White House admits to participating in attacks on Limbaugh - "feeding the beast"
When Richard Nixon's administration admitted having an enemies list of people they actively opposed, it was news for years. Obama's folks will have this one swept under the rug in days, you can bet. I really don't understand the point of what they're doing - I mean, you can expect Limbaugh to thrive on conflict, because that's how he makes a living. That's the point of his show. But instead of ignoring it, Obama himself has elevated Limbaugh to a level of legitimacy which is unprecedented for a private citizen.
I guess I should be happy. The more Obama complains, the more listeners go to Rush, and the bottom line of my radio station goes up. But we were promised a new civility in this administration, and that's exactly the opposite of what's happening.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/05/feeding-the-beast-on-rush-attacks/
The White House on Wednesday fessed up to lowering the quality of public discourse and acknowledged that its sniping at radio show host Rush Limbaugh has been "counterproductive," even as Democratic political committees continued to use the issue in a political line of attack approved by the Obama administration itself.
"It may be counterproductive. I'll give you that," said White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, when asked about his repeated verbal jousting with Mr. Limbaugh and other media personalities who have criticized President Obama.
Mr. Obama himself has regularly employed the term "cable chatter" to dismiss criticisms of his economic agenda that he thinks are uninformed or inaccurate. And his administration has often complained about superficial, back-and-forth debates that substitute for political discourse or journalism.
But Mr. Gibbs said he has been "feeding" the very beast that he and others in the White House have lambasted.
"There are days in which, yes, your head throbs from listening to arguments that aren't necessarily centered on delving into some important issue, but finding two people at completely opposite ends of the spectrum to yell loudest in a seven-minute segment before we go on to something else," Mr. Gibbs said.
I guess I should be happy. The more Obama complains, the more listeners go to Rush, and the bottom line of my radio station goes up. But we were promised a new civility in this administration, and that's exactly the opposite of what's happening.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/05/feeding-the-beast-on-rush-attacks/
The White House on Wednesday fessed up to lowering the quality of public discourse and acknowledged that its sniping at radio show host Rush Limbaugh has been "counterproductive," even as Democratic political committees continued to use the issue in a political line of attack approved by the Obama administration itself.
"It may be counterproductive. I'll give you that," said White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, when asked about his repeated verbal jousting with Mr. Limbaugh and other media personalities who have criticized President Obama.
Mr. Obama himself has regularly employed the term "cable chatter" to dismiss criticisms of his economic agenda that he thinks are uninformed or inaccurate. And his administration has often complained about superficial, back-and-forth debates that substitute for political discourse or journalism.
But Mr. Gibbs said he has been "feeding" the very beast that he and others in the White House have lambasted.
"There are days in which, yes, your head throbs from listening to arguments that aren't necessarily centered on delving into some important issue, but finding two people at completely opposite ends of the spectrum to yell loudest in a seven-minute segment before we go on to something else," Mr. Gibbs said.