The insulated Beltway Bubble strikes again...it's all about the media, dontcha know? Without benefit of even having yet taken the oath of office (and near daily press briefings notwithstanding), Chris Matthews asks his panel of pundits whether Barack Obama will be worse than Richard Nixon and George Bush in keeping the press at arm's length.
Can he be any more biased by evoking the two (Republican, mind you, let's not lose sight of comparing apples to oranges) administration fighting for the title of Worst. Presidency. Ever.? How about comparing Obama to Jimmy Carter, a Democratic president who was hobbled by constant belittling by media types and the conservative infrastructure being laid in the media? Matthews points to the message discipline that Obama's campaign exercised as proof-positive that Obama has no love or trust for the media. How dare he not have leakers in his inner circle? But honestly, can you blame Obama for his distance from the media? What has the media done to earn trust? Cherry-pick snippets of Rev. Wright's sermons to try to demonize Obama as an America-hater? And Matthews seems more concerned with whether the press gets access to leaks within the administration than whether Obama fulfills his promise to the American people of transparency.
Hate to break this to you, Tweety, but the days where the media acts as the Fourth Estate and represents the American people died many years ago. That's why most Americans no longer trust YOU, not Obama. Because even with most Americans believing that we must pull out of Iraq, the media still frames it as an open question and continues to validate neo-con philosophy even though the country has shown by its votes that they favor the Democratic stances and stays conspicuously quiet on issues such as accountability and morality. Obama's responsibility is to the American people, not the D.C. cocktail class who are already inventing issues for a man yet to even assume the office. You've abdicated your responsibility long ago.
