Did Bush attack Obama at Manufacturer’s event?
1600 people couldn’t be wrong, right?
John Guerriero didn’t think so. While covering former President George W. Bush’s speech and question and answer session at the Manufacturer’s Association annual event, the veteran Erie Times-News reporter described “a relaxed and engaging citizen-in-chief.” Portions of Guerriero’s reporting went into the The Associated Press wire piece about the occasion was equally even-keeled.
However Washington Times reporter Joseph Curl saw it differently. In an article headlined, “Bush takes swipes at Obama policies,” Curl equated Bush’s reaffirmation of his capitalist and anti-terrorism ideologies, hardly breaking news, as attacks on the Obama administration.
Even though Curl admitted that President Bush repeatedly said that he would not directly criticize President Obama, the Times reporter took Bush’s defense of his eight years of policies as an attack on Obama.
In my review of the reporting, all it took was one reporter; even better, one headline writer of an influential newspaper to send the political class all chattering.
The Drudge Report had the screaming headline: “It’s On: W Slams O!” at 4:45 AM Thursday. That was enough to send FoxNews, The Huffington Post, MSNBC, USAToday.com, and even the NBC Nightly News into a feeding frenzy over the “fact” that President Bush took the gloves off.
That was news to the $180 a plate glitterati at the Bayfront Convention Center!
JET-TV’s Kim Thomas interviewed political leaders that were at the event, including Manufacturer’s and Business Association President Ralph Pontillo:
I’m at a loss as to why the national media is trying to spin this in a negative way when in fact the President never once spoke out against the current administration under any of the questions he was asked or in his presentation whatsoever.
We were not able to confirm any existence of the transcript of President Bush’s remarks before post time. But isn’t it curious and troubling to have everyone actually at an event relate first-person content that is totally at odds at what is now considered reported “fact” by a national media who did not even attend?
Or is this evidence of a national press corps that is so sensitive to any public comments that are contrary to the current administration’s policy, that just a restating of pre-January 20th philosophy is considered a slam.
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I would have to say the National Media is looking for something, anything to continue to portray the former President in a negative light. I have several friends who went to the event and they all felt the former President was very gracious and self-engaging and very relaxed. Not once did they feel the former President “slammed” the current President.
If this isn’t evidence of the so-called Media bias then I don’t know what is? (And the National media wasn’t even at the event!)
I was at the event – and am saddened to hear this is the state of “news” in this country. Bush was calm, engaging and as entertaining as I’ve ever seen him! Left leaning or right leaning, I’m not sure this would be a speech you could pull a lot of political fodder from. It was simply easy to listen too. Non confrontational.
If his verbal reaffirmation of his beliefs that freedom and hope are universal ideologies is a “direct attack” on the BO administration…damn, it must be a quiet news day.
That’s as close to an attack as he came.
Even as a young guy (<30), I’d be happy to get back to the day that news was not controlled by press releases, emotional (READ: Political) decisions, and/or whatever the competition is airing. Credibility and due diligence continue to decline in the news…whether local or national…so facts simply become, as I call them, “fuzzy details.” It’s sad.
I was at the event too, and this is a glowing example of why the media is held in lower regard than politicians, including Bush. You simply cannot believe them. Period!
Gotta say, I’m thilled by this post. It’s about time someone in this town said it. I know we’ll never see it in the ETN (no guts, liberal rag) but Joel, I salute you!
CRANK…Is that you? Same CRANK that’s on the Erie Forum? If so, hello!
Seems to me the press can’t afford to let our former President shine in any circumstance. There’s a special place in hell for all of them.
While everyone is claiming this is a liberal media issue, keep in mind that the reporter who started this firestorm works for the Washington Times. The Times, as a lot of you should know, is one of the nation’s most noted conservative papers.
I wasn’t at the event, so I can’t speak for the tenor of 43′s speech. But it seems that the national media — right and left — was eager to create controversy no matter what was said.
FOX News…We report (biased)…You decide…NOT!
If FOX News is so biased how would you describe MSNBC? Or CBS? Or NBC? Or ABC? It seems all of them are in love with the current occupant of the White House. Why is it so terrible that FOX reports the way they do? MSNBC slams the former President every chance they get – ever listen to Keith Olbermann lately? or even Rachel Maddow?
It isn’t just a FOX problem. The entire news media has become so slanted either in one direction or the other that it is IMPOSSIBLE to get a balanced report. It just boggles my mind why the media wanted to create a controversy where none existed. The former President did not slam the current President. Unfortunately the mainstream media (BOTH Liberal and Conservative) was eager to try and start a war between the 43rd President and his successor.
What a shame!
Well FOX must be doing its job. Obama single them out recently as the only news media that constantly did negative stories on him! What a laugh. 8 years of– NBC,CBS, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, Meet the Depressed, This Week, Face the Nation, Al-Jazeera, NYTimes, SF Chronicle, LA Times….and ON and ON—banging the drum AGAINST Bush and this sissy can’t handle FOX doing stories about him.
Guess FOX needs to work on that sycophantic status.
It’s all about spin. If you see Dubya’s comments as slamming Obama, then that’s how you’ll see it. If not, then not. Dubya did say that he thought that Barack’s policies would hurt the U.S. (Socialized Medicine?) I’ll give Dubya credit that he wasn’t so obvious as Cheney – he wasn’t trying to protect his ass from prosecution, he was just stating an opinion differing from our current president. I’ve never understood the unwritten code where a former president doesn’t criticize the sitting president. Why not? And it is true that the Washington Times reporter did state that this was slamming – and that the Washington Times is a conservative paper (owned by the Moonies). That is a fact.
Follow up:
Chuck Todd, NBC political director on Meet The Press Sunday morning:
“President Bush can be accused of being a Republican, and defending some of the positions that he held. He didn’t criticize President Obama.” He went on to say, “The media, including our friend Mr. Drudge, over hyped this a little bit.”
I’m shocked to hear Todd admit that. Is hell freezing over?
You know why the unwritten code Bob? It’s called old-fashioned respect for the office of the Presidency. The corruption of this long-held ‘unwritten rule’ was so that we didn’t give our enemies a way to criticize us, by criticizing our own first.
Do you really not get that? Carter and Clinton disgust me because they went overseas, took money and trampled all over Bush. Do you see Bush doing that? No.
He’s a CLASS act. Always was, always will be. It’s the Kennedy Democrats who work behind the scenes and overseas and then scream that no one likes us!!
Sorry, corruption by the Democrats of this long-held ‘unwritten rule allows our enemies…