Frank Rich: Murdoch and O'Reilly are 'Thugs'
New York magazine writer Frank Rich explained Monday that Rupert Murdoch's unethical business practices were not limited to Britain.
"I think that we're deluding ourselves if we think the whole Murdoch culture has not spread to America," Rich told HLN's Joy Behar. "We're reading all this sort of exotic stuff about having British police on the payroll. Bernie Kerik was on the Murdoch payroll. He had a huge advance from Harper Collins. And you know, the piece I've written in New York that's out today, I talk about the bullying things that they do. It's not just about politics. It's not just about Fox being right-wing. It's about them going after people who are personal enemies, Bill O'Reilly having producers stalk people on the street."
"Liberals love to criticize Fox because it's not fair and balanced and all that. They like to criticize the Post because it's very right wing. Forget about the politics. This is about power and money, punishing enemies that they don't like, for reasons that could be personal or business, not just political."
"They're thugs," Behar remarked.
"Yes," Rich agreed. "It's thuggery. And I think this scandal is going to play out like Watergate for a couple of years."
VLWC should have put that line in the cartoon.
Corruption favors the wealthy.
"This is about power and money, punishing enemies that they don't like, for reasons that could be personal or business, not just political."
but be fair, it's what our economic system teaches people, from your local neighborhood to wall street, from the boardroom to the backroom, from street corner drug deals to the obomber big pharma give-away.
all cut from the same cloth.
why all the hatin' on poor old rupert? he's just playing the game.
start a couple illegal wars, no problemo!
launch a few hundred cruise missiles? no big deal!
why the double standard?
i mean, hey, you want an auto? pluck it from the trees.
need some money? you take it.
little bit short on petro-products? it's not like we'll be fighting in our country, where's the beef?
We live in a Thugocracy.
Complain about how the kids are bullying each other - where did they learn that?
Screw the other guy to make a buck - that's the way business is done.
Our health care industry is a protection racket. No one has to beat you up to make you pay, the normal pain and suffering of the human body provides "the muscle".
If you're "in with the in crowd" all your crimes are covered up, even rewarded with badges, honors, high paid speaking engagements. But if you're on the outside, step outta line and you're crushed.
And as for foreign policy, American Imperial Thuggishness has made life a living hell for millions.
Thugs and WarLords.
When will government of the people, by the politicians, for the corporations perish from this Earth?
Not soon enough!
And find solutions, rather than just observe all the crap. That's me.
Of course Murdoch and his network bullies are thugs, we've known that for years, and years, and years.
Kerik. I was thinking that's how 911 rudy passed info to those low lives.
And why did it take this long to call this fecker, The Dirty Digger, a thug here? It's his SOP, always has been. He's run roughshod over every country he's parked his wrinkle arse in. As for bilge-o being a thug, if anyone questioned for one second the guy was a bully, the whole "Fuck it, we'll do it live" (my theory on that: Cocaine is a hell of a drug) and "cut his mic" bullshit, and the unbridled hate he showed on-camera for Jeremy Glick, his treatment of Al Franken and Andrea Makris, should have dispelled all doubt.
me-oww!
Not just anyone can throw Rick James quote into a discussion about Bill O'Reilly and have it work so well.
Corruption favors the wealthy.
from someone who's been at the blog longer than its founder. I'm that kind of clever, you know!
:-D
me-oww!
..the Fixed News meatpuppets have to be living in constant fear these days, because they realize it's only a matter of time before RupertGate comes crashing into the Fixed News studio.
I can not imagine the corruption that is inherent to the Fixed News business model. It shall be revealed forthwith.
I'm not going to call BillO a thug. I'm going to call him a future convicted felon. (Which I guess is synonymous with thug).
When Fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in excess body fat & carrying a misspelled sign.
needs to be seen on more programs this. Letting the public fight Fox with Rich, Krugman, Richard Wolf (economist), Michael Moore, Michael Eric Dyson, Cornel West, Amy Goodman, Katha Pollitt, Elizabeth Warren....... I watch many political and governmental programs and I only see the people with high profiles. Media needs to expose more these critical thinking minded people. Charlie Rose, Tavis Smiley, and Democracy Now are just some of the programs that show a wide range panelists. If the public sees and hears a wide range of individuals who engage in true research and investigation, perhaps the narrative will change. Until then, we are stuck with Fox. The squeaky wheel gets the most attention.
Topical left vs. right theater and games. More of the same.
"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
Corporate culture always mimics the attitudes and personalities of the boss.
Frank Rich? Yes, New York Magazine is such a bastion of left wing thinking.
Geeeezus.
Vote GOP and move forward to the 18th Century.
are you stupid or something Or are you just another koch brother sucker?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dpKIZBy5aI
me-oww!
time for them to bring down the Murdoch empire to finish off hiding all the evidence of any criminal activity. What a patsy.
It occurred to me after seeing the Israeli protests for "social justice" that one of the behind the scenes drivers of right wingers in Israeli is surely Murdoch--who bought the Jerusalem Post long ago, and whose obscene editorial policies surely egged that once very social justice minded nation into the traps of hyping terrorism to cover up instituting massive economic inequality, of claiming anyone who questions the direction of the right wing government is a traitor to Israel, and, to top it all off, having GLENN BECK address the KNESSET, while expressing anger at such sane and fair organizations as J Street and New Israel Fund.
When Murdoch is deposed from this paper, too, things will change in Israel.
But Rich is right: the criminality of Murdoch goes all the way, and promotes the thugs among us to power.
MyMy
that a court could order a change in the status of Murdoch shares and make them standard voting shares. It has been done in the past through minority stockholder's suits. That would be fun to watch.
Hasa Diga Eebowai
WTF - PYTHONCHARLY
I was likely reading New York magazine when you were still shitting yourself.
Try reading their early issues and get a clue.
Vote GOP and move forward to the 18th Century.
I do believe that Rupert Murdoch will ultimately lose his empire. He himself is eighty years old, and this the biggest scandal of his life cannot be doing anything except put stress on him. His heir apparent, James doesn't seem to have either his old man's luck or passion (though James may have his ruthlessness). Despite BskyB letting James stay, the shareholders and the board at News Corp clearly has to be worried about where the company is going and might want a change of leadership. The biggest thing that could potentially hurt the Murdoch family is if they are taken into civil court and a judge says that all that special stock that allows them to control News Corp is turned into standard stock. That would be a blow that Rupert could never recover from.
Frank Rich does have a point concerning Bill-O and stalking. From what I recall, in September 2008, after a Newsday columnist had mentioned in an article about violent right-wing rhetoric that books by Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity were among the books found in the home of Jim David Adkisson, who two months prior went into a Unitarian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee and opened fire with a shotgun, killing two, "The Frank Burns of News" sent a producer and camera crew to stalk the reporter and editor who allowed Fox News to be linked to the shooting.
Were this to ever happen to me, I would sue them for stalking, as that can be seen as threatening behavior by some. After all, there are statutes against this sort of thing, I believe, and once the full force of the law comes down on Bill-O and the "19th Century Fox News Network" (Thank you, Gore Vidal), and there are losses due to the judgments against them, then we'll see some sanity and rational behavior restored to the media.
We need to realize that as long as "thuggery" works in the economic/political spheres, the GOP and their Tea Party wing will secretly, or not so secretly, swell with pride everytime the label is thrown at them...because it is working for them and getting them what they want. The word will come to subconsciously represent strength and thoughness rather than the psychopathic amoral manipulation it truly is. They will consider the progressives not fighting back with "thuggery" as weakness and softness thus confirming that that the progressives don't deserve to be the leaders. At most progressives may occasionally get lucky but are short term usurpers to weak to do long term battle with them. Unfortunately the American voter is attracted to perceived strength and success while being repelled by perceived weakness and losing. Our best hope seems to be that the right defeats itself due to hubris and the resulting insane overreach.
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