Uproar over Fox News in the Press Corps--I wonder why...

Looks like the Snow Job is already paying dividends for the White House--in the form of press ire.

All of a sudden, attacking Fox News outright isn't taboo among other members of the traditional media--and it couldn't come too soon.

According to an article on CNN's main page:

It wasn't the price of gasoline, Darfur or the rebuilding effort in New Orleans that preoccupied the White House press corps Thursday aboard a flight on Air Force One.

It was what channel they could watch on the White House televisions, Fox or CNN.

During a briefing led by White House spokesman Scott McClellan as President Bush was traveling to New Orleans, Louisiana, the Washington Post's Jim VandeHei asked why the White House televisions always seemed to be tuned to Fox News and if it was possible to have them tuned instead to CNN.

"It's come to my attention that there's been requests -- this is a serious question -- to turn these TVs onto a station other than Fox, and that those have been denied," VandeHei told McClellan, who is soon to be replaced by former Fox anchor and self-described conservative Tony Snow.

Then Mr. Vandehei--bless him--asked the unthinkable question:

"My question would be, is there a White House policy that all government TVs have to be tuned to Fox?" VandeHei asked.

<snip>

"They're always turned to Fox, which a lot of people consider a Republican-leaning network."

Is it just me, or did the earth stop moving?  Does this mean that Faux News is officially starting to be fair game?

At any rate, Scott McClellan's response was as incredible as it was incredulous--essentially, "Reeaaally?  Lordy lordy, gosh no, I've never heard of such a thing.  Why would you think that?"

But Vandehei persisted:

"Well, the magic people at the other end off the phone ... I was told, 'We don't watch CNN here, you can only watch Fox,' " VandeHei said.

McClellan then said something really fascinating:

McClellan said he found the question "quite amusing," and left to see about making the change.

Eighteen minutes after VandeHei raised the issue, McClellan had resolved it.

"We just called up. They're going to be changing it, at your all's request, to the channel that you requested, which is CNN -- from the press corps."

Ah, state-sponsored and state-controlled fascism is really SO amusing, isn't it?  I'm sure he finds ongoing investigations equally amusing.

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But why, oh why, would the press corps believe such a thing?  After all, Fox News is totally Fair and Balanced!  Just look at their opinion line-up tonight to get a sampling of these serious discussion pieces (real stories in bold, satire in italics, for the satire challenged):

On Hannity and Colmes: "Is Illegal Immigration as Dangerous for African-Americans as Slavery Was?" (I shit you not, this is for real...)

(Hypothetical Answer: "Oh yes, massa!  Them's wetbacks a danjrous!"  Meanwhile...Next on Hannity and Colmes: Was James K. Polk a greater war president than Abhraham Lincoln?"

On Bill O'Reilly: "Why is Sen. Kennedy blocking a bill that would protect kids?"  (Again, I shit you not...)

Next on Bill O'Reilly: "Why Do Democrats Support Ritual Human Sacrifice", and "How the President is Protecting you from Islamofascist Vampire Mummies, and why Liberals Want to Stop Him".

On Neil Cavuto: "While we bicker over gas prices, China bites." (yes, this is really true...he really said this)

"Next Week on Neil Cavuto: "While New Orleans Complains of Flooding, Sub-Saharan Islamofascist Aids-Infected Africans are Asking for MORE water.  Shouldn't New Orleans be happy with the water it has??"

On Brit Hume: "Senators hit the road to talk gas prices, but guess how they got there."  (Oh yes, it's true...)

Next up on Brit Hume: "Liberal Hypocrisy: If Al Gore REALLY wanted to stop global warming, he would block his intestines from passing gas."

And, to top it off, on John Gibson: "Would I be right to conclude Wash. Post and NYT are on Zarqawi and bin Laden's side?"  (I can't make these up myself)

Next up on John Gibson: "Would I go wrong in saying that the Daily Kos wants to saw off your grandmother's head with a scimitar?"

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They're parodies of themselves.  And the worm has turned on them.

The hubris has come.  And the downfall is here.  Sit back and enjoy the ride, folks.

[Cross-posted on my blog There Is No Blog: Bending Left]