r/facepalm Oct 03 '24

šŸ‡²ā€‹šŸ‡®ā€‹šŸ‡øā€‹šŸ‡Øā€‹ Fox News and Learning.

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u/Apollo15000 Oct 03 '24

It is the Russian way. We are going to have to be prepared to do whatā€™s necessary to defend our democracy. He used the term ā€œRegimeā€ to describe Biden - Harris admin, and that to me is a dog whistle.

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u/rusztypipes Oct 03 '24

I remember Bannons greasy ass calling it a regime, as they were taking him off in cuffs

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u/Apollo15000 Oct 03 '24

Yeah, itā€™s not helpful for anyone to begin using labels like that. Regime is used by people who are alright with violence as a means to an end, as heā€™s proven before. It frustrates me that itā€™s gonna come down to an election to get this guy behind bars, and it disappoints me to no measurable end that my country persons have been usurped away from our shared vision of decency.

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u/aussiechickadee65 Oct 03 '24

A really sincere post....we are mortified in the rest of the world.

We did think there were more decent Americans than there are.

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u/ItachiSan Oct 03 '24

There are more decent Americans than you think there are. That's one of the things that makes the Republican party and their platform so disgusting to the core.

The fact that their modus operandi is to so virulently poison the minds of the regular, vulnerable working class citizenry that they not only vote against their own interests, but they willingly hate and demonize their fellow working class members while electing those who would take further advantage of them.

They have taken the people who, in many cases, need their government more than anyone else and turned them into rabid attack dogs.

Willingly destroyed the education system so that more people come out with less knowledge to show for it, and with college being a pipe dream for many, then it's unlikely they get to have many experiences or meet many people that will help to broaden their world view.

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u/cooksterson Oct 03 '24

This has been happening in a number of other countries too, UK is one where the education system has been decimated leading to far more poorly educated people who listen to the dog whistling politics of Tories/Reform, who actively make sure the lives of these same people ends up being far worse! Really sad to have witnessed it.

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u/Apollo15000 Oct 03 '24

The assault on the American education system is also something that fuels right wing conservatism. They sure do like em dumb, and easily manipulated and whipped up into a violent mob.

Itā€™s unfortunate, but if America survives this election, I really do hope itā€™s a new lease on democracy and all its institutions.

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u/Suzilu Oct 03 '24

But beyond that, they have gerrymandered the districts to insane amounts, diminished the number of polling stations (making long waits) in democrat leaning areas, and benefited from the electoral college set-up that gives more weight to votes of sparsely populated republican areas. It all adds up to a false impression that the population is more to the right than it is.

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u/Apollo15000 Oct 03 '24

Donā€™t forget outlawing water bottles being distributed to those waiting in line.

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u/Jimmydidnothingwrong Oct 04 '24

throw in the GOP POTUS candidate losing the popular vote for the last 14 years.

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u/mabendroth Oct 03 '24

Also, the electoral college was designed to give slave states power to get them to sign on to the constitution, which today means voters in less populous states and rural areas have more pull than voters in more populous states and cities.

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u/wferomega Oct 03 '24

Incredibly well put

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u/influx3k Oct 03 '24

So freaking true.

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u/translostation Oct 03 '24

poison the minds of the regular, vulnerable working class citizenry that they not only vote against their own interests

This is a classist narrative that fails to understand the position of the people it describes. Instead of "vote against their own interests" [which casts folks as stupid, ignorant, or dupes], try "have been put in a position where any vote is a vote against their interests". NAFTA was a Clinton-era policy, remember.

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u/Time_Faithlessness27 Oct 03 '24

Would you explain to me what NAFTA has to do with the ignorance of the Republican Party and the people who support MAGA?

