Firstly, if you think we have "state captured media" in the US, I don't think you fully grasp the meaning of that term. Our major media outlets are independently owned and operated; they aren't directly owned or financed by the U.S. government or by sources controlled or determined by a political party, as around 80% of media in Hungary is. You don't see politicians revoking public broadcasting licenses from American news networks or directing state advertising to pro-party media. The one unfortunate thing we do have in common with Hungary is the decline of independent *local* media (due to corporate consolidation and "vulture capitalism"), but that's a somewhat different issue.

The fact that American journalists tend to skew liberal does not make them "state captured", especially since half the time "the state" is controlled by conservatives. Tucker Carlson wouldn't be the most watched "news" program if liberals controlled the media like Fidesz does in Hungary. And while Hungary doesn't have the kind of brutal, journalist-murdering media domination found in most autocratic nations (like Russia, for example), but that's by design. Being a member of the EU, Orban needs a degree of "plausible" deniability, so you get his brand of "soft autocracy".

Granted, when Trump was in office, one could be forgiven for thinking America actually did have state-controlled media, with Fox News' blatant violations of journalistic ethics in exchange for access to the President, Newsmaxx having an *explicitly* stated policy of support for Trump, and OAN's general insanity in pushing pro-Trump conspiracy theories (earning them a nice little pat on the back from Trump during a press conference for being "good to" him). But in Hungary, this sort of political media manipulation isn't the product of an out-of-control politician whose party gave up trying to hide his irrepressible and blatant corruption - it's being competently institutionalized by a party apparatus that has shrewdly consolidated its rule.

And sadly, Orban is now getting a big assist from fanboys on the American right like Tucker Carlson, Rod Dreher, and Matt Schlapp - people who have surrendered any care for democratic integrity in favor of whatever strongman will oppose the bogeymen that have driven them to existential crisis - immigrants, gays, lesbians, transgenders, social justice warriors, etc. I implore you not to succumb to this same temptation. I may be a progressive, but like many here I also have my issues with the modern left. That shouldn't matter in this case. Numerous international organizations and observers have attested to the erosion of democracy under Orban. Democracy demands that we withstand some degree of cultural friction. And while our institutions are still stronger and our culture of independence far more robust than in Hungary's case, we are more vulnerable to this brand of creeping illiberalism than we have been in a long time.