Note: No show today as I am traveling this week. I will be posting travel logs behind the green door for those interested. Here is the first installment. I also have a lengthy book review ready to go and once that is posted, I’ll update this with a link.
One of the funny things you experience when traveling to another English-speaking country is their version of your news. I first experienced this in Dublin half a dozen years ago when I popped on the BBC in the hotel. When I travel, I never turn on the television, as the room is just a place to sleep and shower. It was pouring rain so I decided to check out Irish television for the first time. I was greeted by two actors confidently spewing out laughable nonsense about the news.
One guy was talking about Trump as if he had grown up with the man and knew him like a family member. The trouble was, the things he was saying were so absurd that it felt like satire of a crazy MSNBC talking head, but it was serious. The person on the other side of this was an over-the-top version of the pompous news anchor. He was an English version of Ron Burgundy from the movie Anchorman. I was sitting there cackling like Kamala Harris while watching it.
I clicked around the many versions of the BBC and then found Sky News. I had never consumed this product, but my understanding was that it was the Fox News Channel for the rest of the English-speaking world. In reality, it was just another version of the BBC, without the same level of smugness. They had a different actor pretending to know the mind of Donald Trump, telling the audience for this stuff what they needed to hear to get through the trauma of the election.
After I recovered from the hysterical fits of laughter, I realized I was watching the modern version of the freak show. The difference is the freak show never tried to normalize the freaks. The modern freak show seeks to normalize the weirdness in order to open the mind of the viewer to the messaging. Then I realized that like all Americans, I had grown up in the same freak show, with different freaks. In other words, American mass media was worse than I noticed.
This week I have been busy with a million things and I am on the road in Orlando, so I have not been following the news very much. I caught some bits about the war in Europe, but I have not had time to look at the inevitable commentary or watch the chattering skulls on television. What I know about what is happening comes from what I know about the history of the area, prior analysis and the many e-mails I have been getting from readers in Eastern Europe.
At the airport, they had CNN on and it was all war news, but I saw no one watching is so I followed the mob and ignored it too. I’ve been in a lot of airports during tranquil times and turbulent times and the airport crowd is always a good gauge of whether something is resonating with people. In the 2016 election cycle, people stopped to watch Trump news at the airport. Even people busy living their lives knew it was a big deal so they stopped and watched the man.
Putting the news out of my head meant I missed all the talk and analysis until I arrived in Orlando Thursday evening. The Uber driver asked me about it, but it turned out his reason had nothing to do with the news. He is just a huge Putin fans so this is like seeing his favorite sports team in the championship. He wanted to talk about it because it makes him feel good to talk about it. That said, his analysis would turn out to be the most sensible I’d hear that day.
After checking into the hotel, I decide to see what the news was saying about the great Slavic invasion of Europe. War is good television and the pioneer in modern war television was CNN. They are down on their luck these days and this is the sort of thing to boost their ratings, so I hit CNN first. Memories of the freak show from Dublin rushed into my mind as one lunatic after another came on to make sure they said “Keev” several times, rather than “kee-ev” like a normal person.
Luckily, MSNBC seemed to be in a commercial loop, so I broke free and went over to Fox News, which has fallen into an alternative reality. In this new reality, it is the year 2000 and the chicken hawks are at their zenith. Instead of Saddam Hussein as the next Hitler, it is Putin. They are all saying “Keev” now too. The amusing thing is that when these simpletons say it, they stumble, because they have not had enough time to practice saying this weird new word in front of the mirror.
Like the goofy English pundits on the BBC claiming to know the mind of Trump, the current pundits all claim to know the mind of Vladimir Putin. Of course, they tell us that he is the evil monster they need to justify the warmongering. You see, if Americans do not accept ten-dollar gasoline and breadlines, Putin will march all the way to Paris, just like you know who, in what always feels like yesterday for these people. You must sacrifice for their principles.
It really is a freak show. The one exception is Tucker Carlson, which is the great irony in all of this. The people trying to understand what is happening and maintaining healthy skepticism and objectivity are cast as mindless puppets of evil. The people suddenly saying “Keev” like they have contracted a new form of Tourette’s are the deep thinking, worldly servants of all that is holy. This is not propaganda. It is an alternative reality used to impose mass psychosis.
What is amazing about the Fox News coverage is it all sounds like the stuff you see on CNN and MSNBC. It is just various ways of repeating whatever the White House is saying, but with a hint of Biden criticism. They try to compare him to Neville Chamberlain when the opportunity arises. In other words, they are following the lead of the ratings losers, instead of the most popular man in the mass media. It just shows the real face behind those masks they wear.
