In an interview with Rolling Stone's publisher Jann Wenner, Obama was asked specifically for his thoughts about Fox News. The president, referencing the Constitution, defended Fox News' right to free speech. But Obama thought that the agenda Fox News is pushing would do damage to the country:

It's a point of view that I disagree with. It's a point of view that I think is ultimately destructive for the long-term growth of a country that has a vibrant middle class and is competitive in the world. But as an economic enterprise, it's been wildly successful.

To say that Obama's critique of Fox News was restrained is an understatement. But that didn't stop Beltway insiders like ABC's Terry Moran from posting hand-wringing reactions. Namely, that Obama was ominously targeting the press:

This continues the beloved Beltway media response to whenever Obama, or someone on his staff, is asked about Fox News and offers up a negative assessment. (Period.) In the eyes of media elites that's scary and daunting because the administration, by criticizing (or simply fact-checking) Fox News, is really threatening, or targeting, free speech. In other words, the administration is not allowed to express opinions about Fox News.

Good grief.

First, the idea that by answering a journalist's question about Fox News, Obama is somehow trying to “target speech” Is patently absurd. Because let's be honest, if any POTUS really wanted to “target,” or silence, some speech, there are powers at his disposal to help make that possible. But sitting for an interview with Rolling Stone and acknowledging you don't like Fox News does not qualify as a serious effort to “target speech.”

Second, Fox News isn't in the news business any more. Fox News is without question the administration's Opposition Party and long ago severed any and all ties with traditional journalism.

And third, Moran's suggestion that it would have been a big deal if Obama's predecessor had ever critiqued the press, or “speech,” is laughable because Bush did it all the time! His White House waged a sustained and nasty war against the press in an attempt to undercut journalists. But people like Terry Moran probably don't remember that, because in real time they didn't say boo about the White House broadsides.

But today, when Obama simply notes that Fox News' agenda is “destructive,” Moran is suddenly deeply concerned.