niyad's request: Why I'm BEYOND THRILLED that roger ailes is in trouble.

[calimary]

Our niyad asked me to make this an OP, from the following thread: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027991710

I wrote that I am almost delirious with joy to learn that the Jabba the Hut of cable "news" is now in trouble. But it's personal for me. Some folks here know I used to be a broadcast journalist before I retired from it, 20 years ago, mainly so I could be home for my then-very young kids. I was very proud of my profession, and couldn't believe I was allowed to step carefully into the well-established, path-cutting footprints of people like Walter Cronkite, Huntley and Brinkley, Catherine Mackin, Pauline Frederick, Roy Neal, Frank Reynolds, John Chancellor, Mike Wallace, Morley Safer, and more - and hope to be worthy someday to touch the hem of Edward R. Murrow's garment. By now, though, this industry has become so perverted and bastardized, and bimbo-ized that it's no wonder anymore why so many Americans distrust the media. It's deteriorated into a shit show by way of a soft core porn show. And roger ailes is DIRECTLY to blame. If he's in trouble now, whatever way it arrived on his doorstep, I am FREAKIN' THRILLED!!!!!

I am SO loving this!!!!

SOOOOO loving this!!! I hope he's SOOOOOO screwed!

What that bastard has done to information brokering and curating - the shit that he has mainstreamed, the partisan "news" bullshit he's peddled and organized and produced and massaged and twisted and tarted up and shoved down gullible viewers' throats from coast to coast, how he's perverted the national discourse, poisoned the American mindset, dumbed us all down, and played to our lowest, cheesiest, basest, stupidest, pie-in-the-sky-loving reality-defying and negating instincts. He's done nothing but foster and encourage STUPIDITY from sea to shining sea.

The low-information voter, the paranoiac, the lowlife, the predator, the conspiracy theorist, the hater, the racist, the sexist, the liar, the cheat, the folks and the trends that developed to make someone like Donald Trump possible - it ALL traces back to him. He is the seed - AND the soil - from which the poison plant sprouted. He is the stork that delivered the New Century Ugly American, and his results are in FULL FLOWER now. He's given aid and comfort - TONS of earthly comfort - and fame and fortune and glory and a safe haven and an echo chamber to the stupidest, nastiest shit-stirrers like bill o'reilly and that guy whose name rhymes with Vanity, and sarah palin, and oliver north, AND a parade of decorative bimbos to force-feed to us. He is a curse upon us all. He has slanted the news so far that it's fallen over on its collective face and become a complete and totally biased sham. He has RUINED broadcast journalism. Turned it into a shrieking whore house with bright colored lights and bursts, and bells dong'ing, and sexy graphics and rousing music to get the hormones cranking, and wall-to-wall empty-headed long-legged blondes for side dishes, shilling half-truths and rumor-mongering and character assassination and outright LIES that are peddled for truth. All those raving lunatics like the crazy uncle who you usually kept sequestered in your attic and only allowed out for Thanksgiving dinner with the extended family have been installed in the spotlights on center stage, given phony respectability, showered with money and fame, and made into stars. And flushed the American intellect, objectivity, and discernment straight down the crapper.

I hope he eats shit. Scheming manipulative partisan son-of-Beelzebub. All those nasty Scottish slurs and putdowns that showered down upon the head of The Donald? Times A MILLION for roger ailes. He IS the original sin. He IS the toxic primordial sludge that gave us such monsters as bush/cheney, and more.

To borrow a line from that obnoxious Joanie Ernst campaign commercial - I'd LOVE-LOVE-LOVE to see this "make him squeal!"

[brer cat]

1. I am so glad to see this, calimary!

[PJMcK]

2. How do you really feel?

Just kidding, calimary!

Thanks for sharing your experiences. Like you, I can't wait to see him destroyed!

[malaise]

3. Great post

K & R

[MADem]

4. KICK-n-REC!!!! And a huge round of applause for this turn of phrase.....

He is the stork that delivered the New Century Ugly American, and his results are in FULL FLOWER now.

Well said, niyad, well said!

[ismnotwasm]

5. Wow

K&R

[eppur_se_muova]

6. Very happy to kick and rec !

I only wish Murdoch could suffer the same comeuppance.

[Scarsdale]

65. Rove

Is a bastard, too. When will the guys come out and charge him with sexual harrassment? What happened to the male prostitute, Jeff Gannon who spent more time in W's WH than Laura? Who was he "servicing"??

[apcalc]

7. I am glad too.

What a revolting man in just about any way you can think.

[Stuart G]

8. k and r..nt

[pnwmom]

9. Honestly, I think you need to write a book, calimary. Or, if you have,

then another one.

And then tell us all where we can buy it.

[sheshe2]

10. Now that was amazing, calimary.

Brava my friend, I have always been in awe of your journalistic talent.

Dear Goddess you are fierce!

Thank you, thank you.

