Quote of the Day

[Roger Ailes (1940-2017)] was a bigot, with well-documented prejudices against people of color, Muslims, women, and LGBTQ people. The network he created ran on division and hatred, consumed by an unslaked thirst to oppress the oppressed and comfort the comfortable.

He was a conspiracy theorist, and so were the hosts he hired, channeling ridiculous accusations from fringe websites to the masses, creating for their audience an alternate reality in which dark liberal forces were ever ready to steal away their freedom.

Over the last two years, his network has been devoted to propagandizing on behalf of Donald Trump, an Ailes friend who shared his bigotry, misogyny, and spite.

For power and money, Ailes turned Americans against one another. He made the nation a meaner, less informed place. That is his legacy.

– Matt Gertz
Excerpted from "Roger Ailes’ Professional Legacy
Is Creating a Propaganda Machine That’s Hurting America"
Media Matters
May 18, 2017

Related Off-site Links:
How Roger Ailes Degraded the Tone of Public Life in America – Stephen Metcalf (The New Yorker, May 19, 2017).
Roger Ailes: The Man Who Wrecked Conservatism – Bret Stephens (The New York Times, May 19, 2017).
Roger Ailes Was One of the Worst Americans Ever – Matt Taibbi (Rolling Stone, May 18, 2017).
The Right Builds an Alternative Narrative About the Crises Around Trump – Jeremy W. Peters (The New York Times, May 17, 2017).