As Media Research Center VP for Research and Publications Brent Baker reported two days ago, the roundtable for ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday took up the media’s favoritism toward President Obama. Host George Stephanopoulos marveled at “how obsessed the President and the White House are with Fox News,” prompting columnist George Will to observe that’s because “it’s the discordant note in an otherwise harmonious chorus.”
On Monday's The O'Reilly Factor, Bill O'Reilly asked FNC senior political analyst Brit Hume if "Obama is handling the dissent that he finds at Fox any differently than other presidents handle dissent?" Hume responded by acknowledging that:
“Every president has a honeymoon period when critics lay off,” but usually when a president has been this active so early in changing the status quo, “the honeymoon tends to end pretty quickly.”
Hume suggested that Obama may be denouncing Fox News because it “gives him a fig leaf against the idea that this is a President who is riding the wave of media adoration and approval.” He also warned that if “he is really as sensitive” as Stephanopoulos suggests, “he better get over it,” because the honeymoon he is having...is not going to last forever.”
Here is the transcript for the segment, which aired around 8:15 PM ET:
BILL O’REILLY: I want to get on to Obama criticizing Fox News. The story doesn't die. Yesterday it rose again on ABC. Roll the tape.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: I have always been struck, and it is not too strong a word, on how obsessed the President and the White House are with Fox News.GEORGE WILL: Well, it's the discordant note in otherwise harmonious chorus, I suppose that's why.
BILL O’REILLY: You have covered a lot of presidents. Is President Obama handling Fox News, which is to be honest the most skeptical news organization on television of him as you heard George Will say. And pretty much everybody knows. The other networks, either are very approving of him or actually promote him. So, is Obama handling the dissent that he finds in some quarters on this network any differently than other presidents handled dissent.
BRIT HUME: It's hard to say. We have never had a situation quite like this one. We have Never had an administration -- I mean all administrations get a honeymoon up to a certain point. Bill Clinton had a very brief one because there were a number of stumbles in the early going. There is a certain honeymoon period which when critics lay off. When a President as activist as this one has been this early, in times like these the honeymoon tends to end pretty quickly. It's still going on and likely to continue for some time. As you heard George Will point out in the clip you played we are the only discordant note which is not to say that I agree with his absurd assertion last week that all he gets is criticism.
BILL O’REILLY: We are clearly tougher on him than any of the other networks. Everybody knows that. And our ratings reflect that as we grow in power and the others decline. But Obama now by bringing attention to us in a very public way, he actually helps Fox News.
BRIT HUME: It certainly doesn't hurt us, it may be useful to him in that it gives him a fig leaf against the idea that this is a President who is riding this wave of media adoration and approval and that he is not being appropriately challenged. That may be useful to him in some way. I'm bound to say this, Bill. If he is really as sensitive about this and obsessed as George Stephanopoulos suggests, he better get over it, because this honeymoon is he having and treatment from the media is not going to last forever. It never does with a President. If he doesn't like what he is did getting from us amid all the rest of this, he really going to hate it later on.
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Comments Policy
Let's Be Fair
June 23, 2009 - 14:58 ET by JDWWhere are all those promised jobs?
JDW
DAILY WAVE
When people fear their government there is tyranny.
When government fears the people there is liberty.
Yeah, and when will the
June 23, 2009 - 15:07 ET by deerjerkydaveYeah, and when will the stimulus bill stimulate something?
Hey its stimulated lots of
June 23, 2009 - 15:33 ET by Dan The Man 2Hey its stimulated lots of opposition already and the jobs are saved remember.
'the jobs are saved'
June 23, 2009 - 15:52 ET by JDW?
JDW
DAILY WAVE
When people fear their government there is tyranny.
When government fears the people there is liberty.
"the jobs are
June 23, 2009 - 16:00 ET by ckc1227"the jobs are saved?"
There are still millions of people with jobs, aren't there? Obama saved all those jobs.
/sarc off
Jobs Saved
June 23, 2009 - 16:26 ET by JDWLooking at this side ways kind of, the more unemployment increases, the fewer jobs can be saved.
The predictions I read say 10% by September although the WH is extending that to December. Either way there will be fewer jobs to be saved.
Save us all...
JDW
DAILY WAVE
When people fear their government there is tyranny.
When government fears the people there is liberty.
AHEM.....the proper term, please
June 23, 2009 - 16:27 ET by BlondePer the Bamster, the proper term is "saved or created".
So please, please, "save or create us all".....
I hope he fails, too.
Broken Promised
June 23, 2009 - 16:40 ET by JDWYou are right.
He has not created anything but unemployment.
