It’s not a Halloween trick.
It’s not even the Obamacare Death Panel.
It’s much, much worse.
Last week, the White House declared war on Fox News. At first, it seemed like another stupid, short-sighted, inexperienced, arrogant pronouncement by the Chicago thugs running the asylum at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. And, in fact, it is another stupid, short-sighted, inexperienced, arrogant pronouncement by the Chicago thugs running the asylum at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. But it is also a very serious attack on the First Amendment.
Freedom of the Press is at the heart of American democracy. Countless barrels of ink have been drained in asserting, demanding, extolling, and celebrating this treasured gift from our Founding Fathers. And millions of American lives have been sacrificed protecting this Precious Right.
Who’da thunk that when faced with the most insidious challenge to this fundamental principle the very institutions whose existence flows from it would be co-conspirators in it’s potential demise? And yet- that’s exactly what is happening.
Last week Obama sent his minions out to attack and vilify Fox News. And Fox’s competitors – CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, MSNBC – are evidently even more stupid, short-sighted, arrogant and naive than the Chicago thugs who not only publicly and proudly admitted they controlled the press during the campaign but have signaled they obviously intend to continue to do so with the fawning acquiescence of these same media outlets.
It is the duty of the press in a free society to challenge and question the government at every turn. It is their responsibility to act on behalf of the citizens; to protect, to defend, to use the mighty power of the pen against the sword of tyranny. Given the antagonism the Obama Administration is displaying against Fox News they must be fulfilling this obligation. The rest of the pack have become no more than toothless lapdogs. And the White House knows it. And loves it.
This is scary. Really scary. Not so much that The One and his band of Merry Men are trying to destroy this country – that’s been an open secret since the campaign – but that the mainstream American press is an active accomplice in the effort. Shame on them.
Shame.
“Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear.†—Harry Truman
Well, let’s back up a bit and see where some other issues might be. (go with it, I’m not saying you’re completely wrong.)
FOX & FOX News have both declined to broadcast President Obama’s speeches on several occasions. This has been going on since the election, before even the inauguration, and it’s, quite frankly, a dereliction of duty on the part of FOX. You see, it’s their fricken job to report, to broadcast, and then, in some strange ways, to comment on the news of the world. If they refuse to broadcast the leader of the free world when he gives a speech, especially when the other 3 broadcast networks are doing so, it says something. And that something is “we don’t care what he says”. That’s a obvious and dangerous thing for the station to do. It violates the premise of the fourth estate, and undermines their credibility in ways that can’t be argued, unlike their commentary, which only lessens them with the left.
Speaking of, FOX News is host to the most rabid anti-Obama television hosts, hands-down. For Obama to not engage and directly combat these people is weak. He and his staff should be going on FOX daily, and slapping their detractors down.
Oh, but he can’t, and they can’t. Because that would be taking a stand. Fighting the good fight. Having a backbone.
So yes, it’s sad that our president is a wuss who can’t handle the heat of the kitchen. But it’s even worse when the chefs in that kitchen have abandoned it because of the wuss they dislike.
Think about it Kev….if Fox News were to cover O’s speeches, that is the only news we’d hear, ’cause, like, he never left the campaign trail after he was elected. To add insult to injury, he also repeats the same speech with reordered sentences in various venues, for weeks on end.
Do the 3 broadcast networks plus CNN and others report? Hell no….simply fall over themselves, heaping praise on the great leader. They reporting on the war? Hell no…not unless O brings it up and that’s only happened a couple of times in the past two months. They reporting on the ecomony? Hell no…not unless O brings it up. Biden had the assignment until he stuck his foot in his mouth once again two weeks ago and declared the stimulous was working better than the admin ever expected.
There are journalists in the lineup on Fox, but you are right – biased television hosts there are aplenty. The difference is that Hannity & Co. differentiate themselves as hosts, not journalists and, in spite of that, most of them include their counterparts from the left in discussions. The networks, CNN and others simply beat up the opposition in absentia.
What the hosts on Fox are doing is mild considering what the networks did to Bush day after day, month after month.
Fillmore said it well in this morning’s paper….at a Journalism School near you…
When reporting on Protesters, it’s important to distinguish between, say, those carrying funny, clever pictures of Bush with a Hitler mustache…and those with hateful racist pictures of Obama with a Hitler mustache….
Bush didn’t take them on. He wasn’t perfect; but he did and continues to have grace and character. Obama is weak…not because he’s not taking the fight to Fox but because he’s simply trying to silence the opposition through exclusion.
Fox News has never declined to broadcast one of Obama’s major public speeches, including his primetime infomercials. They have not broadcast some of his “private” orations to small groups in their entirety – but they have always reported on them and have ususally featured clips from the events. As Annie stated above, those are mostly regurgitated campaign stumpers.
