Friday Fox Folly’s life is defined by several distinct Fox “News” Bubbles. The first is the only one I welcome. Let’s call it my Warm Fox “News” Bubble, which envelopes me the minute I roll out of bed, at the first crack of Fox & Friends First (whose cracks you can almost see with those hiked up dresses). I catch the beginning of that show so often that I can tell you which days of the week they open with the Star Spangled Banner. Surprisingly, they aren’t patriotic every day. Just Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.
I enjoy this Fox “News” Bubble – which lasts ’til 9:30, 10 o’clock — because I can yell back at the screen while I do other work for the Not Now Silly Newsroom. With Der Google at my fingertips, I can refute their BS in real time on Facebook and Twitter, where a small group of like-minded folks kick it around.
By the time I turn it off – provided there’s been no breaking news later — I know all the memes Fox “News” will deploy over the course of the day. That’s because Fox & Friends (and to a lesser extent Fox and Friends First) is the table-setter for the day. Those Foxy Friends send up many trial balloons to determine the Right Wing Outrage Du Jour™. When they see which topics fuel the outrage machine, those will be pounded for the rest of the day, until finally Loofah Lad does a whole Talking Points Memo about it and Sean Scammity has a panel blaming the whole thing on Obama and Black folk.
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No Warm Fox “News” Bubble for me this week as I am in the middle of the 3rd Annual Sunrise to Canton Road Trip for Research, a 3,000 mile road trip through Fox Nation and back. Bad timing, considering this week’s historic events. From the nuclear deal with Iran, to a terrorist attack killing 4 marines in Tennessee, to the pronouncement on high about Bill Cosby. Being outside the Fox “News” Bubble, I’ve not been able to see how all that can be blamed on President Obama.
The second kind of Fox “News” Bubble? To quote myself:
Nothing is more disheartening than when I look around and come to the sudden realization that I have been enveloped by a Fox “News” bubble again.
It often happens spontaneously. The awareness starts with a tingle at the nape of my neck. I could be in a line at the grocery store or, more likely, sitting on the patio of my local Starbucks, lost in my own world. First detected by the hairs on my neck, my ears pick up on this early warning system. My brain, always the last to fall into line, begins to focus on my surroundings. I become aware of the general drift of the conversation around me.
OH, NO!!! I’m inside another Fox “News” bubble!!! It makes my skin crawl. My palms feel like the nearby Florida swamp. The stream of false Fox “News” talking points turns my stomach. The longer it continues, the more I vibrate inside. Every part of my being is poised for Fight or Flight.
In the end, I always choose flight. There’s no point getting into it with total strangers.
The third Fox “News” Bubble is the one I dread the most and the one I am headed towards on this road trip. It’s the yearly Family Reunion at which I know I will encounter family members who believe the Fox “News.” That members of my own family are exhibiting the stupidity I write about breaks my heart. However, I can tell they only rely on one news source, the Fox “News” source. The Unfair and Imbalanced BS is instantly recognizable.
Again, to quote me:
It’s no coincidence that various polls show both of these things to be simultaneously true:
• Fox News” is the most trusted news channel
• Fox “News” viewers are the least informedThe best way to understand this dichotomy is to realize that being a Fox “News” Viewer is no different than belonging to a cult. Like any self-respecting cultist, the Fox “News” Viewer has been brainwashed into believing that there is only a single source of truth, and all the other ones are lyin’, left leanin’, pinko perversions of news operations.
When one challenges the average, brain dead Fox “News” viewer, they often shut down because they have no comeback. However, if they have any social media skills at all, they’re able to cite other sites that say the same damned thing. This is the Fox “News” Echo Chamber in full effect. All these Right Wing sites are singing from the same hymnal. Hallelujah!
I try not to get into it with some of my family, the same way I won’t discuss issues of race with some of them. I know they are on the wrong side of history; they haven’t realized it yet.
Here’s some of what I’ve missed while on the road. Unbelievably, this is just one story, over just one day, from just one source. However, it’s telling because it shows how Fox “News” doesn’t do journalism.
Fox Runs With Bogus ISIS Link To Chattanooga Shooting
Fox Starts Walking Back Claims Of ISIS Link To Chattanooga Shooting
Fox’s Catherine Herridge Now Admits There Are
“Questions” About Accuracy Of Her ISIS Tweet Reporting
Fox’s Martha MacCallum Uses Chattanooga
Shooting To Applaud Trump’s Gun Rhetoric
Bret Baier Admits Fox Got Link Between ISIS
Tweet And Chattanooga Shooting Wrong
Bill O’Reilly Links ISIS Tweet To Chattanooga
Shooting Even As He Admits It May Not Be True
TIMELINE: How Fox Got It Wrong In Its Rush To
Link The Chattanooga Shooting To An ISIS Tweet
Tune in next week for Friday Fox Follies 2nd week on the highway, already in progress.
Headly Westerfield describes the open road as his happy place.
