It’s good to know I wasn’t the only one yesterday who noticed how President Obama upstaged Secretary Clinton’s major foreign policy speech with his little event on health care reform in the Rose Garden.
Aides to Secretary of State Clinton have been hyping her foreign policy speech today as a breakout party, where she would promote President Obama’s overseas agenda and re-assert her diplomatic bonafides.
The upbeat advance press for Clinton’s speech was breathtaking and it appeared she would be the story of the day. But then President Obama scheduled an event at the same hour in the Rose Garden, appearing with nurses to attack insurance companies over what he sees as lousy health care coverage.
Not surprisingly, the cable news networks carried Obama’s remarks live as Clinton began to speak. Fortunately for Clinton, at least one cable network eventually flashed to her, but not until after the President stopped speaking.
Naturally, the White House said it was sheer coincidence and there was no intention to play dueling speeches.
Here’s a pathetic excuse from an Obama apologist:
“We can walk and chew gum at the same time. We can do a speech on foreign policy and health care at the same time,” said an administration official, who insisted White House press aides had dedicated a significant amount of time urging reporters to cover Clinton’s speech.
But eventually the truth comes out:
But one veteran of the Clinton White House tells The Mouth, “In other administrations when the President was speaking no one else in the administration was allowed to speak. Alternatively, if another administration official was already scheduled to speak at an event, the White House press office made sure the President spoke either before or after and not during.”
Our source puts the blame mostly on the White House. “At the very least it’s complete non-coordination between the White House communications and press operation and Cabinet agencies — in this case a high profile department and Cabinet secretary giving a major address outlining the President’s agenda,” the source said. “It does not make sense for the President to drown out his secretary of state when she is trying to line up influential and public support for his foreign policy. Scheduling matters.
It could also be that Hillary’s 70+percent job approval rating has begun to annoy Obama as his own rating has dropped into the 50s lately.
As the daily papers spiral into a “slow death”, we are relying more and more on other sources for gathering our input of local news and world events. Much of this has been blamed on the accessibility of the internet where an assortment of voices are to be heard expounding, contradicting or presenting topics that are not so easily found in the daily output of the newspapers.
But there is another source that parades itself as “journalism” and that is coming from cable shows that masquerade as “news” programs. Their intent is to bring us the news, but their purpose is nothing more than setting forth opinion while serving at the behest of the corporate sponsors. To confuse that format with “news” often leads the viewer to believe and accept that what they are viewing is the real thing. It’s enough to make your head spin.
I did a little research on the format of these programs just to get an idea of how they manage to manipulate public thinking and came away with the following breakdownon some of those keeping us “informed”:
GLENN BECK – Glenn was once showcased on CNBC awhile back where he castigated and ridiculed Hillary Clinton almost nightly on his show. I am assuming that this somehow came to the attention of Fox News, who in turn hired him to fill the 5-6pm slot each weekday, where he practices his “schtick”, complete with tears. He invites the opposition to duel with him, usually with the aid of a split screen. While the person offering their viewpoint on a topic that has Glenn in disagreement, the split screen shows Glenn stuffing food into his mouth, rolling his eyes, looking to the ceiling, and basically acting like an ass. This “discussion” usually sinks to the level of a middle school debate as the host clowns, preens and dismisses his opponent. And Glenn is insistent that you understand that he is an “Independent”! That his position in no way is reflective of the GOP but he is merely another “regular guy” with a lot to say. Hmmm. Tell that one to my Great Aunt Tillie. Amazingly, Glenn’s latest book, which he has shamelessly promoted on his own show, is Number One on the bestseller list.
BILL O’REILLY – Bill has filled the 8-9pm slot on Fox for quite awhile. Much of the time he is selling another one of his books, prodding the audience into ordering one usually around holiday time since they make such “great gifts”. O’Reilly hates anything that he perceives from his narrow worldview as “liberal” in nature. He despises liberals, who he holds responsible as the cause of most of the harm being done to the nation. But I will give him credit to the extent that he does invite those with opposing points of view onto his show. However, this is just an exercise on how quickly he can sniff out a liberal comment at which time he straightens his back, throws out his chest, and cutting off the speaker in mid sentence, takes him/her on a ride into Bill’s world of crazy. The speaker hardly stands a chance since Bill has been known to cut the mic, even going as far as telling the poor slob to shut up! Bill’s monumental paranoia, matched against his massive ego, sees conspiracies lurking everywhere. Don’t tell me the listeners aren’t buying into this brand of lunacy. His ratings are huge! This form of “journalism” is indeed influencing the electorate by the sheer force of his demonizing personality.
