I write a 500-word editorial each month for Marijuana Venture. Most of the time the subject is the cannabis industry, however, once in a while I stray off into politics. And when I do it usually has something to do with Donald Trump or one of his crooked cronies like Roger Stone, Paul Manafort or Mike Flynn.
When I do, I’ll often get emails from readers who think I should stick with business.
I get it. Politics in the U.S. — particularly in the past six or seven years — has been divisive and nasty. That’s unfortunate. I’m old enough to remember the Reagan and Bush Sr. years. Both were Republican presidents who didn’t get my vote. However, both were also generally moderate men who were imminently qualified to be president, had strong leadership teams and proved to be politicians who mostly stayed free of major scandals (Reagan had Iran-Contra, but by today’s standards, that was pretty mild).
Trump is another story altogether. From day one he behaved in a manner unlike any other president in U.S. history. His demeanor, history, foul language, crooked cronies, lack of experience, support from Russian President Vladimir Putin, conflicts of interest and a host of other red flags should have sent 99% of Americans running from him like the plague.
I wish.
As with other cult leaders, it’s sadly obvious that there is almost nothing he can say or do that will change the minds of the true believers. The same was true of David Koresh, Jim Jones and others who have led the blind and willing down a bizarre path in which adulation and unwavering support were the order of the day. That path inevitably leads to a bad ending.
The difference with Trump is that the sheer numbers of his supporters are so much greater than with typical cult leaders. But without Fox News, Trump would probably be nowhere near as popular as he is. And that’s where it gets really weird and dangerous: Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Rupert Murdoch and numerous Fox execs ALL sent texts and emails back and forth calling Trump’s stolen election claims bogus. They all expressed disdain and dislike for Trump. And they all repeatedly demonstrated that they found him to be a fraud and a liar.
Here are a few choice quotes from the Dominion defamation lawsuit that is ongoing:
Tucker Carlson: “I hate him passionately.”
Rupert Murdoch: Trump appears “increasingly mad.”
Fox executives: Trump’s claims are “completely BS” and “mind-blowingly nuts.”
Yet Fox continued to push Trump’s lies on national TV because they knew their viewers wanted to believe the steaming pile of cow manure Trump was pushing. Think about that for a minute: The folks at Fox News were all smart enough and savvy enough to know Trump was full of crap, and that he was a phony and fraud. But they pushed his garbage anyway because they knew their own viewers were willfully gullible and wanted to believe the lies.
They did it for ratings and profit.
That’s pretty pathetic and proves once again that Fox News is miles away from being a real news organization. At Marijuana Venture, for example, we report what our readers need to know about our industry, whether it’s what they are hoping to hear or not.
But at least this Dominion Voting Machines lawsuit confirms what many of us suspected: Fox News hosts aren’t stupid. They’re just greedy, dishonest propagandists.
Greg James
Publisher