The best, or worst, depending on your view, “Obamagasm” clips of the past ten years. The Media Research Center’s DisHonors Awards and gala back on Thursday night, September 22, featured a collection of the media’s most over the top fawning for Barack Obama.
Master of Ceremonies Cal Thomas, who came on stage in a costume to match the evening’s Italian theme, set up the compilation:
“A staple of these awards, for the past eight years, has been the Obamagasm Award given to that reporter experiencing the greatest thrill up his or her leg over this man. Now, this being his final year, thank the Lord – we thought it would never come – we decided to put together the best of the best and tonight we’re proud to offer you the ultimate climatic Obamagasm.”
Tim Donner put together the video based on clips I gathered, with the help of the MRC’s Rich Noyes, from the MRC’s video archive.
> All the NewsBusters posts about the 2016 gala and awards held before more than 700 attendees at the National Building Museum.
> MRC.org rundown of the event with videos.
Here’s the text for the 17 clips in the video compilation:
- America Loves Obama:
“You can see it in the crowds. The thrill, the hope. How they surge toward him. You’re looking at an American political phenomenon.”
— ABC Nightline co-anchor Terry Moran, November 6, 2006.“You know you are the equivalent of a rock star in politics....They were moved by you. People were crying. You tapped into something. You touched people.”
— Meredith Vieira’s to Democratic Senator Barack Obama on NBC’s Today, October 19, 2006.“You would have to say his number one accomplishment has been to inspire a sense of confidence in the country.”
— ABC’s George Stephanopoulos talking about Obama’s first 100 days on World News, April 29, 2009.
- General Fawning:
“Today the audacity of hope had its rendezvous with destiny. No mere endorsement this, more like a political anointment from the Kennedys, merging ideals from two different eras.”
— ABC’s David Wright on Nightline, Jan. 28, 2008.“What the Obamas bring to Buckingham Palace is a charisma not seen since the Kennedys, when the First Lady, Jacqueline, dazzled the royal court.”
— Reporter Keith Miller on NBC’s Today, April 1, 2009.“Is Barack Obama going for it? Is he set on becoming one of the great presidents in history? I’m not talking about Mount Rushmore, but perhaps the level right below it.’”
— MSNBC host Chris Matthews on Hardball, February 18, 2013.
“I’ll tell you what I think God thinks of the Affordable Care Act — it’s a big ‘amen.’”
– Ed Schultz answering viewers’ questions on MSNBC’s The Ed Show, December 4, 2013“Mr. President, Mrs. Obama. There is a photograph of you [hugging] that went viral, became the most shared photograph in the history of Twitter. How do you keep the fire going?”
– Barbara Walters to the Obamas in an interview excerpt shown on ABC’s World News and Nightline, December 26, 2012.
- So Smart:
“I have to tell you, Charlie, I was blown away by President Obama’s grasp of the subject, how he connected the dots, how he answered the questions without any script.”
— Dr. Tim Johnson on ABC’s World News, March 5, 2009.“Long before he was running for President, he had written the answer [to questions about past drug use] in a book called Dreams from My Father. It stands today as the finest literary work ever authored by a President of the United States.”
— Host Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNBC’s The Last Word, February 3, 2015.“His gift is unique. I don’t think we’ve ever had a President, save Lincoln, who is as great a speech writer as this man.”
— Correspondent Andrea Mitchell following Barack Obama’s speech as aired on MSNBC’s live Democratic convention coverage, July 27, 2016.
- Journalistic Admiration:
“You’re so confident, Mr. President, and so focused. Is your confidence ever shaken?”
— CBS’s Katie Couric in exchange w/ Obama shown on The Early Show, July 22, 2009.“I have to tell you, you know, it’s part of reporting this case, this election, the feeling most people get when they hear a Barack Obama speech. My — I felt this thrill going up my leg. I mean, I don’t have that too often.”
— Chris Matthews during MSNBC’s coverage of the Virginia, Maryland and Washington D.C. primaries, February 12, 2008.“When you watch the president like that, I always feel he’s got so many plusses, doesn’t he? In a sense, he’s personable, he’s handsome, he can be funny. You know, abroad he has this great image for America. A lot of things are just perfect about Barack Obama.”
— Host Piers Morgan to Obama strategist David Axelrod on CNN’s Piers Morgan Tonight, December 5, 2011.“He’s never done anything wrong. He’s the perfect father, the perfect husband, the perfect American.”
— MSNBC’s Chris Matthews talking about President Obama on Hardball, July 17, 2012.“What you’ve done with your climate change plan is the most significant thing any single human being has ever done to protect the planet.”
— Bear Grylls w/ Barack Obama in Alaska on NBC’s Running Wild With Bear Grylls, Dec. 17, 2015.“Reagan was all about America and he talked about it. Obama is ‘we are above that now, we’re not just parochial, we’re not just chauvinistic, we’re not just provincial. We stand for something.’ I mean, in a way, Obama’s standing above the country, above — above the world. He’s sort of God.”
— Newsweek’s Evan Thomas to host Chris Matthews on MSNBC’s Hardball, June 5, 2009.
