The Problem with the White House and the Media

Ron Fournier @ National Journal writes a thoughtful piece on the declining popularity of Mr. Obama, and his logic could be applied as well to the declining popularity of national media.

He begins with an earlier conversation he had with an unnamed Democrat:

"Who's the hero in the White House narrative?" the Democrat asked.

I shrugged; "Barack Obama." Aren't all elections about the candidate, and all White Houses about the president?

The Democrat shook his head. "That's the problem with this White House. Barack Obama is the hero of their narrative, but he's not supposed to be," he said. "The hero of every political narrative should be the voters."

Fournier thought about that conversation during his vacation in Michigan, "where the dearth of quality jobs gnaws at everybody" and "where financially desperate families are selling second- and third-generation cottages—a tangible loss of 20th-century middle-class vibrancy."

What do these folks hear from the White House and the rest of Washington? Whining, mostly. Obama and his GOP rivals can't seem to tell the story of America without casting themselves as the protagonists.

He argues: 

Even Democrats are starting to tire of their president sounding less like a leader than a kindergartener—whiny ("They don't do anything except block me and call me names"); petulant ("So sue me"); and self-absorbed ("I ... me … my"). [snip]

Pity the president? No. In fact, White House officials, stop talking about him. And, Mr. President, put a muzzle on "I," "me," and "my."

Obama's slide in popularity will be permanent unless he realizes that the story of his presidency is not about him. It's certainly not about the GOP. It's about the people in Michigan and throughout the rest of the country who face enormous obstacles—and struggle heroically to overcome them.

Applying Mr. Fournier's logic to journalism could also explain the declining respect for national media. While American middle class families struggle, many in national media continue to treat every public policy debate—from immigration to energy to economics—as a scoring game between the players of the two political parties.

Yet for many worried Americans, it is not a game.It's not about the political parties, personalities or players. It's certainly not about which leaders scored the most political points on a given day. It is about accurately and honestly reporting the substance of public policy discussions in the quest for solutions to get America and her economy back on track.

The media's slide in respect will be permanent as Mr. Obama's popularity unless it realizes the story isn't about Washington; it's about Americans who live everywhere else.

McCarthy: Obama's Massive Fraud

"If he were a CBO in the private sector" the headline of Andrew McCarthy's article continues, "he'd be prosecuted for felony fraud for his repeated claim, If you like your health-care plan, you will be able to keep it. Period.

Fraud is a serious federal felony, usually punishable by up to 20 years’ imprisonment — with every repetition of a fraudulent communication chargeable as a separate crime. In computing sentences, federal sentencing guidelines factor in such considerations as the dollar value of the fraud, the number of victims, and the degree to which the offender’s treachery breaches any special fiduciary duties he owes. Cases of multi-million-dollar corporate frauds — to say nothing of multi-billion-dollar, Bernie Madoff–level scams that nevertheless pale beside Obamacare’s dimensions — often result in terms amounting to decades in the slammer.

Obama's claims put him in the company of Martha Stewart, Bernie Madoff and Goldman Sachs for making statements he has known to be misleading and false since 2010.

Barack Obama is guilty of fraud — serial fraud — that is orders of magnitude more serious than frauds the Justice Department routinely prosecutes, and that courts punish harshly. The victims will be out billions of dollars, quite apart from other anxiety and disruption that will befall them.

The president will not be prosecuted, of course, but that is immaterial. As discussed here before, the remedy for profound presidential corruption is political, not legal. It is impeachment and removal. “High crimes and misdemeanors” — the Constitution’s predicate for impeachment — need not be indictable offenses under the criminal code. “They relate chiefly,” Hamilton explained in Federalist No. 65, “to injuries done immediately to the society itself.” They involve scandalous breaches of the public trust by officials in whom solemn fiduciary duties are reposed — like a president who looks Americans in the eye and declares, repeatedly, that they can keep their health insurance plans ... even as he studiously orchestrates the regulatory termination of those plans; even as he shifts blame to the insurance companies for his malfeasance ...

It is highly unlikely that Barack Obama will ever be impeached. It is certain that he will never again be trusted. Republicans and sensible Democrats take heed: The nation may not have the stomach to remove a charlatan, but the nation knows he is a charlatan. The American people will not think twice about taking out their frustration and mounting anger on those who collaborate in his schemes.