I have been wondering about something the past couple of days.

[redstatebluegirl]

Do you think we would have the amount of angst in our political process in Washington and in our states, if there had never been a Fox news? Would the Tea Party have taken off the way it did without Fox?

It just seems that having Fox feeding this small faction of right wing zealots has made it so much worse.

I'm sure someone will find fault with this, but I am really wondering what others think about this.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. Coulda woulda shoulda, but yeah, America would be in a lot better place if

Roger Ailes and Rupert Murdoch weren't controlling a lot of what gets broadcast.

[justhanginon]

2. I agree with what you said. Fox news is a right wing partisan sewer of misinformation

for way too many folks. I also think that far too many people do not feel the need to go any where else for their news thus continually reinforcing their innate racism and actual hatred for anyone espousing even the slightest so called liberal positions on issues.

[Populist_Prole]

3. Yeah, spot on

I can't say Fox is solely responsible for the rightward tilt ( jolt really ) but it sure is a clearing house for RW talking points.

I like this:

"some people do not feel the need to go any where else for their news thus continually reinforcing their innate racism and actual hatred for anyone espousing even the slightest so called liberal positions on issues"

As it happens, I'm just back from a vacation visiting some family and their friends, most of them hard-right wingers; so it's still fresh in my mind. That quote is the exact dynamic that I noticed. Their opposition/other side/boogeyman doesn't reflect reality at all: They're all caricatures formulated inside their bubble...and boy do they feel besieged. They're out of touch and don't even know it because the confirmation bias from watching Fox steels their resolve all the more. They're going to get their collective asses kicked in 2016 ( as they did in 2008 & 2012 ) and still think everyone else in the country is crazy but them.

[procon]

4. I can see the impact Fox news has had on members of my own family.

They've changed. They have become paranoid and suspicious. They hate -- yes, truly hate! -- everyone who thinks or looks different, and it's getting so hard to have any sort of normal conversation with them. They've acquired guns, lots of guns. They talk about god, but it's a god with a machine gun. They believe every conspiracy theory without question. Facts are dismissed as leftist lies, I don't even mention evolution, or global warming. They think the federal government is unnecessary, they want local rule, describing something like the city-states of ancient Greece. The only thing they want to pay for is the military.

They weren't always like this, but the one common denominator they all share is their obsession with Fox news. They've all been brainwashed and there's nothing I can do about it, but it's a tragedy and it just makes me weep.

[PufPuf23]

5. In general agree but also include rw hate radio (Limbaugh et al) in the mix.

The divide was crossed under Reagan.

The "Reagan Revolution" made it politically and socially acceptable and even virtuous (for some) to hate.

[ryan_cats]

6. Confirmation bias at its finest.

Confirmation bias at its finest.
If the news or news organizations supports my view, then it is a well thought out and proper report.

If it goes against what I believe, then it's biased and wrong for the world.

[Fumesucker]

7. Better to ask what would have happened if Clinton had not signed the fairness doctrine repeal

Honestly I think talk radio is far worse than Fox and a lot more people are exposed to it than watch Fox.

[melman]

8. Absolutely

Fox is mild compared to the stuff on AM hate radio all day every day.