Author Archives: Curtiswselby
They say not to write a blog from a tired space, but I suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome, so frankly, everything I do is from a tired space. Likely I'm not doing the greatest job of search engine optimization. But I know there are others like me. Passionate about life.
Do good guys censor?
When Life Gives you Lemons, You Get Fired From Fake News
I don’t know the CNN side as well as I do the Fox side. I spent perhaps two years listening to a fair amount of CNN after the January 6 situation, but honestly, the only person I paid much attention to was Anderson Cooper. Excepting him I felt that most of what I was hearing was just a mirror of Fox News: left wing pontificating with minimal reporting. Kind of a yin yang to Tucker Carlson on Fox News. So, in introducing Don Lemon to you, I am also introducing myself more or less to him.
Hi Don Lemon!
Who is Don Lemon?
According to USA Today, Don Lemon was co-anchor “CNN This Morning.” Let’s dig in.
The Two for One Special
According to USA Today: “Don Lemon says he’s been fired from his post at CNN’s”CNN This Morning,” which he co-anchored with Kaitlan Collins and Poppy Harlow for about six months.
“The former anchor, who was on air Monday morning, shared the news in a statement on Twitter.
“I was informed this morning by my agent that I have been terminated by CNN. I am stunned,” he wrote.
“CNN CEO Chris Licht said in a statement that the network wishes him well and will cheer him on as he pursues future endeavors, echoing what he wrote in an email to CNN staffers obtained by USA TODAY.”
Well, that’s pretty nice. I know I LOVE pink slips with my cheer leader.
“Lemon expressed frustration with the manner in which he says the news was delivered to him.
“After 17 years at CNN I would have thought that someone in management would have the decency to tell me directly,” Lemon added in his tweet. “At no time was I ever given any indication that I would not be able to continue to do the work I have loved at the network. It is clear there are some larger issues at play. With that said, I want to thank my colleagues and the many teams I have worked with for an incredible run. They are the most talented journalists in the business, and I wish them all the best.”
“CNN’s communications Twitter account said Lemon’s public assertions about his termination are not true.
“Don Lemon’s statement about this morning’s events is inaccurate,” CNN said. “He was offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter.”
And as we all know, a major corporation never lies.
Lemon had been with CNN 20 years, and had been largely criticized for saying women in politics were past their prime.
“Lemon, 57, told co-hosts Harlow and Collins that Haley’s “talk about age” makes him uncomfortable and said her comments were the “wrong road” to go down, adding that Haley “is not in her prime.” Haley is 51.
“She says people, politicians are not in their prime,” he said. “Nikki Haley is not in her prime, sorry. A woman is considered to be in her prime in her 20s, 30s and maybe her 40s.”
“He apologized the following week after a break from being on air.”
Lemon apologized, but some speculate maybe that was too little too late.
Both Lemon and Carlson were released from their respective companies on the same day. Coincidence? Some say it isn’t.
Come Together….Right Now…..Ova Me!
The coincidence or lack thereof was not the only similarity. The two also have decided to hire a lawyer, and they are both giving their business to the same fellow. Huffpost reports: “Ousted Fox News host Tucker Carlson and CNN anchor Don Lemon seemed to have had little in common until now: The fallen cable news stars reportedly just hired the same lawyer to navigate their departures.
“Multiple outlets say Los Angeles attorney Bryan Freedman is representing both. Freedman has facilitated favorable breakup terms for hosts before, including Megyn Kelly when she parted ways from NBC News in 2019 and “The Bachelor” host Chris Harrison in 2021, Insider reported.”
I guess big news is making a business niche for lawyer/agents of the breakup scene.
Huffpost continues: ‘The New York Times reported that Lemon’s retainer of “aggressive Hollywood litigator” Freedman was a “clear sign of acrimony.”
So What Does it All Mean!?
I’m going to share what Forbes says about this, and then give my own analysis and tease the next post.
Forbes shares these details, take them for what they are worth:
“There is some speculation that a recent exchange between Lemon and Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy was a major contributor to Lemon’s firing. During the interview, Ramaswamy claimed that Black Americans were granted equal rights after the Civil War and from the help of the National Rifle Association (NRA) even though there is evidence to refute his assertions. The absurdity of an Indian person lecturing a Black person about Black history must be pointed out; Lemon pushed back against Ramaswamy’s statements throughout the interview.
“Despite Lemon’s popularity on the network, Lemon has a history of playing into respectability politics. In 2013, Lemon sparked criticism for his statements admonishing Black Americans for having children out of wedlock, using the n-word and wearing sagging pants. In 2014, Lemon caused outrage over statements he made after it was announced that officer Darren Wilson, who killed unarmed Black teen Michael Brown, would not be indicted. When describing the environment outside of the Ferguson police station, Lemon stated “obviously, there is a smell of marijuana in the air.”
“Even with Lemon’s past gaffes, in recent years he had emerged as the voice of reason in an era of fake news and misinformation. Several lessons should be gleaned from Don Lemon’s firing. First, employees, especially those from underrepresented and marginalized communities should be aware of the hyper-scrutiny that is faced regardless of the fame, notoriety, wealth or recognition that comes from any job; everyone is disposable. Although many people in the public eye have made missteps and blunders, grace isn’t always afforded to people from marginalized communities.
