Fox News on 24 hours a day on three TVs at a friend's house

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

I am seriously concerned for them. They are both big bush supporters (any surprise there?) and they LITERALLY have three TVs on Fox News 24/7. I am over there from time to time, sometimes more often than other times (our kids play together) and I finally had to ask about it today. Here's how the conversation went (they know I am a Kerry supporter, they are pretty good about it):

"I came by here the other day and no one was home but your TVs were on....do you leave them on all the time?"

Her: "Oh yeah, well we leave them on for the news all the time" (motions to TV).

Me: "Fox News only?"

Her: "Yeah! It's the only one that tells the truth. I will NOT watch anything else."

Me: "Besides news do you watch anything else?"

Him: "Nope. Just that. We don't even turn them off at night. We just like it."

Me: "So all three TVs, Fox News only, 24 hours a day?"

Her: "Uh-huh. The kids have their own TVs in their room to watch whatever or play video games or watch DVDs, but Fox News is the only thing Chuck and I watch EVER."

I kinda laughed in a nervous way. One of the TVs is the big screen one in the living room. I just had to ask one more thing:

"Did you used to watch other news channels or programs?"

They look at each other. Him: "No, I don't think so. We've been watching Fox News for a looooong time, haven't we hon?"

Her: "Yeah. Basically it boils down to this: I trust them. I can TELL they are telling the truth. And I love Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity. I think Sean Hannity's kinda cute."

She giggles. I swallow the vomit that has backed up into my mouth and leave.

Do they need an intervention? They believe we found tons of WMDs in Iraq and that we should nuke Iran.

[Melodybe]

1. You should send them a copy of Outfoxed.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

4. Doubt they'd watch it

would they? I could try.

[gmoney]

77. Outfoxed $5.99 including shipping

If you're broke like me, you might appreciate this...

http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemID=RYK000005

I've ordered from these guys many times before, and are very reliable. For $5.99 each, you can afford to buy a couple extras to pass around.

(Hope this is within the rules...)

[PDittie]

2. Too late to intervene

It would be for the good of the 'hood if you called Animal Control and had 'em both put down.

[GreenPartyVoter]

3. These people are just bizarre. Not even Rupert Murdoch has

his TVs set to FOX news 24/7.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

10. I'm wondering how typical they are though

I'm not much of a TV watcher at ALL (the last time I watched it was about a week ago---and I never watch the news on TV on any channel) so I just thought the idea of having TV on at ALL 24/7 was really bizarre, but ONE channel ALL the time???

I hope they aren't typical.

[physioex]

5. I think there are people who can't be changed...

It's really none of your busniess what they watch, although I agree with you in principle.....

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

12. Oh I agree

that's why I didn't start screaming and cutting their cable line.

[quaoar]

6. These people are hopeless

I suggest electric shock therapy.

[Zookeeper]

7. Cue the Twilight Zone theme...

Yes, I think they need an intervention! Perhaps invite them over for an evening and pop "Outfoxed" into the DVD player?

[PROGRESSIVE1]

8. Cut their cable line.

[Democracy Died 2004]

9. Wow

is Fox sending out some kind of hypno wave and brainwashing people?

[Gold Metal Flake]

75. That was the topic of a Max Headroom episode.

The episode was "Wackets" and was about an insipid game show that did not make much sense, but drew huge ratings. It was discovered that there was hidden signals in the video that entranced viewers and they could not get enough.

Psy-ops to blame for Fux?

[luaneryder]

11. There was an earlier thread about

the possibility of subliminal Rovian programming. Good grief, do these people have no other life?

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

14. They both work out of the home

he has his own computer consulting business and sells pot on the side (ooops, did I say that??? Hee hee).

And on edit they are Baptists who think everyone else is going to hell. She carries on having affairs quite openly because she hates him. Can you smell the hypocrisy???

[yardwork]

42. They sound deeply troubled.

He sells pot and she has open affairs and they claim to be Baptists?

Are you sure you want your children playing with theirs? Seriously, dude.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

45. That was a subject I thought long and hard about

and husband and I really grappled with.

