REVOLVING-DOOR WATCH…. Fox News was apparently in the market for a couple of new political analysts, and wouldn’t you know it, the Republican network hired two Republicans.
Tucker Carlson and Dana Perino have joined Fox News as contributors, the Huffington Post has learned.
Carlson hosted the 6PM hour on MSNBC until March 2008, when his show, “Tucker,” was canceled. Since then, he served as a senior campaign correspondent for MSNBC and has written for The Daily Beast.
Perino served as White House Press Secretary from September 2007 through the end of George W. Bush’s second term.
It’s mildly amusing to see Fox News hire Carlson given that the conservative commentator once called Fox News a “mean, sick group of people.” But I find the Perino hire more interesting, because of the larger trend of loyal Bushies getting hired to work at major news outlets.
It’s been tough to keep up with them all, but I think Perino is the 11th. Michael Gerson (Washington Post), Mary Matalin (CNN), Sara Taylor (MSNBC), Tony Snow (CNN), Frances Fragos Townsend (CNN), Nicole Wallace (CBS News), Dan Bartlett (CBS News), Jeff Ballabon (CBS News), Tony Fratto (CNBC) and, of course, Karl Rove (Fox News, Newsweek, and the Wall Street Journal) have all gone from working for Bush/Cheney to working for the mainstream media. (If Fox News’ case, I use “mainstream” loosely.)
Given the previous administrations’ record, it’s tempting to think these former officials would stay out of the public eye. After all, haven’t they done enough damage to the country already?
But the mainstream media keeps hiring these folks anyway. The end of the Bush/Cheney era, alas, does not mean the end of loyal Bushies misleading the country.
