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I predicted last month that the White House would lose its war with Fox News. That now looks to be the case with the announcement by Fox News White House correspondent Major Garrett that Fox is one of five networks selected to interview Barack Obama in Beijing this evening, with each allotted ten minutes with the President. The decision to include Fox in tonight’s interview roster, alongside the likes of NBC, ABC and CBS, is a humiliating about-turn for the White House after it spent weeks rubbishing Fox’s credibility. As Anita Dunn, the Mao-quoting White House communications director put it...

The president on Wednesday night held his fifth press conference since taking office in January, the fourth in prime time, but he didn’t get a bounce from it as is generally the case. The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll today finds his overall approval rating falling below 50% for the first time.

In White House Vs. Fox News War Of Words, Who Gets Your Vote?The stories about what the Obama White House has to say about Fox News Channel keep coming. There was White House communications director saying telling Howard Kurtz of The Washington Post and CNN "let's not pretend they're a news network the way CNN is." Also last week it was NPR's David Folkenflik reporting that "the White House is taking direct aim at Fox News, the news organization that is the home to the most potent collection of its conservative critics." This week it's ABC News' Jake Tapper asking...

Chairman Obama: "We are going to take the media as it comes."

On Tuesday, another prominent media member challenged the White House strategy of attacking the Fox News Channel. This time up at the plate was ABC's Jake Tapper who asked White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs during today's gaggle: It’s escaped none of our notice that the White House has decided in the last few weeks to declare one of our sister organizations “not a news organization” and to tell the rest of us not to treat them like a news organization. Can you explain why it’s appropriate for the White House to decide that a news organization is not one?

Here is video of Brit Hume saying President Obama's War on Fox News is an "anti-media campaign not seen since the days of Richard Nixon." Hume said in the short-term Obama may gain something by intimidating others in the media not to cover stories being covered by Fox News. But in the long-run, Hume believes Obama will suffer because he is fundamentally changing the image he worked so hard to create of being a different kind of candidate who would bring change to politics. . . . (VIDEO)

Senior Obama administration officials took to the airwaves Sunday to accuse Fox News of pushing a particular point of view, one week after the administration fired its initial salvo to try to isolate the news network by accusing it of being a GOP mouthpiece. "A lot of their news programming, it's really not news. It's pushing a point of view," senior adviser David Axelrod said on ABC's "This Week." "The way we -- the president looks at it and we look at it, is, it is not a news organization so much as it has a perspective," White House Chief...

Mafioso, Goon Squad, Communist, Nazi, Jihadi, Democrat politics as usual--whatever you want to call the thuggish tactics of the Obama administration, the very public threats they are making to the news media to not follow the lead of Fox News in questioning Obama's policies and personnel is a direct threat to the freedoms guaranteed in the First Amendment.This morning on the Sunday talk shows, speaking on behalf of President Barack Obama, senior Obama advisers David Axelrod and Rahm Emanuel carried on the war initiated by White House communictions director Anita Dunn last week on CNN.Axelrod appeared on ABC News' This...

A Maoist in the White House Posted By Roger Kimball On October 16, 2009 @ 11:35 am In Uncategorized | 169 Comments Jeremiah Wright. William Ayers. Van Jones. Where does the rogues’ gallery of Barack Obama’s radical friends end? These people are not liberals. They are not “progressives.” They are radicals who hate America and in many cases have advocated or even perpetrated violence in an effort to destroy it. Thanks to Glenn Beck, the American public has now been introduced to yet another radical member of Obama’s inner circle: Anita Dunn, Interim White House Communications Director, former top advisor...

White House interim communications director Anita Dunn assumed the role of lead Fox News Channel-basher this weekend. The attack was a dud. The left-leaning Nation magazine ridiculed President Obama's press shop for turning him into the "whiner-in-chief." AOL media columnist Jeff Bercovici called the war on Fox a "loser's strategy" that "signals weakness." And that's the friendly fire. Dunn found refuge in rival CNN's green zone, where she blasted Fox News as a "research arm of the Republican Party." Unhappy with headline-generating Fox News hosts who have wrested control of the news cycle from Team Obama, Dunn complained about "opinion...

