As the President and his entourage attended the G20 London Summit, the media love affair with the Obamas, and the double-standard applied to presidents based upon their political parties, evidently extended across the Atlantic Ocean.
When "W" misspoke during a reception for Queen Elizabeth, and accidentally implied that the queen had been around since 1776, he corrected himself and winked at her. The British press eviscerated him. One apparently does not wink at the queen.
On another occasion, when some Australian official put his arm around the queen, he was treated similarly. However, just this week, when Michelle Obama put her arm around the queen, it was not an issue. For crying out loud, even I knew you aren’t supposed to touch the queen or treat her familiarly! But the queen was unfazed, as were the British press.
Let's not even get into the propriety of giving the queen an Ipod loaded with, among other things, audio of his own notable speeches. "Here, Queenie, listen up. Didja know I'm a celebrity?"
During President Obama's press conference at the G20 summit (the non-teleprompter portion, during which he answered questions from the members of the press), he made the following statements (emphasis added):
"So, overall, I'm pleased with the product. And I'll leave it to others to determine whether me and my team had anything to do with that. All right?"
"And that's good. But we want to make sure that there's mechanisms in place that holds people accountable and produces results. Okay?"
"I think the patient is stabilized; there's still wounds that have to heal and there's still emergencies that could arise, but I think that you've got some pretty good care being applied."
Nary a word from the press, about how bad his grammatical errors made him sound, yet Bush was reduced to the image of a blubbering moron by the media. Granted, President Bush made a lot of gaffes, but so far, President Obama is matching his pace.
While this manifestation of the mainstream media's double standard is annoying - maddening, even - what is really scary is that this refusal to criticize their anointed leader extends beyond the superficial to really important, substantive matters. It's like boarding a bus and averting your eyes while the driver slams tequila shots and starts careening into parked cars and fire hydrants. Something's gonna die, and I am afraid it is the United States of America, as we know it.
When "W" misspoke during a reception for Queen Elizabeth, and accidentally implied that the queen had been around since 1776, he corrected himself and winked at her. The British press eviscerated him. One apparently does not wink at the queen.
On another occasion, when some Australian official put his arm around the queen, he was treated similarly. However, just this week, when Michelle Obama put her arm around the queen, it was not an issue. For crying out loud, even I knew you aren’t supposed to touch the queen or treat her familiarly! But the queen was unfazed, as were the British press.
Let's not even get into the propriety of giving the queen an Ipod loaded with, among other things, audio of his own notable speeches. "Here, Queenie, listen up. Didja know I'm a celebrity?"
During President Obama's press conference at the G20 summit (the non-teleprompter portion, during which he answered questions from the members of the press), he made the following statements (emphasis added):
"So, overall, I'm pleased with the product. And I'll leave it to others to determine whether me and my team had anything to do with that. All right?"
"And that's good. But we want to make sure that there's mechanisms in place that holds people accountable and produces results. Okay?"
"I think the patient is stabilized; there's still wounds that have to heal and there's still emergencies that could arise, but I think that you've got some pretty good care being applied."
Nary a word from the press, about how bad his grammatical errors made him sound, yet Bush was reduced to the image of a blubbering moron by the media. Granted, President Bush made a lot of gaffes, but so far, President Obama is matching his pace.
While this manifestation of the mainstream media's double standard is annoying - maddening, even - what is really scary is that this refusal to criticize their anointed leader extends beyond the superficial to really important, substantive matters. It's like boarding a bus and averting your eyes while the driver slams tequila shots and starts careening into parked cars and fire hydrants. Something's gonna die, and I am afraid it is the United States of America, as we know it.
No comments:
Post a Comment