John "FOX Declares Bush The Winner!" Ellis is out at Business Insider.

[seafan]

Yeah, THAT John Ellis.


Ben Smith at Politico reports:

November 9, 2011

Political editor John Ellis quietly departed Business Insider earlier this fall. Ellis, a storied character whose short analyses were at times defining in this cycle, wasn't a great fit for the fast-paced website, both he and sources there told us.

Ellis, who founded the site's Politix blog earlier this year, was a former Fox News consultant and is a first cousin of President George W. Bush. (Overseeing the Fox News decision desk during the 2000 election, he was responsible for Fox's calling Florida for Bush. He later came under fire from Fox for having made several calls to Jeb Bush as the returns were coming in.)

.....

We won't forget about that.


Ever.

Jebbie says we got it! Jebbie says we got it!

"It was just the three of us guys handing the phone back and forth--me with the numbers, one of them a governor, the other the president-elect. Now that was cool." ---John Ellis, Bush cousin, working the Fox News Channel election desk on November 7, 2000, as the network unilaterally proclaimed a Bush win at 2:16 am.

.....

Ellis, also a former Boston Globe columnist who has alternated between journalism and business, had developed something of a cult following in the political class. Among his later pieces was a column crystallizing Rick Perry's opportunity.

.....

Both sides agree the decision was mutual: "It wasn't a good fit for me or for them," Ellis wrote in an email. "So I returned to my work with start-ups and early stage companies. I blog irregularly, and tweet a bit." Ellis is also working on a book, tentatively called "What Happens Next, American Politics After The Crash."

.....

What a fitting title for the catastrophe this man had a direct hand in orchestrating, against the will of the country.


Then came the crushing authoritarians, forcing us down a violent and impoverished road.

[Ian David]

1. The day America began to die. n/t