Public ignorance and stupidity costs the nation billions of dollars, kills untold people in the hundreds of thousands, vastly increases crime and unemployment, and generally makes life far less productive, safe and enjoyable for the minority that are not ignorant and stupid, as well as for those who are. Among the most unethical and despicable among us are those who profit from the ignorance of others, and who either plot to keep them that way, or who exploit their dimness for profit. These deplorable exploiters include politicians, advertisers and merchandisers, religious groups and cults, as well as single-issue advocates on a wide range of issues. There should be an especially unpleasant corner in Hell, however, for an organization that does this under the guise of “The Learning Channel.”

The Learning Channel has already established its fondness for either making “entertainment” out of child abuse, as in its execrable reality shows, “Toddlers & Tiaras” and “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo,” or exploiting child labor, as with the “Jon & Kate plus Eight” franchise. But its “Long Island Medium” show is especially vile, as it prepares gullible fools for manipulation and fleecing by charlatans who claim to be able to contact the dead, read minds, or foresee the future. “Theresa is a typical Long Island mom who has a very special gift. She talks to the dead.,” TLC tells us on its website. Elsewhere, it describes Theresa Caputo as a “real psychic.” These are lies.

Nobody talks to the dead, and there are no real psychics. All psychics are frauds and have ever been frauds, from John Edward, to Jean Dixon, to Nostradamus and Rasputin. They all gull sad, desperate, hopeful and naive people into surrendering their trust and cash for the product of guile and carefully honed observational skills that have been used by fortune tellers and other fakes for centuries. This is not a matter of serious question or debate. TLC stating that Caputo is a real psychic is the equivalent of its asserting that it has the Loch Ness monster in an aquarium or that Elvis has risen from the dead, except that what TLC says about psychics is infinitely worse, because so many people believe it.

Not only is TLC deceiving the public, the most foolish members at least, by stating a falsehood as fact; it is also advertising a product, psychic readings, that is fraudulent and dangerous. Magicians Penn and Teller, following in the hallowed footsteps of Harry Houdini, who ended his career exposing every psychic foolish enough to challenge him, used their cable show “Bullshit” to show just how dishonest and manipulative these scam artists can be. Their victims often let the “psychics” dictate important life decisions, and TLC, by advertising their “gifts” as psychic powers rather than the ability to cheat people out of their money—the accurate description—are facilitating crimes.

Because TLC is assisting in the commission of multiple frauds by broadcasting “Long Island Medium,” anyone who watches the show is assisting as well. We know TLC is shameless; we know criticism won’t stop it from presenting unethical programming. All that can be done is to make the most unethical of its shows unprofitable, by not watching them, even out of curiosity. TLC calls those who don’t believe in Theresa’s powers “skeptics;” that is not accurate. The term for people who don’t believe in psychics is “educated and rational,” and the word for those who do is “marks.” It is up to the educated and rational to protect the marks.

Stop The Learning Channel. Stop “Long Island Medium.”

It’s easy.

Just watch some other garbage that doesn’t lay the groundwork for scam artists.

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Graphic: Get Glue