As Gov. Bobby Jindal began to offer a Republican response it became apparent that he would be no match with Barack Obama in the soaring-oratory department. The Republicans really should have tried a gimmick instead. Perhaps Jindal could have simply walked on and said Today the president held what he called a fiscal responsibility summit. He could afford a wide smile at that point knowing his audience had erupted in laughter.
Honestly now: Are we quite ready finally to declare the Era of Obama As Fiscally Conservative is over? Last year Republicans warned that Barack Obama was ultraliberal -- a socialist in fact -- but the media handlers typically presented this as a conservative smear. Instead they painted Obama as an aspiring moderate-Republican deficit reducer. Take New York Times economics writer David Leonhardt last August: Obamas aides optimistically insist he will reduce it the deficit thanks to his tax increases on the affluent and his plan to wind down the Iraq war. Relative to McCain whose promised spending cuts are extremely vague Obama does indeed look like a fiscal conservative.
How ridiculous does that sound now? John McCain probably would have been a moderate Republican president. But the idea that President Obama would turn out to be a stronger fiscal conservative than McCain should inspire a pink-faced laughing fit at the preposterousness of The New York Times.
Now that Obamas emphatic ultraliberalism is the elephant in the room and liberals are cheering the reversal of everything Ronald Reagan tried to accomplish economically the media still dont want to call it liberal. Instead its a pollsters list of positive adjectives: bold ambitious audacious and even breathtaking.
Heres how Charles Babington of the Associated Press began his analysis: Breathtaking in its scope and ambition President Barack Obamas agenda for the economy health care and energy now goes to a Congress unaccustomed to resolving knotty issues and buffeted by powerful interests that oppose parts of his plan. Obama is the giant with breathtaking ambition while members of Congress are mere mortals unaccustomed to accomplishment. Obamas agenda is not described as liberal. Instead its a plan to undo major elements of Ronald Reagans conservative movement.
His AP colleague Liz Sidoti echoed the meaningless chatter: Barack Obama is embracing the worst economic conditions in a generation as an opportunity to advance an audacious agenda that if successful could reshape the country for decades to come.
The wire service Agence France-Presse found the president bristling with action: Obama also highlighted his audacious $3.55-trillion budget plan for 2010 which bristles with economic reforms and spending on healthcare climate change and education in a bid to end Americas worst economic crisis since the 1930s.
Then there was The Washington Post the industry leader in budget salesmanship. In a front-page story editor Karen DeYoung oozed Obamas withdrawal plan from Iraq came just a day after he transformed the domestic political landscape with a breathtakingly bold budget plan. Two pages later reporter Alec MacGillis somehow left out a cheerleaders purse full of exclamation points in a story on Vice President Bidens middle-class task force: Commentators left and right have reacted with awe to the ambition and transformative potential of President Obamas economic blueprint.
Commentators on the right reacted with awe? Only at the shameless boosterism of the leg-tingling Obama press corps.
Later came a front-page Post story by Philip Rucker which began President Obamas budget is so ambitious with vast new spending on health care energy independence and services for veterans that experts say he will need to hire tens of thousands of government workers to realize his goals. The Heritage Foundation suggests it means a (SET ITAL) quarter of a million new bureaucrats (END ITAL) for the federal establishment.
As an adjective ambitious is meant to be a positive word. But George Bushs toppling of Saddam Hussein was ambitious and the media didnt applaud its scope. In fact they paraded the liberals around arguing the Iraq war was unsustainably swelling the deficit. The late Tim Russert pressed Bush in February of 2004: How why as a fiscal conservative as you like to call yourself would you allow a $500-billion deficit and this kind of deficit disaster?
Today a $500-billion deficit would sound like progress. Obamas budget aspires to reduce the projected 2009 deficit of $1.75 trillion by more than two-thirds to $533 billion by the end of his first term -- which if successful would make it worse than the worst performance by President Bush.
It should be laughable for the White House to promote a fiscal responsibility summit days after they shoved through a $787-billion stimulus bill through Congress. But the gooey flood of positive adjectives from the press demonstrates that they are not government watchdogs. Theyre breathtakingly bold Obama enablers. The honesty deficit in our press just grows and grows.
Founder and President of the Media Research Center Brent Bozell runs the largest media watchdog organization in America.
