NYT: Obama whined about Fox News at off-the-record briefing with lefty pundits
posted at 9:43 pm on October 22, 2009 by Allahpundit
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Speaking privately at the White House on Monday with a group of columnists and commentators, including Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann of MSNBC and Maureen Dowd, Frank Rich and Bob Herbert of The New York Times, President Obama himself gave vent to sentiments about the network, according to people briefed on the conversation…
Mr. Clemente suggested that the fight with Fox was part of a larger White House strategy to marginalize critics. He cited a report in Politico about a strategy session in August at which officials discussed plans to move more aggressively against opponents.
White House officials acknowledged that Fox News did come up at that meeting, although not, they said, as a central topic. A number of issues had been added to the White House’s list of grievances by then, including the network’s heavy coverage of some of the more heavily anti-administration commentary at town-hall-style meetings on health care and Mr. Beck’s remark that Mr. Obama “has a deep-seated hatred for white people.”
Dude, Glenn Beck’s own fans don’t obsess about him this much. How do we put The One’s mind at ease here? Taxpayer-funded psychotherapy? A week off at Camp David? A security blanket, perhaps emblazoned with the “O” logo that he loves so much? I’m not being altruistic; we’ve reached the point where, purely out of self-interest, we may need to start worrying about this guy being on the red line with Medvedev, chatting about nukes, and letting his mind wander to what Sean Hannity said about him that night. What can we do to help this poor afflicted individual get the help he needs?
Update: Remember, though, he’s not losing sleep over it.
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Obama has telegraphed his glass jaw since the campaign.
Criticism throws him off his game; the attacks throw him off his rhythm and cause him to lose focus.
His political opponants should use this against him. Its way too easy to get inside his decision loop and have him flail around in vain effort to stomp out the attacks, while the rest of his administration crumbles around him.
Revenant on October 22, 2009 at 10:09 PM
Or like steve martin in “The Jerk” when he loses everything.”All i need is this thermos. this thermos and this basket ball thats all i need.”
Greed on October 22, 2009 at 10:09 PM
This struck me the same way.
notropis on October 22, 2009 at 10:09 PM
This is what happens when a coddled prima donna who has never had to defend himself to anyone for anything has to live in the real world.
There is a opportunity here to really get inside his head and mess him up. If I was FoxNews I would go FULL THROTTLE and try to get some real anger going.
No wonder he’s trying to play it off. This is a major character weakness.
WisCon on October 22, 2009 at 10:09 PM
It assuages his malignant narcissism.
elduende on October 22, 2009 at 10:09 PM
Someone needs to call Linus, Obama needs his blanket back.
bluemarlin on October 22, 2009 at 10:10 PM
Darn, the correct quote is: “Who will rid me of this meddlesome priest.”
Okay, meddlesome journalists.
Beck as Beckett? Works for me.
SteveMG on October 22, 2009 at 10:10 PM
Look at the pic at the top of the page, and tell me Obama has testicles…..how can he cross his legs like that?
pseudonominus on October 22, 2009 at 10:10 PM
Dianne:
Finally, someone hits the relevant point!
It’s not the criticism. It’s putting the power of the presidency and the White House behind the attacks!
The president and his minions need to remember we have LOANED him that power. We don’t appreciate his abusing it to squash political dissenters.
jeanneb on October 22, 2009 at 10:10 PM
Implosion is imminent.
Wait for it…
Liam on October 22, 2009 at 10:10 PM
While there’s no sure cure for the mentally challenged, perhaps a weekend with Bill Ayers and his mentor, The Reverend, can help get his “roots” grounded. Maybe Michelle’s garden has something “smokeable”.
Rovin on October 22, 2009 at 10:11 PM
If you do not give back Dear Leader’s strawberries within the next 5 minutes you will be thrown into a cage with Michelle Obama!
MB4 on October 22, 2009 at 10:11 PM
Too bad he doesn’t spend as much time fretting our international enemies as he does his personal domestic ones.
Hening on October 22, 2009 at 10:12 PM
…and this lamp, I don’t need anything else.
thomasaur on October 22, 2009 at 10:13 PM
how many news outlets are in love with this guy and fall all over them and he frets about the single one that doesn’t?
it’s like bitchin’ about your ice cream bein’ too cold.
ted c on October 22, 2009 at 10:13 PM
To summarize today:
The Baby-in-Chief clearly prefers to dither his decision regarding the lives of American Troops in Afghanistan while he diligently demonizes American citizens employed by Wall Street, insurance providers, and Fox News.
redwhiteblue on October 22, 2009 at 10:14 PM
You forgot the toilet seat as well…….
bluemarlin on October 22, 2009 at 10:14 PM
…and my dog… (Bo pees on his leg) … well, I don’t need my dog…
Monica on October 22, 2009 at 10:15 PM
A pack of influential peeps in the Democratic Party need to have a serious pow wow with President Prissy Pants (perhaps they can lure him with milk and cookies…that seems to work with my 4 year old)
This guy is a Marxist in Democratic clothing, and he is seriously threatening their “brand,” for God’s sakes.
