President Barack Obama doesn't have to do too much to impress ABC News. A little more than five weeks after the fill-in anchor of World News effused over two-week-old photos of Obama “serving cookies” on Super Bowl night while an awed George Stephanopoulos glowed over how “these are just remarkable....we've never really seen anything like this before in real time,” on Thursday night the newscast devoted a full story to “a White House first” of answering questions via the Internet. (NBC Nightly News didn't air a syllable about the stunt and the CBS Evening News allocated 38 seconds centered around Obama's response to whether marijuana should be legalized in order to boost the economy.)
ABC anchor Charles Gibson excitedly announced:
At the White House today, something never done before. As a candidate, Barack Obama was adept at using the Internet to raise money and get his message out. Now, as President, he's using the Internet again in a way that no President ever has before.
“In lieu of boarding carbon-unfriendly Air Force One to hold town hall meetings around the country,” reporter Jake Tapper relayed, “today President Obama brought the mountain to Mohammed.”
Though ABC's coverage, and live carriage earlier in the day on the cable news channels, disproved the need to go around the mainstream media, Tapper explained: “White House officials have been making great efforts to have President Obama reach outside what they call the traditional media filter and speak directly to the American people.”
My February 16 NewsBusters posting, “ABC Giddy Over 'Presidential Whirlwind' & 'Remarkable' Photos of Obama Passing Out Cookies,” recounted, with video:
Get Diane Sawyer together with George Stephanopoulos on World News and they can't contain their giddiness over President Obama. Back on Friday, January 23, when Sawyer last anchored, Stephanopoulos hailed Obama's first three days as “disciplined and strategic,” thus enabling “sweeping change,” while Sawyer gushed over “change...at warp speed.” Monday night, Sawyer returned to the anchor chair and excitedly announced how “the trillion dollar week has begun” and so “finally,” as if it's been too long of a wait, “the stimulus starts to flow.” She soon heralded how “we embark on a week like no other in American economic history” with “a presidential whirlwind of spending against a recession.”
After a story from David Muir on the “dizzying and daunting amount of federal spending that President Obama will tackle this week,” Sawyer brought Stephanopoulos aboard to admire what Sawyer described as a “scrapbook, if you will, of the President's journey on the road to the stimulus package.” In other words, photos released by the White House. Nonetheless, she effused: “I want to show everybody at home, because there is the President, it's Super Bowl night, and he's serving cookies to congressional leadership in the White House screening room.”
The narration switched to an awed Stephanopoulos: “These are just remarkable, Diane. We've never really seen anything like this before in real time.” Over a picture of Obama leaning back in a chair he oozed: “You see the President taking a little bit of a well-deserved rest right there.” Sawyer matched Stephanopoulos' smile: “Yeah, I wonder how often they'll take that scrapbook out and look through those pictures.”...
From the Thursday, March 26 World News on ABC:
Gibson's tease: “Virtual hall. A White House first. The President holds a town hall meeting on the Internet, fielding questions from across the country.”
The top of the subsequent story:CHARLES GIBSON: At the White House today, something never done before. As a candidate, Barack Obama was adept at using the Internet to raise money and get his message out. Now, as President, he's using the Internet again in a way that no President ever has before. Jake Tapper is at the White House tonight on the North lawn. Jake?Tapper also highlighted the marijuana question.JAKE TAPPER: Good evening, Charlie. Well, lately, White House officials have been making great efforts to have President Obama reach outside what they call the traditional media filter and speak directly to the American people and today's virtual town hall meeting is just the latest example. In lieu of boarding carbon-unfriendly Air Force One to hold town hall meetings around the country, today President Obama brought the mountain to Mohammed.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: When I was running for President I promised to open up the White House to the American people.
TAPPER: Some 93,000 people submitted more than 104,000 questions through the Internet. They also voted which questions should be asked from categories such as education, housing and health care reform.
MAN READING QUESTION: From Richard in California: “Why can we not have a universal health care system like many European countries?”....
—Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
→ No he didn't
Thu, 03/26/2009 - 19:43 ET by Cool ArrowBut it's interesting ABC now finds it completely acceptable to associate B. Hussein Obama with Mohammed.
LYDSEXICS UNTIE!
