It's not just the lasting damage they cause, it's also how they've learned to extract such personal gain from their malevolence. These are relatively intelligent people, easily smart enough that they know what they're feeding the Gullibillies is pure horseshit.
The path that brought America to this point traces back to the Depression and the years when big tent evangelists joined forces with industrialists to move to national radio broadcasts. It's a fascinating subject thoroughly documented by prof. Kevin Kruse in "One Nation Under God." The author explains how certain seemingly unconnected constituencies formed a symbiosis to advance each other's interests and power and it all revolved around the public airwaves.
We see it today in how televangelists are free to cheat their followers out of amazing amounts of cash donations using the public airwaves. If the system wasn't fixed these Holy Hucksters (think of your faves, Jim Bakker and Pat Robertson) would be prosecuted for inter-state fraud, telecommunications crime, etc. Yet they aren't. That's because government has become a participant and beneficiary of these swindlers. Today they're "off limits" which means above the law.
FOX and the countless radical right broadcasters are just an entirely logical extension of this time-honoured corruption.
That these fairly intelligent people are so happy to readily prostitute themselves for such base gain makes one rather ashamed of our species, Mound, doesn't it?
Can you think of an honest way those of their ilk could rake in that sort of cash? From what I've found, the starting salary of a columnist at a major US paper is around $90,000 and three to four times that for the top talent. In 2014, Krugman inked a contract with NYT for $225,000, roughly the same as a full time professor at Stanford.
Tucker Carlson, by comparison, draws a salary of $6 million plus from FOX excluding what he makes from books, public appearances, etc. Forbes put Sean Hannity's earnings for 2018 at $36 million. https://www.forbes.com/sites/hayleycuccinello/2018/07/16/sean-hannity-celebrity-100/?sh=797fe09b2d93
These guys lie their asses off because that's how they earn the big bucks. They can't earn anything approaching that kind of money if they were confined to factual opinion.
.. part of a truly sad & feeble unfolding
ReplyDeleteIt's especially sad since far too many see them as the sole repositories of unvarnished truth, Sal.
DeleteIt's not just the lasting damage they cause, it's also how they've learned to extract such personal gain from their malevolence. These are relatively intelligent people, easily smart enough that they know what they're feeding the Gullibillies is pure horseshit.
ReplyDeleteThe path that brought America to this point traces back to the Depression and the years when big tent evangelists joined forces with industrialists to move to national radio broadcasts. It's a fascinating subject thoroughly documented by prof. Kevin Kruse in "One Nation Under God." The author explains how certain seemingly unconnected constituencies formed a symbiosis to advance each other's interests and power and it all revolved around the public airwaves.
We see it today in how televangelists are free to cheat their followers out of amazing amounts of cash donations using the public airwaves. If the system wasn't fixed these Holy Hucksters (think of your faves, Jim Bakker and Pat Robertson) would be prosecuted for inter-state fraud, telecommunications crime, etc. Yet they aren't. That's because government has become a participant and beneficiary of these swindlers. Today they're "off limits" which means above the law.
FOX and the countless radical right broadcasters are just an entirely logical extension of this time-honoured corruption.
That these fairly intelligent people are so happy to readily prostitute themselves for such base gain makes one rather ashamed of our species, Mound, doesn't it?
DeleteCan you think of an honest way those of their ilk could rake in that sort of cash? From what I've found, the starting salary of a columnist at a major US paper is around $90,000 and three to four times that for the top talent. In 2014, Krugman inked a contract with NYT for $225,000, roughly the same as a full time professor at Stanford.
DeleteTucker Carlson, by comparison, draws a salary of $6 million plus from FOX excluding what he makes from books, public appearances, etc. Forbes put Sean Hannity's earnings for 2018 at $36 million. https://www.forbes.com/sites/hayleycuccinello/2018/07/16/sean-hannity-celebrity-100/?sh=797fe09b2d93
These guys lie their asses off because that's how they earn the big bucks. They can't earn anything approaching that kind of money if they were confined to factual opinion.
Clearly, the surrender of any semblance of integrity is a price that ilk is more than happy to pay, Mound.
DeleteThey preach a civic religion rooted in hate, Lorne. And it can only end badly.
ReplyDeleteAs recent events have amply demonstrated, these purveyors of hate have much to answer for, Owen.
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