The White House's war on Fox shows its ignorance of the network's true purpose: show business. And Team Obama is giving Murdoch just what he wants. After David Axelrod sneaked into Roger Ailes’ office in New York to powwow on Sept. 30, the White House brain trust of David Axelrod and Rahm Emanuel decided that it is shrewd and useful to attack Fox News as a Republican tool—or as White House Communications Director Anita Dunn remarked, as “a wing of the Republican Party.” It is a guess that the president is not annoyed by this tactic. It is a better...

The White House is making a profound political mistake by targeting Fox News and deliberately deciding to exclude them from interviews and access to the administration. And not only that, they are making a mistake on both a practical and a political level. Frankly, it just doesn’t make sense. On a practical level, targeting a news organization only redounds to one’s detriment. I have no doubt that Fox News will not change its coverage, nor should it, in response to statements from White House Communications Director Anita Dunn. Nonetheless, indicating that five separate Fox News programs will not have access...

WASHINGTON — The White House has gone on the offensive against its critics in the press, singling out Fox News and going so far as to accuse the News Corp.-owned network of waging a "war against Barack Obama." White House Communications Director Anita Dunn has led the charge, appearing on CNN television and conducting interviews with Time magazine and The New York Times in recent days to make her case.The unusual White House campaign comes as President Obama faces mounting opposition to his health care reforms, growing concern over the situation in Afghanistan and a continuing general economic malaise.The president...

In a despicable, arrogant, and rather hypocritical display today, White House communications director (whatever the hell that is) Anita Dunn delegitimized the Fox News Channel as a bona fide news station. Among the gems shared by her with CNN’s Reliable Sources with Howard Kurtz (h/t: Breitbart, via Mediaite]: Let’s be realistic here, Howie, they’re widely viewed as a part of the Republican party: Take their talking points, put ‘em on the air. Take their opposition research, put ‘em on the air. And that’s fine, but let’s not pretend they’re a news network the way CNN is.The reality of it is...

Here is video of Bill O'Reilly talking with Fox News Senior White House Correspondent Major Garrett about tensions that exist between the Obama White House and Fox News. O'Reilly believes that Obama's Administration really dislikes Fox News because Fox News dares to not give deliberately "favorable" coverage of Obama. Garrett would not say there is great tension between the White House and himself, but he did say it is obvious Fox News is not one of the favorites, and he is not given tips and "heads up" help the way some networks are. O'Reilly asked Garrett what is wrong with...

FOX News' Major Garrett discusses his question to Robert Gibbs Thursday afternoon.

TAPPER:  And just one follow-up, to Ben’s*question about the town hall meetings. This week, there's just been an amplification in terms of the rhetoric.  Some of the protesters against the president's position on health care reform have used Nazi imagery.  A Democratic congressman said that the protesters were using brown shirt tactics.  A Democratic senator called protesters' behavior un-American, although she retracted it.  Rush Limbaugh went on a very long speech yesterday during his radio show in which he compared Democrats to Nazis, the president to Hitler. And I'm wondering if the president has seen any of this, has a...

The White House spokesman says President Barack Obama is committed to not raising taxes on U.S. families earning less than $250,000. Robert Gibbs restated that assurance Monday after two top White House officials suggested over the weekend that they could not rule out tax increases as the administration struggles to cut the budget deficit in half in the coming years. In appearances on TV network news shows Sunday, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the White House was not ready to rule out a tax hike to lower the federal deficit. National Economic Council Director Larry Summers said Obama's proposed health...

