In Challenge to Fox News as the ‘Sexual Predator Network’, Newsmax is Courting Bill O’Reilly

For many years now Fox News has occupied the top of the ratings for cable news networks. Although they are getting beaten on a regular basis by MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow and others, they still generally outperform their competition, but by much smaller margins than in the past.

Bill O'Reilly, Donald Trump

What is not heralded as much by Fox News public relations is their uncontested position as the premiere “Sexual Predator Network.” Fox has a history with sexual deviants who were shielded, and even promoted, within their dysfunctional corporate family. They include the former CEO, Roger Ailes, and their once top star, Bill O’Reilly. Even Donald Trump, now better known as the pervert in the White House, was once another pervert on Fox News with a regular segment on Fox and Friends.

In addition to those perpetrators of sexual harassment and abuse, Fox News is crawling with infidels who cheat on their spouses with underlings on the job. Host Ed Henry was suspended for several weeks after his affair was publicized. But Trump fave Pete Hegseth and O’Reilly spawn Jesse Watters were never punished for the very same exploitative behavior.

However, Fox News may have some competition in the debauchery business. The New York Posts’ Page Six is reporting that the conservative news outlet Newsmax is in talks to bringing Bill O’Reilly back to the airwaves. Presumably because America has been missing the insights of a deviant who has paid out more than $32 million to hush up his personal sex scandals. Newmax must believe that the nation still wants to hear from people who have disgraced themselves through abhorrent mistreatment of women colleagues.

To make matters worse, Newsmax is also said to be courting former Fox News host Eric Bolling, who was fired for sending obscene photos of himself to his coworkers. Former Fox News host Greta Van Susteren is also in Newsmax’s sights as a recruitment target. Van Susteren herself has not been accused of any sexual misconduct, but she has said that such behavior at Fox News contributed to her reasons for quitting. According to Page Six, this line up (plus former Trump press secretary Sean Spicer) would form the basis for the Newsmax primetime block:

“An insider told Page Six, ‘The deals are not done yet, but talks are in the advanced stages, certainly with O’Reilly. The thinking is, following a 6 p.m. news show, Greta would anchor the 7 p.m. hour, O’Reilly would be back at 8 p.m., and Bolling could smoothly continue on at 9 p.m. Spicer and his cohorts would go on at 10 p.m., with the later slot allowing the show to be looser. But the deals are not yet signed and sealed.'”

The regrouping of these Fox News rejects is less surprising when you consider that the Newsmax Media CEO Christopher Ruddy, is a close friend of Fox News addict, Donald Trump. Ruddy previously brought in ex-Fox EVP Michael Clemente to run the his broadcast division. So it looks like they’re trying to get the band back together. [For what it’s worth, a source close to Newsmax told Brian Stelter of CNN that “there have been no negotiations at all.”].

But in reassembling some of the most repugnant characters, who were even too disgusting for Fox to continue employing, Newsmax is setting itself up to take the sexual predator crown from Fox. Perhaps they could bolster their schedule by reaching out to Charlie Rose and Matt Lauer. Maybe some comic relief with an all new Bill Cosby Hour. And all of it could be produced by Harvey Weinstein. Newsmax can probably get all of this “talent” at a considerable discount from their previous salaries. And they would surely appeal to disaffected Fox fans who don’t think the network is misogynistic enough.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Serial Sexual Predator Bill O’Reilly Offers to Protect Sarah Huckabee Sanders From the Media

Donald Trump’s press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, has been called a lot of things. Most notable (and on target) is a lying propagandist for a criminal chief executive. But she has never been criticized for being a wallflower who can’t defend herself under fire. Especially when the fire is coming from the Washington press corps who she encounters on a near daily basis.

Fox News, Bill O'Reilly, Sarah Huckabee Sanders

Enter Bill O’Reilly: The disgraced has-been who struggles to get attention for his lame blog now that he has been banished from his Fox News perch. O’Reilly has become a pathetic wretch who thinks he can still corral an audience after the disclosures of numerous payoffs to women accusing him of sexual harassment and abuse. At least New York’s Attorney General had the decency to resign.

