Former News International executive Rebekah Brooks was today sensationally arrested over the News of the World phone hacking scandal.
The 43-year-old was held when she arrived for a pre-arranged appointment at a central London police station - two days before she is due to give evidence to MPs.
The ex-News of the World editor, who is tenth person to be arrested in connection with allegations of corruption and phone hacking, resigned from her job on Friday.
Mrs Brooks is believed to be being held at Lewisham police station. She attended voluntarily and said she is 'assisting police with investigations'.
She is in custody as part of the ongoing investigations by officers from Operation Weeting looking at phone hacking and Operation Elveden, investigating inappropriate payments to police.
She was arrested on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications.
Mrs Brooks' arrest comes after it was revealed that Britain's top police officer accepted a free five-week stay at a top health spa where News of the World hacking suspect Neil Wallis was a PR consultant.
She is "assisting police with investigations." If you don't think those words send a chill up the spine of Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes than you have not been paying attention.
I have a feeling that this thing is still only at its beginning stages, and that when the dust finally settles there are going to be some very serious changes in how journalism is conducted in Britain, and hopefully America as well.
Update: It looks like another domino just fell.
The commissioner of London’s Metropolitan Police Services, Sir Paul Stephenson, resigned his post on Sunday just hours after his officers arrested Rebekah Brooks, the former chief of Rupert Murdoch’s media operations in Britain, as damage from a phone-hacking scandal moved to the highest levels of British public life.
In a news conference, Sir Paul said his position was “in danger of being eclipsed by the ongoing debate by senior officers and the media. And this can never be right,” according to a report by The Guardian.
The Metropolitan Police, commonly referred to as Scotland Yard, has come under harsh scrutiny in recent days, accused in the press and by British politicians of currying too close a relationship with tabloid executives.
Like I said this thing is just in the beginning stages. So far almost every day has seen the new allegations and new resignations, from my perspective it feels like the momentum is picking up NOT getting ready to crest nor diminish.
Anybody of a differing opinion?
Brooks herself said early on this would not be over soon. I had visions of her holed up in that big office; cant imagine those phone calls; too bad they werent tapped, er taped.
ReplyDeleteHmm maybe they were.
In any event she decided she needed protection. From her boss.
A little O/T -- but doesn't that (she?) look 100% male under that awful, ugly, red hair-do?
ReplyDeleteMaybe someone will find out for sure, while she/he is in prison, hmmm? LOL
from your lips to God's ear.
ReplyDeleteThe other evening I saw Michael Wolf on some MSNBC program. According to Mr. Wolf, Murdoch has a bad temper and cannot keep it reined in. Is there such a thing as contempt of Parliament? Will Rupert be arrested after his testamony?
ReplyDeletePass the popcorn. Can't wait until Tuesday!
Jaye
Will Sarah Palin be calling for her assassination? (You remember - Julian Assange.)
ReplyDeleteWill Sarah Palin make this all about her?
Will there be statements of outrage/defense/indignation at Rebekah Brooks invading Sarah Palin's privacy and attacking the Palin family?
I am concerned that republican will block any investigation into fox news. They owe Murdock immensely for pushing their agenda.
ReplyDeleteThink of who has a station all ready and waiting to pick up the slack--
Glenn Beck!
Let this be the first big domino to fall...and let Murdoch, Ailes and the whole heteful crew at Fox fall as well. Maybe then true journalism will return to the US. Remember when we were growing up? Did you have an idea which party Cronkite, Reasoner, Huntley and Brinkley, and all the rest belonged to? Did you even think about it? They were journalists, reporting news. We now have infotainers, on both sides, who make sure that THEIR views are aired, and the heck with the unvarnished truth. The best thing that could happen to this country and her politics is for these biased talking heads to be relegated to the Sunday talk shows.
ReplyDeleteIs Rebekah going to turn states evidence over and testify against Murdoch?
ReplyDeleteMy take of her resignation was that she is refusing to be a fall person for Murdoch, and her 'assisting in the investigation' seems to be evidence.
ReplyDeleteOT: Critics savage Palin film as audiences stay away in droves | The Raw Story: http://bit.ly/ooRs5P
ReplyDeleteMurdock's (Sr. and Jr.) have both got to be sweating bullets right now. 100K retainer checks are being written at an amazing rate to lawyers around the world I'm sure.
