Fox News Is Everything Wrong With Our Country

This will be the first in a series of things I’m going to write over the course of the next few weeks. A few weeks ago one of my friends as we were watching Hamilton (yes again) said that I truly do write like I’m running out of time. That has stuck with me everyday since. And she was right. I write constantly, trying to change hearts, and minds and provide perspective. Because these days, so close to a historic day, I really do feel like I need to. I need to write like I'm running out of time.

Media, and the press, are at a crossroads right now, and there is no denying that. Anyone with wifi now can report “news” no matter how factual it is. Our Facebook feeds have become full of nonsense from sites with meaningless names and no credibility and no actual sources. It’s become harder than ever to find real news. And bias is rampant, and fear mongering is real. Fear creates clicks, and views, and money. No one watches the news to see cats saved out of trees. And views are ad dollars. This is the world we live in now. A world of for profit media channels and 24 hour news coverage.

But we’re not here to talk about bias or fear. We’re here to talk about straight propaganda. And this is going to piss some of you off, and I’m sorry. But Fox News is literally destroying our country and should no longer be allowed to do so.

I can already hear the keyboard warriors typing “what about CNN?”. You’re right, let’s talk about CNN. Is CNN biased? Yes. They lean liberal, and are a beacon to liberal ideals. They swing news to fit into their molds far too often, and even more often report the worst of the facts. But that is where CNN and Fox News differ.

Fox News blatantly and without regard does not report the facts. They are the business of reporting fear, and racism, and bigotry, and nationalism. News channels can get things wrong. It’s bound to happen, and that’s okay. But while other news entities print retractions, apologies, etc when they make the offhanded mistake, Fox News does not.

Fox News gives a platform to far right ideals and controversies that ignite racism and division. They give a platform to known white nationalists. Fox News made racism mainstream again. This was no more apparent than when Obama was in office. There was the birth certificate fiasco. Or the time they called a fist bump between the Obamas a “terrorist dap”. There was the time they couldn’t accept the fact that he even won the presidency. We can’t forget the many guests they had on that called him an isis covert, a traitor, a facist, a racist, a lazy man unfit for the office, and the enemy of the state. And then the “journalists” on Fox News called him those names themselves .And let us never forget the time they freaked out over him wearing a tan suit.

They consistently degraded Obama as a person and as an American because in their mind it was not right for him or anyone that looked like him to be president. They created a monster that they used to become rich. Fox News will go down as one of the biggest aggresors in the rise of white power movements we’ve seen this decade. Because they made Obama the enemy. They made black people the enemy. They accused us of being lazy, of being unfit, of being leeches of government aid, and of not holding ‘American Ideals'.

There is the sexism. The countless times they’ve dismissed women and their stories. The times they’ve called into question rape culture on campuses. The documented internal issues and the rampant abuse in their own walls. Fox News made victim-blaming part of their daily routine, and it spilled over into every aspect of their coverage. It was always someone’s fault. Well unless you were a police officer, then you could never do wrong.

And then, we come to the gun debate. They along with the NRA have the blood of thousands on their hands. They have offered nothing but fake thoughts and prayers and have been utterly useless. When this country needed change they told their millions of viewers that nothing was needed but thoughts and prayers. Newtown needed more than that. Columbine, Orlando, Charleston, Parkland, Vegas, El Paso needed more.

As a Christian one of the more frustrating things Fox News has done is weaponized my faith for capital gain. They have branded themselves as protectors of liberty, of Christmas, or Christian values. Nothing Fox News spews is aligned with the Christian faith. They do not speak for us. The false allegations they continue to peddle against immigrants, against women, against minorities, against jews, against LGBT members, against anyone not a straight white gun smothering male does not represent us.

Fox News is everything wrong with this country. They peddle racism like it's their job. They value guns over people. They sow dissent and hatred toward immigrants and other outside communities. They show little respect toward women. They have created this fictitious war on faith. And they have little regard for anyone who doesn’t share their backwards ideals and live to undermine any news sites that try to check them. And because of them we now have the living embodiment of all of that vile sitting in our highest office.

Make it known that it was friendly fire, who birthed the age of Fake News. Fox News eroded the trust in itself. It’s like the snake, biting itself. And history will not remember them kindly.

Fox News didn't have to be this. They could’ve been a beacon of new conservatism, one welcoming to all, ushering in an age of greatness for the faction. But instead they destroyed conservatism altogether, and permanently tied what was left of it to bigotry and views of old, hiring awful people along the way. Tucker Carlson is an awful human being. Bill O'Reilly was an awful human being. Sean Haniity is an awful human being. Laura Ingram. Too many of the network's stars shine brightly with horrible views and hate toward others. Maybe one day it won't be like that. Maybe they will change. But in the eyes of history, this chapter has been written. And Fox News will be remembered for kickstarting a rise in hate crimes across this country, and bringing us back to the brink of a 1965 world.

And they did it on purpose. And that can not be forgotten.