[sarge43]

11. Couldn't happen to a more deserving creep.

May the hounds of hell pursue him for eternity.

[MariaThinks]

12. kick

[Dreamer Tatum]

13. Here is a counterpoint you may not have considered

If he's guilty, and you get your little party, that means that several women were badly harassed and maybe even ruined because of him.

Are they acceptable losses? (Someone will say that if they work at Fox, they get what they have coming; those people are assholes)

Because of that, I am not likely to throw parties if he is as guilty as sin.

[emulatorloo]

14. Several women say they were indeed badly harassed. How is that harrasment calimary's fault?

I am sure those women want Ailes brought to justice as well. Are they wrong to want that kind of vindication?

Not being snarky, just unclear on your thinking. Can you clarify?

[Dreamer Tatum]

20. I was crystal clear nt

[emulatorloo]

28. Ok. I still don't follow your logic that calimary's post caused Ailes to sexually harass women.

Or is responsible. Maybe if you had delineated your thought process a little more.

Have a great night.

[Dreamer Tatum]

36. That isn't my logic at all.

Let us suppose that Roger Ailes molested 100 boys. Yes, he would go to prison forever, and golly, wouldn't that be a scream?

And that joy only cost 100 molested boys.

[emulatorloo]

42. Understand now. Thanks.

[Bluenorthwest]

18. Oh, he's guilty and he is the responsible party, not those who call out his wretchedness

I don't get why you think holding him to account does harm to those he has already harmed. At all.

[Dreamer Tatum]

21. Have you informed the court of your verdict?

My point was missed. Nevermind.

[justiceischeap]

60. This is kinda like people who proclaim Black Lives Matter doesn't include other lives

Just because the OP is gleeful that Aisles (sp.) could be in a heap load of trouble doesn't mean she likes why he is trouble.

For those that celebrated Osama Bin Laden's death, does that make the deaths of everyone he's had a hand in killing and terrorizing any less valid? No, it doesn't.

The priest that molests 100 boys, I cheer when he's captured and I cheer when he's found guilty because Justice, in almost any form, is hard to find for most people. That doesn't mean I wish with my whole heart that there wasn't a need for that justice in the first place.

[99th_Monkey]

72. Thank you. I quite agree. n/t

[calimary]

79. See, that's yet ANOTHER reason to be furious at him.

Did you read the New York magazine article? There are other posts about it here.

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/07/six-more-women-allege-ailes-sexual-harassment.html?mid=twitter-share-di

These women upon whom he preyed - they're sad and grossly unfair and unjust casualties of war. Innocent and PREYED upon by that well-paid opportunistic infection on two legs. I get angry all over again, with every one of those case histories that I read. Hell, I actually feel sorry for Jabba the Hut for being condemned to compare to him so frequently! I hope younger women, and men, read those accounts, and understand how it was back then, when you were a young woman, particularly a good-looking young woman. Sad to say, I STILL spot that old cliche being applied to many women who do well professionally. They must have slept their way to the top. I suppose there are always a exceptions who still do, somewhere. But the whole point of the women's movement was that women could rise as high as their talents and smarts and hard work could take them - and NOT because they were somebody's "friend" as that beast told one of his young targets (I think was in the first of the six testaments), or appendage, or arm decoration. It was about women deserving the same opportunities and open doors as men. NOT something lesser, something secondary, something more minor and lower paid.

He had a driver and a car, and after dinner he said, ‘Can I take you to your friend’s?’ So we get in the car and that’s when he said, ‘You know if you want to play with the big boys, you have to lay with the big boys.’ I was so taken aback. I said, ‘Gosh I didn’t know that. How would that work?’ I was trying to kill time because I didn’t know if he was going to attack me. I was just talking until I could get out of the car. He said, ‘That’s the way it works,’ and he started naming other women he’s had. He said that’s how all these men in media and politics work — everyone’s got their "friend". I said, ‘Would I have to be friends with anybody else?’ And he said, ‘Well you might have to give a blowjob every once in a while.’

This is just so damn disappointing to read, especially to know that - yeah, this shit did happen back then. Still to this day. After all, Gretchen Carlson wasn't around to see or weather the shit these women in the New York magazine article describe from years ago. Carlton's experience is far more recent. One of the articles I've read about this scandal included the observation that roger ailes has been doing this for 50 years! CRIMINY! Part of me is glad that Millennials and others younger than I am haven't experienced as much of this. That they don't know or fully understand or appreciate, what happened back when we Baby Boomers were starting out. In one way I'm glad many of them have come of age having never experienced what we did, but in another way I think sometimes that innocence of awareness sometimes leads them not to appreciate what it was like back then.

I agree, fully, that the women he preyed upon do NOT deserve this. They're heroes. It's to their credit that they came forward, some gathering up courage and fighting off fear and shame over what they went through and what that beast put them through! No, they shouldn't have to suffer these indignities again. But their example might help other young women who've faced this, or older women who finally may have felt a sense of release - that they, too, can come forward with their own truths. And that makes them heroic as well. Particularly if their stories warn other women what to look for, and to stay away from.