It was an odd saying to use
Thu, 03/26/2009 - 19:59 ET by ThatDudeIt was an odd saying to use given the fact that many believe him to be Muslim. However, it's a saying that's pretty commonly used. I want to see how he answered the marijuana question.
→ Dude
Thu, 03/26/2009 - 20:02 ET by Cool ArrowIn true Obama fashion, he giggled for a while, then answered it should not be introduced as an economic crop.
LYDSEXICS UNTIE!
That's a shame. It would
Fri, 03/27/2009 - 07:02 ET by ThatDudeThat's a shame. It would have brought more government income from an already large business. It seems to me that doing that makes more sense than creating all these "green" jobs. Oh well, leave it to our current President to consider every option, except the ones that may bring about some slight positive change.
ThatDude,
Fri, 03/27/2009 - 07:11 ET by AgnosticSpeaking of green jobs President Obama said that we have a shortage of Electricians in this country and we need more to install some of the energy monitoring and conserving devices. The outside of the government manipulated mortgage industry, the housing industry was the hardest hit in this recession and if I'm not mistaken many of those people that used have jobs building and refurbishing houses were probably electritians. Where did they go?
A person may be won over with logic and reason but the masses must be bought with spectacle and platitudes. - 2008 Elections
Counting heads
Fri, 03/27/2009 - 08:04 ET by GalvanicSpeaking of green jobs President Obama said that we have a shortage of Electricians in this country . . .
But according to his campaign staff, one too many plumbers.
And that AF1 is carbon-unfriendly
Fri, 03/27/2009 - 08:46 ET by YahooWatcherwith no mention of Nancy Pelosi using the USAF as SpeakerAirways.
Don't Tax Me, Bro.
And that AF1 is carbon-unfriendly
Fri, 03/27/2009 - 08:46 ET by YahooWatcherwith no mention of Nancy Pelosi using the USAF as SpeakerAirways.
Don't Tax Me, Bro.
ABC Needs to Set the Bar Little Higher
Thu, 03/26/2009 - 20:02 ET by HoosierEmGeeeez, it was nothing more than a repeat of what he feels comfortable with - sitting in a room full of people who celebrate his very presence in the world and answering preselected questions from his .gov website.
I don't
Thu, 03/26/2009 - 20:03 ET by MidAmericaI don't understand... How is it that these 'powerful' newscasts are losing audience? Nobody can do drivel the way these professionals do.
~Interesting use of that phrase
Thu, 03/26/2009 - 20:12 ET by choselife3xtoday President Obama brought the mountain to Mohammed
But he's not a Muslim, folks!
That high-pitched scream you hear is the troll under my heel.
Because those morons see
Thu, 03/26/2009 - 22:44 ET by TexasteacherBecause those morons see obama as God. Whichever one they choose to call him doesn't matter. Some see him as Jesus, some as God, some as allah, not many see him as buddha but they do worship his "chiseled pecs". All are infantile idiots who are searching for something in life to give them meaning. Trust me, that romance is completely one-sided.
How can such an incompetent person who hasn't done anything special with his life and has no skills in anything besides smoking and procreating be seen as such a 'visionary'??? Please trolls, please answer this! What makes him worth a s***?
obama's notion of bi-partisanship is telling conservatives to shut up and do what he wants.
gibson is a card carrying
Thu, 03/26/2009 - 20:17 ET by larry on LIhe/she
You had to register on the
Thu, 03/26/2009 - 20:51 ET by TN MomYou had to register on the white house web site to ask your questions.
Register with personal information: Name, Address, Email, City, State.
Online Comments and Personal Information: We treat your name, city, state, and any comments you provide as public information. We may, for example, provide compilations of your comments to national leaders and other individuals participating in our efforts, without disclosing email addresses. We may also make comments along with your city and state available to the press and public online.
(whitehouse.gov via michellemalkin.com)
Did ABC's Charles Gibson share this info with viewers?
I heard the first question to Obama was...
Thu, 03/26/2009 - 21:25 ET by jefflebowskiWhen are you going to resign? Wonder what the teleprompter told him to say?
Angry White Dude
www.angrwhitedude.com
So,,dont leave us hanging
Thu, 03/26/2009 - 21:36 ET by general companyWhen is he going to resign?
"Television is a freak show" Bernie Goldberg
Gibson +..
