Saturday December 6, 2008
Posted by David Rothenberg on Saturday, December 6, 2008
For some political pundits, in vastly different camps, the honeymoon for Barack Obama is over before the wedding march has been played.
Perhaps it is because we have around-the-clock news channels which in the absence of news try to hold viewer attention with shocks and scares. There’re a handful of commentators for who shock and scare is their signature…even if the result is an erosion of media integrity.
Let’s take a look at the extreme reactions to the Obama transition which in my eyes has been one of the most sophisticated and efficient that I have ever witnessed. In fact, it sometimes appears as if George W. Bush has surrendered the presidency without ceremony…though I am sure he’s doing a great deal of dangerous maneuvering without alerting the media. President-elect Obama has been holding press conferences daily and appearing quite presidential. His clarity and intelligence is so refreshing that I am inclined to stand up and cheer.
Alas, that type of reaction hardly helps with TV ratings. So the doubters and the quacks are out in full force.
The predictable Sean Hannity has bellowed that the appointment of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State is politically shrewd, eliminating her as a possible primary rival in 2012. Hannity, more hysterical than logical, doesn’t seem to recognize that incumbent presidents are rarely challenged within their own party. George W. Bush who barely squeaked into the presidency in 2000, with a disastrous four years in office didn’t prompt a GOP squeak of protest in 2004. But Hannity reminds us that we often learn more about the messenger than by the message. He is like a character out of Sheridan’s School for Scandal.
There are other Fox types and bloggers who already have jumped to conclusions about Obama…a curious contrast to their silence about Bush’s appointments which led to 8 years of incompetence. The good news is that we can remind ourselves that names like John Bolton, Donald Rumsfeld, Harriet Myers and Michael Brown will not fall from Fox lips for the next 4 years.
At the other end of the spectrum, on WBAI and other left-of-center outlets there are complaints about Obama naming persons who were prominent in the Clinton administration. A letter to the editor in the Times lamented that the writer felt betrayed because she wanted change and all that is being offered are alumni from the 90’s.
The President-elect has made it clear, at least to my ears, that the first sign of change in government will be efficiency – experienced people in their job assignments. That would be a dramatic change from the last 8 years in which incompetence seemed to be a pre-requisite and part of an attempt to unravel government agencies. The goal was to turn everything over to the private sector…so visible in Iraq and New Orleans, with tax dollars supporting private firms that were not accountable in the same way that a government agency would be. Most of those contracts went to political allies…and it was about money. The result was a war that was mismanaged and disaster that went unaddressed in New Orleans.
President-elect Obama has demonstrated that he wants inclusive government, and has expressed a willingness to work with reasonable Republicans. That, too, represents “change” since the Dick Chaney mantra was for their administration to respond to and serve only those who voted for them. Obama has done a 180-degree turn, making it clear that he will be president of all the people. Change comes slowly.
And change is not only ideological...it is also about style of which Mr. Obama is showing a great abundance.
I am not suggesting that we not speak out when we are in disagreement with the new President. Certainly at WBAI we are always vigilant about holding people in office accountable.
What I am suggesting is that two months before Obama has been sworn in, self-serving pundits have started the buckshot…which often has more to do with their own reputation as “reporters” than about the state of the nation.
I assure you that I will alert you when I disagree with anything in the Obama administration. But I think we should let it get off the ground before the guns are loaded.
Quite frankly, I am impressed and comforted by the daily press conferences I have witnessed with the President-elect. He instills much more confidence than anything emanating from Washington in nearly a decade. It is dangerous not to recognize a good thing when you’ve got it.
A gallon of water in a political desert can be refreshing and life-saving – if you don’t spit it out.
I’m David Rothenberg…out on a limb.
Perhaps it is because we have around-the-clock news channels which in the absence of news try to hold viewer attention with shocks and scares. There’re a handful of commentators for who shock and scare is their signature…even if the result is an erosion of media integrity.
Let’s take a look at the extreme reactions to the Obama transition which in my eyes has been one of the most sophisticated and efficient that I have ever witnessed. In fact, it sometimes appears as if George W. Bush has surrendered the presidency without ceremony…though I am sure he’s doing a great deal of dangerous maneuvering without alerting the media. President-elect Obama has been holding press conferences daily and appearing quite presidential. His clarity and intelligence is so refreshing that I am inclined to stand up and cheer.
Alas, that type of reaction hardly helps with TV ratings. So the doubters and the quacks are out in full force.
The predictable Sean Hannity has bellowed that the appointment of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State is politically shrewd, eliminating her as a possible primary rival in 2012. Hannity, more hysterical than logical, doesn’t seem to recognize that incumbent presidents are rarely challenged within their own party. George W. Bush who barely squeaked into the presidency in 2000, with a disastrous four years in office didn’t prompt a GOP squeak of protest in 2004. But Hannity reminds us that we often learn more about the messenger than by the message. He is like a character out of Sheridan’s School for Scandal.
There are other Fox types and bloggers who already have jumped to conclusions about Obama…a curious contrast to their silence about Bush’s appointments which led to 8 years of incompetence. The good news is that we can remind ourselves that names like John Bolton, Donald Rumsfeld, Harriet Myers and Michael Brown will not fall from Fox lips for the next 4 years.
At the other end of the spectrum, on WBAI and other left-of-center outlets there are complaints about Obama naming persons who were prominent in the Clinton administration. A letter to the editor in the Times lamented that the writer felt betrayed because she wanted change and all that is being offered are alumni from the 90’s.
The President-elect has made it clear, at least to my ears, that the first sign of change in government will be efficiency – experienced people in their job assignments. That would be a dramatic change from the last 8 years in which incompetence seemed to be a pre-requisite and part of an attempt to unravel government agencies. The goal was to turn everything over to the private sector…so visible in Iraq and New Orleans, with tax dollars supporting private firms that were not accountable in the same way that a government agency would be. Most of those contracts went to political allies…and it was about money. The result was a war that was mismanaged and disaster that went unaddressed in New Orleans.
President-elect Obama has demonstrated that he wants inclusive government, and has expressed a willingness to work with reasonable Republicans. That, too, represents “change” since the Dick Chaney mantra was for their administration to respond to and serve only those who voted for them. Obama has done a 180-degree turn, making it clear that he will be president of all the people. Change comes slowly.
And change is not only ideological...it is also about style of which Mr. Obama is showing a great abundance.
I am not suggesting that we not speak out when we are in disagreement with the new President. Certainly at WBAI we are always vigilant about holding people in office accountable.
What I am suggesting is that two months before Obama has been sworn in, self-serving pundits have started the buckshot…which often has more to do with their own reputation as “reporters” than about the state of the nation.
I assure you that I will alert you when I disagree with anything in the Obama administration. But I think we should let it get off the ground before the guns are loaded.
Quite frankly, I am impressed and comforted by the daily press conferences I have witnessed with the President-elect. He instills much more confidence than anything emanating from Washington in nearly a decade. It is dangerous not to recognize a good thing when you’ve got it.
A gallon of water in a political desert can be refreshing and life-saving – if you don’t spit it out.
I’m David Rothenberg…out on a limb.
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