Fmr. Fox News Executive: Americans' Phones Were Hacked

[Project Grudge]

Source: Daily Kos

Cooper says that Ailes discovered he was the source by gaining access to his phone records through Fox's “brain room”.

Cooper claims that his talent agent, Richard Leibner, told him he had received a call from Ailes, who identified Cooper as a source, and insisted that Leibner drop him as a client--or any client reels Leibner sent Fox would pile up in a corner and gather dust. Cooper continued:

“I made the connections. Ailes knew I had given Brock the interview. Certainly Brock didn’t tell him. Of course. Fox News had gotten Brock’s telephone records from the phone company, and my phone number was on the list. Deep in the bowels of 1211 Avenue of the Americas, News Corporation’s New York headquarters, was what Roger called the Brain Room. Most people thought it was simply the research department of Fox News. But unlike virtually everybody else, because I had to design and build the Brain Room, I knew it also housed a counterintelligence and black ops office. So accessing phone records was easy pie.”


Read more: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/07/17/995568/-Fmr-Fox-News-Executive:-Americans-Phones-Were-Hacked?via=tag

---

Color. Me. Shocked.

[AndyTiedye]

1. Can We RICO Them NOW?

[Kingofalldems]

23. +1

[ooglymoogly]

69. Lookin' forward doncha know.

Now if this was some hippy smoking a reefer. You could count on the full force and might of the law coming down.

[krispos42]

2. I wonder if this is why Beck fled the TV machine.

Incidentally, I want to start seeing perp walks.

[Ikonoklast]

34. Beck got canned only after bitching about the 'Muslim' Saudis.

Didn't sit too well with Prince Al Waleed bin Talal.

[FiveGoodMen]

70. I want to start seeing spontaneous public beheadings

[Tx4obama]

3. K&R n/t

:kick:

[Arctic Dave]

4. This was the headline I was waiting for.

Now the fun will start, just in time for 2012.

[Judi Lynn]

5. Hope this is the beginning of far more to come. Good one. Thanks. Rec. n/t

[Spider Jerusalem]

6. "Accessing phone records" = NOT "phone hacking"

but saying it is sounds better and more sensational I suppose.

This is NOT the same thing at all as using a bent private investigator to access voicemail messages on mobile phones. Questionable and probably illegal? Yes. Phone hacking? No.

[Vinnie From Indy]

9. Is that you Roger?

Hey Einstein! It is still illegal, but feel free to continue defending that piece of shit network here on DU. It will be fun to watch.

Cheers!

[Spider Jerusalem]

10. Pointing out that it's not "phone hacking" isn't defending Fox News

far from it.

[cstanleytech]

12. How about fraud then?

[apnu]

40. Yeah its fraud, and yes its illegal. But it isn't hacking. (nt)

[cstanleytech]

80. Then a crime regardless has been commited

so it still needs to be investigated and those who committed the act regardless of how high in News Corp it goes.

[SemperEadem]

16. did Ailes have permission to obtain phone records of someone who doesn't work for him

(Brock)to find out who he talked to? It would seem ailes did not have the requisite permission.

[Occulus]

29. There are many definitions of 'hacking'

and this one fits.

Also there's this: if they were accessing phone records, and had a secured brain room, an actual counterintelligence office within Fox News- given what's going on overseas with News Corp., can we really afford to give them the benefit of the doubt that they weren't actually hacking people's personal phones and voicemail?

I mean, really. Prior bad acts and all that. This company doesn't operate each of its national offices in a fishbowl, unconnected to its other offices. It's an international corporation; it doesn't know "borders".

[leveymg]

32. Maybe not. But this is: NYT: "NewsCorp paid $29 million in the US for hacking in 2009"

NewsCorp paid $29 million in the US for hacking in 2009

In 2009, a federal case in New Jersey brought by a company called Floorgraphics went to trial, accusing News America of, wait for it, hacking its way into Floorgraphics’s password protected computer system.


The complaint summed up the ethos of News America nicely, saying it had “illegally accessed plaintiff’s computer system and obtained proprietary information” and “disseminated false, misleading and malicious information about the plaintiff.”


