U.S. Politics: Great Men Master trends

[Zorral]

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/04/tucker-carlson-has-left-fox-news.html

I, for one, am not buying it was his sexism, racism, and bullying ways that got him terminated, because that is his job description, and, in fact, Fox's mission statement.  It's been going on since day 1.  That he loathed tRump was the reason is more plausible, and that he badmouthed the hands that fed him.

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During discovery for the case, multiple texts were made public, revealing that Carlson loathed Donald Trump behind the scenes while he praised the then-president in public. (In an apparent effort to mend fences, Carlson interviewed Trump earlier this month.) Carlson’s position after the 2020 election put him at odds with most of the rest of Fox News, which was distancing itself from the presidential loser.

At Vanity Fair, Brian Stelter also reports that the texts we’ve seen weren’t the only private messages unearthed by the Dominion lawsuit:

Hundreds of pages of emails and text messages from within Fox were published in Dominion’s pre-trial legal filings. But there is a huge number of other pages that remain out of public view. The redactions were voluminous. Only three groups of people know what those pages contain: Dominion’s lawyers, Fox’s top executives, and obviously the people who were sending and receiving the messages. So what was Carlson saying about, say, Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott? What was he texting about the Murdochs? We don’t know. We may never know. 

The Los Angeles Times reports, however, that Grossberg’s claims, rather than the Dominion revelations, were the main factor in Carlson’s termination. Per the Times, it was Rupert Murdoch himself who made the call to axe Carlson:

People familiar with the situation who were not authorized to comment publicly said the decision to fire Carlson came straight from Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch. Carlson’s exit is related to the discrimination lawsuit filed by Abby Grossberg, the producer fired by the network last month, the people said. Murdoch is also said to be concerned over Carlson’s coverage of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, in which the host has promoted the conspiracy theory that it was provoked by government agents.

In a pair of lawsuits against Fox News, Grossberg alleged that the network’s lawyers had attempted to make her one of the scapegoats for the Dominion case and claimed widespread misogyny and discrimination at the company, detailing specific allegations against Carlson’s team.

In her federal court filing, Grossberg described the work environment of Carlson’s show as one that “subjugates women based on vile sexist stereotypes” as well as “typecasts religious minorities and belittles their traditions.”

On her second day of work, Justin Wells, a senior producer, asked Grossberg if her previous boss, Maria Bartiromo, had ever had sex with Kevin McCarthy, the Republican House speaker. Grossberg said her colleagues also joked about the attractiveness of women politicians and, in one instance, recounted hearing one coworker call a Republican congresswoman “fat” and implied she only got her job by sleeping with her predecessor.

Grossberg also alleges she was personally discriminated against for being Jewish and that she was a witness to offensive remarks about Jewish people. She recalls Alexander McCaskill, her direct supervisor at the time, singling out an Israeli colleague, admonishing him to other coworkers for taking time off for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. When that same employee visited a Jewish bakery for lunch, McCaskill joked that the man went to “the Jew bakery” and went “to see his people.”

 

 

[Mindwalker]

1 hour ago, DMC said:

As a political observer/junkie, I would love if Carlson ran against Trump.  It'd be a lot of fun to watch.

Absolutely. I've been saying for years he wants to run, and now he could play the victim of the woke. We'll see.

But if he runs, I hope he'll use Don jr.'s lament of his firing as an endorsement.

Edited April 24, 2023 by Mindwalker

[Martell Spy]

Smartmatic wants more than Dominion’s $787 million payout, plus a retraction from Fox for its 2020 election lies, lawyer says

https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/20/media/smartmatic-fox-news-retraction/index.html

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A top lawyer for Smartmatic, the voting technology company whose defamation lawsuit against Fox News is still pending, said Thursday that he won’t accept any settlement smaller than the $787 million Fox agreed to pay Dominion, and that his client needs a “full retraction” from the right-wing network disavowing the lies it spread about the 2020 presidential election.

“They need to get an apology. They need to get a full retraction,” Smartmatic lawyer Erik Connolly told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “The Lead.”

 

 

[Kalbear]

I personally am incredibly sorry for mcbigski's loss and hope he's doing well in this trying time

[teej6]

I have a feeling Carlson and his team (his producer was also fired) went rogue with the interview with Trump earlier this month. Rupert Murdoch may not have sanctioned it (they probably wanted to give time for DeSantis to get his ducks in order) and this must have been the final straw. Carlson was already too big for his shoes and Rupert and Lachlan may have thought now was the time (after Dominion settlement) to end ties. 

