Seth MacFarlane, the creator of “Family Guy,” “American Dad!” “The Orville” and the “Ted” movies, is a funny, talented guy… an unabashed liberal. Still, his television shows are all produced for Fox, which has the same parent company as, you could probably guess, Fox News Channel.
Last week MacFarlane claimed he was “embarrassed” to work for Fox because of comments made by Fox News host Tucker Carlson. What did Carlson say that was so terrible? He merely advised his viewers not to believe other networks’ news coverage. “If you’re looking to understand what’s actually happening in this country, always assume the opposite of whatever they’re telling you on the big news stations,” he said. Did Carlson have a legitimate point? Absolutely. That other networks tend to get stories wrong because they rush to attack Donald Trump or the Republican Party is no secret. But MacFarlane was, of course, miffed.
In other words, don’t think critically, don’t consult multiple news sources, and in general, don’t use your brain. Just blindly obey Fox News. This is fringe shit, and it’s business like this that makes me embarrassed to work for this company. https://t.co/kC7MPYxdgZ
— Seth MacFarlane (@SethMacFarlane) June 16, 2018
MacFarlane tweeted, “In other words, don’t think critically, don’t consult multiple news sources, and in general, don’t use your brain. Just blindly obey Fox News.” I suspect MacFarlane was trying to be funny here because he is the last person who should be griping about Carlson’s comments or pretending to be a critical thinker who believes people should consult various sources and political views. The truth is, MacFarlane has criticized his employer before… for hiring conservatives. Imagine that. When every other network skews left, MacFarlane takes issue with the one network that offers people an alternative perspective. Apparently, he would prefer to work for a politically homogeneous company that doesn’t hire conservatives, because, you know… conservatives are bad.
But, there’s more to MacFarlane’s hypocrisy.
As I wrote in a recent column, I don’t let politics dictate my purchasing habits. I’ll buy Starbucks coffee, use Apple computers, etc. etc. Heck, I even used to watch “Family Guy” despite the political bent of the show. I did, however, stop watching the show after episode three of season seven called “The Road to Germany.” Airing on October 19, 2008, just weeks before the presidential election, that episode featured a scene where the baby, Stewie, and the dog, Brian, travel back in time to Germany in 1939, and steal some Nazi uniforms to blend in:
Isn’t that hilarious? A McCain-Palin button on a Nazi uniform! Get it? John McCain is just like the Hitler! People who voted for McCain over Barack Obama are like the Nazis! How exactly does MacFarlane think he can get away with claiming to support people consulting different points of view to reach their own conclusions when he used his popular show to denigrate people who didn’t support Barack Obama as Nazis?
Prior to this episode, the show’s liberal bias may have been annoying, but I continued to watch it. But this was just too far. MacFarlane and other “mainstream” liberals with wide audiences have used their fame for years to treat Republicans as bigots, Nazis, white supremacists etc. etc. to marginalize conservatives as not worthy of participating in society.
It’s no coincidence that the radical militant group “antifa” wages violence against innocent Trump supporters (in the name of “anti-fascism”). Think about it. Liberals like MacFarlane have used their platforms to make Republicans synonymous with Nazis and other hate groups, and the natural result of that is to morally absolve acts of violence against them.
There’s a reason far-left activists routinely attempt to shut down events where conservatives are invited to speak. They have been conditioned to believe that conservative views are hate speech and thus not worthy of being heard. In other words, leftist activists believe the First Amendment should not apply to conservatives.
MacFarlane, as talented as he is, is part of the problem. As the “Family Guy” clip shows, he’s never been above calling Republicans Nazis, even before Donald Trump decided to run for president. Remember the late Andrew Breitbart’s mantra, “politics is downstream from culture”? Well, guess what? MacFarlane and others in Hollywood have poisoned so many into believing that Republicans are indistinguishable from the worst humanity has had to offer. So, where does he get off making self-righteous attacks on Tucker Carlson about consulting multiple news sources or thinking critically when he’s made a fortune influencing his fans into believing that anything not left-of-center is evil?
I never got into MacFarlane’s “American Dad” but I was intrigued by his new sci-fi show “The Orville” and found it to be incredibly entertaining. In fact, I still anxiously await the start of season two. MacFarlane has a right to have his own views and even to promote his views if he wishes. But, equating any and every Republican with Nazis or any other hate group crosses a line. People like MacFarlane have great power because of their popularity and influence on popular culture—just like those in the liberal media who have repeatedly rushed to the wrong conclusions or staged photos in order to attack Trump. If the media was more responsible in their reporting, Tucker Carlson’s comments wouldn’t have been said. If Hollywood didn’t constantly equate conservatives with evil then liberals would be more open-minded when exposed to people who disagree with them.
Matt Margolis is the author of the new book, The Scandalous Presidency of Barack Obama. You can follow Matt on Twitter @MattMargolis
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