Time for Thorns

Five quite rational  reasons why Chicago lost its bid for the 2016 Olympics,  and ten much less  serious ones.

Victor Davis Hanson thinks Obama’s  performance was a  PR disaster,  though White House flack David Axelrod was quck to  blame Olympic politics,  while others are blaming Mayor Daly for pushing His Oneness to go to Copenhagen.   Jonah offers some readers’  comments over at The  Corner.     Illinois Senator Roland Burris blames it all on Pres. Bush.

I don’t think Obama will pay any attention to Frank  Luntz’s take. , and he certainly won’t be amused by that of Mike Potemra.

And His Oneness will absolutely hate Fred Barnes’  piece in the Weekly Standard,  which points out the coverage is a test of the media’s willingness to cover the president professionally and honestly.   Will the media pass or fail?

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs sniffed that they weren’t “aware” of the Tea Party rally.   But the President certainly became so, since his chopper flew over some of the crowd as he began his retreat to Minnesota to repeat the same dreck he ladled out Wednesday night.

Now I ask you — who in their right mind wants an administration which is unaware of a crowd several hundred thousand strong just a few blocks away from the White House?    Do they truly imagine that by pretending it doesn’t exist they can simply wish the protest away?    They know they can depend on MSM to downplay the huge rally,  and indeed only one besides FOX has managed to admit “tens of thousands”  were there.    Most simply said “thousands” — technically correct,  but hardly a fair characterization of the real number.

Lucianne.com has a fine  collection of videos from the day.

First thing —  Cheney’s speech has been booked for weeks, while His Oneness only scheduled his in the last few days, which should tell you that Obama is nervous abut the competition.

Politico’s take is here .  Note that Obama repeated a line he has used often of late:  “Let me begin by disposing of one argument as plainly as I can:  we are not going to release anyone if it would endanger our national security,  nor will we release detainees within the United States who endanger the American people.”     No mention of the fact that placing large groups of terrorists at any facility other than Gitmo will make it worthwhile for their fellow jihadists’  to mount an attack on the local populace.    Just picture a schoolbus full of children being hacked to pieces one by one until the detainees are released.

He also trotted out a favorite straw man:  “I know some have argued that brutal methods like water-boarding were necessary to keep us safe.  I could not disagree more,” Obama continued. “As commander-in-chief,  I see the intelligence,  I bear responsibility for keeping this country safe,  and I reject the assertion that these are the most effective means of interrogation.”

Rush Limbaugh made the observation to Glenn Beck that Obama’s speech was like the party response to a presidential speech,  even though Obama spoke first.    I think this was because His Oneness was very defensive, perhaps because he’s accustomed to affirmation, not challenge.   Cheney came off as a statesman, sober and clear-eyed.   Obama was a disingenuous campaigner, repeating the same sound-bytes he has used for over 2 years —  Gitmo is a mess,  it’s a recruiting tool,  etc.    There is a vast chasm between what our president says and what he does.    Unfortunately for him,  while I appreciate words,   I always judge by actions.

What Politico didn’t tell you was that the press wasn’t allowed to report at the National Archives, with the White House saying it would handle everything,  and handing them a nice, complete news package to run.    A good way to rate media’s honesty is by whether those facts are revealed to you.    So far, only FOX News has allowed it to be known.

The Weekly Standard has a copy of Cheney’s speech,  which should be close to what he actually said.    If I find an updated copy,  I’ll post it.

Here’s Obama’s speech.

Mainstream media fought tirelessly not to cover the events, and when forced to do so seemed more interested in attacking the protestors than in actually reporting anything.

Here are the numbers:

FOX RATINGS SURGE ON PROTEST COVERAGE
8-11 PM ET

FOXNEWS O'REILLY 3,980,000
FOXNEWS HANNITY 3,239,000
FOXNEWS GRETA 2,947,000
FOXNEWS BECK 2,740,000
FOXNEWS BAIER 2,401,000
FOXNEWS SHEP 2,185,000
COMEDY DAILY SHOW 1,777,000
MSNBC OLBERMANN,499,000
COMEDY COLBERT 1,446,000
CNNHN GRACE 1,336,000
CNN KING 1,292,000
MSNBC MADDOW 1,149,000
CNN COOPER 1,021,000

Gee, that worked out really well for the big boys, didn’t it?

A blogger finds 200 nearly identical headlines appearing in a single day.

Personally, I’m not that big a fan of coincidence….

The only reason you need to follow this link is to read the 3rd paragraph.

How much confidence do you have in a media which offers His Oneness applause at the end of a press conference?     Do you really believe they will report unpleasant things which might be damaging to their idol?    Could that be why big media has all but refused to waste a drop of ink or a second of air time on the Tea Parties which have already begun taking place  across the nation?

Juan Williams has an interesting piece up in the Wall Street Journal,  urging us to judge Pres. Obama by his actions, and also touching on race and liberalism and the media, here:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123249791178500439.html

Williams is a dedicated liberal, but I find him to be honest and sincere, even when he gets things totally wrong.