Demonizing the President

[BDBoop]

Eric Boehlert: From "Racist," to "Dick," to Heckling: How the Press Treats Obama

Bill O’Reilly has also stood up against ugly insults against the sitting President of the United States. And the conservative columnist Michael Medved wrote that, with respect to smearing President Obama personally, “it’s particularly unhelpful to focus on alleged bad intentions and rotten character when every survey shows more favorable views of his personality than his policies.” I couldn’t agree more. It also happens to be mean and unbecoming of any self-respecting American.

/snip

The Times' "crybaby" crack wasn't an anomaly in terms of how some in the Beltway press treat Obama. Last month, Washington Post's Dana Milbank mocked Obama as the "first female president" who "brazenly flaunted his feminine mystique."

And last year Halperin, who is seen as something of a megaphone for the Beltway media elite, called out the president as a "dick." (Obama's sin? Being too partisan.) Previously, the pundit had claimed insiders considered Obama to be an "ignorant" "wimp" who's "incompetent and overwhelmed." Also, Obama and his team were "arrogant and clueless."

I don't remember those kind of nasty putdowns from Halperin during the Bush years. Back then, Halperin edited ABC News' The Note, a daily political tip sheet that read like a de facto in-house RNC newsletter, worshiping the supposedly super-savvy ways of Bush and his Republican colleagues.

And isn't the press guilty of encouraging bitter right-wing disrespect by helping to feed its phony smears, like the birther charade. Although dutifully skeptical of the claims regarding Obama's birthplace, that didn't stop the press from covering the story, often extensively, for years. By contrast, I don't recall people who fostered wild conspiracy theories about Bush being paraded around in the mainstream media in order to spread irresponsible claims. Or did I miss all the TV interviews with 9/11 truthers?

The Beltway press has also helped amplify disrespectful, right-wing attacks on First Lady Michelle Obama, by adopting its view that she be covered as a political player, in a way Laura Bush never was.

By repeatedly interrupting the president and yelling caustic questions at him during a nationally televised event, the Daily Caller's Munro reflected how little respect the conservative press now has for the office of the presidency. There's a danger the run-away contempt and casual taunting rubs off on the real press, too.

Smears by conservatives against President Obama and prominent Democrats and liberals |

I’d keep posting examples but I have to now go through all the nasty personal attacks and threats of violence in my Inbox thanks to my radio exchange with Ms. Malkin. Meanwhile, if Michelle Malkin wants to attack the left’s smears while contorting to justify smears from the right and simultaneously try and smear me for attempting to draw an equivalency and hold us ALL to a higher standard, well, I certainly celebrate the right to free speech that allows her to spread such sad nonsense.

I fully expect half the forum to now fall in on my head and explain that blah-blah, Bush first, yada-yada. So I'll just be polite and inform you ahead of time that unless you are willing to discuss the articles at hand, we won't be chatting at all.

 

[Trajan]

oh for god sakes...

 

[del]

oh for god sakes...

tissue?

 

[Stephanie]

LOL, Eric sounds like a girly man..but it is the Hufferpost, so I guess huffing and puffing is what they do

I think he need a wambulance.

 

[bigrebnc1775]

 

[Stephanie]

When someone throws a shoe at Obama then little Eric can whine about how mistreated he is..

 

[Immanuel]

Seems to me like it was perfectly acceptable six years ago. Why bitch about it now? Oh, "O", now I see.

Immie

 

[Trajan]

oh for god sakes...

tissue?

please.....

 

[Peach]

Good article, reasonable opinion. Obama has taken more bizarre hits than any President I can remember. You'd think thousands died from a terrorist attack under his watch, and he let the monsters off the hook to go after a personal enemy. Or a city was inundated by flooding while he pranced around calling himself 'a war President'. Obama is a decent man, I also like him more as a President than as a policy maker however.

 

[BDBoop]

Good article, reasonable opinion. Obama has taken more bizarre hits than any President I can remember. You'd think thousands died from a terrorist attack under his watch, and he let the monsters off the hook to go after a personal enemy. Or a city was inundated by flooding while he pranced around calling himself 'a war President'. Obama is a decent man, I also like him more as a President than as a policy maker however.

Thank you. I always appreciate anyone kind enough to actually read the article and give feedback on it.

 

[Peach]

Seems to me like it was perfectly acceptable six years ago. Why bitch about it now? Oh, "O", now I see.

Immie

Obama is infinitely better than Bush II, but better than Bush II isn't anything to brag about.

 

[Stephanie]

Please, obama has had nothing compared to Bush and his administration

 

[Trajan]

Good article, reasonable opinion. Obama has taken more bizarre hits than any President I can remember. You'd think thousands died from a terrorist attack under his watch, and he let the monsters off the hook to go after a personal enemy. Or a city was inundated by flooding while he pranced around calling himself 'a war President'. Obama is a decent man, I also like him more as a President than as a policy maker however.

