Poking the Cobra

Now is the time for all good men to put their hands together, pull them apart and rapidly put them back together again, and repeat, to give props to the President for not curling up into a fetal position with a "Kick Me" sign taped to his butt. You know. Like a Democrat.

He's taking it straight to his perceived enemy, calling both Fox News and Rush Limbaugh radical and out of the mainstream, making the two crazier than a preacher at a whorehouse with a parishioner working the door. Because that is exactly what they say about him. Methinks there may be a bad case of "can dish it out but not take it" going around.

Conservative commentators are retaliating by lobbing charges of extreme partisanship at the President. Claiming he totally ignored his campaign promise to be "a uniter, not a divider." Oh wait, that wasn't him. That was the other guy. Sorry. You remember the last guy. Now there was someone who reeked of non- partisanship. At least I think that's what it was.

No idea what the right-wing radio dudes expected Barack to do in response to their incessant taunting and baiting: clap his hands over his ears and make la- la- la noises until the bad people stop talking nasty about him? Lie down on a fire resistant humanely braided Persian rug and whimper himself to sleep? Or pull a John Kerry, who while being swift boated in August 04, spent the entire month on his back waiting for a big old tummy rub. You know. Like a Democrat.

Though he lacks military service, Barack Obama seems to grasp the concept of "target acquired." Obviously, this sustained adversarial offensive is all part of a choreographed campaign to marginalize critics. An effort to paint the GOP as a wee bit of a sliver of a party, chock full of pro-rape, white, Southern ditto-heads and fringe licking extremists. Following the script perfected by that fabled wartime tactician: Karl Rove. If you're going to steal, take from the best.

It must be said that refusing to appear on Fox News does seem to fly in the face of the President's official policy to open a dialogue with all evil-doers. Which normally, he does. Iran. Hamas. North Korea. Syria. Everyone it seems, except Rupert Murdoch. "If we want fair & balanced, we'll get our fair and balanced from MSNBC thank you very much." Not very Peace Prize-ish if you ask me.

Its a tricky game this riling the rabble that Obama is playing. You got to be awfully careful when you poke the cobra. Fortunately he's got the extra long pointy sticks that are David Axelrod and Rahm Emanuel to do the dirty work. Another problem is both sides know that as the rhetoric ratchets up, so do the ratings. But studies prove helping Limbaugh hurts Republicans with Independents, so it's a calculated gamble. On the order of picking the Raiders to cover, on the road.

A final concern is all this fresh flummery could cause Rush to bloat up to dirigible size and then explode, which some experts say may force the evacuation of the entire Eastern Seaboard due to fears of Oxycontin contamination. But most importantly, Obama needs to keep in mind the advice my father regularly spouted after his third six pack: never get in a fight with an ugly person, he's got nothing to lose. You know. Like a Republican.

Will Durst is a San Francisco based political comic who writes sometimes. This is one of them.

Catch his new one man show "The Lieutenant Governor from the State of Confusion," appearing at a performing arts center near you.

 

 

Comments

[seroquel]

fox news is like the tv evangelists-they expect you to take it on faith that they are "fair and balanced".

My question is since they're making the claim, shouldn't THEY have to prove their claims?

I'm glad the president is calling them out. It's about time somebody show that the emperor has no clothes.

[Igor13]

Faux is to news what M.J. is to parenting.

[highflag]

I love the decision to engage the liars at Fox and on wacko talk-radio. It;s like confronting the schoolyard bully. They absolutely hate it! When given a free hand to repeat and enhance the big lies, they begin to take on the ring of truth. The uninformed hear the same garbage over and over, and finally assume that there must be some truth there.

Keep it up Mr. President. Driving the Right deeper and deeper into the arms of Limbaugh and Beck is a bonus for the good guys...

[Bgorden]

This criticism is a long time in coming, and it is most welcome. Fox news sends out its idiot stalker-producers, misinterprets even the most innocuous activities, and sends up a steady drumbeat of false accusations and vilifications which are assigned as talking points to complaisant news readers, and expects no consequences, or accountability for its actions. The entire network should be boycotted. As Groucho Marx once said, "I refuse to have a battle of wits with an unarmed man."

[normalintexas]

Now that was worth the read...needed the laughs today to be sure. Thanks!

[Bompa]

You just have to love Will Durst!

[JaneK13]

Chicago-style bully politics don't work with a group that's protected by the 1st amendment.

[Elbrando]

HuffPost's Pick

If you think what Obama is doing is Chicago style politics, you obviously have NO CLUE what REAL Chicago style politics are. If he was using Chicago style politics he would:

1) Have the FCC remove their license to broadcast.
2) Have advertisers boycott Fox or face penalties.
3) Have the IRS go after Fox.
4) Have the FBI, CIA, and other police organizations arrest Fox people.
5) Actually tell people not to watch Fox.
6) and many other things.

What has he done? Say that Fox "news" has a bias and that it is more like talk radio than journalism. Since Fox "news" does have a right wing bias and it is not real journalism, what the president said was more fact than opinion.

Remember its better than the truth, its Fox.

[Miguel Guadalupe - Huffpost Blogger]

Bravo. Thanks for making the clear distinction and correcting the typical accusation throwing tactics from the right - just because they accuse someone of something (which they do often) doesn't make it so. I find that type of perspective sorely lacking in today's discourse.

[mama4obama]

Thank you for your post. Foxaganda will not and should not be allowed to stand!

[firewmn]

Fixed Noise is "opinionated grief"..

[FrankenPC]

Obama doesn't want to appear on faux news because it's NOT NEWS!!