Thu, 03/26/2009 - 21:32 ET by ScrapironEvery time O'Dumbo unzippes his pants Gibson and 499 other left wing news hacks fall to they're knees. I thought Andrea Mitchell had dibs on it first. Who services MO while the media services O'Dumbo? Then that could be Shrillary's job.
Old, Retired and glad of it.
Scapiron
Thu, 03/26/2009 - 22:29 ET by well99Well if that is the case then the price of blue dresses will go up.Maybe that is his economic plan.
Uh, well...
Fri, 03/27/2009 - 04:13 ET by FranksamI'm pretty sure that Her Royal Clintoness doesn't do that sort of thing, if you know what I mean.
Why does every day
Thu, 03/26/2009 - 21:37 ET by 10ksnookerSeem like groundhog day. Another day, another teleprompter reading.
Jive talk has a really short shelf life, and the Obama shuck and jive act is wearing really thin.
ABC anchor Charles Gibson excitedly announced:
Thu, 03/26/2009 - 21:43 ET by JerExcitedly? I heard the newscast. It was Gibson's same old drab, monotonous tone he always uses--and that I listen to when I want to take a nap.
Jer
These questions were rigged
Thu, 03/26/2009 - 21:58 ET by Delsathe lady asking about when we will bring work back to the United
States and stop business from going over seas had to have been a union organizer.
All the questions were questions relating to his talking points from his campaign.
The questions were so obviously rigged, the O himself had to stop and make a comment on how the questions were selected.
NOT one serious question? Not one penetrating question?
NOT one adversarial question?
Googlers asked the questions?
Yup, I waz really impressed. NOT!
Obama uses the internet!
Thu, 03/26/2009 - 22:00 ET by KC MulvilleWow! He's grasped the ability to do ... well ... something that ... come to think of it ... everyone knows how to do.
That was my thought too
Fri, 03/27/2009 - 06:19 ET by motherbeltThat was my thought too KC...
They are just AMAZED that he uses available technology!!
You know, I wish he would stop campaigning and settle down and do that 2-letter word....J-O-B!!
How long are we going to have to watch this cheering section gush over his every word and move???
I didn't think it was physically possible, but this both sucks and blows. -Bart Simpson
Playing president
Fri, 03/27/2009 - 07:48 ET by KC MulvilleYeah, MB, it seems hard for this guy to stop campaigning.
Everyone (who cares about politics, anyway) has probably imagined what it would be like to be the president. You get to tell people what to do. When you speak, people jump. You can command armies and get TV facetime whenever you want it. If you're an ego freak, that's a powerful dream. But the presidency is a job, and there are things you just gotta do. You can't avoid those decisions by going back to the ego-stroking of the campaign.
He's still playing president. When he actually has to be president, he's in for a hell of a let-down.
It's purely calculation
Fri, 03/27/2009 - 08:22 ET by GalvanicWhen the Dems -- led by Dodd and Geithner -- began forming up for the circular firing squad over the deliberate Stimulus Bill language that permitted the AIG bonuses, Obama's handlers realized the safest place for him was to be out of Washington and back doing what the thing that enamored him to the majority of voters: campaigning. Of course, he eventually had to return, but that meant trying new stunts to reach out to the public, like this one.
He's even reaching back to campaign donors and supporters to help him sell his socialist agenda by bombarding the Congress with calls and EMail.
Unfortunately, too many Americans can't discern the difference between talking and accomplishing. Wrapped in his celebrity glow and praised by the media, Obama's staff is calculating that looking and sounding Presidential passes for acting Presidential. Hey, it worked for Bill Clinton, who still takes credit for things he didn't initiate and promises he never kept.
Obama voters desperately want to believe that he is what they had hoped he would be, and not just another slick talking politician.
Sign me up!
Thu, 03/26/2009 - 22:38 ET by JWFI feel it! I have seen the light!
At the White House today, something never done before.
I have heard much of this thing you call teh interwebs. I want to learn more. Bring me the interwebs. I command it.
Sincerely,
a Veteran that was just born yesterday.
"At the White House today,
Thu, 03/26/2009 - 22:48 ET by Texasteacher"At the White House today, something never done before."
I would love to see that statement followed by:
"A president decided to be fiscally responsible"
"obama delirious with fright; he was afraid the American people would see through his bulls***"
obama's notion of bi-partisanship is telling conservatives to shut up and do what he wants.
