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The Liberal Media is Angry! Next Step: Bargaining
The famous Kubler-Ross stages of grief are: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance.
I’m a people person. I care about others. So as the hapless, amateur-hour Obama administration lurches from one self-inflicted mess to another, what I really want to know is this: how’s the press doing? You know, in the mental health department? How are all of those fawning, lickspittle toadies handling the collapse of their Chosen One?
Good news! They’re following the textbook. For the past year, it’s been a symphony of denial. But this summer, they slipped into anger.
Why is Obama such an unpopular president? It’s your fault. You’re too extreme. You have extreme views. Also: you’re crazy. You think Obama is a Muslim. Oh, and you’re a racist.
And they’re not just angry at you, you awful racist. They’re angry at the office of the presidency. Apparently, it’s just too, you know, complicated for one man. Even if that one man is The One Man. From Todd Purdum’s childish, in-the-tank, utterly unconvincing piece in this month’s Vanity Fair:
…the modern presidency—Barack Obama’s presidency—has become a job of such gargantuan size, speed, and complexity as to be all but unrecognizable to most of the previous chief executives. The sheer growth of the federal government, the paralysis of Congress, the systemic corruption brought on by lobbying, the trivialization of the “news” by the media, the willful disregard for facts and truth—these forces have made today’s Washington a depressing and dysfunctional place. They have shaped and at times hobbled the presidency itself.
Let me list a few of the stupider points. How, exactly, is Congress “paralyzed,” again? With bulletproof majorities in both houses? Isn’t the problem that Democrats and Obama face that they weren’t paralyzed? Is Todd Purdum so cocooned that he doesn’t realize this? Obama’s popularity isn’t that he’s done too little, it’s that he’s done way, way, way too much. And if the “sheer growth of the federal government” is a problem, well, um, maybe Obama should stop growing it.
It’s not even worth commenting on the “trivialization of the news” point, which manages to be both pompous and ignorant at the same time. You want trivial journalism with a “willful disregard for facts and truth?” Try being President Abraham Lincoln.
Deep down, though, they all know this president is a loser. That they anointed a turkey. But they won’t fully realize it until the last phase, Acceptance. Meanwhile, though, I’m really looking forward to Bargaining and Depression.
You could set your watch to this.
Published in General
“The systemic corruption brought on by lobbying.” Two points: First, they didn’t just invent lobbyists: as long as there have been politicians and lobbies (or bars) there have been lobbyists. Second, aren’t most of the lobbyists now working inside the administration?
Rob: you’re right. He’s proven to have feet of clay. So let’s blame the victim, those stupid taxpayers who just can’t get with the program.
What I get from Vanity Fair’s adoration is the country is just not big enough to contain Obama’s awesomeness. How he must regret taking the chance he did on us.
Hilarious, Rob! And I especially love the illustration from the Purdum piece showing a gigantic Gulliver-like Obama being tied down by, among others, a tiny Lilliputian Rush Limbaugh. Can’t help thinking that given their achievements and intellectual stature, the sizes of Rush and Obama should be reversed!
I just hope and pray that the cycle takes no longer than 4 years. Any more and I fear the recuperation would be too herculean a task.
Somehow, the Nobel Prize Committee had the foresight to give Obama his prize at the very height of his career. Another month, and it would’ve been too late. Still a mistake I think, but the timing finally makes sense.
Brilliant points, Rob. Very well made. I think Todd Purdum would approve the defense of the greedy kid who killed his parents and then threw himself on the mercy of the court, claiming, “But your Honor! I’m an orphan!”
What they should be mourning is their credibility, which is beyond resuscitation.
This really more closely resembles one of those sci-fi stories where the newly deceased wander about why no one seems to notice them, refusing to accept that they have passed on.
The fact that previous “Chief Executives” often had some sort of executive experience might explain why they found the job less taxing.
That was meant to read “wander about wondering why no one...”, but you figured that out, right?
I anticipate the Depression stage will start around the first week of November.
But let’s look at that quote: “…these forces have made today’s Washington a depressing and dysfunctional place. They have shaped and at times hobbled the presidency itself.” I think it’s a safe bet that in 2005, before the Dems took Congress back, Purdumm was complaining that the Bush presidency was in dire need of hobbling.
The lefty commentariat has more flip flops than Venice Beach.
We may already be seeing early stages of bargaining, what with the plaintive columns asking Republicans not to exploit this, that or other issue in November (such as Obama’s position, clarification and explanation of his clarification of his position on GZM).
Good point. Next stop: Depression!
And John — love the flip flops comment. I live in Venice Beach. And I’m wearing them right now. A blue pair of Hawaiianas from Brazil.
Drew and Adam — what do you think? They’ll blame it more on the “DC culture” or the “right wing attack machine”?
Naw, Rob, they’ll blame it on the stupidity of the voters. Already begun. Beautiful point about the size of government, by the way. Well, of course it’s a big job, you idiots. The gummint is enormous.
That darned conservative media.
Rob, I have done just that. Many, many thanks for brightening up my day.
Kennedy Smith: Well, of course it’s a big job, you idiots. The gummint is enormous.
Dadnabbit, you stole my remark.
So the job seems like too much because it is too much.
And… the president is supposed to be tied down by Lilliputians, ain’t he? Else something’s wrong. (Like he’s a dictator…)
I am utterly unqualified to comment. After two paragraphs of Purdum’s stultifying prose, I toppled over like a steer in the abattoir.
Wake me up when the oceans begin to recede.
We still need a female generic icon. Never stop beating that drum. Here’s your model, folks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0yovf6MyxA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0yovf6MyxA ·Aug 19 at 5:31pm
I prefer Mudflap Girl.
I don’t think they have gotten beyond denial quite yet. The MSM seems convinced that this guy (our President) truly is a remarkable human talent. Their anger at us is that we just refuse to get it. Therefore there must be a reason. Therefore we must be racists/yahoos (to pull in the Swiftian theme) / gun-clinging American Taliban.
Anger will come when they turn on President Obama. That is just starting.
So what your really saying is that dinner parties in LA are once again fun for a conservative…
Well, sure we prefer mudflap girl, Kenneth. Cause we’re truly horrid people. But the parallel to fedora-tipper is shopping-girl.
That’s exactly what I’m saying, Mark. I haven’t had this much fun since…well, since 1994.
I especially like the magazine’s little teaser at the beginning. What’s so exciting about this piece? “The author talks to Obama’s top advisers about the challenge of playing the Washington game, ugly as it has become, even while their boss insists they find a way to transcend it.”
I mean, that’s why Obama is such a tragic figure, right? He wants nothing more than to transcend the Washington game, but those darn advisors just don’t get it.