One final observation about Fox News. Sean Hannity was never a guy working math problems in his free time, but he seems to have gotten dumber. He always looks like he is going to snap and fly into a Chris Farley-like tantrum. His show is angry stupid man interviews stupid people pretending to be smart. You have to wonder about the audience for such content. You can excuse people for wanting to see the Siamese twins or wolf-boy, but what is the excuse for watching Hannity?
There are many theories of the mass media. They usually revolve around the Orwellian propaganda angle. When you can look at it from the proper distance, you get the sense that maybe the real point is to fill the air with the sounds of weirdos and lunatics, so the sober voices cannot be heard. A guy like Tucker lives like a serious lecturer employed by the traveling circus. Even if you like his content, it is hard to appreciate it over the sound of freaks and carnies.
It is not entirely spontaneous, of course. You see that with the vapid repetition of the word “Keev” from these airheads. There are people behind the curtain injecting phrases and opinions into the system for the freaks to repeat. On the other hand, it is a system that operates by the logic of people who think the purpose of life is to win the catchphrase contest each day. The mass media is the freak show populated with credentialed members of the managerial elite.
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“Sean Hannity was never a guy working math problems in his free time, but he seems to have gotten dumber.”
Is that even possible? Dude’s a bobble-headed GOP gigolo.
3
He used to get on the radio and TV and just yell whatever Rush had calming discussed earlier in the day. With the retirement and death of Rush, he has to come up with stuff himself or rely on less talented sources.
I heard two people recently both atheist conservatives say Putin is the representation of Satan on Earth and he needs to die. It’s just so over the top I mean I don’t understand how they say cartoon lines with a straight face? It’s really weird. I did watch that interview with him by Oliver Stone years ago and it’s kind of embarrassing to admit but but he’s kind of hot. I am female and he is definitely a strong man
7
A good line I have used on FOX news watching Christians is, “why are you letting your view of the world be influenced by atheists and secular Jews. Almost none of these people share your faith, how can you expect them to defend your worldview?” It at least makes them think about it.
2
But…Israel…our Greatest Ally!!!
My mom told me when they were growing up, my Grandfather would watch the 6 o’clock evening news religiously, like a lot of people in that era. In this time, it was supposedly the gold-standard of journalism, Walter Cronkite, supposedly the most trusted anchor of all time.
Like many people also, it seemed he was more hate-watching than anything, as she told me whenever Cronkite made his signature “that’s the way it is” exit, he would point his finger at the TV and say, “that’s the way YOU think it is.”
They’ve always been clowns and mental prostitutes. Anyone in mass media who gets too dangerous gets the Father Coughlin treatment. Even Tucker is not immune to this.
9
If your grandfather didn’t trust Cronkite, he was one of the very few. There are still CivNat Boomers who will tell you Cronkite may have personally been a liberal, but claim he gave the news straight with no bias. I am somewhat hopeful these people make up the majority of viewers for cable news and at least some of it will go away when this audience disappears.
The main takeaway from this is no one cares, which is my observation as well. It would require a heart of stone not to feel some sympathy for the Ukrainians, but as the cool kids once said, shit happens. As for those bread lines and ten bucks a gallon gasoline: these same people do care about those things. A tiny slither of them even care where all the money pumped into the D.C./Ukraine grift machine went.
Those last two things never will be mentioned, except by Carson, and even he will move off it in a few weeks if prices stabilize.
The once-glorious West has morphed into a total freak show, and it is perfectly understandable its propaganda organs feature clowns and organ music.
2
At this late point of the American Empire and my advanced years, I have come to these conclusions:
1) Whatever they tell you on TV is a lie, and if you look into it, the truth is likely close to 180 degrees opposite from their narrative.
2) There are no 2 distinct sides between the “visible” people. Those folks are all cloud people, and they’re all liars. They’re merely different factions involved in some squabble over who gets what piece of the pie. And you can be sure your share of the pie is shrinking or already nonexistent. You and I don’t figure in to that though they are talking to you, simply because you outnumber them, and they’re counting on your stupidity to trust other people. They never talk about what should be obvious in the daily lives of people. For example, I hear people b@itching about Putin and his “man” Trump. I ask them who is a bigger enemy- Putin or the company that’s tearing down our steel mill that ran for 147 years. You ought to see the blank stares.
3) Supposedly even Putin has WEF interests and is a big buddy of Kissinger, which should tell you he’s just angling for his piece of the pie. The sad thing is the economic end is near for EVERYBODY including our Cloud people, and everyone will get to eat sh@t served up on one of those bugs they’re saying we’re all going to eat someday. The basic moral is this: Any country that has a central bank that issues fiat paper money is a scam, and these always end badly. It looks like the Cloud people may get the shaft this time, too. Their world is hitting the wall too, and none are smart enough to get out of it.
