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Tom Toles, whose political cartoon work won him the Pulitzer prize in 1990, penned a column for the Washington Post which was published this Thursday, May 24. In it, he lays the blame for the poor quality of American political discussion squarely at the feet of Fox News and its team of pundits, who he claims are blatant fear-mongers and liars.
You may recognize Toles from his work as a cartoonist:
But Toles doesn't need pictures to illustrate his point. His column in the Washington Post begins:
No, we can't just discuss things like reasonable adults, and Fox News is the reason...Many Americans are still somewhat unaware of how unfair and unbalanced this spigot of misinformation has become. After all, what sane person would want to spend their time watching this unceasing river of drool?
He also claimed:
This is a rusty razor being violently drawn back and forth across the throat of American discourse. No, there is no way to have a normal discussion with these people...Their efforts are transparently about spreading hysteria, intimidation and the short-circuiting of the American justice system. For the purpose of protecting Trump, at any cost.
It's hard to argue with Toles' claims after watching a recently posted video by Media Matters, which supercuts many instances of Sean Hannity and other Fox News pundits attacking the justice system as a "shadow government" outright for the crime of investigating the Trump campaign (several of the investigations targets have already plead guilty to charges filed).
For Toles, the state of the union is bleak:
When the American conversation has come to this, we are in a very bad place. This is no longer about discussion, or the examination of ideas. It is nothing but ruthless propaganda. And anything they are guilty of themselves, they will immediately turn it around and accuse the other side of, and with a breathtaking vehemence. Do you enjoy playing "I know you are but what am I?" Forever?
H/T - RawStory, The Washington Post, YouTube