Mollie Hemingway, Ed.: Obama Administration Extends Enemies List

The Obama administration, the same one that takes questions from Huffington Post reporters at press conferences, the same one that was known for shutting out Fox News reporters from press pools and refusing to do interviews with the network, has extended its enemies list, apparently.

Now the Boston Herald is getting the "open and transparent" treatment. The White House press office has refused to give that newspaper full access to President Obama's fundraiser today, even though that fundraiser is taking place in Boston. Why?

White House spokesman Matt Lehrich says he considers how "fairly" a paper handles Obama coverage when determining who gets to be part of a pool. Since the Herald ran a front-page op-ed from Mitt Romney recently, they're out. But then he apparently contradicted himself to say that local pool duty arrangements were handled by a separate entity. This is the third time the Herald has been denied local press pool rights during Obama visits.

This is getting to be something of a problem for the White House. The Fox News shutout was harshly criticized by other reporters but just a few weeks ago the San Francisco Chronicle was threatened after a reporter shot video of protesters mocking Obama at a fundraiser.

Here's what Instapundit Glenn Reynolds tells the Herald:

“It's all about control,” Reynolds said. “At some point this will blow back on them. Most presidents behave in a more refined fashion. Experience has shown that acting presidential is good politics and to their advantage.”