A look at some former Fox pundits (non-scandal edition) after the jump ….
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We all know about the Fox executives, reporters and pundits who were either fired in scandal (Roger Ailes, Bill Shine, Bill-O, Kimberly Guilfoyle, et al), those who quit over maltreatment (Megyn Kelly, Gretchen Carlson, Andrea Tantaros), those who left for (arguably) a better gig (Sebastian Gorka, Ed Rollins) and those who were publicly let go for weirding out (Glenn Beck, Bob Beckel), being a bad predictor (Dick Morris) or just lazy (Sarah Palin). I get tired … just compiling that.
A (somewhat) different category are those who — quietly — left for philosophical reasons, or were let go quietly … mostly during the Trump era. And given the blockbuster Jane Mayer story this week, a few deserve some notice:
1) Retired Lt. Col. Ralph Peters— almost a year ago, he broke ranks with his long-time employer (having already served a brief suspension for using a sexist term to describe then-president Barack Obama). But — as a Russia analyst — he felt bad about the influence of Russia and in his goodbye memo he wrote, “In my view, Fox has degenerated from providing a legitimate and much-needed outlet for conservative voices to a mere propaganda”. A few days later, he wrote this Washington Post Op-Ed… that begins thusly:
You could measure the decline of Fox News by the drop in the quality of guests waiting in the green room. A year and a half ago, you might have heard George Will discussing policy with a senator while a former Cabinet member listened in. Today, you would meet a Republican commissar with a steakhouse waistline and an eager young woman wearing too little fabric and too much makeup, immersed in memorizing her talking points.
Ralph Peters (born 1952)Speaking of which, George Will is another name — although he became estranged over a period of time. He left ABC in 2011 and joined Fox in 2013. Yet in the summer of 2016, he left the GOP over the rise of Donald Trump and was antagonistic towards Bill-O (who was still riding high then). He was one of a few names let go in January, 2017 by the Fox network:
“They just said that they weren’t going to renew,” says Will in a chat with the Erik Wemple Blog. “They didn’t say, and I didn’t ask,” he says of the motivation.
He went on this past summer to urge people to vote against GOP candidates in last November’s mid-terms.
Side note: I was in the stands at a Baltimore Orioles baseball game in June, 1994 (a group of us visiting an old friend) on the night of the Simpson Bronco Chase — and our host Larry saw George Will watching on one of the TV screens in the bars behind the stands. He asked Will what he thought and received the reply, “Only in America”. Larry then asked him if his (then) ABC colleague Sam Donaldson wore a hairpiece, and upon being told that was true: asked Will if he could tell Sam how horrible it looked. Will replied (in an eye-rolling way) ….. “I already have”.
George F. Will (born 1941)Someone who was not evicted from the network but had his own show Freedom Watch cancelled was the retired judge Andrew Napolitano— who lives in one of Trump’s buildings in New York. Now, he is a frequent critic of the Trumpster on Fox programs (on legal matters) …. sometime, the only one.
Andrew Napolitano (b 1950)Two on-air reporters who left (last summer) partly for philosophical reasons but also their own livelihoods were Adam Housley, a Los Angeles-based reporter who joined Fox in 2001 and Conor Powell, a former Jerusalem bureau reporter:
Housley believed that as the network’s focus on Trump has grown — and the number of talking-head panels during news shows proliferated — it had become difficult to get hard reporting on air, according to one of those former employees.
“He’s not doing the type of journalism he wants to be doing,” the former employee said. “And he is unhappy with the tone of the conversation of the channel.”
Housley’s objections to the Trump-era Fox News are widely shared within the network’s reporting corps, according to current and former employees of the network. Conor Powell left the network earlier this month for similar reasons.
I could go on-and-on …. will conclude with two names just revealed this week:
For years, Sheriff David A. Clarke was a fixture on Fox News, raging against Black Lives Matter, reportedly neglecting his duties as sheriff …. and owning libs at every corner.
Nowadays, the firebrand Trump ally and ex-Milwaukee sheriff isn’t welcome on Fox anymore, The Daily Beast has learned.
The one-time Fox News regular, who was previously considered for different senior posts in the Trump administration, was effectively “banned” last year by the network, according to two sources familiar with the situation.
David Clarke (born 1956)And something that broke a day later:
Former CBS analyst Bernard Goldberg this week revealed that he has stopped appearing on Fox News because the network would no longer tolerate his criticism of President Donald Trump. “Fox will tolerate a liberal criticizing President Trump, but the network didn’t want conservatives taking shots at him”.
Goldberg said that the decision to cut him off from appearing on Fox likely came down to ratings, as Trump supporters were more likely to change the channel if anyone criticized the president.
“Producers and anchors don’t need angry viewers. In cable TV news – at Fox, at CNN and at MSNBC – the business model is easy to understand: Give the audience what it wants to hear. Validate the biases of the viewers. Keep them coming back for more. In that world ... I was a problem.”
Bernard Goldberg (b. 1945)I am getting dizzy … so, some comic relief. Over forty years ago, a former segregationist governor of Georgia went on a cabaret tour (playing harmonica) with Bobby Lee Sears, a former dishwasher at his Pickrick restaurant… yes, the one where the governor used an ax handle to attempt to chase away black patrons who wanted to enter. Billed as The Governor and the Dishwasher … Lester Maddox(!) entertained people with comedy bits and Sears accompanying him on guitar. And below you can watch some of the mayhem.
x xYouTube VideoNow, on to Top Comments:
Highlighted by CupofTea:
In the diary by scifiowa about Elizabeth Warren’s candidacy— top comment of the week might be this by Slamfu …. about the strong resolve being shown by relative newcomers to Congress.And from Ed Tracey, your faithful correspondent this evening ........
In the diary by Aldous J Pennyfarthing about a right-wing columnist who is swearing-off buying Girl Scout cookies because several freshmen legislators (in general) and AOC (in particular) credit the Girl Scouts as part of their development — zenbassoon notes that you can find out online where to buy them … from actual girls.And lastly: yesterday's Top Mojo - mega-mojo to the intrepid mik ...... who rescued this feature from oblivion:
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