Obama thinks the press is too tough on him
E. Thomas McClanahanHard to believe, but that’s what the NYT is reporting. Obama sees himself as an informal “media critic in chief,” and “has come to believe the news media have had a role in frustrating his ambitions to change the terms of the country’s political discussion.”
The opening anecdote of the story is a window on the climate of opinion in the White House.
Staffers groused after the stimulus passed that the media didn’t talk much about how many jobs would be created or how much infrastructure would be fixed. Instead, fixated on other things. A USA Today piece said, “Traffic Set to Slow as Stimulus Gears Up,” which prompted Jared Bernstein, an economist in the administration at the time, to cry, “The feeling was, ‘man, we can’t catch a break.’ ”
No president gets a free ride from the press but Obama has had it much easier than most. Recall, for example, all those early, over-the-top comparisons to Lincoln. He’s certainly had it easier than any Republican.
Compare his overall media treatment with the press’s inept treatment of Mitt Romney’s largely successful recent foreign trip. Or the current Newsweek cover on Romney, headlined: “The wimp factor.”
Maybe somebody should tell Obama it’s time to man-up and stop whining about your press clips.
Walter Russell Mead nails it in a recent post: “But overall, this president still benefits far more than most of his predecessors from a press that generally likes him, agrees with his policies on most key issues, and deeply hopes that he will be re-elected in November. Few incumbents have ever had this kind of support from the Fourth Estate; few challengers have ever had such a hard time getting a break from the media as Governor Romney.”
Mark Hastert
10 months, 1 week agoLet’s be honest. Each side has their media mouthpieces and use them to promote their agenda. It’s fascinating to see how different media outlets report (or ignore) the same story. Same as it ever was.
Reginald Thornton
10 months, 1 week agoYou know you’re on to something when a leading apologist’s first line of defense is “Each side has their media mouthpieces”. Okay. I’ll play. Mitt has his media mouthpiece (Fox) and Obama has his (ABC,CBS,NBC,CNN,MSNBC,NYT,WAPO,KCStar….)
George Hunsucker
Northland
10 months, 1 week agoBingo Reginald…..
JR Beillenhouser
10 months, 1 week agoMost inept, most thin-skinned, pampered president ever. What a woos.
George Hunsucker
Northland
10 months, 1 week agoNPR should be one of the first things President Romney defunds early next year. Why I have to pay for a left-wing org. is beyond the pale…..
Kent Mueller
10 months, 1 week agoCare to rebut that, Mark?
Reginald Thornton
10 months, 1 week agoNPR. Seriously. I shouldn’t be allowed to drive today or to walk down stairs on my own for leaving it off of my list.
Phil Cardarella
10 months, 1 week agoOK, I get it that NPR — working in a fact-based reality — offends those who actually think FOX is a news source. Anyone who actually attempts an objective presentation of facts is obviously leftist, right?
Actually, there are those of us who — not necessarily in total agreement with Obama on some things, ‘cause we consider him way too conservative — nonetheless think the main stream press goes too far overboard for the right.
For example, all this talk about Paul Ryan being the “intellectual” base of conservatism? Now, granted, anybody in the GOP who admits to having read a book other than the Bible (which they read very selectively) is considered dangerously suspect of thought, Ryan as a thinker is a stretch. Hey, I remember Bill Buckley, and — while handsome and having good hair and teeth — Ryanis no Bill Buckley. Among other things, Buckley could add and subtract, sometimes in the same document.
On one thing, though, Mitt may have a point: the use of the term Obamacare instead of Romneycare — after its true author.
But, no one is asking Mitt how much he donated to Planned Parenthood during his rational policy years. Maybe that is what is on those secret returns.
Mark Hastert
10 months, 1 week agoAside from MSNBC I think you’re stretching. You’re taking for granted the conservative narrative that everybody is biased against them. Pull up a story on Fox and other outlets and see how it differs. Find the bias you’re assuming and cite it for the rest of us. Before you go too far look at the story on Factcheck. On the whole I think most of you will be enlightened if for no other reason but you read more than one point of view for a change. Sometimes people disagree with you simply because you’re wrong. That doesn’t mean they’re biased, it just means you’re wrong. Like Romney’s tax plan or Ryan’s budget they just don’t add up. Pointing that out doesn’t make the media biased.
Steven Fetter
66223
10 months, 1 week agoBoy Phil, you are certainly witty. However, as a liberal commentator, you are no Mark Hastert.
You might consider the message in the box that says “be nice” before you next type.
Kent Mueller
10 months, 1 week agoMark….do you think Andrea Mitchell is objective? Yes, or no? Did Brian Ross demonstrate objectivity when he attempted to tie the Colorado shooting to the Tea Party?
So, you are saying the MSM, other than MSNBC is not biased?