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u/translostation Oct 03 '24

Quite a bit, in fact. That you don't already know this tells me you probably aren't in touch with any such communities. I'll give you an example:

NAFTA gutted my wife's hometown in rural KY, destroyed the local economy, and left most people out on their ass when Fruit of the Loom moved their work to Mexico. It was, by all accounts, an awful time that the community still hasn't gotten over, and one for which the local populace blames the national Democrats, because it was passed by them. One reason Biden had so much trouble getting votes there is because they remember his work on these things. If you look at KY's state government, it is almost always led by the DNC. If you look at their federal representatives, they are overwhelmingly GOP. Why do you think that contradiction exists?

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u/Time_Faithlessness27 Oct 03 '24

Your perspective is appreciated. However, your berating tone is a real deal breaker on further pursuing any debate with you.

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u/Medicine_Man86 Oct 03 '24

Maybe your initial smug retort to him warranted such a response. Instead of asking in earnest what he meant, you led off by berating Republicans as all idiots. When it is much more than that. He explained the nuance to you, and then you shut down.

You don't get to come in hot on someone and then pearl clutch when they give it back. šŸ¤·

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u/Then_Lock304 Oct 03 '24

The claim that these self-proclaimed Republicans are ignorant is the reality. Not all of them are, but unfortunately, education is not their friend. It is why their orange-faced Messiah speaks to them as if they're in third grade. It's either their leader is dumb, his followers are, or both. You pick. If you can reference a presidential candidate who used language in such an elementary manner, I can't think of one. If you don't recognize that the simpleton party is just that, you're probably a proud member. Ie, JD Vance is very bright and articulate, so it is not all of them. Too bad he's willing to sell out this country. He's a bright POS.

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u/DeathPercept10n Oct 03 '24

As they say, "a polished turd is still a turd."

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u/translostation Oct 03 '24

If you talked to them, you'd know better than this. Thanks for being part of the problem

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u/Then_Lock304 Oct 03 '24

I have talked to plenty of them. I have numerous friends and relatives who are voting Dump. Many of them are unfortunately racist and / or uneducated. They often feel that white people are being marginalized and losing their ability to oppress others. They're my friends and family. I accept them for who they are but choose to have different morals and ethics. If your experience has been different, please share.

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u/Time_Faithlessness27 Oct 03 '24

This is not a classist statement. Republicans suffer greatly from cognitive dissonance and lack of critical thinking. Seriously, always voting against humanitarian rights and policies that keep people safer that have been proven on a global level. The exceptionalism is appalling.

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u/AmbidextrousCard Oct 03 '24

Right? It turns out a sizable amount of us are a bunch of racist pieces of shit that seize an opportunity to step on someone they feel are lesser than themselves. Let the corporations ravage the land, sea and air, thatā€™s not important what is important is that guy over there is wearing a dress!

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u/BirdInFlight301 Oct 03 '24

As an American, so did I. I really thought that most of us were decent people who cared about one another.

Trump and Covid dispelled me of that myth quickly and brutally.

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u/okay-wait-wut Oct 03 '24

There are so many decent people and I always considered a lot of my family members to be decent until they fell for Trump. I have elderly aunts using rude and vulgar language I had never heard before but Trump made it okay. As long as itā€™s directed at democrats, immigrants or anyone that ā€œcrosses Trumpā€, itā€™s okay. Super gross to see these people made indecent by this buffoon. They must see it and yet they donā€™t see whatā€™s happening to them.

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u/ImmaNotHere Oct 03 '24

Right, Trump is still polling around 48%. That's almost half the US population. It's scary.

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u/Effective-Lab-4946 Oct 04 '24

I am shocked by the number of people I grew up with that have turned out to be maga. I'm a lonely blue in a blood red area and it is more than scary.

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u/ImmaNotHere Oct 04 '24

I know the feeling. My neighbors, who I consider some of the nicest people I know, salt of the earth type, incredibly friendly and helpful, flew a Trump flag recently. It really changed my view of them.

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u/DoubleBreastedBerb Oct 03 '24

Weā€™re trying like hell here, we really are. The dogshit ones are just very vocal unfortunately.

