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They'll be talking about this for years. Why, years from now, they'll be telling their kids "Hey, you see President Obama there on TV? When I was a kid, he came and visited me at my school."
What has truly happened in this picture is that the unfortunate child has an Obama-shaped growth coming out the top of her head. At the time this photograph was taken, the President was hundreds of miles away.
Of course it's laughable that Obama meeting with school children is anything other than super cool to meet the prez and get out of class for an assembly.
I'm more concerned about the concerted effort of the WH to forcefully delegitimize a media outlet merely because it's critical of them. It seems unprecedented and very Chaves-like.
I commend her for being so transparent. Don't know why you think this is important... except that it is yet another "outrage" trying to make it to the top spot on the "outrage of the day" in the ugly-o-sphere.
Do you not believe that the previous Presidents and their staffs worked hard to make sure their administrations' spin was put on various issues and pieces of news?
If I were the president I'd be visiting schools, scout camps, church picnics and every other kind of baby kissing, grandma hugging, kid teaching opportunity imaginable. ...and the country would probably be better off for my priorities.
Mike Dukakis came to my school once and it wasn't very cool. But I was in high school by then and it was a couple years after he got waxed in the presidential election.
Kids seemed to like President Bush too. They understand this is an important person for the country, and it's a treat for them to get this opportunity, regardless of grown-up politics.
You could tell Bush loved visiting the kids too, so I'm sure you're right it's special for the president too, and likely his most relaxing audience.
Mike Dukakis came to my school once and it wasn't very cool. But I was in high school by then and it was a couple years after he got waxed in the presidential election.
Somebody on lgf did a nice post analyzing the distinction between media bias and having an agenda. If I wasn't a computer moron, I could find it for the group.
re: #37 freetoken
It isn't important other than the fact that the White House should be more careful in their public pronouncements that they control the news cycle. Everyone with an ounce of intelligence controls their own spin but they have been careless in bragging about how well they do it. That's gonna bite them in the butt given their stance regarding Fox news and how welcome they are at the White House.
I don't see professionals on either end of this peeing contest. The White House needs to put some grown ups in charge of communications that aren't enamored with their own gee whiz talents.
Somebody on lgf did a nice post analyzing the distinction between media bias and having an agenda. If I wasn't a computer moron, I could find it for the group.
As for cooties - there's a cure?
Circle, circle, dot dot, now you have a cootie shot?
/
Yeah, I remember that. I think it's what got him stripped of any 'very cool' label he might ever have had. Not that he rode in the tank, but that he looked like such a goofball doing so.
I'm more concerned about the concerted effort of the WH to forcefully delegitimize a media outlet merely because it's critical of them. It seems unprecedented and very Chaves-like.
As the article mentioned, so far this has only helped Fox News.
MSNBC has nothing but left-leaning hosts some of which are obviously peddling unfair characterizations of conservatives and their intents. That doesn't cause me to say they aren't a legitimate news organization.
Shawn Hannity doesn't tell Fox News what news to cover as I'm sure Rachel Maddow doesn't either over at MSNBC.
And those who say Chaves actually does close media outlets evidently do not realize how it started there. It was first a war of accusations and words just like this.
Looking for evidence of Obama's past, Fox News contacted 400 Columbia University students from the period when Obama claims to have been there, but none remembered him.
Yeah, I remember that. I think it's what got him stripped of any 'very cool' label he might ever have had. Not that he rode in the tank, but that he looked like such a goofball doing so.
He forgot he had the mic running so they heard him making the engine noises and going "BLAM BLAM BLAM...KABOOM!" as he drove around.
Some no doubt think "columbia" isn't even a school...
Of course he didn't go there. The fact that two of my colleagues who attended Columbia actually remember him just proves that they are hallucinating and should take extended leave from the office.//
They'll be talking about this for years. Why, years from now, they'll be telling their kids "Hey, you see President Obama there on TV? When I was a kid, he came and visited me at my school."