“Second, it’s important to take care of and prioritize your health and wellbeing and to not sacrifice time with loved ones to climb the corporate ladder; take those vacation days. Understand that respectability will not save any of us. This should be a learning lesson for every employee. No matter how many years you’ve poured into a job or a company, your security is never guaranteed.”
Tired Blogger Analysis
Lemon, like Carlson, was too proud to just spout a party line. Agree or disagree with him, can you deny you admire him for stating his beliefs. In his mind, I believe he was calling a spade a spade. And Corporate America does NOT want that. We want equivocation. We want plausible deniability. We want to be able to gaslight our viewers into believing they heard what they wanted to hear, yet with the capacity to tell our lawyers “I don’t have any idea what you are talking about.” Success through positive mental gaslighting. Spineless passive aggressivity.
Say what you want about Lemon, from what I’m reading, he wasn’t having ANY of that stuff. And now he pays the price for his integrity.
But as Russle Brand would say, that’s just what I think. What do you think? Was CNN right to let him go? What comments of his did you agree with or disagree with? How do you feel this compares to the Tucker Carlson story? Do you think Lemon was good for America, or do you think it was the right thing for CNN to let him go? Comments wanted, and I promise I will respond within 24 hours.
On the next post, coming Friday or Saturday, I will discuss CNN’s hatchet job of Ren. Have a good day till then.
Leadership: Speaking out of Both Sides of the Mouth
youtube.com/clip/Ugkx8UDM4ZCBJ12ERbqZrjPBUmErt3ig89n0
Look it up in The Mouse That Roared.
Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon Part Ways With Fake News. Will Anyone be Spared?
I had intended to write about the way CNN has tried to label the musical artist Ren as a negative influence on the youth of TikTok. I still intend to talk about that, but I thought I would start out with the shocking news today that CNN is losing Don Lemon, and Fox is losing Tucker Carlson. What is going on with the big news companies? What is going on with Ren vs. CNN? And how do they relate? Let’s find out in another Tired Blogger deep dive, this time, into the Fake News of our time. I intend to make this a three part piece. In the first one I will discuss Tucker Carlson. In the second, Don Lemon. And in the third, I intend to end with the story of CNN trying to do a hatchet job on the musical artist Ren.
Fox is Losing Tucker Carlson? Why Am I Thinking Falcons Trading Brett Favre? That is Weird, Since I Don’t Watch Football
Ok, ok, I had to look it up, but according to various sites, including sporster.com, the Falcons trading Favre is widely considered the worst quarterback trade of all time. “Throwing a total of four passes in 1991 for Atlanta, Packers head coach Mike Holmgren nevertheless decided to make a move for him the following year. It turned out to be the catalyst that would re-establish Green Bay as one of the foremost threats in the league. Favre would prove his dominance almost immediately, upon earning the starting job in 1992, and wouldn’t let up for almost 20 years to come.
“Without a doubt, the Falcons were sitting on a gold mine with the former 2nd-round pick. Unfortunately for them, they just didn’t know it.”
I used to be addicted to conservative talk radio. Rush Limbaugh, Neal Bortz, Glen Beck, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, and Peter Doyle were my standard fair for information and news while I was driving between accounts on my sales route. One by one I lost respect for them all, except for Doyle, who I profoundly loved to the day he died. I still count myself as a conservative Republican, but Tucker Carlson was frankly, the only one I was still willing to listen to after the whole January 6 debacle.
Let’s dig in.
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/end-fox-news-maga-world-192717870.html?fr=yhssrp_catchall
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65379340
Yahoo News reports: “Tucker Carlson’s six-year run as the host of his own primetime show at Fox News is over, the network announced Monday, ending a chapter made more tenuous by former President Donald Trump’s loss in the 2020 election.
“While the exact reason for the split between Fox News and its highest-rated host remains unclear, a lawsuit against the network stemming from Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation case appears to have been a central factor.”
Yahoo News paints a picture of texts that Fox News wanted to distance themselves from as central to Tucker leaving Fox News.
“Following the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, Carlson took aim at Trump himself.
“We are very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights,” he wrote in one exchange. “I truly can’t wait.”
“I hate him passionately,” Carlson added.
“His text messages, along with those of Fox News hosts Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham, were used as evidence in the Dominion suit to show that the network was knowingly spreading false information.”
Hopefully everyone remembers, whichever side of the debate you stand on, the statements that Dominion programmed their machines to hand Joe Biden an illegal, stolen election. I’ve come down on Biden’s side of that debate, but I still believe that the debate should not merely be silenced. I don’t think either side should be told to shut up and be seen and not heard. Granted, I wish there were more actual verifiable evidence on either side of the debate. I’ve had to rely on my own very flawed reason to come up with my own beliefs about it. I’ll leave that commentary here:
https://wordpress.com/post/tiredmidnightblogger.com/528
Dominion sued Fox News for the claims made by various people about the election being rigged. Fox settled out of court, and the bribe…er, settlement was pretty enormous. $787 million. It is believed that Carlson leaving Fox is related to this.