But whenever my daughter plays over there, their nanny is in charge. The nanny is WONDERFUL. VERY good with kids and very sweet. The kids LOVE her. My daughter rarely ever sees the parents. Neither do their kids, actually.

And a lot of times, their daughter comes over here. Where she sees....no TV!

(The pot selling hardly ANYONE knows about.....husband found out just by accident.)

[iconoclastic cat]

50. Man, doesn't pot usually make people mellow?

They must not be sampling their own product. They should. Sheesh...

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

53. Oh HE samples it plenty

and he is pretty mellow. He even voted for Clinton the first time!!! LOL!

They are VERY unhappily married and he is always trying to make her happy. It's her who needs to have a sample or two.

[yardwork]

55. You are doing what you can to help their kids, who obviously need

a safe home environment. Their parents sound totally nuts.

I admire you for helping their kids. If it were me, I would probably limit the time my kids spend in that house, no matter how nice the nanny.

They have a nanny? Aren't they both home all day? Does the mom work? I work full-time from home (ok, when I'm not posting on DU lol) and I don't have a nanny.

The pot business must be raking in the dough. Or maybe his computer business involves spying on Democrats. Maybe he's getting paid by Ashcroft!

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

58. They both work out of the home full-time

on his computer consulting business and she goes to college (on line) part time.

They hired a nanny a few years ago at her insistence (this was when she wasn't working with him out of the house, just being a full-time mom) because she said it was too much work taking care of the two of them.

Did I mention they have a cleaning team come in once a week to clean their house?

So yeah they are there all day. During the summer, the nanny is there during the day Monday through Friday and a 16 year old cousin (girl) nannies them on Sat and Sun. During the school year, the nanny comes over just in the evenings and the cousin comes over Sat evenings to watch them.

[aldebaran]

49. And you let your kids hang out at their house?

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

51. Read above

when my daughter is there it is for limited periods of time (an hour or two) and it is always when the nanny is in charge. She is a wonderful sweet lady who loves kids. I've known her for years, in fact, I recommended her for the job (before I knew what nightmares the parents were!!). My daughter hardly ever SEES the parents.

[mountainvue]

69. Wow.

Sells pot on the side? Carries on affairs? Good Christ, this sounds like a bad novel. I feel bad for their child.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

19. Where's that thread?

Got a link?

Because I am seriously wondering about this crap and I don't even OWN a tin-foil hat. It's freaking WEIRD.

[JuniperLea]

13. my fundamentalist christian aunt

says the exact same thing! almost verbatim!!! she said her pastor watches it and has told the whole congregation that fox is the only news worth watching and the only network that tells the truth!!

[GreenPartyVoter]

23. Yep, it really resonates with the folks who have a black and white view

of the world.

Would Jesus love a liberal? You bet!
http://www.geocities.com/greenpartyvoter/liberalchristians.htm

[HysteryDiagnosis]

15. Do they need an intervention? They believe we found tons of WMDs in Iraq a

Down the rabbit hole....

With Oreilly and friends...

Oh how deep it goes... My Gawd these people need help. I cannot believe that yellow journalism can be swallowed hook line and sinker by supposedly educated middle class America. Maybe this is why we have such a poor educational system... better lemmings make for easier misleading... fear mongering... dissemination of falsehoods and self-righteous indignation.

What a country.

[SheilaT]

16. You could try telling them

that viewers of Fox news are by far the least-informed of citizens. I'm sure they'd accuse you of lying and then cast aspersions on your patriotism, but I'm not sure you should be wasting any more of your time on them. Life is simply too short.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

17. That's why I didn't bother

but I immediately thought of today's Doonesbury strip and thought "Damn that's not just a cartoon strip, it's the TRUTH!"

I've debated them before and it always goes NOWHERE. They start laughing and saying Kerry had botox, snort snort snort and they don't want to debate anything of ANY substance.

[Cha]

39. Kerry's botox is better than bush's

toxic brain.

[kskiska]

18. Reminds me of a 60 Minutes segment

Morley Safer did a piece on Thomas Kinkaid, Painter of Light®. He visited a couple who had bought scores of Kinkaid's paintings. The walls were exclusively covered with them, and they even had others in closets which they rotated with the ones on display.