[bearssoapbox]

15. YESSSS!!!!

[Bernardo de La Paz]

16. It is said Murdoch's sons would like to edge Ailes out and make Fox less hard right.

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/07/has-the-clock-run-out-on-roger-ailes.html
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/roger-ailes-fox-news-murdoch-james-lachlan
http://www.thewrap.com/fox-news-fight-roger-ailes-battles-murdoch-sons-for-power-at-fair-and-balanced-network/

Gretchen Carlson’s Sexual-Harassment Lawsuit May Allow Murdoch Sons to Finally Oust Roger Ailes From Fox News

On Wednesday, Fox’s parent company, 21st Century Fox, released a terse statement saying it took the allegations “seriously” and is conducting an “internal review of the matter.” The wording and timing of the press release — Ailes had yet to issue his own response, which, when it came, described the lawsuit as “retaliatory” (Carlson was just dropped from Fox) and claimed it would be “vigorously defended” – signal that Ailes’s standing with the Murdochs is precarious. According to one highly placed Fox source, Murdoch and his sons, Lachlan and James, approved the hiring of an outside lawyer to conduct the independent investigation. While it’s common for large companies to bring in outside counsel to conduct inquiries during public scandals, the move is a radical one for Murdoch. “Unprecedented,” one former senior executive told me. “It’s not Rupert’s style to investigate internal issues.”

[Ligyron]

43. This might just give the Murdoch kids the ammo they need to can this POS.

edit: tell it Calimary! kick and rec too.

[Pauldg47]

49. I'd like see them nail Bill O'Riley too.

[malthaussen]

17. Hey, righteous rant.

We need more people at DU who can write with occasional eloquence. And full paragraphs, even!

- Mal

[TexasBushwhacker]

19. I have no doubt the accusations are

Slimeballs do slimy things. But would Gretchen Carlson have filed the lawsuit if her contract had been renewed in June?

[lunatica]

24. The it's the victim's fault argument

Congrats. It's OK for Ailes to do what he does and the suspicion falls on the victim.

Of course, the fact she never fellated him doesn't count, right?

[TexasBushwhacker]

25. I am not blaming her

I'm saying she put up with it as long as her contract was renewed. She said the harrassment had been going on for YEARS.

[lunatica]

32. Most people put up with crap their bosses hand out

Then when their boss tries to get rid of them for not doing more to take the crap it's time to expose the boss. I don't see anything untoward in what she did. She kept her mouth shut in order to keep her job. Then when he punished her by not renewing her contract it seems he did it because he couldn't get what he wanted.

Not only is she expected to take the crap, but then she should be punished for not putting up with it.

[TexasBushwhacker]

55. I have no problem with her suing him

I'm especially glad that is has encouraged other women to come forward. But this was not rape. She could have quit her job.

Let's look at another situtation. When I was in college, I lived in an old duplex that had no heaters. It had one gas outlet and one teeny tiny heater that would even heat the living room. We were in mid Texas. Normally having no heat would mean extra blabkets and sweaters. But we had an extremely cold winter and an ice storm. No amount of electric heaters, sweaters and electric blankets was enough to keep warm in this old drafty house. I went to see a lawyer to see if we could force the landlord to provide a decent heater. The attorney said " To have a case, you have to say not only that it is not tolerable, you have to NOT TOLERATE IT. You have to move out and sue him for your deposit and damages, but you cannot stay."

So if Ailes said "Put out or I'm not going to renew your contact." then he is absolutely in the wrong. But not having your contact renewed and being fired are different things.

I think there's a damn good chance that she didn't get her contract renewed because she spoke out after the Orlando massacre and said something has to be done about guns.

[wryter2000]

62. Sure, just give up a job that pays millions

And have yourself branded as a troublemaker. Good career move.

Do you blame abused spouses for staying with the abuser, too?

[lunatica]

64. Sexual harrassment is against the law

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_harassment

[snip]

Sexual harassment is bullying or coercion of a sexual nature, or the unwelcome or inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual favors.[1] In most modern legal contexts, sexual harassment is illegal. As defined by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), "It is unlawful to harass a person (an applicant or employee) because of that person's sex." Harassment can include "sexual harassment" or unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature. The legal definition of sexual harassment varies by jurisdiction. Sexual harassment is subject to a directive in the European Union.[2]

Where laws surrounding sexual harassment exist, they generally do not prohibit simple teasing, offhand comments, or minor isolated incidents.[citation needed] In the workplace, harassment may be considered illegal when it is so frequent or severe that it creates a hostile or offensive work environment or when it results in an adverse employment decision (such as the victim being fired or demoted, or when the victim decides to quit the job). The legal and social understanding of sexual harassment, however, varies by culture.