That said, if I were to put my mega conspiratorial tin foil hat on, I might consider that the Clinton/Sharpton/Jackson wing of the Dem party would prefer to see “The One” (electorally) crash and burn in 2012. If he did, he’d become the biggest racial justice martyr since Martin Luther King. And living proof that America is a congenitally racist country…All that adds up to several more generations of pissed off constituencies to whip up…Cha-Ching.
MoronThisLater on October 22, 2009 at 10:15 PM
Did fox news neuter him as well?
Greed on October 22, 2009 at 10:15 PM
The One got the vapors after Palin so effectively mocked him during her convention speech. That’s the main reason the left hates her so much.
Django on October 22, 2009 at 10:16 PM
How about a ‘binky’ (aka pacifier)? Would always soothe my daughter . . . when she was two.
Firefly_76 on October 22, 2009 at 10:16 PM
Remember how this guy was supposed to be a mix of Abe Lincoln and Dr. King?
ronsfi on October 22, 2009 at 10:16 PM
Last February, Obama told Fox News (to which I am a contributor), “I don’t always get my most favorable coverage on Fox, but I think that’s part of how democracy is supposed to work. You know, we’re not supposed to all be in lockstep here.”
Now we are. Maybe Obama thought everyone in Washington would be his great friend. Having encountered un-Chicago-like dissent and disagreement, he has responded with classic Chicago brass knuckles. We’ll see how far this kind of thuggery gets him.
Schadenfreude on October 22, 2009 at 10:18 PM
Well we could relieve him under Starfleet Order #104 Section C, but that would require the ranking Medical Officer to examine him to prove it.
GunRunner on October 22, 2009 at 10:18 PM
which part of Abe? The part from Illinois or the honest part? He’s from Hawaii, and as far as honesty, well…. you get the picture.
ted c on October 22, 2009 at 10:18 PM
I can only hope the scales are starting to fall from the eyes of the MSM, but sadly, I fear that tomorrow they may become just as blind once more…
lovingmyUSA on October 22, 2009 at 10:18 PM
Yes, and I thought it said a lot about his character, or lack therof. Also, the fact that his supporters either admired him for it, or chose to believe it was unintentional was just disgusting. Said a lot about them, too.
mbs on October 22, 2009 at 10:18 PM
Other than being a lying,phony with a presidential campaign success behind him, he has no game in leading the country.
By the way, has he
found a newbeen to church in DC yet?b3026 on October 22, 2009 at 10:19 PM
How about a Binky Czar?
ted c on October 22, 2009 at 10:19 PM
You can give him a joint.
antisocial on October 22, 2009 at 9:58 PM
antisocial: But,will he give a hoot!!
canopfor on October 22, 2009 at 10:19 PM
Hey O grow a pair, what are you going to do when Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon makes fun of your friggin ears sign our Sovereignty away and force Cap and Trade on us….. never mind don’t answer that.
redstateKS on October 22, 2009 at 10:19 PM
Over 120 comments on a thread about Fox and not a single troll. I guess some things are so pathetic that there’s just no way to spin them.
BadgerHawk on October 22, 2009 at 10:19 PM
Dude, I’m telling you it’s going to get worse before it’s over. I guess that’s just stating the obvious.
I like how Denis Miller puts it. The man has rabbit ears so bad it doesn’t even take heckling to throw him off his game. If the praise isn’t lathered on thick enough Obama folds.
He actually believes his own narrative and just being a nonbeliever is enough to get on his bad side.
If reality ventures any further from this man’s internal narrative he is going to start getting nasty. It’s going to be a fun ride.
jhffmn on October 22, 2009 at 10:19 PM
Push His Buttons…. Thin Skinned.
suzyk on October 22, 2009 at 10:19 PM
Dennis Miller would also say that he doesn’t know whether to sh!t or wind his wristwatch right now…!
ted c on October 22, 2009 at 10:20 PM
Can president’s get PTSD? Or is there a new diagnosis of FTSD…Fox Traumatic Stress Disorder?…
just checkin..
ted c on October 22, 2009 at 10:21 PM
They thought that by going after FOX news the rest of the media would be compliant in delegitimizing the network into oblivion, but something’s happened the last couple days since Tapper confronted Gibbs at the press conf. that has woken the media up to the surreal reality of an administration targeting a news organization simply for asking and reporting tough questions like in a banana republic. They’ve overplayed their hand and they are paying for it dearly. This is doing immense damage to the WH. Unseen consequences of unbridled hubris.
