SCLM Watch: The Jake Tapper Series

Jake Tapper continues his long-running symp-fest with right-wing opinion makers:

Tapper: It's escaped none of our notice that the White House has decided in the last few weeks to declare one of our sister organizations "not a news organization" and to tell the rest of us not to treat them like a news organization. Can you explain why it's appropriate for the White House to decide that a news organization is not one -

(Crosstalk)

Gibbs: Jake, we render, we render an opinion based on some of their coverage and the fairness that, the fairness of that coverage.

Tapper: But that's a pretty sweeping declaration that they are "not a news organization." How are they any different from, say -

Gibbs: ABC -

Tapper: ABC. MSNBC. Univision. I mean how are they any different?

Gibbs: You and I should watch sometime around 9 o'clock tonight. Or 5 o'clock this afternoon.

Tapper: I'm not talking about their opinion programming or issues you have with certain reports. I'm talking about saying thousands of individuals who work for a media organization, do not work for a "news organization" -- why is that appropriate for the White House to say?

Gibbs: That's our opinion.

You just gotta love it when Tapper goes off on the White House with his whole "Who are you to say?" spiel when he leads off with an assumption that he speaks for everyone in the room. No better way to douse presumptuousness with more presumptuousness, eh?

Aside from that, you almost have to admire Tapper standing up for his right to parrot right-wing talking points. I mean ... at least on a very low level of sorts.

ADD-ON: Josh at TPM notes that Fox has circulated a response to the White House, framing the argument in nearly identical terms to Tapper's argument. Namely, that there should be a separate view of their opinion shows and "news" shows. So there you have it ... Jake Tapper literally cribbing right-wing talking points. Remind me who he works for again?

On another note, it's highly ironic to suddenly find right wing spin shops like Fox suggesting that there's a division between opinion and news within the shop. It sure seems like it was the fifth of never that I ever saw a Republican accepting that argument when it comes from a legitimate news source. So pardon me if I don't accept Fox's attempt at face value.