On the one hand, 100 days is nothing. Presidential legacies from decades ago are still matters for debate -- so what can you surmise about any president's first 100 days?
On the other hand, American society feels as if it's undergone a tectonic shift in these 100 days.
Federal spending has exploded through the stratosphere -- so much so that worried, angry, ordinary citizens have attended Boston Tea Party-style protests. The country's trend in abortion and stem cell policy -- which was heading toward greater protection of innocent life -- has been flipped on its head.
The term "war on terror" has been dumped. The suspected terrorist holding facility at Guantanamo Bay is being closed, and suspects are apparently going to be sent to countries willing to take them and, mostly, to U.S. soil for apparent trial in U.S. courts.
And it's more than a little disconcerting that the White House actually had a corporate CEO forced out.
This just doesn't seem like the same country it once was.
The much greater role in American life that the federal government is already playing -- a role that is only expected to increase with the next hundred days and the next hundred and the next hundred -- is troubling to those of us who believe in the limited government set out in the Constitution.
We understand he won the election. He's reminded us.
But we would remind President Obama that he did not win by a 90-10 margin; rather, it was by but a few percentage points. We would hope he would remember that, and make more of an effort to be president for all the people, not just those on the left.
The first 100 days have revealed Mr. Obama to be perhaps the most liberal president in U.S. history. Time will tell, certainly, but that's the feel at this point.
That view, sadly, is not being reflected in most major news media -- which objective study has revealed were in the tank for Obama during the campaign and remain so today.
"The networks have given President Obama more coverage than George W. Bush and Bill Clinton combined in their first months -- and more positive assessments to boot," writes Washington Post media columnist Howard Kurtz, hardly a right-wing extremist.
Indeed, study by the Center for Media and Public Affairs and Chapman University found that nightly news shows on the three major broadcast networks -- ABC, NBC and CBS -- devoted a total of 28 hours to Obama in his first 50 days in office, compared with eight for George W. Bush. Meanwhile, 58 percent of the coverage was positive, compared with 44 percent for President Clinton.
Still don't think the media are fawning over the president? Consider this Washingtonian editor's explanation for why the magazine ran a cover photo of a shirtless Obama in swim trunks -- but colored the trunks from dark blue or black to red: It was in part so the photo would show up better against a black background, but, "Also, we were trying to convey the concept of love, and red is the color of love."
What?
"Barack Hussein Obama is the nation's first hip president," gushes a column on Politico.com.
"This, of course, is subject to debate. But watch him walk. Listen to him talk. See the body language, the expressions, the clothes. He's got attitude, rhythm, a sense of humor, contemporary tastes."
We don't argue the style thing. He's got that.
But while the media tend to ignore substance, it's what really counts.
Former USA Today White House correspondent and now college journalism professor Richard Benedetto fears the watchdog has been napping through the first 100 days.
Positive stories about the Obamas abound, and that's fine. Both the Obamas are an inspiration to others around the globe.
CNN notes, for instance, that Michelle Obama is a beacon of hope to women in Mumbai, India, where women can be treated with contempt for having dark skin or giving birth only to girls.
"She shows women that it's OK to have dark skin and to not have a son," an aide worker there told CNN.
"Those who focus on Michelle Obama's impact on America are underestimating her reach. The first lady is inspiring women of color around the globe to look at themselves, and America, in fresh ways," concludes CNN.
Such stories, says journalism instructor Benedetto, are "all well and good, as long as we do not forget our function as government watchdog. So far, we have.
"It's time to start barking."
The Augusta Chronicle ©2010 Morris Communications, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
ACES - Keep barking! Thank you for another outstanding column.
speaking as a person with experience in television, i must say affiliates can only regurgitate whatever the networks fed us. i did my best to stay objective on local and state political issues, but theres no way to take the pointed/out of context soundbytes of national politicians and depolarize it.
George W. Bush lost the popular vote & only became President as a result of a decision made by a conservative Supreme Court including the clear partisanship of then Chief Justice William Rehnquist. Did Bush & Cheney seek to govern in a bipartisan manner? No! They governed like they had won a mandate & pushed through tax cuts and massive deficit spending. Despite what Augusta Chronicle editorial staff (ACES) claims, President Obama won by a near landslide. Democrats swept both the House & the Senate. Unlike Bush, President Obama does have a mandate. 2/3 of the people approve of his actions. More than 50% of Americans think this country is headed in the right direction. Legitimate criticism of Obama can be made from the left, but certainly not from the right. And puhleeze Mike Ryan don't try to claim that southern white Republicans are anything but reactionaries. They are not true conservatives. You can repudiate Bush now as a big spender, but that won't fly. You played along with his incompetent antics for 8 years and supported son-of-Bush John McCain. Republicans have made themselves increasingly irrelevant and are now reduced to a minority party of bitter right wing extremists.
