Chairman of Sinclair Broadcasting met with Donald Trump during the election, promising that "We are here to deliver your message."

David D. Smith

Courtesy of The Guardian:  

The chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group met Donald Trump at the White House during a visit to pitch a potentially lucrative new product to administration officials, the Guardian has learned. 

David D Smith, whose company has been criticised for making its anchors read a script echoing Trump’s attacks on the media, said he briefed officials last year on a system that would enable authorities to broadcast direct to any American’s phone. 

“I just wanted them to be aware of the technology,” Smith said in an interview. He also recalled an earlier meeting with Trump during the 2016 election campaign, where he told the future president: “We are here to deliver your message.” 

Sinclair is the biggest owner of local TV in the US, and may soon reach 72% of American households if a proposed $4bn takeover of a rival is approved by federal regulators. It is accused by critics of having a conservative bias, which it denies.

The company has been a driving force in the development of a new broadcasting standard known as Next Gen TV, and is one of the first involved in making chips for televisions, cellphones and other devices to receive the new transmissions. 

Gee I wonder if those chips can also report back information, such as viewing habits, news sources, and possible political affiliations?

Because I kind of bet they can.

The CEO of Sinclair recently apologized to their employees for all of attacks they are receiving from "extremists."

Courtesy of Politico:  

Sinclair Broadcast Group CEO Chris Ripley apologized to employees Tuesday for having to endure what he called “politically motivated attacks” over the right-leaning media company’s recent promos, which drew widespread criticism for echoing President Trump’s attacks on the “fake” news media. 

In a memo sent to staff, Ripley defended the scripts that anchors at more than 60 Sinclair stations were compelled to read, telling staff that the practice “is not unique to Sinclair, however, the blowback we received for doing so certainly is.” 

“For having to field nasty calls, threats, personal confrontations and trolling on social media, I am truly sorry you had to endure such an experience,” Ripley wrote. “However, as an organization it is important that we do not let extremists on any side of the political fence bully us because they do not like what they hear or see.”

Oh yeah Sinclair is being attacked for doing what EVERY other news outlet does.

Once again, which news outlets force their reporters to do this?

It is not an "extremist" point of view to point out that this is atrocious, nor is it extremist to be very uncomfortable with a "news" agency that meets with a presidential candidate and promises to deliver their message.

That is not news reporting, that is propaganda.

Former Sinclair news director speaks out.

Courtesy of CNN: 

A morning TV producer at a Sinclair-owned station in Nebraska has resigned in protest of what he calls the company's "obvious bias." 

Justin Simmons gave notice at KHGI TV on March 26. This was after Sinclair's corporate headquarters mandated that local anchors read the controversial promos warning of "fake" and biased news, but before the promos went viral and became a national topic of discussion. 

Simmons told CNNMoney that he had been concerned about Sinclair's corporate mandates for the past year and a half, and that the promos were just the final straw. 

"This is almost forcing local news anchors to lie to their viewers," he said. He said his feelings are shared by others at his station, but didn't want to say anything that would imperil his colleagues.

Huffington Post actually got their hands on the Sinclair Broadcasting Group employee handbook.

Here is just a portion:   

The handbook states that the company “may monitor, intercept, and review, without further notice, every employee’s activities using Company’s electronic resources and communications systems.”

Well that's chilling.

But if you think that all of this attention has changed Sinclair's practices, you would be sorely mistaken.

Courtesy of Think Progress:  

Sinclair-owned news stations promoted a pre-taped segment praising President Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on foreign nations this week, amid controversy over a leaked “must-run” script. 

The canned clip, a recurring “commentary” segment called “Bottom Line with Boris,” features former Trump campaign adviser Boris Epshteyn delivering administration-friendly talking points on the president’s proposed tariffs, which target countries like China. 

“The newly negotiated trade deal between the United States and South Korea shows the new tariffs on steel and aluminum, which went into effect last week, are already paying dividends,” Epshteyn said, citing a March 25 pact between the two countries that forces South Korea to slash its steel exports to the United States by 30 percent, while exempting it from a regular 25 percent tariff. 

“Here’s the bottom line,” he said. “This new deal with South Korea is a win for American businesses and our economy. Instead of causing trade wars, as critics have feared, the new tariffs…are pushing our trading partners to engage in fair trade with the United States.”

