Newsweek’s Howard Fineman:
Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, was 50 minutes late for his briefing, apparently a record for tardiness, but few reporters in the White House press room bothered to feign outrage; they didn’t seem all that eager to ask him questions anyway. When his boss flew to Missouri to give another of his “high octane” (The New York Times), “impassioned” (The Washington Post) health-care speeches, no cable channel covered the event. If you are president, the only thing worse than criticism is not being covered. And the truth is, we in the press are bored with Barack.
The “mainstream media” are losing patience with, and even interest in, their erstwhile hero. President Barack Obama never had a chance with the Ailes-Murdoch crowd, of course, and it didn’t take the president long to offend the fierce left wing of the blogosphere. But now, finally, the MSM, which views itself as ideologically neutral, has found ideologically neutral reasons to lose patience with him: that he may be ineffectual; that he doesn’t know how to play the game; that he can’t get anything done. Exhibit A: the health-care bill. The Times’s Frank Rich, the astute dean of the commentariat, wrote recently that Obama has failed to “communicate a compelling narrative” in office and, as a result, “could be toast if he doesn’t make good on a year’s worth of false starts.”
I’m suspecting some journalistic rope-a-dope here because in the end, it’s all about furthering the progressive agenda and the MSM will always team with liberalism… they quintessentially define and represent it.
Fineman goes on to tip his hand:
And yet this collective falling out of love is great news for Obama. Calling it quits with the MSM is just what he needs. A breakup might even save his presidency.
For one thing, almost no one likes or trusts the media. The latest Gallup survey of respected institutions puts us down with the worst of the riffraff: banks, labor unions, HMOs, and Congress. If we attack you, it only proves you must have some redeeming qualities. That jujitsu even worked in an odd and unexpected way for Bill Clinton. At the height of the Monica Lewinsky crisis in 1998, polls showed voters were not only appalled by Clinton’s behavior, they were appalled by the media’s obsession with it.
The press believes they can help Obama by “breaking up” with him. An amazing admission since they’re responsible for his political existence.
It’s a twisting of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” meme. It worked for Clinton, it should work for Obama. And if it works for Obama, it’ll work in furthering the agenda.
I lost faith and trust in the media long ago… Fineman’s piece does little to change that… in fact, it goes a long way toward substantiating my misgivings.
They foisted this incompetent boob on the gullible… now they’re deceitfully attempting to make amends.
A pox on them all.
Crossposted(*).