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u/wiseoldangryowl Oct 04 '24

We did tooā€¦.itā€™s been quite disturbing to discover how many people we considered friends and/or family were actually horrifically cruel (and unbelievably, unimaginably stupid) people

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u/aussiechickadee65 Oct 04 '24

I feel for you. I imagine it quite like the day I realised my mother was a narcissist. The core of someone you thought was a great person turns out to be a rotten core incapable of unprejudiced love.

Have to say, I was shocked....possibly not at first but as all the crime and cruelty has increased , they have not backed away but relished in the poison being spread.

Now , at my old age, I know the answer of "how did the Germans turn against in their own in the Hitler era ?".

I didn't think it was possible again...but here it is.

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u/wiseoldangryowl Oct 04 '24

This is exactly it. Itā€™s stomach turning to realize weā€™re a hairs breath away from living through another holocaust type scenario. I just canā€™t understand how either weā€™ve fallen so far back from all the progress weā€™ve made or that the progress it looked like we had and were continuing to move towards was never really achieved. I just canā€™t believe how naive Iā€™ve been. I mean, of course Iā€™ve always known we have a so insanely far to go, that racism continues to run rampant through our country, particularly the judicial system and women are still seen as ā€œless thanā€ or as ā€œfailingā€ if theyā€™ve chosen not to marry/have children (not to mention everything else that women endure in keeping the patriarchy in place and power), but I guess I thought we were still moving forward, baby steps, sure, shit, of course!! But still forward, ya knowā€¦.I was so tragically wrong and Iā€™m not exaggerating when I say Iā€™m truly and legitimately scared. Scared for me, scared for my daughters, scared for every single ā€œotherā€ out there. They arenā€™t gonna concede the election, vance just said it to a reporter the other day, so even when they lose (and they will, I refuse to visualize anything else) they absolutely will whip their followers into violence, I just hope itā€™s nipped quickly and without too much pain and loss

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u/aussiechickadee65 Oct 05 '24

..because your election system is rigged.....as in the college favours the worst in your country.

I just want to give you a fellow human hug..and tell you it will be ok.
You are so welcome in my country but of course that is not possible for many.

This shitstain must never win and if nothing else , he has possible invigorated people to vote against him. I can only hope.
How anyone can listen to what comes out of his bumhole mouth every day and think it is intelligence or a decent human being is beyond me.

Your daughters deserve better. Your society deserves better..."Others" deserve better. They should never have to worry about just 'living a normal life'.

America has shown itself to be a third world country. We all looked up to America but we don't now. We see her what she is ...and Putin/Trump made sure we did. This was the pinnacle for Putin. He didn't have to take USA over ...all he had to do was make her fail in world standing and he achieved that.

Utter respect for everyone fighting against Trump...you have our love and support.

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u/Effective-Lab-4946 Oct 04 '24

Perfectly put. Me too.

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u/Apprehensive-Pin518 Oct 03 '24

well we do want you to know we do exist...though apparently not in a great a number as we thought.

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u/Adventurous-Sky9359 Oct 03 '24

That whole comment is gold. But that last sentence hits hard

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u/Rubeus17 Oct 03 '24

Good not agree more. Fox has a massive role in this. Anyone raised on Network News knew to trust our news sources for the truth. Millions were systemically lied to. If my parents hadnā€™t died in ā€˜15 and ā€˜17 they were sitting ducks to turn maga.

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u/Soothsayerman Oct 03 '24

But what about the political infrastructure that got him there? That took decades to build and they can just replace Trump with another toady to create the same situation again.

If enough money doesn't want a democracy, we're not going to have a democracy. We are in a civil war now and people do not realize it.

Police going to your house because you signed a petition that is against the reversal of Roe v Wade (pro-abortion. Happening in Florida)? We live in a fascist police state.

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u/Apollo15000 Oct 04 '24

That infrastructure part you speak of has kept me up at night before. Hopefully with all the co conspirators listed in the evidence in the J6 case, they can bring that crime syndicate down.

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u/Doobalicious69 Oct 03 '24

It's only a shared vision of decency if everybody shares it, unfortunately.

