Roger Ailes was lobbying Gen Petraeus to run for President in 2012:

“His deal with me was that I was only supposed to talk to you,” McFarland said. “And he is a little paranoid, so believe me, he doesn’t have anybody in that room.”

At the meeting, some 18 months ago, Petraeus told McFarland that he thought the CIA was “a treasure. .?.?. I think that organization is full of just heroes. Unsung heroes.” He went on to say, “We’re going to be retrenching militarily.” In contrast, the CIA and the intelligence agencies, “I think, are going to be a growth industry,” Petraeus said.

While rejecting Ailes’ advice, Petraeus said, “I love Roger. .?.?. He’s a brilliant guy.”

Petraeus said he “would love to see” Ailes on his next trip to New York, where Ailes has his office.

“Tell him if I ever ran,” Petraeus said, and then laughed, “but I won’t .?.?. but if I ever ran, I’d take him up on his offer. .?.?. He said he would quit Fox .?.?. and bankroll it.”

yet, Petraeus apologist Ricks says MSNBC is just like Fox News except not as good at it. Right.

Here is what Ailes told Petraeus:

C.) Tells Petraeus that Fox would fully back his presidential campaign, and by fully back she means:
D.) Murdoch would finance the campaign. Ailes would leave Fox to run the campaign. And Fox News itself would become the house organ of the campaign. As McFarland puts it point blank, “The big boss is bankrolling it. Roger’s going to run it. And the rest of us are going to be your in-house.”

[…]

At one point, in fact, McFarland explains why her bosses back home are so insistent on a Petraeus candidacy:

“Well, but .?.?. and here’s the thinking: that they’re nervous about.?.?. . They feel that Obama had this mandate. And the mandate — in his own mind. Obama wanted to do Obamacare. .?.?. He wanted to do environment, which is basically controlling all aspects of the economy. And education, which is the future. So he pushed for Obamacare. He got that done. They didn’t anticipate 2010 results. But he now is going to lie low and be very centrist so that they win in ’12 and they get the other two. Now, what they need — and this is not from the chiefs, this is from political people — and what they need to cement it so that it doesn’t get reversed is a third term. And that means 2016, they need to win, the Democrats need to win, and they need to win with their guy. Their kind of guy. So that then you’d have the stuff as locked in place for a generation. Nobody can come in like Reagan came in and reverse.”

Some thoughts:

1. Ailes, Murdoch and friends fear Obama is a Democratic Reagan.
2. This chatter definitely casts doubt in Petraeus’ role as a vendor of information to UN ambassador Susan Rice
3. Rupert is called “the big boss”
4. How the #(&#* is this conversation on tape? he’s the CIA director?
5. Tom Ricks thinks we needed Petraeus to stay in his post? This dude can’t keep secrets! Who needs FOIA when you have Paula Broadwell and Roger Ailes?
6. We really needed Obama to win a second term.