John Ziegler wants to know why Sarah Palin has not been suspended from Fox News, given the channels policy on political contributors and potential candidates.
In order, she has made the following on-air pronouncements in the role of Fox News commentator:
- A long primary is good for the process and the candidate which emerges.
- Voters should support Newt Gingrich in order to keep the primaries going.
- There is nothing wrong with a brokered convention.
- Conservatives should have doubts about the perceived front runner, Mitt Romney.
Now all of these statements are certainly legitimate opinions, though when they come from someone who teased for months that she was going to run for president and who may have a profound political interest in no Republican becoming president so that she can remain more relevant, having her specifically urging voters to take certain actions while in her role as a paid commentator is clearly a cause for concern for any journalistic organization.
However, any question as to whether Palin has indeed crossed the line into the realm of commentator illegitimacy ended yesterday when she said on Fox that she might run for office again and strongly implied that she would accept the nomination of a brokered convention.
So, the obvious question is: If Fox’s policy is to suspend commentators who are making moves to run for high office, how in the world does campaigning on air for a brokered convention, urging voters to take actions which would facilitate that, knocking the frontrunner, and giving the impression you would accept the nomination of any such brokered convention, possibly NOT qualify for such an action?
