I can tell you what won't come out "on top" as long as mainstream media is as dismal as it is now, and that's Democracy.

"...target a news channel?" What is the man talking about? The WH is targeting fux nous, not a news channel. No one ever seriously claimed that this group of right wingers was a real news channel. From the very top (Murdoch) to the dregs at the bottom (Beck), it is populated by the most whacked out group of reactionaries assembled at one place on this earth.

Now it's Hugo Chavez. I wonder who will be the first to come up with Pol Pot. Or did I just miss it?

Isn't this poll question a tacit admission by Fox that they are a political organization and not a news network?

Who do we think "will come out on top"? What does that mean, exactly? -- Steve Benen

How will we know that we've "won" in Iraq and Afghanistan? We'll declare victory and stop talking about it. Same here. Fox will announce it's won and, since the WH isn't, *really* "after them" with any amount of venom and most unlikely to engage in such infantile games, it'll let it pass.

Never argue with someone who buys ink by the barrel? Greeley. I think it still holds true, for the most part

Folks should read The Echo Chamber: Rush Limbaugh and The Conservative Media Establishment. It's written by a couple of communication academics who apply some rather specific and rigorous standards and definitions to establish that Fox and talk radio and the editorial page of the WSJ do in fact constitute a political "establishment."

This is true for very specific reasons: this conservative media sets the Republican agenda, it provides the ideas and talking points and common themes that Republican elected officials use to promote conservative issues, it does damage control like a public relations outfit when conservatives get into trouble, it serves as a gatekeeper to select the Republican leadership, in fact it does much more than say "we report, you decide." Conservative media is actually the leader of the conservative movement itself.

Bottom line: there exist objective and provable standards for designating FOX as the research and media arm of the Republican Party that go beyond the subjective rantings of the WH communications team.

Vokoban: "Now it's Hugo Chavez. I wonder who will be the first to come up with Pol Pot. Or did I just miss it?"

Pol Pot? Sorry, but he's too Asian. My money's on FOX News' inevitable comparison of President Obama to Idi Amin Dada. And for sure, someone will compare Michele Obama with Winnie Mandela.

Obama is Idi Amin.

Glenn Beck is his happy meal.

B-EM, he isn't just going to Texas, but to the heart of darkness itself, Aggieland. He won't be mistreated by the Corps, but anymore there are a lot of really whacked out nutbags on the rest of campus. And they are armed. It wouldn't surprise me a whole lot if the Secret Service has to take down one or two of them. Bush had one of them doing his science censorship for him, Dietrich, I think his name was, who had been a columnist for the campus newspaper which is actually to the left of the student body. You don't know how far to the right that group is.

Having said that, I am proud that Aggieland does have one of the better records in Texas of being accepting of minorities. There is a lot more interracial dating than you would expect, and the university has an excellent record of admitting students of all ethnic groups.

What a co-ink-a-dink, the mouth breathers that believe Fox is always right and Obama is always wrong also believe that in a battle of ethics twixt the two, Fox would win. It's the "My dad can beat up your dad" for grownups too stupid to know better.

Fox News beat Obama by a measly four points in a Fox News poll? That strikes me as a dismal result for Rupert's boyz.

Douchey has to be one of the biggest pricks to walk the face of the earth. Prick, prick, prick.

Well, FOX just has to say "yes you are, infinity", and then they've clearly won.

I mean, unless Obama releases a statement saying "no we're not, infinity plus one". Then FOX is screwed, hands down.

I would have to say that Fox News is fair and balanced and I watch CNN, MSNBC and Fox all the time. The WH needs to back away from their stance because the more cable & news companies there are, the better informed us folks can be. I especially like O'Reilly and Glenn Beck and Hannity. Rick Sanchez is pretty decent also. Keith O. should stay in sports casting.

Tater:

I can't watch O'Reilly or Beck for longer than 5 seconds without being overwhelmed by how completely full of shit they both are. And the bias in their news coverage (including what they choose to cover) is so obvious it's visible from Neptune.

How do you explain the grand-canyon-sized disparity in their coverage of the 912 march vs. the recent gay rights march? To name one example out of a million.

Who do we think "will come out on top"? What does that mean, exactly? How would we know who's "won" the showdown?

Maybe the idea is that If the disagreement continues, Fox will do things that hurt the Administration? That it will do things that it wouldn't do if the Administration submitted in some way?

Sounds vaguely like a threat.

Maybe the idea is that If the disagreement continues, Fox will do things that hurt the Administration?

Yeah, wouldn't it be terrible if they started doing things like working to get administration members fired, promoting anti-administration protests, and engaging in the worst kind of guilt by association smears linking Obama to terrorists, communists, and other anti-American sentiment, and tried to delegitimize him by convincing their viewership that he's a socialist preparing to destroy their country?

Man, I sure would hate for Fox to start doing that kind of thing.

Every time I hear that Fox "News" is balanced I am reminded of a scene in the movie "The Blues Brothers."

When asking what type of music to play in the bar the waitress answers "Oh, we got both kinds of music, Country AND Western."

Yeah, Fox is balanced between the very Right Wing and the Batshit Insane Right Wing.

The WH is correct to marginalize them. Weaken them to foment a war between the two sides mentioned above. If they rip each other to pieces (the Wingers, that is), then the entire U.S. would win.

Don't knock the power that is Fox News.

Remember, it was Bill-O who came out victorious during the bloody "War On Christmas". And his boycott of France nearly caused the collapse of the Fifth Republic.

New Rule - anyone who writes a 50,000-word treatise in the "comment" section of a blog will be immediately, passionately IGNORED. With extreme prejudice.