White House, TV Networks Coordinate Limbaugh Attack

The Politico recently reported that Obama's Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has a daily phone conference call with ABC's George Stephanopoulos, and CNN's James Carville and Paul Begala.

With Rush Limbaugh's raucous CPAC address we can see at least one example of what is likely an attack strategy resulting from the Emanuel phone session to bash Rush the day after the appearance.

NewsBusters reports as soon as the sun rose on the day after Limbaugh's CPAC appearance, three of the four of the phone call participants attacked Limbaugh with the same talking points. It seems obvious that they coordinated their attack together in the Obama secret strategy session. It is amazing that a president's staff can have such power over major media figures without a peep being heard from those that only months ago bashed former presidents over a perceived undue, even "dangerous," control of the media.

The morning after Limbaugh's CPAC speech, Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel appeared on CBS News' Face the Nation and told Bob Schieffer that Limbaugh was the "voice of the Republican Party," and that he "hasn't stepped back from" the "hopes for failure" he expressed for Obama's administration.

James Carville, obeying his Obama marching orders, said pretty much the same thing in his CNN commentary headlined, "A history lesson for Rush Limbaugh," where Carville began by saying that Rush is the "moral and intellectual leader and most influential person in the Republican Party."

As for ABC's George Stephanopoulos, he employed the same talking point about Rush's hope that Obama's socialist policies would not succeed -- though it is sure that Stephy didn't call Obama's policies socialist. In an interview with Eric Cantor, Stephanopoulos said, "So the Rush Limbaugh approach of wanting the president to fail is not the Eric Cantor, House Republican approach?"

Why are these secret phone call strategy sessions not a matter of public discussion?

That the White House is orchestrating media messages with the supposedly independent press corps is very questionable.

Should we not see this as the sort of collusion between the press and the White House that leads to public information controlled by political spinmieisters in the belly of the White House instead of journalists interested in truth?

Where are those that only until recently claimed to be interested in a free press dedicated to the real story?

NewsBusters