Fox News has been running out of control for quite some time. Say what you will about Roger Ailes, he was able to put Fox News into the place of prominence that it occupies largely because he made it look like a news organization and then slid the propaganda in sideways under the door. It got there, but it didn’t get there front row and center like it does now. Now it is almost a parody of its former self, with Tucker Carlson unapologetically spouting Russian talking points and crazy conspiracy theories being the norm. The “abhorrent has become the acceptable” in the words of Dan Rather.

Dan Rather is inarguably the elder statesman of journalism in this country and he has gone on record about how completely out of place Sean Hannity’s on air campaigning for Mehmet Oz is.

Needless to say, if a reporter at a news organization other than Fox supported a candidate with half as much complicity as Hannity did Dr. Oz, it would be grounds for immediate termination. Not surprisingly, at Fox News, Hannity’s actions don’t even earn a slap on the wrist. As a citizen of the United States, Hannity has the right to support and advocate for any candidate for office. But as someone who claims the privileges and esteem of a journalist, this behavior is lightyears beyond the acceptable.

It’s not journalism, it’s on-air campaigning and propagandizing. Rather goes into detail in his Steady column. It’s worth reading in full.

[Here is the video that prompted Rather to write this piece]

What is happening in Republican politics in Pennsylvania and beyond is chilling. These developments include the selection of Doug Mastriano as the Republican candidate for governor. Mastriano is a far-right Big Lie believer who was photographed outside the Capitol on January 6 and who, if victorious, would have the power to potentially “steal” the electoral votes of this battleground state in the 2024 presidential election. The threats to our democracy are many and dire. But once again, the pervasiveness of the danger can’t be an excuse to overlook Hannity’s actions or what they portend. […]

Since its founding, Fox News has always occupied a murky place between journalism and propagandist “entertainment.” On the one hand, it does employ some real reporters. Some of Fox’s work can be considered news, albeit often filtered through an ideological lens.

But not the work of Hannity and his ilk. Not even close. And increasingly, as we have seen in the text messages between Trump and Hannity, there has been a strategic alignment between the messaging on Fox News and Republican politics. This is to say nothing of Tucker Carlson, whose hate-filled racist rhetoric around white “replacement theory” is animating the Republican Party and facilitating bloodshed like what we saw last week in Buffalo, New York.

Dr. Oz’s admission of Hannity’s help is stunning in what it makes clear. There is not even a fig leaf of a pretext of separation between the politicians and those who purportedly report on them. Fox News is an organ of the Trumpian Republican Party. It helps develop, test, and amplify messaging around such buzzwords as “critical race theory.” It gives its favorite candidates free airtime, and it runs what are in effect attack ads against candidates it doesn’t like, be they other Republicans or especially Democrats.

Now here is another video and this is chilling.

That’s it in a nutshell. This is what you need to know. A takeover of America is being planned and Fox News is a key organ of it.

With respect to Mastriano, specifically, it is said that he’s a “gift to the Democrats” and I hope so. I devoutly hope so.

Here are some closing thoughts from Dan Rather.

The steady stream of hatred, racism, and vitriol emanating from Fox News deserves all the attention it receives. But just as insidious is this inside game and what it says about a media outlet that is a functional arm of the Party of Trump. The former president has created a landscape where the norms of our democratic institutions have been shattered, and media creations like Dr. Oz and Sean Hannity can conspire to push us further into the abyss.

As with all that we face, we can find resilience in recognizing the threat and calling it out. We should not let the abhorrent become acceptable. There can be pressure in persistence.

I also think that Fox News has created a dynamic that is now beyond its ability to control. They risk getting burned by the very base they have stoked for their own cynical gain. In resisting and organizing against the forces of division, we can secure our democracy in ways that could leave it stronger. The crises we face are not new. Turning back the tide, through the vote and the mobilization of action, can leave this country more just and better prepared for the challenges ahead.

I sincerely and passionately hope that Fox News does self-immolate and get burned by the very base they have stoked. It would be poetic justice and the salvation of America.

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