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JudyM

(29,122 posts)
Sun Jan 30, 2022, 01:35 PM Jan 2022

Bill Kristol tweet re:Fox liability

Last edited Tue Feb 1, 2022, 12:39 PM - Edit history (1)



If tobacco companies were guilty of knowingly promoting falsehoods that led to early deaths, shouldn't Fox be liable for anti-vaccination falsehoods that have led to early deaths? Both did it for profit. And Fox suits and stars know the truth as surely as tobacco execs ever did.
41 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Bill Kristol tweet re:Fox liability (Original Post) JudyM Jan 2022 OP
Some attorney out there ought to take a shot at this. Phoenix61 Jan 2022 #1
My thought all along. Fla Dem Jan 2022 #2
Open and shut case. dchill Jan 2022 #3
Only non-lawyers think that there are "open and shut" cases. onenote Jan 2022 #21
Tobacco companies paid billions to the states. Grins Jan 2022 #22
its the brand, for focksake bringthePaine Jan 2022 #4
Yes! SallyHemmings Jan 2022 #5
Bill Kristol used to be a big hero for conservatives, not so much anymore KS Toronado Jan 2022 #6
Maybe his bucket list has a hole in it and he's done with that "conservative" stuff. jaxexpat Jan 2022 #8
He's said that the R party has to die for the good of this country. KS Toronado Jan 2022 #16
Frightening that i'm starting t0 have warm feelings toward Kristol and his little smirk... maddiemom Jan 2022 #24
I'm in the same boat with you KS Toronado Jan 2022 #28
Frightening that i'm starting t0 have warm feelings toward Kristol and his little smirk... maddiemom Jan 2022 #25
I never thought I'd see the day PatSeg Jan 2022 #27
When he helped build that too? czarjak Jan 2022 #29
I wonder if any of these suddenly-sane conservatives PatSeg Jan 2022 #30
Believe those involved with The Lincoln Project have KS Toronado Jan 2022 #35
That is true PatSeg Jan 2022 #36
Thank you, was aware of the book but not the author KS Toronado Jan 2022 #38
I've seen him on TV PatSeg Jan 2022 #39
Had to look up how Pat from Wheel of Fortune spelled his last name KS Toronado Jan 2022 #40
Oh, okay PatSeg Jan 2022 #41
It's mass murder when you think about it. OMGWTF Jan 2022 #7
If you browse r/HermanCainAwards... Initech Jan 2022 #32
Here's the flaw in this argument... brooklynite Jan 2022 #9
Res ipsa. That's exactly the point. Would be great to find out in the discovery process what JudyM Jan 2022 #13
It puts viewers eyes on tv advertising Captain Zero Jan 2022 #15
Ad revenue? lagomorph777 Jan 2022 #19
Ratings. nt Torchlight Jan 2022 #26
Answer: HELL YES!!! calimary Jan 2022 #10
I agree DFW Jan 2022 #18
Faux Nuz's Defense Will Be The Same As Always... GB_RN Jan 2022 #11
Some change to that argument should be made bhikkhu Jan 2022 #12
I Don't Disagree... GB_RN Jan 2022 #14
K&R uponit7771 Jan 2022 #17
K&R spanone Jan 2022 #20
Did fox tell their viewers Tickle Jan 2022 #23
What did I miss? BobTheSubgenius Jan 2022 #31
Fox is responsible for anti-vaccine BS and right wing terrorism. Initech Jan 2022 #33
Well he did re-join the good guys (The Democratic Party) in 2020 FakeNoose Jan 2022 #34
Kristol is out for blood. roamer65 Jan 2022 #37

Phoenix61

(16,950 posts)
1. Some attorney out there ought to take a shot at this.
Sun Jan 30, 2022, 01:41 PM
Jan 2022

Considering FOX was requiring their own employees to be vaxed seems like a slam dunk.

onenote

(42,374 posts)
21. Only non-lawyers think that there are "open and shut" cases.
Mon Jan 31, 2022, 11:12 AM
Jan 2022

Folks should study the history of the tobacco litigation.

SallyHemmings

(1,813 posts)
5. Yes!
Sun Jan 30, 2022, 02:57 PM
Jan 2022

This could be way to finally break the company & their so called stars.

Name each individual, take their home.

jaxexpat

(6,701 posts)
8. Maybe his bucket list has a hole in it and he's done with that "conservative" stuff.
Sun Jan 30, 2022, 03:32 PM
Jan 2022

Or maybe his targeted windmill just gave up and withdrew defeated.
Or maybe he was dusting a mirror and "SHAZAAM".
Or maybe he climbed to the mountain top, saw God and God told him to get off his "me-damned" mountain.

