Friday Fox Follies - Everything Old Is New Again!

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Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 09:50 pm

As Friday Fox Follies collates this week’s shenanigans and tomfoolery, Emperor Trump prepares to place his left hand on Abraham Lincoln’s bible to take the oath of office. If there really is a God, this is when lightening would strike. It’s an oath he will vitiate the instant he’s finished, but you’ll never hear that on Fox because we’ve now had 20 years of presidents to judge what FAIR & BALANCED really means. To recap:

The William J. Clinton Years (1996-2000)
As Ken Starr investigated the non-existent Whitewater scandal before moving onto semen-stained dresses, Fox “News” couldn’t wait to detail every salacious anti-Clinton story, true or not;
The George W. Bush Years (2001-2008)
No media outlet — unless it was the NYT — did more to promote Dubya’s wars than the Fox “News” Channel. It also supported regime change in Iraq. Finding criticism of Bush was harder than finding an atheist in a FOX hole;
The Barack H. Obama Years (2009-2017)
From terrorist fist bumps; to falsely claiming Obama was a secret Muslim educated in a madrassas; to giving Emperor Trump a platform to launch his Pissadential campaign, with his Birther Bullcrap; one would be hard pressed to find positive stories about the first Black POTUS, but that’s not racist at all. In addition: Fox promoted every Benghazi and Reich Wing talking points, many already debunked, as it worked hard to de-legitimize Obama’s presidency;
The Emperor Trump Years (from Birtherism-Whenever)
It’s no secret that Emperor Trump is personal friends with former Fox CEO (and sexual predator) Roger Ailes; and milkshakin’ buddy (and sexual predator) Bill O’Reilly; and openly racist Sean Hannity; and useful idiot Geraldo Rivera; and those Foxy Friends on Fox and Friends, where he called into the Curvy Couch for years. But there’s no effin’ way that would influence its coverage, amirite? Since November Fox has normalized Emperor Trump’s love connection with Vlad “the Impaler” Putin, while laughingly dismissing any possibility that Russian jiggery-pokery might have had any effect on the election. And, today, either Fox “News” wet its pants, or it was raining in Washington.

Fox “News” is prepared to help Emperor Trump gaslight the entire country.

Donald Trump: “Fox [News] Has
Treated Us Very Well, I Have To Say”

TRUMP: You know, we picked up hundreds of thousands and millions of Republicans. Not only did we do great in the election, you remember, “we cannot get to 270?” They were right, we got to 306.

You cannot get — I know CNN, I was watching. I was watching all of them, in all fairness. All of them, the main networks, the cable networks, although Fox has treated us very well, I have to say. Very well, very well. Very well — now, when I say well, I — well, I mean fairly, but they were saying “you cannot get to 270”. I went to Maine four times for one vote, and I got it, but I didn’t need it.

Fake news indeed. Need more proof of the Fox2Trump2Tweet2Fox closed loop pipeline?

First Franklin Graham (who shilled for Trump during the election even though he never officially endorsed) appeared on Fox & Fiends [sic]: to baselessly claim It Wasn’t Donald Trump Who Divided This Nation. Soon afterwards Emperor Trump tweets it:

"It wasn't Donald Trump that divided this country, this country has been divided for a long time!" Stated today by Reverend Franklin Graham.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 19, 2017

That tweet gets read on Fox “News” more than once. Oh! Lookie here: Graham is reading a Bible passage at the inauguration, giving Fox a new way to praise the Lord.

Meanwhile, no single Fox “News” program did more to normalize Emperor Trump than Fox and Friends. And the newest Foxy Friend, the least curious blonde among a bevy of blondes, had a softball interview with the Emperor elect. It started with a gushing ass-kiss, lacked any follow-up questions, and allowed him to lie on matters that have already been debunked. No less an authority on the job of president says:

President Obama’s Final Message To The Press:
You Can’t Be Sycophants For Those In Power

Tell it to Fox. Here’s that interview. [WARNING: May be detrimental to diabetics. Check with your doctor.]:

FAKE NEWS INDEED: Alex Jones On Trump: “It’s Like Alex Jones Is The President” • Jim Hoft Announces That Trump Will Allow The Gateway Pundit To Have A Correspondent In The White House • Donald Trump Wants An Army Of Jeff Gannon Shills In The White House Press Briefing Room • A Final Reminder: Here’s Who ‘Owns’ the Trump Presidency and Who Will Get the Blame/Praise

As much as I would prefer not to promote a fake news site, one of the more interesting stories came out of Breitbart. Naturally, they were using it to make fun of MLH, but still…

Marc Lamont Hill Tells of Behind-the-Scenes
Collusion, ‘Racist Pastries’ at the Fox News Channel

“We have to understand the interconnectiveness of our struggle,” Hill said. “I used to work at Fox News. I was the visiting team. Nevertheless, I would be on TV – on ‘Fox & Friends’ at 6 a.m. I’d be back on at 9 a.m. and noon and 10 p.m. Before, I would do O’Reilly at 8. Over the course of the day, I would realize they’re giving me the same arguments, same talking points, same fake statistics: ‘105 percent of black people are on welfare.’”

