Fox Hypocrisy: Advising The President Edition

On the May 17 edition of his show, Glenn Beck criticized CNN's Fareed Zakaria for his meetings with President Obama, suggesting that there was something nefarious going on because Zakaria also speaks with Beck bogeyman George Soros.

Now, why - why would someone say that? Especially someone who the moment a group such as the Tea Party rises up and protests against his policies tells them to shut up and sit down. I like to know the answer to that. The president, I can't get him on the phone. Hey, I know I could ask - who's that guy that the president always asks for wisdom and advice, you know that guy that hosts that show on CNN? Oh yeah, that's right, Fareed Zakaria. He's great. Of course, he's denied that after he said that. That's weird. Maybe he is confused. Maybe he is too busy talking to his other good buddy George Soros. Gotta be proud of that. No, you do. Fareed, at least you are out in the open now.

For the record, Zakaria has subsequently responded to the claims that he has been advising Obama by stating: “The characterization that I have been 'advising' President Obama is inaccurate. Over the last few months I've had a couple of conversations with the President, off-the-record. At no point did President Obama ask me for advice on a specific policy or speech or proposal, nor did I volunteer it. I know that he has had similar meetings with other columnists.”

But whatever happened with Zakaria, it takes some gall for a Fox host to be attacking a media personality for giving advice to a president.

That is because Roger Ailes, president of Fox News, offered support and advice to former President George W. Bush following the September 11 attacks. The details are documented in Bob Woodward's book titled Bush at War. The Washington Post highlighted the Ailes-Bush relationship in a review of Woodward's book:

Roger E. Ailes, a media coach for Bush's father and now chairman of the Fox News Channel, sent a confidential communication to the White House in the weeks after the terrorist attacks. Rove took the Ailes communication to the president. “His back-channel message: The American public would tolerate waiting and would be patient, but only as long as they were convinced that Bush was using the harshest measures possible,” Woodward wrote. He added that Ailes, who has angrily challenged reports that his news channel has a conservative bias, added a warning: “Support would dissipate if the public did not see Bush acting harshly.”

The book is based on interviews with more than 100 people involved in planning and executing the war. Woodward would not describe the records of NSC meetings he reviewed beyond saying that they were official and verbatim, and that in many cases he was able to check the accounts with multiple sources.

Of course, it is not that surprising that Ailes advised Bush. Media Matters has also documented that Fox News is a network that has repeatedly pushed smears, falsehoods, deceptive editions and GOP talking points. It is in the business of "doing politics," contrary to what Ailes would like the American people to believe.

So why would Beck attack Zakaria while making no mention of Ailes, who after all, will not be Beck's boss much longer?

The answer may be that Beck has a personal conflict with Zakaria. Last year, Zakaria challenged a statement by Beck made on his radio show in which he stated that 10% of Muslims are terrorists. Zakaria called Beck's analysis “total nonsense” and “off by 1,000%.” Zakaria's challenge drew sharp criticism from Glenn Beck. On his radio show yesterday, Beck also stated that Zakaria “has zero credibility.”

And if there's one thing Beck's an expert on, it's people with zero credibility.