Obama won by only "a few percentage points"????? He won by far more than did George W. Bush, and Bush set about starting an unnecessary war, extending the power of the Executive Branch, issuing a record number of "signing statements" when he didn't like particular laws, outsourcing security in Iraq to mercenaries, and on and on and on. The AC is hardly a watchdog...no, more like a yapping little cur with a relentless, and extreme, rightwing agenda. Yap yap yap.
Was this editorial really written by a "professional?"
It was a great article. If you think something is incorrect, point it out w/ facts. Please stop the blithering about GW. That all that some of you can write about. I am assuming that is what you have done for the last eight years and bad habits are hard to break, but, GW is gone now. EVERYTHING CANNOT STILL BE HIS FAULT!!!!!! AND STOP WITH THE NAME CALLING TOO!
there's a good reason that there is more coverage of Obama and more of it positive than there was for president bush. bush was such a moron in front of the press, that they tried their best to keep him out of it. and, quite frankly, bush had contempt for the press. not hard to understand why they would have contempt for him as well.
Hey, shaglorious, it's an editorial, not an article. There's a difference. And the only reason people invoke Dubya and his record is to point out the hypocrisy of the Right. You kept your mouths shut when all that was going on, and now everything is occasion for handwringing and threats. Grow up.
there's a good reason that there is more coverage of Obama and more of it positive than there was for president Bush, the broadcast media is an arm of the socialist left Dem party. Bush didn't fit into their mold, so demonizing him was their only act for 8 years. The reason the broadcast networks and CNN lost over 70% of their viewers was because they only play to the easily tricked and easily confused. Quite frankly, Bush had contempt for the ultraliberal press, it's not hard to understand why they had contempt for him.
On the contrary,reason, I did not keep my mouth shut. GW SPENT WAY TOO MUCH MONEY FOR ME!!!! He rolled over WAYYY to much for me. Thanks for the correction on editorial vs article. I am relatively new on here and still getting aclamated. I am sure I will make many more mistakes for you and the others to correct.
ReasonRules, why don't you lefties ever realize that history took place? Plenty of negative comments were made by conservatives as Bush let congress run wild with the national checkbook. Look it up. Continually chanting the CNN lines just makes you about as relevant as they are.
PT, most Americans are stupid and don't do their research. They only listen to television.
I know Talkatoast, I'm embarrassed for them, but that doesn't give them a pass.
Maybe it's because the country as a whole was fed up with the disaster of the last eight years. Maybe it's because any reasonable person knows that when it's a thinking, feeling person versus a clump of cells that are going to be flushed anyway, there should be no contest. Maybe it's because of a disasterous, bloody, unecessary war and the trampling of the constitution by a ruthless, America-hating cabal, the country, and the media except for Fox News, finally had enough and slightly over reacted. Can you blame them? Keep barking, you stupid dogs.
jedex6 want a cracker?
I think the media is doing The President such a diservice. They should make him be a leader. He constantly saying one thing then the next day says something different. Soros says boo and he then does something he said he was not. He folds to his campaign supporters (unions) even when something is working.
ex: DC education vouchers. It is never his fault.
In the real world, here, today, every news outlet is shrinking and losing followers and viewership, except for FOX cable news station and talk radio. These two venue continue to grow daily. This has been the trend for more than 15 years and shows no sign of changing in the near future. Since the only two choices for the news is a large coordinated group of broadcast and cable outlets chanting the exact same spiel in the exact same words or some form of intelligent conservative news, it's not too surprising that the chanting choir is fading fast.
Patriciathomas said"because they only play to the easily tricked and easily confused. " ----You are so right! I was playing around on my computer the other day and came across an internet radio talk show that was hosted by a black host. I listened for a few minutes and thought this man is making a lot of sense. Until he started espousing how Hillary Clinton was tending to the problem much better than Condoleeza Rice. In fact he called her Candy(not CONDY) Rice. I was apalled that a black person would not have a favorable impression of a black person in a white administration. Then it hit me. Up until that point he was making some very good points, but then he went off on a tangent about the left versus the right. At that point it was obvious he was coming from the far left. I thought it was a shame that someone could be easily duped into believing this man. But that is why we are wher we are right now. Imagine all those people who are cheering Obama for firng A CEO, and then dictating salaries of management of companies receiving bailout loans.Was it P. T. Barnum who said,"You can't fool all the people all of the time, but you can fool some of the people all of the time."
