Bret Baier of Fox News unmasked himself completely during the worst hour of his career as a television broadcaster. Certainly, he lost all claim to calling himself a journalist, but the Washington, DC, clique of access-based transactional information brokers who celebrate their part in America’s decay at the White House Correspondents Association dinners each April will no doubt continue to honor him as one of their own. It makes sense because he is. He is part of a vast commercial enterprise that preys on fear, stokes division, stifles rational conversation and coddles extremism.
Fox News as a journalistic operation is premised entirely on the articulated stupidity of “we will inform you at 6 pm” and “delude you at 8pm.” That is what Fox News argues when it routinely goes to court and defends its lies, smears, slanders and misinformation by declaring itself “entertainment, not news.” Fox News doesn’t claim itself as news with a few exceptions: it has always been “BUT Chris Wallace,” “BUT Shep Smith,” “BUT Brit Hume,” “BUT Bret Baier.”
It was certainly true of Shep Smith. It was once true of Brit Hume, but he succumbed to extremist hackery. It was sometimes true of Chris Wallace, who will no doubt feel the market reaction to that reality as he tries to develop a relationship with a CNN audience.
The last open question and only relevant current question is around the “BUT Bret Baier” one, which was decisively settled in the Fox News Town Hall debacle that allowed Congressman Tim Ryan to demonstrate the power of conviction to unleash stifled courage in an intimidated room. Let’s watch what may be one of the most spectacular moments of campaign 2022 where Tim Ryan defenestrated the malice of an extremist faction based on a conspiracy theory stoked by the mendacity of America’s most corrupt institution in front of the stupefied and silent moderators:
There are two things to note. First, observe what triggers the booing from the radicalized faction of the handpicked Fox News audience. A portion of the crowd explodes in rage when Congressman Ryan condemns the criminal extremists who killed a police officer and wounded 140 more. There is no dispute around this being a true statement. It is as true as DDay, Pearl Harbor, 9/11 and Gettysburg. It happened.
The second thing to note is the crowd that remains stifled in silent disagreement with the exploding faction that has begun raging as Ryan confronts the violence. They do not confront the mob. Bret Baier does not confront the mob. Martha MacCallum does not confront the mob. Tim Ryan does though. He does not back down. He coolly, calmly and precisely destroys the premise of the rage and when he does it gives courage to a room full of Republicans to rise up, cheer and decisively call bullshit with him. They cheer Tim Ryan for standing up for truth justice and the American way of life in the great state of Ohio.
For more of my thoughts on this incredible moment, listen to my audio commentary below.
It is time to stand and be counted. Silence = complicity . “It is not light that we need, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake.” - Frederick Douglass
Ryan is so impressive. Cool and unflappable as he speaks truth to madness in the face of hostility. Vance wishes he could buy an ounce of Ryan's dignity with Peter Thiel's money, but sad for him - honor and statesmanship can't be bought.