Vicious, toxic, unstable--what Murdoch has wrought in Australia, Britain, and the U.S.

[Ponietz]

This was in the Sydney Morning Herald yesterday. Its author, Kevin Rudd, was Prime Minister of Australia. This cancer is eating at the heart of western democracy.

Rupert Murdoch: The Cancer Eating the Heart of Australian Democracy

“Beneath the sound and light show that passed for Australian politics last week, there is a much deeper question of what underlying forces have been at work that have brought us this low. The uncomfortable truth is, since the coup of June 2010, Australian politics has become vicious, toxic and unstable. The core question is why?
...
“But on top of all the above, while manipulating each of them, has been Rupert Murdoch - the greatest cancer on the Australian democracy.

“Murdoch is not just a news organisation. Murdoch operates as a political party, acting in pursuit of clearly defined commercial interests, in addition to his far-right ideological world view.

“In Britain, Murdoch made Brexit possible because of the position taken by his papers. In the United States, Murdoch's Fox News is the political echo chamber of the far right, which enabled the Tea Party and then the Trump party to stage a hostile takeover of the Republican Party. In Australia, as in America, Murdoch has campaigned for decades in support of tax cuts for the wealthy, killing action on climate change and destroying anything approximating multiculturalism.

“What's unique about Australia is Murdoch owns two-thirds of the country's print media. No other democracy has anything approaching his effective media monopoly.
...”
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/cancer-eating-the-heart-of-australian-democracy-20180826-p4zzum.html

[Farmer-Rick]

1. Capitalism has swallowed up democracy and the independent news

Capitalism has won. The 2 - democracy and capitalism - can not coexist without severe controls and regulations to restrain capitalism and the OCD wealth monsters, like Murdoch, it creates.

Most, if not all, of those controlling restraints on capitalism and its uber rich monsters have been removed. That's why Murdoch rampages through Australia and America. Not only have the restraints been removed, but a large part of the needed assistance to the victims of uber rich monsters have also been removed

Murdoch is the embodiment of capitalism. Too bad we didn't worship democracy like we worshipped capitalism.

[malaise]

3. Great post

Money is their god - they don't give a shit about democracy.

[2naSalit]

5. Not to mention the UK!

He should have been thwarted a long time ago, back in the early 1990s-late 1980s... but we can thank sNewt for protecting him back in 1994.

[Fla Dem]

14. Thank Margaret THatcher and the Conservative party for letting Murdoch get a foothold there. nt

[Farmer-Rick]

22. Yeah, I was wondering why the article didn't list the UK as one of his victims

Glad you pointed it out.

[2naSalit]

23. Heh...

lest we forget!

[c-rational]

11. Agreed. Good post. The Dems need to retake all three branches of government and rewrite

media ownership rules, find any company that puts its own interests ahead of country guilty of treason (remember corporations are considered people, until Dems rewrite that rule) and bring back the tax that existed in the early 1960's, i.e. 90% of all income over 250K was taxed. Finally, pound into people's head the fact that the free market as it is "sold" does not exist.

[CrispyQ]

26. Everything-for-profit.

We are the Ferengi.

[malaise]

2. Murdoch is pure evil

for sure

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

4. K&Fuckin'R!!! When that Crypt Keeper motherfucker is finally worn food. The world will

be a better place.

[Lonestarblue]

9. Are his sons any better?

Or are they like the corrupt Trump clones, Jr. and Eric?

[Ponietz]

19. Mr. Rudd's last line from his piece:

“Anyone who thinks the problem will go away once Lachlan replaces Rupert is deluding themselves.”

[2naSalit]

21. Nope.

Seems to me, IIRC, that his two sons had conspired to have him offed back in the 80s, I think, so they could take over the media empire back then, greedy spawn.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

25. I'm assuming not by much. But I the old man has really left his shit stain mark

in this world for the worse.

[smirkymonkey]

6. Isn't he dead yet?

He's got to be about 95 years old if he's a day. He can't be around that much longer.

[LiberalArkie]

8. Keith Rupert Murdoch 11 March 1931 (age 87)

[smirkymonkey]

12. Well, he's up there.

[Texin]

10. Still kickin'. And then there are his kids who'll inherit the evil empire.

[smirkymonkey]

13. I don't think his kids are quite as hell-bent on turning the world into

a right-wing hell-hole as he is.

[Ponietz]

20. Mr. Rudd's last last line from the piece:

“Anyone who thinks the problem will go away once Lachlan replaces Rupert is deluding themselves.”

[shanti]

28. His much younger wife, Jerry Hall

(formerly married to Mick Jagger), keeps him chipper.

[SunSeeker]

7. K & R

[PaulX2]

15. Fox News Democracy Cancer

Has always been.

[Paka]

16. K&R

Thanks for the post. So much evil influence.

[Pepsidog]

17. For years I have be saying this. Our greatest enemy is Fox and Murdoch.

Murdoch is the greatest threat to democracy. Fox is responsible for the dumbing down of America and proves that propaganda repeated over and over works to brainwash the mind. Who would have ever thought that a good percentage of Americans would condone and support the likes of Trump. Even Bush and his lies to get into wars while at the same time, destroying the reputation of Hillary to the point of irrational calls to lock her up. I fear Facebook is the next greatest threat.

[roamer65]

18. PM Rudd is right. Glad to hear him say it.

[moondust]

24. Poor little Goebbels didn't even have TV.

I'll bet he's down in his little corner of Hell "burning up" with envy at all the power that Murdoch has, awaiting his arrival so they can laugh about all the living Hell they unleashed upon the world.

[diva77]

27. K&R

[tenderfoot]

29. Late Television Writer, Dennis Potter on Rupert Murdoch in 1994

When groundbreaking television writer Dennis Potter learned he was dying of cancer, he sat down with Melvyn Bragg for a final interview. The subject of media mogul Rupert Murdoch came up.

[Ponietz]

30. He certainly saw through the BS even then, thanks.

[Bo]

31. The Telecommunications act of 1996 caused the disaster of consolidation in the USA.

Destroying free speech by behemoth media companies....