The Media’s Panderbears, Part I [Updated]
By NoQuarter on March 10, 2008 at 2:47 PM in Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Media, Tony Rezko, Walter Shorenstein
[See Part II. ALSO: The important update is at the end of this story.]
Ladies and gentlemen, this is nothing short of a “dereliction of duty” by the Fourth Estate. Compare and contrast the infrequent calling out of Barack Obama from CNN’s Lou Dobbs (whose show follows panderbear Wolf Blitzer) …
… with the “can I get you a pillow?” love-in of Barack Obama, via Newsbusters:
In the February 23 Saturday Night Live parody of journalists in the tank for Barack Obama [SEE THE VIDEO], a reporter at a debate oozed: “Senator Obama, are you comfortable? Is there anything we can get for you?” Ending a taped interview Thursday with the real Obama, a real journalist, ABC anchor Charles Gibson, seemed to match the concern for Obama’s personal comfort expressed in the SNL caricature:
Senator, you’re kind to take the time, on a day when you legitimately should be able to simply just take long naps. I thank you. All the best to you.
In the segment aired on ABC’s World News, Gibson empathized with Obama’s plight as a victim of Hillary Clinton’s attacks and seemed to regret how Obama may have to go negative as he prodded him: “To fight back, do you have to do the same? In other words, do you have to, in effect, show some toughness in all of this, greater than you have so far?”
Next up: “Politico’s Allen Tells Jann Wenner to ‘Get a Room’ With Obama” …
“Now comes Mike Allen of the Politico. In his Playbook column of this morning, Allen offers this quote from Jann Wenner’s over-the-top endorsement of Obama in Rolling Stone”:
We have a deeply divided nation . . . A new president must heal these divides . . . Like Abraham Lincoln, Barack Obama challenges America to rise up, to do what so many of us long to do: to summon ‘the better angels of our nature.’
Allen’s suggestion to Wenner in reaction to his breathless prose: "Get a room!"
This to a man who famously left his wife and is now in a relationship with a male partner with whom he has a son.
Insert here the outraged reaction from the MSM, the gay community and the Obama campaign if a conservative commentator had made a similar suggestion.
– From Mark Finkelstein’s column at Newsbusters.
Bill Maxwell, a columnist for the St. Petersburg Times (Florida), has been commenting on the media bias against Hillary Clinton. His latest column is “Media tainted by anti-Clinton bias“:
For a brief period last week, earnest members of my chosen profession, the press, did a little soul-searching and asked if we have been, and are, biased against Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton.
The conclusion: Of course we are. Any journalist who denies this fact is unable to recognize objectivity if it were branded on his eyeballs.
I am not referring to opinion writers, who are expected to bring their personal perspectives and slants to issues and events. I am talking about editors and reporters charged with delivering a product the public can trust as truth and fairness. (For the record, though, most pundits, conservatives and liberals, also show bias against Clinton.)
If Clinton had not raised the issue and if Saturday Night Live had not spoofed journalists for fawning over Sen. Barack Obama, like puppies licking their owners’ mouths, the charge of bias probably would have remained a mere wink-and-nod charade.
The charge of bias picked up more credence when Clinton fundraiser Walter Shorenstein, founder of the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University, sent a memo to Democratic Party superdelegates criticizing media coverage of Clinton and Obama.
Shorenstein wrote: “The stakes are so high - for our security, our economy, our health care, our future and our country. … Is it in the country’s best interest that voters received far more information about Hillary’s laugh than Obama’s legislative record?” …
Read all of “Media tainted by anti-Clinton bias.”
And here is an A.P. story on the now-famous Shorenstein memo:
Walter Shorenstein, a prominent San Francisco-based real estate developer, Democratic fundraiser and longtime supporter of Hillary Rodham Clinton, penned a memo to Democratic party “superdelegates” and other activists criticizing media coverage of the presidential campaign. [...]
… In his memo, Shorenstein concurred with the Clinton campaign’s assessment.
