The Rope With Which to Hang Us

Why is Fox News in bed with the Saudi “royal” family? Now that Zacarias Moussouai is singing like a canary from his cell in the Supermax prison, all sort of embarrassing things have popped up:

Fox News Correspondent James Rosen reported on Wednesday night that a “major investor in the parent company” of Fox News has been implicated in financing the terrorist group al-Qaeda. Rosen made the embarrassing disclosure in a story on the channel’s “Special Report” show hosted by Bret Baier.

The alleged al-Qaeda financier, Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, is a very close friend of Rupert Murdoch and his family, who control major media companies like News Corp and 21st Century Fox. The latter is now the parent company of the Fox News Channel.

The second largest shareholder in the Fox News parent company after the Murdoch family, Alwaleed has been addressed as “Your Highness” during his appearances on the network. His recent appearances have made him sound moderate, while denouncing Islamic extremism and the ISIS terrorist group.

Fox News is to be congratulated for reporting on a developing scandal that puts its chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Rupert Murdoch, in a very bad light.

I’ll say. I’ve never quite understood the passion conservatives have for Fox News, which has grown tired and predictable over the past decade, except that where else are they going to go? To Brian Williams at NBC “News”? Still, the corrupting Saudi money at Fox surely must have had some influence on the network’s new coverage — and the reluctance of some of its stars to go after the Saudis.

Be sure to click on the second link above to get Rosen’s report. And then ask yourself these questions:

1. Why haven’t the redacted pages of the 9/11 report been released, especially when at least two Democrats — former senators Bob Graham and Bob Kerrey — have raised legitimate public concern about the extent of the involvement of the “kingdom” in Islam’s attack on the U.S.?
2. Why wasn’t Saudi Arabia eliminated on Sept. 12, 2001, the “kingdom” deposed, the oil wells seized and internationalized, and its funding pipelines to its mosques and madrassas dismantled?
3. How corrupting has Saudi money been at the highest levels of the U.S. government, educational institutions and media companies?

Fox News might want to start looking into that. Especially now that the “prince” has unloaded most of his stake in the lesser, print half of Murdoch’s company but has kept his position in Fox News:

Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal said Wednesday that his company will shed most of its stake in Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., taking its 6.6% ownership down to 1%. But while Alwaleed’s Kingdom Holding Company will reduce its stake in News Corp. (NWSA), it will maintain its 6.6% holding of Murdoch’s entertainment company, 21st Century Fox (FOXA).

Murdoch’s media empire was formally split into two companies in 2013, after a phone hacking scandal forced him to shutter his British tabloid, The News of the World. News Corp. is Murdoch’s publishing operation, made up of the New York Post and the Wall Street Journal as well as the book publisher HarperCollins. The more valuable 21st Century Fox is home to a host of television and film properties such as Fox Searchlight, the Fox broadcasting network and Fox News.

Something still stinks over at Fox. Viewers ought to ask why.