The 2020 presidential election witnessed some cataclysmic shifts in the political tectonic plates. Fox News, once the home of “fair and balanced,” learned the hard way that you cannot just add Leftist commentary like salt and pepper, even a little bit will dominate the taste. In this case, it’s as if Fox dumped in a bucket of Jalapenos.
On the night of the 2020 presidential election, Fox tried to be more Woke than CNN by declaring Arizona early for Joe Biden. Days later, Fox was still alone among television networks calling that race. It was a fateful decision that triggered a massive move of viewers to Newsmax Television.
The problem was that none of the other networks, all dependent on Edison research, agreed. These were networks who had for years fervently embraced the ridiculous conspiracy theory that Donald Trump was a Russian spy. Surely, they should be willing to fudge the numbers for Biden. But Fox was all alone, like a nerd trying to get acceptance. “Come on guys, we all hate Trump, remember? Let us play too.”
One cannot blame Fox for rushing ahead of the pack. Throughout the campaign the media had shamelessly shilled for the Democrats. They had given Biden’s campaign the equivalent of billions of dollars in free promotion. Not only by the stories they ran against Trump and for Biden, but by the many stories they covered up. But on election night, 2020, only Fox was willing to cheat for Biden. The fact that the Fox News Decision Desk chief, Arnon Mishkin, a seemingly nice guy, was a Democrat didn’t help the perception. Had he covered his ass by getting direct approval form the owners?
It was ironic that the network had already suffered years of ridicule for being fair. They had often welcomed the President of the United States, spontaneously, on air to talk. But on election night, while he was racking up almost 70 million votes, half of the American people, which Fox had all to themselves, they could not stay with Donald Trump just one more hour. It was a stunning betrayal.
Meanwhile, it turns out that Fox viewers were not as dumb nor as slavishly obedient as some imagined. The viewers had been watching for months the newly reinvented network of the Murdock kids, and with careful curiosity they followed the calm demeanor as the Fox swan glided across the television pond – all seemingly fair and balanced - but they knew full well that underneath the water, its little ducky legs were paddling Left as fast as they could go. One by one Leftist guests crowded the segments and not just any guests, it was as if Fox had polled to find the most repellant Leftists, the biggest on-air liars they could find.
Like John McCain and Mitt Romney, before them, they concluded that their supporters had nowhere else to go. There were only two parties. Republicans and Democrats. There were only two television choices Fox and the rest of them. But in that they were mistaken.
As it turned out, for months Fox viewers had been fishing around for alternatives and when Fox called Arizona, with thousands of the votes still uncounted, they moved en masse to Newsmax Television. It was like a thousand birds on a telephone wire. One or two fluttered away and then suddenly, they all took flight.
Meanwhile, the disturbance on the internet had been ongoing for years. Google, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, regularly censored, throttled and shadow banned conservatives, Christians, Libertarians and ordinary people who dared to think an unconventional thought. The Big Tech executives were soon labeled by internet geek’s as “the prince of the power of the air,” an allusion to Satan.
At first, the inconsistencies were a nuisance. The Big Tech censors could not discern sarcasm so many irritated Leftists saw their own websites shut down by misunderstandings. Meanwhile, Twitter would allow an Ayatollah to call for the extermination of the Jewish race but censor the President of the United States.
Facebook and Google were helping the Communist Chinese government spy on its own people, grading their devotion to the regime by where they went, what they said and what they watched on television or online. Facts gathered by Big Tech determined where a Chinese person lived or worked or went to school. In some cases they determined whether or not they would be allowed to live.
Like Newsmax, Parler, became the “go to” social media marketplace and the online followers flew over to them in droves. And not just conservatives. Parler became the new meeting place for everybody. It simply re-captured the original idea of a free forum, thus becoming overnight the favorite of Left, Right, Democrat, Republican, young, old, gay, straight, Islamic, Christian... it does indeed offer a smorgasbord of ideas. It is what the internet once was.
Yes, the voices of Trump supporters easily took a big chunk of Parler, but why should that be a surprise? They also represent half of the country. Christians, who are targeted at public school and mocked by Hollywood and the corporate media networks, have found Parler the last place on earth where they can talk to somebody.
There is much to despair about the increasing censorship and the “Big Brother” control of the dangerous people who own Big Tech and the media, and the multi-national, monopolies. By taking down Trump and the small business renaissance he created, we are now more vulnerable, only a step or two away from socialism and losing the idea of America forever.
And yet the emergence of Newsmax and Parler show just how creative the American dream remains in this its darkest hour.
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Camille Wead
You can follow Camille on Parler at @camillewead!
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