In the context of US employment, the harasser can be the victim's supervisor, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or someone who is not an employee of the employer, such as a client or customer, and harassers or victims can be of any sex or gender.[3]

It includes a range of actions from mild transgressions to sexual abuse or sexual assault.[4] Sexual harassment is a form of illegal employment discrimination in many countries, and is a form of abuse (sexual and psychological) and bullying. For many businesses or organizations, preventing sexual harassment, and defending employees from sexual harassment charges, have become key goals of legal decision-making.

[lunatica]

22. Ditto here! And I too am fixing up some popcorn

If I'm right we're about to see some well deserved payback. Too many times people like Ailes get away with everything, so too many times we're robbed of the justice that needs to happen. Not this time.

[Chemisse]

23. Very well stated n/t

[chillfactor]

26. great post!

happy to see ailes' ass in a sling.

[Night Watchman]

27. Let's Hope He Ends Up Like Cosby

Facing criminal prosecution.

[niyad]

29. k and r + gazillion! THANK YOU!!!

[smirkymonkey]

30. K&R

[dpatbrown]

31. Thanks

Thanks for the post. I enjoyed and agree with everything. I would love to see some others fall too.

[dawnie51]

33. A whole lot of truth being told here...

amen and amen!

[Miles Archer]

34. Turns out that Trump's "I've got plenty on this guy" remark probably wasn't an idle boast

Now, whether Trump was talking about this specific aspect of Ailes or something completely different is another matter.

And, as always, Trump could have been simply talking out of his ass.

The biggest payback, of course, is that this is happening to him during an election cycle...it's the last kind of publicity Fox needs right now.

And if they can make the charges that he demanded oral sex from a 16 year old girl stick, this boy is going away for a L-O-N-G time.

Susan*, 66
Former model

I was 16 years old living in Radnor, Pennsylvania. I was sent over for a walk-on part on The Mike Douglas Show in the winter of 1967. It was 6:30 in the evening and the place was totally closing up. Ailes took me into this big office and locked the door with a key. He reclined on a couch in a seating area under a map that had flags of all the cities they were syndicated in. He proceeded to pull down his pants and very gingerly pull out his genitals and said, “Kiss them.” And they were red like raw hamburger. He was pretty meticulously dressed, with long white shirttails coming out. It was like he was just at the end of a long day and I was supposed to know what to do. I was a kid, I’d never seen a man’s privates before. I jumped up, but the door is locked and nobody’s out there. He chased me around the office and at some point it dawned on him that this just wasn’t going to happen. He finally pulled up his trousers. He was very angry and rushed over to his desk, pulled open a door and had a reel-to-reel tape recorder going. He said to me, ‘Don’t tell anybody about this. I’ve got it all on tape.’ I think he knew I was sixteen.

*Pseudonyms.

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/07/six-more-women-allege-ailes-sexual-harassment.html

[brett_jv]

57. I'd love to see that as much as the next guy, but ...

I'm (unfortunately) not entirely sure that a 'case' that's 50 years after the fact ... of a 26-27 year old dude in Hollywood asking a 16 year old girl (who's age he may or may not have known) ... to 'kiss' his privates ... has ANY chance of actually 'going somewhere' ...

I'm not even sure that, circa, 1967, it was actually illegal for someone of that age to 'engage' with a 16 year old ... let alone just 'ask'. Would depend on the state in which it occurred, and it's statute of limitations.

It IS, of course, gratifying to ponder this scum of a human being actually having to spend his final years BOTH in a state of disgrace, and behind bars on top of it ... but barring evidence emerging of more egregious conduct than what has been alleged in the past few days ... I'm prepared to settle for just seeing him lose ALL his ill-gotten gains to lawsuits by the women he's humiliated and/or abused in the past, fired from Fox, disowned by the Murdoch family, and utterly disgraced publicly, never to rear his disgusting head into public view again.

Hoping for PRISON, though ... over a 50 year old claim that the pig asked for a hummer from a 16 year old he may or may not have known was 16 ... that is probably asking a bit much from the Karma Gods, that's all I'm sayin' ...

A complete public humiliation, along with losing his job and his money ... is a bit more realistic of an expectation. Just sayin' ...

PLEASE let it happen, O Lord!

[Miles Archer]

59. Yep...I thought about statute of limitations about 30 seconds after I posted

It's like the Bill Cosby situation, ending up with him actually being told he is going to stand trial over ONE woman on a LONG list, because with every other one it was the S.O.L. or a loophole found by his attorneys.

Meanwhile, I have to believe that Uncle Rupert is in a state of rage over what this is doing to his "brand."

Is gratifying to watch a monster who has operated under a self-perceived "cloak of invincibility" go through the public shaming process. Hopefully, this will lead to a trial.

[hwmnbn]

35. BAMMM!!! niyad is bringin' the heat!!!

Thanks for the righteous rant. I agree 100%

[Craig234]

37. Nixon

Let's not forget that Ailes got his start as Nixon's tv guy, the first time there was such a position.

