M.D. Rawlings
Classical Liberal
Sep 5, 2011, Vol. 16, No. 47 By FRED BARNES
The Weekly Standard
Absent pushing and prodding by the press, the Obama presidency has atrophied. His speeches are defensive and repetitive and filled with excuses. He passes the buck. With persistently high unemployment and a weak economy, Obama recently declared, in effect, I have a plan. See you after my vacation. The press doesnt goad him to lead.
On the contrary, the media have condoned Obamas avoidance of leadership. It started when he let Nancy Pelosi draft the $800 billion stimulus and continued when congressional Democrats put together the health care, cap and trade, and financial industry reform bills. Few media eyebrows were raised. True, the press attacked his 2012 budget as inadequate. But when he replaced it with a partisan speech, the medias criticism of this bizarre and unprecedented behavior was mild.
. . . A few days later, Carney acted surprised at a Wall Street Journal reporters failure to understand how extending unemployment benefits once more would create jobs. I would expect a reporter from the Wall Street Journal would know this as part of the entrance exam, he said.
. . . Private sector job growth is good, he said in Alpha, Illinois. In reality, its bad and getting worse. The economy is now growing again, he said. Barely. Obama said trade deals and patent reform would promote hiring, if only Congress would approve them. But its the president who has delayed the trade treaties, and both houses of Congress have passed patent reform measures.
. . . A saying of a friend of mine touches on why the media disserve Obama by tolerating his habit of offering excuses for every failure or shortcoming of his presidency. The saying goes, winners accept responsibility, losers make excuses.
LINK
The Weekly Standard
Absent pushing and prodding by the press, the Obama presidency has atrophied. His speeches are defensive and repetitive and filled with excuses. He passes the buck. With persistently high unemployment and a weak economy, Obama recently declared, in effect, I have a plan. See you after my vacation. The press doesnt goad him to lead.
On the contrary, the media have condoned Obamas avoidance of leadership. It started when he let Nancy Pelosi draft the $800 billion stimulus and continued when congressional Democrats put together the health care, cap and trade, and financial industry reform bills. Few media eyebrows were raised. True, the press attacked his 2012 budget as inadequate. But when he replaced it with a partisan speech, the medias criticism of this bizarre and unprecedented behavior was mild.
. . . A few days later, Carney acted surprised at a Wall Street Journal reporters failure to understand how extending unemployment benefits once more would create jobs. I would expect a reporter from the Wall Street Journal would know this as part of the entrance exam, he said.
. . . Private sector job growth is good, he said in Alpha, Illinois. In reality, its bad and getting worse. The economy is now growing again, he said. Barely. Obama said trade deals and patent reform would promote hiring, if only Congress would approve them. But its the president who has delayed the trade treaties, and both houses of Congress have passed patent reform measures.
. . . A saying of a friend of mine touches on why the media disserve Obama by tolerating his habit of offering excuses for every failure or shortcoming of his presidency. The saying goes, winners accept responsibility, losers make excuses.
LINK