Very true. When I was 6 years old (in 1956), none other than Winston honest-to-God Churchill himself came to our school and spoke to us and even shook my little hand.
Looking for evidence of Obama's past, Fox News contacted 400 Columbia University students from the period when Obama claims to have been there, but none remembered him.
Walter L. Newton has a point: this is getting seriously serious.
As for you, Cannadian Club Akbar, either you are being cruel to be kind - or just being cruel.
I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy the agony these cooties are causing me. It's comparable to - but worse than - staring at that photo of Mr. Dukakis in the tank. He looked like Rick Moranis in Revenge of The Nerds. I got taunted for days at work for kinda-sorta defending the guy.
Very true. When I was 6 years old (in 1956), none other than Winston honest-to-God Churchill himself came to our school and spoke to us and even shook my little hand.
I am jealous! Of course in 1956 I was a decade shy of being 1.
MSNBC has nothing but left-leaning hosts some of which are obviously peddling unfair characterizations of conservatives and their intents. That doesn't cause me to say they aren't a legitimate news organization.
Shawn Hannity doesn't tell Fox News what news to cover as I'm sure Rachel Maddow doesn't either over at MSNBC.
And those who say Chaves actually does close media outlets evidently do not realize how it started there. It was first a war of accusations and words just like this.
You may not say it, but the administration has spoken, and I think this is a lesson to those who think they can continue to oppose his policies.
Very true. When I was 6 years old (in 1956), none other than Winston honest-to-God Churchill himself came to our school and spoke to us and even shook my little hand.
I'd never shut up about something that cool. I saw David Byrne on the street once, said hello, and still haven't stopped boring people with this brush with greatness.
Very true. When I was 6 years old (in 1956), none other than Winston honest-to-God Churchill himself came to our school and spoke to us and even shook my little hand.
Lucky guy. If I had to point to one person I've always idolized, it would be him. The volume of his life experience, his accomplishments (and failures!), man oh man what an incredible individual.
Of course it's laughable that Obama meeting with school children is anything other than super cool to meet the prez and get out of class for an assembly.
I'm more concerned about the concerted effort of the WH to forcefully delegitimize a media outlet merely because it's critical of them. It seems unprecedented and very Chaves-like.
I'd never shut up about something that cool. I saw David Byrne on the street once, said hello, and still haven't stopped boring people with this brush with greatness.
No, really, if I'd ever met Churchill in any way, shape, manner or form, I'd put it on my resume, business cards, etc. and wear t-shirts to inform mere mortals of the fact.
Fox News was chief cheerleader and pom-pom giver outer at the Tea Parties.
It was quite shameful and it made them, in my eyes, not a legitimate news organization but rather an opinion station.
I don't think anyone wants them shut down, just relegated to the fringes of society (like their evening lineup).
No, really, if I'd ever met Churchill in any way, shape, manner or form, I'd put it on my resume, business cards, etc. and wear t-shirts to inform mere mortals of the fact.
No joke. I'd start every conversation with "Have I told you about the time Churchill shook my hand?".
No, really, if I'd ever met Churchill in any way, shape, manner or form, I'd put it on my resume, business cards, etc. and wear t-shirts to inform mere mortals of the fact.
Hmmm. I used to walk by Donald Trump on my way to the office. He was outside Trump Tower putting little Ivanka on the school bus. I tried to say hello to him once but his bodyguard wasn't so interested in making the introduction. True story.
Very true. When I was 6 years old (in 1956), none other than Winston honest-to-God Churchill himself came to our school and spoke to us and even shook my little hand.
One of my earliest memories is watching Churchill's funeral on black and white television.
When you saw him, did he tell you the Stanley Baldwin joke or advocate the study of Latin and Greek?
Uh, I don't think that was the point of what I said.
I wasn't attacking Bush for his visits, every president should/has done them.
So you should have the same standard for Obama.