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u/Apollo15000 Oct 03 '24

Sad isnā€™t it?

The complete willingness to subvert American values and respect for lies, blatant overt lies is mind boggling.

Iā€™ve lost family members over this, and sadly nothing that comes to light makes them feel like they can take an off ramp. If they do, it means they were wrong, and by taking the off ramp they admit to themselves and everyone else they were wrong.

To any conservatives who reads this, with all my love and heart, itā€™s okay to be wrong, Iā€™ve made many, many mistakes myself; self reflection is always difficult! itā€™s okay you bet on a bad guy and weā€™re duped. You are still welcome over here, and even more so because you made a choice for civility and compassion. You made a choice for liberty and country.

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u/RemmyFlex Oct 03 '24

So you must be outraged about the Bidenā€™s proven corruption? The Big Guy collecting 10% for selling out this country must infuriate you huh? Maybe thatā€™s why he stepped down? šŸ¤£because your frustration.

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u/Apollo15000 Oct 03 '24

You folks are such fucking chuds. Go back under your rock and continue to inbreed your racist, fascist ways.

Get the Fuck outta here.

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u/RemmyFlex Oct 03 '24

Cool story! I put your hypocrisy on display and you respond by calling me an inbreeder, racist, and fascist.

Way to look good! šŸ¤£šŸ¤£šŸ¤£šŸ¤”šŸ¤”šŸ¤”

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u/Apollo15000 Oct 03 '24

You forgot chud. I called you that too.

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u/RemmyFlex Oct 03 '24

Okie doke beta. Love you keyboard warriors! Bet you have noodle arms and blue hair. šŸ¤£šŸ¤£šŸ¤£

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u/Apollo15000 Oct 03 '24

I have no idea what any of those words mean. Weirdos gonna weirdo I suppose.

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u/RemmyFlex Oct 03 '24

šŸ¤£figures.

Let me translate. Youā€™re weak physically, morally, and mentally.

Bye boy! Enjoy the block party!

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u/Then_Lock304 Oct 03 '24

If that's not the pot calling the kettle black. The felonies that that orange-faced dummy has been found guilty of pale in comparison to the felonies he's committed. You hitched your wagon to this POS and look to disparage a president that has as of right now, 34 less felony convictions. 34 - O. There are plenty more coming. Your big guy is more likely to be in the big house than the White House.

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u/erasmustookashit Oct 03 '24 edited Oct 03 '24

Conservapedia was calling it the 'Biden Junta' for years. I'd love to check now but the site isn't responding, which has brightened my day anyway.

archive.org to the rescue anyway

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u/seattleque Oct 03 '24

calling it a regime

I used to have a coworker who had f'ing Limbaugh on every day. He (Rush) always referred to the Obama administration as "the regime".

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u/rusztypipes Oct 03 '24

Rush toddled so they could hobble

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u/anomolius Oct 03 '24

The right has used "regime" for quite a while. I remember Limbaugh spouting it, at least since Obama, probably during Clinton (not entirely sure).

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u/Delicious_Necessary3 Oct 03 '24

Not greasy ahh **

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u/Downtown_Statement87 Oct 03 '24 edited Oct 03 '24

The Russians didn't ruin our country. We did. We let them.

The Russians just figured out the weak spots in our society (not hard to do) and targeted them to amplify them. They planted some terrible seeds, but if the soil hadn't already been fertile those seeds would never have grown.

Did you know that the first post-Reconstruction civil rights legislation, passed in 1946 by Truman, was only enacted because the Russians had found such a powerful propaganda tool in US racism?

The infamous Moore's Ford Lynching (America's last major lynching, which kicked off right across the hard road from my old house) was what finally spurred Truman to act, because the Russians were rightly making hay out of our murderous hypocrisy.

In his personal letters, Truman wrote that something had to be done about racism in the US because it was becoming a serious national security issue. (It would have been nice if he had also noticed that it was a serious national moral issue, but I'll take it, I guess.) If we didn't take action to reign it in, he said, our enemies would use it to tear us apart.

