John Oliver Exposes The Madness Behind NRATV

[Initech]

I knew they were batshit crazy, but damn!

[madaboutharry]

1. Dana Loesch is a crackpot.

How does someone even evolve into such a bitter and angry person?

[Initech]

2. After watching John Oliver yesterday...

So the NRA hawks the same bullshit energy drinks that Infowars does. Maybe there's some ingredient in these drinks that turns people into stark raving lunatics? If we could isolate that ingredient and find a cure, maybe we could find the cure for Trumpism!

[petronius]

4. It's even broader than that, I think - a lot of the same products and ingredients

marketed at Infowars are also sold at lifestyle and 'wellness' sites like Goop et al. (I don't want to call those left-leaning exactly, but clearly a different brand of nuttiness than Infowars.)

Of course, the brands get changed: what is Unicorn Love Powder for one audience becomes Mega-Manly-Kickass Juice 1000 for another audience...

[grumpyduck]

3. I forced myself to watch some of those clips

And found it fascinating that their target audience is so specific. I mean, of course it is, that's who they want to reach, but it was so obvious.

But I think it's also interesting that their channel is on streaming TV or cable, instead of being a "real" network, especially considering how much they spend on politicians. Maybe they're testing the waters? On the other hand, I have to wonder how many people watch this shit.

Well, hopefully Amazon, Apple, and Roku will see fit to cancel them too.

Hey, on that idea... is there a precedent for a private company trying to have so much influence on the public, before cable and computers? Like maybe during the McCarthy era or the Cold War? Gotta look into that.