You would think that Boris Epshteyn might shed a few of those ugly pounds of fat by carrying all of this water for Donald Trump.

Or in this case instead of water I think he is more accurately carrying buckets filled with bullshit.

Captives of Sinclair Broadcasting. Update!

There is no part of me that could allow myself to work for a soulless corporation that spreads lies like this one does.

But then I was raised with a little something called "integrity."

Update: This addresses some of the points made in the comments section.

Courtesy of Bloomberg:

After Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. drew widespread criticism for having anchors read a statement taking aim at the integrity of other U.S. media outlets, many wondered why some of the company’s journalists didn’t just quit. 

The short answer is the cost may be too steep. According to copies of two employment contracts reviewed by Bloomberg, some Sinclair employees were subject to a liquidated damages clause for leaving before the term of their agreement was up: one that requires they pay as much as 40 percent of their annual compensation to the company. 

While they were also subject to a six-month noncompete clause and forced arbitration, three current and former Sinclair employees said it was the potential financial penalty that had the greatest impact on those thinking of quitting. Under the clause, there’s a specific window of time during which employees can give notice. One current employee who requested anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak publicly said the clause’s limitations are the reason he hasn’t quit. A former employee who also requested anonymity said both the noncompete and the damages clause dissuaded her at first from looking for work elsewhere.

It's like they knew all along that their practices would inspire employees to run for the hills, so they shackled them to their desks.

Hard to believe this is even legal. 

Chairman of Sinclair Broadcasting completely distrusts print media which he believes "serves no real purpose."

David Smith, killing journalism one bullshit propaganda piece at a time.

Courtesy of New York Magazine: 

David Smith, the executive chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group, said he dislikes and fundamentally distrusts the print media, which he believes “serves no real purpose.” In emails to New York, Smith said that print — as in newspapers and magazines — is a reality-distorting tool of leftists. Print media, he said, has “no credibility” and no relevance. 

“I must tell that in all the 45 plus years I have been in the media business I have never seen a single article about us that is reflective of reality especially in today’s world with the shameful political environment and generally complete lack of integrity. Facts and truth have been lost for a long time and likely to never return,” Smith said. 

“The print media is so left wing as to be meaningless dribble which accounts for why the industry is and will fade away. Just no credibility.”

Yeah how can anybody trust the New York Times and the Washington Post with all their left leaning facts?

This statement is not one that a real newsman would ever make.

You might disagree with a story or two, but to discount ALL of print media as biased against your view of reality, really says more about your view of reality than on their reporting.

Keep in mind that Fox News was created by Roger Ailes as an alternative to the real journalism which he blamed for destroying the career of his former boss and hero Richard Nixon.

Right Wing new outlets are not about informing the public, they are about building mistrust for the media and pushing a conservative agenda that they realize is vulnerable to fact checking.

Here, let John Oliver explain it better than I can.

Oliver, as you might remember, was one of the very first to reveal to us just what Sinclair was up to way back in the summer of last year.

If this does not terrify you, well then you have lost the ability to be terrified.

Probably due to Right Wing brainwashing.

At least one political candidate is taking a stand against this obvious propaganda.

Courtesy of TPM:  

A Kentucky Democratic congressional candidate has pulled all of her campaign advertisements from her local, Sinclair Broadcasting-owned news channel after the controversy that exploded when anchors all over the country echoed the same script warning of fake news and biased reporting. 

Amy McGrath is challenging incumbent Republican Andy Barr in Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District. “Today, I have instructed my campaign team to cease and pull all campaign advertising on WDKY-TV (Channel 56), the Sinclair-owned television station in our congressional district, as soon as possible,” she wrote in a Facebook post on Monday. “Sinclair’s corporate-mandated ‘must-read’ right-wing script on its nearly 200 television stations about ‘fake news’ is itself an extreme danger to our Democracy and eerily mimics the propaganda efforts that authoritarian regimes often use to control the media in their own country.”

Admirable. But let's face it she is a Democrat, so Sinclair Broadcasting would not even tap their brakes if they saw her laying unconscious in the middle of the street.

However if others join Amy McGrath, and not just politicians but businesses as well, that might be enough to force at least the semblance of fair and balanced reporting from this conservative propaganda machine.

