President Obama sent his White House advisers out again to appear on talk news shows Sunday to deliver canned and well-used talking points, appearing on many of the major networks and cable stations, but not the cable station that has more viewers than all combined – Fox News.  Rather, they continued to draw a line in the sand inflaming adviser Anita Dunn’s charges last week that, Fox was the “communications arm of the Republican Party.”

Today White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel told CNN’s “State of the Union”, that Fox, “It’s not a news organization so much as it has perspective, and that’s a different take  . . . And more importantly, its’ important not to have the CNN’s and the others of the world being led and following Fox, as if what they’re trying to do is legitimate news organization.”

White House Senior Adviser David Axelrod said on ABC’s ‘This Week,’ about Fox, “It’s not really a news organization . . . We’re going to appear on their shows, we’re going to participate but understanding they have a point of view.”

When the White House launched its attack, Fox News reacted aggressively.

Senior Vice President of News Michael Clemente said his channel’s audience was able to distinguish fact and opinion.

“The average news consumer can certainly distinguish between the A section of the newspaper and the editorial page, which is what our programming represents,” he said.  “So, with all due respect to anyone who still might be confused about the difference between news reporting and vibrant opinion, my suggestion would be to talk about the stories and the facts rather than attack the messenger . . . which over time, has never worked,” said Clemente.

Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace said today he invited the president’s advisers to his show to discuss the brewing spat.  He said the White House declined any interview on the matter.

The White House is foolhardy in its communications policy.  It is not only thumbing its nose at Fox, but its audience, which is larger than any other network or cable news organization.

Mark Twain got it right many years ago when he said, “Don’t get into fights with people that buy ink by the barrel.”