Obama's foolish war of choice
The reasons why Obama shouldn't wage war against Fox News
Obama's foolish war of choice
Dick Polman, Inquirer National Political Columnist
In conversations this week, people have repeatedly asked me two questions:
1. How 'bout dem Phillies, huh?
2. Is Obama doing a smart thing by declaring war on Fox News?
My answer to the first question is obvious. Here's my answer to the second question:
No. The president is actually doing a very dumb thing.
As I mentioned here last Friday, "it's no mystery" why the Obama team would feel tempted to wage war against Fox News, given the network's track record. Indeed, top Obama players ramped up their frontal attacks on Sunday and Monday, vowing that "we're going to treat them like we treat an opponent" because, in their view, Fox is merely "opinion journalism masquerading as news." That description sounds about right, but here's an even better characterization, courtesy of Northeastern University journalism professor Alan Schroeder: "Fox News is an entertainment network that employs the conventions of journalism to promote a right-wing political ideology."
But so what? Just because Fox is Fox, it doesn't necessarily follow that the Obama team is smart to go on the attack. Quite the contrary, it's tactically stupid:
1. Going after Fox serves only to elevate Fox, making it appear that Fox is on an equal footing with the White House. Every president gets unfavorable press coverage; lashing out at the press generally makes a president looks small. In this instance, Fox winds up looking bigger. There's no need for Obama to do that, because he's the one with the biggest megaphone. His last speech to Congress drew 32 million TV viewers, according to the Nielsens. His last appearance on CBS' 60 Minutes drew 10 million viewers. Glenn Beck, on Fox, typically gets 2.2 million; Sean Hannity, 2.1 million. Why go to war with Fox, which only boosts its profile and plays right into the hands of Fox chief Roger Ailes - the ex-Nixon aide who thrives on this kind of pugilism?
2. Speaking of Nixon, the attacks on Fox merely serve to make Obama look Nixonesque. Which is hardly Obama's preferred image. Back in '69, Nixon sent forth his vice president, Spiro Agnew, to wage frontal war against CBS and the other "nattering nabobs of negativism," and it made that president look petty and vindictive. In fact, if George W. Bush had waged the same kind of frontal war against MSNBC, the odds are high that much of the Washington commentariat would have accused him of trying to intimidate the press and despoiling the First Amendment. They would have assailed him as petty and vindictive. Is Obama less so? Or is he getting a pass from most pundits simply because his chosen target is Fox?
3. The war on Fox is an unnecessary public distraction. Obama has a lot on his plate already, most of it very substantive - Afghanistan, health care, the economy, climate change, stuff like that - and his smartest play is to keep his eye on the ball...rather than try and make a big fuss out of an old story about how Fox is conservative.
Maybe Obama would be wise to keep these four aphorisms in mind:
Harry Truman once said, "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen." Every president takes heat, much of it unfair. Deal with it, it's part of the job description.
Dwight Eisenhower once said, "Never get into a pissing match with a skunk." Because you'll just wind up smelling like the skunk.
Barack Obama himself said on Feb. 3, "I don't always get my most favorable coverage on Fox, but I think that's part of how democracy is supposed to work. You know, we're not supposed to all be in lock step here..."
And as yours truly always likes to say, metaphorically speaking: "There are always ants at a picnic." Just ignore the ants, Mr. President, and bon appetit.
Tom, ABC and CBS covered the H1N1 shortage on yesterday's broadcast. Katie Couric was quick to point out that HHS secretary Sebelius looked like a cyclops because she'd had a cancerous growth removed from her forehead the day before. Cholly Gibson did not point out that Kathy looked like Quasimodo.— A Friend- ***The White House war on Fox News has now reached critical mass: JAY LENO, HOST, "THE JAY LENO SHOW": President Obama agreed to commit an additional 40,000 troops to help fight Fox News. Senior White House adviser David Axelrod told reporters that Fox News is just pushing a point of view. Well, yes, but at least they've got a point of view.*** http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,569120,00.html— NEPhilly
- Two more porcine analogies why Obama shouldn't get into a dispute or try to educate with Fox Noise: 1-Never mud wrestle with a pig. You both get dirty and the pig enjoys it. 2-Never try to teach a pig how to whistle. It wastes your time and annoys the pig.— parodox
- Not strange at all Noodlehead, you ever read this dude's posts? I am completely anti everything he says. Thus...anti-CD75. Wow, did I really have to explain that to you?— the anti-CD75
- Can't wait till OBAMA BIN LYING is gone along with his tax and spend cronies who are destroying the dollar and therefore running this country in the ground, what a useless infantile P.O.S. he actually is!!!— Mike S.