JERUSALEM – Although the reporter involved denies she coordinated with the White House, speculation abounds over the genesis of the press conference inquiry last week by Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun-Times, whose question about Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. prompted a national race scandal involving President Obama. Several blogs have picked up on unanswered questions surrounding the event and have speculated that the White House may have coordinated the question. "Sweet was prepped, planted and performed on cue," was the title of a piece on The Real Barack Obama blog. "Lynn Sweet has earned her bones as a...

Although the reporter involved denies she coordinated with the White House, speculation abounds over the genesis of the press conference inquiry last week by Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun-Times, whose question about Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. prompted a national race scandal involving President Obama.

President Obama received flack from all sides for his answer to a question at his healthcare press conference in which he said that the police officers involved in Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates' arrest “acted stupidly.” But who could have predicted that “Daily Show” host Jon Stewart would do a presidential put-down? “I wasn't at the press conference last night, and I also don't have all the facts, but I think it's fair to say that Obama handled that question — oh, what's the word I'm looking for — stupidly?” the Comedy Central star cracked. In light of Walter Cronkite's...

Popular conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer, whose columns appear in the Washington Post and many other newspapers throughout this nation had some stunning words on the Hugh Hewitt Radio Show this afternoon. When asked how he thought President Obama fared in his Wednesday night press conference, Krauthammer responded that his thoughts were quite the opposite of the general feelings toward the presser. “I think he did quite well,” said Krauthammer but then added an obvious caveat. “He stood up there and defended the indefensible for an hour. If that had been me up there, I would have turned myself in after...

"On today’s Fox News Sunday, presidential press secretary Robert Gibbs admitted President Obama had been prepared to answer questions about the Henry Louis Gates arrest at his press conference last week. Bret Baier, filling in for regular host Chris Wallace, asked Gibbs, “Before Wednesday’s news conference, did you prepare [the president] for a question about Henry Gates’s arrest in Cambridge?”

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Friday morning that President Obama "has said everything he's going to say" about the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Lewis Gates, Jr. Gibbs repeated the point twice for emphasis, CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller reports. The press secretary met with reporters in his office. Also at the meeting, Gibbs came as close as anyone in the White House has so far to expressing regret over Mr. Obama's comments on the matter. Asked if the president regrets weighing in because "it may take you guys a little bit off message when he's...

July 24, 2009 BY LYNN SWEET Sun-Times Columnist WASHINGTON -- I asked President Obama what turned out to be a provocative question at his press conference on Wednesday night -- well, it was his answer that was really provocative -- about the arrest of noted Harvard African-American studies Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. at his home in Cambridge, Mass. I asked,"What does that incident say to you? And what does it say about race relations in America?" Obama's answer included a sound bite picked up by scores of outlets, whether print, TV, radio or on the Web. Said Obama, "the...

Sgt. Crowley seems to be doing everything he can to defuse the situation and move on. (Take a look at that interview I linked above.) The President clearly wishes he’d kept his mouth shut. I suspect that with his “recalibration” he has just shoved his foot a bit deeper into the presidential maw, especially since Prof. Gates is doing his Al Sharpton imitation traipsing about accusing everyone in sight of racism. He looks completley ridiculous, but people are used to Ivy League Professors making fools of themselves. There will be a bit more of the snigger factor at work whenever...

Barack Obama obviously hoped to get a swell in support after his prime-time presser, both for his health-care initiative and for his own approval ratings. Until now, the president has wrung temporary boosts in polling from his major media appearances. Not this time, though, as Rasmussen shows that negative ratings for his polling increased in the two days after Wednesday’s prime-time press conference: The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Saturday shows that 30% of the nation’s voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-nine percent (39%) Strongly Disapprove giving...

This is not particularly important, but it is interesting. White House Press Secretary was asked today if he "twittered," and he responded: "No, for some reason Twitter is blocked on White House computers. I have to say I'm on camera enough that I think people have a decent sense of what I'm doing minus Twittering." Of course, many people "twitter" using their phone or PDA, but I would guess the only reason to block it would be because of security concerns. Any other ideas? . . . . (Watch Video)

"I think the Fraternal Order of Police endorsed McCain," Gibbs fired back at reporters, referring to Obama's Republican opponent in the 2008 election. "If I'm not mistaken." Gibbs proving he's an idiot.

