Fox Mole Joe Muto

On Tuesday, the Fox Mole wrote his inaugural post on Gawker, which included some unremarkable footage of Mitt Romney bantering with Sean Hannity during a break in an interview.  The consensus on Ricochet was that, if anything, the footage compelled folks to like Romney a little better – or to dislike him a little less, as the case may be.

Then on Wednesday, the Fox Mole complained about News Corp bathrooms.

And by Wednesday evening, Fox Mole had been outed and fired. From his last post, a confession that's sure to serve him well as he tries to salvage his reputation and career prospects:

I am a weasel, a traitor, a sell-out and every bad word you can throw at me... but as of today, I am free, and I am ready to tell my story, which I wasn't able to fully do for the previous 36 hours.

The Fox Mole's real identity: Joe Muto.  And it turns out Mr. Muto accepted just $5,000 to commit career hara-kiri.

Comments:


Keith Preston
Joined
May '10
Keith Preston

And it turns out Mr. Muto accepted just $5,000 to commit career hara-kiri.

...gives a new meaning to the term "spilling your guts..."

Larry Koler
Joined
Jun '10
Larry Koler

Keith Preston

And it turns out Mr. Muto accepted just $5,000 to commit career hara-kiri.

...gives a new meaning to the term "spilling your guts..." · 5 minutes ago

Genius.

James Gawron
Joined
Dec '10
James Gawron

Diane,

Let's see, The Left is made up of Starry Eyed Idealists or

The Left is made up of Cheap Backstabbing Idealogues.

Hmmm...let me think.

Regards,

Jim

EJHill
Joined
May '10
EJHill

A liberal was miserable at Fox. Go figure. How many people at other networks bite their lower lips til they bleed (besides me)?

Duane Oyen
Joined
May '10
Duane Oyen

Given that lefties own the vast bulk of the legacy media, this was arguably a very sensible career move.  Now he can be a celebrity inside MSNBC.

Larry Koler
Joined
Jun '10
Larry Koler

He's gonna tell his story now? The whole story? Everything that he knows about Fox News? From the inside?

Oh this will really shake things up. Finally, we will see the level of bias that was seeping out from the edges before but always mopped up just before the world got the info. The reason that something like this doesn't happen in the liberal stations is that there was nothing to tell: just plain old hard work, getting to the bottom of everything, slogging through the mundane world we live in.

I mean how can that be sexy? That's why Fox News has been outselling its competitors. It's simply willing to do all those dastardly things we all hear about. Things that people of integrity would never stoop to pick up and then promote. 

After this all comes out we will all have to take a bath, I'm sure. 

tabula rasa
Joined
Jun '10
tabula rasa

Has there been a bigger non-event this week?


Joined
Mar '12
Madcap

And apparently, he has more revelations to come!

I'm skeptical--if I was Gawker, I would have published the most explosive allegation first.

Basil Fawlty
Joined
Mar '11
Basil Fawlty

Mr. Muto?  The famous Japanese secret agent?

Misthiocracy
Joined
Aug '10
Misthiocracy

It only took them two days to track him down?

He must have been really, really bad at covering his tracks.  Did he use Fox's computer equipment to send his submissions to Gawker?!

Up here in Canuckistan, there was a Liberal Party staffer that was busted running a particularly nasty anti-Tory Twitter account. His mistake was that he used a Government of Canada computer, so it was easy to track the IP information back to him.

Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Dumb.

Still, it took more than a week for the guy to be exposed.

This guy at Fox was either really incompetent, or else he wanted to get caught so that he could get better offers from Fox's competitors.

Jonathan Horn

Diane, well said. I see the mole has now released new excerpts from the Hannity-Romney conversation showing that both men are -- brace yourselves -- completely reasonable. Romney explains that he thinks there is a time and place for using a teleprompter, which should come as a shock to no one because Romney has used teleprompters at certain times and places. The mole seems to think this is somehow hypocritical or ironic because some have made fun of Obama for overusing teleprompters, but instead it comes off as reasonable and thoughtful. One would think that a mole would be better at digging up dirt.

Pseudodionysius
Joined
Sep '10
Pseudodionysius

This raises the question:

"Do moles have squirrel brains?"

Nathaniel Wright
Joined
Aug '10
Nathaniel Wright

He'll have a long career as a "former conservative" who speaks truth to power about the racism and sexism of the conservative movement.  He'll be like all of those "former Satanists" who told evangelicals about the evils of D&D in the 80s who took advantage of honest and deeply religious people by spreading fear.

In this case, he'll be fear mongering those that the Democrats have been lying to for years.  He'll be yet another example of the converted enemy who couldn't stand the hate.

He's another David Brock in the making, and I'm sure Media Matters has a position just waiting for him.

Pseudodionysius
Joined
Sep '10
Pseudodionysius

This has all the drama of Frasier Crane running with scissors in his hands. 

Aaron Miller
Joined
May '10
Aaron Miller
tabula rasa: Has there been a bigger non-event this week?

I certainly hope conservatives don't waste their breath talking about whatever inane accusations Muto makes from here on.

Don't let Democrats control the public conversation, folks. Talk about what matters, not whatever topic the New York Times or MSNBC raises to distract us.

Misthiocracy
Joined
Aug '10
Misthiocracy
Aaron Miller  Don't let Democrats control the public conversation, folks. Talk about what matters, not whatever topic theNew York Times or MSNBC raises to distract us. 

Yabbut, they're really good at coming up with topics that make for interesting Ricochet comment threads!

The issues that really matter don't tend to be nearly as fun in the "Post Comment" department.

Fredösphere
Joined
May '10
Fredösphere

It's slightly off-topic, but now's as good a time as ever to point out that "Fox News Liberal" is a TV Trope.

dogsbody
Joined
Sep '10
dogsbody

The comment from "mbmanni" on the Gawker article is entertaining.  It starts, "Hi Joe, can I be the first liberal to call you a (unmentionable)?"  and gets better from there.

Pat in Obamaland
Joined
May '10
Pat in Obamaland

Another story reminding us of professionalism's gradual death in the internet age. Whether you love or hate your job, you don't rant about  your employer through blog posts--unless, of course, there is some legitimate whistleblowing rationale (insider trading, not "they are conservative").

Severely Ltd.
Joined
Oct '10
Severely Ltd.

Romney might want to pay this guy $5000. That clip of Mitt and Hannity really does make me think more of Mitt.There's a guy I'd enjoy having a beer, er no...coffee, no...well then, lemonade with. He seems like a genuinely good guy.

Maybe, just maybe, the RNC has really gotten smart and this mole was a double agent.


Would you like to comment on this Conversation?

Become a Member for $3.67 a month.

Join the Conversation
Already a member? Sign In
Loading

Start your shopping here!

Help support Ricochet by making your purchases through our Amazon links.

Welcome Visitor!
Join  or  Sign In

Become a Member to enjoy the full benefits of Ricochet:

  • Let your voice be heard! Join the conversation -- or start your own.
  • Follow your favorite Contributors and fellow Members
  • Enjoy Premium Podcasts
  • Read Member-initiated conversations
  • Keep tabs on your favorite conversations
  • Like, Quote or Share your favorite post or comments 
  • Receive special Member-only invitations... and more!

Ricochet: The Right People, The Right Tone, The Right Place.  Join today!

Already a Member? Sign In