Comrad Obama

Don't let the title of this entry fool you. I am not an Obama hater, a birther, etc. I got the title from an episode of 30 Rock where the character Jack refers to Obama as Comrad Obama.

I want to talk about Obama's recent attacks on Fox News. White house spokesmen have started going around on the record stating that Fox News isn't really a news station. White house communications director Anita Dunn called Fox "the research arm . . . of the republican party" and White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel said that Fox was not a news organization. You can read more here.

Everyone knows that Fox is conservative. The main news isn't so bad, but editorial shows such as Glen Beck and Sean Hannity certainly are hyper conservative republican. But by the same token MSNBC and CNN have liberal biases and have many hyper liberal democratic shows. The White House is only bashing/boycotting Fox because it disagrees with them.

This raises two questions.

First: Isn't this press boycott (the White House is talking about not giving interviews etc. to Fox reporters/shows) is a bit like censorship. It seems awfully un-american and would be the type of thing that I would expect liberals and democrats to normally speak out against and oppose.

Second: Doesn't this violate Obama's policies of bipartizanship and listening to opposing viewpoints and working together. Fox is being boycotted and belittled by the White House primarily because they have been critical of the President's policies and appointments. Apparently crticisms cannot be tolerated (see question 1 and censorship)

I did support Obama and I still support a lot that he does; however, this battle against Fox News is troubling to me and I think it is a losing hand for the White House. I expect more that talk about bipartisanship and listening to differing views - I actually want bipartisanship and listening to differing views. These recent attacks reek of censorship.