White House Strongly Denies Threatening Dem Who Appeared On Fox
The White House is strongly denying a story claiming that White House officials privately threatened to retaliate against a Democratic strategist for appearing on Fox News — a claim generating a big stir on the right as the latest example of the White House’s victimization of the network.
“While we have our disagreements with FOX, administration officials appear on the network and we have no issue with others who choose to do so,” White House senior communications adviser Dan Pfeiffer emails me.
The Chicago Tribune got this ball rolling today by reporting that “at least one Democratic strategist” had “gotten a blunt warning from the White House” never to appear on Fox. The strategist, who wasn’t named, said the White House’s warning carried the suggestion that he might lose business if he went on again.
Needless to say, such a claim is gold for those looking to paint the White House pushback against Fox as a Nixonian campaign of intimidation designed to squelch Fox’s legitimate journalistic scrutiny of the administration. Right wing bloggers have been all over the story.
But Pfeiffer argues that the evidence proves the story false. “This is simply not true,” he emails. “At the same time the reporter was writing this story, David Plouffe was appearing on FOX and David Axelrod was on the day before.”
Side note: There are plenty of administration supporters who probably wish this story were true, and would like to see the White House playing even rougher with the network. But the White House is saying it isn’t true. If anything, the claim that officials have “no issue” with anyone who goes on seems like another effort to dial the feud down a few notches.
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Greg,darlin – I don’t think you meant that whole post to be italicized.
I hate tags.
Ah, you fixed it.
nevermind.
Must be a slow news day in rightwingnut land.
The problem with this stupid story is that it just doesn’t sound like this administration.
Now the Bush Administration would have threatened. But that isn’t how the Obama Administration operates.
Faux controversy when nothing exists.
Reminds me of the “tension” CNN hounded on every day until Hillary gave her speech at the convention and everyone forgot about it instantly.
Tena — I don’t understand how you’re so quick.
This just cracked my sheet allll up:
“Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., told reporters in a conference call Friday that the make-or-break vote on President Barack Obama’s push to make health coverage part of the social safety net could face delay”
Is Stenny Hoyer really Puxutawny Phil? He keeps sticking his head up and saying: another 6 weeks – every time the vote gets close.
Too bad the story doesn’t have a source.
You could have just asked nicely for the link, ya know? You didn’t have to snark about it, JM.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33717968/ns/politics-health_care_reform/
“Tena — I don’t understand how you’re so quick.”
fast fingers?
These teabaggers just loves them some “unnamed sources.”
How terribly, TERRIBLY convenient for the teabaggers….
Tena, I think TM was referring, as I did in my post, to the alleged, conveniently “unnamed” Dem strategist in the piece who says the WH threatened him/her if he/she ever appeared on Focks Noose again.
Excuse me — I meant JM.
I don’t know if anyone caught this John Marshall quote yet:
“On the one hand it seems funny that a bunch of GOP Reps. would blow off a vote to strengthen the Patriot Act so they could hang out and speak at Michele Bachmann’s Capitol Hill tea party event. On the other hand, since you have Republicans saying health care reform is a bigger threat than terrorism, maybe the whole thing makes sense?”
Have a nice Friday all, we’re taking off to drop a little economic recovery on one of the Indian Reservations, unless we win that is. HA HA! See y’all later.
And Greg, I really did lose 3 comments today, just sayin’
“Tena, I think TM was referring, as I did in my post, to the alleged, conveniently “unnamed” Dem strategist in the piece who says the WH threatened him/her if he/she ever appeared on Focks Noose again.”
Yeah, I think I was too quick there.
Nice weekend and good luck, Imsinca.
I should have added – JM, sorry.
Why do I have the feeling that this is Lanny Davis trying to start ****?
lmsinca, what happened exactly?
pls feel free to email me directly when tech stuff goes wrong, all
Wait here’s one more, looks like Bachmann riling up folks in her own state.
“The far right’s star House member just hit the headlines with a rowdy health-care rally on Capitol Hill. Benjamin Sarlin reports on the Democrats lining up in Minnesota to send Michele Bachmann into early retirement.”
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-11-06/bringing-down-bachmann/
Thanks Tena.
Greg
I had a great link to an ad for HCR from a guy who used to work for BC/BS that would have been perfect for Happy Hour, I think the link was from HuffPo but your site wouldn’t take the link I guess. Anyway, Happy Friday-bye for now.
And in case Greg was being too subtle for any of you, if it is good for the people who oppose the White House then the story must be denied, denied, denied whether or not it can be refuted.
The Trib is nothing but a Republican mouth piece. Only one time in 161 years has that paper endorsed a Democrat for president.
Tena, you minx! You are quick on the draw, aren’t you?
But I was commenting on the main story and hadn’t seen yours yet. I thought I was going to be the first post
[sniff]
Does this “Democratic strategist” have a name? I somehow doubt it.
I am afraid this doesn’t pass the smell test.
The anonymous source needs anonymity because he doesn’t want the WH to know it’s him. Hmm… Mr. anonymous source didn’t you say shortly after an appearance on Fox you got a phone call from a White House official telling you not to be a guest on the show again? If the WH did call you right after you were on Fox won’t they know it’s you telling this story? And why would they go on the record to say it didn’t happen if they know it did and they know you could finger the exact person who called you?
Kill-Billy Heaven:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEtVMWI-LsE&feature=player_embedded
“But I was commenting on the main story and hadn’t seen yours yet. I thought I was going to be the first post ”
You can be first next time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92BItoNdpWM&feature=player_embedded
I got a kick out of this video clip of some Teabaggers taunting the Police.
