I’ve got Fox News on this morning. Whenever there’s been something big happening, I like to turn it on to hear what the Fox News viewers might be ranting about later in the day and what their talking points are going to be.
While I was in the kitchen kneading my bread dough, I heard one of their chirpy female talking heads ask “Was there a plot to poison the food at Fort Jackson?” in that breathless way they do that always feels like so much sh*t-stirring. I went and paused the TV so I could finish up the bread kneading.
When I got back to the TV, I watched the little five or so minute report on whether or not there was a plot by students in the translator’s program to poison the food at Fort Jackson. End result? There have been no arrests, no one has been detained, the Army has investigated (and has been since December, so it’s actually old news anyway), and they found no credible evidence to suggest anyone was trying to poison the food at Fort Jackson.
So the answer to the chirpy talking head’s question is … NO.
They still managed to get excited about it anyway with a fair amount of hand-waving, raised eyebrows, and rhetorical questions that have no answers. They do love the rhetorical question method of modern journalism. I can play that game too. Do Fox News journalists have brains? Tune in later to find out!
And what they haven’t mentioned this morning is a freaking plane flying into a building in Austin while being piloted by an anti-tax, anti-religion, anti-union, pro-healthcare lunatic. Sort of odd, since the rest of the world does seem to be talking about it this morning. I guess they just don’t know how to label or pigeonhole him to suit their talking points. No, they’d rather babble on and on about Tiger Woods putting his penis in the vaginae of women who were not his wife.
“Rumors of a food poisoning plot at Fort Jackson debunked. Details after the break. . .” as opposed to “Was there a plot to poison the food at Fort Jackson? Details after the break. . .”
Or even better, “Vague rumors of a food poisoning plot at Fort Jackson have been debunked after a thorough investigation. Now, on to events that actually occurred and may have an impact on your world and your life. . .”
IMO the news should inform rather than entertain.
This is why I almost never watch TV news. It’s not just Fox, though they are certainly the worst about it. For every hour of news I watch, there might be one actual fact that gives me a lead for something to look up online.
Often not even that much, and I find I always seem to know more about what’s going on than the talking heads. This was especially true yesterday as the Austin story went national. I had to wonder where they were getting all their (mis)information. Out of their butts would be my guess.