A popular aphorism avers that only the good die young, so Roger Ailes death today at the age of 77 is ethically appropriate. Ailes was the midwife who birthed that particular Fox News brand of hard right politics and soft core pornography, a heady mix which was modeled on the Rupert Murdoch brand of sexual titillation and hypocritical moral outrage. Billy Bragg had the best commentary on this particular brand of yellow journalism:
Here in the States, the apotheosis of this paradoxical blend of umbrage and voyeurism was perhaps the 'expose' of Spring Break shenanigans complete with footage of young, scantily clad women. Never has moral indignation been accompanied by such hateboners... gotta sell that Cialis to the angry geezers.
Besides lowering the tone of political discourse to a troglodytic level, there is something more sinister going on- the Fox Effect... Fox viewers are, as a whole, less informed on current events than Daily Show viewers. News, trumped by comedy... thanks Roger!
Then there's the frathole atmosphere that Ailes fostered at the network, a vile miasma of sexual harassment and racial discrimination which comes as no surprise to those who have observed the constant belittling of women and minorities that was the network's stock-in-trade.
It came as a bit of a surprise that Ailes died so soon after his ouster from Fox, but his ghost will haunt the American brainspace for years to come, a ghost largely manifesting as a paranoia and hatred that seeped outward from Ailes' mind and poisoned vast swathes of America's population. If there is a single individual who could claim the title of worst American of the 20th century ever, Ailes would certainly be in the running for the title.
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3 comments:
At least he died in relative (IOKIYAAR) disgrace.
All true, but you overlook the fact that what he did generated billions of dollars in revenue for his company at your own peril. While we know what Ailes was and what he did, he ended up shining a bright light on who and what Americans are. Troglodytic is a wonderful word, but it describes the consumers much better than the producers, who sensed the opportunity to create massive profits from the base tribal instincts of Americans.
There is a huge difference between American 'conservatives' and those in other democracies. The hatred, the violence, the misogyny, the sactarianism and militant nationalism are all on display around the world, but the willful, intentional stupidity is something unlike any other nation....
Sad. Think of all the Fox-related lawsuits where Ailes is no longer available to testify or be testified about.
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