They were just like a bunch of school kids, trying to find a taunt that would stick, and get them attention. Watch how some of them try to get the crowd to join in one taunt after another. They would join in for a bit, and because they were getting no reaction, the chant would come to a sudden stop. Then someone would try to start a new taunt, with the same results.
It looks like those Teabaggers just answered the call to show up, and when they got arrived in DC, there was no one there to organize them.
A Massive Success For:
Bachmann Turnout Overdrive!
Nancy’s runnin’ around all weekend with her thumb up her arse and a big grin on her carpet-stretched face. Who are these freaks? We don’t want any part of this socialist kookiness.
The WH denies threats? Who do you believe?
“Must be a slow news day in rightwingnut land.”
Slow? We need to either surge in AfPak or come home. The economy is still tanking. Unemployment still rising.
And Obama makes time to get into a fight with FOX.
After he’s done golfing, of course.
Liam the Filcher said “It looks like those Teabaggers…”
Dear leader said punch back twice as hard. So its fair to remind readers that those who use the term “teabaggers” are “filchers”. See, Liam likes to suck *** out of Obama’s *******.
Good. Goose. Gander.
Suck away Liam. Filcher.
Just a question… it’s okay to call liberals “cocksuckers”, right? After all, it’s semantically equivalent to what they call conservatives.
i guess we won’t be seeing much of joe trippi anymore.
“At the same time the reporter was writing this story, David Plouffe was appearing on FOX and David Axelrod was on the day before.”
This shows that the administration will allow highly placed insiders to appear on the Unjournalist network; it doesn’t prove that they won’t try to keep others from appearing.
Benton the use of the term “tea-baggers” is really offensive. Tea-bagging is a slang word for a particular homosexual practice. Thus using the term “tea’baggers” amounts to using a gay slur to denigrate opponents of bigger government. Since “tea-bagging” is used as a pejorative, the term also dengrates gay men.
I love how, no matter how much proof there is of the Obama administration lying, cheating, stealing, and trying to control the press, all the devoted lefties can do is plug their ears and scream about how it’s all made up. Get over your man crush and just admit you voted for the wrong guy.
“I got a kick out of this video clip of some Teabaggers taunting the Police.
They were just like a bunch of school kids…”
Irony much?
ChipsterGA,
“The WH denies threats? Who do you believe?”
We know who you believe: FauxNews. Check your brain at the door. Oh wait, you already did.
David in Cal,
Too damn bad that the teabaggers weren’t smart enough to vet their chosen name before they rolled it out. Remember that it was they that chose it, not their detractors. That it neatly indicates how uninformed and unaware they are makes it the perfect descriptive moniker.
Besides, the video from every teabagger rally that I have seen has included teabaggers with TEA BAGS on their hats and signs. If they are going to still cling to the imagery, then they own the term.
If the tea bag fits….
Gasman,
The Tea Partiers don’t call themselves ‘teabaggers’. They call themselves ‘Tea Partiers’. It’s an immature insult to call them teabaggers.
I doubt that many of the Tea Partiers would even have been aware of the meaning of the slang term ‘teabagging’. On the other hand, those who began applying the term to the Tea Partiers could, of course, rely upon those of like mind to be thoroughly familiar with … that sort of thing. Interesting, no?
I don’t have a problem believing the White House didn’t make any threats. From what I’ve seen, the Chicago Way is not to make threats, they make examples.
When all is said and done, Obama will go down as the most petty authoritarian that ever graced the White House.
Folks that do believe Fox News is only a right wing news source do not watch the Daily Show or Colbert Report. I can only stand Fox for a few minutes at a time. A man in SC told me it was the only news that was truthful. Superdoc
I don’t believe anything a reporter quotes unless they have identified the source. Mainstream Media has its own agenda and that’s what they’re pushing with anonymous sources.
SteveGW,
Regardless of what these nitwits call themselves now, they themselves initiated the teabagger moniker. The very folks that originated and breathlessly promoted that con are the same ones who originated the term in reference to their own created astro-turf “movement.”
The teabaggers themselves repeatedly issued the clarion call to “tea bag Obama,” “Tea Bag Liberal Dems Before They Tea Bag You!!,” “Tea bag the White House,” and “Tea bag the fools in D.C.” I would note that the last two were said by FauxNews ambush producer and on air personality Griff Jenkins on official FauxNews programs touting the teabagger movement. Y
Check out the following video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLsKt4O4Yw8
Yeah, Maddow delights in pointing out the irony of the FauxNews and the baggers themselves ignorantly using the term and she does make a bunch of juvenile jokes at their expense, but she did not saddle them with the term. They did it to themselves.
That not enough for you? How about Charles Krauthammer using the term “tea bag demonstrations”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miROUdyjmAo
If you’ve got problems with the term, go after the original source. The folks at FauxNews were using the term in their earliest promotion of the fake grass roots events.
These events have provided fertile soil for racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, homophobia, and nearly any other form of bigotry you can imagine. Is the term offensive? I’d say it’s far less offensive than the movement to which it refers.
Right wing flak “journalist” cites anonymous source, who may or may not exist, may or may not be telling the truth, and may or may not have any idea about what they are talking about.
From there the right wing echo machine takes the anonymous source and trumpet it until the corporate-media help push the right wing attack.
Rinse, repeat.
Is the increasingly right wing Chicago Tribune still a credible source any more?
Ever since Sam Zell bought the Tribune Corp he’s been firing good journalists and replacing them with Republican public relations writers (literally in the case of Andrew Malcolm, Republican Laura Bush former press secretary).
It’s also noteworthy that the right wing bias of the Associated Press accelerated after Sam Zell and Rupert Murdoch were given positions on the Associated Press’s Board.