Excerpts leak from new Megyn Kelly book. I don't think it is going to make Roger Ailes' must read list.

Courtesy of Radar Online:

Kelly — who is in the final months of a $15-million-a-year contract with the network — claims in the book that when Carlson first filed her complaint, Ailes commenced an “intense campaign” to get her and other stars to speak in his defense. 

“I was approached several times, and several times I refused,” she claims in the book, obtained by Radar. 

She insists, however, “There was no way I was going to lie to protect him.” 

Ailes vehemently has denied any misconduct. But Kelly claims in the book that he started to harass her, too, in the summer of 2005, a few months after she was hired as a legal correspondent in Fox’s Washington bureau. 

She writes that she was informed by her managing editor that she’d “captured the attention of Mr. Ailes” and she was summoned to the first of a series of meetings in his Manhattan office. 

“Roger began pushing the limits,” she alleges. “There was a pattern to his behavior. I would be called into Roger’s office, he would shut the door, and over the next hour or two, he would engage in a kind of cat-and-mouse game with me — veering between obviously inappropriate sexually charged comments (e.g. about the ‘very sexy bras’ I must have and how he’d like to see me in them) and legitimate professional advice.”

Kelly claims that Ailes attempted several times to get her to exchange sexual favors for career advancement but she rebuffed him each time.

Ultimately Ailes became more aggressive:

But in January 2006, she claims, he “crossed a new line — trying to grab me repeatedly and kiss me on the lips.” When she shoved him away, she alleges, “he asked me an ominous question: ‘When is your contract up?’ And then, for the third time, he tried to kiss me.”

Kelly claims all of that stopped in about six months after she reported the behavior to a supervisor.

Kelly also claims that she knew crossing Ailes was "a major risk" as the reason for her years of silence.

Radar Online also notes that the book is being published by Harper Collins which is owned by the same company which owns Fox News, so that might mean that though Kelly has free rein to talk about Ailes, she could be limited in making accusations against Fox News itself.

However it is also true that her contract with Fox is up in just a few months, so who knows, we might just get the whole lurid story someday.

Ka-ching Ka-ching! Fox News throws Gretchen Carlson twenty million dollars to make her go away.

Courtesy of TPM:  

Fox News has settled former host Gretchen Carlson's sexual harassment lawsuit against ex-CEO Roger Ailes, the network's parent company confirmed Tuesday. It did not announce the terms of the settlement agreement, but Vanity Fair, which first reported on the settlement earlier Tuesday, pegged it at a whopping $20 million. 

As part of the network's settlement on Ailes' behalf, the parent company, 21st Century Fox, offered Carlson an unprecedented public apology. 

“21st Century Fox is pleased to announce that it has settled Gretchen Carlson’s lawsuit. During her tenure at Fox News, Gretchen exhibited the highest standards of journalism and professionalism," the statement read. "We sincerely regret and apologize for the fact that Gretchen was not treated with the respect that she and all our colleagues deserve." 

Two anonymous sources familiar with the discussions told Vanity Fair that settlement agreements have also been reached with two other women.

Carlson gets 20 million dollars AND a public apology from Fox News?

And there are at least two other women who reached settlements as well?

As if that was not enough good news it seems that Roger Ailes apologist, Greta Van Susteren just got the boot:

Greta Van Susteren is exiting Fox News after 14 years, the cable news network announced Tuesday.

“We are grateful for Greta’s many contributions over the years and wish her continued success,” Fox News co-presidents Jack Abernethy and Bill Shine said in a joint statement. 

Van Susteren, who was an outspoken defender of former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes, exits the network on the same day the company settled a sexual harassment lawsuit against Gretchen Carlson. Back on July 8, before Ailes stepped down, Van Susteren told TheWrap: “If there were something weird going on … I would have heard it.” 

Last month, Van Susteren fired back at people who criticize her for defending Ailes. 

“Let’s first get something straight: I did not sexually harass anyone (of course.). And second, I did not know about any sexual harassment and keep it secret,” Van Susteren wrote on her GretaWire blog. 

