Right-wing propagandist and force behind
GOP TV Fux News
Roger Ailes, 77, died this morning,
according to a statement put out by his wife. Ailes was forced to resign last July as multiple women came forward to accuse him of sexual harassment, including former anchor Gretchen Carlson who sued Ailes. By promoting the careers of the likes of Sean "Heil" Hannity and Bill "O'Lielly" O'Reilly, he did more than anyone else to create the white grievance, alternative universe of the right that has undermined civility in the media and politics in the last 30 years.
Ailes' career in right-wing politics started with disgraced former President Richard Nixon as a communications aide. In a foreshadowing to his development of a network to pump out right-wing opinion and "fake news," Ailes wrote in a 1970 memo, "
People are lazy. With television you just sit -- watch -- listen. The thinking is done for you." That should be Fux's motto, as well as his epitaph.
BONUS: Driftglass keeps the farewell
short and sweet.