Fox Entertainment, on the other hand, did choose to broadcast something other than Obama’s last “command” performance. BFD. Anyone who wanted to watch The Won had no fewer than three national networks (many available on multiple channels in the same geographic or satellite systems) and a half dozen cable networks.
Lack of exposure is not this administration’s problem.
I return to the point of my post. A free press should be always questioning and challenging ALL elected officials on behalf of the citizenry. Media that takes it’s marching orders from the White House is abdicating its most basic and fundamental role.
Word to the wise… If the President is unhappy with his treatment by the press, they both must be doing something right.
Kev – First, Fox news has carried every Presidential speech. You are thinking about the 43rd news conference that Fox entertainment declined to cover one more time.
Auntie, If I was in the news business, I would be more concerned about having the Obama stamp of approval than not having it.
Er, I would if I had principles, so maybe most of them are safe. Watch out Jake Tapper, Helen Thomas, you are next.
Yeah, Steve – it’s that whole “principles” thing. When your CEO is pimping his company to the Democrat Party and the Administration, principles get lost in the translation. Somehow gets confused with “favors”. Who knew?
Not be a contrarian, but I did check my facts before I posted to the comments. I realize that in this day and age it’s a bit weird for a “non-journalist” to do the very thing that seems to be avoided by all “true journalists” at all the news outlets, but truly, I did.
Fox didn’t broadcast the 100 days speech to the nation in April, nor did they broadcast the speech to the joint session of congress in September. Neither of those is a “small event” or a “private oration”. Fox was wrong to do this, IMHO.
But that’s really beside my point, as I guess I didn’t stress enough. So let me try again.
Obama is being a pussy for not confronting his nay-sayers on Fox. All of them. All the time. If he’s such a damn fierce advocate of change and hope, he should be able to stand up to them easily. It seems he sent his spine to the dry-cleaners after election night, and they lost it.
Fox is being a douchestation for not covering the president entirely, tirelessly, and without fail. If he’s so damn bad, they should have no problem covering every speech, every movement, every breath, and pointing out both how and why he was wrong to do any of it. They aren’t, they are hiding behind vitriol and hyperbole, because actually doing their job is beyond them.
The rest of the news? Bah.. I’m not holding them up as guiding lights to the land of milk and honey, but at least they are making a semblance of performing the duty of the fourth estate.
So in this pissy little rampage of three-year-olds who have grabbed their toys and stomped off in a fit, no one wins. Not the president, not Fox, not the NYT, not NBC, not you, not me, not anyone.
Everyone from the news to the whitehouse needs to get a grip, find their big kid pants, and then get out their Lincoln Logs and build a bridge and get over themselves. Yeeesh.
Kevin –
I don’t know where you did your research, but your facts are wrong:
From the Huffington Post 9/4/2009 (not exactly big Fox News fans),
“The Fox Broadcasting Company will not air the Presidential Address to Congress on Wednesday, September 9 at 8:00 PM (ET). FOX’s sister networks, Fox News Channel and the Fox Business Network will air the presidential address in its entirety.”
From the Washington Post, April 27:
“NEW YORK, April 27 — Fox became the first broadcast network to turn down a request by President Obama for air time, opting to show its drama “Lie to Me” on Wednesday instead of the president’s prime-time news conference. Fox will direct viewers interested in the news conference to Fox News Channel and the Fox Business Network, which will carry it. ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC and CNBC are carrying the 8 p.m. event, on Obama’s 100th day in office.”
There is a difference between Fox, Fox News and Fox Business. The fact that the Fox entertainment channel chose not to carry those speeches is nipshit minutia. Fox News and Fox Business both carried both speeches as well as all the others.
By the way TNT, USA, HGTV, the FOOD Network, and a bunch of other entertainment channels declined to cover those speeches too.
As an intelligent person, well-schooled in the devices of rhetoric and marketing, I expect that you would be more critical in your research. Your credibility on this subject has been shot to hell.
But thanks for playing.
Ouch…being pretty hard on the guy, although I admit that when commenting on the rest of the news “….they are making a semblance of performing the duty of the fourth estate” makes it difficult not to vomit. In this land of “Get on O’s Bandwagon or Else,” Fox News is demonstrating admirable courage.
I live about 15 miles west of Helena, and up here near War Eagle we get one TV station: Beartooth NBC CIA Network. It’s the only news some of my family gets, and it’s pure bull(s)! I commented to my father in law, “At least you could do is get Fox News to hear a different perspective…better than the neoliberal socialists.”
he just ignored me and starred at the TV.
So, why all the “Yes We Can!” bumper stickers in Western Montana????
You know what I’m talking about, take a look at Lundy Center.