I'd never shut up about something that cool. I saw David Byrne on the street once, said hello, and still haven't stopped boring people with this brush with greatness.
I almost got run over by Weird Al while walking thru a parking lot. Plus I met Rikki Rocket (or Rick as my mom called him) from Poison when he came over to parent's place
Fox News was chief cheerleader and pom-pom giver outer at the Tea Parties.
It was quite shameful and it made them, in my eyes, not a legitimate news organization but rather an opinion station.
I don't think anyone wants them shut down, just relegated to the fringes of society (like their evening lineup).
"cutting legs off"? "bringing knives to a gunfight"?
Just the tone of the article makes on queasy. No wonder they are being called out for going beyond being critical and going over the top with unsubstantiated fear and hate mongering.
Hmmm. I used to walk by Donald Trump on my way to the office. He was outside Trump Tower putting little Ivanka on the school bus. I tried to say hello to him once but his bodyguard wasn't so interested in making the introduction. True story.
Now him, I did meet. He happened to be in the Windows of the World restaraunt atop the WTC in 1989, when I ate there. I got his autograph on a napkin.
No, really, if I'd ever met Churchill in any way, shape, manner or form, I'd put it on my resume, business cards, etc. and wear t-shirts to inform mere mortals of the fact.
I do bring it up once in a while;)
Our teacher, Mrs. Rice, told us he was the greatest man in the world and threatened us with hideous consequences if we misbehaved in any way. It was some time before I understood just how important a person he was and how cool it really was to have met him.
I'm with you, brother. Which might cause you to change your position.
I met Mayor Harold Washington. A remarkable man. He was already ailing with the heart problems which killed him, but he had a kind of Santa Klaus glow. A mixture of sweetness and intellect.
As for Fox. As the fellow said, Fox has crossed the line: they organize Tea Parties.
All the outlets are biased. Some more than others. But there truly is a difference here.
As for going after critics, isn't that what, say, President Truman did?
Fox News was chief cheerleader and pom-pom giver outer at the Tea Parties.
It was quite shameful and it made them, in my eyes, not a legitimate news organization but rather an opinion station.
I don't think anyone wants them shut down, just relegated to the fringes of society (like their evening lineup).
You're right. It was nothing like that wall to wall coverage CNN gave the gay rights rally a week ago. Bad Fox, Bad.
//
They didn't just "cover" the story. Glenn Beck's various fan clubs organized a big bunch of them. They were promoting for weeks and week, "Come on down! Every patriotic opposer of Obama is here!".
They weren't a neutral observer, but an active participant. Who has the video of the Fox host rallying the crowd for a tv shot?
It isn't important other than the fact that the White House should be more careful in their public pronouncements that they control the news cycle. Everyone with an ounce of intelligence controls their own spin but they have been careless in bragging about how well they do it. That's gonna bite them in the butt given their stance regarding Fox news and how welcome they are at the White House.
I just don't get what folks are seeing in that clip. She's just participating in a postmortem on the campaign, shortly after the election (she was the Communications Director for OFA), describing why they used so much alternative media (fightthesmears, youtube videos of all events, etc) and preferred live events over the editing/editorial decisions of the sound-bite media.
How is that shocking or any different than others in the Obama campaign were saying in response to press questions about their robust alternative media strategy? I mean it's not like their use of additional mediums of getting out their message meant Obama was seriously curtailing tradition press conferences and interviews; isn't the Right's usual talking point here that he's doing too many and is overexposed?
So? How many times have news agencies arranged special reports. What's a special report but a hour or two of bias reporting, highlighting a subject. Oh, I know, no other news agency has ever produced a special report that is biased.
One of my earliest memories is watching Churchill's funeral on black and white television.
When you saw him, did he tell you the Stanley Baldwin joke or advocate the study of Latin and Greek?
None of that. I remember being struck by how ruddy he was in appearance. I had only seen him on B&W television before that and, like many children of the time, I probably assumed that he was monochrome in real life. He asked me what my dad did with the USAF and when I named the squadron and wing, Mr. Churchill was able to reel off its WW2 history in a few seconds, as though from casual memory.