Oh yeah, I'm sure the timing of this is just a "coincidence."

Well if you count this along with the news about Carlson's payout, and Phyllis Schlafly's passing, this is turning out to be a pretty good day for women's rights.

Five new things we just learned about the Roger Ailes sexual harassment case.

So yesterday New York Magazine did a deep dive into the Roger Ailes/Fox News sex scandal.

I read through most of it and was planning to write about it today.

However Talking Points Memo just offered a summary which hits the main points that I was planning to cover so let's follow their lead.

Number one:  

Gretchen Carlson secretly recorded alleged instances of Ailes' sexual harassment 

Sherman’s report confirmed speculation that former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson, who is suing Ailes for sexual harassment and retaliation, possesses taped recordings of Ailes’ alleged advances that back her suit, which opened the floodgates for the Fox News boss’ eventual downfall.

Apparently Carlson took her I-Phone in with her when she met wtih Ailes in his office and hit "record" when he started acting like a frat boy on Spring Break, and the rest is history. Just like his career at Fox News.

I saw the author of the New York Magazine piece being interviewed yesterday and when asked if the tapes had been played for Ailes and his attorneys, he said that they had been a central part of the case, so yes.

I'm not going to lie this made me seriously reconsider my former dislike for Gretchen Carlson.

She's a bad ass!

Number two:

Fox News allegedly hacked journalists’ phone records 

As Rupert Murdoch’s British newspaper empire was embroiled in a phone-hacking scandal, Fox News allegedly employed “legally questionable means” to obtain a U.S. journalist’s phone records.

Okay now I have been waiting to hear evidence that Fox News was hacking people here in American ever since Rupert Murdoch's  News of the World was busted for that back in 2011.

To me that sounded EXACTLY like something that Ailes would do, and once it was confirmed that Rupert Murdoch's papers did it in Britain, I knew that it was only a matter of time before we learned for certain that it was happening here as well.

Number three:

Megyn Kelly reportedly rallied Fox women to speak to investigators 

As Sherman tells it, fired Fox anchor Gretchen Carlson’s lawsuit provided an opening for the network's star anchor. Ailes was no longer lending Kelly his support and she was in the midst of ongoing contract negotiations. When Kelly alleged to James Murdoch that Ailes had once made harassing comments and hugged her inappropriately in his office, Murdoch reportedly urged her to speak to the investigators at the law firm Paul, Weiss, which is conducting an internal probe into the Ailes allegations. 

Kelly was the third or fourth woman to speak with investigators, an anonymous source briefed on the investigation told Sherman. After her interview, she reportedly called up current and former Fox staffers to encourage them to speak with the lawyers, and many more women came forward.

Damn! SO now I have to reconsider my dislike for Megyn Kelly too?

Number four: 

Real fears of a Trump TV network are reportedly swirling at Fox 

Although there’s been wide speculation that Donald Trump’s 2016 endgame may be to break into cable news with a conservative network that would rival Fox News, anonymous network insiders talked about Trump TV as a near-certainty that was casting a pall over the network’s future. 

The current top talent and leadership will only last through Election Day, one unnamed host told Sherman. 

“As of November 9, there will be a bloodbath at Fox,” the host said. “After the election, the prime-time lineup could be eviscerated. O’Reilly’s been talking about retirement. Megyn could go to another network. And Hannity will go to Trump TV.”

Okay that's it.

If Fox News is actually worried about competition from Trump TV, then it virtually confirms that it is likely a real thing.

So Donald Trump's entire campaign is essentially a coming attractions trailer for his soon to be launched cable news network.

God Republicans are dumb!

Another female Fox News host makes sexual harassment charges against Roger Ailes.

Courtesy of New York Magazine:

Fox News’ senior executives have said they were unaware of sexual-harassment allegations against Roger Ailes before former anchor Gretchen Carlson filed a lawsuit against him in July. But those claims are now being challenged by Fox host Andrea Tantaros, who says that she complained multiple times to senior Fox executives in 2015 about Ailes’s inappropriate sexual behavior toward her. Tantaros says that, after she came forward, she was first demoted and eventually taken off the air in April 2016. Fox continues to pay her. 

