FOX HAS DEFAULTED IN THEIR RIGHT TO SIT IN A "FRONT-ROW" SEAT
Gary Ater
August 26, 2010
So you ask, "Whatīs the big deal about sitting in a īfront-row seatī in the White House press briefing room"?
The "big-deal" is that these seats in the White House Briefing Room are earned and reserved for real news sources that are not biased toward one specific party or ideology. Those in the briefing room are expected to report what is offered to them in the White House briefings without comment or opinion. (As DRAGNETīs Joe Friday always said, "Just give me the facts .. just the facts".)
The FOX Network has never done that since they were first given access to the White House. But, when the FOX president, Rupert Murdock recently signed a check for one million dollars from the FOX coffers to the Republican Governors Election Fund, he seriously removed any doubt (as if there ever were any doubts) as to whether FOX News was considered a real news organization.
I never understood why FOX had a front row White House seat in the first place. Unless it was done to just demonstrate to the public that the White House was giving the opposition real access to the White House. Well, that right and privilege should have been immediately removed. It is instead appearing that Mr. Murdock and FOX are thumbing their noses directly at the President and daring him to "throw FOX out of the White House". Of course, doing that would just give Murdock even more weeks to falsely howl "foul", even though they would have brought it upon themselves.
Unfortunately, the president usually takes these kind of issues and tries to rise above them as if they were just petty actions by the political opposition. But so many times, this hesitancy tends to signal a serious political weakness instead the position of the administration having a higher level of maturity.
The administration has got to start standing up for, not just whatīs right, but when there are bullies such as Glen Beck, Bill OīReilly, Sean Hannity, and especially Rush Limbaugh spouting pure lies and misinformation, sometimes itīs time to "flex some muscles" and punch the bullies in the nose. Turning the other cheek only works for so long!
In the beginning, those on FOX were usually just guilty of taking things out-of-context to demonstrate their incorrect assumption. But their current lies and this latest big donation check to a specific Republicanīs election committee shows just how much contempt they have for the current administration. Today, FOX has "would-be" political candidates on their pay-roll, (ie: Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee) which is also against the rules. But by being the only national network that does this, they are not just thumbing-their-nose at the rules and the president, they are doing it to all of the American public.
In reality, FOX Is just saying, "screw the rules", and as the Mexican bandito had said, Mr. Murdock is saying, "We donīt gotta show you no stinking badges".
If this were the actions of a young childīs tantrum, they would be placed in a corner for doing a very long "time out".
But instead of that kind of response, FOX still has a front row seat in the most powerful residence in the world. And their hands didnīt even get slapped and there was no "ruler to the knuckles".
If the Democrats are worried about the mid-term elections, they and the president might want to understand this reaction of the public to blatant disregard for the rules. (And this questionable action is coming from a billionaire network owner who just happens to be Australian.) But this ignoring of FOX does not endear the Americans that voted for the president in 2008. If this attitude persists, the Democrats could have some serious reasons to be worried.
Itīs not just what a president does, or tries to do for the public, itīs just as important as to how he does what he does.
President Lyndon Baines Johnson did many positive things for the Civil Rights Movement in America, but he was not known as being a "nice guy" in getting it done. When a Senator or Congress person was called in unexpectedly to "see president Johnson", they most likely were "shaking in their boots". His diplomacy was anything but polite and delicate.
I think most Americans that voted Democratic in the last national election would like a little more of the "LBJ diplomacy" when the president deals with the opposition, and especially with FOX.
Copyright G.Ater 2010
Follow me on Twitter: gater01
Print
Email
