The New York Times characterizes it as the White House bringing a knife to a gunfight. They are talking about the very deliberate, very scripted attacks by the White House on Fox News. It is apparent that the Times does not think this strategy will end well for Barack Obama and his administration.
“We’re going to treat them the way we would treat an opponent,” Anita Dunn, the White House communications director, said in an interview with The New York Times. “As they are undertaking a war against Barack Obama and the White House, we don’t need to pretend that this is the way that legitimate news organizations behave.”
…
On the official White House Web site, a blog called Reality Check provides a running tally of transgressions by Fox News. It ends with this: “For even more Fox lies, check out the latest ‘Truth-O-Meter’ feature from Politifact that debunks a false claim about a White House staffer that continues to be repeated by Glenn Beck and others on the network.”
People who work in political communications have pointed out that it is a principle of power dynamics to “punch up “ — that is, to take on bigger foes, not smaller ones. A blog on the White House Web site that uses a “truth-o-meter” against a particular cable news network would not seem to qualify. As it is, Reality Check sounds a bit like the blog of some unemployed guy living in his parents’ basement, not an official communiqué from Pennsylvania Avenue.
The American presidency was conceived as a corrective to the royals, but trading punches with cable shouters seems a bit too common. Perhaps it’s time to restore a little imperiousness to the relationship.
AllahPundit agrees that this seems a really unfortunate line of attack for the administration:
Not a good match-up. I assume the Fox-baiting is simply red meat they’re throwing to liberals to try to take the heat off on Afghanistan and “don’t ask, don’t tell,” but when even the Nation’s telling them to stop whining, the move to Plan B can’t be long in coming.
I disagree with AP’s point about the White House trying to tag Rush Limbaugh as leader of the Republican party, however. That was a really sophomoric attempt by the gang that couldn’t shoot straight and it backfired in a mighty way. Limbaugh’s ratings went up. So are the ratings for Fox News – they will likely increase even more if the White House continues the attacks.
Personally, I think it shows fear and weakness on the part of the Obama administration. Fox has, indeed, gotten inside Obama’s head and the heads of other administration officials. They control, directly or indirectly, most of the media message. They are afraid of the outlets that they do not.
The more they coordinate attacks, the weaker and more fearful they appear.
Keep up the good work, Astro King.
Via Memeorandum
Obama’s chickens are circling:
FOX hunting was once defined by a famous Brit as “the unspeakable in pursuit of the inedible.”
Obama may be much too arrogant to take advice from the NY Times, but they’re right on this issue and they’re trying to prevent him from exposing his overt totalitarian tendencies.
Problem is the NYTs forfeited it’s integrity so long ago, no body trusts what they have to say, not even the recipients of their obsequious devotion. This is the sort of self-inflicted wound which can lead to an old fashioned peckin’ party in Obama’s cozy little hen house.
My (conspiracy) theory is, aside from demonizing and marginalizing (well attempting to … and failing), the WH and Obama thug machine are trying desperately to lay groundwork for rationalizing inflicting some sort of FFC/fairness doctrine like regulation(s) on conservative speech in the country under the guise of say, the Fox network is “lying” and talkers such as Rush Limbaugh are inciting some sort of violence through “hate/racist speech” .
As has been pointed out, however, ratings for both (and look at Glenn Beck’s increasing draw) have gone through the roof. That means a growing number of people are not being hypnotized by the leftists MSM any longer and are looking for facts against the continuing flood of Obama fawning. The people are growingly aware that there are Bills in DC that threaten their very way of life. And this guy’s got the ink pen to let it all through.
2010 is VERY important in taking away his power.
Cold hard fact is the majority of people in this country just won’t stand for Chicago thug politics anymore.
Say a prayer that you are right, Maggie.
ropelight, I have no doubt that the folks like Axelrod think they are absolutely right and cannot possibly lose.
I am counting on that utter, arogant, miscalculation, in fact.
You and David Carr are both off the mark.
David Carr: “So far, the only winner in this latest dispute seems to be Fox News. Ratings are up 20 percent this year”
BCB: “it backfired in a mighty way. Limbaugh’s ratings went up. So are the ratings for Fox News”
It is not the WH’s intent to harm FNC’s ratings, nor was it attempting to silence Limbaugh. This is a common mistake that FNC and Rush fans make – they point to Neilsen ratings as some kind of proof that Fox or Rush are “winning”.
It’s not about the ratings.
In the case of Rush it was taking a fairly unpopular broadcaster and anointing him as the head of a leaderless, unpopular Republican party. Raising his profile was the whole point! If his ratings go up, so be it – it’s NOT about the ratings.
With FNC, the WH finds it necessary to remind Americans that it is a partisan channel with a conservative point of view. Most people know this but it bears repeating from time to time. FNC’s thin-skinned reaction to this mild criticism is telling.
And a second point about Mr. Carr – he seems to have a little case of blog envy, using the old “unemployed guy living in his parents’ basement” cliche to dismiss bloggers. Irony: I don’t read the NYT but only saw Carr’s article because it was linked on memeorandum – a blog aggregator.
I agree with Maggie, although it will be much harder to disappear the #1 TV news show that it would be to do the same to conservative talk radio.
And if the economy continues to fall apart, the Messiah’s Thousand Year Reich could end 996 years early. But that will depend upon the GOP being willing to oppose the Won and be the voice of the growing opposition in the country. The jury is most definitely still out on that possibility.
Gaius, I hope I’m wrong, I’m often wrong, but right now I think that guys like Obama and Axelrod aren’t worried about election results because the fix is already in.
Most big city election overseers are Democrats, ACORN can be counted on to inflate registrations and stuff the ballot boxes, the New Black Panthers will use violence to keep white voters from the polls, and the Department of Justice will look the other way, while a complicit media labels any and all who object as racist bigots.
It doesn’t have to be nationwide, just in key districts where access can be limited to fellow travelers. We’ve already seen pieces of the program at work, and I expect a modified version in 2010 and the full ugly reality in the Presidential election in 2012.
I know, I’m nuts.
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Axelrod and Emmanuel were both on the Sunday talk shows, saying that FoxNews shouldn’t be considered a ‘news’ station….It’s crystal clear that the O-bot admin is afraid of them – GOOD! They are showing themselves to be dangerous control freaks….There’s no way the American people would let this admin destroy FoxNews, THE most popular NEWS station in the country. 99% of the media siding with the empty suit is not enough – what a bunch of whiners! Last time I checked, this was America, where dissent is the highest form of patriotism……