“I am absolutely outraged with the media coverage of the presidential campaign,” Shorenstein wrote in the memo, which was obtained by The Associated Press.“This is the most important election in my long lifetime, and to quote one of my favorite movies, ‘I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!’”
He was quoting the 1976 movie “Network,” in which a mentally disturbed television news anchor played by Peter Finch went on the air and implored viewers to rebel against gimmicks staged by network news executives.
“There is too much on the line for the media to ignore important issues while they obsess about Hillary’s hairdo or Barack’s baritone,” Shorenstein continued. “Is it in the country’s best interest that voters received far more information about Hillary’s laugh than Obama’s legislative record? Is it good for our nation that more attention is paid to the differences in their speaking style than their health care plans?”
Shorenstein attached several studies to the memo indicating the press had given more favorable coverage to Obama than to Clinton, and urged activists to forward the material to friends and voters and to complain to reporters. …
::::::::::
At least there’s some “hope” that some of the media — particularly that “across the pond” — is digging into Obama’s past and present connections:
In today’s “Is Rupert Murdoch’s reporter sniffing out Obama pal Tony Rezko?,” TorontoLife’s Douglas Bell reports:
“Filed under ‘W’ for ‘what a weird coincidence’, a reporter close to the scene at the Tony Rezko trial (overseen by the same judge who handled the Conrad Black matter, Amy St. Eve) told me last week.” Bell quotes the reporter:
I ran into James Bone outside Amy St. Eve’s overflow courtroom, who filled my head with his assessment that Rezko is some sort of international (Middle East) bagman who is a much more significant figure than Chicago or other media realize. And here I thought Rezko’s significance pretty much had to do with raising money for Obama, having dinner with Obama, and helping (a bit) when Obama bought his house.
Adds Bell:
James Bone, you might remember, is the famously dogged and ferocious reporter for the Murdoch-owned London Times assigned to the Conrad Black trial. ..
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UPDATE on HOW THE MEDIA REALLY OPERATE:
The dirty little secret of the press corps: the low-status, grubby, blue-collar reporters care about facts and doing their job; the upscale, elite media care about their own status in the pecking order and identify with the preening private school candidate.
SEE THIS IMPORTANT NEW ARTICLE FROM THE NEW REPUBLIC:
“Out of the Tank”
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It is what it is.
Perhaps some of the voters he’s attracted will see New Orleans and of course his skipping the State of the Black Union.
Perhaps some of his supporters will.
Who’s going to play some backstabber music?
Both sides.
If anyone missed how Obama kissed off the national State of the Black Union event in New Orleans, use our handy-dandy search engine here. Just type in “Tavis Smiley.”
HILLARY went to the event, spoke, and took questions. She was the only one of the presidential candidates to do so. (And many in the audience were openly hostile to her, but that didn’t phase her — she spoke eloquently and gave her usual in-depth answers to questions.)
This is no joke… I have noticed in the past week the
full force of the “4th estate” (I prefer to call it
the “4th power”) undoing and erasing everything HRC had achieved Tuesday night. If one reads most of the papers, magazines piece and listns to news broadcast the push for keeping Obama inevitable and “the winner”
is astonishing. It is BS that the media “has turn its guns” on Obama; nothing that has happened this past week (his lies, his rookie advisors f— up, Nafata, Rezko, etc) seems to have any consequence at all.
One of the most laughable is a NYT piece today by its Public Editor “analyizing” the bias claim raised against the NYT…
Noone wants to listen noone wants to see…
As I type this the talking heads on Hardball are saying that “NAFTA-gate” originated in charges that it was Hillary’s campaign that had given the Canadian government a head’s up that she was just kidding about NAFTA. And - big surprise - no one pointed out that the Canadians have now said it never happened.
There was also discussion about how insulting Hillary is being to Obama about the joint ticket and how it is damaging both of them.
