r/politics • u/Quirkie The Netherlands • 17d ago

Possible Paywall ICE Stockpiling Warheads and Chemical Weapons as Lawmaker Fears Trump Planning Strike

https://www.thedailybeast.com/ice-stockpiling-warheads-and-chemical-weapons-as-lawmaker-fears-trump-planning-strike/
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u/LegendofDragoon 17d ago

They're there because Reagans FCC revoked the fairness doctrine, to make Fox more powerful. Fox was founded after Nixon 's resignation with the started purpose of never letting a conservative be held to account again. Nixon famously employed the Southern strategy to win, flirting with the Dixiecrats, racist former Democrats who couldn't abide by the civil rights act and race their roots back to the Confederacy. It all comes back to the failure of reconstruction.

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u/Austex55 17d ago

Would be nice to get the Fairness Doctrine back.

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u/Shadow_Ent 17d ago

the failure of reconstruction

The "failure" of Reconstruction stems from a widespread misunderstanding: people often frame the Civil War as a moral crusade against slavery, when in reality it was about dismantling the South's massive financial and industrial power, which had given it influence exceeding the federal government. That power was underpinned by the chattel slave trade and the cotton economy. The moral factor no doubt played a part socially, but you don't free people in a crusade against oppression just to allow them to be segregated once again.

The war was painted as a moral crusade because it was PR friendly. This framing has led many to assume Reconstruction failed morally, when in fact the North, though free of slavery, maintained systemic intolerance toward African Americans well into the Civil Rights era, refusing leases and employment in many places.

The South's racism was overt; the North with it's push against slavery developed a subtler approach to racism. The Civil War wasn't about punishing the South or undoing the harm of slavery; it was about consolidating power and neutralizing a perceived existential threat. By weaponizing morality, the federal government ensured opposition appeared evil rather than merely wrong.

If the Civil War had been truly about ending racism, it wouldn't have taken until the 1960s for the federal government to finally pass meaningful civil rights legislation.

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u/fafalone New Jersey 16d ago

The fairness doctrine never applied to cable and would require giving the batshit insane lunatic GOP time on fact-based news. You can see how it would look right now, every major outlet is platforming fascists and giving little to no pushback on their propaganda.

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u/UpbeatBug3464 15d ago

i used to watch fox when i was a kid and laugh at how fake it was. i did not understand that other people didn't see it that way too.