No One Likes a Whiner

White House communications director Anita Dunn and President Obama have decided to act like kids in high school that feel they are being gossiped about, instead of what they should be, a professional and the President of the United States. It is truly pathetic. If you missed it, you can see the CNN transcript and vido here.

She basically whines about Fox News not being fair, when even a search in the LexisNexis proves her completely wrong (see link above). This administration just cannot take criticism. They are, as Chris Wallace said, a bunch of cry babies. I just find it astonishing that the White House communications director would say about Fox News, " “We’re going to treat them the way we would treat an opponent."

CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, and NBC all treated Bush about the way Fox News is treating Obama, and you never heard the Bush White House whine or stomp their feet and refuse to play with the big boys. Good grief. It's embarrassing.

But leave it to Fox New's Neil Cavuto to set Ms. Dun straight:



"So I'm hearing an awful lot about how the White House communications director hates Fox, really, really hates Fox. Anita Dunn saying, and I think I got this quote right, "Let's not pretend they're a news network." She just said that on CNN after saying the same to Time magazine. Lately, it's been her schtick, her game.

So, Ms. Dunn, let's continue playing it, shall we? Let's pretend you're serious. Let's pretend you're not a tad, oh I don't know, thin-skinned. Let's pretend you get your facts straight on whether we thoroughly reported Republican Nevada Senator John Ensign's affair which we did, or only trash Democrats and not Republicans, which we do not. Let's pretend you are open to criticism. Let's pretend you see alternative points of view on healthcare. Let's pretend when someone opposes your view, they might have a point and when you simply refuse to accept it, you're the one who may not have a clue. Let's pretend you have a memory and recall Fox programs like this one disparaging last year's financial rescues and whether they were pouring good money after bad. Let's pretend you know history and recall that a Republican was in the White House back then, and a Republican treasury secretary refused to come on this very show back then. Let's pretend you are aware that on Fox Business shows, in particular, this isn't about this president or the last president. This is about your money, our money, all of our money. Let's pretend you are interested in that and not dismissing that.

Let's pretend you work for the President of the United States and not some left-wing blog in the United States. Let's pretend you are as big as the historic place you work and not as petty as the less than historic words you spout. And let's pretend you care about all of our independent viewers and aren't being just careless about those viewers' cares. So let's pretend you're focused on the issues that matter and not the petty squabbles that do not, just as we should pretend you're not overwrought and snapping. Maybe you're just overworked and snippy."

Even lefty TV critic David Zurawik is disgusted:

I have been writing for several months about how thin skinned the White House has been about press criticism — especially when it comes to the Fox News Channel. I have compared the current administration to the White House of Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew, and believe me, I did not do that lightly. Nixon-Agnew was a very dark time for the First Amendment…

This campaign by the Obama administration is dangerous to press freedom, and it should concern everyone in the press, not just Fox. If you want to get a sense of little regard Team Obama has for the press in general, check out this “Time” magazine article. You have to wonder who else is on this administration’s enemies list.

Fox News ratings speak for themselves. It simply doesn't make sense to boycott the biggest audience in cable news. If you want to make your case for your point of view, you don't get scared away because some of the opinion based shows are critical of you. You go on the news based shows and explain why those shows are wrong.

This just smacks of cowardliness.

Update: Good grief! Even The Nation is calling Obama "Whiner In Chief." When the left starts agreeing with the right on something like this, you know it's bad.