Last week it was reported that David Axelrod met over coffee with FoxNews president Roger Ailes. Some thought the move was probably a shot over the bow to let Fox know that the White House didn't appreciate the fact that Fox was not fawning over the president.
Then this past Sunday, Anita Dunn, the White House communications director, declared on CNN that Fox is not a news outlet but rather a "shill" for the republican party.
This from the New York Daily News:
"Let's not pretend they're a news network," White House communications director Anita Dunn said on CNN's "Reliable Sources," firing the latest salvo in the long-simmering feud.
"Fox News often operates almost as either the research arm or the communications arm of the Republican Party," Dunn said.
"What
I think is fair to say about Fox, and certainly the way we view it, is
that it really is more a wing of the Republican Party," she added.
Michael Clemente,
a Fox senior vice president, hit back that Team Obama is confusing news
coverage with the sometimes incendiary opinions of Fox stars Glenn Beck, Bill O'ReillySean Hannity.
Dunn made clear that the White House doesn't like anything about Fox - news or opinion.
No doubt that the shot over the bow has been fired now. The question is, with this president being so sensitive to criticism and seemingly so willing to fight back through censorship and the use of government agencies to impose new restrictions on free speech, what comes next?
Be alert folks.