© 2016 Jim Spence Lost in the sea of coverage this week of the GOP nominating
Donald Trump as their presidential candidate, was a story that better
illustrates the competing value systems that Americans must choose from in
November.
Fox News is a different kind of entity. Generally speaking
it runs with the narratives of the GOP, though the injection of Donald Trump
and his bashing of the existing GOP power structure makes it more difficult to
know what the narratives of the GOP actually are.
The story I am referring to is much more fascinating than all
of the bloviating that emanated from Cleveland. It is the story of the fall
from grace of one, Roger Ailes, CEO of Fox News.
A couple of weeks ago, Gretchen Carlson, a former Miss America, who was let go by Ailes recently, filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against him and Fox. Her charges were that he made unwanted sexual advances towards her etc. Of course charges like these are always difficult to prove and should be greeted with skepticism. Everyone is innocent until proven guilty. But of course if Roger Ailes had engaged in sexual harassment he, like any superior attempting to diddle a subordinate, should face severe penalties and sanctions. In the end, sexual harassment is the ultimate form of human exploitation. And sexual harassment goes under-reported for troubling reasons. Often the only recourse for the harassment target is unemployment and litigation. And in the battle of dueling lawyers, the deeper pockets of the male boss usually wins.
A couple of weeks ago, Gretchen Carlson, a former Miss America, who was let go by Ailes recently, filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against him and Fox. Her charges were that he made unwanted sexual advances towards her etc. Of course charges like these are always difficult to prove and should be greeted with skepticism. Everyone is innocent until proven guilty. But of course if Roger Ailes had engaged in sexual harassment he, like any superior attempting to diddle a subordinate, should face severe penalties and sanctions. In the end, sexual harassment is the ultimate form of human exploitation. And sexual harassment goes under-reported for troubling reasons. Often the only recourse for the harassment target is unemployment and litigation. And in the battle of dueling lawyers, the deeper pockets of the male boss usually wins.
Something strange happened with this story. Fox decided to
launch an “investigation” into the charges by Carlson. Some speculate that Fox
News anchor and superstar Megyn Kelly may have spurred the investigation by
making it known that she had a similar experience with Ailes. This is the
suspected catalyst, though nobody knows for sure. In any event, it is clear based on the independent
investigator’s findings, that Fox reached the conclusion that Ailes was either
diddling the help or attempting to use his stature to diddle them. Out goes
Roger Ailes. He resigned yesterday. Wow!
Consider the competing narratives here as the election
approaches. The irony will be so thick you can cut it with a knife. The
Democrats will pony up Hillary Clinton as the working woman’s best friend. The
Democrats will cast Fox News as a gigantic pariah in the tank for Republicans,
who of course, are against the interests of women.
Think not about the rhetoric, but about the reality of the two value systems. Bill
Clinton is a serial sexual harasser. The evidence is overwhelming. The trail of
women working under Clinton who he extracted sexual favors from, or at least tried
to extract from is longer than a line at the motor vehicles department. And of course those
women who have spoken out about Bill Clinton’s predatory behavior in public (Paula Jones,
Kathleen Willey, Genifer Flowers, Monica Lewinsky, Betty Broderick, etc.) have been crucified by
Hillary Clinton with the help of ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, NPR, MSNBC, and newspapers
like the New York Times.
Bill Clinton did not resign his position, even when his conduct, lying under oath and tampering with witnesses, caused him to be disbarred. It is the ultimate disgrace for a lawyer to be disbarred, but not for people like the Clintons who are without a sense of shame.
Bill Clinton did not resign his position, even when his conduct, lying under oath and tampering with witnesses, caused him to be disbarred. It is the ultimate disgrace for a lawyer to be disbarred, but not for people like the Clintons who are without a sense of shame.
ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, NPR, MSNBC, and most of the nation’s newspapers have had a grand ole time with the Roger Ailes story this week, especially his resignation. What these Democratic Party “news outlets” did not miss in this story was the juicy scandal. However, these outlets never connected the dots. Ailes was simply rather Bill Clintonian in his behavior. Another aspect of of the story that these news outlets did miss, was all too predictable. They missed the classy way in which Fox cleaned up its stinking mess. Ultimately Fox valued and respected the dignity of the females working at the network. Foxed tossed a CEO predator out on his exploitation-prone ass. This is something that the pro-women Democrats could never bring themselves to do with Bill Clinton, even when they had the perfect opportunity to demonstrate with deeds (not words) just how much they value the dignity of women.
On the other hand, being above the basic requirements for decency is something the Clintons enjoy every day with the help of ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, NPR, MSNBC, and most of the newspapers in the nation.
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