Thomas Friedman re Obama’s “vetting” by media during his campaign in 2008
During the 2008 presidential election season, many Americans were captivated by then-candidate Barack Obama’s promises of hope and change. And some would argue that much of the media were taken in by the promises too. Nearly three years into the Obama presidency, is it fair to say the media were duped?
On Sunday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Reliable Sources,” host Howard Kurtz asked New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman just that question. According to Friedman, the jury is still out.
“Way too soon to tell that kind of thing, I think,” Friedman said. “I think if — look, what have I been calling for, you know, the president to have — I think there is, we just so desperately needed a grand bargain that involves restructuring of debt, raising of taxes, cutting of spending and investing in the sources of our strengths as a country from everything from infrastructure to government-funded research to education. It’s so clear that’s what we need. My personal frustration with Obama has been that while he certainly tried that grand bargain for a little bit, it just kind of went away. Well, it didn’t on the work. He said [House Speaker John] Boehner backed out. I don’t know who backed out.”
Kurtz pointed out that Friedman had an unusual closeness with Obama as one of his golfing partners. Friedman said that was a benefit.
“Yeah, anytime you spend four hours with the president, either with a spoon in your hand or a golf club in your hand or nothing in your hand — you learn something,” Friedman said. “If he invites you to lunch — anytime you get a chance to talk to the president, in any context, I find incredibly beneficial.”
Yeah, Tom, sure.
Anyone who thinks the media even looked at Obama crosswise during the 2008 election cycle is either deluded or covering up… or just incredibly uninformed. The media covered up for him, literally, by burying stories that might have told some inconvenient truth about him, by substituting puff-pieces for actual investigative journalism, and by throwing up mud at his opponents, especially Sarah Palin.
John Ziegler’s movie Media Malpractice tells the whole story. Here is info on how to get the DVD, or you can just catch it on Netflix.
Full disclosure: I composed the music for the movie. But I would not have done so if I hadn’t agreed with its message.
The remaining question: will the media do any better in 2012? I used to think they’d eventually become embarrassed by their non-performance of journalistic duty in 2008 and backtrack a bit. But with the media continuing to release White House spin as news, I’m having my doubts about it. I’d guess that even if Obama’s approval rating continues to nosedive, the media, who simply can’t stand a Republican (even a “center-right” one) in the White House, will still try to carry the flailing Obama over the finish line…. again.