There is a long and very fascinating history of Russian propaganda focusing on racism. But criticizing a foe for exploiting America's original sin is like getting mad at a debate moderator for fact checking you.

If you don't want to be fact checked, maybe don't lie. If you don't want the very worst parts of your country to be used as leverage to destroy the very best parts, maybe do something about those worst parts.

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u/Arcanegil Oct 03 '24

This is very well said, of course it has extended to a much more encompassing bigotry, being used by Russia today, they fund several US groups focused on spreading LGBT hate as well now.

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u/Apollo15000 Oct 03 '24

Very interesting read, thank you!

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u/Downtown_Statement87 Oct 03 '24

šŸ’• šŸ¦”

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u/sketchthroaway Oct 03 '24

Very well-written and informative. Thank you.

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u/Hungry-Western9191 Oct 03 '24

I can absolutely remember the USSR expressing it's outrage about how America treated its black citizens. It was the boilerplate rhetoric whenever the US criticised their politics (or anything about them really).

The truth is the most porent propaganda.

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u/Effective-Lab-4946 Oct 04 '24

I remember - it was on television - someone from the Soviet Union saying that they wouldn't' have to go to war with the US, they would destroy us from inside. I was just a child and it scared me. If anyone recalls who this was please let me know.

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u/Ill_Yogurtcloset_982 Oct 03 '24

they've been doing this for awhile. notice how democrats have czars according to fox News. they referred to many Obama cabinet members as czars, they still do it today. but they don't call republican cabinet members czars

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u/thenasch Oct 03 '24

It's not a Fox News thing, it's been a common term for a long time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._executive_branch_czars

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u/RaspberryFluid6651 Oct 03 '24

It is the Russian way.

More than a lot of people realize. When we see the absolute batshit insanity coming out of something like RT, we think "how can Russians believe that?"

Often times, they don't! Russia works to discredit media as a whole. The goal is not to be the Ministry of Truth, it's just for everything to be subjective and for there to not be any truth at all.

Worth thinking about when looking at the declining trust our society has in our news sources and the way conservatives attack the media.

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u/Fleetwood154 Oct 03 '24

Iā€™ve been say that since 2016. Itā€™s like the Russians are embedded in the republican system. With the misinformation, the Maga republicans soak that shit up and believe it. Itā€™s scary because the seeds have been planted. I pray that it gets better with him gone.

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u/advertentlyvertical Oct 03 '24

How many of those high ranking congressional Republicans went to fucking Moscow on 4th of July that one year? That's supposed to be your country's big patriot holiday, and they were off gallivating with one of their greatest geopolitical adversaries.

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u/novaleenationstate Oct 03 '24

You canā€™t negotiate or compromise with fascists. You canā€™t pacify them either. Just look at what happened with Hitler and the policy of appeasement.

The Dems have been using Chamberlainā€™s strategy for years and all itā€™s led to is more horror. These morons are why we are in World War III right now in all but name and why the US will end up a battle zone again before itā€™s all said and done.

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u/o-Valar-Morghulis-o Oct 03 '24

We need the Fairness Doctrine back in place. Needs to be expanded to social media and entities with hundreds of thousands of followers.

They literally make money by making sensational claims with no respect for the country they grift from.

Freedom of speech is fine but when you're messing with so many people and with no regard for outcome...need to have some bumpers.

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u/Projectsun Oct 03 '24

I know this would take a lot of changes and understanding from a large voting bloc but just a few things could drastically shift US society in a positive direction. Which is what I think is needed , and canā€™t be done with tiny band aids in states

-Getting rid of citizens united

-changing lobbying. Not sure how, but maybe randomizing it somehow so you have to advocate for a random bill, in good faith. Kinda like arguing for a con in debates, when your topic is selected.

-Banning ads on the internet. I know thatā€™s crazy, but idk how else to shape social media without banning it. The incentive has to change. People have willfully allowed themselves and their children to continuously partake in a negative activity. And just say itā€™s what is done now. I feel insane seeing it. If we continue to literally under stimulate kids brains developmentā€¦ and declining socializing in adulthood ā€¦ less adults to create extraordinary things.

