Barack Obama now looks like the popular cheerleader at school who tries to convince her friends to shun the new kid at lunchtime.
That's how petty the president looks right now.
The White House tried to exclude Fox News from pool interviews with Obama's "pay czar" Kenneth Feinberg last week after the administration announced huge pay cuts for executives at bailed-out companies.
The administration has been at war with Fox -- boycotting its programs and denigrating it as less than a news organization. But the White House's attempt to actually exclude Fox from a news event was a sad and sorry escalation -- and a clear message that this administration won't tolerate dissent, much like a South American dictatorship.
Observers on both sides of the ideological spectrum applauded when the other news networks banded together and refused to participate in interviews with Feinberg if Fox was excluded -- and the White House beat a hasty retreat and relented.
"Free Speech 1, White House 0," cheered FoxNews.com.
You'd expect Fox to crow. But others in the media breathed a sigh of relief as well. Liberal columnist Helen Thomas and New York Times media writer David Carr have both cautioned the White House to back off. They're not alone.
If the president is allowed to decide what is a news organization and what isn't, and segregate those he deems unfriendly, then we are all less free.
This isn't about news anyway. It's about freedom. This is about an ultra-liberal administration trying to put a stranglehold on the media by propping up those outlets that agree with it and marginalizing those that don't. Consider the exclusively left-leaning roster of media figures Obama met with only last week: MSNBC's Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow, Eugene Robinson and E.J. Dionne of The Washington Post , Frank Rich and Maureen Dowd of The New York Times and more.
The war on Fox, and the administration's unambiguous pandering to liberal outlets and show hosts such as former Clinton chief of staff George Stephanopoulos, is indicative of a cynical and calculated strategy to control the tides of public opinion.
That the other major broadcast networks didn't go along this time is encouraging. The tides are fighting back against the moon.
But the fact that a White House would attempt to lasso the moon should cast a chill through us all.
The Augusta Chronicle ©2010 Morris Communications, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Since the state controlled press and the old guard press are usually 3 to 10 days behind FOX reporting, I wonder how many of the "Obama is messiah" atheists even knew that this administration was in the process of closing the information loop. With control of the entertainment industry and the government schools, the left is very close to controlling ALL information sources in this country. 90% control of the news media isn't enough. The 10% represented by talk radio and FOX must also be under their control for the numbing of the national mind to be effective. If this doesn't happen before 2010, the control of congress will change and all attempts to nationalize the media and medical and economic industries will be lost. The revolution will be over. Everyone will be able to see the emperor has NO new clothes and America can go back to being a democratic republic and start the recovery.
Fox is provided through the local cable subscriber and offered in the Basic package, but MSNBC is not. It is offered at the seventy dollar package, which puts it out of range for average citizens. Why is Fox being attached to the cheapest, basic package while MSNBC to the more expensive? Of course, Frees Speech is important to democracy, but steering hate speech into american homes with a slick packaging trick is something else. Citizens that don't want Fox should NOT have it attached to their BASIC package. Yeah, Yeah, the local provider will employ the "it's out of our hands" or "programming is not done locally" both excuses results in two important facts: Fox getting exaggerated numbers because that channel is attached to each package sold; but to get MSNBC the out-of-pocket cost is excessive, thus, according to the ACES "cast a chill through us all." So a more accurate observation is: Operation Fox 01, American People 00.
Perhaps the problem lies with MSNBC in lowering its fees to allow local cable to carry its programming on the lower teired channels. Contact the network MSNBC if you have concerns.
I think the hussein administration should control all media-they know what is best for us all.They will tell us what is and is not news.They will tell us what our efforts are worth and pay us accordingly.They will tell us whatever they think we need to know.Makes life so much easier to have them make all those choices for us.So,quit your belly-aching and get over it.hussein won and is dictating what we need to know.THAT is all we need to know.
ACES give it up. Two lead editorials defending Fox News. I have no problem with Fox News freedom of the press is fine. Just don't try to tell me you are not biased it is a right wing news outlet they are entitled to that. But any one who believes Fox is not biased is not being honest with themselves.
Name ONE news organization thats NOT biased???
It is at an extreme level with Fox during even its news segments. They all have opinions during their primetime commentator shows. CNN and C-Span is where to go if you don't want any slant.
Except for Lou Dobbs, CNN is the most biased of all the government controlled outlets, tied with NBC, CBS, ABC, PBS, NPR, and almost as biased as MSNBC. Of course, since all read from the same script, I guess they're all basically the same, word for word.
