Apparently this White House just doesn’t get it. Today’s announcement that President “One”derful (or is it “Won”derful?) will not be granting interviews to any Fox News programs this year has further defined this administration as totally incompetent wimps.

Coming on the heels of what is undoubtedly the most undeserving award ever bestowed in the history of the planet, this moronic temper tantrum suggests that not only the President, but also his senior advisors, are so inexperienced, fearful, and weak that they cannot even contemplate dealing with a confrontational environment, let alone actually embracing one. Rather than confidently girding the lion in his den, Obie cowers in the Oval Office, hiding under the desk where Monica Lewinsky once cavorted with a previous tenant, imperiously issuing ultimatums that strike most Americans as sophomoric: “See. If you aren’t nice to me, I won’t play with you guys ever again. So there.”

While this may be a winning strategy in some situations (although I’m not sure what those might be), even Richard Nixon, who famously tried to shut out the NYT during his first term, found that Mark Twain had it right when he cautioned, “Never pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel.”

David Gergen, who has worked for President Bill Clinton and three Republican presidents, questioned the propriety of the White House declaring war on a news organization.

“It’s a very risky strategy. It’s not one that I would advocate,” Gergen said on CNN. “If you’re going to get very personal against the media, you’re going to find that the animosities are just going to deepen. And you’re going to find that you sort of almost draw viewers and readers to the people you’re attacking. You build them up in some ways, you give them stature.” He added: “The press always has the last barrel of ink.”

Gergen’s sentiments were echoed by Tony Blankley, who once served as press secretary to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. “Going after a news organization, in my experience, is always a loser,” Blankley said on CNN. “They have a big audience. And Fox has an audience of not just conservatives — they’ve got liberals and moderates who watch too. They’ve got Obama supporters who are watching. So it’s a temptation for a politician, but it needs to be resisted.”

Nia Malika Henderson, White House correspondent for the Politico newspaper, also questioned the White House offensive against Fox. “Obama’s only been a boon to their ratings and I don’t understand how this kind of escalation of rhetoric and kind of taking them on, one on one, would do anything other than escalate their ratings even more,” she said.

With his approval ratings steadily falling, his healthcare reform imploding, cap-and-tax off the table, and Afghanistan morphing into a huge mess, you’d think the President would try to sell his message to a broader audience. Fox has the largest cable news viewership in the country, particularly in the critical 18 – 54 and senior demographics (read “voters”). For such a brilliant man, you’d think the poor sucker would have at least an inkling that only talking to the people who already support him is a sure bet for ultimate failure. He can’t keep everybody in that audience enthralled forever. Already certain constituencies are beginning to to resist the gravitational pull. The LGTB march this weekend was evidence that the hopey-changitude magic isn’t working for those who thought that BO’s campaign promises were something to believe in. Then there is word on the street that Hispanic leaders are angry about Obama’s “lack of success in legalizing illegal immigrants.” And the fringe media – Saturday Night Live, Jay Leno, and Jon Stewart of The Daily Show, just for starters – are finding that their audience – Obama’s touted “youth vote” – are quite willing to watch their idol lampooned. How long do they think the adulation can last once the high priest become the head clown?

Eventually, he’s going to have to reach out to the people who watch Fox News. Of course, by then, the rainbows, unicorns, and fairy dust will have lost whatever appeal they originally had.