The complaint stated that the breach was traced to an I.P. address registered to News America and that after the break-in, Floorgraphics lost contracts from Safeway, Winn-Dixie and Piggly Wiggly.


Much of the lawsuit was based on the testimony of Robert Emmel, a former News America executive who had become a whistle-blower. After a few days of testimony, the News Corporation had heard enough. It settled with Floorgraphics for $29.5 million and then, days later, bought it, even though it reportedly had sales of less than $1 million.



http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/18/business/media/for-ne...

[MADem]

44. I was always given to understand that "hacking" involved cracking

a code or a password or something of that nature to gain access to data that was protected from public view....

[leveymg]

52. It's being used generically to denote any unauthorized data access.

Hacking can also be used to mean something as innocent (and legal) as running through a bunch of extensions to find a live person to talk to within an organization that hides behind an automated phone tree.

[MADem]

55. Really?

Wow, I would have regarded that as a bit of a "stretch" of the term! I always thought "hack" was illegal, and "crack" was legal.

[leveymg]

57. I think "wiretapping" is the proper term for what News Corp has been doing. And, that is a crime.

There was a discussion about this a few days ago here that fleshed out the subject of British law on the issue. I'll look for that and post it.

[leveymg]

58. Here's that thread where UK wiretap law (Unauthorized Access) is discussed.

Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (2000) (RIPA) - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1487658.

[leveymg]

59. Here are the US state laws penalizing computer network intrusions:

http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?tabid=13494

[leveymg]

60. Here are the federal computer intrusion laws:

http://www.sans.org/reading_room/whitepapers/legal/federal-computer-crime-laws_1446

[leveymg]

62. Federal wiretap laws, and related:

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/intel/98-327.pdf

[MADem]

61. Heh, heh...now I'm totally confused!

I thought wiretapping was the act of physically or virtually tapping into a live conversation and either listening in/recording it for nefarious purposes--like the Squidgy thing with Princess Diana, and the tampon thing with Prince Charles and Camilla.

The perils of getting old....can't keep up with the terms!

[leveymg]

63. News Int'l/Corp has been committing a variety of crimes under UK and US laws.

I think "wiretapping" is best generic term for it, even though most journos have been using the less criminal "hacking" term.

[MADem]

67. I thought hacking was criminal, too...

What do I know about UK law, though...

Whatever--NEWCORP are a bunch of scumbags, no matter what you call the crime.

[wordpix]

50. Roger that!

[fasttense]

24. Do you really think Murdock stopped his illegal activities at the shores of America?

That POS was obviously using hacking phones as a basic part of his business plan. What would stop him from phone hacking in the US? The laws apply to the little people not to scum suckers like those on Fox.

Any country that Murdock bought media in, should be investigating Murdock for phone hacking.

[kick-ass-bob]

31. God forbid you try to point out subtle truths to people.

And whoever said that getting phone records IS phone hacking is off their rocker.

Police need a warrant (still, I believe) to get phone records, so for a private institution I assume this would be illegal. But, like you said, it is not the act of hacking into someone's phone.

[TheMadMonk]

37. It may still be hacking, depending on how they obtained the records.

[kick-ass-bob]

41. in the quote:

"Fox News had gotten Brock’s telephone records from the phone company, and my phone number was on the list."

according to the source, the records were attained from the phone company. While hacking into the phone companies' systems is not off the table, it is pretty clear that he did not mention the actual hacking of phones.

[MADem]

45. That's not hacking--that's illegally obtaining phone records. They maybe paid someone at the phone

company for the info? They do that a lot....

[aquart]

68. Yes. But now the NYT has the $29M hacking settlement here.

[aquart]

7. John Dean says Woodward and Bernstein also used phone records.

So there's nothing to be excited about yet.

JohnWDean

@aquart Interesting but even Carl Bernstein admits he and Woodward used "private telephone and credit-card records" investigating Watergate.

[BonnieJW]

30. Looking at phone records isn't the same

as listening in on phone conversations or voice mail.