The Hollywood Reporter caught up with O’Reilly at a party for Richard Grenell, Trump’s new ambassador to Germany (and a former Fox News contributor). They witnessed a discussion that O’Reilly had with Sanders that tells you something about both of them. According the Reporter O’Reilly said that he “feels for” Sanders, who he said is “not able to fight back when attacked by beat reporters, unlike her boss, President Donald Trump.” O’Reilly posted their exchange on his website:

“I said, ‘Ms. Sanders, with all due respect, if you ever need me to stand next to you in those press briefings, I will volunteer to do that. And, if somebody gets out of line, I will tell them exactly what I think of their behavior,’ “

Horrors! O’Reilly’s threatening to tell some unsuspecting reporters what he thinks of them (like they care). And where in that self-serving slobber was any hint of “due respect” for Sanders? O’Reilly is implying that lady-folk Sanders can’t do her job. And although she sees her job as lying to the American people everyday, she’s doing that pretty well. She obviously doesn’t need the “loofah man” to rescue the poor defenseless female from the mob of ravaging journalists. Let’s face it, the only thing O’Reilly wants to do is get some airtime on real TV, as opposed to the little-watched videos he makes in his Long Island basement. He went on to babble:

“I told her that she is doing a great job, in the sense that it’s not a partisan play. She’s representing her country in very difficult circumstances, extremely difficult, and she’s a patriot — you know, she’s taken enormous amount of abuse, enormous.”

In O’Reilly’s cartoon brain what Sanders does isn’t partisan? That’s a symptom of acute grey matter rot. And he attempts to portray the press secretary as being on a par with the military. Come on, what’s so difficult about answering questions from reporters? And if anything makes this more difficult than usual, it’s the dishonesty and ignorance of the president she works for.

The Reporter’s article says that Sanders laughed when O’Reilly made this suggestion. That’s a fairly appropriate response. But it doesn’t go nearly far enough to shame O’Reilly for belittling the woman whose job it is to speak for the President. O’Reilly’s misogyny is evident in his presumption that he would be necessary or helpful as a protector for Sanders. If anything, he would probably seek to take advantage of her to advance his own interests. Because that’s what narcissistic misogynists like O’Reilly (and his pal Donald Trump) do.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Trump Told Fox News that the U.S. is Just as Bad as Russia and Tried to Make Comey Agree

The ABC interview of James Comey Sunday night had some juicy quotables. The interview precedes the release of his book, A Higher Loyalty, which is currently number one on Amazon. Comey’s opinion that Donald Trump is “morally unfit to be president” seems to be getting the most play in the morning-after media. But Comey also introduced several “possibilities” that are hard to ignore. He said that it’s possible that Trump is “compromised by the Russians.” He said that there is possible evidence of Trump obstructing justice. And he said that it is possible that Trump “was with prostitutes peeing on each other in Moscow.”

Comey Trump

All of those are harrowing thoughts when applied to the President of the United States. And particularly so when they come from one of the highest law enforcement officials in the American federal government. The harmful prospects implied by those remarks cannot be overstated. And they will surely play a part in the unfolding investigation being conducted by special prosecutor Robert Mueller.

In addition, there was a surprising allusion to Trump’s favorite cable news network, Fox News. It reveals the extent to which he is preoccupied with everything he sees and hears from his shadow policy advisors on the network, who too often become his actual White House advisors. The exchange occurred when George Stephanopoulos asked Trump about his relationship with Vladimir Putin, a unambiguously brutal dictator who Trump has never been able to say a single bad word about. This is what ensued (transcript here, video below):

“The Super Bowl pre-game show where– and I hadn’t asked any questions about this, but the president was just talking about it, he had given an answer to Bill O’Reilly that had been much criticized across the political spectrum when he had said, in response to a question, that he respected Vladimir Putin and said, ‘That doesn’t mean I’m going to get along with him.’