ReplyDeleteThey've got to be wondering if Becky and her cronies are going to start questioning whether they're retirement packages (not to mention their reputations) will be worth spending a few years in jail over.
Can't WAIT until the first indictment happens on this side of the pond.
In the tradition of bible thumping religionists hypocrites throughout history, "IT WAS THE WOMAN GOD, THE WOMAN YOU GAVE ME". Thereby males never have to accept blame for anything they do or have ordered others to do.
ReplyDeleteHALLELUIAH AND AMEN!!!
From America blog:
ReplyDeleteThe News of the World allegedly hacked into the mobile phones of Jude Law and his personal assistant while they were in New York, opening the way for News International to be prosecuted in the United States.
Please, please, let this be true.
The Dark Lord and his Empire are going down. Yes, I am comparing Murdoch to the Emperor in Star Wars (4-6)
ReplyDeleteCouldnr happen to a nicer coven of people...
ReplyDeleteFox, you're turn is coming.
ReplyDeleteYour right, Murdoch must be running scared when he read she is giving evidence to the authorities. If she is indeed giving evidence, I would heavily suspect it involves Murdock and his son. She certainly would be hesitant to give any evidence that would point to her as being the the highest office involved in this scandal.
ReplyDeleteMurdoch is about to witness the fall of his empire, just like the Romans did!
P.S. I wonder if Fox is going to report any of this?
ReplyDeleteI hope as much as the next person that this whole scandal forces some huge changes and some huge revelations -- especially at Fox News. But I am also stuck on that woman's hair! Who would sport such a huge, disheveled mess of hair, especially with her means and high-profile position? It makes me think she's hiding behind (or under) it. What is she hiding?? Oh, if disheveled manes could talk...
ReplyDeleteO/T...
ReplyDeleteThe reviews are in on the Sarah Palin documentary, and they are not kind.
...New York magazine’s David Edelstein said he really tried to like the film. “I swear I gave ‘The Undefeated’ a chance, because who wants to writhe in agony for two hours?” he wrote. “I hoped that Director Stephen K. Bannon would show a side of Sarah Palin I’d never seen — I thought it would be so cool if I could give the movie a rave. But it’s a straight hagiography, without nuance or ambiguity, or the admission of opposing viewpoints — even those meant to be dismantled.”
Other reviewers also were quick to call the film propaganda.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0711/59188.html#ixzz1SO5L5iQM
The guy who was in Brooks' job when the hacking took place -- Hinton I think -- and who just stepped down from the WSJ...Yeah, he was head of Fox News for a bit...Now what's interesting to me is that Fox News doesn't really get scoops. So...it's weird to think that there had been any hacking there. Unless, they used hacking to blackmail people?
ReplyDeleteI have to say -- something I read about the Spitzer case in the New Yorker always struck me as odd. I could be misremembering stuff...But I swear I remember reading that it was a GOP operative who just happened to have met one of the hookers Spitzer used and who then tipped the feds off to this...That always seemed a little too...convenient..
I just looked it up and I'm right about the operative:
http://endrtimes.blogspot.com/2008/03/report-gop-operative-exposed-spitzer.html
Spitzer was really popular and could have easily been the president in 2016...He'd be a big target for conservatives...Vedy Vedy Eentesting...
Also, even if the hacking doesn't reach our shores...Jude Law is suing News Corp. Now, I think I read that there had been some lawsuits settled, but can you imagine -- if even half of the thousands of people who had their phones hacked sued...there's no way they'll be able to hang on to their assets. They'll have to liquidate!!!
If she's smart, and I assume she IS (hey, I never said that the people who work for the Murdoch empire are stupid ...I said they're corrupt)...
ReplyDelete...ahem, as I was saying: if she's smart - she recorded all of her phone calls since this thing broke.
Wouldn't that be interesting?
and the shareholders are suing the murdochs personally.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/phone-hacking/8639102/Phone-hacking-Embattled-Murdochs-target-of-personal-lawsuits.html
Whatever Rebekah Brooks does she will always be in Rupert Murdoch's pocket. They have an extremely close relationship and she will tell the authorities only as much as Rupert will allow her. She'll even go to prison if she has to without implicating old Rupert. But she will be paid well for it . . . .
ReplyDeleteI believe the most that will happen with all of this is some segments may finally stop giving props to the crazy assed pirate that is Rupert Murdoch and maybe
realize that he has NO honor, truth , or integrity.
You know—like FAUX.
