Fascist Progression Through Media Consolidation and Targeted Erosion of Rights

Key Quotes

"We are going to dial it down a little bit and then we're gonna come out of the gate in january uh with a lot of fun stuff so anyways the biggest news of today is this uh report that broke last night that uh cbs news their 60 minutes had a uh a special ready about some Venezuelans who were deported by the trump administration to that El Salvadorian prison sicot uh the terrible one where uh Kristy Noem wore her like 50,000 watch and took a photo in front of a bunch of people in a cage which you know that's that's what you do when you go to a prison that's that's normal person behavior you know"

The speaker highlights a report about a 60 Minutes special that was killed by CBS News leadership. The speaker contrasts the actions of the Trump administration with the behavior of officials like Kristy Noem, suggesting that the latter's actions in a prison setting were not "normal." This sets up a discussion about media integrity and political influence.

"well i mean it is the lowest and behavior that we're used to uh but barry weiss who is the new uh head of cbs news who is from the pre press which she founded which is a right wing media outlet and now she's in charge of cbs news killed the story because she said it was quote unquote or no that there were quote unquote problems with it now the problem with that is that the reporter who worked on this story uh sent a memo internally which has been leaked because of course and said that is not true in fact that it had been uh through the process to make sure everything was good like five times the lawyers had seen it and said it was fine the sources checked out and cbs and and for those who don't know killing a story on 60 minutes with three hours before air is essentially unprecedented so this is a big story"

The speaker explains that Barry Weiss, the new head of CBS News, is being accused of killing a story due to alleged "problems," despite the reporter's assurance that the story had been thoroughly vetted. The speaker emphasizes that killing a 60 Minutes story so close to its air date is highly unusual, suggesting potential external influence or a departure from journalistic standards.

"she is not and never has been a journalist even though she is a substacker having substack doesn't make you a journalist so her excuse for killing the story was that the administration did not comment and they didn't have someone from the administration sit for an interview she is too much of a novice to realize that no comment is in itself a comment right that's a comment that is the comment you a journalist with a student journalist knows that if someone says no comment that goes in the story that is their response"

The speaker asserts that Barry Weiss is not a journalist, despite her role at CBS News and her founding of The Free Press. The speaker criticizes Weiss's stated reason for killing the story--lack of administration comment--arguing that a "no comment" is itself a form of response that a journalist should incorporate into their reporting.

"twitter is still uh in its current form even as much of a cesspool and as shitty as the service has gotten it is still the place where democrat politicians go first to make a statement it is still the place where journalists uh publish their their stories or at least links to their stories even though there's no outlinks so it's basically fucking pointless they know larry ellison who now owns and controls cbs paramount and you know making additional acquisitions like tiktok trying to get netflix their goal is to make it so that the people like everyone who's not a right wing billionaire is completely fucking powerless they are squelching voices they are squelching truth they are destroying journalism that is the goal and it's a good investment as far as they're concerned because they'll do it to nbc next and they'll do it to you know any other uh of the the network uh channels that are still left"

The speaker argues that despite its degradation, Twitter remains a crucial platform for political statements and journalistic dissemination. The speaker then broadens the critique to include figures like Larry Ellison, asserting that the goal of certain powerful individuals is to disempower those who are not right-wing billionaires by suppressing voices, truth, and journalism, viewing this as a strategic investment.

"i don't think that you should think about this in terms of democrat versus republican i think you should think about this is democrat the democratic party versus fascism because that's that's the historical like parallel that that we're facing here we're not facing like a jimmy carter reagan thing we're facing a weimar republic becomes nazi germany thing and for people who think that i'm being hyperbolic remember that if i told you a year ago that we'd be filling planes full of people including legal immigrants and sending them to a torture camp i don't think you'd believe me you'd think i'd be hyperbolic"

The speaker reframes the current political landscape not as a typical Democrat vs. Republican contest, but as a struggle against fascism. The speaker draws a historical parallel to the Weimar Republic becoming Nazi Germany and uses the example of deporting immigrants to a prison camp as evidence that extreme scenarios, once considered hyperbolic, are now reality.

"the vice president talking about that as the secretary of defense is eliminating religious freedom in the world's largest department the world's largest employer we've entered fascism like we're marching towards it i'll put it i'll put my i agree with a lot of that i'll sum it what i'm saying very simply i think they've made a product that you've described perfectly that has reached its market saturation point i don't think that they can bring in new people"

The speaker connects the actions of the Vice President, acting as Secretary of Defense, to the elimination of religious freedom and argues that this signifies a march towards fascism. The speaker then pivots to suggest that the "product" being offered by this political movement has reached market saturation, implying it can no longer attract new adherents.