Most people who read this fawning Jeff Zeleny NYT piece on Barack Obama probably didn't notice anything new. After all, for months now, Obama has enjoyed the lustful adulation of the press corps. Even Bill Clinton -- who once basked in their sunshine, himself -- has called them on it.
It's hard to define or quantify the positive attention the press gives Obama. Much like pornography, it's something you know when you see. Clearly, the press sees him as more of a rock star to be idolized, than a politician to be examined. To paraphrase a line from the movie "A Time to Kill," it's sort of a JFK-meets-Jesus image they have created (only in Obama's case it's RFK meets Jesus).
This excerpt from the beginning of the story was, perhaps, most interesting,
When (Obama) leaned in for the picture, touching his leg to one of the older women, he suddenly cracked a smile.
“That’s my phone buzzing there,” he said, gesturing to his right pocket. “I don’t want you to think I’m getting fresh or anything.”
Ah, gotta love how this story humanizes him and points out his humor. "He's just like me!" you might think ...
In truth, like Obama, MSM may ultimately have to make a similar apology for this "man-crush" of a column they've written about Obama. ... Only in their case, they can't blame the phone in their pocket ...
Here's how ABCNews.com covered it:
Al Qaeda in Iraq (Almost) Trips Obama
ABC News' Sunlen Miller and Teddy Davis Report: Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., came close to once again saying that al Qaeda is not in Iraq while speaking Thursday in Gary, Indiana.... "Al Qaeda is not in Ir --" said Obama at which point he caught himself and finished the sentence by saying: "the key Al Qaeda leadership is not based in Iraq."
Of course, as you can read, he didn't' "almost" make a gaffe. He made a gaffe -- he just didn't include the final "aq" in Iraq. Watch it: HERE.