Gryphen,
ReplyDeleteRebekah's arrest is not necessarily a good thing. It was timed for just before she gave evidence to the parliamentary commission and now she can wriggle out of answering any questions because she's "helping" the police with their inquiries.
Half of the bent cops involved in the scandal are still on active duty.
Murdoch seems to be orchestrating the whole thing so he looks mildly bad, but in a way that the whole truth doesn't come out.
We're watching it closely, it seems the parliamentary investigation takes two steps forward and three backwards, thwarted by the police investigation. It seems odd, but Murdoch has a lot of dirt on the cops and appears to have more leverage with them.
He's trying to get one investigation to come to a dead end because it could jeopardize the other, the one he seems to be controlling...
Cameron is terribly uncomfortable with the whole thing, Clegg is a wet rag. That leaves Labour. Both Ed Milliband and the chair of the commission, Keith Vaz, are not prepared to give Murdoch a pass, but somehow he appears to be manipulating the events.
I hope I'm wrong, but the timing of Rebekah's arrest stinks to high heaven.
I imagine they will squeeze her till she squeals.
ReplyDeleteArresting her also will make those on the next tier of leadership run to their lawyers and hopefully start ratting out their leaders and co-managers.
Words of advice to Rupert Murdoch from Sarah Palin on how to deal with this scandal:
ReplyDelete1. Don't reload, retweet
2. Blame the Lame Stream Media (oops, I guess that's you now)
3. Go on a bus tour around England; it will re-energize your fans and you can bring in some serious coin!
4. Let Sean Hannity interview you - you can tell the world your side of the REAL story
5. Wear a wig
I wonder how Sarah is feeling these days as the line from her through Ailes to Murdoch is a pretty short straight line.
ReplyDeleteWonder if the Koch's will stand by her or take a step or two back to see if there is any fall out for them to avoid.
It would be Karma with a capital K if Sarah ended up under their bus.
She's gonna roll over on her boss!!! Couldn't happen to a better guy. Just hope takes down his entire organization, not just British newspapers.
ReplyDeleteI only hope you are right. I'm very skeptical that she's just the sacrificial lamb so the Murdochs rescue their family empire.
ReplyDeleteSo, now that they have four of these posh executives under arrest, facing jail time...which on will roll over first to save their own hides? Just a matter of time.
ReplyDeleteI'm a bit more optimistic now that the Metropolitan Police commissioner has resigned. Heads are rolling, big heads!
ReplyDeleteBest news of this? Jude Law is on record as being hacked while he in the USA.
ReplyDeleteThis legally opens up Murdoch/crew to charges in the USA!!!
PMom_GA
Did Brooks need protection from her boss, or did Scotland Yard need to be sure that she would not be compromised by him (as in, rehearsing testimony) as they were closing in?
ReplyDeleteWho remembers the strange death at sea of Murdoch's (former competitor, British billionaire and media-mogul Robert Maxwell (former owner of the Daily Mirror, Mirror Group, New York Post, McMillan, and countless private corporations)? In November 1991 Maxwell's body was found floating in the Atlantic Ocean, after he went out for a spin in his yacht near the Canary Islands, a mystery that has yet to be resolved. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Maxwell
(Not making allegations charging that to Murdoch's account, however: Maxwell was on his own steeped in controvery and there were allegations that he was either a single, or double-agent.) Maxwell had tried to buy News of the World at the time Murdoch also wanted the paper, and the decision was ultimately made to sell it to Murdoch (http://ketupa.net/maxwell.htm
Hmmmm, is Murdoch also a single or double-agent? (spoken in jest, but he surely seems to be doing all he can to aid China and Saudi Arabia and to harm the US and England)
The Head of Scotland Yard has just resigned.
ReplyDeleteSee here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/18/world/europe/18hacking.html?_r=1&hp
This just keeps getting better.
ReplyDeleteScotland Yard Chief Quits Over Hacking
LONDON — The commissioner of London’s Metropolitan Police Services, Sir Paul Stephenson, resigned his post on Sunday just hours after his officers arrested Rebekah Brooks, the former chief of Rupert Murdoch’s media operations in Britain, as damage from a phone-hacking scandal moved to the highest levels of British public life.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/18/world/europe/18hacking.html?_r=1&hp
A Police Chief in the UK has surrendered to arrest for knowing of this scandal for years and supressing evidence from becoming public.
ReplyDeleteAny guesses who paid him off?
