It’s Easy to be a Virtuoso when the Instrument Wants to be Played
By now, it’s no great secret that the President has developed an annoying penchant for hammering the panic button like he was one of Skinner’s rats trying to get a food pellet. What seems to be less well-known is how the President has managed to get away with it every time he’s done it. Andrew Malcolm has solved that riddle though, and his answer shouldn’t shock anyone.
The truth, of course, is that the White House, better than many in recent years, plays the 24-hour news cycle like a concert violinist, as if the youthful Obama studied music in Austria instead of whatever he studied in Indonesia. That skill was a significant factor in his successful $750-million election campaign.
…
The news conference has emerged as a favorite weapon in Obama’s bully pulpit arsenal; remember, a few weeks ago Obama called one to get himself on video record about Iran’s violent protests and images after Sen. John McCain’s emotional Senate speech on Neda, which, of course, had nothing to do with the news conference scheduling.Remember also, when the president was asked about that at the news conference, Obama smiled dismissively and said, “What do you think?”
Which, if you accept the president’s invitation and do think about it, isn’t really an answer.
The MSM’s eagerness to be played certainly hasn’t hurt the President’s Paganini-like skills, either. If President Bush had given such a snarky non-answer, Helen Thomas would have risen from her ancient crypt and lumbered into the press room to denounce him (and eat a few brains, because lumbering and denouncing is hungry work). But this is the new age of Hope and Change and the MSM has been more than happy to play the blushing bride for this President.
(via memeorandum)
Other Posts of Interest:
- Getting the Leg-Thrill at CNN
- Barack Obama’s First Press Conference as President Elect Features a Dig at an Old Widow with a Broken Hip
- Is Our New Foreign Policy Really “Do The Opposite of Bush”?
Category: Health Care Craziness, Oh, THAT liberal media., President Barack Obama
