The media hype and the “slobbering love” adulation (to use Bernard Goldberg’s term) about President Obama’s first 100 days is almost as distorted as the White House press releases that feed the fire of the frenzy over the new President. The leftwing PR campaigns spare no cliché or hyperbole — including the “hottie” swimsuit photo on the cover of the April Washingtonian magazine (with the bathing suit airbrushed red instead of black) and the gushing efforts to turn the First Lady into a fashion icon as well as fawning over her as a “force-multiplier” whose “symbiosis” with her phenomenal husband produces a “flawless concert” (Tina Brown’s description) that is producing “Springtime in America.”
Few of the political commentators are willing to take off the rose-colored glasses about this president. “The Ethicist” columnist for the New York Times Magazine thinks it’s an “unbelievably great thing” to have a President who is “competent and not insane” (or you can choose your preference among the columnist’s previous dismissive and disdainful labels for former President Bush: a liar, corrupt, immoral or dishonorable). The left is bending over backwards to describe Obama’s policies as “moderate” and to promote his “change” as positive. Even the stimulus package/bailout that passed along party lines was portrayed positively — never mind that it exponentially increases the deficit and will create a multi-trillion-dollar inflationary effect.
This President can do no wrong and cannot be questioned, even when he states obvious distortions and blatant falsehoods. Jed Babbin, in his inimitable way, described the media as “a pack of tail-wagging puppies not infrequently wetting the floor in excitement over their guy.” Remember Hardball’s Chris Matthews’ chills running up and down his leg? The inauguration was a national orgy of misplaced hopes and Hallmark Card expectations that continues to play out in the daily news coverage about the President’s “conciliatory message” and his “impressive debut.” Time magazine claims he is the “most impressive” president since Franklin Roosevelt. Newsweek says he has made “more points” than any other president. Others laud his rhetoric as “velvety smooth” (when accompanied by his ubiquitous teleprompter) and say that he is as handsome as JFK. Others admire his “cool” or his “grace,” “eloquence,” and “personal authority.” The consensus among the East and West Coast elites: his superb qualities assure his position among the “greatest” presidents.
Enough, already. After a 100-day honeymoon, it is past time for everyone to take a cleansing breath of fresh air and taste a bit of reality. According to the Gallup Poll, this president is the second least popular president in 40 years. Even Jimmy Carter and Richard Nixon had higher approval ratings at this point in their presidencies.
Underneath all the media “visuals” that make a compelling story, there is the sobering reality that this president is very divisive and extremely partisan. President Obama’s policies are “socialist,” and it is not just the GOP’s “knuckle-dragging base” that think so. George Will describes the President’s picayune policies as “supervisory liberalism of the most nagging, annoying sort.”
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