By Doug Porter
Sanctimonious son-of-a-bitch and Fox News host Bill O’Reilly got the boot from his TV job.
Several weeks ago the New York Times reported about payouts totaling about $13 million to five women involving allegations of inappropriate behavior by him over several years.
Since then, others have come forward, including an African-American woman saying O’Reilly referred to her as “hot chocolate” at one point when they were together alone, made grunting noises and leered at her cleavage and legs.
Protesters have set up picket lines outside Fox News headquarters in recent days and more than 50 advertisers have pulled support from the show.
Gabriel Sherman at New York:
Wednesday morning, according to sources, executives are holding emergency meetings to discuss how they can sever the relationship with the country’s highest-rated cable-news host without causing collateral damage to the network. The board of Fox News’ parent company, 21st Century Fox, is scheduled to meet on Thursday to discuss the matter.
Sources briefed on the discussions say O’Reilly’s exit negotiations are moving quickly. Right now, a key issue on the table is whether he would be allowed to say good-bye to his audience, perhaps the most loyal in all of cable (O’Reilly’s ratings have ticked up during the sexual-harassment allegations). Fox executives are leaning against allowing him to have a sign-off, sources say. The other main issue on the table is money. O’Reilly recently signed a new multiyear contract worth more than $20 million per year. When Roger Ailes left Fox News last summer, the Murdochs paid out $40 million, the remainder of his contract.
Symbolism: Unknown individuals spotted laying flowers at Bill O’Reilly’s poster in the Fox News window… pic.twitter.com/5BCLJp1GpD
— Dylan Byers (@DylanByers) April 19, 2017
Spending More Time With His Family
Photo by wickenden
And, speaking of sanctimonious, Utah’s Congressman Jason ‘Benghazi’ Chaffetz–who won reelection in 2016 with 73.5% of the vote–has announced he won’t be running in 2018.
From Roll Call:
Chaffetz, known as a member of Congress who sleeps in his office, is the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
He is notorious for using that chairmanship to publicly call out problems with federal agencies. He also summoned public hearings and filed endless requests to look into the use of a private email server by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton while she was secretary of state during the 2016 presidential campaign.
He is also among a host of congressional Republicans who got an earful at town halls when they went home to their districts this year. The Salt Lake Tribune called one such event in February “75 minutes of tense exchanges.”
There is already a cottage industry of Twitterati trying to read deeper meaning into Chaffetz’ decision, ranging from allegations he’s part of the #RussiaGate cover up to the fact that if you type jasonforgovernor.com it goes to his Congressional campaign page.
She’s been right more than she’s been wrong, but take it with a grain of salt for now:
Sources say there is kompromat on @jasoninthehouse; that this is why he turned and that @fbi know it. #traitorinthehouse
— Louise Mensch (@LouiseMensch) April 13, 2017
Medicare for All a Hit at Peters Town Hall
This:
Biggest ? of night at #PetersTownHall comes when a local PT asks @RepScottPeters why he won’t sign onto #HR676#MedicareForAll pic.twitter.com/Rw8EQZ3g4F
— Indivisible SanDiego (@SDIndivisible) April 19, 2017
This is an excerpt from Doug Porter’s column at our other site, San Diego Free Press.
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