Diogenes' Middle Finger

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Looking For A Clue.....

It was said that in about 400 BC Diogenes walked around the marketplace in Athens carrying a lamp, looking for an honest man. It was a complete waste of time, and I suppose he intended it as political commentary, but at least he didn't bother trying it in DC….

Obama has a very busy schedule. When he isn't golfing, vacationing, or attending A-list fundraisers, he's hard at work on foreign policy, the economy, or social inequality. At least that's what Jay Carney says. And somehow in the midst of it all, he finds time for late night comedy spots like the appalling example here.

Considering that his efforts in those areas are all colossal failures, what he needs to do is find some time to search, not for an honest man, but for a clue. Any clue. About anything.

The problem with that is this: Before someone sees the need to look for a clue, they must first acknowledge that they in fact need one. That would suggest that they already have one, because they're aware that something they're doing needs improvement. That kind of humility isn't something Mr Obama appears to be capable of.

Maybe if he ever finds one, he'll share it with his pals in DC, and with the people in the country who still support him.

I've Got Friends in Low Places

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Well, A Lot of People Do Laugh at Him.......

ABC Reporter Worries Whether Constitution Allows President To Be Interviewed By Comedians

ABC News Professional Journalist Jim Avila had some very serious questions for White House Press Secretary Jay Carney today about Barack Obama’s brief interview with comedy (?) human Zach Galifianakis. Avila seemed really worried about it, if none too lucid:

“How much discussion was there in the White House about the dignity of the office and whether or not, in order to reach these people who don’t watch us at 6:30, or who don’t watch this briefing … how much the dignity of the office might be lost? This is an interview like no other probably ever done by a president.”

Good question! After all, the website is called “Funny or Die,” and if people didn’t laugh, might not Obama die? But Carney simply noted that the webcast appearance was a chance to “reach Americans who don’t necessarily get information about HealthCare.gov from evening news broadcasts or from the newspapers.”

As for the the dignity of the office, you gotta be kidding, right? This is Barack Obama your talking about here. Still, Avila was not reassured, and asked again, “I understand the purpose, but was the presidency in any way damaged?”

But this is a serious question from a serious journalist,
and deserves a completely serious answer.

The Media’s Obama Protection Society

Jonathan Tobin

"The news that CBS News investigative reporter Sharyl Attkisson is leaving the network does not come as any great surprise to those who have followed her career. Last year, at a time when we learned that the Obama Justice Department was spying on Fox News’ James Rosen as well as a group of reporters at the Associated Press, Attkisson reported that her computer had been hacked. But, as Dylan Byers wrote in Politico, Attkisson had an even bigger problem: most of her colleagues at CBS didn’t like the fact that she had spent the last few years reporting aggressively about the Obama administration’s various shortcomings and scandals. Journalists at mainstream media outlets like to pretend that they play it down the middle when it comes to whoever is in power. But it was hardly a coincidence that the prevailing office culture at the network that the president trusted, in Steve Kroft’s memorable phrase, not to make him “look stupid,” would think ill of a reporter that thought it worth her time to investigate stories like Fast and Furious, Solyndra and Benghazi.

If, as Byers reports today, Attkisson has come to a parting of the ways with CBS after “hard fought negotiations” that led to her departure prior to the expiration of her contract, it was due to the following factors:

"Attkisson, who has been with CBS News for two decades, had grown frustrated with what she saw as the network’s liberal bias, an outsize influence by the network’s corporate partners and a lack of dedication to investigative reporting, several sources said. She increasingly felt that her work was no longer supported and that it was a struggle to get her reporting on air.

At the same time, Attkisson’s reporting on the Obama administration, which some staffers characterized as agenda-driven, had led network executives to doubt the impartiality of her reporting. She is currently at work on a book — tentatively titled “Stonewalled: One Reporter’s Fight for Truth in Obama’s Washington” — that addresses the challenges of reporting critically on the administration.

"While Attkisson is just one reporter and CBS has long since ceased being a dominant force in the national media, this may be a crucial moment in the history of American journalism. It was assumed that any major news outlet would regard aggressive coverage of all administrations as a given. But that ceased to be the case when Barack Obama entered the White House."

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