There Is Something Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Wrong With The Official News Story Of The Fox News Settlement

The Dominion vs. Fox News lawsuit was fishy from day 1.

Why would Dominion file suit knowing that in the process of discovery, it would be revealed that Dominion had doubts about the security of their voting machines?

Why would Dominion sue Fox News after Fox immediately fired the only correspondent who broached the subject of election fraud?

Why would Fox settle their suit when internal texts reveal that their marquee talkers badmouthed Sidney Powell and others who advanced the very premise of election fraud? If anything, Fox News went above and beyond to shield Dominion. The most embarrassing aspects of the case for Fox News is the low regard they have for their viewers and their willingness to turn a blind eye to ALL evidence of election irregularities.

We have linked elsewhere to a post that also questions the numbers. Fox News "settled" for somewhere between 4x and 40x the value of Dominion Voting Systems? 

If I were a Fox News stockholder, I would talk to someone knowledgeable about legal malpractice as well as management's failure to uphold fiduciary responsibility. But of course, I am not a Fox News stockholder. Fox News sucks.

The Parallels Between Robert Kennedy and Robert Kennedy, Jr.

In writing about the Kennedys I feel the need to pre-editorialize. 

It is an act of glaring stupidity to speak about the Kennedys collectively. That holds true for Howie Carr, the funniest man in radio who is also capable of objective and spot-on political analysis. We waited years for his magnum opus to arrive, a book about America's favorite family. Those of us who wanted an encyclopedia to park next to our Collier and Horowitz master work would be sorely disappointed. Carr fell back on his tabloid roots to give us, "Kennedy Babylon". I have not seen it but I am told it is a compilation of bad stuff and only bad stuff, a proud homage to Murdoch journalism.

Rush Limbaugh spoke of the Kennedys collectively. "The New York Post", another Murdoch outlet printed the headline "The Hunk Flunks" to inform the world that JFK Jr, failed his bar exam. Murdoch saw the Kennedys as enemies, every last one of them. He was not alone.

At the other end of the Kennedy spectrum, hagiographies still abound. As word spread throughout New England that Robert Kennedy Jr., was going to seek the presidency, a lot of New Englanders voiced their support. Many of them know little about the lawyer activist and probably don't care to know more. They crave Camelot 2.0 and they are not necessarily focused on first names.

If you either hate or worship the Kennedys, your mind is made up on RFK Jr. Whereas those of us who see a family who produces some of the most complex and intriguing characters in American history, we want to see more.

Sirhan Sirhan cheated all of us. He cheated the millions of people who lined up to witness Robert Kennedy's funeral train as it mourned across the country. He also cheated the detached, spectatorial, popcorn-munching, hammock-resting, celebrant of American history as high entertainment. Possibly the most interesting character in the entirety of the United States was cut down just as soon as he stepped into the limelight. 

Ted Kennedy's policies were antithetical to John Kennedy's policies. JFK was one of America's best presidents. He literally launched a space program that has remained unsurpassed for over half a century. He was fervently and resolutely anti-Communist. He strongly believed in civil rights. He effectively fought poverty by the time-tested method of lowering taxes. He locked horns with the deep state and the military-industrial complex (possible redundancy acknowledged).

For all of JFK's virtues, he ascended to the presidency with the aid of organized crime. It is likely that La Cosa Nostra assisted Kennedy in defeating Senator Hubert Humphrey in the primaries, and it seems to be the consensus that they stole the general election from Richard Nixon. JFK was inaugurated with a pocketful of IOU's to the mafia written by his well-connected father. 

What was the reform-minded president to do? Should he honor his debts? Maybe honor some but not all of them? Should he work the incumbent players to maintain law and order in its state of evolution? Should he work with the mob in a Lucky Luciano sort of way, maybe joining forces with them in taking back Cuba from Castro? The president had a multitude of options.

Regardless of what should have been done, we know how history was written. The president appointed his brother to the rank of Attorney General, and Bobby unflinchingly propelled a scorched Earth policy against the mob. The very people who got JFK elected now felt the full brunt of the Department of Justice. Robert Kennedy might not have thought of his actions as betrayal, but the mafia certainly did. Some people theorize that this perceived treachery was what ultimately got JFK assassinated.