JDW
DAILY WAVE
When people fear their government there is tyranny.
When government fears the people there is liberty.
Honeymoon soon to be over?
June 23, 2009 - 15:09 ET by tribchetI don't see the honeymoon ending soon as Brit Hume does. What is different than with past presidents is the fact that the media has a lot of pent up desire for their guy (you know--the one they helped elect and the one they all voted for) to get all of 'their agenda' passed. Then there will be plenty of time to begin to hype all kinds of 'new' stories for the ratings and readership.
But I'm beginning to see
June 23, 2009 - 15:27 ET by Tom PaineBut I'm beginning to see what may be the first crack in the wall of media solidarity. Jake Tapper is showing a refreshing independent streak, and as Obama's poll numbers continue to descend it may embolden other reporters as well. Secondly, as the network news ratings continue their downward spiral might one of them decide that it's time to get tougher on the administration in order to boost their ratings. I'm probably projecting too much on to this but it was so nice to see the beginnings of a contentious exchange at the news conference today.
Honeymoon!
June 23, 2009 - 16:07 ET by blazermaniacThe only honeymoon that won't be over soon, is the pathetic one that is between Obama & "The State Run Media". Those networks, would love to have someone with 10% of Britt Hume's credibility. Britt is one of the main reasons why FOX news is doing very well, while the others are getting crushed!
Obama's Honeymoon and the American Spirit
June 23, 2009 - 15:09 ET by acaiguanaRegardless of the media blah blah blah to the contrary, America is not made up of a bunch of freeloaders and Socialists.
Obama will find this out very quickly as soon as people get over their fear of being called racist and intolerant by the Lefties.
Congress is going to be the first base in this as they have to get re-elected in 2010 and the way its going now many of those folks are going packing. In both parties, but I do believe that the House will fall to the Republicans in 2010.
That will stop the spending but they probably won't be able to reverse the nationalization of businesses going on today.
We will see.
ACA
...
Quoted from: 'Acaiguana notes from the Underground' (Soon to be at theaters near you)
As much as the majority of
June 23, 2009 - 15:28 ET by bigtimerAs much as the majority of the msm would like this honeymoon for O to last four years, and they will do everything they can to ensure this...it can't realistically be a given.
Stuff happens...and it will.
Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart
The Wheels Are Coming Off!
June 23, 2009 - 15:46 ET by CrashThe Democrats are on the verge of a head on collision with reality, there's no spinning the numbers. Nancy, Harry, and Barry ... "Change WHO Can Believe In?"
Today Obama added another Czar ... the Bi-czar ... idiot! I will never buy a union commie mobile. The union pinheads can eat dirt along with the the guy they put in the Oval Office. Rot in peace UAW.
A person gets elected to
June 23, 2009 - 16:22 ET by MidAmericaA person gets elected to office promising results. You get re-elected to office by having produced positive results. So far all obama has done is increase the number of promises that he has given. If he doesn't start producing positive results soon the public won't care whether the media is still having a honeymoon period.
The Obamedia's horneymoon
June 23, 2009 - 16:35 ET by acumenSuch a stark contrast to the demedia's annulment with Dubya the very day he proposed.
Dubya wasn't even granted a one-nighter with the demedia. Between the scorned 'other' one, Gore, unleashing the fury of hell amidst the wailing and the gnashing of teeth by Gore's extended demedia family, Dubya never had a chance.
Who in the demedia cried for McCain this time around? Quite a contrast by the demedia indeed. Six months into this horneymoon, the demedia hasn't even been able to simply drag themselves out of Obama's bed. Written into the prenup I suppose....along with striking the use of objectivity from the agreement.
Lol acumen...
June 23, 2009 - 16:45 ET by bigtimerWritten into the prenup I suppose....along with striking the use of objectivity from the agreement.
...and you can be sure as Soros was writing the prenup, and Matthews as a witness.... O was nodding in agreement along with the rest of his crew...let alone the other network critters.
Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart
Hume's wrong. These
June 23, 2009 - 16:39 ET by RR GOPHume's wrong.
These Liberal Baby Boomers that run the MSM and finance ACORN and other radical Lefist organizations are getting long in the tooth and they desperately want to see a Socialist system before they assume room temperature.
Of course, most of them enjoyed the old Capitalist system thoroughly while they were working, but now it's, uh, well it's just different.
One of the 34% who thinks George W. Bush was a great President. One of the 61% who wants to bring back the stock and pillory (yep...approval for Congress now at 39%...do you believe that!?).
In reference to George Stephanopoulous
June 23, 2009 - 16:44 ET by ahussercomment.
"GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: I have always been struck, and it is not too strong a word, on how obsessed the President and the White House are with Fox News."