As Gov. Bobby Jindal began to offer a Republican response it became apparent that he would be no match with Barack Obama in the soaring-oratory department. The Republicans really should have tried a gimmick instead. Perhaps Jindal could have simply walked on and said Today the president held what he called a fiscal responsibility summit. He could afford a wide smile at that point knowing his audience had erupted in laughter.
Honestly now: Are we quite ready finally to declare the Era of Obama As Fiscally Conservative is over? Last year Republicans warned that Barack Obama was ultraliberal -- a socialist in fact -- but the media handlers typically presented this as a conservative smear. Instead they painted Obama as an aspiring moderate-Republican deficit reducer. Take New York Times economics writer David Leonhardt last August: Obamas aides optimistically insist he will reduce it the deficit thanks to his tax increases on the affluent and his plan to wind down the Iraq war. Relative to McCain whose promised spending cuts are extremely vague Obama does indeed look like a fiscal conservative.
How ridiculous does that sound now? John McCain probably would have been a moderate Republican president. But the idea that President Obama would turn out to be a stronger fiscal conservative than McCain should inspire a pink-faced laughing fit at the preposterousness of The New York Times.
Now that Obamas emphatic ultraliberalism is the elephant in the room and liberals are cheering the reversal of everything Ronald Reagan tried to accomplish economically the media still dont want to call it liberal. Instead its a pollsters list of positive adjectives: bold ambitious audacious and even breathtaking.
Heres how Charles Babington of the Associated Press began his analysis: Breathtaking in its scope and ambition President Barack Obamas agenda for the economy health care and energy now goes to a Congress unaccustomed to resolving knotty issues and buffeted by powerful interests that oppose parts of his plan. Obama is the giant with breathtaking ambition while members of Congress are mere mortals unaccustomed to accomplishment. Obamas agenda is not described as liberal. Instead its a plan to undo major elements of Ronald Reagans conservative movement.
His AP colleague Liz Sidoti echoed the meaningless chatter: Barack Obama is embracing the worst economic conditions in a generation as an opportunity to advance an audacious agenda that if successful could reshape the country for decades to come.
The wire service Agence France-Presse found the president bristling with action: Obama also highlighted his audacious $3.55-trillion budget plan for 2010 which bristles with economic reforms and spending on healthcare climate change and education in a bid to end Americas worst economic crisis since the 1930s.
Then there was The Washington Post the industry leader in budget salesmanship. In a front-page story editor Karen DeYoung oozed Obamas withdrawal plan from Iraq came just a day after he transformed the domestic political landscape with a breathtakingly bold budget plan. Two pages later reporter Alec MacGillis somehow left out a cheerleaders purse full of exclamation points in a story on Vice President Bidens middle-class task force: Commentators left and right have reacted with awe to the ambition and transformative potential of President Obamas economic blueprint.
Commentators on the right reacted with awe? Only at the shameless boosterism of the leg-tingling Obama press corps.
Later came a front-page Post story by Philip Rucker which began President Obamas budget is so ambitious with vast new spending on health care energy independence and services for veterans that experts say he will need to hire tens of thousands of government workers to realize his goals. The Heritage Foundation suggests it means a (SET ITAL) quarter of a million new bureaucrats (END ITAL) for the federal establishment.
As an adjective ambitious is meant to be a positive word. But George Bushs toppling of Saddam Hussein was ambitious and the media didnt applaud its scope. In fact they paraded the liberals around arguing the Iraq war was unsustainably swelling the deficit. The late Tim Russert pressed Bush in February of 2004: How why as a fiscal conservative as you like to call yourself would you allow a $500-billion deficit and this kind of deficit disaster?
Today a $500-billion deficit would sound like progress. Obamas budget aspires to reduce the projected 2009 deficit of $1.75 trillion by more than two-thirds to $533 billion by the end of his first term -- which if successful would make it worse than the worst performance by President Bush.
It should be laughable for the White House to promote a fiscal responsibility summit days after they shoved through a $787-billion stimulus bill through Congress. But the gooey flood of positive adjectives from the press demonstrates that they are not government watchdogs. Theyre breathtakingly bold Obama enablers. The honesty deficit in our press just grows and grows.
Founder and President of the Media Research Center Brent Bozell runs the largest media watchdog organization in America.