Without the mafia, the Kennedys would be comfortable and successful, but they would not be in the White House. Robert Kennedy sang "Aud Lang Syne" to the kingmakers. As Spock once said, "Interesting".

History rhymes. Robert Kennedy, Jr.  is seeking the presidency. The Democrat Party has morphed into the biggest crime cartel in the history of our planet. They are much more powerful than the Lanskys and Giacanas ever dreamed of being. Robert Kennedy, Jr., is starting a campaign from third base, due to his family's longstanding relationship with the Democrat Party.

This is not his father's Democrat party and RFK Jr., knows that. This was an institution that once produced great people. JFK, RFK, Scoop Jackson, William Proxmire, Daniel Patrick Moynihan...Today's party is composed entirely of frauds, thugs, terrorists and thieves, propped up by pathetic brain-dead minions. "Grat Democrat" has become an oxymoron.

To run an effective campaign, RFK, Jr. must bite the hand that fed him. Whether that is a nibble or an amputation remains to be seen. 

Is Ballot Harvesting Code Speak For Cheating?

 Is ballot harvesting code speak for cheating? 

The term is euphemistic but much more accurate than most euphemistic terms. A devoted activist creeps into a nursing home and assists the Alzheimer victims in selecting their Democrat choice for office. The harvested ballots are then dutifully returned to drop boxes conveniently located in areas that impede observation. The next day the loyal sharecropper conducts a harvest in public housing, assisting the residents in selecting Democrat choices without interrupting their busy schedules. The following day, ballots are harvested from Non-English migrants. A cornucopia of democracy is enjoyed by peasant and king alike.

The Dems win elections mostly because they cheat and ballot harvesting is their primary weapon. The only way the Republicans can win through this method is if they are willing to cheat at levels that the Dems cheat. Only by harvesting the ballots of the incompetent, the illegal, the deceased, and the fictitious, will the GOP reap a larger bounty.

I have heard a few pundits propose installing drop boxes in churches and gun shops as if these places can yield more crops than the fields of plenty fertilized with broken voter rolls. Voter rolls where the Mary Smith who changed her name to Mary Jones still votes. Voter rolls where Mr. and Mrs. Johnson who moved out of state still vote from the house that they lived in 10 years ago. Voter rolls where 23 people with the last name Hernandez vote from a house with plywood windows. Voter rolls where the deceased rise from the dead every election year to loyally check the Democrat boxes. There aren't enough pews or firing ranges in America to beat the phantom voter.

If we know that the other side is cheating, shouldn't we reciprocate? The problem with cheating is that cheating escalates and escalates quickly. If a person is willing to nullify another person's vote, what other level of harm would they be willing to inflict? We all renounce violence, but once a line is crossed, another line is soon crossed and then another and then another. Cheating escalates.

If MAGA voters are content to counter-cheat, do they really think they can beat the Dems at their own game? The big city political machines have been doing this sort of thing for decades, refining their skills with each passing election. What would it gain the America-first candidate to collect more votes than there are citizens, only to lose yet another close race to the wily Democrat? 

MAGA candidates should be forewarned that their ballot harvesting might be viewed through a different lens than legacy cheating. Think J6 "insurrection.' Think Hillary's subpoenaed and deleted emails. Think James Comey and the FBI and Merrick Garland and Alvin Bragg and Soros pawns and our corrupt and broken justice system. Look before you leap.

Is ballot harvesting code speak for cheating? Is counter-cheating the answer to election fraud? Can MAGA match the Dems in chicanery? Will there be blowback to counter-cheating? Who owns the moral high ground when both sides cheat? Does moral high ground matter anymore?

I was hoping for some other resolution.

You Are Borg

You are Borg and I am not Borg. If Borg allowed you to observe your designated enemies, your social inferiors, you would see people whose thinking is radically different from yours. Not just different in outcome, but different in process as well.

To be a good member of the hive is to forsake all other influence. You do not read indexed books or view censured videos. Impure ideas will clutter your mind and cause much fright. Borg will guide you. Do not step off the path. Eyes forward.

Because your only point of reference is your flattering mirror, you can only see non-Borgs in your own image. You wrongly assume that those who are not Borg are ruled by an evil Anti-Borg. Surely, they too, have their opinions and beliefs and values spoon fed from on high. So encompassing is this belief, it is impossible for you to entertain the idea of eclectic thought, an appreciation of heretical ideas or a tolerance for a difference of opinion. 