Through her lawyer, Judd Burstein, Tantaros says that both she and her agent told Fox executive vice-president Bill Shine, senior vice-president Suzanne Scott, and general counsel Dianne Brandi about episodes of Ailes’s alleged harassment. “She made multiple harassment and hostile-workplace complaints,” Burstein says. As far as Tantaros knows, Fox executives never investigated her complaints, Burstein says; instead, they claim, Fox sidelined her. “I believe it’s retaliatory,” says Burstein. 

Fox’s attorneys dispute this. The network says Tantaros was suspended with pay because she violated company policy by not allowing Fox to vet her 2016 book, Tied Up in Knots: How Getting What They Wanted Has Made Women Miserable. Fox attorneys told Burstein the network was embarrassed by her book’s cover, which depicts Tantaros bound by ropes.

Oh please, seeing Tantaros in bondage is probably the kind of thing that gets Ailes all hot and bothered.

At this point I would imagine that if you were a female at Fox News and were never sexual harassed by Roger Ailes you might be feeling a little insecure and left out.

"Wait, why did he sexual harass all of those women, but never even once looked down my top? I've got boobs!"

Perhaps THAT'S why a certain someone has remained mum on this topic.

Yep, mum.

Megyn Kelly becomes the latest to accuse Roger Ailes of sexual harassment. Update!

Courtesy of New York Magazine:  

As a chorus of prominent Fox News women have gone public defending Roger Ailes against the wave of sexual-harassment allegations sparked by former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson’s lawsuit, the network’s biggest star, Megyn Kelly, has been conspicuously silent. Kelly’s refusal to join in Ailes’s orchestrated defense has led to speculation about why. 

Now we have the answer. According to two sources briefed on parent company 21st Century Fox’s outside probe of the Fox News executive, led by New York–based law firm Paul, Weiss, Kelly has told investigators that Ailes made unwanted sexual advances toward her about ten years ago when she was a young correspondent at Fox. Kelly, according to the sources, has described her harassment by Ailes in detail. 

Kelly’s comments to investigators might explain why the Murdochs are moving so quickly to oust Ailes.

I've been waiting for Megyn Kelly to add her name to the list.

And now that she has there is no doubt that Ailes is toast.

Personally I hope it does not stop with Ailes.

I have a strong feeling that misogyny and sexual harassment are rampant at Fox News.

Remember Gretchen Carlson originally named Steve Doocey as well, and back in 2004 Bill O'Reilly settled a sexual harassment suit filed by his former producer, Andrea Mackris.

Update: It appears that Ailes is in the "advanced stages" of a discussion to leave Fox News.

So, I guess they're not waiting until after the GOP convention then?

Lawyers for Gretchen Carlson accuse Roger Ailes of "judge shopping," as Rupert family argues about when to fire his fat ass.

Courtesy of TPM: 

Lawyers for fired Fox News host Gretchen Carlson accused network chief Roger Ailes of “illegal and inappropriate judge shopping” in a court brief filed Friday in response to Ailes’ trying to force Carlson’s sexual harassment lawsuit into secret arbitration. 

Ailes’ attorneys filed a motion on Friday seeking to move the lawsuit to federal court in Manhattan and push the suit, which details explosive allegations of retaliation and harassment against Ailes, into closed door arbitration, citing a provision of her contract with the network. 

But Carlson’s attorneys countered that Carlson’s contract was with Fox News, not Ailes. They argued the CEO therefore cannot benefit from the strict arbitration clause and the case should proceed in public. 

Ailes, the only defendant named in Carlson’s suit, was not mentioned in and did not sign her contract, the attorneys said.

In other news it appears that Rupert Murdoch and his children are arguing, not about whether they should fire Roger Ailes, but rather when they should fire Roger Ailes.