There is, I suppose, the possibility that he has actually seen that there are actors, actions and attitudes too bad to be allowed forbearance. They're blazing away at civilization 24/7 in a conservo-world he helped build. Maybe he feels compelled to condemn it. Which would be a bit more believable if he'd start by crawling out on his knees, wearing a sack cloth onesie and rubbing ashes on his face. Re-imagining oneself is no substitute for repentance.

KS Toronado

(16,901 posts)
16. He's said that the R party has to die for the good of this country.
Mon Jan 31, 2022, 01:39 AM
Jan 2022

Plus he's doing everything he can to ensure that happens. One of the few real patriots from the other side of
the aisle, like Liz Cheney.

maddiemom

(5,106 posts)
24. Frightening that i'm starting t0 have warm feelings toward Kristol and his little smirk...
Mon Jan 31, 2022, 12:20 PM
Jan 2022

I used to despise the man. I also can now tolerate Liz Cheney, as well. HELP ME!

maddiemom

(5,106 posts)
25. Frightening that i'm starting t0 have warm feelings toward Kristol and his little smirk...
Mon Jan 31, 2022, 12:21 PM
Jan 2022

I used to despise the man. I can now tolerate Liz Cheney, as well. HELP ME!

PatSeg

(46,787 posts)
27. I never thought I'd see the day
Mon Jan 31, 2022, 12:31 PM
Jan 2022

when I would agree with Bill Kristol so often. It is like living in an alternate universe.

PatSeg

(46,787 posts)
30. I wonder if any of these suddenly-sane conservatives
Mon Jan 31, 2022, 12:47 PM
Jan 2022

ever acknowledge their own contributions to the madness.

PatSeg

(46,787 posts)
36. That is true
Mon Jan 31, 2022, 02:39 PM
Jan 2022

Stuart Stevens wrote a book about it, "It Was All a Lie: How the Republican Party Became Donald Trump", acknowledging his part in creating what the republican party has become.

This is not a book about how Donald J. Trump hijacked the Republican Party and changed it into something else. Stevens shows how Trump is in fact the natural outcome of five decades of hypocrisy and self-delusion, dating all the way back to the civil rights legislation of the early 1960s. Stevens shows how racism has always lurked in the modern GOP's DNA, from Goldwater's opposition to desegregation to Ronald Reagan's welfare queens and states' rights rhetoric. He gives an insider's account of the rank hypocrisy of the party's claims to embody "family values," and shows how the party's vaunted commitment to fiscal responsibility has been a charade since the 1980s. When a party stands for nothing, he argues, it is only natural that it will be taken over by the loudest and angriest voices in the room.

It Was All a Lie is not just an indictment of the Republican Party, but a candid and often lacerating mea culpa. Stevens is not asking for pity or forgiveness; he is simply telling us what he has seen firsthand. He helped to create the modern party that kneels before a morally bankrupt con man and now he wants nothing more than to see what it has become burned to the ground. (From Amazon's summary of the book)
I have the book in my "Saved for later" cart.

At least some of them know it was lie, a very dangerous lie and are trying to make up for the many mistakes they made.

KS Toronado

(16,901 posts)
38. Thank you, was aware of the book but not the author
Mon Jan 31, 2022, 03:31 PM
Jan 2022

Will look into buying, hope he has suggestions on how to combat the creature he helped create.
On a side note, whenever I see one of your replies, I think of Vanna White.

PatSeg

(46,787 posts)
39. I've seen him on TV
Mon Jan 31, 2022, 03:47 PM
Jan 2022

and really appreciate his honesty. Its not always easy to admit you are wrong, especially if it has been for decades.

Vanna White?

KS Toronado

(16,901 posts)
40. Had to look up how Pat from Wheel of Fortune spelled his last name
Mon Jan 31, 2022, 04:02 PM
Jan 2022

His is Sajak, I thought it started Seg. My bad, sorry.

PatSeg

(46,787 posts)
41. Oh, okay
Mon Jan 31, 2022, 04:12 PM
Jan 2022

I can see that now. I wasn't thinking of Sajak, just Vanna White and words. Got my brain humming though.

