MEDIA WARRIORS FOR OBAMA

Having said all this, I am compelled to say that there were and there still are definitely “Media Warriors for Obama,” who helped to make the Obama quest for the presidency a very successful one.  Sitting on top of that list is none other than Keith Olbermann of MSNBC’s Countdown, followed by Daily Kos founder, Markos Moulitsas, Huffingtonost.com founder Arianna Huffington, Joshia Micah Marshall of “Talkingpointsmemo” Chris Matthews of MSNBC’s ‘Hardball’, Rachel Maddow of the MSNBC and of course the jedreport’s Jed. 

I am sure everybody knew where they were when the networks called the presidential victory of Barack Obama as the president-elect of the United States of America.  But before getting to this moment, I must say what I was doing all day, I was busy terrorizing anybody who called me, particularly women friends.  I had this feeling, call it superstition, that if I some how talk to women that day, that I might lose the election for Obama.  In fact, my wife had said some of her friends were coming to watch the results with us, I told her emphatically no.  If her friends did come, I would rather get a room in a hotel and watch it by myself.  She protested, “I am a woman, you know.” “You are my wife, you are different,” I shot back.

So, what has this got to do with the title of this blog.  Well, it has everything to do with it because depending on the channel I was watching, that determined whether I would be happy or not. 

Let me come to the point: There is the accusation that the media was in the tank for Barack Obama in this election (translation - the media wanted Obama to win this election).  I have read two particularly one-sided articles by the so-called Ombudsman of the Washington Post newspaper, the first accusing the paper of having too many photographs of Obama from favorable angles, while portraying McCain unfavorably, as well as having a lot more photos of Obama.  Her second beef, after the elections, was that the Post ran too many favorable articles on Obama than on McCain.

While we are at it, of how the media was in the tank for Obama, we should remember that it was the New York Times that first published the non-connection between Bill Ayres and Obama, which gave rise to the Republicans and to Sarah Palin’s “Obama palling with terrorists” comments.  It provided the Republicans with a major weapon with which to attack Obama, and could have derailed his campaign if the American public was not so involved in thinking about their financial problems.  I was intrigued to read from the same New York Times, that it was the McCain campaign that pushed the story on them.

I found it rather disingenuous when Bill Keller, executive editor of the Times responded to criticism of their coverage by saying that the paper was “motivated to report out the Ayers link because the McCain campaign has been pushing it - not the other way around.

“We’ve reported the Ayers relationship before, and we had it on our to-do list for a while to take a more comprehensive look,” Keller told reporters.  “When the McCain campaign began to make it a major focal point of ads and stump speeches, we decided the time was right.” In other words, just because a campaign was peddling some falsehoods, then a so-called newspaper of record had to provide that campaign with unfounded ammunition to continue with their attack.

I am saying this to disprove the notion that the media was in the tank for Barack Obama.  In fact, come to think of it, there were many journalists who McCain had referred to as his base.  Somebody like Time Magazine’s Mark Halperin never saw anything good that Obama did.  No matter what ridiculous steps that McCain took, you could be sure Halperin would turn around and tell you how it was to the disadvantage of Obama. 

To drive this point, here’s Steve Benen of Salon.com, “Apr. 15, 2008 | We’ve known for a while that so many political reporters fawn over John McCain that the media is often considered “McCain’s base,” but Dana Milbank’s latest piece suggests news outlets are anxious to solidify the relationship.

Appearing before the nation’s newspaper editors yesterday, AP chairman Dean Singleton pressed Barack Obama on whether he would send more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, where “Obama bin Laden is still at large.” McCain’s treatment was slightly different.

McCain’s moderators, the AP’s Ron Fournier and Liz Sidoti, greeted McCain with a box of Dunkin’ Donuts. “We spend quite a bit of time with you on the back of the Straight Talk Express asking you questions, and what we’ve decided to do today was invite everyone else along on the ride,” Sidoti explained. “We even brought you your favorite treat.”

McCain opened the offering. “Oh, yes, with sprinkles!” he said.

Sidoti passed him a cup. “A little coffee with a little cream and a little sugar,” she said.

This is neither a joke nor an exaggeration. ThinkProgress even has a video.

So, in March, McCain gives political reporters free barbecue, and in April, the nation’s leading newspaper editors give McCain free doughnuts (with sprinkles!) and coffee.

There’s something about this that undermines the notion of objective and detached journalism.”

Having said all this, I am compelled to say that there were and there still are definitely “Media Warriors for Obama,” who helped to make the Obama quest for the presidency a very successful one.  Sitting on top of that list is none other than Keith Olbermann of MSNBC’s Countdown, followed by Daily Kos founder, Markos Moulitsas, Huffingtonost.com founder Arianna Huffington, Joshia Micah Marshall of “Talkingpointsmemo” Chris Matthews of MSNBC’s ‘Hardball’, Rachel Maddow of the MSNBC and of course the jedreport’s Jed.  Before you start accusing me of only thinking that whites were the only media warriors for Obama, let me say that these were the individuals I read their blogs and watched their programs regularly.  I never saw Keith welcome anybody to his program that would disagree with him on any issue about Barack Obama.  These media warriors deserve the gratitude of the African community.  In fact, I believe we should plan a big reception and invite these individuals to thank them for electing our son president of the United States of America.

Well, the elections are over.  Those who wondered what they would be doing because of so much involvement in the process , I must say, don’t know what they are talking about.  For me at least, I am getting my life back instead of jumping from one progressive website to another, looking for the best news that would soothe my nerves.

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