This guy has done nothing but harm America and the world from helping Nixon get elected to Fox - getting rich doing it.

It seems hard to find an alternative to his being a sociopath, amorally trying to gain wealth and power whatever the harm.

But I always mention, we have to remember the primary blame is on the people to not let him - we needed to defeat Nixon.

[colsohlibgal]

38. Phony Conservatives

When will the dumbed down figure out the holier than thou crowd is not so holy?

Aisles is just the latest. We had Vitter down south who got caught using a hooker. I forget the name but I remember a strong anti abortion married republican caught pleading with his girlfriend to get an abortion.

And on and on. You are being used republicans.

[oberliner]

39. You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’

But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

- JC

[lastlib]

40. Proud to add my name to this rec list!

Yes, inDEED! it will be sweet to watch him go down in flames. And may he take his sulfurous odor down with him, back from the inferno from whence it came.

[Stinky The Clown]

41. I am very proud to rec this for you, Calimary

[Different Drummer]

44. Consider this post reced. n/t

[dhol82]

45. Would you mind if I posted this on my Facebook page?

I think this is an awesome rant that needs to be shared.

[calimary]

46. Not at all.

I'd be honored, dhol82. Thank you.

[dhol82]

73. Thank you.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

47. What a great read! That was righteous!

Thank you calimary...if you write a book, I'll be on the "reserve a copy" list too!

And may the unrighteous get what they deserve and live a life of hell on earth for the rest of their days.

[turbinetree]

48. K&R and Thank you

Let's not forget that he started his "career" during the Nixon years


Honk----------------------for a political revolution

[bravenak]

50. I love this shit too!!!! Fucking KARMA!!!

[Warpy]

51. Some prissy person will undoubtedly alert on "bimbo-ized," but that's exactly what happened

starting with the "weather girl" in the 60s in her skimpy little skirt and then spreading to cable news. Even broadcast news wants "their" women to look like they just stepped out of a fashion magazine. The worst of all has been Pox, where it seems the casting couch has been imported from the movie industry and used to vet young female journalist grads who are willing to get boob jobs and bleach their hair so they can lie to Middle America. That type of "vetting" seems to have spread to the rest of female staff there.

No woman, whether or not she has a shred of integrity left after confronting student loan payments and a bare cupboard, should have to face a casting couch with any male to get a job. The utter physical and personal repulsiveness of Ailes is rather beside the point here.

I hope that lying bastard is sued down to his last ill gotten million and then his wife divorces him and takes that. I don't want him only humiliated and out of the business forever, I want him poor. for however many years he has left.

[calimary]

66. I used that word deliberately because that's what has been done to them.

Take Gretchen Carlson. Miss America. Full disclosure: This ol' hag here sees that, personally, as NO recommendation for a news anchor/reporter job whatsoever, at least by itself. On the other hand, if she'd spent her time at her college radio station and/or student newspaper, she'd covered some stuff locally or on campus, she'd won some awards for writing, or she'd spent time either interning at a local station or already having landed a job providing even limited experience reporting, producing, writing, or anchoring. As I recall, Miss Americas tend to be 22-25-ish, long enough to be out of college and in the job market. And they DO have to present some objective talent. I remember a Miss America who won because of her talent as a seamstress. She presented an extensive exhibit, displaying her quilting, her stitchery, her handmade garments, and more. And she won!

Okay, so she, like another former Miss A, Tawny Little here in L.A., succeeded as on-camera anchors. Certainly they both had the photogenic thing going. But Gretchen Carlson still had to sit there, on that "Fox & Friends" morning show, between the MALE bimbos, Steve Doocy (Dumb) and Brian Kilmeade (Dumber - or vice versa). And she had to sit there in this tight little outfit or sheath, sleeveless on top, of course to show maximum allowable skin above the waist, and the skirt was like a Herve Leger bandage design, clinging all the way, and as far above the knee as excusable. The legs, bare and oiled, and the stiletto heels - usually close-toed but heels at least 4" in height, or more if they were platform pumps. In my younger days we referred shoes like that as "fuck-me" shoes. And she was seated in the middle between those two doofuses with her legs alluringly crossed, and you sure could see it all because there was no "bureau"-type desk like the one the President sits behind. It's a table top. More likely than not made of either glass or lucite. So you can see all the way through it to those bare legs. Because we all know THAT is what's most important. That titillation. THAT'S what counts the most. Doesn't matter if she's a Mensa member. You don't care. She's blonde and tarted up with LOTS of makeup and those slicked-up thick lips and as much skin as you can get away with showing without trotting her out there onstage in a string bikini. (Although, part of me wonders how long it'll be before Pox Noise and others try THAT, too!) THAT'S what's important. NOT what's up there in behind her forehead. It's EVERYTHING below the jawline. Particularly when they want your long blonde hair swept around over one shoulder, exposing that long white bare neck - the way Megyn Kelly used to wear her hair until all the time she had it cut short. Like a woman would ordinarily wear, dressed up for a glitzy night on the town with her date. But Jesus Mary and Joseph, NOT in a NEWSROOM FORCRYINGOUTLOUD!!!!