OMGWTF

(3,894 posts)
7. It's mass murder when you think about it.
Sun Jan 30, 2022, 03:23 PM
Jan 2022

Like that stupid cop who told WA Gov. Inslee to kiss his ass when he got fired for not taking the vaccine. He's now dead from Covid. Judging from his behavior, I'm guessing he was a MAGAt and a Fux News watcher.

Initech

(99,910 posts)
32. If you browse r/HermanCainAwards...
Mon Jan 31, 2022, 01:21 PM
Jan 2022

Literally every single death since last May when the vaccines became available, if you look at awardee's post histories, nearly every single one is someone who spouts MAGA crap or is a dyed in the wool Trump supporter. Trump and Fox are responsible for at least the 400,000 who have been killing themselves since then.

brooklynite

(93,844 posts)
9. Here's the flaw in this argument...
Sun Jan 30, 2022, 03:35 PM
Jan 2022

Tobacco companies lied about tobacco deaths in support of selling tobacco. What is the benefit that comes from misleading the audience about COVID vaccinations that accrues to Fox News.

JudyM

(29,122 posts)
13. Res ipsa. That's exactly the point. Would be great to find out in the discovery process what
Sun Jan 30, 2022, 04:08 PM
Jan 2022

specifically motivated them to outright and systematically lie. Was it simply for drama/ratings? Or something more nefarious? Since they did it systematically despite knowing it was false, they clearly were getting some benefit.

calimary

(80,693 posts)
10. Answer: HELL YES!!!
Sun Jan 30, 2022, 03:35 PM
Jan 2022

And they should be forced to change their company name.

It’s NOT news they broadcast. News coverage is supposed to be OBJECTIVE, which makes it trustworthy. They’re a fucking slanted propaganda outfit.

Fox Propaganda Network, or maybe Fox Entertainment Network. Either one would pass the accuracy test.

DFW

(54,050 posts)
18. I agree
Mon Jan 31, 2022, 05:32 AM
Jan 2022

They cite the first amendment, which is rather a vague defense.

I would cite the Truth in Advertising Act, which is not.

GB_RN

(2,267 posts)
11. Faux Nuz's Defense Will Be The Same As Always...
Sun Jan 30, 2022, 03:50 PM
Jan 2022

"No reasonable person could take what [their TV personalities] say[s] literally", and then the judge will say, "Not guilty."

Faux's lawyers have made this argument in every defamation case, etc, and that's how they get off. The problem is, the judge and you and I, we're "reasonable" and see through the bullshit, but their audience is totally different: Their audience thinks that they're the reasonable people and we're the insane ones. And the suits at Faux play it up for profits, laughing all the way to the bank. And these assholes are never held accountable because of that "reasonable person" standard under the 1st Amendment.

bhikkhu

(10,708 posts)
12. Some change to that argument should be made
Sun Jan 30, 2022, 04:06 PM
Jan 2022

now that it is general knowledge that Fox's viewing base is largely not reasonable, nor intelligent enough to know the difference between absurd lies and simple truths. If they knew the difference they wouldn't be watching that nonsense in the first place.

Taking advantage of mentally challenged people while also doing them objective harm should be a crime in itself.

GB_RN

(2,267 posts)
14. I Don't Disagree...
Sun Jan 30, 2022, 04:26 PM
Jan 2022

For you or I, we'd definitely get sent to jail for it. But for guys like Rupert Murdoch, those standards don't apply.

For example, when Rush Windbag got caught with fake oxycontin prescriptions, did he go to jail like you or I would? Did any of the tobacco execs go to jail for doing exactly what Murdoch has done (or even pay a dime out of their own pockets as compensation)? Nope. Wanna know why? They didn't steal from other rich people (aka, do "financial crimes" ). Bernie Madoff went to jail for his crimes because he made the mistake of stealing from rich people. If you're rich and you do financial crimes (which can just run the risk of stealing from other rich people, not necessarily do so), they'll definitely make an example of you.

Initech

(99,910 posts)
33. Fox is responsible for anti-vaccine BS and right wing terrorism.
Mon Jan 31, 2022, 01:25 PM
Jan 2022

They need to answer for this. I would love to see Hannity, Ingraham, Carlson, and Pirro dragged before a senate subcommittee.

FakeNoose

(32,335 posts)
34. Well he did re-join the good guys (The Democratic Party) in 2020
Mon Jan 31, 2022, 01:38 PM
Jan 2022

Wikipedia says Bill Kristol started out as a Dem and switched to the Repukes in 1980. Now he's back again, maybe for good this time? He has definitely slammed the door on Faux Noise, they'll never have him back on again.

(link) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Kristol

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