4) God knows what the truth is. If someday we found out we are a genetically engineered species manipulated by a 25,000 year old alien who is the King of the world, god, and the devil all wrapped up in one I wouldn’t be surprised. That’s how sad our current situation is. All I know it’s not going to go on much longer, and a lot of people will go suicidal when they have to face a truth that can’t be bent any further.
5) If you see a picture where any politician is at That Wall “praying”, it is automatically a liar and is trying to court favor from whoever they want to please. Go figure out the rest.
5
1
“It looks like the Cloud people may get the shaft this time, too. Their world is hitting the wall too, and none are smart enough to get out of it.”
The Cloud People are looting at a furious rate, which indicates they are concerned. Ukraine was a grift. Afghanistan was a grift. “Muh beloved POX” is a grift. But what if all that cash grifted becomes worthless, because that is where this is going?
Bugs, hell. Eat the rich.
5
Bingo! They’re so used to looting assets, what happens when they have it all and no one to feed or clothe them? Their world gets to fall apart, too.
2
and A little Bit of Chicken Fried. Cold beer on Friday night. A pair jeans that fit just right and a
(You fresh)
1
Archaeologists will only need to find that clip and this AWFL to fully understand how American decline happened:
https://twitter.com/TPostMillennial/status/1496912057651900416
There is none, really. Yet for some reason last night after Tucker scrolled off the air I left Focksnooze on and actually heard Hannity say “kee-ev” like normal people.
Granted, he’s a bucket headed idiot so maybe he just hasn’t digested the memo but still, it was a surprise
1
Yes, all my life it was pronounced ki-ev, as in Chicken Kiev and now the talking heads are all saying keev. Is it like when they started saying en-chee-ladass for the hell of it?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nWMp_z7Jnxw
1
It’s pronounced kleev because ki-ev is Russian. And now we know.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-5wqzS0mDK0
I avoid tv news these days unless I want their guess at the weather. It does seem to have gone from facts with a spin years ago to just pure propaganda and lies. It’s laughably easy to take an big mainstream talking point, scratch at it for 5 minutes on the internet, and expose it as a lie or just ridiculous nonsense.
Being lied to makes me angry and uncomfortable so I have to turn it off.
3
I used to kind of like Hannity back in the old days when he was the “conservative” side of Hannity & Colmes. I enjoyed him taking on that insufferable leftist fag. But over the intervening years he’s gotten high on his own fumes – I can’t stand listening to him and so have not for years.
That Keev vs. Kee-ev thing is hilarious. It seems to me some years ago, there was another country or city which the talking imbeciles started stupidly pronouncing differently for one reason or another – probably just to try and sound more sophisticated – but I can’t remember for sure. They really are just a joke from top to bottom. Of course a joke they don’t get.
2
You’re probably thinking of “Neee-Jair” instead of “Niger” back in the Bush years.
1
I too noticed that the Fox News coverage of the Russo-Ukrainian war was a time warp. A parade of NeoCons, some not seen since 2007, made their appearance. They even brought out old clips of Charles Krauthammer while the alien Bret Baer nearly came to tears watching the “brilliant ” NeoCon Number One bloviate..
What’s the old saying “Stop The World i Want To Get Off?”
2
“They even brought out old clips of Charles Krauthammer”
That’s surreal and literally made me laugh. What’s up next? Reagan clips?
Trust in the system and its propaganda organs has fallen to all-time depths, not in the least because of these sort of absurdities.
The multi-decade success of Sean Hannity as a media star is a mystery. He’s either being blackmailed, blackmailing somebody else, or sold his soul to Old Scratch.
There are Youtubers with more talent and charisma.
“Kee-ev” = Pro Russia, I heart Putin
“Keeve” = Pro Ukraine, I love Globalism
Everything is political posturing, status signaling just like with the covid propaganda.
The mockingbird agitprop of converged globohomo is totally above board with their NLP. They knew it was creepy, jarring, and strange to drop a whole new pronunciation on the sheeple. So leave it to the NYT to clear things up. This in a “story” on why we are hearing the new, Globohomo approved pronunciation.
“Note: Days after this article was published, The New York Times changed its style of spelling for the capital of Ukraine to Kyiv, reflecting the transliteration from Ukrainian, rather than Russian. The change is reflected in articles published after Nov. 18.”
Now that you know the right way to read it and say it, you can go back to ignoring that nations have distinct cultures and languages and even borders that they have a right to protect and settle back into the brown muck of our melting pot.