Courtesy of New York Magazine: 

Roger Ailes's tenure as the head of Fox News may be coming to an end. Rupert Murdoch and sons Lachlan and James — co-chairmen and CEO, respectively, of parent company 21st Century Fox — have settled on removing the 76-year-old executive, say two sources briefed on a sexual-harassment investigation of Ailes being conducted by New York law firm Paul, Weiss. After reviewing the initial findings of the probe, James Murdoch is said to be arguing that Ailes should be presented with a choice this week to resign or face being fired. Lachlan is more aligned with their father, who thinks that no action should be taken until after the GOP convention this week. Another source confirms that all three are in agreement that Ailes needs to go. 

You know of all of the ways that I imagined Roger Ailes might eventually leave Fox News, in handcuffs after being indicted for treason, on a gurney after being shot by an angry viewer, in a body bag after his heart explodes from seeing just one too many blonde in a short skirt, I think that being fired for being a lecherous old POS might be my favorite.

I have this terrible vision of them cleaning out his desk and finding thumb drives just filled with upskirt videos of the women working at Fox News, an over used penis pump, and a semen stained autograph picture of Richard Nixon.

The sexual harassment allegations against Roger Ailes just keep right on coming.

Courtesy of New York Magazine:

Limiting the damage to Ailes may prove difficult. Multiple sources told me that a number of women at Fox, who work both on camera and off, have experienced sexual harassment and are eager to talk about it with investigators. “Lots of other women want to come forward,” a Fox source briefed on the investigation told me. “They won’t talk to the press. They want to talk to the outside lawyer because that’s safe.” Gretchen Carlson, in her recent interview with the Times, also suggested that the harassment was widespread. 

 Meanwhile, the accusations against Ailes himself continue to pile up. According to sources I spoke with, at least three former Fox anchors have been harassed. One former rising star at the network has said that Ailes approached her during a barbecue at Fox & Friends host Steve Doocy’s house in New Jersey while she was bouncing on a trampoline with children and said, “Are you wearing any panties? I wish you weren't.” Another recently departed Fox host has claimed Ailes made her turn around in his office to show him her figure.

That's not even the worst of it.

There are a number of women who worked with Ailes decades ago, some in their sixties and even seventies now, who are accusing Ailes of inappropriate sexual behaviors.

That would help to establish the same kind of long term pattern of behavior that we have also identified with Bill Cosby, and give much credibility to Gretchen Carlson and the other women speaking out today.

Roger Ailes demands arbitration to halt Gretchen Carlson's sexual harassment suit, as even more women step forward to make accusations against him.

Courtesy of HuffPo:

Lawyers for Fox News chairman Roger Ailes on Friday asked a judge to halt anchor Gretchen Carlson’s “shameless publicity campaign” against her former boss, and send her sexual harassment lawsuit against him to arbitration in accordance with her employment contract. 

The request came two days after Carlson sued Ailes in Superior Court in New Jersey, portraying him as a persistent harasser who demoted her and ultimately forced her from Fox News, her employer since 2005, after she rebuffed his advances. Ailes has forcefully denied Carlson’s allegations. 

Carlson’s lawyers, Nancy Erika Smith and Martin Hyman, said their client intends to pursue her right to a public jury trial. 

“Roger Ailes is trying to force this case into a secret arbitration proceeding,” the lawyers said in a statement. “Gretchen never agreed to arbitrate anything with Mr. Ailes.”

Trying to move the case behind closed doors so that the public cannot see the proceedings.

Hmm, now why does that sound to familiar?

Of course it is unlikely that this would even help Roger Ailes as more and more women are pointing an accusing finger his way.

Courtesy of the New York Daily News:

In recent days, more than a dozen women have contacted Carlson’s New Jersey-based attorney, Nancy Erika Smith, and made detailed allegations of sexual harassment by Ailes over a 25-year period dating back to the 1960s when he was a producer on The Mike Douglas Show. “These are women who have never told these stories until now,” Smith told me. “Some are in lot of pain.” Taken together, these stories portray Ailes as a boss who spoke openly of expecting women to perform sexual favors in exchange for job opportunities. “He said that’s how all these men in media and politics work — everyone’s got their friend,” recalled Kellie Boyle, who says Ailes propositioned her in 1989, shortly after he helped George H.W. Bush become president, serving as his chief media strategist. 

