Media Ignore Anti-Obama Protests In Brazil, Report Him Playing Soccer With Kids In Rio

Union protests against a Republican governor as well as mass demonstrations aimed at an Egyptian President have been the central focus of our news media the past two months.

But as Big Government's Susan Swift reported Sunday, Brazilians protesting the imminent arrival of Barack Obama hours after he launched missiles at a country that didn't attack America is not considered newsworthy to his many fans in the press here:

In 2007 the MSNBC headline screamed “Protests greet Bush upon arrival in Brazil” and The Guardian one-upped it with “Angry crowds hunt Bush as protests mark start of Latin America tour”.  Fast forward to 2011 as another U.S. President faces identical protests and riots.   Funny thing, though, this time there is absolute stone cold silence on these protests and riots from the New York Times, CNN, AP, YahooNews,  MSNBC, The Guardian, etc. (Politico to its credit reports it).

Politico did indeed offer the following report Friday evening:

Brazilians protesting the imminent visit of President Barack Obama struck the U.S. consulate in Rio de Janeiro with a Molotov cocktail Friday, prompting police to respond with rubber bullets, according to local news accounts.

The U.S. Consulate in Rio said one security guard was treated at a local hospital for minor injuries after the brief demonstration. A radio reporter was hit by the rubber bullets, Brazilian newspaper O Globo reported.

The crowd was protesting U.S. participation in enforcing a no-fly zone over Libya, local reports said. While the demonstration outside the U.S. consulate didn't last long, some reports said protests in other parts of the city lasted longer.

This was actually preceded by an Agence France-Presse article published Friday morning and linked by the Drudge Report at 2 PM that afternoon:

President Barack Obama has cancelled a public speech he was scheduled to deliver Sunday in a Rio square during his upcoming visit to Brazil, the US embassy in Brasilia said. [...]

On Thursday, members of an advance US security team were seen inspecting the surroundings of Cinelandia, where anti-US banners could be seen hanging from a road-side fence.

Some social and union groups have declared Obama a "persona non grata" and called for a protest, accusing him of a "bellicose policy of occupation" in foreign countries, and of attacking people "in the name of the war on terror."

So, American press outlets were advised no later than early Friday afternoon that Obama had cancelled a public speech in Brazil possibly due to pending protests, and were further informed by Politico that such demonstrations had indeed come to fruition.

On Saturday, China's Xinhua reported the Brazilian Workers' Party disapproved these demonstrations:

Brazil's ruling Workers' Party on Friday said it disapproved of its members who want to participate in demonstrations against U.S. President Barack Obama during his visit to the South American country this weekend.

Humberto Costa, ruling party leader in the Senate, recommended that the party commit to act as the corner stone of Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff's government, adding that participation in anti-Obama protests would be subject to a political incoherence.

"The party must act as the main ally of the government and not just as a party linked to social movements," he said.

Organizations including the Movement of Landless Workers, the National Students Union and a number of labor groups issued a manifesto declaring Obama a "persona non grata" and promised to organize demonstrations on Sunday during his visit to Rio de Janeiro.

Breitbart published a video on Saturday of Brazilian military members breaking up such an anti-Obama protest:

You would think given the media's recent fascination with virtually every protest going on around the globe this would have been right up their collective alley.

Apparently not, as LexisNexis and Google news searches have identified that with the exception of Politico and Forbes.com, no major American media outlet bothered reporting these protests.

From what I can tell, through Sunday evening, not one report concerning these demonstrations was filed by ABC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, NBC, NPR, or PBS. In print, I find absolutely nothing including our wire services.

Not one word.

Readers are reminded that whenever former President George W. Bush was greeted with protests abroad, America's press would cover it like it was a Super Bowl.

And, of course, the demonstrations against Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker have been on the press's center stage for over a month.

But when a beloved Democrat President is protested in a foreign land hours after he orders missile strikes on a country that didn't attack us, crickets.

On the other hand, Obama playing soccer with some kids in Rio de Janeiro did get the attention of media outlets such as the Associated Press, the Boston Globe, the Chicago Tribune, CNN, the Christian Science Monitor, the Daily News, the Los Angeles Times, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and the Washington Post

And people wonder why this President's poll numbers remain as high as they do despite mass dissatisfaction with his policies: his sycophant devotees in the press do everything in their power to shield the public from any criticism of Obama while hyping every possible positive human interest story involving him, his wife, and his children.

Must be nice to be treated this way by media that are supposed to scrutinize every step you take with a fine-tooth comb.

Readers are advised that ABC has yet to post transcripts for any of its news programs since Sunday morning's "This Week."