Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Belated Father's Day Treat--Obama Is Love

The Mainstream Media love affair with President Obama doesn't seem to be cooling off at all. All you need is love, love. This love is so deep that CBS hasn't held it against Obama that he's presently shacked up with ABC in the White House. On Father's Day, CBS got a chance to fawn over the President once again. Leaving no love stone unturned, most of CBS's Sunday was devoted to showing what an amazing father the First Pop is.

On Sunday morning, CBS viewers were greeted with an interview by Harry Smith beaming with lovelight for the President. Smith's amazement was made manifest when he asked "In this fatherless world, where did you learn to love?" I assume it wasn't on the South Side of Chicago. He was learning other things there.

In a two part puff-piece that looked and sounded like something out of a daytime soap opera, complete with Guiding Light music in the background during the voice-over, Smith rhapsodized: "Maybe it was on election night when we first realized not only would there be a new President but also a new first family. A family with young children! Along with being commander-in-chief and leader of the free world, Barack Obama would be First Dad! So, yes, there would be a swing set and, yes, there would be a dog."

The purple prose got purpler (is there such a word?) as it went on. He described Obama's young life without a father, the poor child knowing that he was fatherless by that father's own choice. In answer to Smith's question about where Obama learned to love, the Lord and Father of us all replied: "Where I learned, I think, to be a father, was looking at the people I respected. And it just reminded me that, you know, whatever the hardships, whatever the obstacles, you can be a good dad." I assume those people included urban terrorist William Ayers and Rev. Jeremiah "God Damn America" Wright, but probably not his gay communist mentor (remember, that was pre-gay marriage and pre-gay adoption, even in Hawaii).

Smith effused: "Believe it or not, every parent in the country is watching your every move as a parent. The world can wait 'til after Sasha and Malia's soccer or basketball game." Take that, North Korea. Take that, Iran. First soccer and basketball--then world crises. Obama then went on to talk about how he is an old-school father. "If they were going to have a puppy, they have to make their beds. They have to walk the dog. They have to feed the dog. They have to do their homework. They don't watch TV during the week." Omigod, he isn't the President of the United States. He's Robert Young in Father Knows Best.

Later in the show, while the President was off teaching the girls how to do laundry and mow the lawn, Smith went on: "Friday afternoon, the White House held a barbecue and town meeting for fathers. The importance of fatherhood first echoed in a speech last Father's Day in Chicago. With four of ten children in the United States born to unwed mothers the President wants it understood it's time for men to man up."

The Early Show kept up the pace, even on Monday. Entertainment Tonight's Lara Spencer was filling in as co-host, and cooed to Smith: "I just like him more and more. And this interview is so telling." As Spenser patted the drool at the corner of her mouth, Smith replied: "I can't imagine the pressure. And his focus, his focus is just phenomenal. And if you really want to understand this guy . . . the first book, I think, is the most important one--the Dreams From My Father. We were reminded that Obama fondly remembers only one gift his father gave him--a basketball." Apparently his father was more aware of his son's true abilities than the Democratic Party and the American people.

I won't regale you with the final chapter in the interview which was aired on Tuesday morning. I'm starting to get queasy from all the sweetness and light being thrown at me. If you want to read all the gory details, check out the CBS website, or check in on the Media Research Center (they were nice enough to capsulize the comments knowing people like me were so transfixed with the beauty of it all that we would forget to write down the best tidbits).

13 comments:

StanH said...

Ewww… Lawhawk I read this at 6:45 AM ET and became nauseous quickly put my coffee down and took a rejuvenating shower before being able to comment.

Whether the press or Barry knows it the world’s a mess, Harry Smith and rest of the Presidents constituency (the 4th estate) need to resume their position of questioning power, but alas the slobbering love affair continues. IMO the veneer is fading and ehhmm… the press is running to the rescue of their Boy King, as they know his inevitable failure with be their demise, good riddance on all accounts.

freedom21 said...

