THE PLANK OCTOBER 21, 2009
-
Read Later
READ LATERAvailable only to subscribers. SUBSCRIBE TODAY
-
Listen
ARTICLE AUDIO
- Font Size
Last August, when the White House urged the public to share examples of hysterical health care rumors so the administration could help correct them before they spread too widely, Fox News pundit Charles Krauthammer compared it to "Chicago thug politics," Big Brother, and Hugo Chavez. This time around, he again sees the dark hand of Chicago politics:
It is one thing for the government, the administration, to attack opponents, institutions, media. It is another to go out and try and delegitimize them and destroy them.
I thought it was sort of repulsive audacity on the part of the administration to go out and to declare Fox is not a real news organization, particularly when there might be big companies out there who might think twice about having an ad on Fox or other news media who might think twice about following a Fox story because it might incur the displeasure of the administration.
Similarly, to go after the Chamber of Commerce — you can argue against it, defend yourself on the arguments — but to try to induce defections as a way to destroy it is a new level. It's Chicago-level politics.
It's worth keeping in mind exactly what sinister acts the White House is committing here. With regard to Fox, the administration is pointing out that the network does not practice anything remotely resembling neutral journalism. It is a 24-hour conservative and Republican propaganda machine. As for the Chamber of Commerce, the White House is not trying to "induce defections," though I'd have no problem if it were. Its crime here is to meet with individual CEOs, rather than letting the Chamber -- which is run by Republican operatives and determined to kill the administration's agenda -- serve as the gatekeeper to corporate America.
So, that's the sum total of this dark White House strategy: point out that wildly biased right-wing a network is not a legitimate news organization, and negotiate with executives rather than an implacably hostile lobby. If that's Chicago style politics, then Chicago must not be such a bad place.
5 comments
Point taken. And it's a good one. But now let's talk about Obama's motives with respect to Wall Street, working people, unions, campaign reform and change in Washington. Are they sinister? Yes, I'd say so. But then I have always been of the opinion that when someone out on the campaign trail after your vote feeds you a pack of lies that reflects a sinister nature. So far, Obama is a flagrant phoney vis a vis the world he painted while running for office. Last night Frontline aired a rather devastating documentary on the Clinton/Bush years---as a prelude to the economic crisis. Obama [and the Democratic Congress] are virtually in lockstep with those policies. True or not? Or maybe the motives of the press are sinister too. george
- iambiguous
October 21, 2009 at 5:01pm
-
The K Man Knows
Russian Policy: "It is amateurishness, wrapped in naivete, inside credulity." Compared to Clinton: "Obama's persona is more cool, distant, imperial. The charming scoundrel can get away with endless deception; the righteous redeemer cannot." On Afghanistan: "Does anything he says remain operative beyond the fading of the audience applause?" In summary: "After a disastrous summer - mistaking his mandate, believing his press, centralizing power, governing left, disdaining citizens for (of all things) organizing - Obama is in trouble." Unlike the crop of entertainers who admit they're out to electrify and raise ratings, Krauthammer's brand is serious & wrapped in a dour "If you don't hear from me, you'll know why...". He's old time radio or CBS's Mystery Theater, with the lights out. It's probably a better act because creepy works better than freaky. -- michael
October 21, 2009 at 5:54pm
Neutral journalism? C'mon, Chait, you know better. Since when is that the standard? Unless you believe that NPRand MSNBC practice "neutral journalism." Or that NBC devotes an entire week to a segment hosted bya Kennedy, based on a report from the Center for American Progress. Refresh my memory, Jon, is that a neutral organization? Yes, I know, Fox is conservative. And it's the only news organization that is. Let's see, Dems/liberals run the Congress, the WH, the MSM, and all you guys can do is whine about about Fox? Jeez, suck it up.
- butchie b
October 22, 2009 at 4:03pm
Let Fox give its conservative slant on reality; I don't mind the bias so long as they don't pretend to be independent. Let them tell us their source is the latest RNC memo, complete with typos. *That* would be reporting that let the audience decide (whereas if NBC puts a Kennedy on for a few nights a week, everyone can tell right away that it's a Kennedy, and judge from there). The emphasis here in "conservative slant on reality" should be on reality, however: a few more rational conservative voices and a lot less tinfoil-hat paranoia, please. If Fox wants to present itself as the only place where we can get the truth free of liberal bias, it owes its audience just that, and the White House is right to call it out when it's just making stuff up.
- frippo
October 22, 2009 at 5:04pm
At the outset, consider the source. It's Krauthammer, which by itself warrants a deduction of about 5 credibility points. Secondly, the White House's pre-emptive strike against Fox is brilliant politically. One of the problems during the Clinton years is that right-wing sources like Fox or the WSJ editorial page would create an outlandish meme (see, e.g., Whitewater), which would then be picked up and amplified by mainstream outlets, providing it with undeserved credibility. The idea of putting Fox back on their heels a bit may at least give the MSM pause before they slavishly and reflexively parrot what spews forth from Fox as news. And besides, Fox IS a propaganda mill.
- WayneJM
October 23, 2009 at 10:59am