How many Americans heard the President say this?
"Last night, the first open enrollment period under this law came to an end," President Barack Obama said. "And despite several lost weeks out of the gate, several lost because of problems with the website, 7.1 million Americans have now signed up for private insurance plans through these marketplaces. 7.1."
"In these first six months, we've taken a big step forward, and just as importantly, this law is bringing greater security to Americans who already have coverage," he added.
The president also hit back at critics of the law, saying the problems they predicted haven't come to pass.
"There are still no death panels, Armageddon has not arrived," he said. "The debate over repealing this law is over. The Affordable Care Act is here to stay."
Hint: Not nearly as many as would have if the major networks had granted President Obama 10 minutes on Tuesday night during prime time to deliver a short address from the Oval Office. Instead, he gave this short speech from the Rose Garden, and the media yawned.
That might have been forgivable if they hadn't spent hours upon hours upon hours proclaiming the Affordable Care Act dead on arrival, if they hadn't spent even more hours perpetuating lies about it, and if they hadn't practically celebrated the bug-laden launch of Healthcare.gov.
Then maybe it would have been forgivable. But this is what they do -- they misinform the public, blow up the tiniest negative into a national disaster, and then when there's success, they deny time to inform the public of that.
Beyond that, it's just disrespectful. If the President of the United States wants ten minutes, they damn well ought to give it to him. They could have skipped the punditry and second-guessing part and just given him his time. That would have been respectful. It also would have reminded people that our national interests stretch beyond The Voice, Glee, or Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D..
Greta's "offer" isn't much of one. She'll give him 10 minutes in exchange for her own 10 minute interview with him where he doesn't "filibuster." If I were the President I'd tell her and her network to take a flying leap. And while I was at it, I'd tell every single programming decision-maker at every single major network what they can do with their 10 minutes, too.
