Friday, November 27, 2009

Opinion

Michael Barone

Why Won't the Mainstream Media Question the Obama Narrative?

August 22, 2008 12:03 PM ET | Michael Barone | Permanent Link | Print

Reader Comments

Huge disappointment with the media and others

I have never been so preoccupied with keeping up with news about anything political as I am with this election. Few seem to care what Obama says about himself, the way he thinks, etc. in his book "Dreams of my Father". (If you don't know, read it. Or look up excerpts of it on the net.Don't buy it, the money would go in his pocket)Not many seem to care about the fact that Michelle Obama is an angry woman that has her own agenda. Look up some of her college papers she wrote if you want to see how she sees America. And its not good. Unless, of course, they have taken that off the net by now too. The shady people that helped Obama get this far........doesn't anyone wonder WHY these people want him in this position???!! The media will not, will not do their job and report what needs to be reported, they are not working for the American people on this election. They are working on their own agenda, and I have never known of a presidential election being covered the way the media is handling this one. We have to actively find out info ourselves, because they won't give it to us willingly. Its appalling to say the least.The media seems to find it more interesting to talk about Palins clothing and children than to talk about or investigate serious connections Obama has that can harm our country. And what he really thinks about America. And the country is what this about, not trivial matters. They would rather smear a video of Palin having to endure a hateful interview with a woman that obviously wanted to embarass her and sought to make Palin look bad, than dig up the very deep dirt on Obama. I can't believe the people of our country would jeapodize what America believes in (loving this country, not associating in any way with terrorists and visiting thier homes,or funding their platforms, capitalism that this country became great on i.e. working for your lot in life, not having the government's hand in everything we do,not having a president that we have to worry "just HOW friendly WAS he with the guy that bombed our people and his wife shot a cop??)just because they aren't happy with Bush???? Newsflash, Bush isn't running this year. McCain isn't Bush, but he has been participating in his job and actually having an opinion on things that involve our country, not just being "present", coasting by without bringing to much attention to himself and what he really believes in, so he coud be in a position in government to run for president. That was the plan all along, just coast by until he could run for president. He's done nothing. Nothing. He has, however, done enough questionable things to put enough doubt in our minds that he is not to be trusted. Wake up America.

mainstream media

Where was the mainstream media when the liberals and democrats were planting the seeds of economic disaster. It's obvious the champion of free information was busy defending their liberal friends to give any hoot to the signs of economic problems. Mainstream media has failed their duty to protect the public by exposing any corrupt practices in government. When any entity fails to function as expected, it's time to replace it with one that better serves the people. The problem is the mainstream media is out to propagate their own " liberal " views which in every way has taken on the shape and form of socialism. Of course, mainstream media can not see that and refused to see it as such, because it believes in its goodness and unselfish intentions. Lesson: examine your views snd see the outcome of your views. Let us not repeat history because we are to proud to accept our wrong.

Obama Narrative

Mr. Barone,

Obama's narrative of change is outlined at his website, in his speeches, alluded to in his books, and highlighted in the legislation his authored and co-authored. Your real question is how a white man with a great tan came up with the best narrative of his time.

Obama was 10 years old when Ayers and Dorhn were doing their thing. Obama was being raised by his white mother and white grandparents in Hawaii when Ayers was spewing his revolutionary rhetoric. The REASON I am supporting Obama is because he does not have a black agenda. How could he? White Obama did not grow up black. He wasn't subjected to Jim Crow laws. He didn't live through the race riots of the 60s or the later shooting of the four white Kent State students.

You people who have asked for every scintilla of private information about Obama, have asked nothing of John McCain or Sarah Palin. John McCain was a POW for five years and subsequently received psychiatric treatment. Not one reporter has asked to see his psychiatric record. Not one reporter has asked about the nature of his psychiatric problems and whether or not they were resolved. A presidential candidate with a psychiatric history seems pretty significant to me. Further, John McCain often appears mentally confused, forgetful, and irritated. I seem to recall that Reagan exhibited similar problems during his second term. Then there's Mrs. Palin, the unvetted VP candidate who is apparently being vetted by the National Enquirer. Forget about the disconnect between her espoused family values, lifetstyle and parenting skills. What about the very, very disturbing decisions she made while mayor and gov. Mrs. Palin was so incompetent as mayor of a small town in Alaska, the Repub machine demanded that she hire an administrator to run the day to day operations of her office. But the most disturbing trait was her refusal to have anyone on her management team who had supported the other mayoral candidate. From my perspective, the Republican Party believes they can win the election by resurrecting Mrs. Palin as Hitler and in her words, a female dog.

