Fishbowl DC had it first, then Mediaite confirmed it independently. Thus dies one of the sweetest, easiest sources of bloggy material we’ve had in ages. RIP.
The good news? These truces never last. Eventually Beck will accuse The One of being a Bilderberger or something and we’ll be playing the feud once again, oh yes.
Details of the meeting and terms of any agreement are still emerging, but we hear the meeting was to come to a “truce” between both sides – a point first reported by FishbowlDC.
Mediaite hears the meeting was between FNC Senior Vice President Michael Clemente and White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs in Gibbs’ office at the White House. Clemente then met with the FNC D.C. bureau.
The lame White House spin on this started early today with declarations of satisfaction in U.S. News notwithstanding (a) that Fox’s ratings have leaped since war broke out and (b) even dependable lefties like Thomas Frank have taken to scolding the White House for mishandling a useful demagogic opportunity. Quote:
A senior Obama adviser says that, even though the West Wing has been roundly criticized by both adversaries and some allies for blasting Fox as an arm of the Republican Party and not a real news organization, administration insiders are pleased with how things stand.
The fuss has energized core Democrats who have wanted Obama and his advisers to get tough with Fox and other critics of the administration, the adviser says. And it has made the point that Fox is an outlier in the journalistic community, a notion that many liberals embrace…
One drawback, which even Obama aides concede, is that Fox is using the quarrel with the White House as a public-relations tool to stir up its own support among conservatives and to boost ratings. “They’re still at it,” says a senior Obama aide, who adds that White House officials don’t expect to fire another shot in the battle unless Fox strikes first.
It has indeed made the point that Fox is an outlier; unfortunately, that point seems not to have been taken. Exit question: Has the left really been all that “energized” by this? Aside from Media Matters, which demagogues Fox for a living, liberals have been consumed with ObamaCare and the sturm und drang of trying to nail down 60 votes. If Obama thought he was going to purchase quiescence from them on the public option by beating up on Bill O’Reilly, I’d say he was mistaken.
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