“They were having meetings,” he continued. “And they would meet on the fifth floor at 11 o’clock on Monday. I was never invited to the meeting. They would send me to the fourth floor. ‘No, seriously Marc – the fourth floor. There are bagels down there, pastries. You’ll love it.’”

Hill went on to describe the “racist pastries” on the fourth floor as lovely.

“I don’t know what they put in them – teardrops of poor people,” he said to laughter. “Whatever it is, it’s good.”

Now, that’s comedy.

KILLING LOGIC: Let’s not forget serial fabulist Bill O’Reilly [who] sticks up for ‘Old School’ in next book:

Publisher Henry Holt told The Associated Press on Wednesday the book is scheduled for March 28.

Holt says “Old School” asks readers whether they’re on team Old School or Team Snowflake. Old School means “can-do spirit and principles.” Snow Flake means whining about “safe spaces” and “trigger warnings.”

In other Loofah-related news:

A Judge Kicked Our Lawyer Out of
Court for Trying to Unseal Bill
O’Reilly’s Lawsuit Against His Ex-Wife

Fox News, where O’Reilly’s evening show has aired for the past two decades, has filed at least five lawsuits in the past eight years after being denied access to government records, according to the federal lawsuit database PACER. When it comes to the legal issues of its own employees, however, the channel tends to come down on the side of secrecy. Most recently, attorneys for Fox have petitioned courts to dismiss sexual harassment lawsuits against former CEO Roger Ailes and move the disputes to private arbitration proceedings. O’Reilly himself sought a gag order to prevent McPhilmy from discussing their custody dispute with the press. (An appellate court denied his request on procedural grounds in August 2015; it’s unclear whether he successfully obtained one in the trial court in Nassau County.)

Fox News took a slightly different tack with an internal sexual harassment complaint lodged against O’Reilly last year. As several outlets reported earlier this week, that complaint—in the form of a letter sent to the channel by lawyers representing an employee named Juliet Huddy—never resulted in a public lawsuit. Instead, Fox quietly settled with Huddy for a “high six figures.” The letter eventually made its way to the website LawNewz.com, which reported the settlement on Monday.

Then there’s: In masterstroke, Fox News’s Bill O’Reilly portrays Donald Trump as victim of hatred • Bill O’Reilly: Donald Trump Must Use Twitter To Defend Himself From National Media • O’Reilly: ‘Powerful Forces’ Like the Media Have ‘Committed to Destroying’ Trump • Bill O’Reilly’s New Year’s resolution: No more ‘fanatical ideologues’ on ‘The Factor’ • Bill O’Reilly: Efforts to ‘Delegitimize’ Donald Trump ‘Border on Sedition’

“Do you believe that this whole movement to delegitimize Donald Trump is anti-American? Would you say it’s that bad?” the O’Reilly Factor host pointedly asked his guest Dennis Miller.

“I’d say it’s a bowel movement,” joked Miller.

“These people want to delegitimize the whole election, the whole presidency, and I think it borders on sedition,” O’Reilly argued.

Maybe that’s why Bill O’Reilly to interview Donald Trump during Super Bowl pre-game show. Unless it’s a tradition.

PASSAGES: When The Five launched, this prognosticator famously predicted:

Bottom line: The Five is a horrible excuse for a debate show and just bad television over all. While it may have benefited from chalkboards, it’s simply too many people talking over one another; too much trying to ‘top’ each other; too much volume; and too much heat without nearly enough light. However, when you look at Fox “News” programming overall, it fits right in. I don’t know how long The Five will survive, bit I predict it’s not long for this world.

Mea culpa. It’s a ratings juggernaut. However, along the way, left-leaning punching bag Bob Beckel was treated abysmally. The station canned him after a serious back operation. However, everything old is new again! Big Bad Bob Beckel’s back, babies!!!

Welcome back, you big galloot.

FULL DISCLOSURE: Headly Westerfield recently has attacked Emperor Trump in ‘Merkin ‘Ceptionalism – An Experiment In Democrazy and Not My President – Not Even My Country. While he boycotted the urineauguration, he still watched it for research.