Perspective

I realize that this is an old complaint, but I really cannot believe the difference in the media's treatment of Barack Obama versus the way they reported on George W. Bush.

This morning's paper had some stories that really made the point. The headline in the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle states "Signs Point To Recovery". The basis for the story was improvement in consumer confidence and a 2% increase in housing prices. No mention was made of the fact that the economy is still shedding hundreds of thousands of jobs each month. Neither does the rosy headline correlate to the reports that the Federal budget deficit will reach between 7 and 9 trillion dollars over the next ten years.

My recollection was that when Bush was President, dark clouds hovered over all economic news. If we had a recovery, it was a jobless recovery. Bush's deficits, in the hundreds of billions, were criticised in apocalyptic terms. Today, though, we have the story of how the President lauded Ben Bernacke for leading us out of the economic crisis which "existed". I guess its over now.

Similarly, there was a story yesterday about the potential for 90,000 swine flu deaths. Last week, there was another regarding difficulties in pharmaceutical factories leading to possible shortages in vaccines. I distinctly recall similar shortages in flu vaccines two years ago. At that time though, the media reported the problem as the Bush Administration's failure to prepare in time. Today its those darn factories.

Finally, what happened to the anti-war movement? When Bush was President, the war in Iraq was the worst thing ever and Afghanistan was barely tolerated. President Obama has taken the exact steps in Iraq that Bush proposed and he has expanded the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan. It appears that only Cindy Sheehan cares. Do the big news outlets still put the names of our dead soldiers on the air anymore?

Just Wondering...

Where are the late night comedians?

At his recent "Town Hall" meeting designed to bolster support for health care reform, President Obama used the Postal Service in an analogy of a government run entity that co-exists with similar private entities.

Can you imagine the fun Leno, Letterman, and O'Brien would have had if George Bush had used the Postal Service as an example in support of transferring health care to a government run enterprise? I guess I missed their jokes.

Or, maybe, they realize the prospect that health care will be run as efficiently and cost-effectively as the Postal Service really isn't funny.

Sounds A Little Like "Read My Lips"

President Obama made a well-documented campaign promise that under his economic plan, no American family making less than $250,000/year would see any tax increases.

I'm not sure why politicians make such statements. George H.W. Bush had to eat his famous words about "No New Taxes", now, based upon the statements made by Treasury Secretary Geither today on ABC with George Stephanopoulos, reported here at PowerLine and here at Instapundit (with video), the President may need to get out some condiments to improve the taste while eating his.