Just When You Think It Can't Get Any Worse

Greetings from the Left Coast!

Most fair-minded people who take a moment to think about it will agree that if George W. Bush had taken Laura to New York City for a “date night” when the rest of the country was mired in recession, we would have seen a completely different response from the media in this country. The networks would have been shouting from the rooftops about what a waste it was of taxpayer dollars, and how insensitive it was when ordinary people were suffering so much.

And if Laura had stayed behind in Paris to do a little shopping with the twins while George traveled on to the Middle East and back to the U.S.? Please. You know the pundits would have been apoplectic. And don't even get me started on the Air Force One flyover in New York City.

The media has been so far in the tank for Obama that they’ve dropped any pretence of objectivity. But I thought that media bias had reached its maximum possible peak with the comments made by Newsweek’s Evan Thomas to Hardball’s Chris Matthews (he of the tingling leg) a couple of weeks ago. In case you haven’t heard, Thomas was comparing Obama to Ronald Reagan. While Reagan was “all about America,” Obama is “above that now.” “In a way,” he went on, “Obama’s standing above the country, above – above the world. He’s sort of God. He’s going to bring all different sides together.” Two days later, on Inside Washington, Thomas went on to explain that “We’re understanding what Obama is. He is the great teacher. He is this guy that stands above everybody. There’s some condescension in it, [ya think, Evan?] but he stands above everybody and says, ‘Now listen. You people have to stop blaming each other unreasonably. You have to get along here and I am going to show you the way.’”

But, unfortunately, even this messianic pronouncement wasn’t the peak. Tonight, ABC’s Charles Gibson will anchor the evening news broadcast from the Blue Room of the White House. Following this, ABC News will broadcast an hour-long infomercial for Obama’s health care plan. Reportedly, Obama will answer questions from audience members who have been pre-selected by ABC News. No opponents and no opposing views will be presented. Opposing groups have attempted to buy commercial time during the broadcast – ABC has rejected the ads. They’ve tried to buy time before or after – ABC has rejected that as well. Needless to say, you won't see any Republicans there.

I’ve been around a while, folks. I was born in the final year of the Truman administration. Grew up during Ike’s tenure. Became politically aware during Johnson’s. Barack Obama is the ninth President to hold office since I’ve been old enough to have some grasp of politics. And I have never, in my entire life, seen anything like this. The mainstream media has become a caricature of itself. And they wonder why their ratings continue to decline. Thank God (and by “God” I do not mean Obama) for the “new media” of the Internet, cable TV, and talk radio.

Thanks for listening.