Here is video of Liberal Ed Shultz hammering Democrats and President Obama for their failure to move forward with their Health Care Reform Bill. He said about Obama at his press conference Wednesday night: "There were times last night when I thought President Obama was a beaten man. And I thought, where's the fire?" Shultz criticized Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for delaying the bill until after the August recess. He called Harry Reid "the most under-the-rug Majority Leader ever." Shultz said he wants to see "some punches thrown" against the Republicans. . . . . . (Watch Video)

The White House says the media's "obsessions" are keeping alive President Barack Obama's comments about the arrest of a Harvard scholar seen trying to get into his own house. Asked whether Obama regretted commenting on the matter, spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters that the president probably would regret distracting the media with "obsessions." Gibbs says Obama has "great respect" for police officers and understands what a hard job they have.

In a continued push for congressional support of health care reform President Obama held his fourth prime time press conference on Wednesday July 22, 2009. The conference was carried live from 8:00PM to approximately 9:00PM on 11 networks. The sum of average audience for those networks was 24,682,519 viewers and had a combined household rating of 16.3. The networks carrying the press conference were ABC, CBS, NBC, Univision*, Telemundo*, BBC-A, BET, CNBC, CNN, FOX News Channel, and MSNBC. Viewing to last night’s press conference was down 14% from his April 29 press conference and down 50% from his first primetime...

WASHINGTON, July 22 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama shifts his effort to convince the American people healthcare reform is the right thing to do right now to prime time Wednesday. In an evening news conference, Obama is expected to outline the case for healthcare reform as well as provide an update on what has been accomplished since he took office in January. White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel told The New York Times Obama intends to use the news conference as a "six-month report card," to talk about "how we rescued the economy from the worst recession" and...

President Obama's fourth primetime press conference since taking office drew 24.7 million viewers across 11 networks on Wednesday night. That's down 14% from the president's last primetime press event. Obama took questions from reporters at the White House about his plan to universalize health care. The networks carrying the press conference were ABC, CBS, NBC, Univision*, Telemundo*, BBC-A, BET, CNBC, CNN, FOX News Channel, and MSNBC. Meanwhile Fox benefited from declining to air the president's news conference, with "So You Think You Can Dance" rising to top the night in the adults 18-49 demographic.

For some background here are the aggregate average viewership numbers from the president’s last 3 prime-time news conferences: Feb: 9: 49.5 million March 24: 40.4 million April 29: 28.8 million This press conference, being in mid-summer, is likely to cost the broadcasters a lot less than the $21.5 million ad revenue estimated for the April one.

In his news conference / speech tonight, the Podium Pounder in Chief made many debatable statements, but one was simply an outright lie. When questioned about the scope and quality of his Government Motors Medical plan, Obama said the proposed plan provides us with medical care very much like the medical care Senators and Congress Members now get. That is a specific, direct and outrageous lie... and Mr. Obama knows it. They never talk about it, but Senators and Congress Members have immediate, free and easy access to health care, and health care professionals. They don’t have to get in...

From the transcript.........OBAMA: They're going to have to give up paying for things that don't make them healthier. And I -- speaking as an American, I think that's the kind of change you want.

Libertarians respond to Obama press conference WASHINGTON -- Libertarian National Committee Communications Director Donny Ferguson issued the following statement Wednesday night, in response to President Barack Obama’s press conference: “Tonight’s press conference by President Obama, complete with scare tactics and wildly inaccurate claims, perfectly illustrated why more and more Americans are losing faith in his promises of prosperity through government control. “Libertarians, and all Americans, aren’t buying President Obama’s ludicrous claim that handing control of your health care over to the federal government keeps costs down. Congressional Budget Office reports show the Obama health care takeover sends costs skyrocketing and...

