And this: the questions frequently comes in many conversations - "How did we get here?" The simplest answer I believe is Reagan's elimination of the Fairness Doctrine, which paved the way for Rush Limbaugh in 1987 and FOX News in 1996. Suddenly it was okay to say whatever you want on broadcast programs with no accountability. Rupert Murdoch saw it as the opportunity to sell BS just for ratings and increased ad revenue. Add in the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which loosened up federal oversight on what could be broadcast, sold, and how it was received by audiences. Add in the subscription revenue by cable, and whala! A gold mine!
We now have entire generations of Americans who have grown up exclusively with FOX, (add in Breitbart, Newsmax and others) a network that perfected the development and usage of the false narrative that roughly half of America believes. In essence, they are not getting the same information as the rest of us. They simply don't know that DJT has publicly praised Adolf Hitler. And if they hear it from someone else, well "that's fake news." That's how I think we got here. I'm convinced that If FOX didn't exist, DJT would be in prison. And until we figure out how to squash the real perpetrators of fake news, which the now-transformed party we used to call Republicans conveniently uses as their echo chamber, America will teeter on this abyss.
I agree. Eliminating the fairness doctrine had catastrophic. Consequences, but I’m not sure how its application would have made the leap to cable news since the fairness doctrine was put in place to protect use of the public airwaves.
We ask ourselves how decent people can support Trump.
It’s because they watch sports on FOX, and stay on that channel for the “news.” In some parts of the country, FOX replaced one of the Big 3 commercial channels.
Voters younger than the first wave of Baby Boomers didn’t hear their parents talk about WWII.
Do they learn about it in American History class in school?
Spot on Barry. Thank you. My Dad, also, served in WWII. He went to Japan to fight THAT monster. But he knew plenty of guys who went the other direction to fight Hitler. That last words I heard my Dad say two days before he died: It was March in 2017. Trump had only been in office less than two months. Trump came on the television, my Dad looked at it in disgust, and uttered, "What a XXX jerk!"
My dad was in the army during WWII and never let us kids take for granted what he fought for. I remember meeting a Holocaust survivor in the 80s and hearing her story and thinking how brave she was and how much I take for granted. Thank you for calling out our silent representatives.
Barry, good column, and I appreciate you keeping close watch on our Iowa congressional delegation in Washington, D.C. The delegation's silence on President Trump's outrages has indeed been deafening. And then this past weekend, it got worse. Our Sen. Joni Ernst was busing across Pennsylvania campaigning for him!
Thank you, Chuck. Senstor Ernst is all in with the Republican/fascist game plan as she seeks to move up the Senate Republican leadership ladder - her Republican Senate colleagues are pretty much the only constituents she is working for these days. Iowans? Who are they?
I have no idea how we can explain today's Republican party to my wife's and my late parents. They represented the best of America's promise in their service to this country. I don't know what Iowa's Republican party represents other than own self interest.
I agree that we can blame Reagan, Fox, and the right-wing ecosphere. But the lion's share of the blame goes to Iowans and Americans who let the Republican fascists run rampant.
Fun Fact: The last free election in Germany was in 1932 when Hitler was elected. The next was 1946 after Hitler and the Nazis were defeated.
Thank you, Barry. I am ashamed of the republican “leadership” in our state. As for trump not launching a genocide I am not so sure. He is talking about mass deportations of immigrants. That was the first step in Germany for taking care of the “Jewish problem”. I would like to think that could not happen here, but history is loaded of examples of this kind of depravity. It usually happened because too many people thought it could not possibly happen “here”.
My father was a marine in World War II. As a child, I grew up wondering how the German people could have stood by and let Hitler happen. What kind of monsters must they be? Now, here we are, watching the cowardice all around us. Thank you, Ed, for naming this behavior in our so called leaders. It is up to the rest of us to stand up against the creeping fascism with our voices and our votes.
Thanks, Barry and readers. Occasionally, I watch News Nation and Fox. This morning, a News Nation commentator discussed Trump's NYC rally and dismissed his racist, sexist comments as simply equivalent to Democrats and Harris calling Trump a racist. Mark Halperin’s 2Way often draws similar comparisons, with viewers and Sean Spicer and Halperin responding by condemning both parties equally. This “pox on both houses” view fosters cynicism, weakening democracy and discouraging voter turnout—which often benefits Trump. Meanwhile, Democrats have struggled to counter the Republicans’ and media’s use of false equivalencies to normalize Trump’s rhetoric. This morning's News Nation commentary was a prime example.
This is when I predict we'll finally hear from the the Silent Six and the vast army of Trump apologists: November 6th, or whenever the final vote count shows that we've finally kicked the Orange Clown to the curb. Or perhaps January 6th, after his second failed attempt to overthrow the government. Or whenever it's deemed "safe" for cowardly Republicans to finally denounce the human cancer that has invaded our political landscape and nearly destroyed American culture. They will wipe their hands clean and deny their sycophantic behavior of the past 9 years. That's also when the right-wing infighting between the RINOs and MAGAs will be so intense as to split the Republican party in two.
And this: the questions frequently comes in many conversations - "How did we get here?" The simplest answer I believe is Reagan's elimination of the Fairness Doctrine, which paved the way for Rush Limbaugh in 1987 and FOX News in 1996. Suddenly it was okay to say whatever you want on broadcast programs with no accountability. Rupert Murdoch saw it as the opportunity to sell BS just for ratings and increased ad revenue. Add in the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which loosened up federal oversight on what could be broadcast, sold, and how it was received by audiences. Add in the subscription revenue by cable, and whala! A gold mine!
