Tonight Greta ran a special hour about the Trump family, featuring interviews with the Trump children and his wife, and a tour of Trump Tower. Not really The Cable Gamer’s cup of tea, but she decided to keep an eye on it once the instant response from the twitterati kicked into gear. Here are a couple of accounts we watched:

Oliver Darcy of The Blaze:

• This feels so much like a reality show.
• It’s literally called “Meet the Trumps” on the program guide.
• @Greta to @MELANIATRUMP: “Which magazines have you been on the cover of?” Follow-up: “Which one would be the top one?”
• This special feels like something you’d see on state-run television somewhere.

And here’s Tré Goins-Phillips, also of The Blaze:

• Tonight is the night of Trump, Trump and more Trump on @FoxNews.
• Of his credentials, @Greta asks @DonaldJTrumpJr, “Did you play catch with [your dad] or go look at properties?”
• Another hard-hitting question from @Greta: “Do you think [your dad] wants to be president?” she asks @DonaldJTrumpJr.
• UPDATE: @Greta is now playing a reel of Trump’s kids and wife praising him.
• The tough questions from @Greta keep rolling in:m “Do you think you’d be a good first lady?” she asks @MELANIATRUMP

The Cable Gamer was frankly taken by surprise with this new-found concern over asking soft questions of a candidate’s wife or children. Do these people suggest that Melania Trump should be peppered with questions about the nuclear triad? Should Greta have cornered Ivanka and demanded she address some arcane issue she has no involvement with?

If Chelsea Clinton had been grilled about her dad’s perjury or her mother’s Benghazi testimony we might understand expecting the same treatment for the Trump family. But let’s be honest—that didn’t happen, because it’s never been the case that profiles of a candidate’s family subject them to a Perry Mason style cross-examination. And even if that had been the case, it wouldn’t have been Greta doing it. Her interviewing philosophy is cut from a different cloth:

My interview style of 22 plus years is polite and blunt. Everyone gets the same interview style from me, I don’t pick sides and I am not showing off. For some, that is seen as “lavish praise.” (see below) When I read that description I got to thinking – what ever happened to good manners and good manners in journalism? You can get information – and I did – without trying to score personal points or play to others in the media who love that…

When Trump’s son joined him at the Town Hall for one short segment, I was polite to his son – as I am with all spouses of all candidates and their families. They are not the candidate. Go back and check that out as I have interviewed many family members over this long 2016 campaign…

Ted Turner in the old days of CNN taught us “the news is the star” — in other words, this is not all about us (in the media.) Ted was and is right. Maybe it is time for all of us to be reflective about how to best get the job done for the voters. I am always looking to improve and get better.

There’s something else Greta said in that post that bears repeating:

Incidentally, to be fair to all the candidates, I have offered – almost mathematically even – every candidate in both parties the exact same opportunities for Town Halls and interviews. No candidate is obliged to accept and I can’t go out and kidnap them, tie them up and force them to do interviews if they do not want to. 🙂

For all the talk about “state-run television” and “Trump and more Trump,” doesn’t this suggest that the other candidates had the same opportunity and simply didn’t take advantage of it? It should, because Greta says that’s exactly what happened with tonight’s special:

We made an offer to do the same special for the Clinton and Sanders families but got no response. I would have given both these candidates equal time and same type of questions. I still am willing to do so.

And just in case people didn’t see that post, Greta tweeted it too. Interestingly, as we are about to hit publish, neither Mr. Darcy nor Mr. Goins-Phillips tweets any mention of Greta’s offer whatsoever. Of course doing so might throw water on any one of several memes (Greta the “Trump shill,” Fox is “Trump and more Trump,” etc.) And for some the rule is: when there’s a conflict between the truth and the meme…tweet the meme.

Unless she shows up on Outnumbered tomorrow, Tuesday will mark four weeks since Andrea Tantaros vanished from the Fox News airwaves. After a short-lived stab at explaining her position (the unconvincing “free speech” gambit) she changed course and clammed up. She has since “protected” her twitter account—only people she approves as followers can read it. That is not exactly an ace move if you’re trying to promote a new book (it’s currently ranked #4457 at Amazon). This hunkering down tells The Cable Gamer that, while Tantaros picked the wrong toes to step on, at least she learned from her first stumble and knows this is not a time to dig a deeper hole.

Another Fox News employee among the missing is Ed Henry, who it was learned was conducting an extra-marital affair with a Las Vegas lady. He immediately left the air and went into radio (and every other kind) silence. The Cable Gamer wondered about the reaction; a Fox & Friends Weekend co-host not only had an extra-marital affair with a guest of the show but fathered a child. There was barely a hiccup in his role at Fox News. True, there may be a higher standard for a Washington correspondent than a morning chat show host. But there is another reason Mr. Henry’s case is more troubling:

Now the National Enquirer‎ is reporting Henry sent Lima raunchy sexts plus a picture of his penis — which, mercifully, the publication pixilated. Sources say Henry has a “morality clause” in his contract, which means he could be fired if he does anything to embarrass the network.

Roger Ailes is quoted noting a lack of judgment, “especially given his position as a journalist.” Ed Henry is a talented, tenacious reporter. He may survive this but, with the redolence of Anthony Weiner now hanging over him, it’s an uphill battle.

Finally, there’s the case of Michelle Fields. After her high-visibility clash with Trump’s campaign manager, she stopped appearing on Fox’s Cashin’ In, hosted by Trump-friendly Eric Bolling. The PR suggested it was a mutual decision until things calmed down, but that happened long ago and she’s still not back. Now with a new role at Huffington Post, the odds are getting longer.

Fields and Fox might have worked this out in a few week’s time if she hadn’t crossed an important line. While Fox News has no problem with differing viewpoints, they obviously take a dim view when people start hitting the channel’s journalists and hosts with personal attacks. (This is not unique to FNC; MSNBC banned Markos from the air because, among other things, he promoted a highly dubious rumor about Joe Scarborough). Michelle Fields did impugn Sean Hannity’s integrity, but she’s hardly alone on that limb. No, it was something else that really sealed her fate.

Fields let it be known that she was planning a defamation suit against the Trump camp, and a Fox News host who is also an experienced attorney offered some unsolicited, but friendly, advice:

Yes, the burden of proof is less in a civil case, but she is just not going to win and it will be expensive and a heartache. Even if one can win, it is not always worth it. Anyone encouraging this young woman to bring a lawsuit is irresponsible to her.

That may not have been what Michelle Fields wanted to hear, but there’s no reason to doubt it was offered in good faith. Fields could have just let it pass without comment, or said thanks, I’ll think about it. Instead, she aimed a tactical nuke at Greta and fired:

If you have a regular spot on a well-rated show on Fox News, you don’t want to go calling one of their top program hosts a “shill”—i.e. a person motivated not by truth or journalism but by their own personal profit or self-interest. You especially don’t want to do it to Greta van Susteren, who is widely liked and admired across political and social strata at Fox News. Talk about crossing a line! But Fields has shown no remorse (not even the token step of deleting the tweet), and The Cable Gamer will be surprised if Roger Ailes ever lets her in the building again.

By the way, many weeks have passed yet the announced defamation suit has yet to materialize. And Fields quietly stonewalls when asked about it. Maybe her own attorneys gave her the same advice Greta did. That would add a touch of irony to the outburst that may have ended the Fox News career of Michelle Fields.