Here’s your media quote of the day, courtesy of Fox News chief Roger Ailes.
In a wide-ranging interview with the Daily Beast, Ailes addressed, among other things, NPR’s firing of Juan Williams.
“They are, of course, Nazis,” Ailes said of NPR. “They have a kind of Nazi attitude. They are the left wing of Nazism. These guys don’t want any other point of view. They don’t even feel guilty using tax dollars to spout their propaganda. They are basically Air America with government funding to keep them alive.”
Ailes, of course, wasted no time in capitalizing on NPR’s decision to fire Williams, a longtime Fox News contributor, offering him a three-year, $2 million extension.
“A guy who gets fired and humiliated in the press can lose a lot of confidence,” Ailes said of Williams. “I didn’t want him to have to call his wife and say we lost money.”
Ailes also took exception with Jon Stewart’s treatment of his channel.
“He’s crazy. If [cable news] wasn’t polarized, he couldn’t make a living," Ailes said. "He makes a living by attacking conservatives and stirring up a liberal base against it. He loves polarization. He depends on it. If liberals and conservatives are all getting along, how good would that show be? It’d be a bomb.”
Ailes continued: “Look what he does to Sarah Palin.” If Stewart wants to go after cable hosts for the entertainment value, fine, “but don’t give me a social speech on the steps of the Washington Monument. Don’t lapse into non-comedy.”
And Stewart’s “Rally to Restore Sanity” message to cable news to tone down the "fear" rhetoric?
“Oh, horse—-,” he said.