Yours is a binary world of good and evil. Yours is a world without independent thinking, a world without dissidence, a world that prohibits unsanctioned thought and feeling. There is no objective truth in your universe so there can be no concept of truth for truth's sake. You embrace "your truth" or subjective truth, which is to say that you only accept bias confirmation. That is the metaphysical gulf that divides us.

We are unwilling to surrender our hearts and minds and you are unwilling to exercise your hearts and minds. We would not be comforted by the hive's approval. You cannot imagine life without the hive's approval. You have found solace in submission. You are Borg.

   

In Another Era You Would Be A Chain Smoker

In another era you would smoke three packs of cigarettes a day. Maybe five.

For over seven years you have gladly bathed in history's most expensive, most pervasive, most enduring, and most intense hate campaign ever directed against a single human being. There are no close seconds in any of the aforementioned categories.

Hitler was not judged as harshly as Donald Trump. Compare and contrast Chaplin's take on Der Fuehrer versus Kathy Griffen's severed head, Snoop's assassination video, the nightly Trump-as-Julius Caeser mass stabbing, and the ongoing commentary from the women of "The View".

Hitler. Mussolini. Mao. Stalin. Castro. Bin Laden. None of them endured a hate campaign even marginally as intense as the programmed hate of Donald Trump. The closest comparison would be Vladimir Putin and he has never been attacked with the ferocity that is only reserved for The Orange Man.

Expense. Ever wonder why Rachel Maddow rakes in a 9-figure salary? Why Anderson Cooper brings home 10 digits? Why George Stephanopoulos is locked into a multi-year compensation package that exceeds $100,000,000?

Good looks cannot be ruled out. Yes, if you and I were pinup material, good fortune might rain on us in a proportionate manner. But it certainly is not ratings and higher advertising revenue that is associated with a larger viewership. Nope.

Talking heads are compensated for their loyalty. Whatever else might be said of Lesley Stahl, she will never go off script. Nor will any other member of our vaulted Fourth Estate. Should that ever transpire, you would witness the renegade's immediate transition to self-employed podcaster.

Loyalty is expensive. Isn't it ironic that the people whose purported duties—reading a teleprompter—would be the absolute easiest to duplicate, all enjoy lifetime employment? David Muir and all of his media clones could be replaced by anyone who can read and speak fluent English. David Muir is said to be earn $5-$7million per year. Loyalty is expensive.

Not that Trump-hate is the only item on the Hive's agenda but it is at the top of the list. How expensive is Trump-hate? That's like asking an economist how much money is in circulation. An economist can use different models and they can estimate and they can calculate, but ultimately they inform us that it's a Big Ass Number. So too, with Trump-hate.

Trump-hate is pervasive. News, Sports and Weather. Late night television. Award show acceptance speeches. Daytime Television. Shows featuring once-funny comedians. Shows featuring never-funny comedians. Shows featuring comedians in name only. National Public Radio. Twitter, Facebook. All social media.Conservative, Inc. And please do not overlook Bret Baier and his fellow truth assassins at Fox News.

Persistance. Trump-hate never goes away for very long. It flourishes both domestically and internationally. It grows in sunshine and shade and in musky cob-webbed cellars. Each harvest overflowing, year after year with plenty more on the horizon. There is no other campaign like Trump-hate.

The only comparable advertising tsunami would be the collective endeavors of tobacco companies. For decades, King Nicotine dominated TV, radio and magazines. Movie stars smoked onscreen. TV shows often featured a cigarette epilogue where the sponsored brand was touted. Lucy and Desi plugged Chesterfields. The Flintstones smoked Winstons, as did the Beverly Hillbillies. Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore enjoyed the taste of Kent in an ever-perky manner.

The weak of mind and the void of spirit were Silly Putty in the hands of hidden persuaders. “Bend me, shape me any way you want me”. If you asked a smoker, why he smoked you would get a dumb look in response. There were tobacco ad campaigns that promoted youth, vigor and virility. There were even subtexts that certain brands made one appear clever.

Seems strange now that a product that resulted in lung cancer, throat cancer, heart disease, burnt clothing, burnt furniture, house fires and bad breath, would be used as an intellectual prop, a subtle and suave version of a framed diploma. It speaks to the power of mass advertising. It speaks to the power of ubiquitous messaging. It speaks to the vulnerability of a weak mind.

