The Perfect Swarm

[DamnYankee]

God.... How more accurate a description could there be? The citizenry and the media (as described here) have swarmed to and around Obama for so long, it's surprising that he hasn't been stung more often in his first 100 days. But, then again, the stings were hardly noted, were they?

By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 28, 2009

It is, says Joe Klein, a "flimsy journalistic conceit."

This Story
For the Media, 100-Days Story Represents the Perfect Swarm
Assessing Obama's First 100 Days
But that didn't stop him from writing Time's cover story on President Obama's first 100 days, part of a vast wave of calendar-driven coverage washing over the media landscape.

"One of the things I've been thinking about is the impatience of the press," says Klein, who noted the conceit in his story. "People cast judgment too quickly on Obama. I'm remembering back to how impatient I was with Bill Clinton, in an unfair way."

The wave crests tomorrow -- the actual Day 100 -- with a full day of cable chatter and, among other observances, a special section in The Washington Post. The notion that a presidential term can be reasonably assessed in just more than three months seems a stretch, especially in light of recent history.


washingtonpost.com