“And then O’Reilly responded, ‘But he’s a killer.” And the president responded, in substance, “But we’re killers, too. You think our country’s so innocent.’ I forget the exact words, but that’s the gist of it. And that moral equivalence, between the people of our government and Putin’s thugs, had generated a lot of controversy. […]

“He was telling me it was a good answer and then said – gave me an opening by saying, ‘You think it was a great answer. You think it was a good answer.’ And then he was starting to move on. And I jumped in and I said, ‘Mr. President, the first part of the answer was fine, not the second part. We’re not the kind of killers that Putin is.’

And when I said that, the weather changed in the room. And like a shadow crossed his face and his eyes got this strange, kinda hard look. And I thought in that moment, ‘I’ve just done something unusual maybe.’ And then (SNAP) it passed and the meeting was over. And, ‘Thanks for coming in,’ and – and Priebus walked me out.”

Comey regarded that exchange as having an unintended positive result. He said that “by interrupting him and also criticizing him to his face,” it ended any personal relationship between him and Trump. It allowed him to “keep a distance that we need to keep from him.” But it also showed that Trump has an unhealthy obsession with whatever he says on Fox News being validated by everyone with whom he comes into contact. Trump desperately wanted Comey to agree that what he told O’Reilly was brilliant.

Of course, what he told O’Reilly was an insult to America and blatantly unpatriotic. Even O’Reilly thought so. Putin is guilty of murdering his political opponents and critical journalists. He is a cold-blooded tyrant who thirsts for world domination. Whatever flaws the U.S. has, they are not on that level of evil. But Comey’s refusal to suck up to Trump caused the President to freeze up. And it may have been at that moment that he decided that Comey had to go.

The cumulative effect of the Russia investigation and Comey’s lack of adoring fealty to Trump sealed his fate. So ironically, Fox News, the PR division of the Trump White House, may have inadvertently played a role in proving that Trump obstructed justice. Who’da thunk it?

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Court: Bill O’Reilly Can’t Suppress Past Sexual Harassment Settlements – Trump Should Be Worried

Disgraced former Fox News shill, Bill O’Reilly, has been reduced to running a little-visited video blog. His ranting is identical to the fact-averse garbage he spewed on Fox, but is only seen by a few hundred of Billo’s deadenders. For the most part he is too insignificant to bother reporting about. However, a recent court ruling could have ramifications that far exceed his puny reach.

Bill O'Reilly, Donald Trump

A federal court just ruled on a motion by O’Reilly to suppress his past sexual harassment settlements. The court ruled against O’Reilly’s motion to seal the settlement agreements he had previously imposed on multiple women who accused him of harassment. As CNN reported:

“Deborah Batts, the judge presiding over the defamation suit, ruled Tuesday that O’Reilly ‘has failed to present compelling countervailing factors that could overcome the presumption of public access’ to the agreements. Batts also said O’Reilly ‘has not even come close to rebutting this First Amendment presumption’ that favors public access to documents.”

It is likely that as a result of this, details of O’Reilly’s abusive behavior that were not known before will become public as this defamation suit proceeds. Not that that will have much impact on his perception by most Americans who already know that he’s a sleazeball. But the decision foreshadows circumstances that are certainly going to arise for Donald Trump.

Trump is also being sued for defamation by women who allege sexual harassment and/or abuse. Adult film actress Stormy Daniels, who has been litigating to rescind a Trump non-disclosure agreement, recently amended her suit to include allegations of defamation by Trump and his attorney, Michael Cohen. In addition, former Apprentice contestant, Summer Zervos, filed a lawsuit charging that Trump defamed her in the course of denying her allegation of sexual assault. Two weeks ago a judge denied Trump’s motion to dismiss the case.

In both the Daniels and Zervos suits, the defamation consisted of Trump’s public remarks disparaging his accusers as liars. So whether or not these women prevail in court rests on their ability to provide evidence that their assertions are true. Both have already demonstrated that that won’t be a problem. What’s more, there are at least a dozen other women who could file similar complaints.

Trump has adamantly denied that he engaged in any sexually inappropriate behavior. But he went further than that to declare himself the victim and his accusers of perpetrating “one of the great political smear campaigns in the history of our country.” Those comments, which were aimed at all of his accusers, are unambiguously defamatory. And he even threatened to file lawsuits himself:

“Every woman lied when they came forward to hurt my campaign. Total fabrication. The events never happened. Never. All of these liars will be sued after the election is over.”

