THE NEW YORKER DOESN’T LIKE THE GOVERNMENT BASHING FOX -- lead “Talk of the Town” item, “CHIN MUSIC,” by Louis Menand:“By effectively cornering the market on anti-Administration animus, Fox News has had a robust 2009 so far, and the recent decision by the White House to declare war on the channel is not likely to put a dent in the ratings. That decision has dispirited some of the President’s well-wishers. It has also puzzled them. … It’s hard to kill the press, but it is not hard to chill it, and this appears to be the White House’s goal in the case of Fox. ‘The best analogy is probably baseball,’ Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, said—meaning that throwing a few inside fastballs, a little chin music, gets hitters to back off the plate. Maybe, but he should also remember that deliberately throwing at a batter is grounds for ejection. The state may, and should, rebut opinions that it finds obnoxious, but it should not single out speakers for the purpose of intimidating them. At the end of the day, you do not want your opponents to be able to say that they could not be heard. It may be exasperating, but that is what the First Amendment is all about.”
H/T Mike Allen's POLITICO Playbook
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Classeless: Obama Trashes Fox News To Liberal Media Confab" 10/23
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White House Press Poo" 10/22
People already mistrust the Governmen,t why would they want to play into Americans distrust of the Government? More amateur moves.
ReplyDeleteRight this makes me think they are competent enough to run- regulate our health care industry/SARC.
When the white house starts dissing the partisan whores at MSNBC the same way, then and only then are they worth acknowledging.
ReplyDeleteCorect Jimbo. I did hear some up right commentary on this subject this weekend. One brave reporter actually blames the Obama touchyness on his free ride from the press during his coronation tourn to the Presidency. He and his people had nothing to toughen them up for the free world after the election. The honeymoon in marriage does not go on for ever. (Don't we all know?) now it's time for dealing with the garbage associated with making it work.
ReplyDeleteSo how many high inside fast balls could the Bush adninistration thrown at the likes of MSNBC?
ReplyDeletePerhaps bush had more faith in our constitution, you know the free speech thing.
The penultimate sentence of the article makes a weak analogy. Louis Menand writes, "At the end of the day, you do not want your opponents to be ale to say that they could not be heard."
ReplyDeleteBut calling Fox News an opponent suggests parity; isn't Fox News lunatic fringe?
This public dilly-dallying is all theater anyway; Murdoch and Obama have dinners behind closed doors on a not-infrequent basis.