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Remarkable story out today from that left-wing rag The Politico* about the similarities between the ways that President Obama and President Bush responded to very similar failed airplane attacks, and the strikingly different ways that the two commanders-in-chief were treated by your "liberal" American media. This passage boggles the mind on light of what we see today:
An Agence France Presse story was one of the few to call attention to the silence from Bush and other top officials.
“Four days after Richard Colvin Reid, 28, tried to set fire to his explosives laden shoes on a trans-Atlantic flight, neither the White House nor other authorities had spoken officially on the alleged would-be suicide bombing,” AFP wrote on December 27, 2001.
During a wide-ranging 25-minute press availability with Bush the next day, reporters asked more than 15 questions, including queries about the president’s New Year’s Eve plans and a tree he’d planted. Bush was never asked about Reid, but mentioned the attempt in passing.
I'd explain this except I don't really understand it myself, despite having worked more nearly three decades in the media. It does make a difference that Democrats were highly deferential to Bush because U.S. troops were waging war in Afghanistan in December 2001, while Republicans are highly critical of Obama today...because we're still waging war in Afghanistan?
* Sarcasm.
Everybody with a brain realizes tha Obama is nothing but the "chic" version of Bush. The media prefers the image of a hip, black, young man from Chicago to an older, white guy with a slight drawl from Texas. Underneath the contrasting facades is pretty much the same, politics and expediancy always trumping the Constitution and thrift. But the Obama image makes the media feel good while the Bush image reminds people that "country boys can survive".— Mark Glaeser- I prefer to think that Obama is acting like Bush now because he has access to information and understands the issues, unlike candidate Obama and especially the ignorant leftists. Also he is now accountable and no amount of media spin can absolve him from that as it could during the campaign.— tr88
Comment removed.
Maybe it wasn't as ambiguous where Bush stood on terrorists being terrorists. With Obama, we're not sure if they are being treated as "alleged suspects", "suspected people of interest", "targets of investigation", "lone actors", or "freedom fighters". Treating terrorists as common criminals instead of the enemy in a war will result in ambiguity that begs to be clarified.— Mr. Smith- Comment removed.
- Does the underwear bomber have the right to an attorney? This is a critical question in how Obama intends to defend America. Was the Undibomber read Miranda rights? Or does this Administration intend to find out everything it can from him, not to get a conviction, but to prevent future attacks from succeeding. This is the simple calculus of the different approaches of the Bush and Obama administrations.— Mr. Smith
- -----{ The media prefers the image of a hip, black, young man from Chicago to an older, white guy with a slight drawl from Texas. {----------} because one site criticizes Obama this proves the media is not bias?? {----------} Maybe it wasn't as ambiguous where Bush stood on terrorists being terrorists. {------- Wow! Conservatives are so brainwashed by the "Run for your lives, it's the vast left wing media" conspiracy theories that then can't even understand your point, Will. 4 out of 4 "conservative" posters completely missed it. Let's try all caps, shall we? OBAMA IS GETTING HAMMERED BY MULTIPLE SOURCES FOR HIS RESPONSE TO THE RECENT FAILED ATTACK, AND BUSH WAS BARELY EVEN ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT IT, BY MULTIPLE MEDIA OUTLETS, EVEN THOUGH THEIR RESPONSES WERE SIMILAR. Try again, fellas. Maybe, for once, in the entire history of Attytood, you can actually deal with the facts about your conspiracy theory? You know, instead of whining like pack of 4th grade schoolgirls (or is that hyenas)? LOL! You boyz are hilarious.— Talking point sleuth
- ------} The problem is that Obama came out with a statement 3 DAYS after the event happened. {----- LOL! Classic. And make that 5 out of 5. Hey, Thugster - which part of --SNIP-- “Four days after Richard Colvin Reid, 28, tried to set fire to his explosives laden shoes on a trans-Atlantic flight, neither the White House nor other authorities had spoken officially on the alleged would-be suicide bombing,” --SNIP-- did you not understand? Bush didn't respond for four days, and you say it doesn't explode your myth about the vast left-wing media conspiracy BECAUSE OBAMA RESPONDED IN FEWER DAYS? Outstanding.— Talking point sleuth
- Classic "conservative" notion of accountability on display in this quote: --snip-- Asked Tuesday about how Obama’s response differed from Bush’s, King said it was his “recollection” that senior Bush Administration officials such as Attorney General John Ashcroft did speak out about Reid’s case soon after he was arrested. However, POLITICO could not locate any public comment from Ashcroft before he held a press conference when Reid was indicted nearly a month later. --snip-- Once again, when confronted with hard data that your sniveling and whining is purely partisan, and that your imagined left-wing media conspiracy is a joke, you just make some sh*t up. LOL!— Talking point sleuth
- Can you imagine how the "state controlled left-wing media" would have been all over Bush if he had taken three days to respond to a failed terrorist attack aboard an airplane? Oh. Wait.— Talking point sleuth
- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
- This is even funnier. Here's what John Ashcroft had to say after the Richard Reid incident: “We've asked citizens to be vigilant...The success of this strategy was made clear by yesterday's indictment of Richard Reid+...."Success of this strategy" - in other words, "just like we planned it". Oh well. Hypocrisy is mandatory for admissions into the 'nut 'bag club, so I shouldn't be surprised, I guess.— enabler1
- It's noteworthy that to criticize Mr. Bush on his war on terror policies you have to go all the way back to Richard Reid when the war on terror was just getting its footing. Under President Bush we had seven long years of freedom from fear of terrorism. No attacks were successful, and most thwarted attacks we knew nothing about. Terror became so far removed from our psyches that we blamed Bush for using terror for political ends and for forgetting about domestic needs, while his popularity plummeted. Now, in Barack Obama's first term we have had a horrible act of domestic terrorism (Fort Hood) and a near fatal attack on a U.S. Airplane. Not to mention the ongoing conflict with an Iranian government that clearly does not take us seriously. That's just in the first year; imagine how bad it will be when Obama's terror policies get their footing. The debate over terrorism policy in this country is tainted horribly. Every time you accuse Democrats of being feckless and ineffective against terrorists, they fire back with "do you honestly think we want terror to happen?" Of course we don't. No serious person thinks Barack Obama wants terrorism to happen, but we need to take a serious look at his policies and ask ourselves how they may be contributing to the proliferation of terrorism and terrorists who clearly no longer take the United States seriously. George W. Bush was hampered by a lot of things. He wouldn't have gotten elected dog catcher if his name wasn't Bush, and he had a tin ear when it came to domestic concerns. But history will likely remember him as a man who kept America safe, that is if there is any America left to write a history about when Barack Obama is done.— jmoore1767
- Will, you dont understand it? Voters in America elected a superstar into office, mezza-Muslim, Harvard educated, promising Hope and Change. So now the media, who helped him win, wants to validate their choice and show America somne of that Hope and Change. I'm surprised Oprah wasnt available for comments...— AngryWhiteMale
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About Will Bunch
Will's new book: Learn about it here and purchase it here.
Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, blogs about his obsessions, including national and local politics and world affairs, the media, pop music, the Philadelphia Phillies, soccer and other sports, not necessarily in that order.
Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, blogs about his obsessions, including national and local politics and world affairs, the media, pop music, the Philadelphia Phillies, soccer and other sports, not necessarily in that order.
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