Can Twitter replace Fox News? Consider what my Twitter page looked like this morning.

By Hal Brown 

Most of you, if I have an accurate sense of my blog readers, are loathe to even click on Twitter let alone actually have an account and post their own tweets there. You probably would be one of the people depicted in the DonkeyHotey image from 2022 above. You can see how he was depicted by caricaturist DonkeyHotey (website) with an impish smile in 2012 to looking mean but oblivious in his grandiose state of smug self-delusion in 2022. 

Yet Elon Musk makes the news almost every day and now, according to a featured article in Salon this morning, wants to have Twitter replace Fox News:

I am not sure how this is possible. I doubt very many people want to turn off their televisions and use their laptops or other Internet devises to get their fix of right-wing opinion. There are ways to watch the Internet on the big screen (seeWikiHow) - but how many people are going to do this? My hunch is not very many. I tried to get my laptop to play through my smart TV with a cable I had for another purpose and after considerable trial and error I manage to get it to work. 

Then  noticed that my smart TV had an Internet setting so I was able to get Twitter there.

This may all seem like techie stuff, but in order for Musk to succeed in making Twitter an alternative to Fox News he has to have numerous people willing to take the steps to put it on their televisions. 

Given that, how many people even open Twitter first thing when they look at what's online using an Internet device? The MAGA world he lusting after, even want to follow the news, are more likely to turn on their television than go to the Internet. If he really wanted to become a media mogul like Rupert Murdoch he would be better off if he purchased NewsMax or One America News (OAN) and try to expand the number of cable stations which broadcast them. This is a bit dated being from 2021 but is relevant: Large Majorities of Newsmax and OAN News Consumers Also Go to Fox News. He'd have his work cut out for him but at least he'd have an opening to break into television.

My morning online routine is to look at my overnight email, then see what HUFFPOST has as their top story, check Raw Story for their articles which summarizes news as it breaks, I scan The New York Times and Washington Post websites, and see what Salon is publishing.

I always have MSNBC on so on weekdays "Morning Joe" is playing in the background.

Among all these sources I try to come up with an original take for my blog of the day.

For those of you who rarely if ever look at Twitter, and may see screen grabs of select tweets in various articles, below are screen grabs of my Twitter page for this morning.

Clicking images will enlarge them and not take you to Twitter.

After skimming the Salon article I thought I'd see what just going to Twitter.com looked like.

The top tweet is from Musk about DeSantis and his announcement on Twitter:

What stood out to me was the Trump-like incoherent sentence "But you what isn't noise?" I assume he meant to write "But what you hear isn't noise" ending with a period rather than a question mark. The sentence after that isn't grammatical either. What would convey what (true or not) Musk meant is that what people heard wasn't noise but rather was DeSantis setting an all-time record for fund-raising.

If you click on Find out more this is what you will see:

You will have to go to Twitter (here) to read their Community Notes Guide.

In order going down the page as it appeared on my laptop are the following mishmash of tweets. I don't know if your Twitter page would look like this. I was struck by the contrast in tweets from liberal Thom Hartmann's tweet with was second under Musk's tweet to Lauren Boebert which was the next tweet. Down the page there was a similar contrast.

While alternative platforms, one of the best known being Mastodon (below)  have tried to replace Twitter, none have lured away the well known posters on Twitter as the screen grabs show.

Today there are tweets from President Biden, Kevin McCarthy, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Rick Scott,  George Conway, Jim Jordan, and Barack Obama for example.

 So far I haven't seen a post on Mastodon, where I have an account where I've made 952 posts since Nov. 2022 (here) copied onto a news or opinion article they way so many tweets are.

 

Update: (Ben Collins is a senior reported at NBC News)

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Tucker Carlson's unredacted text reveals a surprising side of him: Does he have a better angel?

 By Hal Brown. MSW, retired psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapist

Scroll down for May 7 update.

