THE DAILY BLADE: The Media Love Obama, But He Didn't Respect Them In The Morning
Politico’s article on the trajectory of the MSM’s love affair with Barack Hussein Obama brought to mind the lyrics to “Once I Had A Love” by 70’s New Wave music duo Blondie:
Blondie: Once I had a love and it was a gas. Soon turned out had a heart of glass.
Politico: “Most of you covered me. All of you voted for me,” Obama joked last year at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner. … [Now] reporters say the White House is thin-skinned, controlling, eager to go over their heads and stingy with even basic information.
Blondie: Seemed like the real thing, only to find mucho mistrust, love's gone behind.
Politico: A routine press query can draw a string of vitriolic e-mails. A negative story can draw a profane high-decibel phone call or worse. Some reporters feel like they’ve been frozen out after crossing the White House.
Blondie: Once I had a love and it was divine, soon found out I was losing my mind.
Politico: At the very moment many reporters feel shut out, one paper - The New York Times - enjoys a favoritism from Obama and his staff that makes competitors fume, with gift-wrapped scoops and loads of presidential face time.
Blondie: It seemed like the real thing but I was so blind, mucho mistrust, love's gone behind
Politico: Obama rarely lets a chance go by to make a critical or sarcastic comment about the press, its superficiality or its short-term mentality. He also hasn’t done a full-blown news conference for 10 months.
Blondie: In between what I find is pleasing and I'm feeling fine. Love is so
confusing, there's no peace of mind if I fear I'm losing you. It's just no good, you teasing like you do.
Politico: Except toward a few reporters, press secretary Robert Gibbs can be distant and difficult to reach - even though his job is to be one of the main conduits from president to press. … Obama's White House aides can rightfully say they've set new standards for opening up access on several fronts, such as releasing previously secret visitors' logs, expanding White House Web content and offering more than 150 sit-down interviews with Obama to selected reporters.
Blondie: Lost inside adorable illusion and I cannot hide. I'm the one you're using, please don't push me aside.
Politico: It’s one thing to feed a scoop to the Times. Every White House does it. But Team Obama did it right in front of the other reporters’ faces - then, in their view, lied about it.
Blondie: We coulda made it cruising, yeah. Yeah, riding high on love's true bluish light.
Politico: He has severely cut back the informal exchanges with the press pool, marking a new low in presidential access. The numbers speak for themselves: During his first year in office, President Bill Clinton did 252 such Q & A sessions - an average of one every weekday. Bush did 147. Obama did 46.
Blondie: Once I had a love and it was a gas. Soon turned out to be a pain in the ass.
Politico: Another event that riled many in the press corps took place March 20. The Washington Examiner's Julie Mason confronted former Newsweek correspondent Richard Wolffe, author of a highly favorable book about the Obama campaign, when he attempted to join the White House pool on the Saturday before Congress's big health care vote. … Mason said Wolffe claimed that he was there courtesy of "a special invitation from the Obama administration." Wolffe is working on a second book on the Obama administration. … “The White House wants their friend to be in the pool and … [it] flies in the face of the concept of a free press," [said Mason].
Blondie: Seemed like the real thing only to find, mucho mistrust, love's gone behind.
Politico: Gibbs said the White House’s efforts to push back tend to focus on fixing factual mistakes before they take hold in the media. … Some reporters say the pushback is so aggressive that it undermines the credibility of Obama’s aides. … While some reporters note improvements since the Bush era, like more informed deputy press secretaries and assistants, others complain of a rigid image control pervading the government.
Editorial Note: His relationship with the MSM on the skids, things have taken a sinister turn: Obama has become a stalker.
Maybe War Isn’t Hell – At Least, Not All The Time
Check out this remake of Lady Gaga hit, “The Telephone,” by a group of soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division, who are stationed in southwest Afghanistan – complete with costumes (like one made from yellow police tape) and props.
[Hat Tip: The Smoking Gun]
The Stiletto Scoops The Washington Times
Americans voted for Obama because they thought he was "post racial" - Rev. Jeremiah Wright notwithstanding. What if it turns out that, like Wright, he is most racial?
- “Obama Gets A “Makeover,” The Stiletto Blog, August 5, 2009
President Obama is transforming from being the "post-racial" to the most racial president.
- “Obama’s Racial Appeal,” The Washington Times, April 29, 2010
In Memoriam
Leslie Buck, September 20, 1922 – April 26, 2010
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