Anyone who has ever visited New York City has undoubtedly seen the scores of sights that adorn the streets of The Big Apple. From the Empire State Building to Times Square, The City That Never Sleeps has endless examples of timeless nostalgia that help paint a history of this great American city.
Historically, along with the typical tourist photo ops and the vendors who sell mini skyline statues and $5 t-shirts, there are the street hustlers. One of the most well known of the street hustles is the “Three Card monte.”
Three Card Monte seems innocuous enough if you’re watching from outside the game. A tourist walks up and watches the player shuffle three cards around face-down on a cardboard box with the “bettor” trying to follow the target card, which was shown to the bettor prior to the shuffle. After the player finishes his shuffle, the bettor (who is actually part of the con) picks a card and the player turns it over. “Winner!” The player announces. The bettor then gets paid by the player. Seems easy enough, right? Wrong. If you decide you want to take your chances, the target card will disappear before the shuffle starts, usually hidden under another card that the player palmed before you entered the game. After the shuffle, it will be impossible for you to pick the card because it’s no longer visible. If you feel duped and fail to pay up, the other cons in the game (all those people watching you play) will reveal themselves and you will be quickly outnumbered, forcing you to pay up “or else.” So, off you walk with your defeated ego and $20 less in the wallet. Lesson learned.
On Wednesday, Fox News announced that it was cutting ties with Bill O’Reilly in light of recent developments regarding alleged settlement payments made by O’Reilly to victims who claimed they were sexually harrassed by him. At the time this article was written, there has been no evidence to substantiate these claims. Rupert Murdoch, media mogul billionaire and acting CEO of Fox News, released this statement to Fox employees on Wednesday:
Keep in mind that Bill O’Reilly has consistently been a Fox News media gold mine for the past 20 years. His show is always highly rated and his viewership has been through the roof. Having said that, with the recent allegations of sexual harrassment, Fox has allegedly lost some major advertisers, although they haven’t been identified. In addition, Fox News has been plagued with similar allegations over the past year against several employees, including ex-CEO Roger Ailes. Ailes was ultimately ousted from his position and Rupert Murdoch took his place.
Are you wondering where the analogy is yet? During the 2016 campaign, and especially after Rupert Murdoch took over, Fox News appeared to shift its coverage to a more left-leaning agenda. They didn’t go as far as CNN or MSNBC, but there was a definite tone change in their reporting on the Trump campaign. Their stories took a more favorable turn towards Hillary Clinton. After the Election took place and Trump was declared the victor, The New York Times published its now infamous “apology letter” to their viewership. Over the next several weeks, Fox News seemed to pivot once again and became more moderate, if not right-leaning, with its coverage of the Trump Inauguration and subsequent Presidency. As this occurred, we saw some transition taking place. We saw the rise of Tucker Carlson and the exodus of Megyn Kelly. Everything seemed to be pointing towards a more independent news network, which was a welcomed departure from the mass teet-suckling of the Clinton campaign being exhibited by the majority of the mainstream media. As Fox began to dominate the TV viewership, CNN plummeted down below HGTV and the ID Channel, which is pretty horrendous for such a historical powerhouse.
So here we are, April 19, 2017. Among the major stories breaking today was the news that Bill O’Reilly would not be returning to Fox News. O’Reilly released the following statement:
O’Reilly made a point to call the allegations “completely unfounded.” Considering that he is accused of paying millions to victims of sexual harrassment in alleged settlements, that’s a bold statement. Of course, O’Reilly didn’t have much choice in this matter. If it’s true that dozens of advertisers pulled their sponsorships from the O’Reilly Factor, what choice would a businessman have but to make a change? Well, it’s Rupert Murdoch (and the Murdoch family). There must be more to this story, right? Who are the advertisers and what did they base this on? Who was in their ear, telling them to pull their ads from this show?
Another story broke today that you may or may not have been paying attention to. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is now on the hot seat for some strange financials that don’t seem to add up. Governor Cuomo, who wrote a memoir that was published in 2014, has been paid roughly $783,000 over the past 3 years by HarperCollins publishing. The book only sold 3,200 copies total over that time, which amounts to roughly $244 in royalties per copy sold. Yep, that’s about $230 more in royalties than the book is currently selling for. Seem correct? I didn’t think so either. Well, Rupert Murdoch has another suprise for you: News Corp owns HarperCollins. Rupert Murdoch is the CEO of News Corp. News Corp had previously registered as a lobbying client and they had actively lobbied New York for legislation that would be favorable to their interests. Does it seem odd now that the Governor of New York would get almost $800,000 for selling a handful of books at $13 a pop from a publishing company owned by a lobbying agent? Oh, keep in mind that Cuomo is a Democrat. Rupert Murdoch would have to be pretty cozy with Cuomo in order to create such a blatant example of public office being in bed with special interests. Couple that with the fact that Fox News headquarters is centered in one of the biggest liberal strongholds in the nation, New York City, and things seem to make a little more sense.
Like a used car salesman offering the best deal possible on that shitty lemon of a green stationwagon, we might all be playing into the Murdochs’ plans. It could be a media bait-and-switch in the ultimate Three Card Monte. In a city where the skyline defines it's character, numerous Democrat-funded McProtests began to spark in front of the Fox News headquarters calling for the firing of Bill O’Reilly. Hell, someone even hired planes to fly banners in front of the building demanding that O’Reilly leave. The leftist agitators were angrily screaming at a building that had the nerve to reach into their sky with their right-wing agenda and they wanted O’Reilly’s head. Who paid for all of this? How did all of this happen without a shred of evidence being brought to the forefront? Is it the natural ebb and flow of this type of business or just a ceremonial changing of the guard to maintain the status quo for the shareholders? I think none of the above apply. Murdoch is way too savvy for something that simple. I believe his plan from the beginning of his “acting-CEO” tenure was to lure the GOP viewership back in with promises of glory and then, once the republican viewership was comfy in their chairs with their Monday through Friday Fox schedule, there would be a subtle pivot and the war for the hearts and minds would commence. It would be a brilliant move. With contracts on the big name shows, there would be little wiggle room for rising stars like Tucker Carlson.
It’s time to pay close attention and hold Fox accountable or we may have a rift similar to what we’re seeing on Twitter from the likes of Cernovich and Paul Joseph Watson. We don’t need distractions right now; we need unity. With the failure of the “repeal and replace”, that is the priority. Watch closely now because the shuffle has started. Rupert Murdoch has palmed that red card and he is slowly moving the duds around on the box, waiting to take you for everything you have.
