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Obama Bails Out When Asked About Fox News

Posted By Bobby Eberle On October 22, 2009 at 8:26 am

Barack Obama is more than happy to let his advisers do the dirty work. His team has been leveling a steady stream of criticism against Fox News, claiming the organization is not "real." However, when Obama was asked about the White House offensive directly, he bailed out. At one point during a recent interview, Obama said, "I think that what our advisers simply said is, is that we are going to take media as it comes." Take the media as it comes? What does that even mean?

Obama's team continued the Fox News battle this week, as questions popped up during the White House press briefing. That brings White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs into the mix along with Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Senior Adviser David Axelrod, and Communications Director Anita Dunn. That's quite a collection of high level staff, and Obama doesn't have the fortitude to even back up their claims.

First, let's go back to Tuesday's White House press briefing. During the question and answer session, Jake Tapper of ABC News asked Gibbs about the ongoing war the White House is having with Fox News:

Jake Tapper, ABC News: It hasn't escaped our notice that in the last few weeks the White House has decided to declare war on one of our sister organizations saying it's not a news organization and tell the rest of the news media to not treat them like a news organization. Can you explain why it's appropriate for the White House to say one of them is not a news organization and the rest of the media should not treat them like one.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs: We render opinion based on some of their coverage and the fairness of that coverage.

Tapper: That's a pretty sweeping declaration that they're not a news organization. How are they different from, say another, say ABC, MSNBC, Univision?

Gibbs: You and I should watch sometime around 9 o'clock tonight or five this afternoon.

Tapper: I'm not talking about their opinion programs. Or issues you have with certain reports. I'm talking about saying that thousands of individuals who work for a media organization do not work for a news organization. Why is that appropriate for the White House to say?

Gibbs: That is our opinion.

Carol E. Lee, Politico: Does that mean the White House doesn't believe they should be part of the press pool?

Gibbs: The press pool is decide by the White House Correspondents Association.

Lee: So you have no opinion on whether they should be ...

Gibbs: I'm not going to delineate for the White House Correspondents Association how the pool is conducted. That's not my job.

So... In his criticism of Fox News as not a "real" news organization, Gibbs points to opinion programs featuring Glen Beck and Sean Hannity. That sure does make a lot of sense, doesn't it?

Here's what Joe Scarborough had to say about the exchange:

Scarborough makes an excellent point. By trying to diminish the entire news organization, the White House is trying to achieve its real goal of having other media outlets ignore the Fox News stories.

As noted in a story on FOXNews.com, when asked about the White House strategy to attack Fox News, Obama first said, "[T]he American people are a lot more interested in what we're doing to create jobs or how we're handling the situation in Afghanistan."

** Aside: If Obama actually were doing something about the situation in Afghanistan, I WOULD be interested.

When pressed further in the NBC interview, Obama said, "I think that what our advisers simply said is, is that we are going to take media as it comes. ... And if media is operating, basically, as a talk radio format, then that's one thing. And if it's operating as a news outlet than that's another. But it's not something I'm losing a lot of sleep over."

What a weak answer! His White House and his team are leading the charge against a media outlet. They are trying to tell the American people what is news and what is not. This is unprecedented and scary. And that is Obama's reply? How weak and pathetic.

Hopefully, more reporters will see through this effort by Obama and his minions. If Obama is surrounding himself with crooks and radicals, then America should know about it, and reporters should do their jobs. There are plenty of news stories out there involving Obama's policies and his personnel. All they have to do is ask the right questions.

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