered something bizarre. Trump became a cash cow for ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC and the FOX.
Of course, there is no limit to his entertainment value. He has stretched the limits of decency to such extremes it's getting boring....so now we are supposed to invade Panama and Greenland? What is next? Get ready.There is no limit to Trump's ability to break the barriers of sanity.
If there is a superior intelligent form of life out there watching this like a soap opera...one of them just said: "Honey...wait!!! - he is escalating his nuttiness! He was saying that we should keep our troops home. But now he wants to just grab countries that have done nothing but be good friends. This is better than "Dallas" or "Yellowstone"! "BTW, cancel that trip we were planning to Earth. I think it's getting too weird down there now."
And I think the aliens would be asking: "Why haven't they just arrested this crazy ass dude and held him without bail? The list of offenses are stunningly long. Has the whole apparatus of democracy been hypnotized?"
I just saw this …and almost a month later; I am still saying the same thing ! Now we have an opportunity with Bishop Budde to stand up to these bullies once and for all and crickets ! 😞 Every single Christian , Atheist, Agnostic should be up in arms for them trying to vilify this brave and amazing woman .
Well said Bill!! Keep up the great work!!
Thank you, sir :)