The "Handled" pResident, the Low Bar, and the Fooled Media...

[NRaleighLiberal]

I posted this at 10 this morning, but wanted feedback from others - so am reposting this evening as well.

So, I'm sitting on my deck having my coffee this morning, trying to make sense out of what we are seeing with respect to the media's ebb and flow following the goings on in the country. It struck me that we are seeing something very different and very new - a misleader who needs such careful and constant handling and coaching that the media and nearly half of the country is grading, in polls and news reports, the success of the manipulation, not the outcomes or the "man". Think about it - a natural disaster or terra attack allows one to see the natural inclinations and capabilities of a leader - their first reactions, ability to lead, ability to deal with complex and life threatening problems and issues, ability to work through bureaucracy. What have we seen with this character? A big nothing - no, that's not totally correct...we've seen an emotionally empty shell of a human being, a spoiled brat who can't think for himself, someone devoid of empathy, and likely a racist..all overlaid with very little natural intelligence. So, the bar becomes lower and lower, abetted by a right wing media who knows which side its bread is buttered on, as well as a slew of influencial lobbyists and business types who have theirs under this administration, and don't want anyone to get their hands on it.

So the handling comes in. Here is someone who I can imagine is brought into a little dark room and drilled, drilled, drilled into giving the appearance of leadership, showing concern, empathy, and deep thought. What does the media report? They discuss the performance, not the content, not the outcomes. So, last night on PBS, we have Oliphant and Brooks saying he "turned the corner". Tweety drips over himself with the performance. Other pundits speak of the speech as if the idiot son actually came up with this stuff himself! What is incredibly wrong is that the cat has not changed his stripes - he is the same incapable ineffective shell of a leader. Our society is now so focused on sound bites and unfamiliar with research and deep thought that the wool can be pulled over our eyes in a second, and enough people buy it that we all end up here blowing gaskets and, in some cases, start to question ourselves. The sad outcome is the impact on our country's future and collective mood. We can not thrive or progress under this type of charlatan leadership. Until we can get some opposition leadership with the balls to call out what is actually going on here, we will continue to slide deeper and deeper into an inescapable malaise.

So - that's what I've been thinking about as I sip my coffee. What can we do? Where are the deep throats, where are the other Anderson Coopers and Brian Williams - and will they be able to stay the course?



Craig

[Gloria]

1. Very true, very sad...KICK THIS ONE!!!

You should send it to Buzzflash...at the very least, the Mailbag would get lots of reads....

[seabeyond]

2. shrug of shoulders, "there is nothing we can do"

i have heard this a lot of late. people that are disperate and struggling. i empathize with their particular issues, and i agree and say yes yes we have to fight it. but they all shrug and say, there is nothing we can do.

i heard it this morning from a 50 yr old black woman that has had female and racial discrimination all her life. i told her i am so tired of hearing, there is nothing we can do. we the people will have to do it, if our govt wont. we have to take on the responsibility. we have to fight. it is hard when you have the media toally not support, actually encouraging this illusionary world we live in

i couldnt agree more with what you post. things will continue to get worse. we have been conditioned to have so little expectation of bush. but things will continue to go down. it is going to hurt a lot of people. but eventually........

i see

things are going to come out of the closet. we have to remember what we had, and ALL we have lost. has it been worth it. was it for any good reason. are we better off for it.

i have hope

[Historic NY]

3. This administration reminds me of that movie the "Truman Show"....

Bush lives in a bubble and is controlled or lead about by people that are actually smarter than him. He is nothing more than a name & a face that on his own merits probably would never amounted to anything. Hell, even his own father was surprised he got this far.

http://www.transparencynow.com/truman.htm
http://www.transparencynow.com/trusig.htm