The ruling in the O’Reilly case portends the legal peril that Trump faces for his own abusive conduct. And his public, self-incriminating statements only make matters worse. It could mean that many of the allegations against him will be aired more fully as these lawsuits proceed. And finally the women he victimized will get the justice due them, and our Sexual-Predator-in-Chief will face the consequences of being a reprehensible jackass. For some idea of just how disgusting Trump is, watch the video below of the women he assaulted describing their ordeals.

Allowing Trump to remain in the White House sends a terrible message to all Americans, particularly women and girls. If Trump isn’t impeached for obstruction of justice, collusion with Russia, financial corruption, undermining the free press, or being a pathological liar and malignant narcissist, then his sexual depravity and criminality should be more than reason enough.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

March Maddow-ness: MSNBC Dominates Fox News in the March Ratings Championship Game

Two years ago, Fox News was the unchallenged king of the cable news networks with ratings that sometimes exceeded the combined total of CNN and MSNBC. Last year, Rachel Maddow showed surprising strength against her competition, Sean Hannity. But now it is becoming a regular occurrence that MSNBC beats Fox News over significant parts of the daily schedule.

Rachel Maddow

MSNBC’s ratings success is driven by Maddow’s continued surge. She is no longer a quirky thorn in Fox’s side. She regularly wins her time period in the coveted advertising demographic of 18-34 year olds. In March she beat Hannity every single day of the month except for one. Her average audience for the month was 651,000. That compares to Hannity’s average of 568,000. But even more impressive is that Maddow also bested Hannity in total viewers fourteen out of the twenty-one weekdays in the month. Her average for total viewers was 2.99 million vs. Hannity’s 2.87 million.

MSNBC should also be proud of having better audience numbers in the demo than Fox News for most of the evening hours including primetime. Their average from 4:00pm to midnight was 458,400 vs. Fox’s 455,800. The Last Word with Lawerence O’Donnell won its time period thirteen of the twenty-one weekdays in March. And The 11th Hour with Brian Williams came out on top on nineteen days. Both of those programs scored higher than their competition (Laura Ingraham and Shannon Bream respectively) for the full month. And although Fox News generally did better during most of the daytime time periods, Deadline with Nicolle Wallace managed to beat Fox’s Neil Cavuto on eight days.

A weak point in MSNBC’s schedule is All In with Chris Hayes. Which is too bad because it’s an excellent show that has been recognized with multiple Emmys. However, it needs some juice if it’s going to be a decent leadin for Maddow and the rest of their primetime. They should think about pairing Hayes with Joy Reid as a co-host. Reid’s weekend program has been showing strength and is popular among MSNBC’s core audience. And it wouldn’t hurt to consider swapping Nicolle Wallace into Chris Matthew’s Hardball slot. Wallace has demonstrated her ability to pull in viewers, and Matthews may play better in the earlier, newsier part of the day.

The bottom line is that Fox News can no longer consider itself the number one network for cable news. It has been declining with each new reporting period. In January Fox News dropped fourteen percent in primetime. And February topped that with an additional fifteen percent decline. Meanwhile, MSNBC gained significantly in both of those months. February’s percentage gains were over twenty percent. Even worse for Fox News was their actual earnings performance. Their revenue rose less than either of their competitors – a measly seventeen percent. CNN’s rise doubled that to thirty-two percent. And MSNBC rocketed up sixty-two percent.

We can expect Fox’s earnings to fall even more in April with the advertiser exodus they are experiencing due to Laura Ingraham’s reprehensible attack on David Hogg, one of the survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school shooting in Parkland, Florida. So far there are at least eighteen major advertisers who have pulled their business from her show. And in the midst of that she just announced that she will be on “vacation” all of next week. For the record, that’s the same thing Bill O’Reilly did after his advertisers bailed en masse and just before he was canned by Fox.