[Kalbear]

My feeling is that they wanted an excuse for a while and between dominion and the sexual harassment claim they could now terminate him for cause and owe him nothing. 

[Durckad]

While I'm glad to see Tucker the Fucker getting canned, I am morbidly curious to see where he ends up after this. Because, as hard as it may be to believe, almost every other place in the Conservative Griftosphere will have even fewer scruples and standards than Fox. Can you imagine Tucker Unchained on OANN or Newsmax or Rumble? Where ever he goes, Tucker's massive audience of hooting, drooling jackals will follow and will likely buoy up whatever cesspit of lies and insanity he ends up at.

[polishgenius]

1 hour ago, Durckad said:

Can you imagine Tucker Unchained on OANN or Newsmax or Rumble? Where ever he goes, Tucker's massive audience of hooting, drooling jackals will follow and will likely buoy up whatever cesspit of lies and insanity he ends up at.

 

That is almost certainly true, but then he will also get them into legal trouble, and even with the boost he gives them they will not be able to eat a half-billion settlement or whatever an actual trial lumps them with the way Fox has.

[Varysblackfyre321]

8 hours ago, Kalnestk Oblast said:

My feeling is that they wanted an excuse for a while and between dominion and the sexual harassment claim they could now terminate him for cause and owe him nothing. 

I think he’s found to have gone full nazi on Jewish people. Like I’m talking Kanye levels bad.

Edited April 25, 2023 by Varysblackfyre321

[sifth]

As happy as I am to see Tucker get what he deserves, I know in my gut that Fox will just get someone to replace him. Before Tucker Carlson there was Glenn Beck, before Glenn Beck there was Bill O’Reilly. Fox will sadly just find another conductor for its hate train; they always do.

[DMC]

8 hours ago, Durckad said:

Can you imagine Tucker Unchained on OANN or Newsmax or Rumble? Where ever he goes, Tucker's massive audience of hooting, drooling jackals will follow and will likely buoy up whatever cesspit of lies and insanity he ends up at.

While this is true to an extent, it's demonstrable that leaving FNC marginalizes conservative fucks.  Glenn Beck seemed confident he could build his own media empire after he left.  Didn't work out.  After Bill O was sacked for being a perve he's tried to stay relevant, but he clearly doesn't have nearly the influence he did.

1 hour ago, sifth said:

Before Tucker Carlson there was Glenn Beck, before Glenn Beck there was Bill O’Reilly. Fox will sadly just find another conductor for its hate train; they always do.

Yup.

[Durckad]

16 minutes ago, DMC said:

While this is true to an extent, it's demonstrable that leaving FNC marginalizes conservative fucks.  Glenn Beck seemed confident he could build his own media empire after he left.  Didn't work out.  After Bill O was sacked for being a perve he's tried to stay relevant, but he clearly doesn't have nearly the influence he did.

Fair enough. I certainly failed to consider how irrelevant other massive former Fox contributors have become after getting booted from FNC. Hopefully the same happens to Tucker.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

The next conductor will hopefully not as much of a whiny little *expletive*  as Caren.

[Zorral]

This is the season fox has to negotiate fees with its cable carrier(s) -- and even if it will be included.  There have been noises for a while that the carriers' aren't getting their money's worth from the network, as the bulk of its advertisers are third tier at best. 

~~~~~~~

The gub de Norte Kota has signed into law the prohibition against all abortion in the state; the so called exceptions are really not exceptions at all, because too early and too late and too impossible.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

Meanwhile Biden announced his intention to run for a second term. Thus...

...Jace if you are in the market for a less convoluted title: The Joe Must Go On.

[DireWolfSpirit]

 

[polishgenius]

Nate Silver/Tucker Carlson crossover incoming

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

Good old capitalism, always there to kick you in the nuts.

[DMC]

37 minutes ago, polishgenius said:

Nate Silver/Tucker Carlson crossover incoming

Damn.  Not a good week to be a political journalist.  While he sold the site to Disney, I wonder who has the intellectual property for his models?

[ThinkerX]

15 minutes ago, DMC said:

Damn.  Not a good week to be a political journalist.  While he sold the site to Disney, I wonder who has the intellectual property for his models?

To me, Silver's track record the past couple of elections seemed less than impressive. Too many predictions based on polls that were either biased or way outdated. Then again, that is merely my take.