Six of the women agreed to speak with New York publicly for the first time. Two spoke on the record; the others requested anonymity for reasons that include shame and fear of retribution. “I didn’t tell my husband, it was so mortifying,” said Marsha Callahan, a former model who says Ailes harassed her in the late ‘60s, shortly before he became Richard Nixon’s media adviser.

Damn, if this keeps up Ailes may soon replace Bill Cosby as the most disgusting sexual predator in America.

It appears that the Gretchen Carlson sexual harassment lawsuit could spell the end for Fox News chief Roger Ailes.

Courtesy of New York Magazine:

On Wednesday, Fox’s parent company, 21st Century Fox, released a terse statement saying it took the allegations “seriously” and is conducting an “internal review of the matter.” The wording and timing of the press release — Ailes had yet to issue his own response, which, when it came, described the lawsuit as “retaliatory” (Carlson was just dropped from Fox) and claimed it would be “vigorously defended” – signal that Ailes’s standing with the Murdochs is precarious. According to one highly placed Fox source, Murdoch and his sons, Lachlan and James, approved the hiring of an outside lawyer to conduct the independent investigation. While it’s common for large companies to bring in outside counsel to conduct inquiries during public scandals, the move is a radical one for Murdoch. “Unprecedented,” one former senior executive told me. “It’s not Rupert’s style to investigate internal issues.” 

Executives I spoke with over the past 24 hours said the hiring of an outside lawyer is also an indication that Murdoch’s sons may be capitalizing on the Carlson scandal to achieve a long-held goal: forcing Ailes out. “It’s a coup,” one person close to the company told me. If the investigation into Ailes’s management confirms Carlson’s account, or turns up additional episodes of harassment with other Fox women, it stands to reason the Murdoch children would have the leverage they need to push Ailes aside and install a less-right-wing chief. “This could be curtains for Ailes,” another person close to the company said. Indeed, several months after NBC hired an outside counsel in 1995 to investigate Ailes’s alleged anti-Semitic slur, he left NBC. 

Based on what Carlson’s camp is saying, it appears her lawsuit could unleash a torrent of new allegations from other women. “He’s the Bill Cosby of media,” Carlson’s lawyer, Nancy Erika Smith, told me today. “My office is being deluged with calls and website contacts from women. I don’t even have a count anymore … Women as young as 16 who said he demanded oral sex. Another said during an interview that he said, ‘Take off your bra.’ She was devastated.” Smith told me she’s forwarding the names of women who agreed to be interviewed to journalists. The New York Times currently has multiple reporters working on the story.

Well if it is true that Ailes demanded oral sex from sixteen year old girls than I think losing his job is the least of his worries.

So is it actually possible that we could see Fox News go in a less conservative direction once Ailes is dragged kicking and screaming from the building?

And if that is possible what does it mean for American journalism moving forward?

We could be on the brink of something that could literally change the political landscape.

Gretchen Carlson files lawsuit against Fox News saying she was fired for refusing Roger Ailes' sexual advances. Update!

Courtesy of the Daily Beast: 

Former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson has sued the network’s president, Roger Ailes, claiming that he fired her after she rebuffed his sexual advances. 

In a lawsuit filed Wednesday morning, the former daytime host says the Fox News mastermind repeatedly harassed and demeaned her with “severe and pervasive” sexual harassment before she was officially fired on June 23—the final day of her contract.

According to the lawsuit, Ailes tried to convince Carlson to sleep with him “by various means,” including the inclusion of “sexual and/or sexist comments” into everyday conversation. Last September, the 76-year-old executive allegedly told her: “I think you and I should have had a sexual relationship a long time ago and then you'd be good and better and I'd be good and better.” 

“Sometimes problems are easier to solve that way,” Ailes purportedly added.

