At bottom line, Barack. Obama was and is an empty suit. Fox News, along with Glenn Beck and his crew, has played a major vehicle in exposing this and other faults in the Obama administration, and in Congress. Government doesn't want the public to know the truth.
The war on Fox News, Glenn Beck, and "conservative" talk radio in general has attracted a fair amount of attention of late, with a number of people, including the eldest of White House correspondents Helen Thomas calling it a serious mistake. Others have said that it should never have been started. And while there has also been some limited support for Fox from other press entities the media at large has not yet understood the situation for what it is.
The question of why this is happening has confounded a number of people, particularly since it was a major mistake for President Nixon decades ago. But Liberals rarely learn from history, so perhaps the lesson is lost on them. But there is a significant reason why this "war" is happening, and it reflects on the nature of Barack Obama, the nature of the modern left, and, what is happening in the media in general. It is likely that this "war" was inevitable, given who and what Barack Obama is.
The problem begins with the fact that, at bottom line, Mr. Obama was and is an empty suit. He is able to play the con man, but he is incapable of governing, and has essentially zero leadership ability. His campaign on how he was going to benefit everyone and make government transparent was for all practical purposes a fraud. His sole agenda was to turn the government over to the radicals in Congress and his equally radical assistants to run in an essentially authoritarian fashion. Fox News, along with Glenn Beck and his crew, has played a major vehicle in exposing this and other cases of duplicity in the Obama administration, as well as in Congress. Yes, sunlight is a great disinfectant, which is why the folks in Washington DC are trying to keep it out. They don't want the public to know the truth.
The public, provided with information by a host of radio sources plus Fox News were the spearhead behind the Tea Party organizations, the Town Hall meeting protests, and so on. The intense level of public pressure derailed virtually the entire statist agenda proposed by Obama, Pelosi and Reid. Next, infighting broke out in the Democrat Party. The once overwhelming majority lost its cohesion and effectiveness. And all of this happened because of a few people who kept the information flowing to others who became grass roots organizers. It is no wonder that they are on an enemies list and that the government wants to shut them down. After all, similar things happened to George W. Bush over the Dubai Ports proposal and border security issues. The difference was that Mr. Bush saw nothing wrong with bowing to public pressure. The new gang in town doesn't see it that way.
The fact that the ratings for Fox News are climbing while those for CNN, MSNBC, et al. are falling shows that the public is hungry for the information not appearing on these networks. It also shows the level of public distrust for certain programming and those presenting it. Fox has become the trusted source for a large portion of the public and that portion is acting on it. The liberal political establishment knows that the truth is dangerous to its power. It knows that as long as the public is aware of information that Big Brother doesn't want them to have, it will be impossible for them to act unopposed. They will be unable to effectively manipulate the public.
When a government does not respect the public, or believes that it knows best and that the public should submit to its wishes without question, it eventually becomes a tyranny. Tyrannical governments cannot abide challenges or dissent. Thus, anyone who disagrees becomes an enemy. The level of public dissent, which appeared because a few people refused to act as propaganda outlets made confrontation in inevitability.
Barack Obama, like many politicians, is unable to take responsibility for his failures and for his lack of competency. He has to blame someone else, which is proof of his immaturity and inability to lead. To make matters worse he wants to control the spotlight of publicity, and in that spotlight he has to be a star, regardless of whether or not his act is a flop. Fox News and its "partners in crime" not only show the flops, they show us why they flopped, which is that much worse to a "star" who demands only favorable publicity. Instead of running for office he should have found a slot on Dancing With the Stars
Because the Internet has become a focal point for organizing the government power holders want to shut it down too, at least to the extent it can provide information to and opportunities for the opposition. "Net Neutrality" is merely another label for shutting down dissent. As Mark Levin has said, this government is statist in orientation. If carried to its logical ends that means a government ruling an ignorant and inactive population of virtual, if not outright slaves. Free people require the truth. Slaves can make do with what they are told, regardless, after all, they have no will of their own, anyway.
The authors of the constitution knew very well why they needed a free press. When Nancy Pelosi is asked where authority exists in the Constitution for her legislative agenda and she responds "Are you serious?" it shows that she doesn't care if she is breaking the rules. This is precisely why we need a free press; to put the public on notice that their liberty is in danger. Thank God that the public is reacting.
I object to your use of the term “modern left”. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn describes, in the Red Wheel, the same kind of tactics used by the Bolsheviks in 1916. Others write about the same thing as far back as 1850.
Steven,
In your second paragraph, you make the statement; “The question of why this is happening has confounded a number of people, particularly since it was a major mistake for President Nixon decades ago. But Liberals rarely learn from history, so perhaps the lesson is lost on them.” It’s not that it was lost; they didn’t learn the correct lesson.
Your assumption is that they would have learned not to pick a fight with someone who buys his ink by the barrel. The lesson actually taught to them was; “Republicans should not to pick a fight with someone who buys his ink by the barrel. We are loved; we can pick a fight with anyone and rely on ‘ink-by-the-barrel’ support.”
They have always assumed safety because of their incestuous relationship with the very same MSM. When Representative Alan Grayson can say the things he has with nary a reprimand from the MSM or his Congressional Leaders; however the howling we got from all quarters of the left over Joe Wilson’s remark during Obama’s last speech before a joint session of Congress were all about his lack of respect and his ignorance of decorum.
I agree with your statement; “Mr. Obama was and is an empty suit. He is able to play the con man, but he is incapable of governing, and has essentially zero leadership ability.” But this situation was delibrately created by the democrats and the MSM over the last decade.