Obama's obsession is the aquisition of raw power. Dissenters are enemies to be destroyed because he is a sociopath, just like the serial rapist Clinton. The Dems are drawn to the charismatic sociopathic personality and continued to get suckered by them foisting these folks on the rest of us. It is part and parcel of the "Cult of Personality". I have never seen a President, during my lifetime, attack individuals (like Rush) or a news service (Fox) before.
"Somehow, I told you so, just doesn't quite say it." Will Smith in 'I, Robot.'
Barack Obama's Depraved Indifference
June 23, 2009 - 17:08 ET by Retired GeekThe reality for those who live in a world of 'Depraved Indifference' (Liberals), is to justify or make excuses for their own personal lack of of character, or for their leader Barack Obama.
Liberals never learn from history, Liberals only want to 'Make History', by destroying or changing anything that has ever been deemed 'Good' by countless societies, into anything that has been deemed 'Evil' by those same societies.
Any thinker that is not blinded by ideology, can easily equate the similarities between the most destructive leaders in the history of mankind and Barack Obama.
Like all previous destructive leaders in history, Barack Obama is a pathological narcissist and has a very weak sense of self.
Like all previous destructive leaders in history, Barack Obama compensates his devalued and injured self with pomposity and by projecting a false image of majesty and authority.
Like all previous destructive leaders in history, Barack Obama retreats into a bubble universe of fantasy, in which he is loved, respected and omnipotent.
All children create such a world. Destructive Narcissists like Barack Obama and all previous destructive leaders in history, simply don’t leave it.
Barack Obama Like all previous destructive leaders in history, has carried this world of pretense into his adulthood.
Barack Obama has made his false image so real, Barack Obama can NO longer differentiate his 'Pretend World', from reality (real world).
Barack Obama has the emotional maturity of a child, but the intellect of a man.
Barack Obama is dangerous and will be become even more dangerous.
Retired Geek
June 23, 2009 - 17:26 ET by ahusserFrom a book I am reading: 'The Sociopath Next Door' by Martha Stout Phd. pg 93. "Benjamin Wolman, founder and editor of International Journal of Group Tensions, writes, "Usually human cruelty increases when an aggressive sociopath gains an uncanny, almost hypnotic control over large numbers of people. History is full of chieftains, prophets, saviors, gurus, dictators, and other sociopathic megalomaniacs who managed to gain support... and incited people to violence." Insidiously, when such a "savior" abducts the normal population to his purposes, he usually begins with an appeal to them as good people who would like to improve the condition of humanity, and then insists that they can achieve this by following his own aggressive plan."
This is just the beginning with Obama so the violence has not reared up...yet. But this passage fits him to a T.
"Somehow, I told you so, just doesn't quite say it." Will Smith in 'I, Robot.'
RG & ahussser.... You
June 23, 2009 - 17:34 ET by bigtimerRG & ahussser....
You both said it all...exact path O is on....so is this country, as he plans, if they do not wake up soon from their make-believe love-fest....otherwise...what I see ahead ain't gonna' be pretty.
Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart
Any thinking person can clearly see Danger A Head
June 23, 2009 - 18:41 ET by Retired GeekSocialists/Marxists like Barack Obama
More humans have been killed, tortured, starved to death than all Wars combined - all by Socialists/Marxists like Barack Obama.
Comrades! We must abolish the cult of the individual decisively, once and for all." -- Soviet Premier Nikita S. Khrushchev, addressing the 20th Congress of the Soviet Communist Party, 2-25-56
"The unity of a nation's spirit and will are worth far more than the freedom of the spirit and will of an individual; and that the higher interests involved in the life of the whole must here set the limits and lay down the duties of the interests of the individual." -- Adolph Hitler - Socialist
"We need to stop worrying about the rights of the individual and start worrying about what is best for society." -- Hillary Clinton
"...we understand only the individual's capacity to make sacrifices for the community, for his fellow men." -- Adolf Hitler, Socialist 10-7-33
"We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good." -- Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, June 28, 2004.
"To be a socialist is to submit the I to the thou; socialism is sacrificing the individual to the whole." -- Joseph Goebbels, Minister of Propaganda, National Socialist German Workers' ("Nazi") Party
"...true patriotism also means a willingness to sacrifice for our common good..."
Barack Obama July 6, 2008
The Parallels are Scary
June 23, 2009 - 18:45 ET by Retired GeekWho was this man?
The nation was in shambles.
A previous ruler had led the country into an unnecessary war, the economy was failing, and a sense of depression filled the air.
Then, a new leader emerged. He was a powerful speaker, offering hope, change, and a fix to the economy.