I guarantee a full retreat by the WH in this despicable tactic now that a number of mainstreamers are calling them out.
RepubChica on October 22, 2009 at 10:21 PM
How about a Binky Czar?
ted c on October 22, 2009 at 10:19 PM
ted c: All hands,I it is:)
canopfor on October 22, 2009 at 10:22 PM
Jake Tapper may have saved the Republic.
ted c on October 22, 2009 at 10:22 PM
Their getting their taking points right now. They have to be on the same page for full effect.
Greed on October 22, 2009 at 10:22 PM
I have nightmares about Chris Wallace asking me a hard question ALL the time!!!
terryannonline on October 22, 2009 at 10:22 PM
canopfor on October 22, 2009 at 10:22 PM
The Schwartz is strong in you….
ted c on October 22, 2009 at 10:23 PM
How about pacifiers?
Schadenfreude on October 22, 2009 at 10:23 PM
Keep hammering him and soon he will crumple like a rag doll.
DerKrieger on October 22, 2009 at 10:23 PM
Ha, ha, yes, great comparison. “Ahh, but the strawberries that’s… that’s where I had them. They laughed at me and made jokes but I proved beyond the shadow of a doubt and with… geometric logic… that a duplicate key to the wardroom icebox DID exist, and I’d have produced that key if they hadn’t of pulled the Caine out of action. I, I, I know now they were only trying to protect some fellow officers….”
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046816/quotes
Django on October 22, 2009 at 10:23 PM
Awesome! Let’s organize a campaign to send pacifiers to the WH similar to the ones to send bricks to Congress and rock salt to Olympia Snowe.
DerKrieger on October 22, 2009 at 10:24 PM
Sometimes I walk up having to catch my breathe because I have nightmares ofr Glenn Beck was boiling a real frog.
terryannonline on October 22, 2009 at 10:25 PM
Obama’s Achilles’ heel is that he’s a complete douchebag.
Dan Collins on October 22, 2009 at 10:25 PM
He’s totally losing sleep over it! Heh, snicker, grin!
JAM on October 22, 2009 at 10:26 PM
He doesn’t loose any sleep over it, because he spends his every waking minute thinking about FOX NEWS!
Does this make Obama a psychopathic egomaniac, or a ego-maniacal psychopath? Or just plain psycho? Hm.
varnson on October 22, 2009 at 10:26 PM
I am terrorized when Sean Hannity does his “GREAT Great American Panel.” He’s so frightening!
terryannonline on October 22, 2009 at 10:27 PM
Krieger, in CA they sent toilet plungers to the LA Mayor.
It w/b effective, by the thousands, and if FOX would show them over and over, heaps of them.
Schadenfreude on October 22, 2009 at 10:27 PM
Anyone see Beck tonight? check out the segment where he gets a phone call from his “founders hotline”. It’s pretty funny.
Beck is digging in and driving Obama NUTS! He’s taunting him. He’s got leads and tips and leakers that are going to undo Obama.
Heads are exploding in the WH and this time they can’t control it.
Beck, FOX and Limbaugh are inside Obama’s head and it’s going to bring him to ruin!
http://glennbeckclips.com/
katy on October 22, 2009 at 10:27 PM
Artists, photoshop Obama with a FOX pacifier.
Schadenfreude on October 22, 2009 at 10:28 PM
Way to go enlightened voters, you put a whiny, spoiled brat juvenile in the White House and really stuck it to us.
rplat on October 22, 2009 at 10:28 PM
The folks at Fox and Friends truly freak me out their upbeat tone at 5 o’clock in the morning! DARN YOU GRETCHEN CALSON!! DARN YOU!
terryannonline on October 22, 2009 at 10:28 PM
My only question is — Is Rham “Halderman” and Axelrod “Ehrilchman” or is it the other way around?
jon1979 on October 22, 2009 at 10:28 PM
Poor Barry. Getting all wee-wee’d up about Fox News and whatnot.