[DeSwiss]

8. K&R n/t

[No Elephants]

11. Duh?

[PuffedMica]

13. I wonder if they were fair and balanced about who FOX hacked

[wordpix]

51. calling Anonymous, calling Anonymous, where are you?

[October]

83. We need an Anonymous signal to light up the sky!

lol

[SpiralHawk]

14. Republicons at war against honor, truth, decency and America

time for Fox Propaganda (R) to take a perp walk...

[cstanleytech]

15. If this is true then shouldnt Ailes be given atleast the same treatment as Dan Rather?

After all Dan only got nailed for not checking the veracity of the papers that destroyed his career which wasnt a criminal offense where as Ailes may have committed an actual criminal offense.

[itcfish]

33. Isnt Any Kind of Hacking Illegal?

Just thought it was. Dan Rather was set up, and his story was the truth, only his sources were messed up.

[donquijoterocket]

66. and all

That ever got about halfway proven in the Rather case was that the documents as artifacts may not have been authentic,but the information therein was as authentic as it gets as attested to by the secretary who'd typed the originals. The wingnutters will do all they can to obfuscate, delay, and distract by throwing up arguments over the definition of a particular word much like their attempts to stall marriage equality by haggling over the definition and the ownership of the definition of a particular word. I'd think Jabba the Ailes had better devote more time to his political consulting career because you know Rupie will throw him to the sharks without a second thought. One wonders though how much of Faux noise's audience of drooling zombies will see this as either no big matter or a good thing in the crusade against the current President and those evile liberals.

[Joey Liberal]

17. Republicans hate America

Unless we all start watching Faux News.....

[spooked911]

18. as much as we might like this to be true, it comes from one seemingly paranoid source

who conservatives will paint in the worst light possible. We need more-- but this is likely the tip of the iceberg.

[Ganja Ninja]

19. With any luck by this time next year Sean Hannity will be selling ...

Slap Chops and Bill O'Reilly will be retired and sitting home surfing porn sites all day.

[bulloney]

43. I'd love to see Hannity telling his audience on the commercial, "You're going to love my nuts."

[pauljulian]

86. But EVERYONE loves Schwetty Balls

n/t

[get the red out]

20. I can't imagine anyone besides DU will notice

It will be a big snooze to most of the country and the legal system won't want to tangle with any company so politically connected.

This will be forgotten in about a month. I wish I could have faith in this country but I don't.

[wordpix]

53. not necessarily---our corporate Congress will take notice if any of them were hacked

So will Hollywood

[liberal N proud]

21. And who DID NOT think this was happening?

[Hubert Flottz]

22. Now Now...don't look back!

[Sarah Ibarruri]

25. I don't pray much, but I hope everything that comes out destroys FOX News nt

[florida08]

26. well Brooks has been arrested and out on bond

Hinton of the Dow has left rather abrutly and London's police commissioner has resigned. Why people aren't marching to boycott Fox in NY is a wonder but I have my doubts about Fox News going away.

[leveymg]

27. Who is Scott Ehrlich, the man running the Brain Room?

“If that sounds paranoid,” Dickinson adds, “consider the man Ailes brought in to run the brain room: Scott Ehrlich.” Ehrlich “had taken over the lead on Big Tobacco’s campaign to crush health care reform when Ailes signed on with CNBC.”

Here's his profile at Linked-In:

Scott Ehrlich

Scott Ehrlich
3rd

CEO Agility Studios

Location
Greater Los Angeles Area
Industry
Entertainment

Overview

Current

* CEO at Agility Studios

Past

* Chairman and CEO at DigWorks, Inc
* Partner/Owner at Red Tie, Inc.
* VP, Media Acquisition and Distribution at Real Networks

* EVP at Rivals.com
* SVP, Executive Producer at News Corporation (Fox)
* Director at Fox News Channel

see less...

see all...
Education

* George Washington University - Graduate School of Political Management
* Kenyon College