UPDATE: Forbes affirms the above ratings analysis.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Fox News and Bill O’Reilly are Still Sucking – Up to Each Other

You have to feel a little sorry for Fox News these days. They are in the impossible position of having to defend a sleazy, ignorant, narcissistic, greedy, racist, corrupt, pathological liar. Their sycophantic propaganda on behalf of Donald Trump must be getting harder and harder to manufacture. The shills that litter their airwaves are becoming more desperate for material with each passing day.

Fox News

So it’s understandable that they’ve turned to their disgraced former star, Bill O’Reilly, to try to shore up their flagging ratings. After all, he was merely found to have committed multiple acts of sexual harassment and assault. And the President has done that repeatedly, so what’s the big deal? If Trump can consider bringing back his domestic abusing former aide, Rob Porter (which is being discussed), then Fox News surely can bring back O’Reilly.

The Daily Beast is reporting that O’Reilly’s “Lies and Legends” is once again airing on the network. NOTE: Despite the title, it is not a documentary based on Trump’s presidency. How a network that was shamed into severing ties with their top rated star can even entertain the notion of putting him back on the payroll is something only a cretinous Fox executive could justify. But almost certainly won’t bother doing.

It’s fitting that on the same day that this news was announced, O’Reilly distinguished himself with his hokey “Tip of the Day” on Twitter. This tip set out to belittle the historic “March For Our Lives” that called on Congress to enact the common sense gun reforms that overwhelming majorities of the American people support. But it also slandered Fox’s competitor, NBC.

First of all, there were several reputable analyses of the march’s attendance in Washington, D.C., that put the numbers between 800,000 and a million. But O’Reilly referenced only a single source that was cited in an article on Fox News (where else?). O’Reilly’s only basis for calling the absurd 200,000 figure the “real” number is his wishful thinking and obvious bias. What makes this even worse is that Fox News also reported the 800,000 figure on the air (see image above). So is O’Reilly advising the few remaining losers who follow him to refrain from trusting Fox News? Nah, that would require the sort of n0-spin analysis that this worm has never been capable of.

The love affair between Fox and O’Reilly is clearly not over yet. But that’s only because neither of them have any other prospects. So both are forced to rely on each other out of desperation. O’Reilly’s public profile has been reduced to near total obscurity. And Fox News has employed so many sexual predators what’s one more brought back from the past? As their messianic Deal Leader would say: SAD.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Good News for Trump: Sexual Predator Bill O’Reilly is Defending Him on ‘The Women Issue’

The bad news about Donald Trump’s reprehensible conduct with women continues to escalate with new revelations every day. It’s not bad enough that he has at least sixteen women making credible allegations of sexual harassment and abuse against him. Nor have his own admissions of getting away with sexually assaulting women because he’s a celebrity tipped the scales against him in the minds of his glassy-eyed disciples. Now the scandal over his affair with porn star Stormy Daniels is heating up, while he tries to censor “60 Minutes” and she’s offering to return his $130,000 and rescind the questionable contract to silence her.

Bill O'Reilly Donald Trump

In this time of dire need, Trump might be consoled by having one of his long-time pals riding to his rescue. Bill O’Reilly has taken up the cause to shield Trump from the onslaught of persecution he’s been suffering at the hands of critics in the media. O’Reilly recognizes that Trump has been the real victim in all of this and he isn’t going to stand by and allow his buddy to be bullied by the press. O’Reilly’s defense comes in the form of tweets linked to articles on his almost totally ignored website:

So O’Reilly chose to begin by demonizing the women of America who are speaking out against mistreatment by repulsive men in politics and business. He thinks he’s smart to characterize women (and men) protesting abuse and advocating for equal opportunity as “radical and hateful.” That should play well on Main Street, USA. And then there’s this:

The prescient gifts that O’Reilly is bragging about are really just expressions of his own anger. He’s still mad that he was driven from his comfortable perch at Fox News by media reports of his heinous behavior. Both he and Fox paid out millions of dollars to cover up his deviancy. And both he and Trump have been the subjects of accusations by a variety of women. But is he really really sure he wants to remind everyone about that? Or this:

That’s just weird. Does O’Reilly think that Trump only recently became aware that his past is fair game for public discourse? And does he think that “the women issue” is just a cudgel with which to beat up on poor, innocent, men who like to grab women by the pussy? But the weirdest part is that O’Reilly seems to be suggesting that Trump will now have to start attacking the media. Where the heck has O’Reilly been for the past two years? Trump has been on a mission to destroy the free press in America and beyond. Even to the point of referring to the media in Stalinist rhetoric as “the enemy of the people.”