Waiting for tuesday when the dominoes begin to fall.
Re disheveled hair: she keeps a video recorder in there. Going all the time. At least I hope so.
ReplyDeleteBut she allegedly got a multi-million dollar deal to resign. So how much is she going to turn on Murdock after that? I guess it would turn on how much jail time she might be facing.
ReplyDeletePlus, attorney fees are going to eat up a lot of her resignation payment
I don't know anything about Rebekah, only just heard of her this week, but I've just gotta stick up for that flaming mane.....I personally think it is outrageously fabulous. (for all I know, maybe the only good thing about her)
ReplyDeleteOf course, I'm hoping that this continues to blow up and rolls on across the sea to hopefully disinfect our own toxic press/politics.
Christmas five months early?
ReplyDeletePsssh yeah baby, now we must go for the Dark Lord himself.
Remember in the audio of her talk to the employees as they were about to be let go, Rebekah said something like "in a year, you will understand why this had to happen." I assumed that meant there were layers and layers, and they would be revealed slowly, but they would be revealed. Any other ideas on what this meant? Why she said it?
ReplyDeleteHey 8:35 and 10:08, I think her hair is beautiful--perhaps her only good asset. And please, not "disheveled"--it looks like she takes really good card of it. Dyed--maybe, but I have seen redheads with hair like that.
ReplyDeleteThose of us who have naturally curly hair have had to either accept it as it is and keep it in prime condition, as she has. Or subject ourselves to an endless array of styling products and incredible hours of work, and ultimately our hair does what it wants, not what we want.
Rant over. Underneath that lovely head of hair lies a devious brain with dubious scruples. Hopefully she'll save her ass and toss her big boss to the wolves.
Of COURSE there has to be blackmail. What's the point of tapping people's private communications if you don't collect and organize the info for max benefit for when the bad times come?
ReplyDeleteAnd I bet the blackmail will save him. Not a lot of principled people in our leadership ranks that I can tell. Except I do still trust our president. I do.
And in a perfect world, Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld, Rove and Bush would be arrested too. Who knows what will emerge from the Murdoch slime pool? Will Rebekah throw Rupert under the double decker bus? Exciting stuff happening in the KARMIC realms . . . and just wait until Joe McGinniss's book, THE ROGUE, is released on September 20! Remember, Sarah Palin has her own "Rebecca." (RAM) AND, we all know she has a bus!
ReplyDeleteI have gathered over the years that the tactful British phrase describing someone as "assisting the police with their inquiries" is the equivalent of the US phrase that "police have a suspect in custody."
ReplyDeleteShe may or may not be cooperating with the police, but I am sure she will, like so many in her position, do her best to arrange the best possible outcome for herself and if that means selling anyone else out, she will do so.
And there is more
ReplyDeleteBREAKING: UK Fraud Watchdog Opens News International Probe http://t.co/sHl3PH0 via @thinkprogress
It's amazing how this is spreading!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/?source=refresh
Met Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson has resigned
For anyone wondering how Fox news will deal with this catastrophic scandal, just take a look at how they are re-writing the failure of the new Sarah Palin movie:
ReplyDeletehttp://nation.foxnews.com/undefeated/2011/07/17/palin-film-opens-strong-theaters-packed
My first thought @8:35 AM
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/14166013
to anonymous 11:54 who wrote:
ReplyDeleteRemember in the audio of her talk to the employees as they were about to be let go, Rebekah said something like "in a year, you will understand why this had to happen."
OK, I'm putting on my tinfoil hat here, but...
President Obama just killed Bin Laden and made off with a lot of his computer files.
Perhaps these files lead to other Saudis who lead to News Corp. And perhaps hacking victims' phone files weren't Murdoch's only involvement in 9/11.
Read the article in the most recent Vanity Fair about the uninvestigated Saudis who were apparently part of the plot. Connect the dots.
Well said @11:57! As a black woman with a huge mane of kinky-coily hair, I too think Rebekah's hair is fine the way it is. I agree that when you're a curly, your hair does what it wants, despite best (and often expensive, time consuming and sometimes damaging efforts) to straighten it in order to seem more 'polished and presentable.'
ReplyDeleteThat said, Becky2 and her boss deserve to die in prison...
How's that for Lamestream Media Sarah? You are a creature of such powerful mechanisms and have benefited financially and with a tinge of credibility - analyst my ass.