- Nigel, Krauthammer is a regular on Special Report (6:00 weekdays on FNC) and Fox News Sunday (Sunday's @ 9:00 on Fox). So, in a way, he is being labeled as not part of a news organization by being part of Fox News. That is what was at the heart of Jake Tapper's questions to Gibbs. How can the White House decide a network is not a news organization, saying thousands of employees do not work in news if they work for Fox, and why does that standard not apply to either MSNBC or CNN. Is it because MSNBC and CNN champion the administrations point of view? Are other networks now not reporting critical items about Obama and his administration for fear of losing access, advertisers, ratings, viewers, etc? As to the pay czar, yes, it only applies to firms that took bailout money. Regardless of the percentage, is this constitutional? If you take a student loan from the government, does that limit you to only certain schools and certain courses? If you are in the mortgage modification program so you could keep your house, does that give the government control over your future spending, credit, lifestyle? Allow this and where will it end? Just think of the restrictions if government gets control of health care, or passes a cap and tax bill.— tom - wilmington, de
- "Not strange at all Noodlehead, you ever read this dude's posts? I am completely anti everything he says. Thus...anti-CD75. Wow, did I really have to explain that to you?" Wow..TPS needs to get out more!— camtheman
- How ironic. Dickie used to provide "analysis" on the Inquirer's news pages. Of course, it was as biased as his "debate" is now. But, in his myopic liberal worldview, only Fox News is biased. Go figure.— RonaReagan
- Tom, I can see your point about the pay issue, but I can't help but be outraged over these financial institutions living this life of luxury off the backs of people like me -- who don't make all that much to begin with and are taking furloughs as a euphemism for pay cuts. In part, those are the people who got us into this mess. So would I like them to come down to earth and stop earning an obscene amount of money? Honestly, yes. Maybe that's wrong, but it's the way I feel. If they never took any of our money, that's a different story. But these billions in bonuses ... I don't know. It just doesn't sit well with me.— NigeltheMastiff
- the inky is just as bad as fox news, in fact worse because they don't even bring in alternative view points. why does o'reilly do so well.... because he brings in all view points to the debate. those who disagree aren't watching his show.— Bud Fox
- Bush planted "reporters" in his press conferences and banned reporters he didn't like. This is no different.— HandNik
- Republican have been anti-American and unpatriotic since Obama became President. No wonder only 20% of the public identifies themselves as such. No doubt that CD75, Noodlehead, Camtheman, NEPhilly and Tom from Wilmington all consider themselves part of that shrinking 20%.— the anti-CD75
- I disagree with Mr. Polman on this one. The Obama team should call out Fox when it releases over the top "news" stories. The only way to stop a bully is to smack him in the mouth and put him on his back. Fox News is the biggest bully the media has seen in a long time. Way to go Obama; show us some more cojones.— AHiredGun
- The lack of objectivity at MSNBC is just as bad as it is at Fox News (or Fox Sports, those announcers STINK!). What are the odds that MSNBC's cred will be a future post topic?— Joe Funk
- When do the other networks criticize Obama? Show me when Fox has been wrong. Please.— sleepy
Cited by the Columbia Journalism Review as one of the nation's top political reporters, and lauded by the ABC News political website as "one of the finest political journalists of his generation," Dick Polman is a national political columnist at the Philadelphia Inquirer. He is on the full-time faculty at the University of Pennsylvania, as "writer in residence." Dick has been a frequent guest on C-Span, MSNBC, CNN, NPR and the BBC. He covered the 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004 presidential campaigns.
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