He wrote two books about his experiences and used his literary work to propel him to success.
He called for unity and considered himself an advocate of peace.
Some of his political opponents cast him as naive and inexperienced.
He also had a lot of radical ties, but the media, and ultimately the voters, were willing to overlook that.
The answer is of course, Adolf Hitler.
My Opinion on Barack Obama
June 23, 2009 - 18:43 ET by Retired GeekObama personifies the 'Narcissistic Elitist'. Narcissists have a gnawing fear inside of them - their fear of inferiority.
They try to validate self by attacking and belittling others wisdom, knowledge, values or belief system.
Narcissists expect everyone to recognize their 'Superiority' and give them the special treatment they so richly deserve - not because of skill or what they have accomplished – but because of whom they are.
Barack Obama believes his very presence solves problems and relieves pain. Barack Obama has great disdain for those who do not see his “special” abilities and uses those who believe in him – like tissue to be disposed of when no longer needed - he throws them 'Under the Bus'.
Barack Obama and his 'Cultist Followers' know the truth, so facts are not only unnecessary, but bigoted statements.
Some famous narcissists are Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Saddam Hussein, Idi Amin, Pol Pot and Mao.
Narcissists are intelligent, yet emotional wrecks.
They are deeply disturbed people.
Barack Obama has set himself extremely high goals. The Obama goals always have to do with domination, power and respect.
Barack Obama regards and treats other people as objects to be exploited.
Barack Obama uses others to obtain narcissistic supply. He believes that he is entitled to special treatment because he harbors these grandiose fantasies about himself.
Retired Greek - ACA here.
June 23, 2009 - 18:58 ET by acaiguanaWe haven't met.
However, I'm reading your stuff:
"Barack Obama believes his very presence solves problems and relieves pain. Barack Obama has great disdain for those who do not see his “special” abilities and uses those who believe in him – like tissue to be disposed of when no longer needed - he throws them 'Under the Bus'."
I agree with you regarding the self-image Obama projects. But I doubt that he has the capability to be anything as influential on History as your examples.
Barack has one major problem. He's in the US. We have checks and balances here and that is a foundational reality that eventually, no matter how obscure it may seem at various times, rears its ugly head with vengence.
I am waiting for the fickle finger of fate to wag in his face.
ACA
...
Quoted from: 'Acaiguana notes from the Underground' (Soon to be at theaters near you)
ACA - Retired Geek here lol
June 23, 2009 - 19:49 ET by Retired GeekI certainly Hope and pray you are correct!
I do NOT believe in or think our Government is capable of any Conspiracy - for one thing, NO politician can keep their mouth shut.
We have a President who said this about the Constitution and Bill of Rights:
“It was these ideals that led us to declare independence, and craft our constitution, producing documents that were imperfect but had within them, like our nation itself, the capacity to be made more perfect.' Barack Obama
Our President said this:
"We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives we've set," he said. "We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well funded."
Barack Obama Speech July 2, 2008 Colorado Springs CO
------------------------------------------------
Barack Obama said: 'civilian national security force'.
Civilian - Would NOT include military or other Law Enforcement agencies.
National - Would NOT recognize State Boundaries.
Security - Security for what?
Force - This word usually denotes power and authority.
Why does Barack Obama want a Civilian Security Force?
1) Just as powerful as the Military.
2) Just as strong as the Military.
3) Just as well funded as the Military.
What will Barack Obama have this 'Civilian National Security Force' do?
I am only concerned about the Agenda of one man, Barack Obama. Not by any wacky thing a human could make up - but his own words.
R G
June 24, 2009 - 01:12 ET by DoktorFrankenYou have hit upon the scariest aspect of The Kenyan Turd - His 'civilian national security force'. Note that the 'feelers' that have been used since he has taken office (noise about the ''Fairness Doctrine'' and reigning in gun ammo availability) got the attention they deserved. When this poseur makes a serious move on our First and Second Amendment Rights he will have some of the 'civilian national security force' in place. The Philly Voting Place 'security force' was just a test and taste. Note what kind of punishment these Black Panthers received and then how they got off with the help of Hussein's Justice Department.
I agree DoktorFranken
June 24, 2009 - 08:29 ET by ahusserThe appointment of all those "czars" (read commissars) is one example of back door power grabbing. The meddling in the private sector with GM. Cap and trade will surely be a backdoor power grab. He has a dem congress, senate, and soon SC a fawning media in his pocket it won't take much to unbalance those checks and balances. Everyone thinks it can't happen here.
"Somehow, I told you so, just doesn't quite say it." Will Smith in 'I, Robot.'