UPDATED: No We Won't - Oh Wait, We Will

UPDATE 1: Link here to an interesting editorial on a better use for White House talent.

After throwing the equivalent of a four-year old's tantrum over the posturings of puffed-up opinion commentary on Fox, the White House has decided that it might be in its best interest to allow Administration officials to appear on Fox News shows after all. In the last posting, I discussed the increasingly partisan, and over-hyped coverage on all of the cable news shows (of course, both the left and the right have long concluded that media bias is rampant), and the increasingly competition between the various outlets.

What seems particularly ridiculous is the personal offense the White House seems to feel whenever Beck or Hannity goes off on a rant. I feel little sympathy for much of the sentiment behind those rants, but the President is supposed to be a little thicker-skinned than this. So what is Beck says something ludicrous - ignore it if possible, or rebut with facts. Don't scream, yell and cry for Momma. Like all modern politicians, Obama has made full use of the media when it suits his purposes, even 'permitting' ABC to broadcast, from the White House, a full-throated defense of his approach to health care reform. When the President of the United States engages in a particular attack on one media outlet, ignoring the bias of the very outlet on which those accusations are made (by proxy), he looks the fool.

ABC News: Now and Then

In 1996, Ted Koppel (then the anchor of ABC's Nightline), walked out of the Republican Convention, rightly saying that it had become a staged and media-controlled event. In 2002, ABC made clear that Nightline would no longer be permitted to be a hard-hitting news show, and Koppel left, eventually moving to the BBC, PBS and NPR. While there are certainly many who would disagree with Koppel's positions and coverage of events, it's certainly fair to say that his career has been about reporting and understanding news.

ABC news used to reflect that kind of reporting, but no longer. Now, ABC has cozied all the way up the White House, to the point of 'hosting a health care town hall,' during prime time. Once the news leader, ABC is now the well-loved mistress of the White House.

One wonders what Ted would have to say.

We're transparent - really. Trust me!

This is so funny and somewhat scary! How long do you think it'll take to fire the Gibbster?