One reason I find Jones even more abhorrent than I otherwise would is that I think he doesn't actually believe many of the things he says and really is trying to profit from saying outrageous things.
The problem is, and this is at the root of everything I would object to in this post, is that
it just doesn't -ing matter if he believes it or not. Jones isn't your half-senile grandfather ranting about darkies and the international Jewish conspiracy over the dinner table. He's not a social or political figure with a controversial-but-debatable worldview. He's not even the neighborhood nutter ranting about alien lizardmen running the government.
Jones has spent his entire career not only profiting from human misery; but
actively seeking to create and prolong human misery. His shows aren't the usual Illuminati-spreading-mind-control-drug-via-chemtrails nutjobbery, they are vile lies targeted at the marginalized and bereaved. Vicious, mean-spirited, libelous assaults on minorities and victims of horrific violence. Lies in support of fascism, misogyny, and white-supremacism. And his lies have resulted in numerous people being harassed, threatened, assaulted, and
very nearly murdered.
The sort of person who can be friends with a person like that is... well, sadly lacking in moral fiber is the best that can be said about that person. I've cut off people for less egregious behaviour than that; because that sort of person is simply not someone a decent, empathetic, rational person would want to be associated with.
The fact that Rogan will make a token effort at criticizing Jones, while still providing him a platform, tells me that Rogan is himself profoundly hypocritical, if not an outright piece of garbage himself. The fact that his show is generally an idiotic bro-fest, and he has expressed some highly problematic views of his own, is reason enough for me to avoid it. As far as I can tell, the only thing Rogan is interested in is getting attention and making money by generating controversy.
