Bob Woodward reported in the Washington Post yesterday that Roger Ailes had approached General David Petraeus with some political career advice:
Petraeus, Ailes advised, should turn down an expected offer from President Obama to become CIA director and accept nothing less than the chairmanship of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the top military post. If Obama did not offer the Joint Chiefs post, Petraeus should resign from the military and run for president, Ailes suggested.
Got that? Roger Ailes — head of the fake news organization that actually is the PR arm for the RNC — is not only advising Petraeus on what jobs he should take in the Obama Administration, but encouraging him to run for President. With an offer to leave Fox to run his campaign (while Rupert — and Petraeus refers to Murdoch by first name — separately offered to bankroll the campaign). There is audio of the conversation between Petraeus and the Fox emissary, too.
I’m not surprised by this — it is only a cycle or two before FOX tries to put up its own GOP candidate — but I haven’t heard the howls of outrage. Because, if Phil Griffin of MSNBC had done this, can you imagine that this news would have passed with little comment? Or demands for Griffin’s head? Or demands for Congressional investigations?