Fox News likes to call itself “fair and balanced.” Key words: “call itself.”

The latest blunder for the cable news ratings leader is rooted in the new revelation that founder and chair Roger Ailes sent an emissary — Fox’s national security analyst K.T. McFarland — to offer General David Petraeus political advice and tell The General that he’d be willing to quit Fox to run his presidential campaign.

For realz. Comes from Bob “Watergate” Woodward in the Washington Post. And for those about to whine that this is mere conjecture from the liberal media, here’s a link to the audio of the conversation between McFarland playing bag man for Ailes to Petraeus.

Ah, yes. General Petraeus. You may remember him for the spectacular sex scandal that crashed his career a few weeks back. That Roger sure can pick ‘em.

Listen to the audio recording of the conversation because it is full of gems — starting with how McFarland tells the General that “everybody at Fox loves you.” Just because they’re “fair and balanced” perhaps.

Fox loves Dave so much that they want to know if there’s any suggestions he has, you know, when they’re covering the news in a “fair and balanced” way. Dave says he’s a bit worried about the “slant” he’s seeing at Fox. They’re sounding a little “skeptical”…you know, like journalists.

“The editorial policy of Fox had shifted,” Dave said. “It was almost as if, because they’re going after Obama, they had to go after Obama’s war as well.”

“Papers and news outlets have editorial policies,” the General said. “They know sort of how their bosses feel about things . . . and it causes a certain shading.”

Hmmm. Like say — hypothetically speaking of course — if the chair and founder of a network that bills itself as “fair and balanced” told a General that his network was COVERING that he’d quit to run his campaign for president. Would it be any wonder if the employees at that network “loved” that person.

And nice job by McFarland, who is supposed to “analyze” national security affairs for Fox. If she fawned over Petraeus any more than she did in this conversation, she could be his biographer.

Roger’s response to Woodward?

“It was more of a joke, a wiseass way I have,” he said. “I thought the Republican field [in the primaries] needed to be shaken up and Petraeus might be a good candidate.”

Nothing breeds credibility more than the I-was-just-joking defense from the leader of the network. As they say on Fox, “We report. You decide.”