SEAN HANNITY – Insufferable. His act consists of his “love for the American flag” which he wraps himself in every night from 9 to 10pm. In his worldview there is nothing worse than a liberal, and I have yet to ever hear one word out of his mouth that was not wholly partisan in that respect. Sean is convinced we are all on the “road to perdition” with the Dems in charge. He is so far to the Right that it is surprising they can fit him into camera range at all. A frequent guest is Ann Coulter withwhom he can find nothing to disparage. They complement one another as they each heighten their conversation with as much crap as they can spew forth in that one hour. His indignation matches her hubris perfectly.
KEITH OLBERMANN – KO’s act is played toward the liberal members of the audience who despise Fox News with a passion. KO is best known for his “special comments” segment where, from anywhere from 10 to 12 minutes he is allowed to rant away to his heart’s content as the cameras capture his righteous indignation from various angles. One is supposed to overlook the notion that all this has been rehearsed beforehand for the benefit of production, which makes his faux outrage all the more peculiar. I mean, can you still feel the same degree of outrage at 4pm as you do at 8pm? Unlike O’Reilly, who does invite opposing opinions onto his show, the guests here mainly consist of those who are in absolute agreement with him from start to finish. It’s like a bobblehead convention. Just ask Dana Milbank or Dan Abrams who made quick exits when KO discovered that they were not in total unison with where he saw things. KO grimaces, laughs at his own jokes, rolls his eyes, tosses his script, and generally behaves like a horse’s ass. But his followers drink in every word and gesture as if getting their message from on high. His misogyny has been well documented but he does enjoy a large measure of praise throughout the blogosphere nonetheless. KO too propelled the sale of his books via his show. And his nightly pimping of Obama paid off in a multimillion dollar contract
CHRIS MATTHEWS – What can one say about this doofus who appears nightly, spitting and interrupting his guests, asking questions and offering up the answers at the same time. This is the guy who took Hillary to task but who found a hero in George W. Bush! Where she was portrayed as a “witch”, he was seen as a “regular guy” beloved by women as well as men. What? And beware any female guest who happens to appear on this broadcast. Chris chooses to either salivate or berate, depending on the looks and age of his female guest. He speaks often in a stream of consciousness which makes no sense for the most part, but it seems the poor guy just can’t help himself. Drooling, expectorating, and interrupting is what this hour of “journalism” involves. Sexism thy name is Matthews!
JOHN MCLAUGHLIN – Insane.
JOE SCARBOROUGH – You have to give him some credit for at least being personable and offering a variety of guests to cross his threshold every morning for a discussion of the issues. However, aside from that, Joe is a diehard conservative Republican who takes delight in skewering the Dems at any opportunity. This show has other features which have some merit, such as the Stock Market report from Erin Burnett, but overall it is more entertainment than news with Mika representing a silent bookend to create “balance”. Lately Joe has used his celebrity to sell his own book and has been on the road pushing his conservative opinions at the masses who are willing to buy into this since they saw him on tv! Nothing like shameless promotion to get rich quick!
These are some of the major league so- called “journalists” and commentators who crowd the airwaves with one goal in mind: they are looking out for you! Loaded with misstatements and heavy on the innuendo, these are some of the talking heads who are forming public opinion in shaping the “news”. We seem to be fairly at ease with the b.s. being flung at us from these overpaid, overinflated, overrated “entertainers”. Objectivity has become a lost commodity. The “dumbing down of America” will continue to devolve if the mush they put out continues to seep into our brains as we are inundated with this blather.
As the daily papers spiral into a “slow death”, we are relying more and more on other sources for gathering our input of local news and world events. Much of this has been blamed on the accessibility of the internet where an assortment of voices are to be heard expounding, contradicting or presenting topics that are not so easily found in the daily output of the newspapers.