Purple People Vote

Well crack out the violins the White House doesn’t like Fox News. The first two to pull out their bows are sure to be Senator McCain and Secretary Clinton, who will likely also be playing in the percussion section as they simultaneously bang their heads against the wall. Both have repeatedly noted the media’s incredible Obama love-fest during the election. Secretary Clinton even stated that Fox News treated her most fairly of any network at that time.

President Obama has received the most favorable media coverage of any politician in my lifetime, and likely of all time. Yet that does not appear to be good enough for the Obama White House. Apparently all news network must feature personalities who fawn over the President’s good looks and eloquence. If your station is not packed with people whose legs tingle when the President talks then clearly you are not a legitimate news organization. Robert Gibbs today cited Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity as proof that Fox is not truly a news network. Now I’d rather poke myself in the eye then watch the Glenn Beck show, but isn’t he really just Kieth Olbermann in conservative clothing? Yet no admonishment from the White House for MSNBC being fully in the Obama tank? Isn’t good journalism what happens when those in power are questioned and challenged? Clearly at this point in history Fox News, while obviously filled with conservative programming, is far more likely to ask a probing question of the White House than an organization like the New York Times whose reporter literally asked the president at a press conference what he was most enchanted by as president (seriously they asked him about being enchanted).

Now as for Sean Hannity, he has been full of tough but legitimate questions for candidate and President Obama. ACORN who was given a pass by other media sources was researched by the Hannity show. President Obama’s personal and public associations are frequently questioned by Sean Hannity.  He is a self-ascribed conservative, and that apparently not acceptable, particularly if thy have a lot of questions.  Most candidates go through a series of tough questions when they are vetted, but candidate Obama was able to avoid this scrutiny because the media’s school-girl crush on him. The White House’s criticism of Fox News really isn’t about Fox News, it’s about the administration’s incredibly thin skin. This adminstration wasn’t tested by the media during the election and therefore is completely unprepared to handle even the mildest of criticism from prominent conservative comentators. As Senator McCain has repeatedly stated ‘this aint beanbag,’ and maybe this president and administration just don’t have the stomach or the backbone for politics.

From Politico Fox ‘not really news,’ says Axelrod

“It’s really not news — it’s pushing a point of view. And the bigger thing is that other news organizations like yours ought not to treat them that way, and we’re not going to treat them that way. We’re going to appear on their shows. We’re going to participate but understanding that they represent a point of view.” 

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that Fox “is not a news organization so much as it has a perspective.”

“It’s not so much a conflict with Fox News,” Emanuel told John King. “I suppose the way to look at it and the way … the president looks at it, we look at it is: It’s not a news organization so much as it has a perspective. And that’s a different take. And more importantly, is not have the CNNs and the others in the world basically be led in following Fox, as if what they’re trying to do is a legitimate news organization …