After two lost general elections where the Democrats supported candidates with discernible records; (Gore and Kerry), they decided on a more ‘stealthy’ candidate. After all; they had been making inroads by running ‘stealth’ fiscal conservatives in close Congressional and Senate districts the last four election cycles and had been fairly successful at turning close republican districts democrat by the few points they needed to win.
They realized that one of the ‘districts’ with the narrowest of margins was actually the general electorate. In Barack Obama they found a person so skilled in the art of euphemism and generality that crowds of people literally heard exactly what they wanted to hear; ignoring and discarding the rest. A child of the bureaucracy that purposely spent so little time in any one political office as to leave no record worth analysis. A person of such ephemeral background that one could not even ascertain, with any certainty, his constitutional qualifications for the office he currently held.
This led to the current ‘Trifecta’ we experience today. The liberal/progressives went ‘all-in’ and bet they could take both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. They knew Obama was the ‘empty suit’ you described him as. They were counting on it. He’s operated just as they supposed he would. THey do the heavy lifting while he uses his ‘bully pulpit’ to discount enemies. The bet is that they can pull the country so leftward prior to the next election cycle that conservatism will be dead an gone; nothing left to conserve.
They figure that by passing their complete agenda, that they will firmly ensconce themselves in power. They know the MSM will not hold them accountable. They know that all these media outlets will print verbatim exactly what the White House tells them to. They also know that they merely have to issue ‘talking-points’ and all the ‘approved’ outlets; i.e. newspapers, national news broadcasts, and even entertainment programming and movies, will echo those points.
There’s an old joke that goes something like this.
An apparatchik hurries into Fidel Castro’s office and says; “Congratulations Leader! You’ve won the election by 95%!”
Fidel says; “Who cares. Such a victory no longer makes me feel happy.”
The apparatchik, not liking the sight of his leader’s saddness says; “If 95% of the people voting in favor of you cannot make you smile, what would?”
Fidel responds; “The name’s of that remaining 5%.”
This White House has gotten used to four things;
• Being able to do whatever it wants. This certainly includes ‘outsourcing’ all the heavy lifting to Congressmen, Senators, and Bureaucrats.
• All aspects (broadcast, print, television programming, and Hollywood) of the media singing “Hosannas’ over absolutely everything and anything the administration says or does.
• Immediately throwing absolutely anyone under the bus as soon as it has been determined that their usefulness is at an end..
• Committing ‘serial’ marginalization of any opponent; or series of opponents, especially a former associate read Panetta and the CIA) if it serves present purpose.
The first point is proven by actions taken in Congress since the inauguration. TARP was completely run by Tim Geithner. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid wrote the Stimulus Bill. Ditto for the Omnibus Spending Package. Congressmen Markey and Waxman wrote cap & trade, and while both Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi have been herding their respective health care bills through their respective houses; to the best of my knowledge, there is no Obama Health Care bill. Leadership is so lacking, that the President has been ignoring his own appointed Afghan Commander’s troop request; while more soldiers in the battle space are killed each day while he calculates the political aspects of ANY decision.
The second point is proven by the MSM’s reaction to Joe Wilson (of the “You Lie!” fame) as compared to the lack of reaction to Alan Grayson’s recent comments. It is buttressed further by the MSM’s reaction to Afghanistan, where circumspection is now the correct course, while during the previous administration the cry was “Quagmire! Do something, anything, immediately!”
The third point is clarified by the treatment, by both the administration and their cohorts, to the people who attended the recent T.E.A. Parties. Remember not so long ago when dissent was ‘the highest form of patriotism’? Now dissenters are ‘Nazis’, ‘Astro-turf ‘, and ‘tea-bagging red-necks’.
The third point is proven by the likes of Van Jones, Obama’s own grand-mother, and a plethora of other associates, including a former pastor. All no longer a credit to the administration or campaign, and all jettisoned as soon as they looked as if they may become a liability.
The fourth point is proven just by looking at the health care debacle. First, it was health care reform because of the ‘evil drug companies’. Then the enemy morphed into the ‘greedy doctors’ removing the tonsils of children and feet of diabetics because they needed a Mercedes payment. Now, the enemy has altered state once again and has become the ‘profiteering insurance industry’. Even as the health care insurance industry’s average profit is shown to be 2.2%; just slightly, I might add, above the evil oil industry’s average of 2.1%
They’ve become like Castro’s joke; despondent over the fact that out of six major news broadcasting companies, one does not reflexively spew the party line.
Step four doesn’t’ seem to work well against Fox News. They try marginalizing them and their ratings go up. They appear on the talk shows and declare Fox not to be a ‘real’ news organization. They announce a ‘boycott’ by the President and senior White House officials; leading the public to ask; “If they cannot talk to Fox, how are we supposed to believe them capable of negotiating with some of the most radicalized regimes on the planet?”
Believing that they wholly own the other media outlets, they tell these outlets of an exclusive interview opportunity with an administrative czar; and of the administration’s intention to have the media broadcast pool to further prove their loyalty by abrogating the pool agreement with Fox. I was rather surprised it backfired. They probably would have won this as well if they had only passed a bailout for the foundering news agencies first.
Bill:
Re: “Republicans should not to pick a fight with someone who buys his ink by the barrel. We are loved; we can pick a fight with anyone and rely on ‘ink-by-the-barrel’ support.”
Let me just add that Nixon attacked the news media in general and consequently made enemies of them all, whereas 0bama attacked just Fox, which the LeftStream Media [LSM] doesn’t consider “real” journalism, whatever that is.