Besides, we like our Miss Americas "doing the news." Because we already know how great they look parading around onstage in those spike heels and bathing suits! It's just a matter of time before we can sit back and enjoy the view from the anchor "desk," 'eh?

As a female viewer, I DO NOT want to see that! That is NOT appealing to me! I want to see women in credible positioning. And dressed respectably. You do not HAVE TO see all those bare shoulders, okay? And NOT sitting languoruosly on a long curved couch with their bare legs stretched out in front of themselves, crossed at the knees, feet at right angles from each other, looking like a display of so many open pairs of salad tongs. I forget what show THAT is - where there are FOUR of them, all sitting on that couch with some token white guy in there, too, "discussing the issues" with those legs on display. I saw that switching channels one day and almost gagged. And if I recall correctly, they ALL had their long blonde hair arranged the way I described - brushed around behind and over one shoulder so the other shoulder and bare neck are provocatively exposed. What am I, as a female viewer, supposed to do with that? Am I supposed to be provoked to imagine looking at those bare necks and thinking "nom nom nom"???? WHAT THE FUCKING HELL??????

And the other networks are guilty, too. It used to infuriate me when MSNBC had that group-of-four show in middays with Crystal Ball and S.E. Cupp as two of the four. For some reason, they had S.E. Cupp seated closest to the camera at a round, clear lucite-topped table. And at every commercial break, the camera was at the level of the seat of her chair, slowly pushing inward from behind, so you got a GREAT view of her ass in that tight skirt or dress as the shot slowly zoomed in, and because her hem was way short, you also saw a lot of bare leg, at the bottom of which, sure enough, were the spike-heeled fuck-me shoes. WHAT THE FUCKING HELL?????

I've griped about that repeatedly for years by now. It really insults me to see that. It angers me to see women reduced to sex objects - even in the news business. I bet NOBODY who watches Pox "News" - at least among the horny old white male demographic - doesn't remember Thing One about what any of those female "anchorettes" said or what stories they delivered. The main takeaway is what they looked like, what they wore (or in Pox's wardrobing case, how much they WEREN'T wearing), and how much leg they showed. Seriously! What is that saying? What is that showing? What is that telling you????

The evening news is NOT an excuse for a peep show! I'm SORRY. It just ISN'T! I'd actually like to see a few blazers come back - and cover up those damn bare arms that are on parade every damn where, all the damn time. Back when women were first anchoring and reporting, the blazer was mandatory garb, almost like a uniform, because women tried to look credible next to the suited, jacketted male anchor, and they dressed in business attire. Now, that's just completely gone. THAT'S what I mean by bimbo-izing. I'm surprised they haven't made Christiane Amanpour dress that way, too, or do her standups in the field, in shorts and a halter top. Or Barbara Starr. Hell, Dana Bash isn't adverse to showing some skin. So is Andrea Mitchell, who, frankly, is WAY too old by now to be dressing so skimpy on camera like that. These news departments should NOT be dressing their women anchors and reporters to encourage male viewers to want to touch them or cop a feel, okay? Should we start mandating (HAH! MANdating) that our teachers and female professors dress that way in a school setting? What kind of "education" would THAT be delivering (subliminally - which is the most powerful and sometimes most sinister, method)? Should we start demanding that (HAH! deMANding) that our female nurses and doctors and surgeons start showing up for work in bathing suits? So we can see those nice long bare legs and arms?

Again, what is that REALLY saying? What is that showing? What is that telling you????

I mean, hell - why do they even bother with an anchor "desk" or clear lucite table anymore? Why don't they just cut to the chase and design a bedroom setting? Just put the news-babe on a bed forcryingoutloud?

[Warpy]

67. That is a righteous rant that deserves its own thread

Last edited Sun Jul 10, 2016, 02:35 PM - Edit history (1)

I've been calling those women the bottle blonde bimbette squad for years and it's about the way they're treated even more than the way they're there to suck in bitter old retired white men to be propagandized.

It does take talent to work to cameras and to bafflegab whenever there's any sort of a crisis in order to fill all that 24/7 empty airtime. However, Gretchen's presence was more as porno secretary, coffee bringer, male ego fluffer. The dumb guys said all the "important" stuff. The format was the guys having a serious discussion and trying to educate the pretty little piece of fluff who is there to agree with them.

As for medical professionals, it happens with us, also. Years ago, I worked at a hospital and the CEO got the bright idea of dressing "his" nurses so that even elderly and demented patients would be able to tell them apart from cleaning staff who were also wearing scrubs. It might have been a laudable idea only the doctors all got together and voted for porno nurse uniforms with short, starchy white skirts. Every nurse in the place said she'd walk off the job and work at 7/11 rather than wear those things. Finally we got unisex scrubs in specific colors.

