This conflict began brewing during the presidential campaign with Obama cracking jokes and complaining about Fox News, continued through the early months of his presidency, and then increased its momentum to reach the unprecedented crescendo of the recent bombardments. The first new round of shots was fired when Obama visited five Sunday morning shows in one day, including the big networks, CNN, and Univision, but clearly neglecting to appear on the leading cable news station, Fox.
The real battle began Oct. 12, when Communications Director Anita Dunn defined Fox News as "a wing of the Republican Party,” then mocked and belittled it by saying, “But let's not pretend they're a news network the way CNN is.” She continued her diatribe by calling Fox News "opinion journalism masquerading as news." This statement is most ironic given that CNN dubbed legitimate tea party protesters “tea baggers” and whose own reporter shouted down protesters, lecturing them about how wonderful Obama’s policies are for them. In a recent recording, Dunn brags about how the Obama campaign controlled its message and media coverage. Evidently, Anita Dunn abhors Fox News because it refuses to be a lap dog like the rest of the media. Dunn pridefully declared that no one from the Obama administration will be appearing on Fox for at least the rest of this year.
 |
The assaults sunk to new lows this week when President Obama personally entered the scene. Illustrating just how thin-skinned our commander-in-chief is, he pronounced that Fox News is “operating basically as talk radio,” meaning, talk radio allows people to criticize Obama. It is particularly telling when a president stoops to the level of criticizing a news organization because it reveals how desperate, frightened and threatened he truly feels.
The lap-dog media have responded as expected to this unprecedented assault on free speech and a news organization. Only Jake Tapper of ABC and Helen Thomas, dean of the press corps, have stood up and argued that the White House is using outlandish, reprehensible tactics. Outside of these two, the lap-dog media remain passive and mum. In a column for Newsweek, Jacob Weisberg is even calling for a media boycott of Fox News, claiming that the organization is “un-American.”
The hypocrisy and double standard displayed by these media types is truly unbelievable. If Bush or a Republican candidate for office had ever criticized MSNBC and declared it to be a wing of the Democratic Party, the criticism would never end. The worst hypocrite of all is Keith Olbermann.
In 2008, White House Counsel Ed Gillespie sent a letter to the president of NBC accusing the network of selectively editing Bush’s answers to distort the president’s position. Olbermann later blasted Gillespie in his “Worst Person in the World” segment, accusing Gillespie of “whining like a high school sophomore.” What is Olbermann doing now? He is out front cheerleading the Obama administration’s attacks on Fox and attended a meeting with Obama this week in a summit for fellow liberal influencers including Rachel Maddow, Eugene Robinson and Maureen Dowd.
Lap-dog Olbermann the Doberman is an outspoken bigot, evidenced by his own words: "Mr. Bush, shut the hell up!" "You're a fascist! Get them to print a T-shirt with the word 'fascist' on it!” “George W. Bush is ‘psychotic’ with ‘blood on his hands,’” and calls the GOP the greatest terrorist threat in America. The liberal double standard is out in full force.
©2009 Floyd and Mary Beth Brown. The Browns are bestselling authors and speakers. Together they write a national weekly column distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.
Popular Searches
Comments
34 comment(s)Russ wrote on Nov 6, 2009 9:01 PM:
Randy O wrote on Nov 4, 2009 12:09 PM:
FoxNews wrote on Nov 3, 2009 10:38 PM:
Billy Fledderjohn wrote on Nov 3, 2009 10:08 AM:
Zildjian wrote on Nov 3, 2009 4:41 AM:
Mcqueen wrote on Oct 29, 2009 12:38 PM:
Jokers Wild wrote on Oct 29, 2009 7:42 AM:
Jokers Wild wrote on Oct 29, 2009 7:33 AM:
Wetback wrote on Oct 28, 2009 1:02 PM:
Whatever wrote on Oct 28, 2009 10:47 AM:
Reality Check wrote on Oct 28, 2009 9:46 AM:
Do things like read Sen McCain's book and President Obama's book and not just take the news highlighted portions. And look at the bigger picture. Ask questions like, "Is this good for the country, or good to extend a politician's career?"
Truth is, there is middle ground on nearly every issue, but the media talking heads won't admit it. "
Fords or Chevys wrote on Oct 28, 2009 8:42 AM:
Nothing new about this. Only now, thanks to instant news access, it goes on 24/7. Fortunately, the manufactures of these electronic gizmos had the foresight to include an "on/off" switch so anyone not wishing to be fed a constant stream of this mind-numbing lunacy could simply turn it to the "off" position. What a novel idea! "
Centrist wrote on Oct 28, 2009 7:40 AM:
Baldy wrote on Oct 28, 2009 7:05 AM:
Ironic wrote on Oct 27, 2009 4:17 PM:
Smart American wrote on Oct 27, 2009 12:57 PM:
Swiper wrote on Oct 27, 2009 9:16 AM:
Barron wrote on Oct 27, 2009 8:33 AM:
Russ wrote on Oct 26, 2009 12:45 PM:
AKA Dora wrote on Oct 26, 2009 12:25 PM:
Autbey wrote on Oct 26, 2009 12:23 PM:
Fox News has a conservative agenda and they love to manufacture controversy. "
Hey Autbey wrote on Oct 26, 2009 12:12 PM:
To News wrote on Oct 26, 2009 8:47 AM:
News wrote on Oct 25, 2009 9:55 PM:
There is no place for censorship of the media. The viewers should determine how the media portrays the news based upon their viewing habits.
Don't get confused by the difference in opinion shows and news shows. Don't be fooled into thinking that any of it is accurate. It is all just their interpretation. "
Stephanie wrote on Oct 25, 2009 6:57 PM:
Autbey wrote on Oct 25, 2009 4:06 PM:
Fred wrote on Oct 25, 2009 12:00 PM:
ludwig bodmer wrote on Oct 25, 2009 10:10 AM:
Wm Yon wrote on Oct 25, 2009 9:40 AM:
This is what the vast majority of the people of our great country believe. "
pete wrote on Oct 25, 2009 9:08 AM:
Charlie Parker wrote on Oct 25, 2009 9:05 AM:
Philip wrote on Oct 25, 2009 9:03 AM:
frustrated wrote on Oct 25, 2009 9:01 AM:
Ks2 wrote on Oct 25, 2009 8:45 AM:
Don't get me wrong -- I have no use for the similar mix of opinion on MSNBC, either. But they don't have the same power, perhaps because their intended constituency is not just better educated but because they appear more aware of the danger represented by the degradation of journalistic standards posed by mislabeling opinion as straight news. "