White House sure did a heckuva job on FOX

by: Adam Bink

Wed Nov 11, 2009 at 20:00

Well, that was quick. Yesterday was the announcement that White House interim Communications Director Anita Dunn, who started this fight with FOX, would be leaving. Today is this:

President Obama will give an interview to Fox News' Major Garrett, Drudge reports.
The interview will take place in China next week and comes just one day after it was reported that Obama Communications Director Anita Dunn the so-called general in the administration's war against Fox News will be stepping down.
[...]
Fox News executive Michael Clemente met recently at the White House with Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, and since then the tensions between the two parties have cooled; senior adviser David Axelrod granted an interview to Garrett last week.

In response, Glenn Beck cackles and calls Anita Dunn a Communist. So, heckuva job, White House! Things have really changed.

I don't have any place to speculate that Dunn was forced out or this is some gesture to FOX or whatever, but it certainly doesn't look good. And how exactly have tensions cooled? Like I wrote back when this first started, this is akin to spanking FOX, sending them to their room, and expecting things to change. They are, and always will be, either the research arm or the communications arm of the Republican Party (and those aren't even mine, those are Dunn's words, speaking for the White House!). They were before Obama came. They will be after Obama leaves. This is a long-term issue, which doesn't justify the White House's "FOX is being mean to us so we spanked them and they'll do better" mindset.

And by the way, what about the rest of us out here? FOX's hosts will continue to smear ACORN, Alan Grayson, Democrats in Congress, SEIU, and on and on and on. Even if the White House argues that FOX will play nice with them from now on, the rest of us still get thrown under the bus.

So I said it before, and I'll say it again. This was a job half-assed.

Adam Bink :: White House sure did a heckuva job on FOX

Tags: 2009 Obama Administration, media, conservative movement, progressive movement, Fox News, (All Tags)

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White House sure did a heckuva job on FOX | 16 comments

First of all: (4.00 / 3)

The WH denied it's going to give interviews (it wouldn't be the first time that Drudge is failure) to FOX.

Second of all, Anita Dunn's position was an interim one and she was always due to leave it in November 2009. She's still going to work for the WH as a consultant.

by: LeftyKing @ Wed Nov 11, 2009 at 19:06:04 PM CST

by: you @ soon

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First of all (0.00 / 0)

The White House denies something. Wow, that means a lot to me. How many times have we seen this before?

Second, I know that, which is why I said I don't have any place to speculate that this was a force-out. I didn't say it was.

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by: Adam Bink @ Wed Nov 11, 2009 at 19:53:13 PM CST

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by: you @ soon

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Well, Drudge is not a reputable source (4.00 / 1)

by: LeftyKing @ Wed Nov 11, 2009 at 20:10:09 PM CST

[ Parent ]

it wasn't a force out (0.00 / 0)

they used anita as the battering ram against fox precisely because she was a temporary employee.

for you to raise it the way you did is akin to fox news saying something like "some are not clear if obama was born in america...we will raise this as an issue on national tv but gosh we can't speculate."

there is plenty of info out there on anita's temp status--you just didn't want to find it.

by: aiko @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 07:12:46 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Damn surrendermonkeys! (4.00 / 1)

The effing Obama administration quickly becomes like the typical cliche of Dem government: No values, no spine, compromise über alles. What a lousy team.

by: Gray @ Wed Nov 11, 2009 at 19:30:17 PM CST

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I seem to recall (0.00 / 0)

that I said we'd seen this in 2008. It's not realistic to think that there will never be interview with Fox.

New Jersey politics at Blue Jersey.

by: Hopeful in NJ @ Wed Nov 11, 2009 at 19:31:16 PM CST

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Sure (4.00 / 2)

And I wouldn't think it is, except the NYTimes reported that they wouldn't through the end of the year:

The one weapon all administrations can wield is access, and the White House, making it clear that it will use that leverage going forward, informed Fox News not to expect to bump knees with the president until 2010.

which led MoveOn to launch a petition asking Congressional Democrats to follow the President's lead. Either the NYTimes reporting was wrong, which is certainly possible, or this was a flip-flop.

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by: Adam Bink @ Wed Nov 11, 2009 at 19:58:00 PM CST

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This is based off a Drudge posting... (4.00 / 5)

Which, at the very least, is as lacking in credibility as the WH denial. I'd wait for confirmation.

by: leshrac55 @ Wed Nov 11, 2009 at 20:07:09 PM CST

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This post makes no sense (4.00 / 3)

This post is keyed off a Drudge posting, which the White House has specifically denied. The least you should do is update the post to include the White House denial.

DemConWatch

by: msn1 @ Wed Nov 11, 2009 at 20:44:05 PM CST

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huh? (4.00 / 1)

I don't have any place to speculate that Dunn was forced out or this is some gesture to FOX or whatever, but it certainly doesn't look good. And how exactly have tensions cooled?

I was under the impression the whole year that Anita Dunn was only there for 2009 and that she would leave before the end of the year.

by: DTOzone @ Wed Nov 11, 2009 at 21:08:03 PM CST

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? (4.00 / 1)

I am under the same impression, which is why I wrote that. I'm not saying she was forced out or it's some gesture. I'm simply observing that it's just bad timing for this to come out the day after, and ends up looking like caving.

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by: Adam Bink @ Wed Nov 11, 2009 at 21:14:47 PM CST

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Well that's now how it came out in the diary (0.00 / 0)

you seem to imply it's obvious she was forced out, not that it just looks bad.

Her husband is being hired as White House Consuel this week, perhaps that had something to do with it?

by: DTOzone @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 22:49:29 PM CST

[ Parent ]

This is some weak criticism (0.00 / 0)

based on some pretty weak evidence. You all seem like Obama haterz around here sometimes. From Drudge to here to saying the administration is hanging Grayson and others out to dry?

by: frankenheimer @ Wed Nov 11, 2009 at 22:39:05 PM CST

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Could it be (0.00 / 0)

that Obama and the Democrats are half-assed?

They're asking for another four years -- in a just world, they'd get 10 to 20. ~~ Dennis Kucinich

by: dkmich @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 04:12:36 AM CST

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Never wrestle with a pig (0.00 / 0)

You get muddy and the pig enjoys it.