Use of the Web as Obama did today . ..
Thu, 03/26/2009 - 22:46 ET by CKA in Red State USA. . .leaves one of of every five Ameican households out of his game.
I guess unification is, no surprise, whatever he means it to be, not what the rest of us might envision.
These libs lie for the sake
Fri, 03/27/2009 - 03:21 ET by ConservativeRexThese libs lie for the sake of lying. I distinctly remember them saying that Obama was not going to use torture under any means. Yet, here he is on television everytime you turn the damn thing on. That, for you libs information, is torture.
Tapper better beware.........
Fri, 03/27/2009 - 05:05 ET by old croIn lieu of boarding carbon-unfriendly Air Force One to hold town hall meetings around the country, today President Obama brought the mountain to Mohammed.
The insane "arab street" will want his head for daring to mention "Duh1" in the same sentance with "The One" while the mean green ween E's celebrate his sacrifice for mother earth.
Big Brother Obama
Fri, 03/27/2009 - 05:49 ET by adamsmithAm I the only one who feels that this Obama administration and it's peddling of the socialist/populist/communist agenda is becoming a surreal scene heavily reminiscent of Huxley's "Brave New World" and Orwell's "1984"? First the telepromters, then a constant presence on television screens, and now answering on the internet. How long before everyone has a mandatory photo of "Big Brother Obama" for their screensaver? All of this gets creepier by the day...I want my country back..................
BrentBaker: You do a great job.....
Fri, 03/27/2009 - 06:07 ET by sbourgI love seeing these reports and quotes from the nat'l nightly news. Personally, it is PAINFUL to watch, and I do only once a month or so to verify how pathetic they are. There is virtually NO important news about how Obama/Pelosi/Reid continually strategize to grow the power and scope of govt, which then results in further damage to the taxpayers and the economy. The "nightly news" is truly disgraceful. Thank God for the great internet sites! (& Wash Times newspaper!).
It was curious to use the
Fri, 03/27/2009 - 07:57 ET by eaglewingz08It was curious to use the Mohammad reference given how aggressive the press has been in cutting off any discussion of Obama's muslim roots.
ABC could have made a Christian reference, 'Obama breezed through this virtual town hall meeting, like he was walking on water...'
As for the questions themselves, they were pretty pathetic and the ones accepted were illogical and based on false premises. The health care question claiming the Euro health care doesn't dole out care based upon cost but need, and stating that we should have the same system shows that questioner to be illiterate. Mr. Obama's failure to state that EU care is cost constrained not need based, also shows either his lack of knowledge of such systems, or his duplicity, either way, it does not reflect well on the 'smartest' President evah.
As for ABC's hyping this megaflop performance, anything Mr. Obama does, must be the 'first ever' because there have been no other African American Presidents. Thus, by lib racism standards, everything Mr. Obama does is sui generis, and must be the best for the country, cause otherwise, they'd be racist in casting criticim of the ONE.
"White House officials have
Fri, 03/27/2009 - 10:55 ET by Chris Norman"White House officials have been making great efforts to have President Obama reach outside what they call the traditional media filter"
Ha-ha, ha-ha, ha-ha. Oh, please. Like Obama's words have been negatively relayed through some "media filter". They put that filter away about two months ago.
The "Mainstream" Media: By liberals. For liberals.
I saw...
Fri, 03/27/2009 - 11:43 ET by StarAZThe president walking around in front of that ugly brassy curtain yakking. And yakking. And finger pointing...What was new?
Deception/Marijuana
Fri, 03/27/2009 - 22:00 ET by UgottaBkiddinMeOf course he'll legalize marijuana.....what better way to contol people than to keep them stoned. Nobody will have any motivation to resist the communist takeover, nobody will want to work which will help keep people on welfare, everybody will have an "I don't give a sh*t attitude. And it will stimulate the economy......stock in Doritos and Mountain Dew will skyrocket. Chocolate will be worth more than gold.
As for the apparent idiocy of his followers even when presented with undeniable evidence of the truth is this. The Bible says that "in the end times, God will send a spirit of deception". Obviously he has..........
Ugotta... I'm with
Fri, 03/27/2009 - 22:03 ET by bigtimerUgotta...
I'm with ya...
Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart