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In Fight With Fox, White House Can't Win

Administration has 'brought a knife to a gunfight': David Carr

By M. Morris,  Newser Staff

Posted Oct 18, 2009 4:24 PM CDT

(Newser) – By tackling Fox News head-on, the Obama administration has almost certainly bitten off more than it can chew, apparently prioritizing payback ahead of rising above the fray. "While there is undoubtedly a visceral thrill in finally setting out after your antagonists," media columnist David Carr writes for the New York Times, "the history of administrations that have successfully taken on the media and won is shorter than this sentence."

Recent shots at Fox, ranging from communications director Anita Dunn's direct assault to the lame "Reality Check" blog on the White House website, aren't just undignified—they grant Fox a status it apparently doesn't even aspire to. The network "is not in the access business. They are in the agitation business," Carr observes. "And the administration, by deploying official resources against a troublesome media organization, seems to have brought a knife to a gunfight."

The South Portico of the White House, where President Obama met with Jimmie Johnson (fifth from left) and other NASCAR drivers on Aug. 19, 2009.
The South Portico of the White House, where President Obama met with Jimmie Johnson (fifth from left) and other NASCAR drivers on Aug. 19, 2009.   (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
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Chris Wallace of "Fox News Sunday" doesn't think much of the "crybabies" in the Obama White House.   (D0VVNT0VVN)

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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 68 comments
Face-Of-RNC
Oct 23, 2009 12:01 PM CDT
Repetitive idiot.
Guava_Jelly
Oct 21, 2009 6:01 AM CDT
Something I saw earlier today- Modern liberal rules for debating with conservatives and libertarians. 1. The liberal is correct. 2. Failure to recognize rule #1 is proof positive the non-liberal is a moron. 3. Commence with childish, immature insults, and use that as proof of your moral superiority.
cementhead
Oct 20, 2009 4:03 AM CDT
If this is NOT an attempt to muzzle unfavorable media, then why would they say anything at all? This whole thing makes no sense otherwise. Obama is trying to silence negative press because....well, that's what socialists do and have always done. Most socialists eventually tolerate no dissent whatsoever and that's what the "brown shirts" and the "Guardia Seville" were all about. It's truly sad that just because there's a perfectly normal economic downturn, the American public is getting sucked-in on these radical policy changes. Right around the next corner all the borrowed money will have been spent and then it's payback time. Get ready for the asset sell-off and insane taxation period.
 

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