This is no joke… I have noticed in the past week the
full force of the “4th estate” (I prefer to call it
the “4th power”) undoing and erasing everything HRC had achieved Tuesday night. If one reads most of the papers, magazines pieces and listens to news broadcasts, etc etc; the push for keeping Obama inevitable and “the winner”
is astonishing. It is BS that the media “has turn its guns” on Obama; nothing that has happened this past week (his lies, his rookie advisors f— up, Nafata, Rezko, etc) seems to have any consequence at all.
One of the most laughable is a NYT piece today by its Public Editor “analyizing” the bias claim raised against the NYT…
Noone wants to listen noone wants to see…
Well, they’re just like the neocons in that manner.
So, how do you use it?
I was reading how Jann Werner endorsed Obama, Jann Werner the vociferious critic of Bush.
Obama does the same things Bush does, even worse in terms of corruption. You can’t call one out, and praise the other as the new Lincoln, otherwise you look like a fool, an inflamed fool, spooled in his own self delusions. I mean, the facts about Obama are there, the judgement of this elite is suspect, isn’t it?
And they can’t see this about themselves, so , apparently, they can’t see much, that foamy narcissistic elite.
Why give them the time of day? Why even bother with such foolish men, and women?
why do all the pictures of Obama show him glowing or with a halo?
look at that shot on the cover of Rolling Stone. could they lick his butt any more?
and this for a guy who has played so dirty and taken so many cheap shots at Hillary that he should be covered in mud. how dare he smear her and pretend she and Bill are racists? on top of that, saying his supporters won’t vote for her, lying about her healthcare plan, impugning her judgment and character…this was all before she started HER negative campaigning.
and you know, it’s funny, but all Hillary’s shots at Obama are based on truth. yes, he did use cocaine. yes, he only has 3 years of national experience. yes, he is winning mostly caucuses and states that the Democrat will not win in 2008. yes, she was an active part of the Clinton administration for 8 years. yes, she has been dedicating her life to public service for decades. yes, she is more qualified for the job than he is. yet he lies about her constantly and his top adviser calls her a monster. this is fine with his googly-eyed supporters.
i’m so tired by the one-sided hero worship of the Obamans. the guy is a narcissist extraordinaire and his pseudo-religious posing drives me bananas.
thanks for this site - it is a refreshing change from the constant Obamania of the left blogosphere in general.
The halos, his whole website with light shining down everywhere has such religious undertones I marvel at why this isn’t mentioned more.
[...] [See Part I] [...]
Obama is sort of a delicate flower, but a delicate flower who believes his own hype, and that may be the reason the media is so gentle with him.
We can only hope he doesn’t believe his own pastor Jeremiah Wright who on Christmas morning compared Obama to Jesus Christ, today’s WSJ said.
He often greets scrutiny by saying to question him is to question his supporters and to question them is to break their hearts. He doesn’t ask you for a vote, he asks you “to believe”.
And when fragile people are threatened, like vulnerable little animals they either hide in their dens or lash out then retreat again.
Susan, Did you see James Bones reply in the Toronto article?
Dear Doug,
This is James Bone of The Times of London.
Thanks for the plug (even though it is unnecessarily conspiratorial). I enjoyed your article about me during the Conrad Black trial being unable to find a partner to play bridge during jury deliberations.
This time around, your article is a little more flaky. Generally, it is good journalistic practice to call the subject of an article before you write about them - especially if you know them personally.
What can I say? You don’t call, you don’t write…
The role of Nadhmi Auchi should be of interest for any curious journalist. Your readers will see that our story in The Times is detailed and well documented.
I actually first read about Mr Auchi’s connection to Tony Rezko in the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times the day after Mr Rezko’s surprise arrest. It sparked my interest. Not exactly a secret tip-off.
I wish more journalists - including yourself - would do the hard work of investigative reporting instead of questioning the motives of those who do.
