Of all the stories I see today, this one is pregnant with the most spittle-flecked Bozellian outrage.
HBO has done a secret deal for an Untitled Roger Ailes Project. It’s based on the upcoming manuscript by media writer Gabriel Sherman who has written two cover stories for New York magazine on Ailes and Fox News… executive producing this latest HBO project are two of Ailes’ competitors: Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, the co-hosts of MSNBC‘s Morning Joe.
Roger Ailes is a fantastic subject for a biopic. Depending on how far back you want to go, you’ve got a 28-year-old Ailes creating Richard Nixon’s comeback alongside Pat Buchahan; a 30something Ailes producing forgettable plays, a 48-year-old Ailes rescuing George H.W. Bush, and then his full-on comeback as Rush Limbaugh’s biggest promoter and the creator of Fox. Maybe you start it with Fox – you’ve still got an amazing story, a Randian Zelig. I’m not sure why the involvement of the most conservative MSNBC host is supposed to wound this. (I am a contributor to MSNBC.)
Europe, after the latest deal, still looks pretty doomed.
While I spent a good chunk of Tuesday explaining that this stuff is overrated, Mitt Romney’s multi-section explanation of whether the mandate is a tax is fascinating, like watching an ice-skater glide over a glacier being pounded by lava.
And the story of Rep. Thaddeus McCotter’s TV pilot is the most sadly bizarre thing you’ll read this morning.
“Bumper Sticker: Made On Motown” starred McCotter hosting a crude variety show cast with characters bearing the nicknames of his congressional staffers and his brother. They take pot shots about McCotter’s ill-fated bid for the White House while spewing banter about drinking, sex, race, flatulence, puking and women’s anatomy. It features a cartoon intro and closing snippet with an Oldsmobile careening through Detroit and knocking over the city’s landmarks.
McCotter’s basically the Stephen Wright of politics.