ReplyDeleteAs for tabloids wagging the dogs? That's terrifying.
This is how Sarah Palin was able to become Governor and pass so much legislation early on before we all caught on that she was not fit to lead - by promoting a culture of fear with a wink and a smile.
I don't see the actual people responsible for this getting into actual trouble. Right now I'm sure they are figuring out who else to blame.
ReplyDeleteMaybe this is the push that legitimate Mainstream Media needs. Let these viscous ankle-biters bankrupt and close down and leave real journalists with ethics to the news.
ReplyDeleteDown with Fox News, any Murdoch Papers and websites.
Anonymous @ 10:27am...I think you are on to something there with Eliott Spitzer...saw this paragraph in that article that you linked...
ReplyDelete"Stone is a longtime GOP operative who began his career working for RICHARD NIXON.. In 1996, he resigned from Republican Bob Dole's campaign when an ad seeking a sexual threesome with him and his wife was discovered in a Washington swingers magazine".
Now who do we know who worked for RN...let me think...oh yeah that Roger Ailes fella. Gee how long have they been setting these folks up?? Now I'm thinking ole Anthony Weiner thing is kind of weird too....New York seems to have a hacking problem! If I was Sarah Palin....again...I would be VERY NERVOUS...no telling what kind of shit they have on her and the Toad!
Anon 12:57 -- Yes, v interesting. We do KNOW of course that Rupert has his fingers in many pies, has lots of connections, lots of agendas, lots of plans for us peons. That's as obvious to me as that There Is Blackmail. Potential for it, all nicely stored for use.
ReplyDeleteThe big surprise to me is that this has legs. Remember when one of the British princes had his conversation with his MD tapped and it appeared in the papers, and the Queen's people lodged a complaint. That died. Was that in 2004? 2006? All part of this. If the Queen can't make it important, what chance do the rest of us have? But still, here we are! Sure hope it doesn't fizzle because of the blackmail.
One of the Alsop brothers was blackmailed for some gay activity yrs ago, and he said "bring it on." Not many who are as principled today.
The quest for truth is so exquisitely yummy! Please, may the investigators be honest and thorough in their search.
ReplyDeleteI have too-thin silvery hair and I wish I had thick afro hair or Rebekah's mane. But who cares about the hair?!? I'm thinking of Golda Meir and other good women, and their hair had nothing to do with it. Hair, beauty, youth, weight, clothes -- who cares?
ReplyDeleteWe want integrity, honesty, intelligence, wisdom -- in whatever way it comes packaged.
Anon @ 12:16 Thanks for the link!
ReplyDeleteBREAKING: UK FRAUD WATCHDOG OPENS NEWS INTERNATIONAL PROBE |
Britain’s Channel 4 News is reporting that the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO), the agency charged with investigating and prosecuting large and complex fraud cases, has begun a preliminary investigation into News International, the parent company of News Corp’s UK newspapers. The probe comes after Labor MP Tom Watson wrote a letter to the SFO, in which he called News Corps alleged payments to police a “gross misuse of shareholders’ money.” This latest revelation in the ongoing scandal comes just hours after former News International executive Rebekah Brooks was arrested in London.
O/T
ReplyDeletehttp://www.hollywoodreporter.com/
news/sarah-palin-documentary-
undefeated-claims-212342
But industry observers say the film only got off to a so-so start.
The backers of the Sarah Palin documentary The Undefeated claimed victory as the film opened in 10 theaters over the weekend, but the numbers suggest only a so-so debut.
Undefeated grossed $60,000 to $75,000, meaning a per-screen average of $6,000 or $7,500, the measure by which limited openings are judged. A screen average below $10,000 is considered mediocre.
This is totally OT here and I apologise for anyone thinking I am taking away from the grave seriousness of the Murdoch issue and investigation. Truly, I am not. I hope the dominoes fall and land right at Murdoch's feet in the form of big rusted HANDCUFFS.
ReplyDeleteSo all that said, I just have to share this gem with my fellow IM'ers. Some of you may be aware of the utterly tacky, tasteless, foulmouthed blog "Dlisted". It's vile but addicting. And it gave me a brilliant moment of laughter today when I read this:
"Facing a lynch mob of hos who really need to take a sign making class from Miss Calm Down Dee, Casey Anthony did the free bitch stroll out of a Florida jail house a little after midnight this morning. Casey and her lawyer Jose Baez got into an SUV and drove to the nearest movie theater showing Sarah Palin's documentary The Undefeated since even the crazies who are out for her head won't dare step in there."
