The most concrete takeaway from the healthcare tussle so far is that the media is not a rubber stamp nestled in Obama’s pocket.  He is facing a strong headwind now, and while it’s not hostile, it is highly skeptical.  Meredith Viera was in the man’s house, on a weekend if I’m not mistaken, prodding him for answers, a far cry from fellow Today “family member” Al Roker’s worshipful howling to him on Inauguration Day.

Emboldened, perhaps by several polls that have indicated lower approval ratings or by the realization that something may actually pass this time, the press is amping up the doubt.

Networks and newspapers of all stripes are mulling over every aspect of every outcome of this debate.  They have shown that it is quite easy to poke holes in something that doesn’t exist.  Instead of making a target out of the pieces of a specific proposal, every shot has hit this amorphous blob of legislation.

And why shouldn’t it?  People fear what they don’t know or don’t understand.  Anxiety and uncertainty breed ratings and readers.  Think back to how many people watched The Truman Show when it cut the transmission and went to static.  They got their best ratings ever! Read the rest of this entry »

The health care debate and accompanying legislative sausage-making fest (minds out of the gutter, please) is in full swing, and there is uncertainty about how it is going to end.

A smattering of groups are amped up about this, so it’s a good thing Mark Sanford wasn’t in Argentina getting better medical care or a rogue kidney transplant.

A week ago Wednesday evening, with all the trimmings of an infomercial and trappings of Oprah guised in an ABC News special, the President discussed his take on the issue with that sweet old man Charlie Gibson.  He harped on compromise as a key theme towards achieving an equitable outcome.

In the glowing aura of the soft mood lighting, Obama did not cede any ground on a public insurance option.  He boiled the harsh hesitance towards a new framework down to the platitude it just may be, saying people are worried because they think, “The devil they know, they think may be better than the devil they don’t.”

(The President held a forum this week on the same topic, and there was concern among the press that the attendees’ questions were hand-picked.  Seems like the Administration was caught.  Still better than having the town halls rehearsed back in the Bush days.)

In any event, the AMA has formally registered its opposition to a public option with Congress.  Some of its members even booed Obama in person.  Oh, and two weeks ago, the two largest insurance associations rebuked a public option, saying it would kill employer-based coverage.  Ruh-roh. Read the rest of this entry »

And that’s the problem.  Let me explain.

If you missed it, David Letterman avowed the mea culpa on the joke he told about Palin and her family.  She was proven right by his apology, and even in drawing slightly higher ratings Letterman must regret the incident.

Let’s focus on the manufactured controversy that occurred before the apology.  And it was clearly manufactured.  Letterman told a joke that was in especially poor taste and didn’t result in a crescendo of laughter.  That could have been the end of it.

Commenting was not obligatory.  It was a comedic infraction and she could have easily taken a pass.  It’s not like Joe Biden said it!

But Palin decided to engage.  Perhaps she felt strongly about it, which is understandable.  Yet if her daughter Willow (or Bristol) was so embarrassed, the governor’s speaking out would not assuage that.  Instead, by shining a light she exacerbated the instance, hoping to make an example now to cut down future affronts to women later.

Now, Letterman’s line that she was in New York to pick up some “slutty flight attendant” lipstick was hilarious, and not as harmful.  It plays on a stereotype.  Much worse things have been said about Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

But the joke about her daughter was awful, whichever one he was talking about.  (Not for nothing, but you didn’t see A-Rod griping about the joke, and it made him look like an exhibitionist statutory rapist.) Read the rest of this entry »

This last week has found me mulling more than a cinnamon-spiced, Calvados-infused cider: is the government addressing the recession the wrong way?  Are they putting a Band-Aid on when a full cast is needed?

The massive sums of money, like reinforced concrete on rusting girders, attempt to cement large financial establishments.  These TARP funds are intended to defibrillate the system with capital to jumpstart credit lending again.  (Is anyone else about ready for these overwrought similes and metaphors to stop?  Apologies, dear reader.  By the way, have you ever seen ”defibrillate” used as a verb like that?)

The stimulus and TARP were sold as a full-blown effort to firm up and restore our economy, but two recent contrarian arguments in major media raise doubt.  And they are not noisy Republican yammerings about over-spending, socialism, and outsize growth in government.

Author and executive Peter Schiff was on the Daily Show explaining the “Toldja so” signs of collapse he saw before everyone else.  (The montage of him getting laughed at on cable news at 1:00 in the video below is a must-see.  Also, Jon Stewart catches him mulling a Republican run against Chris Dodd.) Read the rest of this entry »

I love pool reports, those delicious minute-by-minute journalings of public activities by presidents and leading candidates.   They’re written by members of the White House Press Pool, a rotating set of reporters from a group of news outlets that take call on different days.  The write-ups are usually terse, but specific.  As a general rule, the more ordinary the activity would be for anyone else, the more entertaining the report.   It’

s funny how it often seems like the assigned reporter feels they are taking one for the team in covering the event.  And how they add in personal touches.  Inanity ensues as the President takes in a nice little Saturday:

Pool Report – Obama at Sasha Soccer Game: POTUS, in jeans and regular guy (Chicago White Sox) jacket, walked to motorcade with Chicago friends Eric Whitaker and Marty Nesbitt at 10:45.

Off we all went into Georgetown, sparking doubletakes by pedestrians.


Arrived at Boys and Girls Clubs at 10:57. POTUS headed to soccer field.

From soccer sideline with other, likely, parents, POTUS watched one of his daughters – Sasha -play in a game.

POTUS applauded, and cheered “go go go GOAL.” Threw up hands. From pooler’s perspective, it appeared that Sasha set up the successful goal. Her dad was  very excited. Read the rest of this entry »