TPM Reader CB shares his story …
I have to say, I’ve seen a noticeable shift in my parents’ views over the years as they’ve fallen deeper and deeper into Fox’s grip. Although much more so for my mother than my father. (In fact, virtually every time we talk on the phone, I hear Fox droning on in the background. And when I am home visiting, I make it point to put Fox on mute.)
The vitriol that comes out of her mouth, the seething rage at “illegals,” “Section 8,” and all the other “low life” who, with the government’s blessing, are taking away everything that she spent her life working for, is stunning. I don’t remember her being that angry when I was growing up. It’s really been in the last ten years or so that it’s come on strong, and when Fox has become a virtual addiction.
What makes it worse, though, is the sheer amount of misinformation that she has bought into, along with her adoption of Fox’s reflexive disdain of facts that counter the desired narrative (E.g., death panels, Bill O’Reilly has never divorced). My mother is a smart woman; she taught high school English for 35 years. It pains me to see her this way; it’s simply not healthy to carry around that much simmering anger and paranoia.
