Bob Woodward has an astonishing story in today’s Post, the centerpiece of which is an off-the-record recording of an envoy from Roger Ailes giving Gen. Petraeus career advice (embedded above). The suggestion: if you get turned down for Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, resign and run for president yourself. Petraeus declines, but heaps praise on the Fox executive for the network’s pro-military coverage, and promises to visit next time he’s in New York City (“I haven’t seen him in a while … I’d love to see him”).

The recording begins with this nauseating little tidbit of media-military collusion:

“I’m supposed to say, directly from him to you, through me, is first of all, is there anything that Fox is doing right or wrong that you want us to do differently?

“… it just struck me that it was almost as if, because they’re going after Obama they have to go after Obama’s war as well, actually.”

They could have fooled me.