Probably the last thing that Donald Trump needs now is Bill O’Reilly’s help. O’Reilly is just another pervert in the Trump mold who has been banished to the deserted wilds of blogland as a result of his own acts of abuse and harassment. So it’s not especially surprising that O’Reilly would adopt this particular defense strategy. He’s really just relitigating his own crimes and using Trump as a surrogate. But both of them have earned condemnation and deserve to be ostracized and exiled from decent society.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Another Fox News Sleazeball Has Been Caught in a Sex Scandal with a 25 Year Old Co-Worker

If you thought Watters World was a documentary about Donald Trump’s adventures with hookers in a Moscow hotel, you’re mistaken, but understandably so. In fact, it’s a program on Fox News featuring Jesse Watters, who is also a co-host of the daily afternoon program The Five. Watters is best known for being a smug, smartass who did ambush interviews for Bill O’Reilly and allegedly humorous segments that were overtly racist.


Now the New York Daily News is reporting that Watters’ wife has filed for divorce due to his ongoing adulterous affair with a twenty-five year old co-worker, Emma DiGiovine. Watters has admitted his infidelity which he only reported to Fox News human resources after the divorce papers were filed. He and his now-estranged wife have twin six year old daughters.

Most companies have strict prohibitions against employees engaging in romantic relationships with subordinates on their staff. Generally it mandates termination of the superior employee who is in a position to abuse their power. Presumably, Fox News has the same policy. However, the response by Fox upon discovery of the relationship was to transfer DiGiovine to another program and let Watters off the hook entirely. Now he can continue leading classy discussions wherein he describes single women as “Beyoncé voters” who “depend on government because they’re not depending on their husbands. They need things like contraception, health care and they love to talk about equal pay.”

This is just the latest sex scandal at Fox News. Previously their founder and CEO, the late Roger Ailes was fired after multiple allegations of sexual harassment and abuse. Then their star host, Bill O’Reilly, got the ax when it became publicly known that he had paid millions of dollars in settlements to silence his accusers. Gee, Donald Trump only paid $130,000 (that we know of). Fox and Friends anchor Ed Henry was suspended for several weeks for having an adulterous affair. Fox business host Charles Payne was also the subject of harassment charges. And Watters got his seat on The Five by replacing Eric Bolling, who was fired for sending explicit photos to women colleagues at Fox.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

This obviously isn’t a case of a few bad apples. Fox News is a breeding ground for perverts. It’s a haven for men who exploit their power to demean and control women. Or as former Fox News host and victim Andrea Tantaros said in her lawsuit, “it operates like a sex-fueled, Playboy Mansion-like cult, steeped in intimidation, indecency, and misogyny.” And now Jesse Watters has become the latest face of the reprehensible pattern of misogynistic behavior that is nurtured by Fox and its management. But he certainly won’t be the last.

BUSTED: Fox News Caught Trying to Cover Up Another Sexual Harassment Scandal

The epidemic of revelations regarding men in powerful positions exploiting women for sex continues unabated. Two years ago no one would have imagined that so many high-powered public figures would be unemployed today due to such grossly improper conduct. And while Donald Trump actually admitted to criminal sexual abuse, the repercussions for such misbehavior were generally mild, if any.

Fox News Rupert Murdoch

As the volume and frequency of these scandals escalated, Fox News stood out as a den of iniquity. The network’s CEO, Roger Ailes, was fired for multiple incidents of sexual harassment. Then their biggest star, Bill O’Reilly, was tossed out after the discovery of tens millions of dollars paid to secure the silence of his victims. Fox also jettisoned its president, Bill Shine; host Eric Bolling; Fox Sports President, Jamie Horowitz; and VP of Fox News Latino, Francisco Cortes, all for similarly abhorrent misconduct. Although there were numerous men ousted from prominent positions in a variety of industries, it seemed like Fox News was running an enterprise rife with sexual depravity and predation.

