The leftist/Democratic Party War Against Fox News: constitutional expert and media critic Andy Martin explains why free speech is endangered

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Andy Martin defends Fox News against attacks from Democrats and leftist extremists

Andy says he had a bad experience with Fox, where they abused him and stabbed him in the back but, as a matter of constitutional principle, he still defends the network

Andy says we cannot return to the social mores and practices of the 1950’s and 60’s; society has moved on

Andy also says Bill O’Reilly got a raw deal from Rupert Murdoch’s sons, who are in the process of dismembering Fox News; allegations of “sexual harassment” are only the visible aspects of a clandestine agenda to neuter the conservative network

Andy says Sean Hannity is only the latest victim of what is going to be a protracted “War Against Fox News”

(New York, NY) (April 25 2017)

Dear American:

Sixty-five years ago U. S. Senator Joe McCarthy terrorized the media and liberals in general by accusing them of being infiltrated by “communists.” McCarthy’s supporters tried to remove individuals and reporters from appearing on TV and radio, and threatened media that refused to bend to their demands. They also used pressure tactics against advertisers, many of whom quickly caved.

When CBS refused to be intimidated, the network became a liberal icon for staring down and standing up to McCarthy’s accusations.

Today the tables are reversed.

Liberals are trying to intimidate the media and seeking to force the removal of conservative voices by threatening boycotts against sponsors. A demonization campaign again Fox News host Bill O’Reilly, based on stale accusations of sexual harassment, caused the sons of Rupert Murdoch to panic and remove O’Reilly.

As I made clear in my earlier column on O’Reilly, I strongly oppose sexual harassment and condemn abusive behavior by men or women seeking to extort sexual favors based on their positions of corporate or media authority. Almost fifty years ago I stood up at the Federal Communications Commission for the equal employment rights of women.

But I believe Murdoch’s sons are hell bent on destroying the legacy of their father. Rupert Murdoch was a swashbuckling and often abrasive corporate operator who built a worldwide media empire. I have followed him since the 1970’s. Rupert was “good” and “bad” and “in between.” His own moral behavior was immoral.

But in 1996 he gave conservatives a voice in the United States, the Fox News Network, conceived by Roger Ailes. Murdoch’s sons have not built anything; they are destroying their father’s legacy and trying to dismember Fox News as a conservative voice. O’Reilly was only the first casualty.

O’Reilly became a victim of McCarthyism of the left, liberals using the same sorts of malignant tactics they had condemned when they were employed by Senator McCarthy in the 1950’s. Instead of “doing a CBS” and standing up for O’Reilly, the Murdoch boys panicked at the first sign of sponsor resistance. I don’t know what O’Reilly did or didn’t do with the various women who accused him. They said he had engaged in boorish behavior; no one ever said O’Reilly attacked them or physically manhandled them. If the allegations were proven, they were still stale, long out of date and stretching back a decade in some instances, during an era when standards of corporate behavior were steadily strengthened to condemn aggressive behavior.

Some form of discipline against O’Reilly may have been appropriate; dismissal was not. But I knew the attacks on O’Reilly were only the first stage in a liberal/leftist plan to destroy Fox News. I said to myself, “How long before Sean Hannity is next?” I didn’t have long to wait. Over the weekend a woman surfaced and denounced Hannity.

I have to be honest and state that while I have no hesitation to defend Fox News, I was treated badly by the network. They took advantage of my research, used me as a guest, and then smeared me when I became the target of leftist attacks (sound familiar?). Rupert Murdoch and his minions have no loyalty to anyone but themselves. Hannity stood by silently and failed to defend me, so his defense of free speech ends where his paycheck begins. But despite my own personal experience with Fox, I see an important constitutional principle in the way the network has been targeted for destruction by leftist activists and agitators.