That's the sort of thing that has to happen in newsrooms. Unfortunately, while young women are convinced that they don't really deserve the job they trained for and yes sir, I'll wear shoes I can't walk in on camera to make my legs look longer under an open desk and skirts that ride up to my snatch so old geezers can cop an occasional peek at my undies just so you'll give me a chance to prove myself, nothing much is going to change. And as you pointed out, no old geezer with his tongue hanging out is going to remember a word any stupidly dressed woman said.

It's one of the things that got me to switch off broadcast news in 2004. I have never found a reason to switch back on.

[Gothmog]

52. I am so hoping that this means that Roger Ailes is done

Rupert Murdoch has been protecting Ailes and Murdoch is giving more control to the kids who dislike Ailes

[Hekate]

53. God love you, Calimary. This is an EPIC rant.

[Cha]

54. Brilliant to hear via your story, calimary!

Thank you!

[Fritz Walter]

58. "I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!"

Reading your post, calimary, reminded me of several things:
1. What flows from the cable "news" channels is not what I was taught in J-school some 40+ years ago;
2. Don Henley's song, Dirty Laundry, was prophetic of what has become infotainment. Yes, I know: it was inspired by the intrusive press coverage surrounding his arrest in 1980, but the lyrics are even more relevant today than they were 30 years ago.
3. I had my Howard Beale moment last year and cut cable.

Thanks for fighting for what's right!

[calimary]

74. That movie, "Network," is my all-time favorite.

MAN, Paddy Chayefsky probably never realized how prescient he was. That movie came out in 1976. A Best Picture nominee, but beaten by the first "Rocky" movie.

"I know news departments are expected to lose money. But we see that as a wanton fiscal affront to be resolutely resisted." (Paraphrasing here just a wee bit, at the beginning of the second sentence.)

William Paley, who owned CBS back in the day (before he finally sold to billionaire theatre magnate Laurence Tisch and things started going to hell), believed that the news division shouldn't be a profit center. It should stand apart from all that. He believed that 23 hours a day belonged to the showbiz and the razzamatazz and the advertisers, and ONE hour a day should be set aside for information and public service. News. Straight-ahead news and information without all the fancy trimmings and dancing girls and laugh tracks and "cowboys-'n'-Indians". In the interest of serving and informing the public. Unvarnished and NOT glitzed-up. With newsmen who came out of the print world which was decidedly UNGLAMOROUS. Few if any women in there, but Pauline Frederick covered the UN and she was anything but a young "glamour-girl." And if anyone is old enough to remember the early Superman TV series, "girl reporter Lois Lane" dressed in a skirted suit with a prim blouse whose collar was all the way buttoned up. And her shoes were more conservative mid-heeled black pumps, NOT fuck-me shoes. Probably because she had to stand for long hours covering court and City Hall sessions, and fuck-me shoes don't lend themselves to wearable comfort, anyway.

In the beginning of my career, I bristled at being called a "girl reporter." I was a REPORTER. PERIOD. And I wasn't reporting on GIRLS. My first exposure to reporting was a dead body found in Echo Park in the dead of night, and also, a few days later, John Ehrlichman's trial in downtown L.A. for the Daniel Ellsberg break-in. At which I met one of my idols, Catherine Mackin - dressed in a white belted shirt-dress with 3/4-length sleeves and only the collar button unbuttoned, and a hem that hit just BELOW her knees, and low-heeled brown woven huarache-style shoes. I remember sitting in that courtroom, doodling on my reporter's notebook when things got really slow and boring, and I could clearly see John Ehrlichman's bald spot on the back of his head, seated several rows down but directly in front of me. So I drew a doodle of the back of his head. My near-miss with a Watergater.

[uhnope]

61. I appreciate yr POV but I think FOX TV is not the whole problem and may not be most of it

Ailes didn't start FOX til 1996. The RW hysteria against Bill Clinton was already in full swing.
I think RW talk radio, which is even worse in all those ways you describe, is as much to blame as FOX for brainwashing America.
Don't get me wrong, I'm eagerly munching the popcorn for the Gretchen vs Ailes match. But no matter the outcome, it won't change the station, and it won't change talk radio. It will just give us a warm feeling of revenge against Ailes as the machine rolls on regardless.

[wryter2000]

63. True, however

Ailes has been around for longer than Faux. He wanted to start something like Republican TV for Nixon.

[calimary]

70. Oh you make a great point, uhnope.

Pox Noise certainly is not the whole problem. But it's one of the biggest, loudest, and most glaring symptoms.

I, too, think it started with hate radio. What limbaugh did, as the first big success, was bring all the hate and racism and sexism out of the closet (or cooped up in the attic so the house would be "safe" and sanitized for when company came over) and into the mainstream.