PT, the Repub party is dying. Now who is fading fast? Hard righ cons like yourself killed it. Do YOU want a cracker?
jedex6, history still confuses you, I see. Well, I don't envision you remedying that. Without any base but CNN information, you are unqualified to understand any response I would make to your 8:16 post. Watch the 2010 elections and the 2012 elections.
Twenty-one percent of Americans identify as Republican, according to a poll released yesterday. That's it. The party is increasingly limited to white, Southern, evangelical males, of which there are many in the AC's readership. But make no mistake, you are NOT representative of this country. And no, I'm not confused, uninformed, or ignorant of history. You guys are a dying breed and it's your own fault.
The Chronicle is insane. They are the reason the Republican party is going the way of the Whigs. They are the reason moderates like Senator Arlen Spectre are leaving the party in droves. They are the reason the Republican party has become a party of radical right wing ignorant homphobic xenophobic bigoted racist lilly white God shilling CONServative southerners. Thank God the republiCONS are becoming nothing more than a marginalized party of the Old South. Currently, only 21% of the country identify themselves as Republican. 80% of the population likes President Obama personally. In every region in the country, except the South, Obama's net favorable numbers are a positive 50+ points. Guess where the vast majority of people who don't like him personally or politically come from? That's right, in the rascist south where Obama's net approval numbers are -10. No thanks to the likes of the radical right wing bigoted rascist CONServative nuts at the Chronicle.
And by the way, PT, if you want solid political coverage, you should watch The Daily Show. Yes, you're more likely to find an unbiased viewpoint from Jon Stewart than from Billo. But better skip Colbert...apparently, conservatives actually think he means what he says. Talk about humor impaired...
PT, without any base but Fox News and the Glenn Beck show, you are the one who is hopelessly confused. Be afraid of that Marxist under your bed. Be very afraid of brownshirts coming to get you. Delusional fool.
I agree that much of the national news media are sympathetic to liberal politicians. But anyone who thinks Mike ("Oh puleeeeze") Ryan and the AC are any less biased is either stupid or lying. Take the photo accompanying today's ACES editorial. President Obama is one of the most telegenic political leaders in recent memory. How long do you think Ryan or one of his flunkies had to look to dig up the very unflattering photo he published? Does anyone out there really believe the ACES photo choice was an accident?
Yes, ReasonRules, I can distinguish between the news and opinion and a form of "humor". The Daily Show is aptly named. If you consider that solid political coverage, well....Dem. Still having problems distinguishing between conservatives and Repubs, I see.
History, jadex6, is not a bad thing. Those who ignore it are doomed to repeat it. It's the Marxist in D.C. that scares me and the brown shirts are just around the corner, if history repeats itself. Do you know the Glen Beck show is about opinion? Surprise.
Reason Rules, where did you get that poll from? Just curious, did the poll state "The party is increasingly limited to white, Southern, evangelical males" or is that your opinion? I do not fit that mold and I am a conservative. I have no choice but to vote repub.
Cain, NO president has a mandate to steal from and ruin our children's and grandchildren's future! This generation will be dead and gone and our posterity will STILL be paying for these past 100 days. Why is this generation so calloused toward the generations that will come after us? This generation is blessed because the past generations made a concerted effort to do things that would not jepardize future generations. They expected us to pass on this practice to the next generation. We have failed both. The media has failed all of us. I agree with Slippery25 that it is doing Pres Obama a disservice. The higher the pedestal they place him on, the bigger and harder the fall. Some intelligent people can see that, and are trying to sound the alarm, but are being called foul names because this generation does not want to listen to wisdom. They are fools. And, unfortunately, you cannon teach a fool anything.
Do you know that history repeats itself when crazies believe everything they see and hear on tee vee? Beck may be opinion, but that is not how the crazies see it. They believe everything he says is gospel. And when the nuts try to secceed or take up armed insurrection as they did when the south succeeded the last time, yes, then history will repeat itself. And misguided people like you can blame it all on Obama for being a Marxist. Who will be scrambling the facts then? You, by any chance?