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White House tries to muzzle media; draws back a bloody stump.

Tell me again how smart these people are.

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  October 22nd, 2009 at 08:17 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

So this administration had what passes for a brainstorm among that group: now that they’ve made it clear that they disapprove of one particular news network, why, there would be nothing stopping them from stepping up their attempts to marginalize said network. So the White House announced today that a specific White House Press Pool access – Ken Feinberg, who is one of the myriad ‘czars’ so beloved of this administration – would explicitly exclude Fox News.  Despite the fact that the Press Pool is supported in part by Fox News.

And the media refused to play along.

This, oddly enough, has not been brought up by any of the other networks, so for right now the best source for this story is FNC (yes, savor the irony):

See Hot Air and AoSHQ for more.  In this particular case, the news bureaus decided that the White House could make Feinberg available for all five news networks, or for none of them.  Whether or not this was due to principle or pragmatism (Hot Air leans towards the latter), it was the right answer: the administration caved in short order.  Hopefully there won’t be a need for multiple lessons.  I’m forced to admit that I’m pleasantly surprised at how well the news media handled this one.  Even if they did do it solely because they don’t want the precedent set.

Moving along: AoSHQ is amazed at this administration’s priorities.  For myself, I’m reminded again of a thought that I’ve had a few times.  When you look at this administration’s performance to date, it’s like the Democratic Party went out and found themselves a caricature of everything that they complained about/hated/feared with regard to George W Bush… only this time? It’s all true.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

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COMMENTS

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  • yabadabadoing

    Of course they will try to censor/defame/disparage/destroy. This is their claim to fame. Their international modus operandi.

    To work, it must have the complicity of the news and entertainment media and of course, they do.

    Because they are the same people, a seamless fit.

  • redneck_hippie

    didn’t have an ethical bone in their body. Guess they figured out what happens “when they come for the press…”

  • http://hillbillypolitics.com Steph C

    I mean, he’s hinted at bailouts for the media but like most everything else that likely means becoming government owned. I can call the media lots of things and their role in our recent elections is par for the course but not even the government should be able to control them (in their minds).

    Historically, it has been the reverse: the media controls the government. In their minds, they “made” Obama which is more than simply overtly supporting them. They have invested a lot in him as “their guy” but not to the point where they’re going to let him or anyone in his administration tell them what to do.

    I see a deconstruction of the myth of Obama in the near future and they’ll spin it so that they look like the good guys in doing it.

  • bk

    Obama tried to do exactly what I mentioned a couple days ago as a possibility. But at least for now the other networks refused to be complicit and the gambit failed.

  • http://UnitedConservativesofVirginia Cargosquid

    and found themselves a caricature of everything that they complained about/hated/feared with regard to George W Bush? only this time? It?s all true.”

    Rush has always said that the Dems always, ALWAYS, accuse the other side of what they, THEMSELVES, are doing or want to do…..

  • AceInTX

    it?s like the Democratic Party went out and found themselves a caricature of everything that they complained about/hated/feared with regard to George W Bush? only this time? It?s all true.

    Obama did Nixon one better with this one and got his hand slapped….Good for the so called objective media…they finally got one right after all these years!

  • antisocial

    could be next. Frankenstein’s monster?

    I can certainly hope they understand that.

  • bricksykes

    A Richard Nixon would’ve wished he had had Obama’s cajones when the WashPo was on his case! Of course, the WashPo was reporting ‘FACTS’ and not the ‘OPINION’ that Fox ‘reports.’ There is a difference. Fox blasts the airways with their massaged opinions about current events! This is NOT News Reporting! Obama is Right! And I am proud to see at least ONE President who is not petrified of ‘The Fourth Estate.’ Good for him!

  • mbecker908
  • Ausonius

    on FOX which are not facts.

    Be specific! Which “Opinions” does FOX report falsely to be Facts?

    Inquiring minds want to know! Enlighten us!

    BIG BRObama is not petrified by The Fourth Estate, because they kowtow to him and push his agenda by e.g. ignoring stories on his Marxist, Maoist “czars,” and by reporting the White House’s excuses for failure as facts, without investigating their claims.

  • deadreckoning

    I haven’t laughed like that in a while. Thanks for the comedy relief bricksykes, but you did forget the sarcasm tag.