WarEagle01 on October 22, 2009 at 10:29 PM
No way now that Sarah has endorsed Hoffman, their favorite punching bag has resurfaced with something tney cannot ignore but just in time to ignore the FOX News fight.They will claim Sarah is a bigger story while Obama hopefully backpeddles and they can truly forget about all of it.
bluemarlin on October 22, 2009 at 10:30 PM
Bill O’Reilly and his “No Spin Zone” makes my head spin because of the BIAS! DARN YOU BILL O’REILLY!!!
terryannonline on October 22, 2009 at 10:31 PM
Daddy Obama, Mommy dearest, Frank Russell, gramps, gramma, Michelle, Bill Ayers, Rev Wright, Farrakam, Father Phleger, Van Jones, Anita Dunn, George Soros, drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, brainwashing
The man is nutso.
He’s completely nuts.
And beyond belief….he’s the president of our country.
notagool on October 22, 2009 at 10:31 PM
Just more evidence that Obama is setting up to be one of the worst presidents evah. During his whole life, he has never had to deal with opposition or criticism and IT SHOWS. He has to be the most thin-skinned guy ever to sit in the WH. What a baby.
pearson on October 22, 2009 at 10:32 PM
I’ll send a dozen! Would need Ed or Allah to post a plan to get enough people on board to make it really fun.
DerKrieger on October 22, 2009 at 10:32 PM
Great question! However I don’t know but I am curious!
I agree that this game from Jan. 20 to now has been somewhat different than what he promised. I meant to imply that his obsession with Fox News has taken him off what ‘little’ game he had going! At least by fighting Fox News he hasn’t gotten health care passed, which to me is a win! (so far)
Rndguy on October 22, 2009 at 10:32 PM
IN OVER HIS HEAD!!!
Bicyea on October 22, 2009 at 10:32 PM
canopfor on October 22, 2009 at 10:22 PM
The Schwartz is strong in you….
ted c on October 22, 2009 at 10:23 PM
ted c: I’m work`n on it,but boy,everybody has been on fire,
creativity speaking that is,hehe:)
canopfor on October 22, 2009 at 10:32 PM
No way should Geraldo Rivera be allowed on television with a mustache like this.
terryannonline on October 22, 2009 at 10:33 PM
katy on October 22, 2009 at 10:27 PM
This is going to bring him to ruin, and a tiny, really tiny, part of me is uncomfortable with it.
It is like watching someone taunt a child and watching the child lose it. In this case, I have to remember that the stooges in the WH are adults and have asked for this torment.
ORconservative on October 22, 2009 at 10:33 PM
Matt Drudge is enjoying linking to the European press highlighting Messiah’s history making decline with crashing poll numbers in record time. He’s such a bitch! as Bart Simpson would laugh.
Marcus on October 22, 2009 at 10:34 PM
The One got the vapors after Palin so effectively mocked him during her convention speech. That’s the main reason the left hates her so much.
Django on October 22, 2009 at 10:16 PM
Bingo. Like Ace put it:
Liberals — including liberals like David Brooks — have never forgotten that performance, nor forgiven it. It was the first and only time a prominent Republican — or hell, a prominent anything — dared to stand up and clearly declare that Barack Obama was incompetent, inexperienced, and utterly unprepared for the Presidency, and a left-winger to boot.
All that has now been proven by subsequent catastrophe. And yet Brooks and Barack Obama’s other down-low boyfriends are still stinging from the time this nasty bitch got up in front of the cafetorium and said their boyfriend ain’t all that.
RarestRX on October 22, 2009 at 10:35 PM
Chavez was the first to attack Fox News for calling Obama out on his Marxism. Fancy that.
elduende on October 22, 2009 at 10:35 PM
Apparently this President never heard the phrase ,”Never let them see you sweat”.
Some leader he is. Terrified by Sheppy Smith.
jjshaka on October 22, 2009 at 10:35 PM
Honestly, a lot more than a “really tiny” part of me is uncomfortable with it, for the damage it will do to the Presidency (assuming the situation unfolds the way many here appear to think it will).
malclave on October 22, 2009 at 10:36 PM
Oh…my…Gorsh. We have an emotionaly disturbed child in the White House. I knew he was an amateur but this is just scary.
Daemonocracy on October 22, 2009 at 10:36 PM
Sometimes when I watch Shep Smith…I want to cry because his words are PURE hate. DARN YOU SHEPARD SMITH!!!
terryannonline on October 22, 2009 at 10:36 PM
Some like it hot and some sweat
When the heat is on
Some feel the heat and decide that
They can´t go on
Some like it hot, but you can´t tell how hot
Til you try
Some like it hot, so let´s turn up the heat
Til Obama and his Brownshirts and Gestopo all fry!
MB4 on October 22, 2009 at 10:37 PM
Much as I find Hannity and Beck intolerable, Obama needs to relax. He is behaving like a petulant movie star who does not like the paparazzi.