It's not your bad. You've made your point. News organizations select what to cover, and sometimes cross the line into shaping events. Like only covering town-hall meetings which got ugly.
Yes who has it? I would like to see how it is so beyond the pall that they are now no longer a legitimate news outlet and the TV version of Newsmax which of course will run with any old conspiracy such as birthers and the like without fact-checking and double sourcing.
Fox News' "special reports" last...all day. Every day.
Trying to understand where this is going - shall we just snub them, shun them, or do you propose that they just be frozen out by the WH, whose example should be followed by all other right-thinking news outlets?
Perhaps some other intervention you have in mind, or is it just griping?
OK, so Fox should have their FCC license pulled? It's one thing to call out a news outlet as being unfair, another one all together to encourage Fox competitors, who are friendly to the WH, to band together on one common message.
I don't think they should be snubbed. Just treated like an opinion news outlet, not a legitimate news source.
Don't really see anything Chavez-like about that.
I don't think they should be snubbed. Just treated like an opinion news outlet, not a legitimate news source.
Don't really see anything Chavez-like about that.
Nor do I. So, to clarify, then, just ignored, by the WH and the legitimate press corps alike?
Secondly, if they're a purely opinion-driven outlet, I wonder what effect this would have on the public-service provisions of their broadcast licenses? Maybe there is, or will be, some action on that front.
Goodness knows, though, we have no cause for concern over anything Chavez-like at the FCC. There's certainly no sympathy for his regime and way of operating at ANY level of our government, and certainly not in the FCC.
But yes, they should be shunned by both the White House and legitimate news media.
Follow-up question, then:
Should FoxNews' exile from respectability be continued until such time as the White House determines that their content is more in line with their expectations, or would a simple groveliing apology suffice?
Correction: "And that's all they're doing - calling a spade a spade. "
Should read "And that's all the WH is doing - calling a spade a spade."
The ambiguity of what I wrote is one thing. The ugly double-entendre - entirely unintentional - belatedly occurred to me. My apologies.
Nobody should do anything about Fox. The WH is free to comment on what Fox does. Fox is free to continue behaving like a European-style media outlet, keeping its POV front and center.
Why is no one saving these poor children from being indoctrinated into socialism by the Presidents "koolaid touch" ™. Please wont someone think of the children?
I think the old saw "friends come and go; enemies accumulate" applies. For the WH, friends come and go. In any event the current POTUS will be gone in 3 or 7 years. For Fox, enemies accumulate.
Obviously Obama is not an American citizen. He is an alien, and he is attempting a Vulcan mind meld in the photograph.
/Do I really need this sarc tag?
My nirther theory is that Stanley Ann Obama didn't go to Kenya as a pregnant teenager, but rather went to Cape Canaveral where she stowed away on a unmanned mercury spacecraft being test launched in September, 1961, and that she gave birth to Barack while in orbit, making him an ET, not a natural born citizen! NASA, of course, covered it all up, just like they cover up for the aliens who are abducting and probing real citizens. I have recalled memories of being probed dozens of times. /
Fox is loving every minute of this nontroversy, I wish they would muzzle Beck but they aren't going to because he's getting them ratings. If I was Obama I wouldn't be on that network either. This is pretty common politics, Bush didn't appear all that often on MSNBC as I recall. MSNBC is a left leaning orangization, going so far as to have their dayside 'straight news anchors' fill in for the prime time hosts on Countdown, Rachel Maddow, and Chris Matthews shows which are obviously leftist opinion programs. So, basically, if you're looking for news without slant you're probably going to be looking for a long time.
If you wind up with a boring, miserable life because you listened to your mom, your dad, your teacher, your priest or some guy on TV telling you how to do your shit, then YOU DESERVE IT. -- From the Real Frank Zappa book.
Frank says: