Sometimes a TV episode is so packed with liberal propaganda, it’s impossible to fit it into one post. Such was the case with Paramount+’s The Good Fight episode on Thursday, “The End of Democracy,” which asked, “When did Republicans go from crazy to evil?” They painted conservatives as underhanded, white supremacist “nuts,” who can only be stopped by upright and heroic Democrats. The fact this propaganda is being pushed just days before the midterm elections seems to be no coincidence.
The episode centered around a funeral for the head of the Democrat National Committee (DNC) who was assassinated by a white supremacist. Main character Diane (Christine Baranski) steps away from the service and overhears news that the Supreme Court will be overturning gay marriage:
TV Reporter: In our breaking headline story this hour, reporting live from Washington, D.C., although information is not yet available, in a second apparent leak, the conservative majority of the Supreme Court decided to overturn gay marriage. In what appears to be an initial draft decision, the Court asserts that gay marriage does not enjoy privacy protection.
Diane: Oh, Jesus.
TV Reporter: We have been unable to confirm this leaked document's authenticity, but the...
Bartender: We're opening early.
TV Reporter: "Even though this Court's earlier ruling on abortion concluded it would have no impact on gay marriage, we changed our minds." The draft opinion cited Creetin Spencer, an 11th century Thessalonite judge who wrote: "Smote me not thy heed, sleepeth not with thy brethren." After the Supreme Court's decision to reverse Roe v. Wade...
Diane: There's not enough whiskey in the world.
TV Reporter: …to offer a preview of the Court's potential rulings suggesting the right-winged controlled Court may return to the issues of contraception access and marriage equality.
Diane then gives what’s supposed to be a eulogy, but instead turns into a political speech.
"This one hurts," Diane said. "Well. Hello. Here we all are. Every Democrat that tried to do something. We came to bury Frank Landau, not to praise him. And it looks like we're gonna bury the Democratic Party instead. Because let's face it, folks. We're f**kеd."
Outside, Diane happens upon tech billionaire Neil Gross (John Benjamin Hickey) who says he wants to buy the Democrat party and institute Diane’s ideas for rebranding it:
Neil: What should we do about it?
Diane: About my going home?
Neil: No, the end of the Democratic Party? You're f**kеd, so now what?
Diane: I so don't give a sh*t anymore.
Neil: Yeah, you do. That's why it bothers you.
Diane: Burn it all the f**k down and start over. I can't think of any other way.
Neil: You mean square one?
Diane: Yeah. We have to rethink everything. Why didn't we create a Federalist society back in the '80s? Why didn't we groom our own judges? Why don't we go on the attack when a judicial seat opens up? Why didn't we get rid of the Electoral College and this f**king filibuster? We're the majority, and yet the minority rules. Really?
Neil: Keep going.
Diane: The superdelegates, they either have to go away or fall in line behind a candidate that's not 90 years old. And we have got to invest in younger candidates who have the energy and the passion to rebuild, to reinvigorate, and to actually rebrand the... No, stop... God, stop me. Shoot me.
Neil: Why?
Diane: Why? Oh, it's a habit. It's a tick. Feeling hopeful, and then imagining some optimistic scenario.
Neil: Hell, let's do it.
Diane: What does that mean, "do it"?
Neil: It means all your ideas, everything you just said, let's do it.
Diane: Do it how? No, I'm going home with my NRA husband, and hydrating so that I don't have a hangover tomorrow. Goodbye.
Neil: Diane, do you know what I'm worth?
Diane: My guess is a lot.
Neil: $680 billion. Unlike my billionaire brethren, I have not bought rockets, or Twitter, or Mars, or Lanai. I am looking around for how I can help the world with my money.
Diane: Okay. And how do you plan to do that?
Neil: I want to buy the Democratic Party.
Neil and Diane continue their egotistical conversation indoors as anti-conservative conversation can be heard while Diane’s Republican husband Kurt (Gary Cole) walks through the crowd:
Diane: But you can't just buy the Democratic Party.
Neil: Oh, sure I can. They-they want a savior, I want the country to work. And it's not just the money to me. The country needs to survive for my money to mean anything. And the country will only survive if there is balance. So, just think of me as a counterpart to Rupert Murdoch.
Diane: Neil, we live in a polluted body politic where facts don't matter anymore. You'd have to cut through all the lies on Facebook.
Neil: No. I'll just buy it.
Diane: Buy what?
Neil: Facebook. Mark is tired of the headaches. He might put it in play. Look at all those fireflies. Aren't they beautiful?
Diane: I guess I just don't understand what you're thinking. I mean, what are your actual policies?
Neil: Well, why don't you tell me what I'm thinking. I just heard you up here in front of the Democrats saying that what they were doing was f**kеd. Well, I agree. So, what should they do? You just said to me out there, why not burn down the Democratic Party and start over? Well, here I am! Mr. Moneybags to make it happen. I don't want to dig a tunnel under L.A. I want democracy to work. So, let's do it.
TV Reporter: Legal experts believe that 11 states will outlaw gay marriage outright and 14 others will require some kind of union certificate granted by a judge. Said certificates will require meetings with probationary marital observers to establish the stability of the union.
Woman: They don't care about killing children out of the womb.
Man: Who the hell needs an AR-15 these days?
Man 2: When did Republicans go from crazy to evil?
Probationary marital observers? Are we sure this isn’t a comedy?
Neil wants to meet with the new head of the DNC, Johnny Elfman (Steven Pasquale), and tells Diane and her law partners he’ll blackmail him with info he has on him if need be. (He’s the creator of Chumhum, the show’s Google equivalent.)