Carlson also claimed that Fox and Friends co-host Steve Doocy harassed her as well: 

Carlson claims in her complaint that Ailes called her a 'man hater' and accused her of wanting to 'show up the boys' when she complained about what she alleges was diminishing treatment and 'pervasive sexual harassment' by her Fox & Friends co-host Steve Doocy. 

 Doocy also 'created a hostile work environment by regularly treating her in a sexist and condescending way, including by putting his hand on her and pulling down her arm to shush her during a live telecast,' claims the complaint. 

These complaints about Doocy are why she was fired from the marquee show in 2013 and placed as the host of her own afternoon show, claims Carlson in her complaint. 

So I guess the next logical question to ask is will this open a floodgate of sexual harassment charges against Fox News?

And if not does that mean that the other female hosts such as Megyn Kelly, Andrea Tantaros, and Martha MacCallum, did NOT get sexually harassed by Roger Ailes, or did they acquiesce to his requests?

And if it is the latter does that explain how this unqualified moron ended up with a million dollar contact?

Pretty sure I know the answer to that question .

Update: The Huffington Post is saying that Gretchen Carlson is not the only one and that many others have been sexually harassed by Ailes: 

“He always brags to people about how he doesn’t do polling or testing when he chooses his on-air talent. He told me that if he was thinking of hiring a woman, he’d ask himself if he would fuck her, and if he would, then he’d hire her to be on-camera,” the employee said.

Yep, that's what we thought. 

Update 2: At least ten more women have contacted Carlson's attorney now. 

Conan O'Brien breaks a longstanding rule to keep his opinions about guns in this country to himself, and he is not alone.

Now as gratifying as it is to see O'Brien breaking his silence and finally expressing the view shared by so many in this country, there is another who chimed in who came from a very surprising place.

Fox News.

Well she lost her job.

All kidding aside I think we are quite close to a breaking point where the NRA is going to lose their stranglehold on the Republican party and the conservative news outlets, and we will finally see common sense take hold which will hopefully translate into the passing of some very necessary gun laws.

I just cannot imagine how many more have to die before people say enough is enough, and finally force our politicians to do their damn jobs.

After all, they work for us not the fucking gun lobby.

For the most tone deaf response to the Grand Jury decision on the choking death of Eric Garner where else would you go except Fox News?

Courtesy of Think Progress: 

Moments after the decision was announced, Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson expressed her deep concern about the outcome. Not concern that the police killed Garner, who was allegedly selling untaxed cigarettes, without facing legal repercussions. But concern that anger over the decision could impact a “the tree lighting ceremony” scheduled for that evening at Rockefeller Center.

Sadly for Carlson her worst fears were realized.

The mayor’s appearance tonight at the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting has been canceled.
— Mike Grynbaum (@grynbaum) December 3, 2014

Yeah it really sucks when the unnecessary death of a black man, and a miscarriage of justice, screws up people's holiday plans.

And coming in a close second in tone deafness is potential 2016 presidential candidate Rand Paul, who blamed the whole thing on taxes. That's right taxes: 

Well you know I think it’s hard not to watch that video of him saying ‘I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe’ and not be horrified by it. But I think there’s something bigger than the individual circumstances. Obviously, the individual circumstances are important. But I think it is also important to know that some politician put a tax of $5.85 on a pack of cigarettes so that driven cigarettes underground by making them so expensive. But then some politician also had to direct the police to say, ‘hey we want you arresting people for selling a loose cigarette.’ And for someone to die over breaking that law, there really is no excuse for it. But I do blame the politicians. We put our police in a difficult situation with bad laws.

Well so much for Rand Paul's attempt to court the African American vote.

Jon Stewart's response to Megyn Kelly's assertion that Santa Claus is white, and it's a fact, must not be missed. Update!

"Santa is just white! And who are you actually talking to? Children who are sophisticated enough to be watching a news channel at ten o'clock at night, yet innocent enough to still believe Santa Claus is real, yet racist enough to be freaked out if he isn't white."

So true.

By the way apparently somebody decided to change Megyn Kelly's Wikipedia page today to reflect her new claim to fame.

