Obama’s misguided war against Fox News
October 22, 2009 by Warren Tompkins · Leave a Comment
By J. Warren Tompkins
Not since Richard Nixon has a president been so combative with a particular news organization. But, the Obama administration is doing its best to go after Fox News, with Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel saying it isn’t a news company. Strategist David Axelrod went on a Sunday morning program and said roughly the same thing, adding that the White House is treating Fox like an opinion outlet.
Spokesman Robert Gibbs defended these statements on Tuesday. ABC’s Jake Tapper asked, “I’m not talking about their opinion programming or issues you have with certain reports. I’m talking about saying thousands of individuals who work for a media organization, do not work for a ‘news organization’ – why is that appropriate for the White House to say?” Gibbs responded, “That’s our opinion.”
Mind you, this is at the same time Gibbs regularly fields questions from The Huffington Post reporters at press conferences. That Web site is almost exclusively a liberal journal of opinion.
At a time when there are numerous crises besetting the country, and two wars going on abroad, the Obama administration seems to be spending a large amount of time worrying about what’s going on at a news outlet. Maybe it’s because Fox has actually taken Obama to task over his liberal policies.
Dick the Butcher in Shakespeare’s “Henry VI” said famously, “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.” The plan of Obama’s push-back looks like, “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the critics”
It’s yet another example of how out-of-touch Obama and his advisors are. This crew looks like they’re working out of the wrong building – they shouldn’t be in the West Wing, they should take their rightful positions in an ivory tower. Fox News Channel routinely beats its competitors in ratings by massive margins. There’s a reason for this, and it’s that the vast majority of people just don’t trust what they’re getting from the other guys.
I used to read The New York Times and watch CBS Evening News daily, but I stopped both because of their obvious slant against conservatives. But, that was my choice. The government shouldn’t be making those choices for us. But, time and time again, Obama shows that he thinks the government is better at making your decisions than you are.
Less than 10 months into his presidency, Obama’s agenda is getting shot down and the frustration is clearly showing through his staff. The American people have already had enough as the White House fumbles from one issue to the next. It now seems they will work to silence anyone who points out those fumbles.