When the partners are taken aback, Gross says, “See, these are the tactics the Republicans have perfected. You want Manchin to vote with you instead of being a perpetual c**k block? Show him what I have on him. He will lead the charge on overturning the filibuster.”
Elfman doesn’t want to hear Gross out until he announces, “I’m buying Fox News":
Elfman: How do you buy Fox News?
Gross: With money.
Elfman: How much?
Gross: It's current worth is $21 billion. I can become a majority owner with $15 billion.
Elfman: And you'd be willing to do that?
Gross: Yes.
Elfman: The Republicans will just find some other network to call their own.
Gross: Well, sure, if you turned Fox Democrat overnight. But you don't do that.
Ri’Chard: The thought is to start curbing its excesses. To make Fox more reliably conservative...not radical.
Elfman: Still, the nuts will just flee someplace else.
Gross: Maybe. There's a certain period of whack-a-mole. Always is.
Liz: Mr. Gross has promised a massive investment in the DNC.
Diane: 12 years. Three presidential cycles.
Liz: And he's already heavily investing in Puerto Rico.
Elfman: The 51st state?
Gross: Of course. A Democratic one.
Elfman: And how will you work with the Biden administration?
Gross: I won't. He served you well in 2020 but the brand is tired. You need someone fresh. The stakes are too high.
Elfman: Okay, I see where this is going.
Gross: You do?
Elfman: Yeah. You think you're the next Michael Bloomberg, a guy with too much money who thinks he's the answer.
Gross: You done?
Elfman: No. I'm not, thank you. Why don't you go start your own political party, Mr. Gross.
Gross: I know about your brother's mistress.
Elfman: What the hell are you talking about?
Gross: You're the king of oppo research. You know exactly what I'm talking about. Do you know what Republican candidate killed a classmate in 1986? I do. You know what Supreme Court justice has a child pοrn problem? I do.
Elfman: The Democratic Party doesn't play this game.
Gross: Oh, course it does. And if it doesn't, it sure needs to start. Do you know how I know all your secrets? I own Chumhum. We have 2.9 billion active users every month. I have records of all their interests, and their biases, their secrets. And, for the right cause, I'm willing to use them.
Elfman: You're a dangerous man.
Gross: Oh, yes.
Elfman still resists until Gross says Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is his presidential candidate. He then mocks the Bible as he proclaims, “Upon this Rock, I’ll build my party":
Elfman: Good thing I have a friend over in the Justice Department. Maybe I'll give him a call.
Gross: Oh... All right, go for it. I'm sure Merrick Garland will hop right on it. You know, I don't think you realize, Mr. Elfperson, the Trump years have turned everything on its head. And the Democratic Party is still acting like we're all sitting around sipping toddies with Tip O'Neill. Just one big happy political family. Diane, we need to talk. I think he's going to say "no." And that's why I need you.
Diane: Need me? To what?
Gross: To run the Democratic Party. Yeah, my backup plan is a hostile takeover. Kick Elf-guy out, and put you in.
Diane: I...Sorry, I don't, I don't know what to say to that.
Gross: It doesn't really matter. You'll eventually say, "yes." And then you will need to talk to your husband.
Diane: My husband?
Gross: Yeah. You need to keep him in line. Or, uh, divorce him.
Diane: Excuse me?
Gross: The interests of the party supersede any family concerns. Just tell him you can't see another school shooting without shooting yourself. Tell him his work with the NRA disgusts you. Oh, look, here's his answer now. I want you to step in for Elfman, Diane. And you'll need to deal with your husband first. Well?
Elfman: No. I don't trust you.
Gross: Is that your final answer?
Elfman: We can't just run you, sir. We have a seniority system. We have Biden. We have Kamala. We have Bernie.
Gross: And they'll all lose.
Elfman: It's better than some tech billionaire.
Gross: I'm not talking about myself. God, no. I have a candidate. One who is sounding out both parties. He's dropped everything, he's on his way here right now.
Elfman: Who? Who is it? Who's on his way here?
Gross: Dwayne Johnson. The Rock. Like Peter.
Elfman: Are you serious?
Gross: Like a f**king heart attack. Upon this Rock, I'll build my party.
Now this sounds more like reality. I’m surprised they’re admitting Biden, Kamala and Bernie would lose.
Elfman is finally excited after talking privately with The Rock (who thankfully didn’t make a cameo appearance) and even throws his crutches away, declaring he’s healed because The Rock “laid his hands on (his) ankle.” Enough with the Jesus comparisons.
In the final scene, Diane rides home with Kurt, the person she can’t be married to anymore because all Republicans are evil now. When she tells him they’re “not working,” he says he hasn’t changed.
Diane replies, “But the world has changed. The right wing has changed. I mean, these school shootings. I lie awake at night, and I'm thinking I can't believe what you believe in. You seem so sane, and yet these people...Ted Cruz. Marjorie Taylor Greene. Boebert.”
Kurt finally steps out of the car as their marriage comes to an end. He’s much better off without an intolerant, close-minded, judgmental person, anyway.
There’s a line in Taylor Swift’s new hit song “Anti-Hero” that fits this propaganda perfectly: “Did you hear my covert narcissism I disguise as altruism like some kind of congressman?”
It’s you, The Good Fight. You’re the problem. It’s you.
Conservatives Fight Back! This episode was sponsored by Amazon, Lincoln, and GEICO. Click each advertiser for their contact information so you can let them know how you feel about them sponsoring liberal propaganda during election season.
