This segment is entitled "The Media vs. Mitt" on CNN's website. Evidently there's some whining (when is there NOT whining?) in conservative quarters that Mittens isn't getting a fair shake by the media. Never mind that Pew found that President Obama had received far less positive coverage than negative during the first four months of the year, and followed that up with another study more recently affirming that at no time has President Obama received more favorable coverage than Mitt Romney.
Never mind all of that, because Politico has now weighed in with their "concerns," which involve the number of stories about Mitt's mendacity, meanness, and other character flaws—things Ari Fleischer thinks are "personal" and which Jennifer Rubin thinks are "shiny things."
Of course, right about the time Rubin refers to them as shiny things, she's off to the races listing the number of media "vetting failures" there were over President Obama's drug use as a college student.
Shuster is great at debunking their manufactured poutrage, calling it "just more Republican BS," which is a great characterization to use on a cable news channel that actually thinks it's a good idea to employ Dana Loesch and Erick Erickson as commentators.
Fleischer and Rubin are just playing the refs, and hoping to nip any media curiosity about Mitt Romney's penchant for impersonating fake cops in the bud before that story actually gets in front of the American people. As to the so-called "failure" of media to vet President Obama, well, here's a pretty clear picture from The Grio as to how much of a lie that is.
Really, Ari? You’ve got to be kidding. The press is still running probing, sneering stories about PresidentObama. Are you familiar with Maureen Dowd’s work? It is not for the faint of heart. And if you are brave enough to venture into the outer reaches of the Internet where World Net Daily resides, you are sure to find tales of Obama munching on puppies for lunch.
As for candidate Obama? I have two words for you: Jeremiah Wright. In 2008, the electorate was treated to “God d**n America!” on a loop for what seemed like ever. And now, thanks to Romney surrogate Donald Trump, Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett, and an assortment of conservatives, we are going to be treated to six months of intense Birther speculation that the media is still loathe to call racist because the word “racist” is so uncivil.
Shuster really nails Rubin, though, when he hammers her on her false equivalencies with regard to the different stories. On the one hand, there is the self-disclosed drug use on Obama's part. On the other, there's Mitt Romney pinning down a gay student and cutting his hair while he cried and screamed. What is equivalent about those two stories? Answer: Not a darn thing, and as Shuster explains, to try to equate them is ridiculous.
I'll clarify further: Romney's treatment of that student and fake cop incident are entirely relevant because they go straight to the question of how he relates to and treats others. Obama's drug use is relevant to the extent that it was better for him to disclose it and rob conservatives of screaming headlines, but it says nothing about how he regards other members of the human race.
It isn't a shiny thing, these things Romney does. And it's not wrong to bring them into the light. Voters deserve to understand how Mitt Romney views his relationship to others and his place in the larger sea of humanity. It's clear he sees himself as One Appointed To Bully Them.
h/t David at Video Cafe for the clip.
