Obama's Nixonian Boycott

With all the problems in the country and world, why are President Obama and his aides attacking Fox News and the Chamber of Commerce? It must be a diversionary tactic to shift public attention from his indecision on Afghanistan, the new taxes he wants to impose on the country and the ideological outing of many members of his staff.

As I wrote in a column last week, this is the equivalent of the jamming the Soviet Union used to do with radio signals from the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe. Dictatorships fear exposure and truth. Fox News and the Chamber of Commerce are telling the truth about what Obama is doing and intends to do and the administration doesn't like it.

So, the administration boycotts the network and threatens regulatory and economic punishment of the chamber's members. Some have called this Nixonian, but I think it could turn out to be worse. Nixon had a Democratic Congress and a hostile media. Obama has a mostly compliant media and a Congress of his own party. That can lead to arrogance and overreaching. And in Obama's case, it apparently has.

Cal Thomas is a nationally syndicated columnist based in Washington, D.C.