Many, many people are suffering from cognitive dissonance. Their parents taught them no matter how little they accomplished, they could succeed to great heights. Ignorance, lack of education, incompetence, and risky behavior were not barriers to success. You know how that old saying goes - "If you're black get back. If you're brown stick around. If you're white you're alright."

It appears the Republican Party has resurrected Hitler as woman and some Americans are responding by saying "she's white and alright".

Question the Obama Narrative

Unfortunately Mr. Ayres is correct. The liberal press will do whatever it can to investigate and attempt to embarrass Republican candidates while failing to investigate Democratic candidates at all. I'm sure there is a great deal of unsavory information to be found in both Obama's and Biden's closets but most likely the American public will never hear about it.

McCains narrative

So he was a POW. Does that mean he should not be held accountable for his policies and positions? Is being a POW the top most required qualification for one to ascend to Presidency? C'mon. How many other POW's are there in the USA? and are not even talking about it. Does McCain even acknowledge that there may be other brave American POW's from his time?

Should they all claim the right to presidency?

When McCain forgets how wealthy he is, 7 houses etc, We are supposed to look the other way just because he spend 51/2 years in "another house" this is according to one of his campaigns lates ads.

Big Picture

See the big picture. Now, do you see the consistent connections. Obama->Wright->Cane->Ayers.

Adams is turning in his grave.

McCains unextraordinary Career as a Navy Pilot

McCains own biography acknowledged his interest in politics came only after he had learned he would be the first McCain not to make Admiral. The Navy had taken an unbiased, knowledgable look at his career and concluded he was not worthy of promotion.

O'bama narrative

Thin does't even begin to describe O'bama's credentials. He has shown no leadership credentials, done nothing of substance other than graduate from college and I won't even list the many graduates who are failures. Reaching across the aisle resulted in an embarrasing rebuke from McCain for reniging on suppport so as not to irritate the party elite. Nothing in the state senate of Illinois, nothing in the Senate, nothing as a community organizer, and little in college except to author one article in the Harvard Law Review regarding what else but abortion. He wrote a couple of books--probably ghost authored and subsidized by George Soros and for this received the nomination to be president. Wow!!

the narrative

The media will not question the Obama narrative because they're too busy following McCain for the free bbq and covering for his every gaffe and misstatement. It wouldn't matter anyway since, based on the comments here, readers seem to get their information from right-wing smear sites and thus are not interested in facts anyway.

Obama / Ayers

Has anyone mentioned the fact that Barack and Michelle Obama worked at Sidey Austin ...The same law firm which employed Bernardine Dohrn , the wife of Bill Ayers ?

Add your thoughts

All comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive. For more information, please see our Comments FAQ.
U.S. News Weekly

Subscribe Today

Order the new U.S. News Weekly digital magazine at a special low introductory price!

Michael Barone is a senior writer for U.S.News & World Report and principal coauthor of The Almanac of American Politics. He has written for many publications—including the Economist and the New York Times.

advertisement

NEWSLETTER

Sign up today for the latest headlines from U.S. News & World Report delivered to you free.

RSS FEEDS

Personalize your U.S. News with our feeds of blogs and breaking news headlines.

U.S. NEWS MOBILE

U.S. News daily briefings are also available on your mobile device.

People who read this also read ...

Thomas Jefferson St.

Thank You, Bob Dylan

He’s still touring around America like a rolling stone.

GOP Can Be Thankful for Strong Polls

But they cannot get complacent.

5 Reasons for a Democratic Thanksgiving

Michael Steele and healthcare reform top the list.

Women Have Say on Health Reform

If it's the year of the women, why are there so few of them?

Turkey Tax

Uncle Sam is joining in on your Thanksgiving dinner.

Ideological Labels Just Don't Fit

Hard-liners don't understand that some of us don't toe an ideological line.

A Decade in Biased Review

How well does the video sum up the last decade?

Public Opinion

Should the GOP Have a Litmus Test?

Should the RNC exclude politicians who don't match the party's platform?

Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our Terms and Conditions of Use and Privacy Policy.
Make USNews.com your home page.