Ol' Roger Ailes is a little paranoid

[joebuck20]

Gawker has been running a pretty interesting series of stories about Fox News chief Roger Ailes and the small newspapers he owns in Putnam County, N.Y. The first one talked about he had some reporters followed, because he feared they were talking smack about him.

Anyway, the latest story details his feud with a rival newspaper publisher in Putnam County.

Roger Ailes Continues to Ruin His Adopted Home

Tensions between the two men boiled over two weeks ago at a Putnam County business expo, where Ailes confronted Hall to complain about things he’d written in his tiny paper. According to Hall—who is 80 years old—Ailes pushed him in the chest and threatened to sue him. Hall’s offense? The Putnam County Press had referred to a February New York Times story accusing Ailes of urging his former employee Judith Regan to lie to federal investigators about her relationship with Bernie Kerik.

“He told me if I ever published a story like that again, he’d sue me,” Hall told Gawker. “He wasn’t happy about it. He stuck his finger at me in my chest, and I said, ‘Don’t push me.’ He said, ‘I didn’t push you.’”

Here’s Ol’ Roger’s response:

The sheriff deputies were at the event when I arrived and they were still there when I left. According to what I’m told, they routinely provide security at large events for everyone. There was no dispute with Don Hall — we had a joking conversation, but he may have missed the point — he’s not exactly a barrel of laughs. As for suing Don, that would be fruitless because he’s broke. I also never ‘poked him in the chest’ — if I did, he would have toppled over since he’s only 60 pounds.

Just how insecure does one need to be to gloat about being able to knock over an 80-year-old.

[John_Mace]

He’s saying the fact that he didn’t topple over is proof that he didn’t shove him, since he weighs so little. That’s not gloating.

This is pretty weak stuff…

[joebuck20]

@John_Mace

He’s saying the fact that he didn’t topple over is proof that he didn’t shove him, since he weighs so little. That’s not gloating.

This is pretty weak stuff…

He wasn’t gloating about knocking the guy over. He was gloating about being able to, which seems pretty petty.

[John_Mace]

@joebuck20

He wasn’t gloating about knocking the guy over. He was gloating about being able to, which seems pretty petty.

No. He said: “…he would have toppled over since he’s only 60 pounds.”

I think you’re reading too much into this.

[Simplicio]

Yea, but there’s no way the guy is really anywhere close to 60 pounds. He was calling him a wimp, which I’d say is pretty much gloating.

[John_Mace]

@Simplicio

Yea, but there’s no way the guy is really anywhere close to 60 pounds. He was calling him a wimp, which I’d say is pretty much gloating.

Oh, he probably was insulting the guy in a not-so-back handed way by exaggerating his frailty. That’s still not gloating over his ability to knock the guy over, since it has nothing to do with his own ability, and everything to do with the other guy’s frailty.

Still pretty weak stuff (pardon the pun). But hey, whatever sets off your outrage meter…

[pseudotriton_ruber_ruber]

Sounds to me like Ailes lost his temper, laid hands on (one finger on) an elderly, frail man, and then tried to defend himself by pointing out that only a bullying idiot would ever assault someone so much older and frailer than himself–so therefore he couldn’t possibly have done such a thing.

Be better for him if he didn’t already have a reputation as a bullying idiot, of course.

[BubbaDog]

So Hall said Allies pushed him and Allies said he didn’t even poke him.
This happened supposedly at an expo so it’s quite possible there were others around.

I don’t see any evidence to support either of their claims.

So besides the opinion that Allies is already and asshole why do you believe one side of this situation and not the other?

[pseudotriton_ruber_ruber]

because if the old guy was going to lie about it, he’d probably invent something worse than touching him with a single finger.

[joebuck20]

I guess I should posted some more details about the feud in my OP, because him poking or not poking Hall isn’t even really the point of the story (I posted my little quip at the end as sort of an afterthought). The point is Ailes getting upset over this guy mentioning an unfavorable story about him in his paper and then threatening to sue him and making ominous threats about how he “knew things,” which is mentioned further down in story.

Here’s another tidbit from that article:

Ailes’ beef with Hall goes beyond circ figures and Judith Regan—it’s about business. Until now, each year Putnam County has designated Ailes’ News and Recorder and Courier and Hall’s Press as “official newspapers,” entitling them to be paid by the county for publishing various official announcements. The deal netted the Ailes papers $23,000 in 2010…This year, however, a move is afoot to cut Hall and his papers out of the official notices contract, leaving it to Ailes exclusively. Such a move could mean the end of the Press and the Times, and many in Putnam County say Ailes is behind it. According to Hall and to Lynne Eckardt, the chairperson of the Putnam County Democratic Party, the effort to ice out the Hall papers is being led by GOP New York State Sen. Greg Ball, who has been a frequent target of the Press—one notable headline was “Greg Ball: Manure Spreader.”

Anyway, the story then goes on to detail Ball’s feud with Hall, and Ailes’ support of him.

[Captain_Amazing]

So it’s not really about “Ailes getting upset over this guy mentioning an unfavorable story about him in his paper and then threatening to sue him and making ominous threats about how he ‘knew things,’”, it’s about Ailes and the guy fighting over business, and Ailes’s newspaper trying to be the only one who can print official county announcements. It seems to me that’s a perfectly good thing for two newspaper owners to fight about.