Day: December 17, 2025
Air traffic control towers will ‘never’ reach full staffing levels under current system, FAA chief says
FAA chief says air traffic control towers will “never” reach full staffing under current system, calling it “chronically understaffed.”
Jack Smith to face House lawmakers in deposition over his Trump prosecutions
House lawmakers will question Jack Smith about his Trump prosecutions and subpoenas of Republican phone records during a private Capitol Hill deposition Wednesday.
Anna Kepner’s cruise ship death: New Florida subpoenas could offer clues into homicide investigation
Federal investigators continue Anna Kepner homicide probe as new family court subpoenas signal movement in case involving 18-year-old cheerleader’s death.
Charlie Sheen changed his politics by changing the channel
About six years ago, I started a simple experiment. Each evening, instead of relying on a single news source, I watched both sides of the political spectrum — MSNBC and CNN on the left, Fox on the right. The goal was not balance for its own sake. It was triangulation: getting closer to the truth than any one outlet seemed capable of providing.
The pattern emerged quickly. The full story almost never lives on a single channel. It lives in the gaps — in what one side omits, what the other exaggerates, and what only becomes visible when competing narratives collide. Stepping outside a single media ecosystem sharpened my understanding of events and exposed how much emotional steering hides behind what passes for “objective” news.
If a Hollywood actor immersed for decades in elite cultural assumptions can break free simply by pressing ‘channel up,’ that should give the rest of us pause.
I was reminded of this after reading Megyn Kelly’s interview with actor Charlie Sheen.
Pick up the remote
For years, Sheen embodied Hollywood’s loud, theatrical hostility toward Donald Trump. He embodied Trump derangement syndrome. Then he startled people by admitting that he had begun to change his views. Not because of a grand ideological awakening, but because of something mundane.
“I’m going to change the channel,” he told Kelly. “I’m gonna do my own research, like I’ve done with everything my entire life. I’m gonna listen to other voices. I’m gonna explore just hearing both sides of the g**d**n story.”
Sheen described realizing that he had been “hypnotized” — his word — by the media he trusted. What once felt authoritative and neutral began to look curated, repetitive, and manipulative.
“What I was so hypnotized by,” he said, “in some ways can be described as state-run media. … Legacy media is very much like that.”
How narrative replaces reporting
That charge matters, because it is not rooted in party loyalty. It is rooted in recognition. More Americans sense that the information they consume does not simply inform them — it conditions them. It trains emotional responses, assigns villains, and narrows acceptable conclusions.
As Sheen flipped channels, he discovered how incomplete his worldview had been. Then came his most striking admission: “I felt really stupid. I don’t have a fancier way to describe it. … Some of the stuff I’d bought into … some of the people I was hating because I was told I was supposed to hate them.”
That kind of honesty is rare. In today’s culture, changing one’s mind is treated as treason rather than growth. Sheen’s shift is not primarily about moving from left to right. It is about reclaiming agency — refusing to let a single narrative dictate who deserves trust or contempt.
For years, Americans have been sorted into hardened political tribes by outlets that no longer report so much as reinforce. Each network offers a prepackaged worldview with designated heroes, enemies, and emotional cues. The longer someone consumes only one of them, the more certain — and less informed — he becomes.
This is how democracies fracture. Not because citizens lack reason, but because they are denied the full range of facts required to reason well.
Regret isn’t the point
Sheen even expressed regret over his 2024 vote for Kamala Harris, a decision he now believes was made inside an echo chamber he did not recognize at the time. The regret itself is not the point. The awakening is.
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Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images
If a Hollywood actor immersed for decades in elite cultural assumptions can break free simply by pressing “channel up,” that should give the rest of us pause.
It suggests intellectual independence remains possible. It suggests curiosity can overpower conditioning. And it suggests Americans are far more capable of balanced judgment than our media landscape assumes.
The most patriotic habit left
The lesson is not complicated. If you want to understand what is really happening in this country, do not limit yourself to the channel you already agree with. Change it. Listen to the other side. Sit with the discomfort.
The clarity that follows may surprise you. It may challenge your assumptions. It may even change your mind.
In today’s America, that may be one of the most constructive — and patriotic — acts left to us.
Jennylyn Mercado, Dennis Trillo hold kiddie Christmas party for their team
Jennylyn Mercado and Dennis Trillo held a kiddie-themed party at a fast food joint for their glam team and “bessies.”
SEA Games: LJ Yasay knocks out Malaysian foe to take muay gold
Another muay gold medal heads the Philippines’ way after LJ Rafael Yasay knocked out Insyad Rumijam of Malaysia in the 2025 SEA Games men”s -51kg finals on Wednesday in Thailand.
2025 SEA Games: Islay Bomogao takes down local bet to win muay thai gold
Islay Bomogao outlasted Thai fighter Arissara Noon-Eiad, 29-28, to rule the women’s muay thai 45kg (pin weight) finals and claim her second medal at the 2025 SEA Games on Wednesday in Thailand.
PH completes three-gold haul in SEA Games triathlon with mixed relay win
The Philippines proved its dominance in triathlon after ruling the mixed team relay in the 2025 Southeast Asian Games on Wednesday in Thailand.
Who is Agatha Wong, PH”s six-time SEA Games gold medalist?
Wushu athlete Agatha Wong recently won her sixth gold medal at the Southeast Asian Games after ruling the taijijian-taijiquan event last Sunday.
Sibol Men sweep Malaysia for 4th straight Mobile Legends: Bang Bang SEA Games gold
Kiel “Oheb” Soriano capped his first SEA Games stint in golden fashion, leading Sibol Men to a 4-0 win over Malaysia in the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang men’s finals on Wednesday in Thailand.