Recommendations

4 people have recommended Scott
Connections

500+ connections
Websites

* Company Website
* Company Website

Twitter

sehrlich
Public Profile

http://www.linkedin.com/in/scottehrlich

* Share
* PDF
* Print
* Flag

Summary

Scott Ehrlich has more than a decade of top-tier television and Internet management experience, serving in the senior management teams at Real Networks, Rivals.com and News Digital Media (Newscorp/Fox). In these positions, Scott has managed staffs of more than 200 employees, and annual budgets in excess of $40 million. He has negotiated landmark deals with major media entities in news (CNN, ABC News, The Weather Channel, CNET, WSJ.com), sports (NBA, NFL, NASCAR, MLB, PGA Tour, FOX Sports) and entertainment (E! Entertainment, CBS (Big Brother and Survivor), iFilm, Starz On Demand, Playboy) for the carriage, distribution and packaging rights to their content over IP, at various times managing relationships with four of the largest media companies in the world (Viacom, Disney, AOL Time Warner and News Corporation.)
Specialties

Negotiation, Business Strategy and Planning, Development and Production, Operations and Execution
Experience
CEO
Agility Studios

Privately Held; Entertainment industry

May 2008 – Present (3 years 3 months)

Agility Studios is a full service boutique studio that develops, finances, distributes and sells media franchises.

Scott has 2 recommendations (1 co-worker, 1 partner) including:

* John E.
* 3rd Scott C., Partner, Red Tie, Inc.

Chairman and CEO
DigWorks, Inc

Online Media industry

July 2006 – May 2008 (1 year 11 months)

DigWorks is a Seattle based digital media development, production and distribution company.
Partner/Owner
Red Tie, Inc.

Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Online Media industry

May 2003 – June 2006 (3 years 2 months)

Seattle and Los Angeles based digital media consultancy with core competencies in the development and distribution of digital media products. Clients have included ABC News, IFILM, Sony Pictures, Microsoft, DivX, Infospace, BBC, Weather Channel, Rhythm Networks and Navio.
VP, Media Acquisition and Distribution
Real Networks

Public Company; 501-1000 employees; RNWK; Online Media industry

September 2000 – May 2003 (2 years 9 months)

Scott has 1 recommendation (1 co-worker) including:

* 3rd Paul D., Sr Dir Systems & Affiliate Sales, RealNetworks

EVP
Rivals.com

Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Internet industry

1999 – 2000 (1 year)
SVP, Executive Producer
News Corporation (Fox)

Public Company; 10,001+ employees; NWS; Online Media industry

September 1997 – December 1999 (2 years 4 months)

responsible for foxnews.com, foxsports.com, tvguide.com and fox.com
Director
Fox News Channel

Public Company; 1001-5000 employees; NWS; Broadcast Media industry

February 1996 – September 1997 (1 year 8 months)

Part of the management team for the launch of the Fox News Channel.

Scott has 1 recommendation (1 co-worker) including:

* 3rd Dan C.

Education
George Washington University - Graduate School of Political Management
Masters, Political Campaign Management

1989 – 1990

Kenyon College
BA, Drama, Political science

1985 – 1989

Recommendations For Scott
CEO
Agility Studios

“I've known Scott since we worked together at Ailes Communications in 1989. We have worked well together ever since. He's well-connected, knowledgeable, savvy, smart. He has emerged as one of the "elder statesmen" of mobile media and rightly so. He knows the space well.

We at SH Celera Capital are proud to have him on our Advisory Committee for Mobile Technology. He's doing a great job.” April 17, 2006

John E.,
was with another company when working with Scott at Red Tie, Inc.

“Scott is my partner in Red Tie Media, and was a client of when he ran FoxNews.com. Scott is a brilliant, and unbelievably well connected in media, technology, and the Internet space. His experience and track record illustrate how valuable this guy is in taking a company to the next level.
scott cohen - [e-mail]” February 16, 2004

3rd Scott C., Partner, Red Tie, Inc.
worked directly with Scott at Red Tie, Inc.
VP, Media Acquisition and Distribution
Real Networks

“A very smart and driven individual with business and media programming skill with an industry and market knowledge skillset. Highly recommended.” February 9, 2004

3rd Paul D., Sr Dir Systems & Affiliate Sales, RealNetworks
worked with Scott at Real Networks
Director
Fox News Channel

“Scott Ehrlich impeccably imagineered one of the most critical elements contributing to the creation of the Fox News Channel. He was extraordinarily well-organized, hired a group of brilliant subordinates, and was a pleasure to serve with.” July 20, 2005

3rd Dan C.,
worked directly with Scott at Fox News Channel

You have to wonder whether Dan C., above, is referring to "the brain room" as "one of the most critical elements of the Fox News Channel."