You could start by finding out about Aiham Alsammarae, the former Iraqi electricity minister and classmate of Mr Rezko at Illinois Institute of Technology. He has a US company called Kiran Consultants Inc, or KCI, that is said to do business in Canada. He tried to post bail for Mr Rezko but the government apparently objected. Why?
Let’s play a couple of hands of bridge next time we’re in the same town…
Rgds,
James Bone
New York correspondent
The Times of London
Wow. There’s a lot there, isn’t there. I hope Teakwoodkite sees this — and Simon, Mel, and the other sleuthy readers here.
The Carnie bell just went DING!
And just to add to that some effort by the voters to “do the hard work” and inform themselves.
He oughta know. The Times UK has done the best reporting — aside from the Chicago newspapers — on Rezko, Auchi, and the rest. (If only U.S. newspapers would, at the least, reprint the UK Times’s articles.)
I’ll look for the link after work.
How you are mending well. Keep smiling.
There will be no relief from Big Media’s leg humping of Obama, 24/7, until/if he gets the nomination. Then, they’ll swiftboat him to oblivion. May as well accept it.
Big Media’s path to President McCain is through Obama and his limousine liberals and wannabees on the make of the “left” blogosphere.
Now I can’t get that visual out of my mind. Snort.
Aaaaarrrrgggghhh! Now I have that picture in my mind in addition to Chris Matthews with that tingle in his pants.
It would be easy enough for someone to make the case that the reason Al Qaeda is stronger in Afghanistan is BECAUSE Obama was too busy running for President and running away from his elected responsibility.
Add this to the pile on that would be his to defend.
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.
This is the Oath taken by US Senators entering the Senate!
Now where does this oath say except when running for Democratic Party Nominee for the Presidential campaign?
oh God spare me, I wanna puke.. when will they start doing their job?
drip drip
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2008/03/rezko-trial-oba.html
Rezko Trial: Obama Consulted on Board Picks
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Justin Rood and Melissa Murphy Report:
As an Illinois lawmaker, Barack Obama was one of eight state officials consulted on appointments to a state board which later became involved in what prosecutors describe as a fraud scheme, the Associated Press reports today.
That information was contained in a June 2003 memo from a national Democratic official introduced this morning as evidence at the trial of Antoin “Tony” Rezko, a Chicago-area developer and political operative facing corruption charges
I can’t keep up with you guys! Now off to check that out … and to check the Chicago papers for their reports on Rezko today.
If I can’t keep up with all the scandals and stories on Obama, why are the MSM media sitting on their hands for the most part? Brian Ross is one of the very few — the very few — who is ON the Rezko story regularly.
ALSO: Thanks to NoQuarter reader C.S., I got the video of this weekend’s McLaughlin Report which discussed Rezko at length. John McLaughlin is very curious about a number of things, including the “trust” set up between the two wives. (Will put up that video later.) Can’t keep up, can’t keep up … ha.
Is anyone surprised about Charles Gibson? I’ve heard a while back that the guy is a sexist and he was the person responsible for getting Elizabeth Vargas fired from host of ABC News Tonight after gave birth and expected to come back after her pregnancy leave. That tells you a lot. Any man who is okay with screwing over a pregnant woman just to take her job probably would be more sympathetic to male presidential candidates. These guys can’t deal with women in power.
More about Judge Amy St. Eve:
She worked for Ken Starr as an associate independent counsel during the Whitewater investigation.
In 2004, she was named one of the 21 hottest female judges in the US court system (#9).
However, she was given high marks for presiding over Black’s case so even though she doesn’t look older than 16, she’s not someone to be messed with.
[...] tainted by anti-Clinton bias (by Bill Maxwell, St. Petersburg Times, thanks to No Quarter) If we only had anecdotal evidence, I would be willing to question, or even dismiss, claims of [...]
[...] The Media’s Panderbears, Part I [...]
[...] The Media’s Panderbears, Part I [...]
[...] The Media’s Panderbears, Part I [...]
[...] The Media’s Panderbears, Part I [...]
[...] The Media’s Panderbears, Part I [...]