Fox News and Russian Pro-Putin TV Have Melded into One
When I speak with Russians who believe the Kremlin lies, it feels like I am talking to Americans who watch Fox - and vice versa.
My wife took a bus the other day to another city. It was a five-hour ride. Two hours in, all passengers exited except for one fellow Russian. He sat a quarter of the bus behind her, listening to Vladimir Solovyev, the popular Russian version of Tucker Carlson. I so wished that I had been present, but alas, I wasn’t — my wrath would have been Khan-like.
I have long been vocal about the obesity epidemic in our nation. Most likely, I am wrong in my more accusatory diatribes that all people have to do is eat less, eat better, and move (walk, run, exercise, etc.) their bodies regularly. I am observant enough to appreciate that it is in the vile interests of Big Food to hook people on over-salted, sugary, fake food. This stuff is so precisely engineered in New Jersey laboratories (exit 8) that it hooks people in the ways opioids do, especially when administered from birth, as many parents so irresponsibly do.
Indeed, obesity is a man-made problem that then casts many humans into a life-long battle with poor health, uncontrollable cravings, and, in many cases, soaks their days with deep-seated shame and embarrassment. Even though they know the shit piled high on their trays at the all-you-can-eat all-nite eatery is killing them, there is almost nothing they can do to stop.
Now let’s return to the dumbass on the bus (who might as well be the same dumbass sitting in a reclined chair in Topeka, Harrisburg, Colorado Springs, or Anaheim). Not forced to watch Solovyov, the lunatic blared the unrelenting lies and cowardly threats on a bus he was sure was void of other Russian speakers. Gorging on the syrupy grizzle of Solovyov’s easily fact-checked rant, the Russian coward was no less disabled and debilitated as our poor late-night obese binger. The one thing that separates the guy on the bus from the binge-eater is that, for the most part, he spends his days (or at least that day) not in Russia, where information is censored and hidden, but in Europe, where he can hear the truth, where he can research the truth. If our obese victim found himself in a health club, something tells me he would most likely order a kale salad.
I have written in the past that I thought maybe the poor diet on which so many Americans get hooked had an effect on the brain, thus making Fox News so digestible and tasty — comfort food for the brain. I still think there is something to this, but one thing does mess up this theory. Russians are nowhere near as obese as Americans, although they are catching up.
When I listen to my Trumpist brother speak, I am reminded of pro-Putin friends in Russia. One of the dummies came to my place around Christmas in 2021, when the propaganda was heating up, and asked why Americans hate cats. There was a line tossed out to seemingly hook Russian cat lovers into hating America. My brother is still convinced that the Jewish Zelensky is a Nazi — whose ridiculous propaganda was this to begin with? What chicken or egg gave birth to this lie? Was it Putin, or was it Tucker (Fox)?
I don’t think Fox and Russian TV are in cahoots, but I don’t doubt that the two inspire each other. It must be exhausting constantly making shit up. It’s not like they are creating a story from scratch. They must take something that seems true to most, and if not perverted by right-wing commentary, it will remain true and unsoiled. The difficulty begins when they must carve out a lie whose details are believable enough to quash the obvious and often tangible truth of the matter. It’s not easy.
It would be interesting to sit a pro-Putin Russia who speaks English down for a beer with a Foxified American. I don’t doubt they would become fast friends.