[Beearewhyain]

20. "We don't even turn them off at night."

George Orwell, let me introduce you to my neighbors, Neighbors...this is Orwell.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

21. Freaky isn't it?

But I didn't know if maybe it was freaky because I don't even WATCH TV and could not FATHOM having ANY TV program on all the time, or if it's just that they have ONLY Fox on 24/7. I couldn't figure out which weirded me out the most.

For all you big-time TV watchers out there: any of you leave one on 24/7? Never turn it off?

[zbird]

26. Hate to admit it, but I do have a set on ALMOST 24/7.

However, it is NEVER tuned in to CNN/MSNBC/FAUXNEWS. Usually have on BBC/TLC/DYI. I use it for background noise. I was actually raised in a home where the TV was almost always on (I'm 40+, and I think I turned out OK. I can actually think for myself.)

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

30. Thanks

and don't worry about admitting it, as someone who doesn't watch TV much at all, I wasn't sure I was the best source of information for what's normal and what's not. After all, in our culture, NOT watching it is seen as pretty abnormal too, know what I mean?

Thanks again!

[Logansquare]

71. Ditto, I grew up in a house where the tv was on all waking hours

but Fox 24/7...that's not right.

[JohnyCanuck]

22. It's brainwashing alright, no ifs ands or buts.

From Brainwashing America by Dr. Norman Livergood:

In an earlier article, I reviewed the varied aspects of personality profiling and simulation. While serving as Head of the Artificial Intelligence Department at the U.S. Army War College, 1993-1995, I conducted studies on profiling, psychological programming, and brainwashing. I explored and developed personality simulation systems, an advanced technology used in military war games, FBI profiling, political campaigning, and advertising. Part of my discovery was that:

* unenlightened human minds are combinations of infantile beliefs and emotional patterns

* these patterns can be simulated in profiling systems

* these profiling systems can be used to program and control people

Personality simulation systems are being used to create political campaigns that apply voter profiles to control their voting behavior. TV commercials and programs use personality simulation to profile viewers to control their purchasing and viewing behaviors. And sophisticated propaganda and brainwashing techniques are being used by the Bush junta to keep American citizens under control.
(my emphasis /jc)

Brainwashing America

[iconoclastic cat]

24. That is the creepiest damn thing I have read in a long time.

M_S, are you a fiction writer? If so, please let your imagination run wild on this one. I mean, have you ever actually seen their children?
:scared:

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

28. Ha, no I am not a fiction writer

though I would love to be a published writer someday!

Not only have I seen their children, their daughter is spending the night over here now. She is sweet and well-behaved when over here, but a complete nightmare at home. It's weird.

Their son is a different story. Very misunderstood child. The mom cusses at him a LOT and calls up friends to ask them to "take this bastard off my hands for a while."

He tore the oven door off today. The kid. He's 11 years old. I'm a bit worried about him.

[iconoclastic cat]

44. Okay, there is definitely some abuse going on there.

Kids freak out as a response to stress. If that household causes them stress, but they don't act it out when they aren't at home, you can bet that the home situation is causing the stress. If I were one of their teachers, I would suspect abuse.

[yardwork]

46. This is bad! The TV is just a symptom.

Their children are being abused. Cursing at an eleven year old and calling him a bastard is abuse, pure and simple.

The situation sounds bad. The TV is the least of it. Selling drugs, having affairs, cursing at their kids, this is bad.

Do what you can to help the kids. If you see evidence of physical abuse, or if the verbal abuse doesn't improve, I'd consider calling Social Services.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

47. Oh there's no physical abuse

they are very open around us and I've never seen a shred of evidence of it. If anything they threaten a lot of stuff they never do (ie: grounding, etc.).

They are really inconsistent as parents and she has anger management issues, but they never lay a finger on them. Not even in affection, which is sad. I've never seen either one of them act in even a remotely affectionate way, verbally or physically, towards either kid.

Yeah they are messed-up parents. But I was originally just wondering how freaky it was (or if it was) to have three TVs on 24 hours a day.