ACES must have forgotten the meeting Pbama had at George Will's house in January which included Wm. Kristol and David Brooks. All this editorial mentioned was the meeting w/MSNBC.
I guess justus4 doesn't know how to use the remote control to change to a program he can understand.
Bush met with Beck so c'mon folks. Also, he let Limbaugh sleep in the Lincoln bedroom.
Jealousy & Envy and feeling left out. That is ACES and their agreeable minions.
The Editorial Staff has Obama Derangement Syndrome. *Yawns* everyday, every week an Obama HATEFEST. What will you sell next Chronicle to stay afloat?
WP, it is the opposite Lou Dobbs is the only one with slant to the right auditioning for Fox Business.
CN per Geraldo, he was told by the big man at FAUX, Dobbs will never be hired there, he should IMO, he fits.
NBC's probably the biggest offender of "lies of omission".. you don't hear about the 100th+ bank failures.. the *real* unemployment rate (U6), ties between the likes of Goldman Sachs, Bank of America & the current administration.. CNN... minus the political punditry (idiotry).. is probably tied with PBS as far as being the fairest out there..
what is kid o and his merry band of pranksters afraid of? every day, they look more and more and more and more foolish, if that's at all possible for a bunch of idiots and anal riffs to look any more ridiculous than they already do, but apparently i was wrong. we are now the laughingstock of the world. it's a wonder we all can't hear the echo of mass laughter drifting this way across the atlantic and pacific oceans.
by the way, what happened to freedom of the press? or is it only freedom of the press if you print stuff that sheds kid o and his merry band of pranksters in a favorable light?
Bush also fought vicious media battles but he was sneakier about it. Fox is truly not a news source because they lack the passion for accuracy that marks a true news network. Conservatives who want truth rather than propaganda can look at the WashingtonTimes.com website or the ChicagoTribune.com website, or they can read the National Review. All three are responsible conservative news outlets, available to anyone who will actually bother to read.
cn, your "slant to the right" comment is certainly perspective. It seems that since Dobbs doesn't slant sharply to the left, compared to the rest of the shows he appears to slant right.
CNN is liberal? Give me a break. They are one of the networks that broadcast the birthers.
then i have yet to see a true news network, because when it comes down to it they will at times all stretch accuracy to get the story out for ratings.....today it is fox, tomorrow it may be cnn or msnbs......if he doesn't like what they say he will attack them.....soon there may not be a white house press room because he will through them all out when they start really reporting the truth
FOX is the reanimated brainchild of Rupert Murdoch (News Corp) who began his career by selling newspapers to non-readers. Having the brains to recognize opportunity, he eventually expanded his empire to England and the US where millions of other non-readers have helped place him among the wealthiest people in the world. It ain't politics folks. It's BUSINESS.
I really don't see what the problem is. If the President and his Administration think Fox is so conservative and distorting the truth, then why not accept Fox's invitation to an interview. If they really believe that they are doing so much good for the country and their policies are the best, then back it up. Discuss the issues and if they are so right then they will be come out on top and Fox will look like a fool, if not then Fox will be justified as a true unbiased news organization. By not coming on Fox and discussing the issues it appears they are being deceptive and afraid to show America that maybe Fox knows what they are talking about.
And CNN is the brainchild of Ted Turner.
Rhetor, only Lou Dobbs asks about the phony birth certificate. Still, since Obama admits his parents weren't married at his birth, what difference does it make what country he was born in? Since his mother was American, then he'd be American, regardless of the country of his birth.
dashiel,what a silly perspective (8:25). Selling news papers to non-readers is both noble and dang good salesmanship. Of course the news business is about selling advertisement. Don't worry about the non-readers leaving CNN and NPR, they're very loyal and have remained so. Only the readers that recognized the product offered by the hard left have migrated to the only "fair and balanced" news service.
Great article. FOX is asking the hard questions, the ones that the politicians do not want to answer or want the voters to hear. Most of the other cable networks do not even ask a question that will create an issue. I watch FOX because they are asking the questions that I want answered.
Fox challenges Obama that is fine but they only challenge dems that is why they are not fair and balanced. Now if they had challenged Bush/Cheney they would be known a hard hitting network not the partisan hacks they are. Heck, I would even settle for them asking Cantor, Boehnor, and the boys what their solutions are now.
concerned, I doubt you are serious about your last statement. But, if you are, go to "healthcare.gop.gov" and you will see plenty of ideas from Cantor, Boehnor, and the boys. Or watch Fox News. If you google it, you will see that Fox ask these questions daily. However, you will not see the GOP ideas on MSM. They do not report anything other than the Dem plans.