Click above to enlarge image

Below is the section of the previously redacted (above with my image added) portion of the message which contributed to a chain of events that ultimately led to Mr. Carlson’s firing that is described in this NY Times article:

Carlson’s Text That Alarmed Fox Leaders: ‘It’s Not How White Men Fight’

It is being discussed on "Morning Joe" as I write this blog:

A couple of weeks ago, I was watching video of people fighting on the street in Washington. A group of Trump guys surrounded an Antifa kid and started pounding the living shit out of him. It was three against one, at least. Jumping a guy like that is dishonorable obviously. It’s not how white men fight. Yet suddenly I found myself rooting for the mob against the man, hoping they’d hit him harder, kill him. I really wanted them to hurt the kid. I could taste it. Then somewhere deep in my brain, an alarm went off: this isn’t good for me. I’m becoming something I don’t want to be. The Antifa creep is a human being. Much as I despise what he says and does, much as I’m sure I’d hate him personally if I knew him, I shouldn’t gloat over his suffering. I should be bothered by it. I should remember that somewhere somebody probably loves this kid, and would be crushed if he was killed. If I don’t care about those things, if I reduce people to their politics, how am I better than he is?

The line in the text, it's not how white men fight, that apparently alarmed Fox News executives expresses Carlson's racism. I wonder if Carlson was thinking of how Mike Tyson bit off a chuck of Evander Holyfield's ear when Holyfield. an underdog, was winning in their 1997 heavyweight championship boxing match.

It was the rest of the text that I think is surprising. Breaking it down:

* Jumping a guy like that is dishonorable obviously.

This shows that Carlson can differentiate between what is honorable and dishonorable.

* I found myself rooting for the mob against the man, hoping they’d hit him harder, kill him. I really wanted them to hurt the kid. I could taste it.

This demonstrates an ability to engage in self-reflection, to express how he feels about something. It also shows he can admit his own murderous impulses.

* Then somewhere deep in my brain, an alarm went off: this isn’t good for me. I’m becoming something I don’t want to be.

Crucially, this shows that he is cognizant of when his thoughts deviate from an ego ideal. In Freudian psychoanalysis this is the inner image of oneself as one wants to become. In the id-ego-superego (or conscience) Freudian model the ego ideal is part of the superego, that is "the individual's conscious and unconscious images of what he would like to be, patterned after certain people whom ... he regards as ideal."

* The Antifa creep is a human being. Much as I despise what he says and does, much as I’m sure I’d hate him personally if I knew him, I shouldn’t gloat over his suffering. I should be bothered by it. I should remember that somewhere somebody probably loves this kid, and would be crushed if he was killed. If I don’t care about those things, if I reduce people to their politics, how am I better than he is?

The entire section above comes across as if it he has a better angel, his conscience, sitting on his shoulder whispering in his ear.

I don't view empathy as an either you have it or you don't characteristic. Some people, malignant narcissists for example, are incapable of experiencing empathy, period, full stop. Donald Trump fits all the indices of being a malignant narcissist. I do not think Trump has empathy for anybody.

I don't know if this is true of Carlson. He may have empathy for family members and his friends. 

There are people who are sociopaths who aren't at all narcissistic. I think of depictions of Mafiosi in fiction. They can kill or order a hit on someone and still feel deep love and empathy for their family. This doesn't mean family members and girlfriends can rest easy. Uncle Junior ordered a hit on Tony Soprano, Christopher regretfully ordered Sylvio  to kill his girlfriend Adriana.

Hitler, a psychopath who wasn't a grandiose narcissist like Trump, probably truly loved and had empathy for Eva Braun. He was extremely fond of his German Shepherd, Blondi, and even let her sleep in his bed in his bunker. Apparently Trump has never has a pet in his life.

I've digressed, so I ought to conclude with my clinical assessment of Tucker Carlson. 

I think he has many characteristics of malignant narcissism. He shares these with Donald Trump: extreme narcissism, antisocial behavior or sociopathy, sadism, being a bully, grandiosity, liking to raise hostility levels, and dehumanizing people and groups of people.

He is different from Trump in one respect, aside from being much more intelligent. He has an awareness that he is incapable of empathy and that to at least some degree knows he'd be a better person if he felt it.

Update: 

Scoop: Tucker Carlson ready to torch Fox News

My response:

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On Fox News former GOP House member was horrified by Trump's Hannity performance

 By Hal Brown

This article (missing my illustration) was in The Hill (read article here): 

Trumpian vengeful word salad: Click image to enlarge.