Hey, but as McCain’s most effective ad had pointed out, he is little more than a celebrity anyways.
rightistliberal on October 22, 2009 at 10:37 PM
He is mentally ill. That makes him very dangerous indeed.
TheBigOldDog on October 22, 2009 at 10:38 PM
DerKrieger on October 22, 2009 at 10:32 PM
Write the idea to Rush and Mark Levin, or Beck. Then it will happen.
Schadenfreude on October 22, 2009 at 10:38 PM
I don’t see anything here other than the status quo from the white house. From around Sept. 18, 2006 as pertaining to Mr. Bush’s own off the record talk…
The guest list included Sean Hannity, Neal Boortz, Michael Medved, Laura Ingraham, and Mike Gallagher. (Rush Limbaugh was unable to attend.) Friday’s off-the-record talk, set for 30 minutes, ended up lasting 90 minutes, where Bush told his guests that the war on terror has to be about right versus wrong, “because if it’s about Christianity versus Islam, we’ll lose.” He also showed them the pistol Saddam Hussein had when he was captured.
disillusioned on October 22, 2009 at 10:38 PM
The problem is that Obama is a megalomaniacal, Machiavellian sociopath, who believes his own press. He really thinks he IS the Messiah, The One who will go down in history as the most transformational world leader since…well, Hitler. It’s not that he wants to be God. He wouldn’t take the demotion.
Star20 on October 22, 2009 at 10:39 PM
The way Charles Krauthammer and Bill Kristol go on and on about being hawks….it’s just so hurtful!!! How can they be so mean!
terryannonline on October 22, 2009 at 10:40 PM
Rahm’s a dancin’ little biatch, and Barry’s the big whiny biatch….
Go suck you thumbs you little babies
phreshone on October 22, 2009 at 10:40 PM
Or send Kleenex tissues. Baby formula?
MB4 on October 22, 2009 at 10:41 PM
There is something truly sinister they way Julie Banderas reads the news.
terryannonline on October 22, 2009 at 10:41 PM
Glenn Beck was talking on the radio show last week about the stories they’re working on. He said that if one particular story pans out to be true, he thought it would bring down the administration. I’m curious as he## what it could be.
Colorado Anne on October 22, 2009 at 10:42 PM
I vote for baby wipes!
b3026 on October 22, 2009 at 10:43 PM
Put on your big girl panties and get over it.
Laura in Maryland on October 22, 2009 at 10:44 PM
He’s a wimp.
PattyJ on October 22, 2009 at 10:44 PM
Maybe it is nothing at all and he is just getting into Obama`s head. However, with Beck`s recent record don`t you know Barry is going through the skeletons every minute. RAHM! did we tie up that loose end in ………..
bluemarlin on October 22, 2009 at 10:45 PM
Damn, this dude is way out of his league. It’s easy to push his narcissistic buttons. Keep it up.
If your enemy is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him. If your opponent is temperamental, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant. If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them. If sovereign and subject are in accord, put division between them. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.-Sun-Tzu
RadClown on October 22, 2009 at 10:46 PM
Do not diminish the threat that nObama and his minion’s represent, they are neither ethical, nor honest, as such all bets are off. The threats to lives of Beck, Malkin, et. al will come quickly and will be serious (nothing better than a photo of you when you think your safe to send a chill up your spine that makes your forehead numb) We need to call these punks out, threaten (always better to demonstrate) reprisal and promise an un-relenting vengeance that at least affords them the opportunity to pause. If not, all to soon it will be time to put the gloves on, dial the scale and hymn….” pop – pop, fizz – fizz oh what a relief it is”………… or for the contemporary crew…”this is how we do it!”
dmann on October 22, 2009 at 10:46 PM
I’m in! Let’s set it up and get going on it!
Fallen Sparrow on October 22, 2009 at 10:46 PM
I sent a note to Ed/Allah asking that they get the word out and set a date. Hope they support the idea. I don’t have the forum they have. Hope we can get it going. Obama would throw a serious temper tantrum.
DerKrieger on October 22, 2009 at 10:48 PM
The baby item of your choice! So long as they all arrive within a 2-3 day window so he gets the message.
DerKrieger on October 22, 2009 at 10:49 PM
Go to sleep little Barry and don’t you cry
Maybe while in slumber you will dream of another part of the Constitution to fry
If Fox News should still be on the air when you wake
Maybe greasy Axlerod or little Rahm will think of a way for their lives or at least their license to take
If that don’t put your mind at ease
Think of how much your new health care system will Dr Kevorkian please
MB4 on October 22, 2009 at 10:50 PM
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