Ringside Politics With A Punch

I hate to be the spoiler of the love fest gripping our nation, but some aspects of the media coverage of President Barack Obama’s inauguration was quite troubling. Of course, this is an historic event as the nation's first African American became President. It is a significant milestone for this country that should be recognized by all Americans. However, the news media should remain objective and do their jobs covering the incoming administration. Instead, the so-called coverage of the new President has been pure cheerleading and Bush-bashing. The commentators have been so breathless with excitement that many of them can not contain their enthusiasm. On behalf of his network's team of liberal anchors, Chris Matthews of MSNBC said that covering the Obama inauguration is the "honor of our lifetimes." The same biased sentiment is undoubtedly shared by almost all of the network anchors covering the big event.

Last week, Time Magazine placed Barack Obama on their cover for the 13th time. This is unprecedented for a man who just assumed the Oval Office. It clearly shows favoritism and treatment that is not displayed toward more conservative politicians.
 
The mania is not limited to magazines, for newspapers around the country are selling special copies of their post-election and inaugural editions. Other entrepreneurs are also cashing in on Obama mania. There are commemorative Obama pins, buttons, plates, t-shirts, coins, underwear to name only a few of the many items for sale.

Led by the supportive media, the whole country is in the midst of a syndrome I call Obama obsession disorder. Some schools have already been named in his honor and others want to commemorate a permanent holiday for a man who just started his presidency. While Washington, Lincoln and the other presidents have to share one holiday, some want to give Barack Obama his own day, even before we know whether he will be a successful President. In the New Orleans Recovery School District, administrators gave students a holiday for his inaugural, but local schools have never awarded a holiday for previous inaugural events.
 
This syndrome will last for quite some time because, at present, the media is in full swoon mode and is out of control. Instead of reporting facts, the news reporters and anchors are acting like excited partisans spinning their coverage to help the new President. For example, even though Obama's inaugural address was relatively short and somber, the commentary from the news media was ridiculously positive. This type of response has been typical of the coverage of Barack Obama since his presidential campaign started two years ago.
 
Since the appearance of Barack Obama on the political scene, the mainstream media has been his giddy cheerleaders. During the campaign, Obama received kid glove treatment from overly supportive journalists, who gave the profession a bad name. As many commentators have noted real journalism died during this presidential race. During a recent visit to the Washington Post, the news room starting applauding then President-elect Obama when he walked in for his interview. Can anyone imagine the Washington Post giving President Bush such treatment? Democrats and the media treated Bush as an adversary from day one, but, today, all Americans are being encouraged by the media to rally behind Obama and support his agenda.

The price tag for the inaugural festivities reached $170 million, over four times the cost of the Bush inauguration. Was it appropriate during a severe recession? The media will treat this extravagance as justified due to the significance of this event. There is no question how they will treat this particular story, but, hopefully, at some point during the next four years, someone in the media will start doing their job.