Topic: Fear Porn

A parody song titled "COVID Christmas" satirizes the pandemic response, mentioning "fear porn," "Freedom Passes," and the mRNA vaccine. The lyrics target figures like Anthony Fauci and Bill Gates, suggesting that science is being used to ensure compliance. The song highlights the contrast between open big-box stores and closed small businesses.

Dr. Anthony Fauci predicted that life in the U.S. might return to normal by Christmas 2021, a timeline skeptics view as a way to extend restrictions into the next flu season. In the UK, the government and BBC have been criticized for "fear porn" messaging, including a report on the historic "plague village" of Eyam. The report used the village's 1665 quarantine history to justify modern school closures, despite showing that isolation did not prevent historic deaths.

CBS News coverage is criticized for using "dark winter" and "darkest days" as scripted phrases to describe the pandemic's trajectory. Reports highlight mobile morgues in El Paso and hospitals at "breaking points" in the Midwest. Analysis suggests these reports often ignore the inversion of case rates and death rates, focusing on high case numbers while deaths remain relatively low compared to previous peaks.

Reports of "death panels" in Starr County, Texas, are scrutinized as sensationalized media narratives. While CNN reports that doctors must choose who lives or dies due to hospital overflows, data shows the specific community involved has a very small number of dedicated COVID-19 beds. The reporting is characterized as "fear porn" designed to maximize public anxiety.

The public health director of Nueces County, Texas, reported that 85 infants tested positive for COVID-19 in Corpus Christi. This report is identified as "fear porn" because it failed to clarify that the 85 cases were a cumulative total since March 2020 rather than a sudden spike. Media outlets further conflated these statistics with the county's total death toll of 82 to imply high infant mortality.

The hosts criticize Tucker Carlson and Fox News for repeatedly looping a video of a 90-year-old woman being assaulted in Manhattan. They characterize this style of reporting as "fear porn" and propaganda designed to make Americans afraid of one another. The segment argues that such media tactics are unacceptable and contribute to national divisiveness.

Neoconservative scholar Robert Kagan writes in the Wall Street Journal about a "crisis of world order," arguing that US reluctance to deploy power has weakened the "liberal world order." Kagan claims the threat of an ISIS attack on an American city is a new development, a claim the hosts dismiss as "fear porn" and recycled propaganda. The segment notes Kagan's family ties to the "war lobby" and the State Department.

Glenn Beck and his correspondents are criticized for promoting extreme fear regarding ISIS. The discussion highlights a 2013 government white paper that redefined "imminent threat" to no longer require clear evidence of a specific, immediate attack, allowing for preemptive military action.

Senator Dianne Feinstein describes the threat of ISIL and AQAP, specifically mentioning a bomb that can pass through magnetometers. She uses graphic imagery of a deceased child in a gingham dress to emphasize the brutality of the group, a tactic the hosts identify as "fear porn."

CNN reports on the threat of "lone wolf" terrorists using store-bought items to create explosives for attacking commercial flights. The coverage references the Boston Marathon pressure cooker bombs and the failed 2010 Times Square bombing. The hosts argue that these reports are part of a coordinated "scam" to justify massive government spending on security.

CNN is accused of generating "fear porn" by reporting on potential ISIS attacks coinciding with the anniversary of 9/11. Experts cited in the reports claim that ISIS leader al-Baghdadi is too "narcissistic" to share a date with Osama bin Laden's legacy, while the FBI warns of terrorists with Western passports. The hosts mock the lack of photographic evidence for al-Baghdadi and the use of "experts" to manufacture imminent threats.