Sunday news programs tend to evaluate the news of the week and also to bring in “respected” members of the media to do a meta-analysis of the news, although all too often in painfully predictable fashion. Hence, bringing in Paul Krugman, Arianna Huffington, and George Will to discuss the news with Barbara Walters on ABC’s This Week made sense, but Roger Ailes, president and CEO of FOX News, made an appearance as well and did exactly what one would expect from a FOX representative — evade the facts and rely on ratings as validation.

Ailes began even-keeled enough, mostly contributing only that he would do the infamous Cosmopolitan spread for far less than Scott Brown did and that he did not believe the Brown election necessarily predicted widespread change as certain outlets portrayed it. He would not last long before Huffington aimed to take Ailes to task for “the language that Glenn Beck is using, which is, after all, inciting the American people.” Ailes attempted to deflect responsibility by claiming Beck spoke innocuously of Hitler and Stalin, and therefore uttered truths. Huffington noted Ailes’s departure from facts, to which Ailes only retorted, “I think he speaks English. I don’t know, but I mean, I don’t misinterpret any of his words,” then going on to decry any attempt to be the “word police.” Beck’s English, then, along with his wielding of a bat on the air while talking about how “you, too, could be the next victim of the killing spree,” must work on a level beyond what Ailes chooses to comprehend.

Later, Will criticized the president for Will’s perception of cognitive dissonance on behalf of the president in complaining about the recent tone of politics while still hoping to get legislation like healthcare reform passed. Krugman turned the issue into one about media coverage since he felt the public had been ill informed, such as when President Obama “said rhetorically, ‘Why aren’t we going to do a health care plan like the Europeans have, with a government-run program?’ and then proceeds to explain whey his is different. On FOX News, what appeared was a clipped quote, ‘Why don’t we have a European-style health care plan?’ Right? Deliberate misinformation.” In return, Ailes chose not to directly defend the example, instead saying, “The American people are not stupid,” then denigrating the legislation because of its length. Not every party tries to present solutions for the entire nation in just nine pages, but as Krugman pointed legitimate solutions addressed in Congress often require that “Legislation always is long.”

Walters and Huffington continued to force Ailes to defend his network with further confounding results. Walters inquired if Sarah Palin, FOX’s latest hire, ever had the credentials to run for president. Ailes refused to commit to an answer, saying only, “FOX News is fair and balanced. We had Geraldine Ferraro on for ten years as the only woman the Democrats ever nominated. Now we have the only woman that the Republicans nominated. I’m not in politics, I’m in ratings. We’re winning.” It sounded far from an endorsement of Palin’s credibility and more of an endorsement of himself. Huffington proceeded to ask why FOX, if it really had a balanced perspective, turned away from President Obama taking on the GOP last Friday twenty minutes before it ended. Ailes incomprehensibly retreated once again to a company line, telling Huffington they did so “because we’re the most trusted name in news.” With deflecting answers like that, and the moderator’s inability to force more responsibility for them, it was no wonder people viewed the show as a sign that integrity and journalism had parted ways.

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