With President-elect Donald Trump set to take the oath of office in less than a day, CBS Evening News ended Thursday with anchor Scott Pelley turning the microphone over to former anchor Bob Schieffer to pontificate about how he imagines President Barack Obama. “In the early days, most Americans never saw their presidents or even their likenesses,” he began his gushy rambling, “In the modern era, we can't avoid them.”
“For me, the enduring images of Barack Obama came in those first minutes as president, when millions of people, probably the largest group ever to descend on Washington, saw America's first black president sworn into office,” he admitted as video from Obama’s inauguration played.
Schieffer dismissed rightful dissent of the president and tried to speak for all of America, declaring, “Whether you were Democrat or Republican, whether you voted for him or not, when you saw the joy in those faces, it was hard not to feel the country had done a good thing.”
“As modern presidents do, he went on to share our best of times, victories small and large,” he opined while playing a clip of the president announcing the raid to get Osama bin Laden. “And he was there to share our worst days, pictures forever etched in our hearts and minds,” again Schieffer played a clip, but it was of Obama crying after the Sandy Hook massacre.
“He had accomplishments to be proud of-- getting people back to work for one thing. But many times, few things went his way,” he whined with video of Congressional Republicans rolling.
Ironically, Schieffer complained that Obama was “Saddled with an oversized, unrealistic list of expectations and promises he was assigned superhero status before even settling in.” But Obama himself was responsible for that. Schieffer conveniently left out any clip of Obama’s 2008 acceptance speech where he proclaimed that “…this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal...”
He then argued that Obama’s legacy was set in the first few minutes after he took the oath of office, and it was a purely racial one. According to Schieffer:
Maybe that's when we saw his real legacy. After that, African American grandmothers could finally say to their grandsons and granddaughters what my granny said to me, "See? One day, you can be president, too." Until Barack Obama, there was no proof of that.
Schieffer’s rant seemed to be a last-ditch effort to try and frame President Obama’s legacy before Trump and Republicans could undo the damage. Just as the liberal media glorify Obama and help create the expectations he took umbrage with eight years later.
Transcript below:
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CBS Evening News
January 19, 2017
6:56:05 PM EasternSCOTT PELLEY: Bob Schieffer has spent a lot of time covering Washington, not the president, the city. But he has covered 10 presidents, and it's now going on 11. Bob.
BOB SCHIEFFER: Thank you, Scott. In the early days, most Americans never saw their presidents or even their likenesses. In the modern era, we can't avoid them. Their images are everywhere. They are part of our lives.
[Cuts to video]
BARACK OBAMA: I Barack Hussein Obama
SCHIEFFER: For me, the enduring images of Barack Obama came in those first minutes as president, when millions of people, probably the largest group ever to descend on Washington, saw America's first black president sworn in to office.
JOHN ROBERTS: So help you God?
OBAMA: So help me God.
ROBERTS: Congratulations, Mr. President.
SCHIEFFER: Whether you were Democrat or Republican, whether you voted for him or not, when you saw the joy in those faces, it was hard not to feel the country had done a good thing. As modern presidents do, he went on to share our best of times, victories small and large.
OBAMA: The United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin laden.
SCHIEFFER: And he was there to share our worst days, pictures forever etched in our hearts and minds.
OBAMA: Every time I think about those kids.
SCHIEFFER: He had accomplishments to be proud of-- getting people back to work for one thing. But many times, few things went his way.
OBAMA: There's some real collaboration.
SCHIEFFER: He showed so little zest for the give and take and deal making that legislating requires, I once asked him if he even liked his job. He was ready for the question.
OBAMA: Let me tell you, Bob, I love this job.
SCHIEFFER: Saddled with an oversized, unrealistic list of expectations and promises he was assigned superhero status before even settling in. He won the Nobel peace prize before actually doing anything of note. Maybe not surprising, since he was the one who said...
OBAMA: Yes we can.
SCHIEFFER: Beyond what he did or didn't do, I keep thinking back to those first minutes of his presidency. Maybe that's when we saw his real legacy. After that, African American grandmothers could finally say to their grandsons and granddaughters what my granny said to me, "See? One day, you can be president, too." Until Barack Obama, there was no proof of that.