On edit: as a teacher, a mom, and a formerly abused kid, you can bet I wouldn't hesitate to call if I saw something CPS would actually investigate. But so far, nothing they would even come out for. So I help by being a positive factor in both kids lives. I talk to them a lot, have the girl over here (I only have a daughter) a LOT (their daughter is like a member of our family, we love her to pieces), etc.

[iconoclastic cat]

57. Hey, another teacher on DU!

There are quite a few teachers in this neck of the virtual woods! Cool. What grade/subject do you teach? Public/private/charter? How's that Miracle coming? I can't wait to send Rod "Terrorists!" Paige back to his own ranch.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

60. I teach eighth-grade English

have for several years, before that I taught high school English. I've only taught in public schools, in low socioeconomic areas/schools.

I love it.

[iconoclastic cat]

67. Yeah, I'm trying to break into teaching in the Chicago public schools,

but the district's budget is a wreck and they aren't doing much hiring. They're going to be shutting down 100 schools in the city between now and 2010, and they claim that these schools will be re-opening as charters run by private non-profit companies. The Chicago Public Schools are under no obligation to find jobs for the teachers that are displaced, and the students have to apply for spots in the remaining schools. This September, a couple dozen schools will not be accepting freshmen, and a few more have been entirely shut down.

I have a feeling that I may go back to copywriting, despite the fact that I have two master's degrees and a valid certificate. None of the other English teachers who graduated from our program in May have found jobs, and the head of the program told me to my face that I needed to look for a job in another state. I absolutely refuse to leave Chicago, however, so that is not an option.

Meanwhile, my friends who do have jobs in the CPS have been informed that they should expect class sizes up to 40 students, which is allowed due to a loophole in their recent contract. The state of education in Chicago is going to become very bleak for a while, and if Chimpy stays in office, I think the whole system in this city will just collapse--or completely privatize.

[yardwork]

59. I see your point. You're doing a lot of good for their daughter.

It sounds like maybe the parents will separate. Maybe the dad (who sounds like the better parent) will get custody.

Back to the TV thing - I'm not a good person to ask, because I almost never watch TV, even when something good is on. I don't even know how to use the remote. On the rare occasions when something I decide to watch is on, my kids have to help me find it!

I can't imagine having three TVs on all day long, not to mention all night long. I can't imagine ever watching Fox news. Come to think of it, I can't imagine having three TVs. LOL!

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

61. They have six TVs total.

But I can't talk, we have four. But only three work. And we hardly ever turn them on!!! LOL!

[progressivebydesign]

25. This is a joke, right? If not..

.. seriously? Your friends have some sort of psychological problems. It's something about being hyper-vigilant, perhaps a post-traumatic stress from 9/11. It is NOT normal to have news on 24/7 on three tvs. I would suggest that you urge them to seek help,but they'd never go.. I fear for what their kids are learning from them. Seriously.. they're really messed up people.. NOT just because they watch Fox, but because they're addicted to the news. That's not good..

[CaTeacher]

29. but do they actually watch the tv--or just kind of

leave it on as background noise? Believe me, I have seen people who do this---just have the tv going all the time even though no one is watching it.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

32. Mmmm they kinda go back and forth from what I can tell

I mean they are doing other things but most definitely paying attention as they can quote from Fox News verbatim. I've heard them do that plenty of times.

[devinsgram]

27. You had better put them on suicide watch

when Kerry wins.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

35. Funny thing is

the guy readily admits Kerry is going to win. He says "Kerry is going to kidnap America", but the woman steadfastly refuses to believe it's going to be anything but a landslide for bush. She said once: "Why would anyone NOT vote for bush?" Then she looked at me and said "forget I said that" because my mouth was open and I was about to give her about 5,000 reasons and she knew it.

[jean]

31. They are willfully ignorant - they have the option to broaden their

viewing perspective and instead just sit, pickling their inactive brains in hate tv.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

33. Good description

I think what bothers me is, why not get your news from MANY different sources? They don't read any papers or news magazines, they don't get any news off the internet (most major papers are available on line) or anything.