[wickerwoman]

82. "Imagineered"!?!

I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.

[Ian David]

28. This is what Bill O'Reilly meant when he threatened to sic "Fox Security" on people.

See also:

O'Reilly threatened radio show caller with "a little visit" from "Fox security" for mentioning Olbermann's name on the air
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200603030010

Bill O'Reilly sends FOX Security after callers
http://www.homelandstupidity.us/2006/03/04/bill-oreilly-sends-fox-security-after-callers/

[Alcibiades]

35. Past behavior predicts future behavior

Psychologists rely on this maxim. If you do something at one place and time, might we not expect you to act similarly under similar circumstances? If we know, for example, that a pedophile has traveled to Albania to have sex with children, might we also not be justified in looking at his activities at home? Because, in the instance of News Corp, the US is their home.

News Corporation isn't a place where units are cut off from one another: their executives flow freely over borders, assuming positions at the UK and in the US. If you have the same people working at the same corporate entity for different units that are employed in the same line of business, is it really all that surprising that they would do in the US what they have done in the UK?

There's every reason to suspect that News Corporation paid bribes to officials in the UK. If that's true, then it is likely that New Corporation violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977. And that's not conjecture based on one source, but something that's been widely reported.

If the allegations are true and the FBI and DoJ do their jobs, New Corporation is done.

[Happyhippychick]

36. Fox had a "brain room"?

:rofl:

Must've been empty.

[wordpix]

54. I know, I know, it's an oxyMORON

[BridgeTheGap]

38. It's clear what happened. Fox news WAS part of the government under Bush. Therefore, with the

Patriot Act, Fox news had a right to access records and tap phones of anyone they wanted, without a warrant. Right? Very right wingish... ;-)

[Kingofalldems]

39. Kick one time for the teabaggers

[boycottfaux]

42. RATS

The faux bottomfeeders will now start 'ratting' each other out
to save their sorry asses!

Let's just sit back and enjoy . . [smile]

[OKIsItJustMe]

46. This is actually an old story

http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/mixed-media/2008/01/10/fox-news-knocks-down-brain-room-claim/#ixzz1Ru7kDewX

Jan 10 2008 12:00am EDT

Fox News Knocks Down 'Brain Room' Claim

Has Roger Ailes been keeping tabs on your phone calls? A disgrunted former Fox News producer claims he has the capability thanks to a secret "brain room" that the network uses for "counterintelligence and black ops."

Actually, "disgruntled" is an understatement. Dan Cooper, who was fired from the Rupert Murdoch-owned channel shortly after its 1996 launch, has an ax the size of Paul Bunyan's to grind. And grind it he does in a http://www.caos.us/2008/01/naked-launch-prologue.html">blog post that http://www.jossip.com/former-roger-ailes-confidant-dan-cooper-is-ready-to-spill-blood-20080110/">Jossip says doubles as a book proposal.

Potentially the most explosive among Cooper's many lurid claims, assuming anyone believes them, arises from his account of how his agent, Richard Leibner, dropped him as a client. Leibner did so, asserts Cooper, under pressure from Ailes, who had discovered that Cooper was an anonymous source for a New York magazine story about him, written by ex-Republican http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Brock">David Brock.

And how did Ailes learn that?

Certainly Brock didn't tell him. Of course. Fox News had gotten Brock's telephone records from the phone company, and my phone number was on the list. Deep in the bowels of 1211 Avenue of the Americas, News Corporation's New York headquarters, was what Roger called The Brain Room. Most people thought it was simply the research department of Fox News. But unlike virtually everybody else, because I had to design and build the Brain Room, I knew it also housed a counterintelligence and black ops office. So accessing phone records was easy pie.

