Breaking News?
James Taranto:
That has to tell you something about the news in this trip. The headlines are all about safe landings and there are one or two more to go. The next will be "Obama lands in Britian" followed by "Obama lands back in US."
In fact the only really hard news that has come out of this trip is how he told interviewers for both ABC and CBS that he still opposes the surge even though it has been successful. The guy who was willing to accept genocide as a consequence of his rigid timetable for withdrawal acts as if the surge made little difference.
While many in the media have painted this trip as some great success, those interviews should be the most memorable events and they do not help his campaign. McCain has effectively used them as fodder in his attacks. While that led to a spit fit from Joe Klein much of the rest of the media is pretending it did not happen.
So there they were on CNN's "The Situation Room," talking about a new ad for John McCain, an ad "going after the mainstream media, which he says is in love with Barack Obama," as host Wolf Blitzer described it. The ad described the media as being "in the tank" for Illinois's junior senator, and the two "strategists" who were Blitzer's guests, Democrat Jennifer Palmieri and Republican John Feehery, responded predictably....A plane landing safely usually makes Taranto's Bottom Story of the Day feature. It got elevated here because it proved just how in the tank the media has been for Obama. Here are a few examples:
...Blitzer: All right, guys, hold on one second.CNN interrupts a discussion of whether the media are in the tank for Obama for a news bulletin that Obama's plane has landed safely--a dog-bites-man story if ever there was one.
[crosstalk]
Blitzer: Just hold on one second.
All right, Sen. Obama has just arrived at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel. And upon his arrival from Amman, Jordan, he made a brief statement, reaffirming his strong support for Israel.
We will play a little clip.
Obama: I want input and insight from Israel's leaders about how they see the current situation. I will share some of my ideas. The most important idea for me to reaffirm is the historic and special relationship between the United States and Israel, one that cannot be broken, one that I have affirmed throughout my career, and one that I would intend to not only continue, but actually strengthen, in an Obama administration.
Blitzer: He's going to spend the night tonight in Israel. And then, tomorrow, he has meetings with the Israeli leadership, as well as the Palestinian leadership, in Ramallah out in the West Bank.
This is a diplomatic minefield whenever you get involved, John, in Israeli-Palestinian affairs, as you well know. . . .
Come to think of it, it's even less noteworthy than a dog-bites-man story. Obama's plane landing safely is literally an everyday occurrence. If a dog bit him, that would newsworthy--especially if it were the toothless watchdog that answers to the name of MSM.
Obama lands in Afghanistan
Obama lands in Baghdad
The Obama show lands in Israel
Obama lands in Palestine for talks
Obama lands in Berlin
That has to tell you something about the news in this trip. The headlines are all about safe landings and there are one or two more to go. The next will be "Obama lands in Britian" followed by "Obama lands back in US."
In fact the only really hard news that has come out of this trip is how he told interviewers for both ABC and CBS that he still opposes the surge even though it has been successful. The guy who was willing to accept genocide as a consequence of his rigid timetable for withdrawal acts as if the surge made little difference.
While many in the media have painted this trip as some great success, those interviews should be the most memorable events and they do not help his campaign. McCain has effectively used them as fodder in his attacks. While that led to a spit fit from Joe Klein much of the rest of the media is pretending it did not happen.
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