If they hacked Prince William, heir to the British throne, I would assume that they for sure hacked Obama, Biden, Hillary, countless movie stars and other celebrities, and who knows who else? But if the government has had wind of their hacking for a while, who is to say that the government is not now hacking them (their hacking the phones of 911 victims would surely trigger the government's authorization to do this under the Patriot Act)
ReplyDeleteI doubt that either Murdoch will ever pay a heavy price for this. The uber rich normally skate free.
Rebekah's hair is fabulous.
I heard an the WSJ buried the story about Murdoch's troubles on page 12, so I don't expect Fox News to give the story much airtime.
ReplyDeleteI'm also concerned about the affect of the Brooks arrest on the parliamentary hearing. I don't view the arrest as good news.
What is SoOoOo funny is Bot's are claiming that film released about her had the second highest per screen after Harry Potter take. This is causing a war cry for mass donations to SarahPAc.
ReplyDeleteLet them believe the fakey fakey numbers Arc Entertainment released but for the rest of the world those numbers are false, inflated to make their project float another week and attempt to gain screen time.
And just read this for truth that Bannon or someone bought x amounts of tickets to have a sell out show at 7P.M. (Not that there was an audience just that presales tickets were sold (Someone went for the Killer Whale huh?) but the other hours were barley recording an audience. ONE this proves no way in Hell the film banked $10,000 per screen and SECOND Bannon and his art houses can say any number they want they are NOT certified totals. IF this film went off as good as Bannon said racking up those outrageous totals the PROOF will be in added screen counts next week.
Note Boxofficemojo is the world's leading box office tracke and they are not even listing The Undefeated which sure does clue a reasonable person in it is not important enough to have a url for.
Note: we checked with the AMC 30 at the Block in Orange on Friday night, and the manager said the 7 p.m. show was sold out through advance ticket sales, with "small amounts" sold in advance at that point for showings through the weekend.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2011/07/sarah-palin-documentary-the-undefeated-opens-will-roll-out-to-other-cities.html
The hair is all about the Pre-Raphaelite look. In fact she looks like Wm Morris's wife Jane. It can be very beautiful--if you look at pictures of her she was quite beautiful until she spent too much time with in the land of Murdoch. So now her outside matches her inside and she looks ugly. Down with Fox!!!!
ReplyDeleteI can't help but be reminded of the scene in The Godfather Part II where Senator Geary finds himself in the brothel after having crossed Michael Corleone. Doesn't anyone have anything on Rupert? Won't anyone fall on their sword?
ReplyDeleteDo you think that Rupert has seen Ms. Hair... nekkid? Enquiring minds want to know!
ReplyDeleteWeekend estimates are in...
ReplyDeleteUndefeated, a portrait of Sarah Palin, grossed $65,700 at 10 screens with a fast start and diminishing returns.
http://moviecitynews.com/2011/
07/100552/
Weekend (estimates) July 15 – 17, 2011
Title--Distributor--Gross (average)--Thtrs--Cume
Undefeated--Cindigm--65,700 (6,570)--10--0.07
Murdoch can turn this around quickly if he would simply "reload with reality". Duh! It's so obvious, also, too.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Sarah will sport her natural curls/frizz the next time we see her...or perm her wig. Rebekah does have glorious hair!
ReplyDeleteWait a minute: thinking about Alsop, let's say we DO have men of principle these days. Just for the sake of the following scenario.
ReplyDeleteWhat if both Weiner and Spitzer WERE principled, ethical men, doing the right things in general. And what if Murdoch's minions said "Do bad thing X that will hurt the Obama agenda, or we will reveal your indiscretions!" And Spitzer and Weiner said "Reveal away -- I'll go down in disgrace before I will do this evil thing you are asking me to do." Let's say they both called the bluff of the blackmailers, and both were exposed.
This is just an alternate scenario that just occurred to me. It then raises the further qu of why wouldn't they say they were being blackmailed? And the answer would be because there is worse ammo that could follow, that the blackmailers have. Or maybe a threat to family safety. Dar Miller, anyone?