…

[felix_numinous]

47. News of the World

most likely hacked phones internationally to get juicy gossip. It is not a stretch to imagine Ailes hacking into phones internationally as well.

The Murdoch and Ailes Empires have made gossip as news the New Normal, and have enabled surveillance systems to quietly slip into place. Now few question how private information is gained, it is considered routine to be presented with very personal information that simply was not available a couple decades past. Sadly, now surveillance systems are hard wired into our machines and into our conditioning as well. Now regaining the privacy we lost would require aggressive countermeasures and intentional reconditioning of our society. They really fucked things up for everyone.


I am hoping they run out of money to bribe people into silence before this is all over, so these empires can be taken down.

[leveymg]

48. I don't really give a rat's ass about celebrity gossip - it's the political dirty tricks and foreign

influence peddling in the UK and US on behalf of NewsCorp's primary financial backers, the Saudis and major defense contractors, that's the real story here. See, http://journals.democraticunderground.com/leveymg/578; http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=6212624&mesg_id=6212648

Do you notice that none of these reports even mention al-Yamamah, the $80 billion Saudi-BAE political slush fund, and associated crimes?

[Selena Harris]

76. Are you and I the ONLY ones who

care about the Saudi,Fox, Murdoch,AlYamamah nexxus?

Do you know if Rupert Murdoch owns shares in ATT or Verizon ? These are two of the companies involved in giving the NSA US citizens' phone records several years back.. ATT had the secret splitter room in San Francisco,back in 2003.

[daggahead]

49. I have to wonder if, when this thing blows wide open ...

... how many Republicans will be exposed as beholden to Murdoch and Fux News/

You'd think the Republicans would be working like crazy to get any investigations shut down ... or maybe it hasn't reached that point yet.

[wordpix]

56. unfortunately, their control of the House will be a sticking point BUT

smart Dems will make hay of this in an election year.

[craigmatic]

64. I'm not surprised. All these fox assholes should be in prison.

[spooked911]

65. Interesting story about Piers Morgan and hacking

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2011/07/long-walk-off-short-piers.html

A CNN spokesperson confirmed the lack of coverage to Ad Week last week, “saying that the network hasn’t covered the matter because Morgan has not been officially called to testify in England.”

Morgan himself did address the issue on Monday, telling a CBS talk show that neither he nor his former publication have broken any laws.

The allegations are especially troubling given this passage from Morgan’s 2005 book, The Insider: The Private Diaries of a Scandalous Decade:

"Apparently if you don’t change the standard security code that every phone comes with, then anyone can call your number and, if you don’t answer, tap in the standard four digit code to hear all your messages. I’ll change mine just in case, but it makes me wonder how many public figures and celebrities are aware of this little trick."

[Selena Harris]

77. Piers Morgan is business partner of Murdoch's son-in-law,Matthew Freud

Matthew Freud (born 2 November 1963) is head of Freud Communications, an international public relations firm in the United Kingdom.
. His great-grandfather is Sigmund Freud and he is doubly related to the 'father' of public relations, Edward Bernays, whose father was Sigmund Freud's brother-in-law (the brother of Sigmund Freud's wife) and whose mother was Sigmund Freud's sister. Career

Freud Communications is currently the eighth largest public relations company in the UK, with around 150 employees. Landmark campaigns include the London 2012 Olympics, Product (RED), Nike, Pepsi, The Opening of Atlantis The Palm and UNHCR's Gimme Shelter.<1> Adam Curtis in his documentary Century of the Self describes Matthew Freud as a star in the "new culture of public relations and marketing in politics, business and journalism" which rose in the Clinton-Blair years.<2> PRWeek says that Freud is "the most influential PR professional in the UK".<3>


In May 2005, in partnership with Piers Morgan, he acquired ownership of the Press Gazette, a media trade publication, and its 'cash cow' the British Press Awards, in a deal worth £1million.<5><6> Many major newspapers have boycotted the event citing an apparent conflict of interest as one of the reasons.<7><8> In addition to owning a publication, Freud is married to Elisabeth Murdoch, daughter of Rupert Murdoch.---Wikipedia

[bergie321]

71. Sounds like

Cooper is due for a "drug overdose"...