Hey, maybe somebody can convince the Parkland students to tweet about them, that seems to work pretty good.

Donald Trump tweeted in defense of Sinclair Broadcasting. Yep, time to act surprised again.

So funny to watch Fake News Networks, among the most dishonest groups of people I have ever dealt with, criticize Sinclair Broadcasting for being biased. Sinclair is far superior to CNN and even more Fake NBC, which is a total joke.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 2, 2018

I am sure that you all remember Sinclair Broadcasting from my post just yesterday.

Yep, that's them.

For those of you with a longer memory you might remember late last year when Jared Kushner said this: 

Donald Trump's campaign struck a deal with Sinclair Broadcast Group during the campaign to try and secure better media coverage, his son-in-law Jared Kushner told business executives Friday in Manhattan. 

Kushner said the agreement with Sinclair, which owns television stations across the country in many swing states and often packages news for their affiliates to run, gave them more access to Trump and the campaign, according to six people who heard his remarks. 

In exchange, Sinclair would broadcast their Trump interviews across the country without commentary, Kushner said. Kushner highlighted that Sinclair, in states like Ohio, reaches a much wider audience — around 250,000 listeners — than networks like CNN, which reach somewhere around 30,000. 

“It’s math,” Kushner said according to multiple attendees.

Dammit! I have always worried that at some point the conservatives might figure out math. 

You almost have to admire how openly Donald Trump and his people discuss, and even brag, about their new propaganda machine.

They are not even trying to keep this a secret.

That might be the most troubling thing of all.

"This is extremely dangerous to our democracy."

This is what happens when Sinclair Broadcasting buys up the local stations.

The country is now slowly being taken over by conservatives who realize they cannot win by playing fair, so they are subtly slipping propaganda into our local news in the hopes that it poisons citizens against Democrats and progressive ideas.

 And it is terrifying!

Sinclair Broadcasting, Donald Trump's favorite broadcasting company, to air conservative attacks on the media on local stations around the country.

Courtesy of CNN: 

As scripted, the promos decry "fake stories" from national news outlets -- echoing President Trump's inflammatory rhetoric about "fake news.

"The promos are supposed to start airing on local stations later this month. The instructions sent to station news directors say that the 60- and 75-second spots should run frequently "to create maximum reach and frequency." 

The promo requirements are the latest reason why some Sinclair journalists are upset with the company's Maryland-based management. In recent years Sinclair's owners, the Smith family, have made several programming decisions that reflect a right-wing agenda. 

Most noticeably, pro-Trump commentaries by former Trump aide Boris Epshteyn have cut into local news time. Local journalists have also bristled at so-called "must run" packages about subjects that aren't relevant to local audiences -- but are hot-button stories for conservatives. The "Terrorism Alert Desk" is a regular segment about security threats around the world.

The instructions to local stations say that the promos "should play using news time, not commercial time." Like the Epshteyn commentaries, this takes away from local news time. 

"Please produce the attached scripts exactly as they are written," the instructions say. "This copy has been thoroughly tested and speaks to our Journalistic Responsibility as advocates to seek the truth on behalf of the audience." 

The promos begin with one or two anchors introducing themselves and saying "I'm [we are] extremely proud of the quality, balanced journalism that [proper news brand name of local station] produces. But I'm [we are] concerned about the troubling trend of irresponsible, one sided news stories plaguing our country." 

Then the media bashing begins.

"The sharing of biased and false news has become all too common on social media," the script says. "More alarming, national media outlets are publishing these same fake stories without checking facts first. Unfortunately, some members of the national media are using their platforms to push their own personal bias and agenda to control 'exactly what people think' ... This is extremely dangerous to our democracy." 

Then the anchors are supposed to strike a more positive tone and say that their local station pursues the truth. "We understand Truth is neither politically 'left or right.' Our commitment to factual reporting is the foundation of our credibility, now more than ever."

If all of that sounds familiar it is because those are the talking points espoused by Fox News for decades now.

"All other news is false, and the truth can only be found here."

It used to be that you could avoif this kind of conservative propaganda simply by avoiding Fox News, and similar Right Wing news outlets.

But with his agenda now coming into your homes on your local stations, that now becomes almost impossible.

Sinclair is now in the process of trying to acquire Tribune Media which will expand its reach even further.

