Op-ed views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author.
Democrats are defined by their ability to exploit a crisis to push a political agenda, and the tactic has proven to be so successful that the party isn’t above fabricating a crisis to achieve its end.
Of course, the greatest achievement would be to stain the opposition party so badly that it’s no longer competitive, which explains the over-the-top hyperbole applied by Democrats and their media allies in response to the storming of the U.S. Capitol.
Another great achievement would be to take away the few platforms available to the Republican Party, as seen when Big Tech effectively canceled a sitting U.S. president by silencing his voice online.
Fox News, such as it is, is the leading platform, and a pair of Democratic lawmakers sent letters to AT&T, Verizon, Roku, Amazon, Apple, Comcast, Charter, Dish, Cox, Altice, Google parent Alphabet, and Disney-owned Hulu on Monday, urging them to consider dropping the “right-wing media outlet.”
Reps. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and Jerry McNerney, D-Calif., are exploiting the riot at the Capitol to call on the nations’ major TV providers to address misinformation on their services — this being a convenient ask when Big Tech liberals and the corrupt media establishment controls what the truth is.
Two Democratic members of Congress are pressuring the CEOs of the country’s major TV providers to essentially purge the news networks these Members don’t like, on the basis of the alleged danger posed by “misinformation and conspiracy theories” https://t.co/QyNyy0dPdX pic.twitter.com/DcxX68sLNt
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) February 22, 2021
“Our country’s public discourse is plagued by misinformation, disinformation, conspiracy theories, and lies,” the Democratic lawmakers wrote.” These phenomena undergird the radicalization of seditious individuals who committed acts of insurrection on January 6th, and it contributes to a growing distrust of public health measures necessary to crush the pandemic.”
The letter adds, “Misinformation on TV has led to our current polluted information environment that radicalizes individuals to commit seditious acts and rejects public health best practices, among other issues in our public discourse.”
To follow along, one must dismiss the notion that the fake news often seen from Fox News’ competitors is misinformation — just that which doesn’t adhere to the agenda being pursued by these lawmakers.
In addition to Fox News, Newsmax and One America News Network were also named in the letter.
“Right-wing media outlets, like Newsmax, One America News Network (OANN), and Fox News all aired misinformation about the November 2020 elections,” the missive said. “For example, both Newsmax and OANN ‘ran incendiary reports’ of false information following the elections and continue to support ‘an angry and dangerous subculture [that] will continue to operate semi-openly.'”
“As a violent mob was breaching the doors of the Capitol, Newsmax’s coverage called the scene a ‘sort of a romantic idea,'” the letter continued. “Fox News, meanwhile, has spent years spewing misinformation about American politics.”
A Fox News spokesperson said in a statement, “As the most watched cable news channel throughout 2020, Fox News Media provided millions of Americans with in-depth reporting, breaking news coverage and clear opinion. For individual members of Congress to highlight political speech they do not like and demand cable distributors engage in viewpoint discrimination sets a terrible precedent.”
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr called the letter “a chilling transgression of the free speech rights that every media outlet in this country enjoys.”
The Republican said in a release: “By writing letters to the cable providers and other regulated entities that carry these news media outlets, the Democrats are sending a message that is as clear as it is troubling – these regulated entities will pay a price if the targeted newsrooms do not conform to Democrats’ preferred political narratives.”
“To the House Democrats that used their official letterhead to launch this inquiry, I would say this,” he continued. “Your demand to know the ‘moral principles’ that guide a private entity’s decision about what news to carry cannot be reconciled with bedrock principles of free speech and journalistic freedom.”
Carr concluded by calling on the FCC “to join me in publicly denouncing this attempt to stifle political speech and independent news judgment.”
Here’s a quick sampling of responses to the story from Twitter:
Policing “disinformation” is not within the purview of Congress. If the Constitution is anything other than an old irrelevant piece of parchment, unconstitutional abuses of power like this must be vigorously opposed.
— Benny Nomad (@BennySeattle) February 22, 2021
It’s starting to feel more and more like 1984 now than when Trump was in.
— ツ (@Obe1Cannoli) February 22, 2021
If they want to go there they will have to get rid of ALL news channels at this point honestly so they need to quit playing around and get to actually working for the people.
— Ashley H (@Oceangirl32liv1) February 23, 2021
Yupp. Same will go for Comcast since they own the NBC networks.
— KBTY (@MR50565861) February 23, 2021
Let’s let the corporate media be the arbiter of what’s true and what’s not and let’s cheer for it. It’s not censorship, it’s harm reduction. I’m not conditioned or incapable of free thought, I just have the mentality of a 5 yr old and need to be told what to believe.
— GenXrules (@genxrule) February 23, 2021
DON’T FORGET: Anna Eshoo is the Bay Area Congresswoman who started the Blasey Ford nonsense.
— Too Bright For Your Gaslight (@LNSmithee) February 23, 2021
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The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.
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