One of the things that really gets me about Obama is that he NEVER acknowledges the people who DID raise him. Not only did his grandfather "man up" once and raise his daughter, but he realised that he created an irresponsibly desperately seeking approval, hippie daughter, and "manned-up" again. Obama never mentions (unless he's throwing them under the bus) the people who raised him. And that is a true testament to his character.

As for being a good father? Who knows? All little girls love their daddy. It will be interesting to see how those two grow up. The pressure on them to be perfect seems enormous. And that sort of pressure usually causes an explosion.

I'm not suprised that the media is desperate to see him as a father figure either. Given that the media and entertainment is such an inbred industry, I'm sure most of the characters engaged in the lovefest were lacking parental involvement and are still looking for someone to fill that void.

great article! thanks!

Writer X said...

I think I'm going to be sick.

AndrewPrice said...

I'm amazed how the media has abandoned all pretenses of objectivity and they seem completely fine with this. Aren't these people supposed to be journalists?

Aren't they the ones who explained their hatered of all things Republican by saying, "it's our job to be cynical"? I guess that was a lie.

Unknown said...

StanH and WriterX: You had exactly the same reaction I had. The disparate treatment given to Bill Clinton was both unfairly positive and annoying. But this is quantum leaps worse. It is truly nauseating.

Freedom21: Obama's father was physically absent early in his life, with his mother not far behind. His grandmother raised him, but he identified almost solely with his father whom he scarcely remembers. I have to wonder if the Obama girls are actually going to suffer a similar fate. The parents are physically present, but completely wrapped up in their own success and making up for their horrible childhoods (that they never actually suffered) by devoting all their time to their public image. The girls seem more like pampered pets than children. But at least, unlike the Bush girls, the press won't be constantly looking for the Obama girls to do something juicily wrong.

Unknown said...

Andrew: You are so right. This love affair with Obama is unseemly. But it is also dangerous. Freedom of the press doesn't work when the press has become a loving apostle of the leader it's supposed to be monitoring. This is particularly true in the modern world of allegedly neutral journalism. In the old days, the newspapers were fiercely partisan, but they made no pretense to the contrary. Now, while claiming to report the news fairly, they are in fact just another caucus of liberal wing of the Democratic Party. They editorialize favorably for Democrats, and call it news reporting. And they editorialize unfavorably against Republicans, and still call it news reporting. The only upside to the whole thing is the rapid decline in the public's trust of the MSM, and the rise of talk radio and the internet.

ScottDS said...

I'm sorry to go off on a slight tangent but when I read this line:

--Smith's amazement was made manifest when he asked "In this fatherless world, where did you learn to love?"--

I thought of an old Police Squad episode where Ted, the lab guy, is shooting up tapes of Barbara Walters specials to prove a point. He says (I'm paraphrasing): "You'll notice that the bullet only penetrated to the point where Barbara asks Paul Newman what it's like to love."

Anyway, are we going to go through this every holiday?

AndrewPrice said...

Scott, that's a great scene. LOL!

Unknown said...

ScottDS: Boy--do you have a memory! I have the whole Police Squad collection, and it wasn't that long ago I watched them all again. I had completely forgotten that episode until you reminded me. Very funny, and very on-point. Like you, I worry that we're going to have to put up with this on every holiday that could possibly be considered a "family day." As if no President in history every had young kids before, or a wife with an IQ above room temperature, or a bloody dog. My next door neighbor is more interesting than the Obamas, and he can't ruin the economy or surrender to the jihadis.

patti said...

blech. barry teaching us anything is puke worthy.

Unknown said...

Patti: You're right. And now I know what he's going to do when he leaves the White House. He's going to be a bulemia counseler.

patti said...

lawhawksf: hehe. will he insist they buy a special bucket from the government?! and that bucket will cost a million zillion dollars, yet upon delivery is nothing but a bogarted paper hat from krispy kreme? you know, paying for something that doesn't come close to what you need with a bit of mocking thrown in for his amusement.

Unknown said...

Patti: He probably already has a name for it "barf and trade."

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