Yahoo News continues: “On March 21, 2023, Carlson was interviewed on WABC radio about the text messages he had sent about Trump and the bogus claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election.
“Oh, let’s see. I spent four years defending his policies and I, I’m going to defend them again tonight,” Carlson said. “And actually, and I’m pretty straightforward, I’m, um, I love Trump. Like, as a person, I think Trump is funny and insightful.”
“The same day Carlson was interviewed, one of his former producers, Abby Grossberg, filed two lawsuits against Fox News, alleging that the network had coached and pressured her prior to her testimony in the Dominion lawsuit and that Carlson’s show promoted an culture of sexism and antisemitism.”
The article doesn’t deal with that. Instead they trash his last interview with Trump, and then report on his last episode.
“What a great way to the end the week,” Carlson said on Friday, April 21, of what would turn out to be his final show. Earlier in the program, Carlson, who never did get around to mentioning the Dominion settlement, instead focused on subjects like Hunter Biden and his laptop, the fentanyl crisis, immigration and the Pentagon leak of U.S. intelligence findings. He also railed against law enforcement officials in Nashville for not making public a manifesto left behind by a mass shooter.
“Carlson rounded out the program by eating pizza with with a Pennsylvania delivery driver who had aided police in the arrest of a man suspected of stealing a car.
“That’s it for us for the week, we’ll be back. … We’ll be back on Monday — in the meantime have the best weekend with the ones you love. See you then!”
Losing Tucker is the End of Fox News
Rolling Stone declares this the end of Fox News. Let’s see if they are on point.
“The sudden ouster of Tucker Carlson from his primetime perch at Fox News is drawing a flood of concern and complaint from MAGA world and other conservative voices, both mainstream and extreme.
“Former president Donald Trump said he was “shocked” and that Carlson was “a very good person, a very good man and very talented” in reaction to Monday’s news. He added, “I don’t know if it was voluntary or was it somebody fired, but I think Tucker has been terrific. Especially over the last year or so he’s terrific to me.” Trump’s well wishes were surprising given that the former Fox host was caught making a slew of derogatory statements against the former president, including calling him a “demonic force” in private messages.”
Conservatives all over the spectrum had things to say, mostly in praise of Tucker.
“Trump’s spokesperson met the news on Twitter with a semi-conspiratorial take that Fox News is now a beholden part of the establishment. “Fox News is controlled opposition,” she wrote. “What is happening at Fox?” added Eric Trump, noting that the network has also recently dropped his wife Lara and right-wing commentator Dan Bongino. Donald Trump Jr. told Charlie Kirk that Carlson no longer being on the network “changes things permanently,” as he was “an actual thought-leader in conservatism.”
“It’s mind-blowing,” Don Jr. added, describing Carlson as “a once-in-a-generation-type talent.”
The New Rush Limbaugh? Axe Him.
BBC gives more detail.
“In a statement, Fox News said it and Carlson had agreed to “part ways”.
“His last TV programme was Friday 21 April, the statement added. His primetime slot will now be hosted by a series of interim hosts until a permanent replacement is found.
The brief two-paragraph statement gave no reason for the abrupt decision.”
“Fox News’ competitors were quick to capitalise on Carlson’s departure.
“One rival network, Newsmax, said it had successfully attracted viewers from Fox News in recent months and Carlson’s departure “will only fuel that trend”.
“The announcement of Carlson’s departure comes just days after Fox News settled a defamation lawsuit from the voting machine company Dominion over its coverage of the 2020 presidential election.
“In the lawsuit, Dominion argued that its business was harmed by Fox spreading false claims its machines were rigged against Mr Trump.
“The case prompted disclosures of text messages that showed Carlson’s private views often contrasted with his on-air output.”
BBC continues: “On air on Monday morning, a Fox News anchor announced the departure with a tribute that thanked Carlson “for his service to the network”.
“Stepping in for the primetime slot that night, guest host Brian Kilmeade briefly remarked on his colleague’s departure.
“He told viewers: “As you probably have heard, Fox News and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways. I wish Tucker the best. I’m great friends with Tucker and always will be.”
I gotta say, my respect for Kilmeade went up. He handled the issue with class, and while it is still all vague, aren’t MOST things involving big corporations vague?
So what do you think? Did he get too close to the truth? Did our lizard overlords overcome Tucker at last? Was he fired or did he quit? Do you think this is good or bad for Fox? For Tucker? For the American Republic? Did you love him or hate him? Comment welcome.
Next Time on Your Tired Blogger What Blogs at Midnight
BBC ends their article with the same words I will end this one with, to tease my next post: “Another cable TV host, CNN’s Don Lemon, announced on Monday that he had been “terminated” by CNN after 17 years, just hours after appearing on its recently re-launched morning show.
“The embattled host had come under intense public criticism earlier this year for remarks about Nikki Haley, running for the Republican presidential nomination.”
Tired Midnight Blogger (What Blogs at Midnight) 