When I first read this last week in my local paper, my first thought was, “WOW–and it isn’t even my birthday!” Imagine, Fox News, that bastion of Amurrica-first patriotism, the biggest supporters of the “war on terror” and all the lovely “enhanced interrogation” tactics that go with it–my mind absolutely boggled at the possibility of their parent company in bed with an alleged supporter of terrorist groups!
Then I decided to check further. I logged on to Diana West’s website (not being familiar with her), clicked the link for “columns”, and was floored when it took me to townhall.com–a decidedly right-leaning website! Now I’m thoroughly confused–I mean, on the one hand, if this is true, I’m impressed that a conservative writer would go after one of her own considering that, up till now, the righties have been pretty much in lockstep with each other. And yet, I can’t help but be suspicious that there’s some ulterior motive here.
Anyhoo, if this story is true, it brings up questions:
OK, maybe Alwaleed has changed since 2002, but Fox isn’t one to let something like that interfere with their ideological agenda–especially when it comes to Muslims and their perceived links to terrorism.
Don’t really watch Fox that often, but I’d be curious to see what Hannity’s opinion is now.
OK, I’m willing to concede that this is just braggadocio, but money talks–and sometimes shouts.
Finally, if this story is accurate, doesn’t this put the recent SCOTUS decision in an interesting light? One of the main objections that I’ve read to it was the possibility of foreign influence on U.S. political campaigns through corporate contributions. Isn’t this exactly what the decision’s critics were talking about? And, considering the whole “war on terror” thing, isn’t this possibly a worst-case scenario?
I’d appreciate any edification the Teeming Millions could provide regarding this story and its ramifications. As I said, I’m a bit confused by all this–what say you?