My Morning With Fox & Fiends

Catching up on the morning news and then finishing it with 20 to 30 minutes of Fox & Friends is like eating a nutritious meal and then topping it off with tub of bacon fat for dessert. It leaves me feeling ill of course, but then I think about the millions of people who are eating nothing but the bacon fat. Where is the clarion cry?

Fox & Friends is essentially a political program that sprinkles in tabloid news to give its viewers occasional breaks of schadenfreude. Their support of Donald Trump and his administration is mostly accomplished through omission and selective sound bites.

I'd like to take a break from Donald Trump (oh my...that does sound good doesn't it?) and also the mindless voice that Fox News provides him. Instead I want to touch again on this "news source" that belittles its viewers at every turn.

One of the major "breaking news" stories this week on Fox & Friends involved one of Fox's favorite whipping posts, Elizabeth Warren. A woman who has accomplished more than Doocy, Earhardt, and Kilmeade combined, three times over.

They were commenting on a bill in Congress she introduced. Under her picture with outstretched arms were the word (the length of the studio) NATIONALIZE EVERYTHING. This bill, by their description was her attempt to "nationalize every major business in American". They stated categorically that such a law as she is proposing would be "the largest seizure of private property in human history".

Now I understand that their constant motives are to gin up the emotions of their viewers, but are their viewers really that stupid? God, I hope not.

The bill Warren is proposing, simply put, is an attempt to make the largest multi-national corporations operating in the US more accountable to the American people and their employees. It is a direct and reasonable response to the Citizens United decision which gave corporations the rights of individuals but with little or no transparency.

You might think Fox would bring in some established Conservative expert to lead Doocy through the entanglement of reading a bill. However, given the difference between "largest seizure in human history" and allowing employees a say in electing board members, you know an expert would be of no value to Fox.

Instead they brought on a true "Fox expert", Rebecca Walser, titled as CEO of Walser Wealth Management.

This was a 44 year old woman with a CFP (Certified Financial Planner...hey, I earned that too!) who started her business in Tampa FL in 2015. Now she is the CEO of a corporation with, you guessed it, one employee...her. That kind of makes me CEO of my home, right (or is that my wife, hmmm...) ?

Her knowledge was about as deep as her background. However, next to Doocy it's not hard to fake it. Never did they touch on Warren's bill specifically. They simply made broad inane pronouncements. I doubt either actually read the bill.

F&F followed this quality reporting by interviewing an individual who was there to provide insight on all of Trump's security challenges as this person had "just left the Pentagon".
 
That wealth of knowledge was provided by Guy Snodgrass, in his 30s. He was titled Former Top Gun Pilot. Well...that makes sense now doesn't it? Yes, he did work as a flight instructor in the Navy for a few years, then left the Navy to work several low level jobs for the Defense Department. However, the only thing I could find online about him was his published resume, where he described himself as "in transition" (which is a Top Gun way of saying "unemployed"). I trust the millions of dedicated Republicans watching drank in every word of his sage observations.

These examples are not unique for Fox News. In fact, if you make the effort to do the research you'll find that even their trusted regulars are paper thin with qualification.

Take numero uno...Sean Hannity. Like Rush Limbaugh he was a two year, college drop out. Other than doing a gig as a house painter he has been exclusively a radio, then TV talk show personality. Like Limbaugh he has made (and continues to make) a fortune in that industry, fleecing the MAGA devotees. So it makes sense that he should be able to talk to the President of the United States almost daily to provide advice on foreign and domestic affairs, right?

For those of you who say "yeah, right", I suggest you send your money to Walser Wealth Management. I'm sure Rebecca will take good care of it.