Democrats are in a bind. They lost an election for the White House to someone they considered a clown. Congress is in the hands of Republicans, especially conservatives. In the days ahead, Democratic cities are going to lose massive amounts of federal funding as they persist in the nonsense that they are “sanctuary cities” free to defy federal law. And so Democrats have chosen to try to win with the media some sense of power that they have not been able to obtain from voters.

“The media” are only too happy to accommodate Democrats/leftists, because the media are marbled with liberals and extreme leftists. And so we have the War Against Fox News, breathlessly covered by also-ran competitors CNN and MSNBC.

Hannity has denounced his accuser and says he has assembled a powerful legal team to fight back against false accusations. Hannity’s accuser has already walked back her claims and says they do not amount to sexual harassment (please see links [1] and [2] below). Where does all of this end?

When I went to college in the 1960’s, men and women could only meet on the first floor of dorms, with three feet on the floor. Later, doors had to be open when a male visitor was on the floor a women’s dorm. Within a few years, everything was topsy turvy and social morals had radically changed. Are we about to return to the moral standards and practices of the 1950’s? I hope not.

Women have made unbelievable strides in the workplace in the past decades. Will businessmen and businesswomen only be able to meet in glass rooms?

I don’t think sexual harassment is a joke. I take it seriously. Ironically I went to Capitol Hill, initially as an intern, soon after “sex” had been added --as a joke-- to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Over a lifetime I have seen the progress women have made. I also grew up in a single-parent home where we depended on mom’s paycheck from “The Aircraft” every two weeks.

But we need to distinguish between genuine workplace harassment and the types of accusations that were hurled against O’Reilly and are now being asserted against Hannity. How can anyone distinguish fact from fiction years later, when two adults met alone? And, when sexual accusations are proffered as part of a coordinated campaign against a news organization to destroy that entity, are we are straight back in the 1950’s, with leftists now using the same tactics they condemned when Joe McCarthy was terrorizing America and abusing public figures?

Fox News is not a sympathetic organization, as I know from personal experience and the manner in which they abused me. But I have no hesitation to defend Fox from a campaign to destroy conservative speech and free speech in America. The left lost the 2016 election. Democrats are trying to win back on TV what they lost on the political battlefield. We can’t let them do that. Attention must be paid.

Andy

LINKS TO THIS STORY (cut and paste the entire link below and not just the underlined portion):

[1]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/sean-hannity-calls-sexual-harassment-accusation-100percent-false/2017/04/24/f2432c90-28e7-11e7-9081-f5405f56d3e4_story.html?

[2]

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/sean-hannity-denies-right-wing-blogger-s-sex-harassment-claim-n750211

ANDY MARTIN - A BRIEF BIO:

Andy Martin is a legendary New Hampshire, New York and Chicago muckraker, author, Internet columnist, talk television pioneer, radio talk show host, broadcaster and media critic. With forty-nine years of background in radio and television and with five decades of investigative and analytical experience in Washington, the USA and around the world, Andy provides insight on politics, foreign policy, intelligence and military matters. For a full bio, go to: www.AndyMartin.com; also see www.BoycottABC.com/executive_director.htm

Andy has also been a leading corruption fighter in American politics and courts for over fifty years and is executive director of the National Anti-Corruption Policy Institute. See also www.FirstRespondersOnline.us; www.AmericaisReadyforReform.com.

He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois College of Law and is a former adjunct professor of law at the City University of New York (LaGuardia CC, Bronx CC).

He is the author of “Obama: The Man Behind The Mask” [www.OrangeStatePress.com] and produced the Internet film “Obama: The Hawaii’ Years” [www.BoycottHawaii.com]. Andy is the Executive Editor and publisher of the “Internet Powerhouse,” blogging at www.contrariancommentary.wordpress.com and www.ContrarianCommentary.com.

Andy’s family immigrated to Manchester, New Hampshire 100 years ago; today his home overlooks the Merrimack River and he lives around the corner from where he played as a small boy. He is New Hampshire’s leading corruption fighter and Republican Party reformer.

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