What Comes Next: Fox vs. Obama

With Fox News‘ “declaration of war” on the Obama administration’s anti-journalism policies, the Democrat-Media Complex has been divided against itself. 

Members of the press, who consistently hide behind their own objectivity, have been forced to come out in Fox News’ favor in the Department of Justice targeting of Fox News journalist James Rosen. Democrats have been forced to come out of the woodwork to declare that the Obama administration’s treatment of journalists has indeed been abysmal.

But this is a political set-up that cannot hold. The journalistic establishment is generally all too happy to watch their conservative colleagues burned at the stake. Only the fact that the Associated Press was targeted before James Rosen forces the press to embrace the united front approach against the administration.

So what comes next?

The Obama administration surely will not stop targeting its opponents in the press. Whether they are monitoring James Rosen’s communications, screaming at CBS News reporter Sharyl Attkisson for daring to cover the Fast and Furious scandal, or giving “advice” to Bob Woodward about covering President Obama, the White House operates through intimidation. For years, the White House has made Fox News its primary target in the anti-media war, recognizing that the rest of the media would play along.

Now Obama and company must win back their traditional media allies. That will start with a coordinated play – likely led by White House ally Media Matters – directed at Fox News. An opinion host will be targeted for destruction, and the White House will jump in with both feet. Other reporters, recognizing the cover provided by the White House targeting an opinion journalist at Fox News rather than a straight reporter, will join in. Soon the alliance between Fox News and their erstwhile friends will be broken completely, even as the mainstream press pretends to back journalistic integrity.

This game is not over. Not by a long shot. The Democrats and their press allies know that turning on Fox News is the only way to prevent the burgeoning Obama scandals from turning their man into an early lame duck. The united front will undoubtedly cave soon.

The question, then, is simple: will the American people hold the members of the Democrat-Media Complex accountable for abandoning their journalistic mission in favor of Obama administration shilling?

Ben Shapiro is Editor-At-Large of Breitbart News and author of the New York Times bestseller “Bullies: How the Left’s Culture of Fear and Intimidation Silences America” (Threshold Editions, January 8, 2013).