Yes, you the Trump-hater have mastered a skill. You can express your vitriol one-upmanship with your nose held high. You are so vastly smarter and wiser than the pathetic Trump supporter. You are so noble and ever so virtuous. You are ever so discerning. You are sophisticated. In another era, you would be a chain smoker.

AI's First Victim: The Search Engine

Google's revolutionary search engine was one of the most significant developments in the history of the Internet. There used to be about a dozen different search engines, and they were all terrible. 

WebCrawler

Lycos

Alta Vista

Excite

Yahoo 

Ask Jeeves

Dogpile

Jump Station

AOL 

Anyone feeling nostalgic?  I didn't think so.

Google arrived like a breath of fresh air. I don't know why Google was vastly superior to its predecessors, but superior it was. Not long after its arrival Google mimicked Xerox's noun as verb status. People no longer searched topics; they Googled them.

It's an old story. A success becomes a monopoly, and the monopoly morphs into a fat, lazy bully. In the early days, Google would list two or three paid advertisers followed by thousands of nonpaying sites. 

Over time, non-commercial sites became harder to find. Obscure sites became harder to find. Sites that strayed from political orthodoxy got buried. There were and are other search engines. There are strengths and weaknesses to all of them but none of them have threatened Google's dominance or livelihood. AI in general, and Chat GPT in particular, threatens both,

I don't know when AI will start writing sitcoms, or devising original designs that you can race to the patent office or formulate a better legal strategy than the Brioni-clad counselor. What I can tell you is that Chat GPT can outperform search engines on a jet engine to lawn mower scale.

Put another way, Alta Vista presented us with a needle in a haystack. Google gave us smaller haystacks. Chat GPT just gives us the damn needle. Google that.

This story is bigger than dead fish, alien balloons and nuclear precipice combined.

The Dominion versus Fox Lawsuit.

Once more, a multi-faceted story is reduced to a tagline--and not even an accurate tagline--"There is no such thing as election fraud."  That is the mainstream takeaway.

Excuse me, there is a second tagline. "Fox News lies." Yes, Fox News is dishonest to the core, but not for the reasons cited by MSM. Fox News is threading a haystack of needles. They have to support their "alternative news" branding as they slavishly endorse the mainstream agenda. They do an Et Tu Brute on Trump (and his supporters) all the while pretending there is no blood on their hands. They feel the need to destroy the Trump presidency (as well as the will of the people) as they pretend to support Trump's professed values. They have to smear, if not discredit, anyone who had supporting evidence of election fraud in a way that does not alienate their viewers. They have to fire Lou Dobbs for discussing election fraud without revealing that they fired Lou Dobbs for discussing election fraud. The talking heads are forced to disguise their motives in such a way that it does not prompt millions of cable subscribers to cut the cord when the sole station that justified the pricey subscription--the one reason for paying a monthly ransom to Comcast--spits directly in their faces. And they have to thread these needles without shedding viewers to Newsmax.

The ever-catty mark Dice is one of the few pundits to examine this story.

Tucker Lying To Us This Whole Time? New Court Documents Reveal His Private Text Messages - YouTube

Dice reveals the most significant aspect to this saga: Internal Dominion documents reveal an ongoing concern for the security of their system. Dice also serves up a montage featuring vintage pre-November 2020  Democrats  warning us of the threats presented by flawed voting machines. Yet another facet of the story is that it is being told by Snidely Mark Dice..

Dice grossly misstates Powell's assertions and calls her "a kook." This editor is not certain that Powell is a kook, but he is certain that Dice is a buffoon and a shill, who makes Tucker Carlson look great by comparison.

A less Dicey report here: Fox vs. Dominion Discovery Docs Show Employees Admitting Their Products Were "Riddled" With Critical Bugs Leading to Incorrect Results. (substack.com)

Pam Gellar also delivers a pertinent summary with an even longer headline. 

FOX News Legal Filing: DOMINION Voting Systems Executives Including Eric Coomer Knew Its Voting Systems Had Major Security Issues, Was Hacked, and Was “Riddled with Bugs”

 Here is the discovery with an assortment of embarrassing Fox News texts. Why the redactions? full.pdf (nyt.com)

 Here are discovery summaries that expose Dominion

Washington Post

No (deadline.com)