[midnight]

72. Rodger another Nixon asset.

"Ailes served as a political consultant for many Republican candidates during the 1960s, 70s and 80s. His first such job was as media advisor for the Nixon campaign in 1968. He returned to presidential campaigning as a consultant to Ronald Reagan in the latter stages of the 1984 campaign. He is widely credited with having helped coach Reagan to victory in the second presidential debate with Walter Mondale, after aides Richard Darman and David Stockman bungled preparations for the disastrous first debate.
In 1987 and 1988, Ailes was credited (along with Lee Atwater) with guiding George H. W. Bush to victory in the Republican primaries, and the later come-from-behind<7> victory over Michael Dukakis. Ailes scripted and (with Sig Rogich) produced the "Revolving Door" ad, as well as all of Bush's broadcast spots in the primary and general-election campaigns.
Ailes denies producing the so-called Willie Horton ad, which showed the face of the convicted rapist furloughed by Michael Dukakis. The ad was sponsored and funded by the independent-expenditure group National Security Political Action Committee (NSPAC), but the Democrats later charged the Bush campaign with illegally coordinating the ad with the NSPAC. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) investigated the charge, but deadlocked on a 3-3 vote, essentially clearing Ailes and the campaign of any legal wrong-doing.<8> Reliable sources credit Floyd Brown with creating the ad.<9><10><11> Ailes also came up with the "orchestra pit theory" regarding sensationalist political coverage in the news media, with the question:
If you have two guys on a stage and one guy says, 'I have a solution to the Middle East problem,' and the other guy falls in the orchestra pit, who do you think is going to be on the evening news?<12>"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Ailes

[Selena Harris]

78. Roger Ailes Secret Nixon Era- Blueprint for Fox News

Roger Ailes' Secret Nixon-Era Blueprint for Fox News | Free Presswww.freepress.net/news/.../roger-ailes-secret-nixon-era-blueprint-fo... - CachedRoger Ailes' Secret Nixon-Era Blueprint for Fox News. Gawker, July 1, 2011. By John Cook. Republican media strategist Roger Ailes launched Fox News Channel ...

Roger Ailes's secret Nixon-era blueprint for Fox News—& the 14 ...markcrispinmiller.com/.../roger-ailess-secret-nixon-era-blueprint-for... - CachedJul 2, 2011 – Roger Ailes' Secret Nixon-Era Blueprint for Fox News John Cook — Republican media strategist Roger Ailes launched Fox News ...

NOTE;This is a tremendous article,not to be missed. Very informative.

[CoffeeCat]

73. AT&T and other companies had to help!!!

This spying and phone tapping situation couldn't have happened without the
cooperation from AT&T and other big communications companies. And of course,
our government, all of the politicians and various other assorted corpcriminals
know about this.

This is old news to them.

This is how the secrets are kept. This is why no one is busting up this
cabal. They've all got the goods on each other. They all know how corrupt
the companies and the politicians are, and they're all dirty and keeping each
other silent via shared secrets.

What a joke our country is. There's an entire government operating in the
bowels of our democracy. We aren't part of it and those in on it have utter
disdain for us. How could they not? We don't know what in the hell is going
on in our own country! The powerbrokers have it all, and we're just insects
who don't know what in the hell is happening right under our own noses.

Just sick.

[marions ghost]

74. yep

n/t

[glinda]

84. Exactly. And don't think that blackmail isn't a common tool.

[Firebrand Gary]

75. Steven Harper, David Cameron, George Bush what do they all have in common?

Rupert Murdoch has way too much power.

[defendandprotect]

79. kr

[Firebrand Gary]

81. Rachel Maddow just reported one of Murdochs company was busted in NJ for hacking.

This guy has evidence to the contrary all over him.

[rocktivity]

85. Well, duh.

The real question is, how much of it went on in Washington DC when the Dems were in power?

:headbang:
rocktivity