I believe in getting a LOT of different sources. Even THEN, you probably don't know the whole story, but you are a hell of a lot more likely to be close than someone who just gets their news from one source, know what I mean?

[jean]

63. that would be the only way I can see that you could approach these

ignoramus neighbors - sidle in there somehow and start to pick just a little at that crust surrounding their brains. What issue is their number one concern? Whatever it is, since they're Foxites, you should have a picnic slowly leading them to the light. They say Fox says this - you say, no kidding! I heard (Olberman, Brokaw, Jennings or whomever) said something else on that subject.

Another way to do this is - just don't. Do they vote? I'm guessing - - - rarely.

[maggrwaggr]

34. fox is putting something subliminal in their casts

It's there in that wavy, blue and red stuff over on the sides .... there's something hypnotic about it ....something that makes you want to keep it on just another couple of seconds longer .......

getting sleepy now .....

I'm not kidding here, actually. There's something strange going on here. I've been in businesses, often cigar shops for some reason, where they've got the damn thing going all day and the proprietor just sorta is zonked out to it .....

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

36. THAT'S weird

and it is creepy to be in their house with Fox News going in stereo all around you on three to five TVs at any given time.

[CaTeacher]

37. it's kind of bizarre really (to me)

for a person to subject themselves to that all day--day after day. But I guess they have the right to toture themselves if they want.

Can this be considered child abuse though? Certainly their children did not choose to be subjected to cable news (unfair and unbalanced) 24 hours a day....

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

41. Their children COMPLETELY tune it out

and each have a TV in their room with cable on which they watch cartoons, DVDs or play video games.

[maggrwaggr]

78. man, that is just way too much TV for one household

Seriously, that's just way fucked up IMHO

[Logansquare]

72. I've often thought that constantly waving flag graphic

was some sort of hypnotic device. The crawlers kind of serve the same purpose.

[Cha]

38. I know you could never do this(or could you?) but

it would be nice if you could inform them that fauxsux viewers are the least informed people on the planet!

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

40. I can tell you EXACTLY what they would say/do

she would:

roll her eyes, flick her hair and say "that's EXACTLY what the REST of the media, the LIBERAL media wants you to believe!"

He would snort, laugh, then say "What bullshit. I DARE them to give me a TEST! I watch the news ALL THE TIME and I know what I'm talking about!"

He would miss the irony, I guaran-damn-tee you, of the fact that the entire statement was about FOX NEWS watchers being so ill-informed.

We've sorta patched things up from a few months ago when the political stuff got REALLY heated (in light of our daughters being friends) so I am loathe to re-open those wounds. And I do consider them lost causes anyway.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

43. While I'm on this subject

my daughter takes horseback riding lessons. Just started. The guy teaching her is super nice, really good at what he does. He used to be in the Army and so did my husband and I found, through chatting with him, that we have a lot in common.

So we were chatting while my daughter was practicing the commands while riding and he said "Did you hear about the DEMOCRATS saying Fox News wasn't balanced and that they LIE???" He laughed. "Isn't that CRAZY? I mean, look at CNN!!!"

Now he knows NOTHING about my politics. And normally I'd pipe right up just for the way he said the word "democrats" (imagine someone saying "boogers" or "poopy") but I bit my tongue. HARD. I said, "Well I don't get any of my news off the TV, I read papers."

He calmed down and said "Well, I used to, just don't have time anymore."

Then he changed the subject.

Wondered if he saw my "Texas Democrat" bumper sticker as we drove off.

[yardwork]

48. What's really sad about that is that CNN is almost as bad as Faux.

There's a lot of kool-aid being consumed out there.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

54. I know!

I've sampled CNN from time to time and, while they don't seem as OVERTLY biased, I still wasn't happy with them either.

BBC World News comes close. And mabye CBC (Canadian).

[DrWeird]

52. Show them that study...

that Fox viewers are the least informed out of all network viewers.