Above is an article about comments made by a man whose name was familiar to me but I knew nothing about him. 

Click above for Wikipedia profile

It turns out that Chaffetz also made the news for these comments in other media:

Click above to enlarge image

Here's the Salon article.

I thought that it wasn't really worth writing an entire blog about since the media was covering it and I had nothing original to say. 

The real reason thought to write this was that I made the illustration yesterday and tweeted it here:

No other president has been referred to in headlines as often as Trump with words like bizarre and unhinged when describing his words whether in spoken rants or on his Truth Social posts ("truths"). Therapists like me and others note he speaks in word salad.

I wanted to use my illustration again. I hadn't thought of anything else to write about so I figured I use this as my topic for the day, at least unless I later think of something else to use as my primary blog post.

 Here's an excerpt from the article in The Hill:

“I watched that and I thought, ‘Where is Donald Trump?'” Chaffetz said on “Fox and Friends,” adding, “I voted for Donald Trump twice. I have defended him countless times. I thought he was horrific. I think that was the worst interview I’ve seen the president do.”

Chaffetz further criticized Trump for “whining,” “playing the victim card” and complaining that someone he endorsed, like DeSantis, may be running against him in the GOP primary in 2024.

“I thought he was absolutely horrific,” he said. “He’s a former president of the United States. Act like it. He didn’t in that interview.”

This depiction of Chaffetz came to mind:

There's really nothing much more to write. In fact this drawing should say it all, but on the off chance that someone doesn't get it, my reaction is "in what world has this guy been living?" He's horrified by Trump now!

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Related

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I wonder what Chaffetz would say if he heard this interview with Trump (as reported on Raw Story here):

Addendum

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On a somewhat related matter, yesterday I wrote about how Sean Hannty scored a coup over Tucker Carlson by snagging this interview with Trump. Meanwhile over at the nothing-of-a station Newsmax, Greta VanSusteren managed to get, wait for it... Mike Pence... beating out Sean Spicer who is the only really well known of the hosts at the station. Even so, her interview also made the national news.

Click above for link

You read it here.

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Sean Hannity scores bigly against Tucker Carlson getting interview of rabid Trump

 Trump is a foxy rabid fox appearing as it happens on a phony news network called Fox.

Trump wasn't in rant mode. He was decidedly subdued. But consider this from WikiHow about animals who have rabies and whose bite can kill you:

Beware if an animal seems overly friendly. While infected animals may appear aggressive or anxious, others show signs of being friendly. Ultimately, friendliness in infected animals is one of the biggest dangers to humans or other uninfected animals, as contact with an infected animal can lead to infection.

• Stay away from stray or feral animals that seem friendly. A friendly animal can turn aggressive very quickly, especially if they are infected with rabies.
• Avoid approaching a wild animal because it shows signs that it is friendly.
• Some infected wild animals may seem unusually calm or even docile.

 By Hal Brown

Trump finally realized that despite his feud with Fox News he needed their audience to spew his venomous lies so he ended up granting the network an hour long interview, if one could call a one-sided exposition of grievances lathered with a generous helping of self-serving lies an interview. You can watch the "interview" here. 

Not only were Hannity's queries the very definition of softball questions but his facial expressions and head nodding showing agreement with everything Trump said were downright lovey-dovey. Not having watched much of Tucker Carlson I would venture to suggest he isn't capable to that kind of sycophancy.

Above, just one of many articles about this, not that there was anything significantly new in this. 

Here's another article:

5 things Donald Trump said in his interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity

Trump didn't make new news in this appearance.I think his allowing  Fox back into his good graces may portend his doing the same with Twitter. If he returns to posting there he'd probably ignore his contract with Truth Social where he agreed to wait six hours before posting anything political on other social media after posting there. After all, what are they going to do, sue him?

This would assure Truth Social went kaput.

What then did I find interesting in this appearance? 

Well, you read my title. 

Trump had two choices about whose show he'd grace with his divine presence and give the show a rating bonanza. 

These are the Adweek rankings from 2022:

 

Ruling out appearing on The Five because it really isn't an interview show, Tucker Carlson and Jesse Watters beats out Hannity.

