General Discussion

There's a scene in The Simpsons, a dystopian fantasy that I believe was part of their yearly "Treehouse of Terror" Halloween shows.

Ned Flanders has become a Jim Jones sort of authoritarian cult figure. People get sent to "re-indoctrination centers" if they stop smiling. They're strapped in chairs and metal hooks pull the corners of their mouths into hideous smiles. Ned is on a series of giant video monitors, saying "Just relax, let the hooks do their work."

And this is what Fox News "accomplishes," 24 / 7. They keep their viewers angry and fearful and agitated so that when someone like Banks comes up with a scheme like this, they see him as the messiah.