We now have entire generations of Americans who have grown up exclusively with FOX, (add in Breitbart, Newsmax and others) a network that perfected the development and usage of the false narrative that roughly half of America believes. In essence, they are not getting the same information as the rest of us. They simply don't know that DJT has publicly praised Adolf Hitler. And if they hear it from someone else, well "that's fake news." That's how I think we got here. I'm convinced that If FOX didn't exist, DJT would be in prison. And until we figure out how to squash the real perpetrators of fake news, which the now-transformed party we used to call Republicans conveniently uses as their echo chamber, America will teeter on this abyss.
I agree. Eliminating the fairness doctrine had catastrophic. Consequences, but I’m not sure how its application would have made the leap to cable news since the fairness doctrine was put in place to protect use of the public airwaves.
Yep. Very true. The digital transition changed everything. But eliminating the FD ushered in the acceptance of "anything goes."
Yes it did. The ”original sin”, of sorts.
You are absolutely right.
We ask ourselves how decent people can support Trump.
It’s because they watch sports on FOX, and stay on that channel for the “news.” In some parts of the country, FOX replaced one of the Big 3 commercial channels.
Voters younger than the first wave of Baby Boomers didn’t hear their parents talk about WWII.
Do they learn about it in American History class in school?
Spot on Barry. Thank you. My Dad, also, served in WWII. He went to Japan to fight THAT monster. But he knew plenty of guys who went the other direction to fight Hitler. That last words I heard my Dad say two days before he died: It was March in 2017. Trump had only been in office less than two months. Trump came on the television, my Dad looked at it in disgust, and uttered, "What a XXX jerk!"
Those who lived through the horror of Hitler’s fascism - even from afar - know it when they see it.
May your Dad rest in peace, and our thanks to him for his service.
My dad was in the army during WWII and never let us kids take for granted what he fought for. I remember meeting a Holocaust survivor in the 80s and hearing her story and thinking how brave she was and how much I take for granted. Thank you for calling out our silent representatives.
Barry, good column, and I appreciate you keeping close watch on our Iowa congressional delegation in Washington, D.C. The delegation's silence on President Trump's outrages has indeed been deafening. And then this past weekend, it got worse. Our Sen. Joni Ernst was busing across Pennsylvania campaigning for him!
Thank you, Chuck. Senstor Ernst is all in with the Republican/fascist game plan as she seeks to move up the Senate Republican leadership ladder - her Republican Senate colleagues are pretty much the only constituents she is working for these days. Iowans? Who are they?
I have no idea how we can explain today's Republican party to my wife's and my late parents. They represented the best of America's promise in their service to this country. I don't know what Iowa's Republican party represents other than own self interest.
I agree that we can blame Reagan, Fox, and the right-wing ecosphere. But the lion's share of the blame goes to Iowans and Americans who let the Republican fascists run rampant.
Fun Fact: The last free election in Germany was in 1932 when Hitler was elected. The next was 1946 after Hitler and the Nazis were defeated.
Thank you, Barry. I am ashamed of the republican “leadership” in our state. As for trump not launching a genocide I am not so sure. He is talking about mass deportations of immigrants. That was the first step in Germany for taking care of the “Jewish problem”. I would like to think that could not happen here, but history is loaded of examples of this kind of depravity. It usually happened because too many people thought it could not possibly happen “here”.
I agree. I don’t expect that he will - but his mass deportation promise is not far removed from genocide, and is often a precursor..
My father was a marine in World War II. As a child, I grew up wondering how the German people could have stood by and let Hitler happen. What kind of monsters must they be? Now, here we are, watching the cowardice all around us. Thank you, Ed, for naming this behavior in our so called leaders. It is up to the rest of us to stand up against the creeping fascism with our voices and our votes.
Sorry, Barry, I had just read Ed. I know who you are. 😊
I’ve thought the same thing. How?? How?? Now I know. Sadly, because I have seen it here.
Thanks, Barry and readers. Occasionally, I watch News Nation and Fox. This morning, a News Nation commentator discussed Trump's NYC rally and dismissed his racist, sexist comments as simply equivalent to Democrats and Harris calling Trump a racist. Mark Halperin’s 2Way often draws similar comparisons, with viewers and Sean Spicer and Halperin responding by condemning both parties equally. This “pox on both houses” view fosters cynicism, weakening democracy and discouraging voter turnout—which often benefits Trump. Meanwhile, Democrats have struggled to counter the Republicans’ and media’s use of false equivalencies to normalize Trump’s rhetoric. This morning's News Nation commentary was a prime example.
Fire hose lying by the Republicans is the technique Republicans use to make it impossible to keep up with and rebut all their lies.
Plus, there’s the problem Mark Twain once described: “A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes “
Combine those two, and you can see why Democrats often seem to be - are - behind the curve on swatting down their lies.
This is when I predict we'll finally hear from the the Silent Six and the vast army of Trump apologists: November 6th, or whenever the final vote count shows that we've finally kicked the Orange Clown to the curb. Or perhaps January 6th, after his second failed attempt to overthrow the government. Or whenever it's deemed "safe" for cowardly Republicans to finally denounce the human cancer that has invaded our political landscape and nearly destroyed American culture. They will wipe their hands clean and deny their sycophantic behavior of the past 9 years. That's also when the right-wing infighting between the RINOs and MAGAs will be so intense as to split the Republican party in two.
Maybe not, but hey, a fella can dream, right?