The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Alternate Headline for Current TV Deal

Posted on | January 3, 2013 | 17 Comments

The top of Memeorandum is cluttered with news that Al Gore’s Current TV was sold to Al-Jazeera, but Allahpundit nails the real story:

Al Gore opposed to paying his ‘fair share’

Liberal hypocrisy, thy name is Al:

Al Jazeera did not disclose the purchase price, but people with direct knowledge of the deal pegged it at around $500 million, indicating a $100 million payout for Mr. Gore, who owned 20 percent of Current. Mr. Gore and his partners were eager to complete the deal by Dec. 31, lest it be subject to higher tax rates that took effect on Jan. 1 . . .

Unfortunately for Gore, they couldn’t manage to close the deal until yesterday, so he got screwed out of a few million bucks. The bonus kicker:

Glenn Beck reportedly tried to buy the network last year [but] was told that they wouldn’t sell to someone who wasn’t “aligned with our point of view.” So, naturally: Al Jazeera.

No word yet on whether Al Jazeera, the pro-Islam network based in Qatar, will re-hire Keith Olbermann, who quit Current TV in a huff and filed a $70 million lawsuit against the network. Certainly, if it were a matter of being “aligned with out point of view” . . .

 

Category: Media Bias

Comments

17 Responses to “Alternate Headline for Current TV Deal”

  1. votermom (D)
    January 3rd, 2013 @ 12:52 pm

    Henceforth to be known as AlGorjeeraTV

  2. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    January 3rd, 2013 @ 1:05 pm

    Quite the legacy there for ManBearPig!

  3. smitty
    January 3rd, 2013 @ 1:05 pm

    @rsmccain You seem to be having trouble getting your mind around the rebirth of aristocracy, peasant.

  4. dwduck
    January 3rd, 2013 @ 1:13 pm

    Or, as he’s now known, ManBearGoat. Wouldn’t want to offend his new overlords…

  5. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    January 3rd, 2013 @ 1:17 pm

    I am sure AlGorjeera will continue to promote the progressive social issues that Current is most proud of.

  6. ThomasD
    January 3rd, 2013 @ 1:34 pm

    OPEC oil interests shelling out big bucks to people with a history of opposing US domestic oil and gas production???

    The hell you say!

    Somebody call Matt Dayyyyymon! He needs to make a movie about this sort of self serving special interest hackery.

    Maybe call it Promised Payoffland.

  7. Adjoran
    January 3rd, 2013 @ 1:53 pm

    This makes no sense. Half a billion for a sad sack cable channel with a tiny viewership which isn’t likely to stay and contracts with cable and satellite companies which amount to almost giving the content away?

    Where is the value? A cheap studio and a satellite linkup is all they need, the cable and sat-providers aren’t going to keep paying whatever token amount they pay Current once their subscribers begin to complain about Terror TV. If Al-J could survive the bad PR anyway, why not just start their own channel for a fraction of the cost?

  8. willpeir
    January 3rd, 2013 @ 2:12 pm

    Pay all the right people, zip all the right voices. Impress New Yorkers, and keep the guy who’s supposed to be anti-oil from focusing on you? Worth it.

    And frankly, they want to proudly destroy America, not this tepid destruction we love so much these days.

  9. Al Gore sells Current TV to al-Jazeera UPDATED! Al Gore does not pay his fair share! « The Daley Gator
    January 3rd, 2013 @ 2:24 pm

    […] I guess Joe Biden might call Al Gore unpatriotic! Liberal hypocrisy, thy name is Al: Al Jazeera did not disclose the purchase price, but people with […]

  10. JeffS
    January 3rd, 2013 @ 2:57 pm

    Payoff for a job well done, I expect.

  11. JeffS
    January 3rd, 2013 @ 2:59 pm

    Keith Olbermann will probably work for AlGorejeeraTV at no cost.

  12. Quartermaster
    January 3rd, 2013 @ 3:44 pm

    He just a prole that doesn’t want to assume his proper station in life. Blotkhin awaits in the basement.

  13. Quartermaster
    January 3rd, 2013 @ 3:46 pm

    Yeppers! Doing work Americans simply won’t do.
    What? You think leftists are American or patriots? Thou art surely naive.

  14. ThomasD
    January 3rd, 2013 @ 9:38 pm

    Room 101.

  15. RichFader
    January 3rd, 2013 @ 10:48 pm

    A huff? I’m pretty sure Keith quit Current in a minute and a huff.

  16. Charles
    January 4th, 2013 @ 1:20 am

    It’s a Hollywood rule to exaggerate your paycheck, and we all know Al Gore has gone Hollywood, so I’d like to see the cancelled check. But since Gore is essentially selling access to a foreign prince, it’s possible.

    If he paid an extra $5 million in capital gains tax and $3.8 million in Medicare surtax on his $100 million payday because they didn’t close the deal until January, that’s great. But before sending the thank you note, better comb the new law for any special transition deal.

    However, if what he is really getting paid for is the service of keeping the cable outlets on board, perhaps Al Gore should be paying 43.4%, $43.4 million in tax. It’s only fair.

    His remaining $66.4 million, less what he owes in NYC and DC income tax, where his services were likely performed, will be a little short of what he needs to cover the $70 Keith Olbermann lawsuit. You typically have to settle such lawsuits to sell your company.

  17. It’s Never Enough for Liberals : The Other McCain
    January 4th, 2013 @ 8:44 am

    […] rhetoric“! But what about those Qatari billionaires who just bought Al Gore’s Current TV? Should they have been outlawed before or after they paid Gore a cool $100 million?Category: […]