Just about all the Village teevee bobbleheads -- especially the Foxheads -- have been trying to find ways to shuffle the blame for the economic disaster now upon us onto the man Americans hired to fix the problem: Barack Obama.
It seemed like everywhere you turned a couple of weeks ago, we were hearing about the "Obama Bear Market." Mind you, they were positively gleeful about it; after all, they know their own future success hinges on Barack Obama's failure. And it worked for a little while: the mau-mauing over Obama's recovery plan certainly didn't help the market.
But now that we're at over 8,000 again? Crickets. That's all we hear.
So now they're crying "socialism" -- or is it "fascism"? -- and hysterically warning against One World Government. I think we can all see the direction this is heading, and it's not a healthy one.
The public sees it too: A Washington Post poll reveals some unpleasant truths for the right-wing pundits who pat themselves on the backs for keeping the flock of True Believers who plump up their ratings, these masters of the media who wield the power to alter public opinion.
Because it ain't working anymore. The rest of the world is gradually abandoning them:
Media Matters has more:
The Washington Post/ABC News poll, released on March 31, asked respondents who they thought "deserve[d]" the most "blame" for "the country's economic situation." Results for who deserved a "great deal" or "good amount" of blame are as follows:
* 80 percent said banks and other financial institutions
* 80 percent said large business corporations
* 72 percent said consumers
* 70 percent said the Bush administration
* 26 percent said the Obama administration
They also observe:
The "Obama bear market" is just one example of a pattern -- documented by Media Matters -- of the media leaving out relevant information about the role of Bush-era policies in discussing the current state of the economy. For example, in a March 8 Associated Press "analysis," Tom Raum suggested that Obama is to blame for job losses since he took office and even before he did so -- an argument rejected even by conservative CNBC host and National Review Online economics editor Larry Kudlow.
