A salute to the journalistic integrity of the White House press pool.

All of the regular readers of POWIP know that I’m generally hard on the legacy media, often questioning their sense of ethics, professionalism, and accusing them of “intellectual incuriousity.  That’s why it’s all the more important that I take this opportunity to commend the White House press pool for standing in solidarity with Fox, when the White House tried to freeze Fox out of a round robin style interview session with the pay czar.

Baier: “There was an announcement by the Administration that they were putting out the pay Czar Kenneth Feinberg as we showed you earlier, for the White House pool, they sent out a message for the White House pool that Feinberg would be doing a round robin interviews with the 5 network pool that covers the White House…Foxnews has been a member since 1997, when they put out that message they specified that all members of the pool were welcome except Foxnews”

In addition to ensuring that no future Republican administration could also arbitrarily single out any network they felt was turning up the heat, they also unwittingly have underscored the administration’s ongoing feud with Fox news over the last few weeks; a vendetta that has taken on a decidedly Nixonian feel.  I should also point out here that for all of the political left’s vilification of G.W. Bush, he never lowered himself to this kind of behavior nor engaged in personally calling out broadcasters as Mr. Obama has with Limbaugh.

So here’s to the White House press pool.  Thank you for not allowing the Pennsylvania Avenie freeze-out of a collegue, and for letting the President know, even if indirectly, that he has crossed a line of decorum, and respect for the independance of the press.