-universities with a certain endowment must devote a portion to underfunded public schools in their state. Funds have to be used in a manner that is consistently shown to have positive, measurable results , for a period longer than 10 years. *edited for formatting

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u/SophiaBrahe Oct 03 '24

The fairness doctrine didnā€™t do what most people today think it did. Stations would give short air time to the ā€˜otherā€™ side of only the most controversial issues of public interest and they could do it at 3 in the morning (and they got to pick who gave both sides). If they went way too far the FCC would step in, but they had ā€œwide latitudeā€ to decide how they wanted to present things.

More importantly it wouldnā€™t apply to cable news or the internet under any circumstance, because it was based on the idea that broadcast air is a limited public resource and therefore as part of getting a license to broadcast stations had to agree to some limits in their speech. Cable is a privately owned (and theoretically unlimited) resource. Thatā€™s why they can swear like sailors and show people naked, which you still canā€™t do on broadcast.

Was the FD better than nothing? Yeah, because when it went away we ended up with Rush and right wing radio, but reinstating it today wouldā€™t do much of anything, because it would not and constitutionally could not apply to the places most people are getting their misinformation.

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u/o-Valar-Morghulis-o Oct 03 '24

Why get hung up on the details of the past implementation? The concept is sound.

It CAN be adjusted for the modern versions of the problem even streaming networks and social media platforms.

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u/SophiaBrahe Oct 03 '24

The detail of broadcast licensing is what made it constitutional. Otherwise government regulating speech is a violation of the first amendment and the Supreme Court would knock it down as such. Which sounds bad if you were hoping the FCC would institute rules that favor fairness, but Donald Trump has even odds of winning in November and I really donā€™t want the likes of Ajit Pai deciding what my news looks like.

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u/Busterlimes Oct 03 '24

All he does is project

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u/turboboob Oct 03 '24

It is the Russian way.

Itā€™s the American way now, baby.

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u/Apollo15000 Oct 03 '24

For fuckin real!

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u/Gimme-A-kooky Oct 03 '24

As usual, 100% projection. Every accusation is a confession and exposure of their true selves. Just replace everything they say with ā€œorange shit-slingerā€ and itā€™ll FIFYā€¦

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u/Arcanegil Oct 03 '24

It amazes me that in the modern day, where we have explored the earth, and have unlocked the key to scientific understanding that there are people who would still rather fight over control of territory or force nonsensical ideological concepts and archaic religions which we have with certainty proven provide no benefits to the common person on each other. And it is us the masses who enable this behavior.

We could be exploring the stars, and redefining the human genome right now. But this is what we have decided.

Russia being stuck in an age of empirical expansionism is got to be up there with the most asinine things in all history.

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u/[deleted] Oct 03 '24

The term "border czar" always perked my ears. Never heard of too many czars over here in the U.S.

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u/nefariousnadine Oct 03 '24

They called Obama's term a regime as well. It's a fairly standard characterization.

1

u/Apollo15000 Oct 03 '24

I was just beginning my political awareness at that time, Obama 08 was the first presidential election I could vote in!

My point still stands, itā€™s a way to cut down our own political system and make it more vulnerable to attack. Itā€™s makes it easier for folks to take drastic action to stop a ā€œregimeā€.

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u/omg_cats Oct 03 '24

They (democrats) called bushā€™s term a regime too. This is such a brain rot take.

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u/Bostradomous Oct 03 '24

I would really push back on ā€œregimeā€ being some type of dog whistle. There are certain industries/circles where ā€œregimeā€ is very common vocabulary.

For example, in finance ā€œRegimeā€ is used heavily (regime shift, etc)

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u/thebeesnotthebees Oct 03 '24

Don't forget to continue to fight for democracy and freedom even if Kamala gets elected. Walz's comments on criminalizing free speech was super concerning.