Used to be you just didn't say things like that in public. Certainly not on the radio from coast-to-coast. You kept those anti-social, backwards and upside-down, Neanderthal opinions to yourself. You didn't repeat shit like that in polite company because it made you look like a complete oaf. But no! limbaugh, and then all the hundreds of limbaugh clones looking to cash in on a new fad, brought it all out into the open. Those opinions weren't shouted down or hushed up or closeted anymore. They were brought right out into the open, into the fresh air and sunshine (which promotes growth and propagation as any gardener knows). They were no longer shown to the back of the room and told to sit down and shut up. They were escorted proudly - not just to a seat at the table, but to the HEAD of the table. They were allowed to go mainstream. And it became okay to voice that shit and spread that shit and talk about it and glorify it openly - and proud. You were allowed to be proud of thinking like that. The host just agreed with you, and rather vigorously, as the like-minded brother-under-the-skin that he was, and asked you leading questions to get you to expound further on it, and then agree loudly and wholeheartedly with that! And then bring on other callers to say "mega-dittos!" to it and further validate and reinforce it and reward it and push it all the farther and make sure it gained in acceptability. And even respectability (as that kind of utterly regressive programming encouraged it to become), because after all, it was making money, and, as America well knows and freely acknowledges, if you're so smart, why ain't you rich?

THAT'S what brought this on. And for people like roger ailes, who'd been wanting so badly for so long to put it on TV, that was the green light they needed, and the new climate it fostered where that shit suddenly, and finally, had at long last become okay.

[bucolic_frolic]

68. Tarnishing Fishnets

Did you read the case histories in an article yesterday?

Pretty risque stuff for its day

Enough to give fishnets a bad name

[calimary]

71. Yeah - the New York magazine article? Yep.

I read it to my husband, who verbally recoiled several times, reacting to what I was reading. But he's had to suffer my rantings and complainings about this particular issue, literally for years. Being a retired news reporter/anchor, it just made me SO DAMN ANGRY! All the work and effort and struggle that we women endured to get into the anchor ranks and gain credibility and being assigned the big stories and the lead stories instead of it always being a boys' club, to have it descend to this base a level - I CANNOT TELL YOU how frustrating and irritating and discouraging and flat-out insulting it is that we've devolved to this. It's as though none of that hard work made any difference at all.

It's what's led me to add "...but she photographs well" to increasing numbers of posts I've written. Just SO DAMN DISCOURAGING that I can barely stand it anymore. My husband was flipping around just a couple of days ago, and there, on some weather segment, was the "weather girl" - on the set, photographed fully from head-to-toe, of course. And her dress was, of course, tight, so you could clearly see all her curves. Sleeveless, of course. Neckline - EXTREMELY IFFY. It started as kind of a boat-neck, straight across her front, fairly high along the collar bone. HOWEVER, there was a broad, v-shaped cutout just below, exposing skin down to her cleavage, which of course, you could see. OOOOOH, I see the tops of her boobs! Cue the leering and heavy breathing. Gee, guess where most of the eyeballs went in shots like that?

[bucolic_frolic]

75. It's really sad though

if Faux is taken down for a sex scandal instead of all the extremely politically
tilted coverage they have authored over the decades

One does have to question the judgment of someone who's been up to all this,
and at several different employers apparently, but the link between it and the
conservative mindset will be unclear in the public's mind. Probably only a few
erudite psychiatrists will understand it on any level.

And the slant will only soften, it won't really change. Once the revolution is over
and they are in power, they solidify their gains. "Liberal Media Bias!" as a strategy
worked so well for them.

[stopwastingmymoney]

69. Gods I love you calimary!

I am so not good with the words but I love to see great writing.

Damn, that was tremendous! It deserves wider audience

[forest444]

76. Couldn't be happening to a nicer Hutt!

[calimary]

81. EEEEUUUUUWWWW. Could you even imagine ...

Oh, never mind. Don't wanna go there.

[forest444]

83. It goes to show:

Power really is the greatest aphrodisiac.

One of Kissinger's favorite quotes, btw.

[bluestateguy]

77. He's also a paranoid fat fuck

Ever since 9/11 he's been paranoid of being assassinated by Islamic terrorists, and goes everywhere with a bodyguard.

[skip fox]

78. Doesn't Trump "have something" on Ailes? Remember during the Kelly troubles?

His association with Epstein has brought about rape charges, forced sexual contact with a minor.

I wonder if Ailes knew Epstein??? Or perhaps a group of high living millionaires who like under-aged girls become associated in other ways..



Wouldn't it be something if what Trump has on Ailes is what Ailes has on Trump?

How can we exploit this possibility? Is there tension there? If it's the same thing and that thing is as horrendous as child molestation why would either crack?

Ideas?

[Sheepshank]

80. well, that was fun!!!

thanks for that, it was truly, a good one

[calimary]

82. Just wanted to say thank you to everybody on this thread.

I've been a DUer since early 2001. I don't think I've ever had so many recs on any OP I've ever posted.

And yeah, I STILL hope he eats shit! Moreso by the day.