In Lawsuit Against Carnahan, FOX Wins Either Way, and We Lose

Will FOX win its suit against Missouri Democratic Senate candidate Robin Carnahan for using video from FOX? Either way the suit goes, FOX wins.

FOX is not pursuing this case because they will make money from winning it; how much money could they possibly get? They are not doing this to protect their integrity; Mike Wallace and FOX have long ago given up any shred of integrity. Integrity is irrelevant to FOX’s mission to make money by distributing conservative propaganda.

Chilling Effect

Democracy requires that we know as much as we can about how candidates will govern if elected. The best argument against Republicans is their own words. The best attack ad against a Republican contains the actual statements showing the Republican's extremist views. And the best place to get that media is from FOX where Republicans feel free to express their extremist views.

If FOX wins their case, it would squelch campaign ads against Republicans using the choicest media from FOX that reveals Republican extremist views most clearly. Even if FOX loses, just the threat of a lawsuit by a big corporation against any campaign has a chilling effect on the media it uses in its ads.

That would shield Republican candidates from having their extremist views used against them. The last thing Republicans need is the media exposing what wing nuts they really are.

Winners and Winners

FOX actually would further it's propaganda mission if they lost the suit. As a manufacturer of propaganda, FOX knows it’s a lot easier to parse and clip video to make it look like it is saying something that it isn’t because the truth doesn’t fit their political agenda. FOX routinely hypes these fabricated stories. It is their bread and butter. For example, the Shirley Sherrod video clip was purposely edited to portray her as a racist, when actually the opposite was true. Her speech was really a triumph of tolerance over racism. But FOX pounced on it and played the maliciously edited clips relentlessly. Another example was the fake Acorn “scandal” where treacherous editing created a video that was entirely fictional. The controversies created, however, are real. We later find out we were duped when the truth is the opposite of what was shown.

This is exactly what they are accusing Carnahan of doing. FOX is employing a common Republican trick. Republicans routinely accuse others of precisely that which they themselves are guilty. FOX wants to prevent lawsuits against itself for doing exactly what it is suing Carnahan for allegedly doing.

FOX wins if it loses the case because the court will be saying it’s OK to parse, clip and edit someone’s words to totally distort what is actually said. They would have a court ruling that gives them permission to continue misrepresenting reality and continue manufacturing their propaganda without fear of legal recourse. FOX wants to prevent lawsuits against itself for routinely manipulating video and misrepresenting the truth on its network.

That’s why I want to see FOX win their suit. If they win they will have inadvertently set a standard that they will have to meet. They will have to abide by the decision that you can’t manipulate video and distort the truth.

Then what will FOX broadcast? News?