There was an overwhelmingly fictional quality fo President Obama's (press conference) ast night from his opening remarks on. Promoting his notional health care reform plan, whatever it is, he endlessly asserts a set of talking points that would be demonstrably false if we had the text of a plan to check it against, such as the House's thousand-page monstrosity. When he is about to unleash a whopper of special magnitude, Obama emits a tell-tale sign. He prefaces it with "let me be clear" or "understand this." Last night he achieved such "clarity" twice in his opening remarks. First: [L]et me...

I forced myself to watch the President's press conference last night. I normally try to avoid it for two reasons. First, because I don't believe a word he says and, second, because I just get angry when I hear his lies.

We know the drill: Read the teleprompter for a few minutes, take questions from a few plants in audience, total of twelve or thirteen questions in an hour, filibuster, end to rave reviews from the state run media. White House propaganda e-mail sent to NextGov.com

In his prime-time press conference Wednesday night, President Obama took to the podium to push his health care agenda and pressure Congress into working harder and faster on the hotly contested legislation. Before taking questions from reporters after repeating a number of other talking points that were familiar to those following the health care debate: that his plan would lower costs, rein in the growth of Medicare and Medicaid, and provide security for Americans concerned about their job or the continuity of their plans. He insisted that a government plan would limit the amount the average American could be...

Obama delivers lackluster health care message President spends an hour recycling old patches of rhetoricAnalysis By Howard Fineman msnbc.com contributor updated 4 minutes ago Howard Fineman WASHINGTON - I’ve been covering Barack Obama for a few years, and it’s usually crystal clear what he is up to. Not last night. This is the first time I’ve asked myself: what was THAT all about? His prime time press conference was worse than a waste of time. He spent an hour (with the aide of a soporific White House press corps) pouring sand (one grain at a time) into the already-slowing gears...

The President: One hundred and eighty-three days ago the Democratic Party, and my personal body slaves the hack media, brought forth on this continent, a new Won-derful, conceived in Hawaii (so I am told), and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal but some are more equal than others. Now we are engaged in a great boondoggle of bills, testing whether that nation, or any nation so confused and so eviscerated, can long endure trillions of dollars in debt while the slacktard half of the population pays nothing in taxes for their government cheese.

President Barack Obama will hold a press conference Wednesday night, the White House announced on Twitter. Among the Big 4 TV networks, ABC, CBS and NBC will all carry the press conference live at 8/7 CT, while Fox is sticking with a regularly scheduled broadcast... [Must Read: Comments.] [Must View: Viewer poll.]

Live From The White House, It’s Tuesday Night! Tomorrow night is music night at the White House, and you can have all the action streamed live to your desktop. Charley Pride, Brad Paisley, Alison Krauss + Union Station feat. Jerry Douglas

UPDATED: After some hesitation and a time shift, three major broadcast networks have agreed to carry Barack Obama's latest primetime news conference. The event was announced Friday afternoon as Obama battles to bolster congressional support for an ambitious health-care overhaul while facing dropping approval ratings. But broadcasters are struggling with falling approval ratings of their own; Nielsen's audience measurements show viewership in a summertime slump.

UPDATED: After some hesitation and a time shift, three major broadcast networks have agreed to carry Barack Obama's latest primetime news conference. The event was announced Friday afternoon as Obama battles to bolster congressional support for an ambitious health-care overhaul while facing dropping approval ratings. But broadcasters are struggling with falling approval ratings of their own; Nielsen's audience measurements show viewership in a summertime slump.

Obama is set to give a speech at 3:15 on healthcare, as fears mount that the bill may already be dead. Yesterday's (not too shocking) revelation from the CBO, that the bill would end up costing the government, not saving it money, seems to have really demoralized dems, who had been arguing that fiscal prudence and expanded coverage could go hand in hand. Then today, Rasmussen came out with a poll suggesting that the majority of the public opposed the creation of a public plan. Remember, Obama's job is to convinced Democrats the new scheme is a good one. They...