I'm not buying the media's take on the reason Fox News settled...

[Trueblue Texan]

...the Dominion case. According to several media sites, NY Times, for one, Tucker Carlson's redacted comments went too far:

“A couple of weeks ago, I was watching video of people fighting on the street in Washington. A group of Trump guys surrounded an Antifa kid and started pounding the living shit out of him. It was three against one, at least. Jumping a guy like that is dishonorable obviously. It’s not how white men fight.

“Yet suddenly I found myself rooting for the mob against the man, hoping they’d hit him harder, kill him. I really wanted them to hurt the kid. I could taste it. Then somewhere deep in my brain, an alarm went off: this isn’t good for me. I’m becoming something I don’t want to be. The Antifa creep is a human being. Much as I despise what he says and does, much as I’m sure I’d hate him personally if I knew him, I shouldn’t gloat over his suffering. I should be bothered by it. I should remember that somewhere somebody probably loves this kid, and would be crushed if he was killed. If I don’t care about those things, if I reduce people to their politics, how am I better than he is?”

Now as disgusting as these comments are, I think they elevate Carlson from his usual attitude. At least in these comments, he is recognizing how disgusting he is; he is demonstrating enough self-reflection to realize that he is becoming something he knows is horrible and he is repulsed by it.

At best, these comments may show that Carlson was aware of the malice he delivered on air, yet continued to spew hate. Maybe that awareness could somehow be extrapolated as evidence he didn't care if he delivered false and malicious information about voting systems. But generally I think MSM's take that these comments caused Fox to settle is naive. I suspect there is something in those redacted comments that is far more disgusting than anything we've seen so far.

[Meadowoak]

1. Agreed

[dutch777]

2. And they wanted to stop being the news in the next news cycle. They were losing either way.

Only question was how to lose the least and stop being in a negative spotlight. Will be interesting to see what they do in Round 2 with Smartmatic.

[taxi]

3. Remember who this is.

His words were not words of regret for being a bastard, they are boastful words. He is not demonstrating that he is learning from his mistakes, he is boasting that he can overcome guilt and continue to hate.

[Diamond_Dog]

6. +++exactly.

[Alexander Of Assyria]

7. Sounds much like the debate in Paradise Lost or Star Wars...Dark Side or other side?

[50 Shades Of Blue]

4. That left me scratching my head.

The only shocker was that Carlson demonstrated any self-awareness. Everything else was standard issue Carlson!

[MissMillie]

5. thank you. It seemed fishy to me too

Well, I can see that his text message may have given Fox a reason to settle the defamation suit. They did not want this message to become public (that didn't work so well). What I don't get is how this particular message gets Carlson fired.

The message only enforces that Carlson, despite whatever alleged "woke" epiphany he may have had, was willing to say anything on air in order to keep the racist/sexist/bigoted viewers watching.

Fox already knew this. In fact, they've been LITERALLY banking on it--for YEARS.

[Alexander Of Assyria]

8. Corporate media would rather we forget the 775 million$ reasons...media defamation.

Sends a chill up and down the financial spine of the entire industry…defaming truth for profit can be costly!

[ecstatic]

9. He self-radicalized after being fired numerous times

Now we're getting to see behind the curtains. He has questioned himself along the journey from what appeared to be a harmless GOP nerd to the misogynistic white supremacist he is now. Maybe there's a chance that his well earned time-out might set him on a different path. Probably not. Each new iteration of him is worse.

As far as Fox, we're all over thinking it. Internally, settling is probably what the board wanted to do all along, but there was friction with what Rupert Murdoch wanted. Clearly some sort of soft coup occurred and someone else is now in control (behind the scenes). Likely a family member who can speak on behalf of Rupert. The new ruler also brought the hammer down on tucker.

[Trueblue Texan]

10. Definitely more plausible...nt

[Trueblue Texan]

11. Last night Lawrence O'Donnell agreed with me. nt