Anyway, just a thought. I thought there was evidence that Spitzer and Weiner were otherwise good men? And then that raises the add'l scenario that the point of all this is to systematically get rid of the good folks in gov't (but folks who are not so pure that they can't be blackmailed) so the Repugs can do their dirty debt-ceiling limit, fatally contract the economy by cutting govt spending, stay in the war for the profiteers' benefit, keep taxes v low for the wealthiest, cut civil rights -- and install puppet leadership like McCain/Palin (or their equivalent).
I wish someone more knowledgeable would comment on this.
I will dance a jig when that fat bastard Roger Ailes is arrested. THAT fucker should die in prison for the damage he has done to this nation. He is a latter day GOP answer to Joseph Goebbels.
ReplyDeleteI believe it to be but a matter of time before the arrests begin on this side of the pond.
At least one Murdoch, maybe two, will also be arrested.
Even if Murdoch manages to escape jail - or gaol - AND manages to not be bled dry from the tsunami of lawsuits headed his way, his brand and his name will be viewed as toxic to investors who will run from him as if he had the bubonic plague.
It might not be quite time to stick Rupert with the proverbial fork, but it won't be long. I'm sharpening mine now.
If Murdoch and/or Ailes is arrested and FauxNews is implicated in crimes, won't it be amusing to watch all of the GOP politicians who've worked for Ailes/Murdoch try and distance themselves and disavow their connections with FauxNews?
How long will it be before Palin is desperately trying to spin her blathering on FauxNews as being wholly honorable, even if it proves that FauxNews was run by and infected with criminals?
Pass the popcorn!
I love her hair!!!
ReplyDeleteHowever, I am with Regina on this. This is going all the way to Scotland Yard..I hope the old bastard is shitting bricks.
@2:32- "Fast start and diminishing returns sums up Sarah Palin quit perfectly."
ReplyDeleteThanks for reports of the numbers for "The Oft-Defeated"!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure TeamSarah was going all-out trying to make this movie a "hit" this weekend. I see their best is "mediocre" or "so-so".
Why is Sarah Palin always near or the center of some type of scandal? She is so dirty.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Regina, @ 10:37. Murdoch is nobody's fool, even under attack. Thank you for your informed comment. I heard something similar on NPR. Remember, this isn't Sarah Palin, we're talking about. These are smart people.
ReplyDeleteOMG: anonymous at 10:40:Sarah's advice to Murdoch is priceless. Thank you! Hahahahahahahahaha.
ReplyDeleteBig news re: Murdochgate.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-17/murdoch-struggles-to-control-news-corp-.html
"Rupert Murdoch is struggling to control the destiny of the company he began building six decades ago after a trusted deputy was arrested and a top U.K. police official quit over ties to a phone-hacking suspect.
Independent directors of New York-based News Corp. (NWSA) have begun questioning the company’s response to the crisis and whether a leadership change is needed, said two people with direct knowledge of the situation who wouldn’t speak publicly. Rebekah Brooks, the former News International chief who Murdoch backed until last week, was arrested yesterday in London."
Here's reactions from Keith Olbermann and Jack Shafer (Slate):
http://twitter.com/CountdownKO/status/92760599670423552
Jul 17 6:00 pm PDT
Imminent coup d'état at News Corp.? Board directors leaking worries about Murdoch, hinting at leadership change bloom.bg/nsUqrM
ago via web
Retweeted by 13 people
http://twitter.com/jackshafer/status/92751342891839488
Jul 17 5:23 pm PDT
MT @MayneReport: News Corp independent directors are stirring & leaking their concerns to rival Bloomberg. Big move http://bloom.bg/quTu8w
about 1 hour ago via TweetDeck
Retweeted by 6 people
Well isn't this spe-shal.
ReplyDeletehttp://m.gawker.com/5821275/michele-bachmanns-gay-
sister-attended-obamas-inauguration
LOVE.
(sorry for O/T post)
Labour leader Ed Miliband gave a spectacular speech about this today. The full transcript is here: http://www.labour.org.uk/ed-miliband-cameron-hamstrung-over-coulson
ReplyDeleteAlong with Nick Davies (the courageous Guardian reporter who has been investigating the NoW story for several years), Labour MP Tom Watson is another hero who deserves our thanks for bringing the hacking scandal ("Hackgate") to light.
ReplyDeleteHere's a profile of Watson, which explains his role:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/jul/17/tom-watson-rupert-murdoch
This whole thing is becoming unreal. Guarding is reporting a whistleblower has been found dead..and so far it's not being treated as suspicious: NotW whistleblower found dead
ReplyDelete