FOOLISH MOVE - AT 6:38 P.M. ET:  The Obama administration is taking on Fox News, which is really silly.  Aren't the Obamans satisfied with having the overwhelming majority of news outlets with them, with some acting practically as subdivisions?  Going after Fox looks small and silly.  The Politico reports:

Time White House correspondent Michael Scherer writes that in the face of criticism from the right, "the White House decided it would become a player, issuing biting attacks on those pundits, politicians and outlets that make what the White House believes to be misleading or simply false claims.”

White House Communications Director Anita Dunn has been leading the charge, Scherer notes, and while consuming conservative media, she's become a “fierce critic of Fox News.”

"It's opinion journalism masquerading as news," Dunn says. "They are boosting their audience. But that doesn't mean we are going to sit back." Fox News's head of news, Michael Clemente, counters that the White House criticism unfairly conflates the network's reporters and its pundits, like Glenn Beck, whom he likens to "the op-ed page of a newspaper."

COMMENT:  Fox is right.  I have no problem with the White House replying to things it believes are unfair.  But singling out Fox means singling out one of the most popular news outlets in the country.  Yes, Fox tilts somewhat to the right, especially in its punditry, but its news reports are fair, and within reasonable bounds.  It gives plenty of time for liberals to have their say.

Looks minor league. 

October 8, 2009