The FCC is yet to sign off on the deal, but with Trump's man Ajit Pai now in charge, it is likely going to go through with only minimal resistance.

Bill O'Reilly is so toxic that even conservative propaganda outlet Sinclair Broadcasting does not want anything to do with him.

Bill O'Reilly did contact Sinclair Broadcast but CEO Chris Ripley said: "He did approach us, but we do not have any interest in hiring him."

— Leon Lazaroff (@LeonLazaroff) November 1, 2017

I think that this is what they call scraping the bottom of the barrel.

If O'Reilly cannot even get a gig with Sinclair then I think it's safe to say that his media career is essentially finished.

Serial sexual deviant Bill O'Reilly may end up working for conservative propaganda outlet Sinclair Broadcast Group. Sounds about right.

Courtesy of NBC News:  

Bill O'Reilly, the former Fox News anchor, has been negotiating for a position with the Sinclair Broadcast Group, the nation's largest television-station owner, according to two sources familiar with the talks. 

Sinclair, known for its conservative commentary, is continuing with the talks despite the sexual harassment cases that cost O'Reilly his job at Fox this year, the sources said. Last week, The New York Times reported that O’Reilly had settled a $32 million sexual harassment claim against him by a former legal analyst, Lis Wiehl. The sources said the news does not appear to have sidelined the talks.

"They took a pause but it didn't really change anything for them," one of the sources said.

If this Sinclair Broadcasting Group actually hires O'Reilly that will pretty much tell us all we need to know about them, and where their priorities lie.

Yes O'Reilly is a big name in conservative circles but it would mean that Sinclair was willing to establish a hostile working environment for their female employees just to get a marquee name on their team.

Former Trump adviser appearing on Sinclair owned news outlet claims the real problem with violence in America is all this "black African gun crime against black Africans."

On a Sinclair station, Gorka refers to "black African crime on black African crime" & says black men are killing each other "by the bushel" pic.twitter.com/Cbtqm39tTd

— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) October 24, 2017

Courtesy of TPM: 

In a round-table discussion on gun violence aired by WJLA — the Washington, D.C. ABC affiliate that was purchased in 2014 by the conservative Sinclair Broadcast Group — Gorka attempted to make a point about the legislative effort to ban so-called bump stocks. The gunman behind the shooting massacre in Las Vegas on Oct. 1 had several bump stocks, which mimic the firing speed of automatic weapons, in his hotel room. 

“The biggest problem we have is not mass shootings, they are the anomaly,” he began. “You do not make legislation out of outliers.”

“Our big issue is black African gun crime against black Africans,” Gorka said. “It is a tragedy. Go to Chicago. Go to — the city’s run by Democrats for 40 years. Black young men are murdering each other by the bushel. This is a social issue. Allow the police to do their jobs and re-build those societies. Legislation will not save lives. 

“I assume what he’s talking about is African-Americans,” one panelist said after Gorka finished. 

“Yes,” the former White House official replied. 

“Well, that’s not what you said,” the panelist responded. “I couldn’t figure out who these African— “ 

“African-Americans,” Gorka said.

I believe that is what we in the business call a "Freudian slip."

This Gorka guy is such in innate racist that he cannot even bring himself to call black folks in this country "Americans."

This is just another example of that Trump TV we all heard about late last year.

Trump cannot get the real media to report on what he wants them to report, so he has helped to create his own version of reality in partnership with this Sinclair broadcasting group.

And millions of Americans are seeing this on their TV screens and believe they are watching trustworthy local news outlets.

An example of the Right Wing propaganda that Sinclair owned news stations are forced to broadcast daily.

Courtesy of Think Progress:  

On an otherwise regular morning in mid-August, viewers in Providence, Rhode Island were treated to a segment called Behind the Headlines with Mark Hyman, which immediately followed the local weather report. 

“We have the greatest health care in the world,” Hyman says, despite the fact that some 27 million people in the U.S. do not have health insurance, and millions more are underinsured. 

“Did Obamacare make us healthier? No,” Hyman declares. “With Obamacare in place, more Americans are dying than ever before. Now this doesn’t mean Obamacare is killing people, but it does mean that Obamacare isn’t making people healthier.”

