The president’s staff is attempting to marginalize Fox News, apparently because “real” outlets don’t have a point of view. Or if they do, it is a point of view at least congenial to the president’s staff. But it’s supposed to be a reporter’s job to ask hard questions. You know, comfort the afflicted, afflict the comfortable?
That sort of thing.
It can result in remarkable things:
When his fellow Communist leaders decided on new travel regulations, (East German Politburo member Günter) Schabowski was out of the room. Later that evening he skim-read the executive order, stuffed it in his briefcase, and headed off to meet the world’s media.
Pressed on the meaning of the new travel policy — When did it come into force? Did it apply to West Berlin? Did people need a passport? — the flustered apparatchik rustled his papers and gave confusing answers that led the news media to believe the border was open, with immediate effect.
The result, once East Berliners had seen that night’s news on West German television, was chaos at border crossings across the city.
At Bornholmer Strasse, one of the main checkpoints in central Berlin, confused border guards couldn’t get clear orders on how to deal with the crush, and debated whether to open fire. Instead, they opened the barrier, and the Berlin Wall was history.
True story.
I remember watching that. The following year, pieces of the wall were on sale at Service Merchandise in Nashville. I remember the left being utterly stunned. But, then, they walk around pretty much in a haze anyway.
Nothing to do with them filterless smokes they keep rolling themselves…
Ahh . . . if only Obama had been president at the time, instead of that Cowboy Bush, he could have calmly interjected and explained how our shameful bombing of the what was now East Germany during WWII meant we didn’t have a right to intervene in what was clearly one of their internal affairs. He would have then done the responible thing and closed the border crossings from our side to contain the issue and eliminate the source of the agitation behind the iron curtain unfairly causing so much humanitarian strife. But now the poor eastern Europeans are no longer ruled by their enlightened betters but are left to the harsh, uncaring chaos of greed and capitalism. Too bad. Tsk, tsk.
You see, honest reporting IS dangerous to our superiors, who should be left completely alone to rule over us for our own good without have to suffer the lese-majeste of us getting in their way with our knuckle dragging questions.
There’s got to be a better case for power of the news than that! What kind of hard questions did the West German Television reporters ask the East German?
Not to get investigative news confused with Fox news.
You guys crack me up. Keep up the BS about fair and balanced.
I almost gagged at Ms. Mika prattling on about how “we’re the ones making an issue. Why, the White House just e-mailed saying so!”.
Mongo/
With you all the way on Mika. I watch Morn. Joe religiously not just because of the “know your enemy” rule, but from the exquisite pleasure I get out of watching the various horrified looks she gets when Joe even gently challenges/gigs her on any of her knee-jerk “progressive” lefty locked-in-concrete assumptions.
So in this case a Beaureucrat actually helped things? That makes it historic all on it’s own.
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The WH wants the game of Politics similar to what they want to do with Little League. There are some lefty -liberal-loonies who believe that we shouldn’t keep score, everybody should win and that there should be no losers. No competittion, no reward for superior play.
At the end of the season we hand out trophies to everybody regardless of how well or crappy your team played. Sounds like what the WH wants too…..
FOX News and others want to make sure the WH understands that they wanted the position of running the country and like all before, have to answer to others for their actions. Bush never got a minute’s rest, and neither did Clinton, Bush Sr., Regan, Carter, etc. The press did their job while the WH did theirs.
SO MAN-UP – Stop all the crying and whinning and get over it. You wanted the job, you got it. Stop looking for someone to blame for why your ideas and methods are not getting it done….
SK1 Cook/
MAN UP? No “Harden The F***K UP!”
See “Chopper” Reid: Harden the f**k up, Australia@
http://www.youtube.comwatch?v1EY7IYRneHc/
LOL!
Sorry SK1 COOK/
http://w/www.youtube.com/watch?v1EY7IYRneHc/
The crying and whining got worse yesterday, when the WH at first refused to allow Fox News – part of the 5 network press pool for 12 years – to have access to Pay Czar Ken Feinberg.
Talk about manning up – the other 4 networks decided if Fox would be prohibited from being present, then they wouldn’t be either. The WH finally relented and Fox got their interview.
This is starting to look like state-controlled media. None of us should like it – no matter what our political views are. This “war on Fox” is such a misuse of presidential power – it’s just so low, it demeans our nation.
Which Mr. HopeyChangey has worked so hard to avoid – *cough*.
Fun part about the WH battle with Fox is the sources of the WH displeasure. The opinion portions of Fox Hannity and Beck. Seems the WH cannot distinguish between news and opinion and wants to stiffle free speech in the process. Some change to believe in.
Liberals (Marxists, actually) have very little connection with reality. It’s why none of their programs work. That’s none, as in zero, zip, nada. Their heart is so in the right place they will use government to steal from us to help out those other poor people that have lost in the lottery of life.
In the end, all you have is poor people. Even Deng figured it out in China, which is why Mao purged him. If Deng hadn’t taken over after the death of Mao, they would have fallen into the septic tank of history like the Sovs did. Now the Marxist party here is trying the same thing with us.
I love what the Obamanation is trying with Fox. It shows how desperate and stupid they are.