Has Obama Shunned Fox News At His Press Conferences?

Fox NewsA study out of the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs ranked the number of times various news outlets were called on by President Obama in a press conference. The results have stirred some controversy with regard to whether certain outlets were favored, or disfavored, by the President.

The University’s Smart Politics blog revealed their own prejudicial assessment in a headline that declared “FOX Still Shunned at Obama Press Conferences.” There is much to ponder in that headline. For instance, the characterization of Fox being shunned “still” made no sense because they never bothered to establish that Fox had been shunned previously. But even worse, the overall assertion that Fox was shunned is not borne out by the study’s results.

Fox earned a ninth place showing by having been called on for questions fourteen times. That is only two fewer nods than CNN and the New York Times received. And if Fox can be described as having been shunned, then the Washington Post, USA Today, and NPR were victims of blatant and deliberate neglect since they came in even lower than Fox at tenth, eleventh, and thirteenth.

Nevertheless, Fox seems to be the only news outlet that is complaining about their treatment by the President. They devoted a segment of their Fox News Watch program to whining that they aren’t getting enough attention, poor things. Host Jon Scott started the bitch session by crying “Why does the president not like to call on us?” Jumping in without being recognized was Fox’s fake Democrat Kirsten Powers who shot back “Because he doesn’t want to be embarrassed. When Ed Henry asks questions to Jay Carney, inevitably Jay Carney ends up looking stupid because he doesn’t know how to answer the question. He’s used to pushing people around.” And she’s supposed to be the voice of the left on Fox’s fair and balanced roster.

With friends like Kirsten Powers who needs enemas? And that is a perfect illustration of why Obama ought to start shunning Fox News. It has never been a credible journalistic operation. It is an unabashed agent of the Republican Party whose only purpose is to bash the President and support the right-wing agenda.

While the study’s results show that Fox was treated no worse than several other prominent news outlets, the record of overt bias exhibited by Fox should excuse the administration if it decides to banish Fox altogether from the White House press room. They are no more deserving of press credentials than the Sasquatch Gazette or the Journal of the American Astrological Society.

House Republican Leader Proposes Unconstitutional Debt Ceiling Bill

Eric CantorEric Cantor, the Republican Majority Leader in the House of Representatives, has posted a message on his website that spells out the terms of his compromise debt ceiling legislation. It says…

“Next week, we will authorize a three month temporary debt limit increase to give the Senate and House time to pass a budget. Furthermore, if the Senate or House fails to pass a budget in that time, Members of Congress will not be paid by the American people for failing to do their job. No budget, no pay.”

There is one minor problem with that. It is a violation of the Constitution’s 27th Amendment which states that…

“No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.”

When alerted to his prospective breach of the law, Cantor’s office insisted that the plan complies with the Constitution because it does not change the rate of pay, it only defers payment. However, the law says nothing about “rate” of pay. It merely says that “varying” compensation is prohibited, and a deferment is unarguably a variance.

The GOP is constantly waving the Constitution in everyone’s face as if they have some sort of privileged relationship with it or its authors. What makes this all the more ludicrous is that when Republicans took control of the House in 2010 they initiated a childish procedure wherein they recite the entire document on the opening day of the session as a symbolic message that they will be conscious of what it says. That took place just last week, but it apparently did not help them to understand what’s in it.