Wednesday, June 24, 2009

ABC: All Barack Channel

Tonight, ABC holds an hour long infomercial for President Obama to promote his national health plan. I can’t wait to hear all the “tough” questions Charlie Gibson and Diane Sawyer will ask. After seeing Diane Sawyer’s interview with Obama on GMA, I am not expecting much. She was practically massaging his feet by the end of the interview, but that’s Diane Sawyer. It’s fine for ABC to provide someone free airtime, but usually the network would have to provide the opposition equal time to respond, something which is not happening tonight. But with the current state of GOP leadership, no response might be a good thing for them right now – thanks Sen. Ensign and Gov. Sanford.

This infomercial is a great move for President Obama – why not take advantage of the fawning press? Even his press conference yesterday was full of staging – two of the reporters’ questions were pre-arranged with the President. Which is good for him, because he doesn’t handle criticism very well – after all, he is obsessed with everyone, including dictators, liking him. But imagine what would have happened had a conservative blogger and Bush pre-arranged press conference questions.

On Iran, I would have respected Obama’s position concerning Iran had he stayed the course of not “meddling.” However, his sharpening dialogue undermines his previous reason for not meddling, and according to his own rationale, puts the people of Iran at greater risk. I actually agree with him there. Meanwhile, North Korea is strengthening its nuclear program, promising to wipe America off the map if we meddle with them. It’s probably time for Obama to give a speech again, so that all these bad guys will stop being so aggressive. Maybe he should cook them hot dogs. What can’t be settled over a good hot dog?