So it was a little peculiar last month when Fox announced that its chief Washington correspondent, James Rosen, was leaving the company after eighteen years. There was no reason given and no further comment. There were no testimonials or teary goodbyes on the air. He was just there one day and gone the next. And it wasn’t until this week that David Folkenflik of NPR discovered what had actually happened:

“According to Rosen’s former colleagues, however, he had an established pattern of flirting aggressively with many peers and had made sexual advances toward three female Fox News journalists, including two reporters and a producer. And his departure followed increased scrutiny of his behavior at the network, according to colleagues.”

Folkenflik’s article goes into detail about Rosen’s deplorable activities. He also noted that Rosen’s affairs were exposed at a time when the network’s owner and CEO, Rupert Murdoch, was trying to play down the scummy state of Fox News. Murdoch told an interviewer at Sky News (which he also has part ownership of), that Ailes was the only problem at Fox, despite the fact that all the people and problems listed above were already known. Following Murdoch’s comments, the women of Fox News let it be known that they weren’t having it.

It appears that Fox News was deliberately attempting to suppress the Rosen story to avoid further embarrassment. And they nearly got away with it. But it makes one wonder how many other sleazebags were quietly shoved out, or how many may still be working for Fox. Sure, there are lots of vile men lurking around the offices of many companies. But is there any one company that has had as many as Fox News? It certainly speaks to the environment that Fox created for its staff and the corporate culture that seems to have tolerated the abuse and oppression of the women at Fox News.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Bill O’Reilly’s Incoherent Defense of Trump Affirms the Acute Mental Impairment of Both

The new book by Michael Wolff, Fire and Fury, has exposed many of Donald Trump’s flaws and psychological frailties. The first-hand account from Trump’s allies in the White House is confirmation of what most Americans have observed for themselves for the past two years.

Bill O'Reilly Donald Trump

Now, in an apparent attempt to defend his long-time pal, Bill O’Reilly has actually caused further damage. His lame brown-nosing blurb is a disastrous failure as positive PR, but it’s likely O’Reilly doesn’t even know it. In a posting on his website, O’Reilly said that:

“The media is crazed over a new book that dishes some dirt about the Trump White House, but I say so what? As someone who has known the President for 30 years, I’m not surprised by anything he says in his private moments.”

Alrighty then. So if you’re not surprised by anything he’s reported to have said in the book, you are in effect confirming the accounts of him saying the deranged things that prove him to be “semi-literate,” “a f**king moron,” and “unfit to serve.” Thanks for joining the rest of the country in recognizing Trump’s inability to comprehend the job he’s allegedly doing. For someone who brags about being Trump’s friend, it is nice to see you respond so candidly about revelations that he’s ignorant and spiraling down into ever more sever mental infirmity. However, it’s a little troubling that your reaction is a callous “So what?” We’re talking about the supposed leader of the free world. But you’re comfortable with this behavior:

“Mr. Trump is a stream of consciousness guy, a man who says whatever is on his mind. Two minutes later, he may change his mind and say something contradictory. He has no inner editing voice, that I can tell you as an ear witness!”

Indeed. Trump has no inner editor, or more importantly, outer babysitter. The “quality” of not being able to retain a thought for more than two minutes is hardly something people look for in a national leaders. And your advice for the media is somewhat peculiar. You say that “what the media should be doing” is “to strengthen this country and expose corruption in government.” Which is precisely what they are doing when they reveal Trump’s failures and flaws.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Trump’s utter lack of honesty and principle puts the nation in peril. But you obviously have an affinity for your troubled friend because of all the things you have in common. Like him, you are a serial sexual predator who paid out a massive $32 million settlement to just one of your many victims. And being an apologist for Trump’s treason and corruption make you an accomplice. To which I’m sure your response would be “So what?”