It’s astounding how the establishment media allows known Democrat liars to continue spewing out their vicious falsehoods without challenge. Our legacy media has concluded, perhaps correctly, that Americans just aren’t concerned about serial lying, even by contenders for high office. July 5 on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” former Obama official Susan Rice said this: “The president went to Mount Rushmore and then stood at the White House yesterday on our independence weekend and decided that he was going to stake his legacy and his campaign on preserving Confederate monuments and the relics of slavery.”

One wonders how Rice would know that the president had “decided” such a thing, for nowhere in his July 3 address at Mt. Rushmore nor in his July 4 address, did President Trump use the word “Confederate,” and when he spoke of “slavery,” it was in the context of its evil. But did moderator Andrea Mitchell ask Rice why she was making such an accusation? Of course not; what do you think "Meet the Press" is, a news program? C’mon, man. What Mitchell did do was to immediately segue into the possibility that Rice could be on the November ballot as Biden’s running mate.

If one disapproves of the lying and distortions put out by the mainstream media, there’s a way to fight it: don’t pay for it. But how, you might ask, can I do that? Well, “Meet the Press” is pumped out by NBC News. So, if you object to the lies on NBC News or to the lies on its vile sister, MSNBC, then you might consider financially spanking the company that ultimately owns them… Comcast.

If Comcast cannot bring itself to do anything about its news operations, then it would be up to viewers to send the corporation a message. There are several ways to do this. The most obvious way is to drop Xfinity, Comcast’s cable service. And here’s what’s nice about that: if one switches to a different cable company, one is likely to get a special price for the first year or more. There are a few folks who “game the system” by periodically changing their cable provider just to take advantage of introductory deals. Changing providers might be a hassle, but at least one won’t be enriching NBC’s parent company.

Another tactic would be to drop the premium channels that Comcast charges extra for, such as HBO and certain sports channels. There’s a term for this tactic, it’s called “cord-shaving.” Folks who watch a bunch of Fox News will need to pay for more than just “basic cable.” At Xfinity, there are several packages to choose from. However, if one is addicted to “Game of Thrones,” “Homeland,” or other original shows the premium channels provide, then one might want to go with the first option and change one’s cable provider. Also, it seems Xfinity doesn’t carry OAN, One America News, which may be reason enough to drop Xfinity.

A more radical tactic for spanking Comcast (and all cable companies) is to go whole hog and drop cable altogether, i.e. “cut the cord.” With “cord-cutting,” one can continue to watch television through streaming services. But to stream TV, one would still need an Internet Service Provider.

One might also try a free service, like Tubi. It’s amazing that one can see ads for these services on for-pay cable channels. I don’t really know anything about these free services, so do the research yourself. What I do know something about is paying a cable company for the full line-up of premium channels when one doesn’t avail oneself of even one percent of what one is paying for. I spend most of my viewing time watching news, so I’m really the sap. Maybe I should migrate to Sling TV for their Blue option.

If Comcast doesn’t want to get spanked, they might consider making wholesale changes to the management and the “talent” at NBC and MSNBC. They might even think about replacing one of their slimy hosts on MSNBC’s nightly lineup with a genuine conservative who would offer a little balance to their programming. Here’s an idea for MSNBC: hire Bill O’Reilly to host his own show and give him free rein. When he was at Fox News, Bill was cable TV’s “Mr. Big,” so maybe he’d improve MSNBC’s Nielsen numbers.

A real take-no-prisoners conservative host, however, might be so disruptive that MSNBC’s other hosts would rebel. If substantive changes to NBC News would result in defections by their current viewers, then the solution for Comcast would be to sell their news operations. Perhaps George Soros would buy it.

But selling their news subsidiary, i.e. NBCUniversal News Group, is what Comcast probably should do anyway. Or be made to do. It’s unseemly for a cable provider to also be involved in providing content, especially news. It’s similar to the problem a company like Facebook or Twitter faces when it edits or censors content. Any tax preferences such a company enjoys should be taken away. Too much of the media in America has been “captured” by the far left. A news company should exist as a stand-alone entity, not as a subsidiary of a utility.

What can be said of Comcast’s owning of NBC News can also be said of AT&T’s owning of CNN. CNN is no longer the decent operation it was in the 1980s when Ted Turner was at the helm. So, if you harbor a special loathing for the unsavory fools at CNN and you subscribe to U-verse, AT&T’s bundle system, then the above options for Comcast’s Xfinity would apply to you, too. The question becomes whether the federal government should force Comcast and AT&T to divest themselves of their news operations?

One big problem for the cable companies would seem to be the next generations. As I understand it, today’s young “adults” don’t want to pay for anything, especially cable TV. They’re called “cord-nevers,” and they’ve never paid for cable, nor have they ever paid for a newspaper subscription. Many don’t even have a computer, because they get their news from their smartphones. Some kids might even mirror or beam their smartphones onto their smart TVs. Cable companies need to get ready for a brave new world of nonsubscribers.

The cable and phone companies are to be commended for their build-out of fiber optics, and their convergence of telephone, television, and the Internet. Wonderful as that is, it can’t inoculate the companies from criticism for allowing so many harmful lies to circulate by their news operations.

On July 13 at Kayleigh McEnany’s press briefing, CNN’s Jim Acosta asked: “Hasn’t the President made mistakes?  He suggested at one point that Americans inject themselves with disinfectants.” (This video is set to start at that point.) The previous day on “This Week,” one Zerlina Maxwell had said: “He stood up in front of a podium and told people to inject disinfectants.” This position on disinfectants has become Gospel in the establishment media, but it’s an easily refuted lie, and a vicious one.

The quality of journalism in America long ago became a crisis. We should remember that freedom of the press is guaranteed by the first item of our Bill of Rights. Even so, that doesn’t mean there’s a right to say anything. Folks, rethink your cable service… stop paying for lies.

Jon N. Hall of ULTRACON OPINION is a programmer from Kansas City.