The connection between Obamacare and a higher mortality rate has no correlation whatsoever, and experts actually cite more car crashes, drug overdoses, and gun deaths as the driving reasons for that rate — not Obamacare. 

And despite the fact that millions of people in the United States are under- and uninsured, the Affordable Care Act has given an estimated 20 million people access to health insurance. Access to care saves lives, not the opposite. 

Despite his concession that higher mortality rates don’t mean Obamacare is killing people, Hyman ends his segment with the conclusion that “government-directed health care can kill.”

The segments are aired daily on Sinclair owned news outlets, and are only one example of a number of similar "must run" segments that are forced on the local affiliates.

Rarely do they offer data to back up their talking points, and when they do it is heavily skewed or misrepresented.

But of course data is unimportant to their target audience anyway.

Sinclair owned news outlets give frightening daily terrorist updates whether there is an actual threat or not.

Courtesy of Providence Journal:  

The company that owns WJAR-TV is mandating the broadcast of multiple programs favorable to President Donald Trump on the state’s most-watched television station. 

Sinclair Broadcast Group, a rapidly growing media company that bought Channel 10 in 2014, produces “must-run” segments and distributes them to its local stations nationwide. They must air during daily news programming, Sinclair executives said. 

Three of the segments have rattled viewers and WJAR’s own news reporters, according to Fletcher Fischer, the business manager and financial secretary of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1228, the union that represents broadcast workers there:

 ‒ The Terrorism Alert Desk, advertised as a daily news update about terrorist activity. 

‒ News pieces from Epshteyn, Sinclair’s chief political analyst. 

‒ A clearly labeled opinion show featuring Mark Hyman, a former vice president of the company. 

These pieces are fed to Sinclair’s 174 stations in the United States every day. Sinclair’s insertion of the segments into news programming has been harshly critiqued by Rhode Islanders and national commentators.

One of the main problems is that "Terrorism Alert Desk" which plays daily, along with its ominous theme, even if there is nothing really to report.  

The Terrorism Alert Desk’s updates, even in the absence of any real terrorism-related events, is scary for some, said Moni Chea, a 32-year-old Providence woman who works in a nursing clinic. Chea’s 85-year-old grandmother fled conflict in Cambodia and now lives in Portland, Maine, where Sinclair owns a local station. 

“It’s very captivating. She hears the music and it sounds very important. I try to tell her it’s just an update about national security, but she worries,” said Chea. “She fled a war. For her, terrorism — that’s her biggest fear.”

I am sure many of you remember the Bush Administration terror alerts, which were liberally used to keep us on edge and to maintain support for their unnecessary wars.

The Bushies also experimented with their own media outlets (Besides the always reliable Fox News.) and this just feels like another version of the same old propaganda.

Of course the conservatives will argue that this is just to offset the mainstream media's liberal bias, but that is just Right Wing slang for "responsible journalism."

What is more insidious, as we have previously pointed out, is that this is being disguised as local coverage, and viewers are not made aware of their local station's change in agenda or that they may in fact be watching "fake news" served with a healthy side of Right Wing propaganda.

Trump's America is looking more and more like Hitler's Germany every day.

Trump TV is alive and well and coming soon to a local station near you.

Courtesy of Press Herald:  

In the midst of the local news, a taped commentary from President Trump’s former special assistant Boris Epshteyn appeared on the screen, trumpeting the administration’s position with what he thought selective use and abuse of facts. 

McCutcheon, a small-business owner and political independent, describes the experience as “surreal,” “extremely jarring” and “so out of place with the friendly, local broadcast from news people I’ve come to trust over the years.” There was no rebuttal, no context, no alternate point of view – a situation he found concerning. 

WGME-TV (Channel 13) and WPFO-TV (Channel 23) each carry the segments nine times a week on orders from their owner, the Maryland-based Sinclair Broadcasting Group, the nation’s largest owner of local television stations and an aggressive, unabashed disseminator of conservative commentary supporting the Trump wing of the Republican Party.

......

Portland’s WGME, a CBS affiliate, and its sister station WPFO, a Fox affiliate, are required to air them. They are the only stations in Maine that are forced to run editorial commentary by their corporate parent. 