[mountainvue]

56. Had to dump

one of my Fox loving friends. She used to show up at my house to watch cable-Fox. I don't allow Fox in my house. Then she dissed a girl I knew for having an abortion. I knew her for a couple of years but she never really showed me her nasty freeper side for a couple of years. I stopped returning her phone calls. She got the hint.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

62. If these people were just openly hateful

I'd have to do the same thing, though I'd hate to not have their daughter over anymore.

But they aren't. At least not around us.

[yardwork]

64. We have a good friend who is essentially a freeper.

We've known him for more than twenty years. Old college buddy. I never paid much attention to his politics until recently. I mean, it was an issue - we'd tease each other every election that our votes would cancel one another - but not a really big issue.

Now it is. Last time I talked to him I said flat out - I don't know how you can support that man.

He responded by saying that we should drop nuclear bombs all over the middle east, except that we need their oil. I couldn't help it - I snappeed at him. I called him un-Christian. He's devoutly Catholic.

Our friendship is teetering. My husband handles it by never discussing politics with him, but I'm not sure I can ignore it anymore.

He watches Fox and listens to Rush every day. He should know better. He has a college degree in mathematics! He's not a stupid person at all. Just terribly, terribly misinformed. Willfully misinformed.

[mountainvue]

76. My friend was

devoutly Catholic as well.

[mountainvue]

68. I know. This person wasn't openly hateful

at first, either. But then, she literallly started using the talking points in our conversations. "This is a free market system. Anyone who can't make money in it must be lazy." She bashed Clinton over his affair until I brought up Giuliani. Never heard that subject again. Plus, I just couldn't deal with someone who was "too lazy" to "make enough money" to pay for her own cable. LOL.

[LWolf]

65. What a sad disease

it is when the thinking part of the brain atrophies and the rest of the brain must be sustained on life-support programming like that.

And what a horrible thing to contemplate, that the disease spreads through free choice. Like drug addiction, it begins with a choice.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

66. You could get a real powerful TV remote control with transmitter

and park across the street at night, constantly changing the channel to CNN or better yet to World Link or Free Speech TV. Here's a TV remote with something called an RF Extender that is supposed to work up to 100 feet away from your set, even through walls and floors.

http://www.mr-remote.com/urc9910.htm

It would drive them nuts.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

73. OMG

that's funny!!!!

Unfortunately I have too much of a life AND I would be a bit worried the mom would go right over the edge and there might be pretty negative repurcussions for the kids.

Kinda sad.

[snippy]

70. Sounds like the only thing you can do

is water them regularly, fertilize them twice a year, and spray for pests as necessary.

As an unrelated aside, having the TV on Fox News continuously is common among its viewers, whereas CNN viewers watch CNN for shorter, more normal, periods of time. On any given day, more people typically watch CNN but more people watch Fox News during any given hour. This is the main reason CNN can charge more for ad time even though Fox News has higher ratings for many of its programs. http://www.fair.org/extra/0404/fox-ratings.html

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

74. Now THAT'S interesting....

I wonder why that is???

It's that flag thingie. Gotta be. When I go over there, I even find myself s-t-a-r-i-n-g at it.......must.....vote.....for.....bush.....

If it were a record, I'd pay it backwards! LOL!

On edit--interesting snippets from that article you linked:

But there is another important number collected by Nielsen (though only made available to the firm's clients) that tells another story. This is the "cume," the cumulative total number of viewers who watch a channel for at least six minutes during a given day. Unlike the average ratings number the media usually report, this number gives the same weight to the light viewer, who tunes in for a brief time, as it does to the heavy viewer.

How can CNN have more total viewers when Fox has such a commanding lead in average viewers? Conventional industry wisdom is that CNN viewers tune in briefly to catch up on news and headlines, while Fox viewers watch longer for the opinion and personality-driven programming. Because the smaller total number of Fox viewers are watching more hours, they show up in the ratings as a higher average number of viewers.

[homelandpunk]

79. I know a couple like that. They just named their new puppy "George"

This is something entirely new we have never seen. We have always had the "cult of personality". But this is something else. These people like him because he enjoys killing. If there were no 9/11 and Bush was getting people killed on the same scale, they would love him just as much. Carnage is cool, when Fox sanitizes and glorifies it for them.