ROGER “AILESISM” IS ALIVE & WELL AT FOX NEWS

…The former head of Fox News, Roger Ailes.

 

So long as the TV ratings are always there for Fox's distorted news, why bother with real news?

 

There was a quote from an article in The Post  that stuck with me last week.  The quote was a statement about Trump’s continued ranting that he was against the War in Iraq before the actual invasion. Fox of course, has been trying to make the viewers believe that statement is true, even though no one has been able to produce a recording or an article that proves Trump's statement.

 

The quote that I read was this: “If Fox News wishes to say that concrete is soft; that the sun is cold; that dirt is clean; and that its news coverage is fair and balanced, it may do so. Its audience will always be there to hear and believe all of it.”

 

There was another statement at the end of the article that also caught my attention: “Though [Roger] Ailes was ousted from his 20-year run atop the Fox network, “Ailesism” remains in place at Fox. So long as the TV ratings are there for distorted news, and they always will be, why bother with real news?”

 

What all this noise is about, is how Fox News continues presenting some old information where they are trying to prove Trump’s statement that he was against the Iraq war before the actual invasion.  Even the former New York mayor and good friend and surrogate, Rudy Giuliani has jumped into the fray, saying that years ago, he and Donald argued about the war.  Rudy was in favor of the invasion and Trump was against it.  But there again, there is nothing to support that Trump statement.  Rudy says that he could probably produce friends that could support Trump’s opinion, but no names have come from either Trump or Giuliani.  Giuliani has only said, “If you listen to what I just listened to from the old Neil Cavuto’s show, you can see, he [Trump] had grave reservations about it two months before.”

 

Well, about that, I don’t think so.  Here’s what was actually said on Neil Cavuto’s show that Trump keeps falsely saying that it proves his point:

 

Nearly two months before the Iraq War began, Neil Cavuto asks Trump on his show how much time President Bush should spend on the economy vs. on Iraq.

 

“Well, I’m starting to think that people are much more focused now on the economy,” Trump said. “They’re getting a little bit tired of hearing ‘We’re going in, we’re not going in.’ Whatever happened to the days of Douglas MacArthur? Either do it or don’t do it.”

 

Then Trump continued: “Perhaps he shouldn’t be doing it yet. And perhaps we should be waiting for the United Nations [to get involved].”

 

So, Trump analyzed the ins and outs of an Iraq invasion. He talked about the economy, but he never voiced anything that approaches a clear opposition to the Invasion of Iraq. 

 

During the primary campaign, Trump boasted of his visionary skills saying: “I said it loud and clear, ‘You’ll destabilize the Middle East,’” he said this in a February 2016 primary debate.

 

I’m sorry, but there’s a giant gulf between years later giving a dire warning about “destabilizing the Middle East” and saying ““Perhaps he [President Bush] shouldn’t be doing it yet.” 

 

And according to Trump, this interchange with Neil Cavuto is supposed to prove that he was totally against the Invasion of Iraq before 2003? 

 

Sorry, but that dog don’t hunt.

 

When the debate moderator Lester Holt hit him with the “you were for It, before you were against it” during the debate, Trump just couldn’t let it die, so here came his statements that have been Fact Checked and proven wrong:

 

An untold number of outlets have looked at what Trump said in the months leading up to the Iraq invasion, with a tight focus on an appearance by Trump on Howard Stern’s radio program in September 2002. Asked whether he favored the invasion, Trump responded, “Yeah, I guess so. I wish the first time it was done correctly.” That last quip was apparently a reference to the decision of President George H.W. Bush not to invade Iraq after liberating Kuwait in the Gulf war.  Trump of course, wanted “Poppy Bush” to go straight into Baghdad, but President Bush thought better about the possible destabilization of the Middle East. 

 

Too bad his son didn’t also think about that.

 

Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly and others on Fox have continually tried to make out Trump’s current statements to be that he was against the invasion.  Too bad that you can’t make water into wine and rain without clouds, but those on Fox will still keep trying.

 

Another quote that came from The Post article was: “On his program, Hannity always says that he carries a pocket Constitution ‘everywhere.’ Perhaps he and O’Reilly should add a pocket copy of: Society of Professional Journalists ethics code.”

 

I agree.

 

But as stated before: “Fox News says its news coverage is fair and balanced, it will continue to do so as its audience will always be there to hear and believe it.”

 

Copyright G.Ater  2016