“It’s unheard of to have one company pushing one specific agenda reaching so many people and doing it in a way designed to evade local input,” says Craig Aaron, president and CEO of Free Press, a Washington-based group that opposes media consolidation. “The idea of having local stations offer an array of viewpoints is great, but what we get with Sinclair is one set of political leanings being broadcast everywhere.”

Yes, Sinclair Broadcasting is the same conservative news outlet that John Oliver warned us about at the beginning of this month.

What may be even more troubling than the fact that Trump TV will now be broadcast into our homes while camouflaged as local news coverage is how they ended up with so many local TV stations under their control.

Courtesy of The Stern Facts: 

Sinclair Broadcasting is buying dozens of local television stations from the Tribune Company, which will expand their reach to create the largest local news broadcast empire our country has ever seen on TV. 

It’s taken some very special help from the Trump Administration. 

With the addition of one of Trump’s top surrogates, the stage has been set to distribute Administration propaganda nationally, without telling the audience that they’re watching biased local news, even though it’s branded ABC, CBS or NBC. 

Sinclair says it has 173 television stations in 81 markets, broadcasting 514 channels and having affiliations with all the major networks. 

By 2013, Sinclair Broadcasting owned more TV stations than anyone else in the country. 

Now, they will vastly exceed the FCC’s cap on how much local television market share a single corporation — 39% of the national viewing market to be precise — is allowed to hold after purchasing the Tribune company’s 42 stations and 14 more in a separate deal. 

But first, they cut a deal with during the campaign with Jared Kushner for “good” coverage of the Trump Administration, which seems to have paid off with a major regulatory change in their favor. 

What was that regulatory change?

This:

The FCC caps broadcast licensees from reaching more than 39% of Americans to limit the amount of power concentrated into the hands of a single television broadcaster. 

It took a vote on changing regulations initiated by the FCC’s fiercely partisan Trump appointee Ajit Pai who resurrected a regulation that the Obama Administration killed in 2016, reinstating rules about UHF TV signals to enable the $3.9 billion dollar deal that will take Trump TV from 30% of America’s television households up to 72% of local viewers. 

That folks is one of the most egregious examples of "pay for play" that I have ever seen.

But even though that was a major clarion call for Tea Party conservatives, and their queen Sarah Palin, back in the day they won't utter a peep about it.

Why?

Because it helps further their agenda, that's why.

Face it my friends, journalism, facts, and even the fabric of our reality are now under constant assault. And the only defense we have on our side is the truth.

Here's hoping that will be enough.

Donald Trump's propaganda network is now firmly in place.

Boris Epshteyn's pro-Trump segments on Sinclair "come as close to classic propaganda" as @DavidZurawik has ever seen https://t.co/SpobdbN4hj

— Reliable Sources (@ReliableSources) July 17, 2017

You might remember that John Oliver warned us about this earlier this month.

This is really nothing new for the Republicans, as George W. Bush did something similar when he was president.

That of course ultimately failed, but not before the Iraq War was sold to the American people and we found ourselves with No Child Left Behind which damn near destroyed our public education system.

Hopefully this time our journalists are more prepared to fight back on this, and get the ACTUAL truth out to the American people.

John Oliver warns about the conservative take over of local TV news.

Courtesy of The Guardian:

John Oliver took a look at the Sinclair group on Sunday night, examining the conservative-leaning station’s ownership of many local news networks. 

“Our main story tonight concerns the potential problems in corporate consolidation of local news,” Oliver began. “National cable news gets a lot of attention with their big budgets and their fancy graphics packages. Meanwhile, local news often has to do a lot more with a lot less.” 

He went on to show clips of broadcaster Mark Hyman railing against “political correctness and multiculturalism”. 

“Hyman is a commentator and former executive at Sinclair Broadcast Group, and Sinclair may be the most influential media company you’ve never heard of,” Oliver explained. “Not only are they the largest owner of local TV stations in the country, they could soon get even bigger,” referring to the company’s proposed $4bn acquisition of all Tribune Media stations.

Once again John Oliver has exposed an incredibly troubling problem that many of us did not even realize existed.

Like I said this is even more troubling than Fox News or Right Wing radio.

At least with those you can have the expectation that the news you are hearing is slanted and possibly even exaggerated for effect.

But your local news is supposed to be tailored to the needs of its viewers, not shaped by the odeology of its conservative overlords.