straitshooter says:

Virtually no one watches Cooper’s show, so I don’t think this has backfired. I think it has all played out exactly as the administration hoped.

Obama is a very smart man who intentionally picked a very dumb fight, one he knew would suck all the oxygen out of the room. Here’s the reasoning:

• 1. Health reform is complicated, Obama lacks the ability to explain it and his plan has generated tepid support and enthusiastic opposition.

• 2. The economy is complicated, but employment numbers are not. He can’t afford to have the media dwelling on 10 percent unemployment while replaying the clips of his administration promising that the stimulus plan would halt unemployment at 8 percent. In politics, this either means he was either lying or incompetent.

• 3. Afghanistan is complicated, but he boxed himself in on this issue with Bush-like campaign rhetoric about this being a war of necessity. The longer he goes without making any decisions, the more he looks like a state senator who prefers to vote “present.”

So, here we have a president who is loathe to make difficult decisions for fear they might turn out to be wrong (or right, but unpopular). So he has decided to create a loud and colorful distraction the media can’t resist. This big silly conversation is dominating the cablers but — in all honesty — doesn’t really interest most of the country. This is a classic inside the beltway controversy, lots of razzle-dazzle and virtually no substance. Unless the administration starts making decisions that affect Fox’s ability to function as a news network (Fairness Doctrine, revoking press credentials, etc.), this is much ado about nothing.

straitshooter says:

Caelum, do you feel MSNBC is equally guilty of pushing partisan agenda for the left? Don’t be a coward, as you labeled the mainstream media, just answer honestly.