Thank you. I always appreciate anyone kind enough to actually read the article and give feedback on it.

I always appreciate the OP providing some commentary of their own.

 

[whitehall]

Were today's pop-culture lefties in a coma during the violent demonstrations against George Bush? The Hollywood left even promoted a European made movie shown in a hundred US theaters that promoted the assassination of the president.

 

[Peach]

Please, obama has had nothing compared to Bush and his administration

Yes, he does not have the tragic death toll, the poses. the stupidity, nor the greed. Still the economy will finally be the focus, instead of WAR, WAR, DEATH, SADDAM, SADDAM.......and bin Laden "when we get around to it".

 

[Stephanie]

Were today's pop-culture lefties in a coma during the violent demonstrations against George Bush? The Hollywood left even promoted a European made movie shown in a hundred US theaters that promoted the assassination of the president.

no kidding,

 

[Wiseacre]

The liberal media didn't treat Sarah Palin with a whole lot of respect either, some of the stuff said or written about her was pretty nasty. Or John McCain, when he was running for president back in '08 he took a lot of abuse. Doesn't mean the dissing that Obama has received is any the less wrong, but it's not all one-sided either.

 

[Stephanie]

Please, obama has had nothing compared to Bush and his administration

Yes, he does not have the tragic death toll, the poses. the stupidity, nor the greed. Still the economy will finally be the focus, instead of WAR, WAR, DEATH, SADDAM, SADDAM.......and bin Laden "when we get around to it".

LOL, I was talking about being Demonized, but I'm glad you got that off your chest.

 

[Peach]

The liberal media didn't treat Sarah Palin with a whole lot of respect either, some of the stuff said or written about her was pretty nasty. Or John McCain, when he was running for president back in '08 he took a lot of abuse. Doesn't mean the dissing that Obama has received is any the less wrong, but it's not all one-sided either.

Palin has been attacked to an extreme yes. I did not realize how conservative McCain had become. Still voted for him though. I will listen to Romney, and am already tired of the silly slams at him. We will not see administration of a double team convicts, that is certain.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

Eric Boehlert: From "Racist," to "Dick," to Heckling: How the Press Treats Obama

Bill O’Reilly has also stood up against ugly insults against the sitting President of the United States. And the conservative columnist Michael Medved wrote that, with respect to smearing President Obama personally, “it’s particularly unhelpful to focus on alleged bad intentions and rotten character when every survey shows more favorable views of his personality than his policies.” I couldn’t agree more. It also happens to be mean and unbecoming of any self-respecting American.

/snip

The Times' "crybaby" crack wasn't an anomaly in terms of how some in the Beltway press treat Obama. Last month, Washington Post's Dana Milbank mocked Obama as the "first female president" who "brazenly flaunted his feminine mystique."

And last year Halperin, who is seen as something of a megaphone for the Beltway media elite, called out the president as a "dick." (Obama's sin? Being too partisan.) Previously, the pundit had claimed insiders considered Obama to be an "ignorant" "wimp" who's "incompetent and overwhelmed." Also, Obama and his team were "arrogant and clueless."

I don't remember those kind of nasty putdowns from Halperin during the Bush years. Back then, Halperin edited ABC News' The Note, a daily political tip sheet that read like a de facto in-house RNC newsletter, worshiping the supposedly super-savvy ways of Bush and his Republican colleagues.

And isn't the press guilty of encouraging bitter right-wing disrespect by helping to feed its phony smears, like the birther charade. Although dutifully skeptical of the claims regarding Obama's birthplace, that didn't stop the press from covering the story, often extensively, for years. By contrast, I don't recall people who fostered wild conspiracy theories about Bush being paraded around in the mainstream media in order to spread irresponsible claims. Or did I miss all the TV interviews with 9/11 truthers?

The Beltway press has also helped amplify disrespectful, right-wing attacks on First Lady Michelle Obama, by adopting its view that she be covered as a political player, in a way Laura Bush never was.

By repeatedly interrupting the president and yelling caustic questions at him during a nationally televised event, the Daily Caller's Munro reflected how little respect the conservative press now has for the office of the presidency. There's a danger the run-away contempt and casual taunting rubs off on the real press, too.

Smears by conservatives against President Obama and prominent Democrats and liberals |

I’d keep posting examples but I have to now go through all the nasty personal attacks and threats of violence in my Inbox thanks to my radio exchange with Ms. Malkin. Meanwhile, if Michelle Malkin wants to attack the left’s smears while contorting to justify smears from the right and simultaneously try and smear me for attempting to draw an equivalency and hold us ALL to a higher standard, well, I certainly celebrate the right to free speech that allows her to spread such sad nonsense.

I fully expect half the forum to now fall in on my head and explain that blah-blah, Bush first, yada-yada. So I'll just be polite and inform you ahead of time that unless you are willing to discuss the articles at hand, we won't be chatting at all.

Are you saying we can't put the attacks against Obama into a historical perspective? Are we supposed to approach this like it has never happened before?