Sunday, December 28, 2008

"Obama bristles as the bubble closes in on him"

"The media glare, the constant security appendage and the sheer production that has become a morning jog or a hankering for an ice cream cone – it’s been closing in on Barack Obama for some time.

"Now the president-elect appears increasingly conscious of the confines of his new position, bristling at the routine demands of press coverage and beginning to chafe at boundaries that are only going to get smaller."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/16882

I understand the need for security around the president or president-elect, but does he need to be followed around full time by a cortege of reporters? The story above notes that Obama ordered a tuna melt sandwich on 12 grain bread as reporters hurriedly scribbled down his every action. Do we really need to know what he is eating, right down to the type of bread? More importantly, what does such prying do to those who are constantly spied upon? Our leaders are further and further insulated from the realities of our day-to-day life by the people who are supposed to be keeping the public informed, but in reality they are looking for the slightest scrap of dirt, any possible misstep, or other unfortunate incident to trumpet to the world as news. These are the same yahoos who immediately stick a camera and microphone in the face of survivors of a tragedy, or swarm like locust to feed on suffering anywhere in the world. As they point to the wrongdoing of others like kindergarten snitches, they never once look at themselves or the immeasurable harm that they inflict upon others in their quest to manufacture news. To me, today's journalists are about the same as the politicians themselves: just another group of liars and self-serving obstructionists that we the people have to wade through in our pursuit of the truth.

11 comments:

OrbsCorbs said...

Gee, I wonder what that sandwich looked like when it came out his other end? What, no photos from the AP?

hale-bopp said...

What he eats IS important...do you think a he would have won the Iowa Caucuses if he was a vegetarian who only ate locally grown organic produce? His next three meals have to be beef, pork and chicken to keep all special interests happy.

In the 1992 election cycle, Bush I had the infamous encounter with a supermarket checkout scanner. Many made fun of him, but at the time I knew that he pretty much wasn't allowed to shop for himself since 1980 when he became VP. He was more a victim of the system and it has only gotten worse since then.

kkdither said...

Think about the effect it will have on his two daughters. They will never lead a normal life.

It does make me angry when the camera is shoved at parents who just lost a child and they break down from emotion. Why must they show this? How much do we need to see? Reminds me of the song, Dirty Laundry.

OrbsCorbs said...

It's all about $. Always has been, always will be. What burns me up is when they don't just admit that but instead bullshit us with platitudes and lies about freedom of the press and journalistic integrity. If you lie about your intentions from the very start, how can anyone be expected to believe the BS that you print or broadcast? I very seriously wonder if they believe their own lies - the deluded leading the blind.

Beejay said...

And, Orbs, of course, the famous 'right to know.' What right do we have to know what he ate for lunch???

KK, I agree with you...let's see how these two young girls get treated by the press. I would hope they will allow them to be children. I do not want to read about them behaving as normal children. I want to hear nothing much about them. Let them grow up with as much normalcy as they can have given the circumstances.

The press has over-stepped their bounds way too many times with respect to the children of our elected officials.

Anonymous said...

I guess Osama should have thought about these things before he put his name on the ballot. No sympathies here. This is nothing new, where have you all been living?? Under a rock?? Get over it.

OrbsCorbs said...

How about you try to get over the election? The blog is about the excuse for journalists that we have these days, not Obama. Everything said could be applied to Bush or McCain had he won.

hale-bopp said...

There are some differences, orbs. Obama has a bit of a Crackberry addiction. Since all presidential emails are public record, he is probably going to have to give it up or at least very careful in how he uses it. George W. Bush sent out a famous email right before he took office to his email contacts telling them he would not be able to email them anymore.

Obama is our geekiest president yet. I always wonder about the White House web surfing logs...should they be/are they public record? Could we find out the web sites Bush and now Obama visits?

Huck Finn said...

Presidential porn? I could see the ads now.

drewzepmeister said...

I could slam the paparazzi in so ways. They are the scum of earth. I don't really want to know what a politician or celebrity eats,sleeps,or takes a crap. I realize they're famous,but give them and their family a little space!

Anonymous said...

Orbs Dorbs: Did you read where I typed "this is nothing new"?? That should have given you a clue that this applies to any "celebrity", not just Osama.