The way in which Obama deals with the news media seems a little unsettling. If you remember the ongoing war with FOX news where White House officials basically announced FOX is NOT a real news organization, and now they are fighting with Forbes magazine over an unflattering article. According to the Washington Post, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs will be meeting with Forbes's Washington bureau chief, Brian Wingfield, to discuss his objections. We do have freedom of the press, and sometimes they will be critical. If Obama objects to something written, in my opinion, he shouldn't attack the news organization but should make a public statement of why he disagrees. I don't really think they should be sending representatives from the White House to news organizations to discuss articles written about him. This may seem like a nit-picky thing, but just something on my mind. It might be that other Presidents have done this, and I haven't noticed? What do you think?
I completely agree with you. No President, good or bad, should expect the news media to give the White House editorial control or face being snubbed. It's not that their ought to be a law in this regard--the President would just be an intellectual coward for doing so.
Here's Obama in an interview last summer, in which a reporter brought up the perception many people have that he's gotten a free ride by the press. In response, Obama brought up FOX news again saying, “I’ve got one television station that is entirely devoted to attacking my administration…That’s a pretty big megaphone. You’d be hard pressed if you watched the entire day to find a positive story about me on that front.†LOL. I suppose FOX news has been a bit of a thorn in his side, but Obama doesn't always appear to handle criticism very well. The FOX slogan "Fair and Balanced" is a joke, but I don't think the Obama administration would have labeled FOX news as not being "real news" if they would have been writing flattering articles about him. If he could say that biased news is not real news, then Obama should claim the same about the liberal media I think.
The CNBC townhall presentation today was hilarious. I forget how charming and personable the guy is. Were it not for the double speak and outright lies coming out of his mouth, you could see where people would get the idea this guy is really on top of his game. I get the feeling he has gone through his entire life being able to get others to accept his spin as reality, and he really doesn't get it or like it when his Jedi mind tricks don't work on an entire nation. The bullying of the media is just an act of desperation and confusion. [video=youtube;R7g5W-qLHDs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7g5W-qLHDs[/video] The real comedy was watching him tell this woman that health care would be cheaper for her, and then later tell Rick Santelli that the tea party needed to put forward some ideas on how to shrink government because we all love those grrreeeaaaaatttt government programs. I suppose he forgot to mention government workers, one of the last true bastions of union labor, get paid double what the same job pays in the private sector. I suppose he forgot to mention that the federal government hired like mad while the rest of the private sector was receding. I suppose he forgot to mention his newly created entitlement would laden US taxpayers with more than a trillion dollars in new, expanding, and recurring debt that will have to be funded by new taxes on top of the taxes that will be kicking in this year. Mmmm yah. Gotta get me some of them gubment programs. Like I said, the guy would be real slick if he hadn't completely lost touch with reality.
Do you think that people will give him more credibility if he manages to bring some modicum of peace between Israel and Gaza ?
LOL. Excellent post as always -- Nice to see you again. I think you meant that for Obamanation. He'll probably be back to answer, but my response is, don't count on it, Obama can't even bring a modicum of peace between the Republicans and Democrats.
Not just for him , for all US citizens . And about Republicans and Democrats , isn't the principle of US politics that this guys clash 24/7 and only the best laws will come out ?
The video is removed now here's another link: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/vi...r_to_obama_im_exhausted_of_defending_you.html Its funny that you didn't post his response http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/09/20/obama_responds_to_exhausted_woman.html
Well, I suppose, but my feeling is that "24/7 clash" has escalated into something beyond what's normal. I've seen much more fighting and viciousness in politics lately, far greater than what I've become accustomed to in the past. But, right now, we have the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives, and the Presidency all controlled by Democrats, but, the midterm elections should bring us more balance.
I've always wondered why people look to the US to bring peace between Israel and Gaza. It is in Israel's best interests to have peace in the region, and it sure as hell is in Palestine's best interests to have peace in the region. I would imagine without the influence of Iran, Syria, and Lebanon, Palestine and Israel would eventually come to a peaceful arrangement all on their own. So yes, if Obama could rightfully be credited with creating peace in the middle east, his stock would go up in everyone's book. Given the rumblings coming out of Russia at Obama's perceived weakness, I wouldn't hold my breath. I'll grant you, his response was funny. I should have spent more time getting a better video link. In essence, the woman says: "I'm a working professional, that has not seen anything promised in your campaign, even though I continue to support you. No raises, no promotions, decreasing property values. I thought the hot dog and beans days were behind us" - All of her complaints were about the current state of the US economy. Obama's answer: "Hey, we got lots of new government regulations and agencies to help you: New government agency to monitor credit card abuse(the woman doesn't have credit cards), Free health care for the poor(CFO unquestionably has health insurance through her employment), cheaper money for education if your kids qualify(Dual income CFO unlikely to qualify)" What a joke. There was literally not one thing in Obama's answer that would provide that woman aide in any way. If anything, every last one of his deliverables demonstrated a new tax burden he placed on a struggling economy. I'm guessing the woman was less than satisfied with his answer. Obama summed up just how badly he doesn't get it perfectly: "Our long term goal is to make sure every family, if they're middle class can pay their bills, have the security of health insurance, retire with dignity, send their kids to college" Gee, Barry, here I thought the long term goal of the federal government was to protect our nation from threats foreign and domestic. I thought the job of earning to pay bills, buy health insurance, send kids to college, etc, all fell into the responsibility area of the individual.