For a nice write-up of the media's non-performance at the press conference see AnonymousLiberal. This part is particularly good: Well, the hactacular Ron Fournier is at it again. His write-up of the Obama press conference is headlined "Analysis: Teleprompter Telegraphs Obama's Caution." Here are some of his key bits of "analysis": What kind of politician brings a teleprompter to a news conference?
A careful one.
President Barack Obama took no chances in his second prime-time news conference, reading a prepared statement in which he took both sides of the AIG bonus brouhaha and asked an anxious nation for its patience. . . . .
It was a carefully modulated statement, and Obama — relying on a familiar crutch — read it off a flat-screen monitor perched at the back of the East Room.
The teleprompter was no help during the question-and-answer session (reporters don't signal their intentions), but Obama was no less careful during that give and take. . . .
One of the few times he summoned raw emotion came after a reporter demanded to know why it took him so long to express outrage over the AIG executive bonuses.
"It took a couple of days because I like to know what I'm talking about before I speak."
Even better, he likes to have it up on the teleprompter. So this is what passes for "analysis" now at the A.P.? No wonder the newspaper industry is dying. It's apparently hugely significant that Obama used a teleprompter to deliver his opening remarks (which were several minutes long). I'm not sure what Fournier thinks is so unusual about that. Do presidents typically memorize speeches? Read them off cue cards? If so, can he cite a single example of this? And given that Obama gave an hour long press conference in which he gave long substantive answers to questions that were not pre-screened, how is it even remotely relevant that he delivered his opening remarks with the assistance of a teleprompter? How big a "crutch" can it really be?
The truth is, Fournier is a hack. The only reason to use the word "teleprompter" five times in a 100 word write-up of a presidential press conference is in order to push a meme, a meme that just happens to be popular right now on right wing blogs. As usual, Fournier's agenda is transparent.
This meme doesn't bother me at all. In fact, I think it's the best, most productive smear yet. Their previous smears had some effect. Hard to believe but some less-informed voters were influenced, at least temporarily, by the muslim-non-citizen-terrorist-communist smears of 2008. That meant Team Obama had to spend considerable time refuting these fictions. And it's hard to disprove a lie. You can say "I'm a Christian" but then they say you're a secret Muslim.You can say "Here's my birth certificate" and then they say "it's a forgery." The beauty of the teleprompter smear is that it's 1) not much a smear to begin with and 2) refutable by anyone with either eyes or ears. First, in today's media world people are used to teleprompters. David Letterman periodically shows the cue cards or prompter he uses. Does the audience then believe he's too dumb to appear without it? No, they've seen his quick wit during interviews. Saying Obama uses a teleprompter for prepared remarks isn't much a smear. Most people don't care. Second, Obama's ability to speak thoughtfully in unscripted situations is right there for viewers to see or hear. Over the last 2 years he's been in dozens of debates without knowing what the questions would be. He's appeared on countless television shows to be interviewed. Last night, after making short introductory remarks, he answered an hour's worth of questions without the aid of a prompter. Anyone watching knows he's smart and quite capable of speaking without a script. The teleprompter smear only smears those who spread it. It does not have the ability to damage the President because the refutation of it is right there before your eyes and ears. In fact, it may serve to lower expectations of the conservative audience who hear the meme. They watch Obama without a script and expect him to sputter and dodge and keep repeating one memorized line over and over (sound familiar?). When he exceeds that low bar they might come away with a more positive view of him than before. So, keep it up with the teleprompter smear. It's awesome. |
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