Media Hatchet Job

Now that Barack Obama is the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination the hatchet jobs in the media have started to poke their ugly heads. That's politics. The problem is not that there are stories about Obama out there which portray him negatively from a political standpoint. The problem that I have is that the stories paint him as some sort of huckster. A snake oil salesman or a political version of David Koresh.

"Obamaphilia", "Obamamania", "The Cult of Obama", and so on.....

1. I am a vocal supporter of Barack Obama. I am not a cult member. I am not a blind idealist with stars in my eyes. I resent that representation of my support.

2. Obama is running for president. He is not president. Running for president is largely an exercise of inspiration. In this era of televised public discourse, wonkish policy discussions don't play. His campaign is brilliant. It has excited 100s of thousands of new voters. Isn't that something to be happy about? We've seen an exponential degradation of civic participation with each successive generation. This is different and it should be something we celebrate. If you want to see his detailed policy platform go to his website and read it. If you want Hillary's, go to her website. Reading, exercising your literacy, will give you a far better understanding of the issues than any 5-10 minute segment on television.

3. He doesn't have any substance? Well, he is certainly short on experience. He hasn't been plugged into the federal government for very long. He's young and he's probably untested at this level. Is he alone? No. Will he be left on his own as president? No. That's why you have advisers and cabinet level executives. He knows what his strengths and weaknesses are. He will seek out advice where he needs it, and he will trust his own intelligence and judgment on things he understands very clearly. We elected Bush twice. Do you trust his experience? He ran several oil companies into the ground while high on cocaine and did a mediocre job as governor of Texas. He didn't listen to anyone as president and went against every bit of good advice that was out there. That's why the environment is going to hell, the war has cost us trillions of dollars and thousands of lives, and the economy is in the tank. Obama's style is a big part of his substance.

Get your heads out of your asses people.