I understand that Kelly is planning to address her bizarre assertion (Which by the way is completely false.) on her show tonight. I might just provide an update to this post based on what she has to say.

Update: Okay so I just saw the opening of Kelly's show and her explanation for the controversy is that  she was joking, and liberals have no sense of humor.

Oh she also said that she and Fox News were big targets in this country. (Oh yeah, THAT'S the reason you are being mocked.)

I invite you to play the video at the top of this post again and tell me if you can discern if the slightest hint of humor coming from Megyn Kelly as she states emphatically that Santa, and of course Jesus, are white.

Freshly kicked off the Fox and Friends couch, blonde dingbat Gretchen Carlson takes a stab at interviewing Sarah Palin. Kind of like Malibu Barbie interviewing Trailer Park Trash Trixie.

Apparently the new methodology for making Palin appear smarter is to have her interviewed by the human equivalent of a blonde houseplant.

As for Palin she is back to wearing her hideous purple furry collared housecoat, as well as a fake smile and a barely housebroken rodent on her head. In other words somebody pulled her out from under the bed, plopped a hunting trophy on her head, poured a Red Bull down her throat, and tied her to a chair in front of a fake backdrop.

(And action!)

Of course the purpose of this interview is to gave Palin  the chance to pimp her ghostwritten Heritage Foundation love note to Ted Cruz. As well as to attack Obamacare. ("What about Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi!")

The interview is almost impossible to listen to without wanting to rip your hair out (Or at least bitchslap that half dead thing on Palin's noggin.), however here are a couple of Palin-isms that I managed to glean in between the giggling and jaw dropping stupidity.

"United we stand and divided we will fall. And we will fall under Obamacare."

"Obamacare is going to result in a part time employment arena that most Americans are going to have to face."

"This is what we're looking for, some kind of relief for Americans. Idilly (sic) the relief would be the same relief that Congress gave themselves, and that is an exemption from this burdensome,  unaffordable, unworkable, law called Obamacare."

"Obamacare is a disaster, it is a train wreck, it is huge government intervention, I believe it's unconstitutional because it violates the commerce clause, and the Federal government really has no right to tell us what we should, or should not, purchase." (Does she mean like they have no right to tell us we have to buy car insurance?)

"That's why we don't want to just give up and say okay Federal government intervene even more fully in our lives, more than what our Founders had ever intended. For this branch of government to...to..um..be able to  burden us. No we don't give up we..we..we fight for what's right and tart's why we elect those like Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, who are willing to stand firm and speak on behalf of we the people."

At the end of the interview Carlson asked Palin if there is anything about her that nobody knows. (You know like faking a pregnancy, or lying about an abortion, or about how and why your oldest son joined the military? Something like that?)

Of course Palin is not willing to reveal anything of any news value. (Dammit!) And instead says that everybody pretty much knows all about her since her e-mail got hacked and everything. (It wasn't hacked!)

However she does volunteer to tell the viewers how her Fox interviews are done.

"Something that maybe viewers would find interesting is the way that we put together these Fox interviews. I'm in Todd's airplane hangar, and Todd is the one manning the camera, and he's behind the controls. And we put a sign outside the door asking the kids to stay out for about fifteen minutes. Don't come knock on the door, we put that sign up, and we also ask the kids to keep all the dogs outside because we've had them wander through once in awhile during these hits and it creates some chaos."

WTF? Does anybody remember a time when a dog caused a problem during a previous interview? I sure don't.

Carlson then asks Palin how many dogs they have.

This kind of catches Palin by surprise, and she fumble a bit before claiming that they usually end up "babysitting" Bristol's dogs and then bizarrely suggests they always have "strays" coming around as well.

Really, taking in stray dogs? Does that sound like something the Grizzled Mama would do?

It sounds to me as if SOMEBODY is once again working to put to rest the rumors that she is no longer living in Wasilla, and is using this hokey story to provide cover.

I wonder what kind of sign she has on her door in Arizona?

Ed Schultz pokes fun at Gretchen Carlson's dippy defense of Sarah Palin.