For reasons incompressible to me the caustic lacking in charisma Jesse Watters beats out Hannity. He's not particularly well known outside of the Fox News universe.  However, compared to Carlson and Watters, Hannity is dull.

I figure that if the choice was up to Trump, and I assume it was, it would be between Hannity and Carlson.

I think the reason he chose Hannity is because he considers him to be as close to a friend as Trump is capable of having. Hannity, as these stories show, has had an actual relationship with Trump:

Most recently: CNN Exclusive: New text messages reveal Fox’s Hannity advising Trump White House and seeking direction

Trump, Hannity often speak several times a day: report

Sean Hannity Has Trump's Direct Phone Line And They Talk Multiple Times A Day: Report

Their relationship has had its up and downs:

Report: Sean Hannity Ended His Friendship With Trump After Becoming ‘Disgusted’ Over Election Lies

Friendship or not, everything is transactional with Trump when it comes to relationships and who he decides to do favors for.

I have a hunch as to another reason why Trump decided to go on Hannity's show rather than on Tucker's show.

I think it is because of Tucker's massive ego and how he tries to make all of his shows about himself. He could have Jesus Christ himself on the show and try to make it about himself. Hannity for his part, from what I can tell since I only watch clips of both shows on MSNBC, is a better interviewer who knows when to keep his mouth shut.

Addendum:

The beleaguered bastion of blowhard bloviators is bleeding but not dead yet:

You read it here.

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Today's Trumpian tale of two tabloids

 By Hal Brown

Someone walking by news kiosks in New York today might mistake the cover page (below) for the Murdoch owned New York Post for it's competitor, the liberal Daily News:

I found out where the Post got the photo of Trump holding a bat (here). It was taken while was participating in a Made in America event with companies featuring their products in the Blue Room of the White House in July, 2017.

Both covers featured the embattled former president but the Post says he's deranged and "bat hit crazy" while the New York Daily News "merely" says he's dangerous. 

I would like to have been in the Post newsroom to see if anyone brought up the idea of spelling out the word "shit" thus making the cover look something like this and hear the pro and con arguments.

Click above to enlarge

The Daily News has a self-satisfied slightly sneering Trump on their cover today. They are known for their Trump covers which are far harsher:

Click above to enlarge

I don't know what to call the facial expression on the baseball bat holding Trump.

Here's the featured NY Post editorial.

I won't summarize the article (click above to read it) but will note it has one choice reference that anti-Trumpers have been using for years, saying that the emperor has no clothes (left).

Update Sat, afternoon: In Raw Story today Tom Boggioni highlighted the same reference here:

I note that there are two meanings of the word "won't" shown in the NY Post title but not in the article itself. "Won't" can mean a prediction about something that won't occur in the future. Alternately, it can be a word suggesting in this context that Trump can decide whether to change or not. Defining it this way misses the fact that Trump, being Trump, can't change.

Another way to put this is that Trump won't change because he can't change.

No matter how self-defeating, acting on his impulses to lash out at those he is fighting with words that go beyond intemperate to insane he is unable to control himself. 

Rather than rant and rave out loud or stew in his boiling juices in silent rage like a more-or-less normal person who feels their world crashing down around them, he vents his spleen though his fingertips when he types (now often in all caps) on Truth Social. 

Wait for Waco today when we'll see video clips of his doing it with his maniac mouth. (More on Waco rally.)

Who would have predicted that the liberal media and the right-wing media would both use words like crazy, deranged and unhinged to describe Donald Trump? For example, this is how HUFFPOST titled their article about the Post editorial today: 

‘Unhinged’: Trump Ripped In Withering Editorial From Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post

The previously pro-Trump tabloid offered some harsh truths for Trump supporters.

Considering that nothing makes it into a Rupert Murdoch owned publication as an editorial about Trump, whether it's The NY Post or The Wall Street Journal, that doesn't have the bosses approval. Fox News, which has far more influence with Republican voters than Murdoch's American newspapers, doesn't air editorials, at least not the way newspapers regularly do.

Now it is a wait and see game to see whether Murdoch forces the likes of Tucker Carlson so be ordered to throw Trump out the window or be defenestrated themselves.

You read it here.

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