  • Darin_H

    that there will be a Republican elected to the White House again someday. If the precedent is set now with Fox’s goose, it will be good for ABCNBCCBSCNN’ gander.

  • IJB

    The GOP should stop playing ball with the Left-Wing Media.

    The next GOP President needs to rethink all interactions with the Press and Media, including the so-called ‘press pool’, from the ground up…

  • Kyle-MI

    This is why you need the sarcasm tag. No matter how obviously silly a liberal mockery quote you think you can make, there is always a liberal out there who will top it with a real one they actually believe.

  • http://www.jeannie-ology.com jeannieology

    and leave the bloody stump?

    www.jeannie-ology.com

  • Return to Revolution

    And when we find ourselves living in ruins and slavery, don’t think you and other enablers of tyranny will avoid responsibility with your “good intentions”.

  • Return to Revolution

    You make a good point. Fox could never live up to the standard of networks like, say, MSNBC, that bastion of integrity. Anyone who can accuse Fox of ANYTHING and ignore MSNBC’s disgusting race baiting stunt (remember that?) is truly a moron.

    http://www.redstate.com/moe_lane/2009/08/19/i-think-msnbc-is-trying-to-get-the-president-shot-at/

  • deadreckoning

    In my haste I forgot that I was in need of clarification.

  • http://www.redstate.com/tnjim TNJim
  • ptort

    should be added to O’s logo.

  • The_Gadfly

    for doing the right thing. And it’s very unchristian of me to think otherwise. But I keep wondering if there wasn’t some quiet arm twisting behind the scenes. Something along the lines of: “You know, we pay 20% of the bills here. If we aren’t getting our share, we don’t see why that should continue.” I don’t know what the real split for the bills are, what I do know is that FOX seems to be the only news network that is actually growing.

    But at least for now they’ve taken the moral position.

  • redpens

    the Demo-commies are all doubling down on stupid.

  • tljan

    …Trotskyite. And Bolshevik. Can’t forget those!

  • http://impudent.blognation.us/blog kyle8

    You say Maoist
    I say Marxist
    You say Lenin
    I say Stalin

    Lenin, Stalin
    Pol Pot, Brezhnev
    Let’s call the whole thing off!

  • http://impudent.blognation.us/blog kyle8

    If this had happened two months ago I doubt that the others would have jumped up to defend Fox on principle. They were so in the tank for Obama I really doubt it.

    But in the last two months, some of the smarter of them can see that the Obama team is a bunch of silly screw ups and they are hedging their bets now.

  • BooBooKitty

    by the other networks. They knew that if Fox News was excluded that they would drop the “Fair and Balanced” tagline and go with the uber-cool “All the News the White House Doesn’t Want You to Know” or “What the Lapdogs aren’t Reporting” and their already huge ratings lead would turn into an unbridgeable chasm.

  • E Pluribus Unum

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
    [long gasp]
    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

    Morons AND cowards. On Jan 2, 2011, when the new Republican majority takes over the House, and the Senate convenes with 44-46 Republicans, this administration’s agenda is done.

  • billf

    This was an opportunity for the self proclaimed MSMs to throw a bone in the apparent interest of protecting freedom of speech, but really in the interest of stopping the bleeding on their ever descending ratings.

    I am boycotting all things ABC, CBS, and NBC. A massive boycott would quicly teach Obama a lesson about the power of the capitalism that he seems to hate and would cause him call off his war against Fox. Would also demonstrate to MoveOn that RedState has a stronger backing.

  • bk

    He did a real smackdown of Gibbs off camera.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKOAkbPy1-0

    Note the part at the end too. While branding all of Fox, Obama apparently sees Keith Olberman and Rachel Maddow as legit news folks.

  • $peciallist

    the WH press room, on twitter, for some time now…he sure is taking his time..

  • izoneguy

  • martyinaz

    It was about time the media got off their buns and spoke out. Imagine if CBS were to be the network under fire. You would hear the howeling all the way around the world. If there were ever a more true motto for the media and the First Amendment it would be “don’t tread on me”.

  • ATG

    “it?s like the Democratic Party went out and found themselves a caricature of everything that they complained about/hated/feared with regard to George W Bush? only this time? It?s all true.”

    Now that one had to have left a mark!!!