Punching Down

There he goes again — President Obama picking on a news organization by name:

Officials in the Obama White House have long made Fox News a punching bag, launching a full blown offensive last year when aides declared the network to be “opinion journalism masquerading as news.” Then-White House Communications Director Anita Dunn said the cable outlet “operates almost as either the research arm or the communications arm of the Republican Party,” and top aide Valerie Jarret called Fox “clearly biased.”

But the new comments from Obama constitute the president’s most direct attack yet on the network owned by business mogul Rupert Murdoch.

Fox News pushes “a point of view that I disagree with. It’s a point of view that I think is ultimately destructive for the long-term growth of a country that has a vibrant middle class and is competitive in the world,” Obama said.

Get that? Fox News is destroying the vibrant and competitive middle class with its point of view!

If you’ll recall, the Administration got pretty much nowhere with this line of attack last year, when Obama’s approval numbers were hovering around 60. Now that they’re bouncing around not much higher than 40, does Obama really expect better luck?

If it’s ratings Obama is looking for, maybe he should be phoning Rupert Murdock for advice, rather than slamming him in a wet-nurse faux “news outlet” like Rolling Stone.