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The White House is calling on other news organizations to isolate and alienate Fox News as it sends out top advisers to rail against the cable channel as a Republican Party mouthpiece... several top White House officials have taken aim at Fox News since communications director Anita Dunn branded Fox "opinion journalism masquerading as news" in an interview last Sunday.
White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel told CNN on Sunday that President Obama does not want "the CNNs and the others in the world [to] basically be led in following Fox." Obama senior adviser David Axelrod went further by calling on media outlets to join the administration in declaring that Fox is "not a news organization." ...The White House stopped providing guests to "Fox News Sunday" after host Chris Wallace fact-checked controversial assertions made by Tammy Duckworth, assistant secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, in August. Dunn said fact-checking an administration official was "something I've never seen a Sunday show do." "She criticized 'Fox News Sunday' last week for fact-checking -- fact-checking -- an administration official," Wallace said Sunday. "They didn't say that our fact-checking was wrong. They just said that we had dared to fact-check." ("White House Urges Other Networks to Disregard FOX News," FOX News, 10/19/09)
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A SLUGGISH economy, inflation, strikes and rampant crime: much of the recent news in Venezuela has been bad for the socialist government of President Hugo Chávez. Its response has been to intensify its harassment of the media. On August 1st, 34 radio stations were taken off the air for allegedly failing to submit the proper paperwork to the broadcasting regulator... Days earlier the attorney-general, Luisa Ortega, unveiled a draft law against “media crimes” which proposes jail terms of up to four years for vaguely worded offences such as “prejudicing state security” or the “mental health” of the public... The government’s concerted crackdown on critical media comes as Mr Chávez is pressing ahead with other measures that seem designed to make his “socialist revolution” irreversible. ("Switched Off," The Economist, 8/6/09)
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Notice any similarities?
A sad footnote: While looking up accounts of the Chavez suppression of media in Venezuela, I was startled by the number of left-wing commentaries rationalizing and justifying the move by that government!
4 comments:
Great post.
With Obama seemingly riding our economy into the ditch (on purpose?), I've wondered if he might call-off the elections of 2010 or 2012 simply because "things are just so bad that the country wouldn't survive the turmoil!"
America and its traditions, not to mention the Constitution, mean nothing to this man. I can see him becoming our dictator-president for life.
Thank you.
Our president is showing himself to be, unfortunately, a thug politican. In America's favor: at least we know what liberty and freedom are and can recognize the crap when we see it. Consider the TEA parties, for instance. At least there is some movement toward shining light on this gambit for tyranny. Not saying it's not possible, but a lot of things will have to be overcome before BHO can set himself up as "beloved president for life."
Chuck,
It's true that a lot of things would have to be overcome, but I believe this guy might do it if he could.
I'm not sure that's ever been true before of any other American president. This man is not a patriot.
With enough momentum, a lot of things are possible. He does have some folks wrapped around his finger. I wonder who is pulling his strings, though.
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