The Obama Years: The Media Fog

On September 14, 2011, in Politics, by Henshaw

It’s been eleven days now since Jimmy Hoffa dropped his infamous “take these son of bitches out” comment at an Obama Labor Day rally. Why hasn’t the press been hounding the White House for an apology or at least a comment about Hoffa’s remarks? When Rep. Joe Wilson yelled, “You lie!” during President Obama’s health care pep rally, which was true by the way, it was all we heard about for days on end. The press has basically ignored this event.

Does anyone think the President Bush could have gotten away without having to comment about something like Hoffa’s slur? Faith in President Obama’s leadership is unraveling, but one has to wonder how much worse it would be if the press wasn’t in love with him.

President Bush received a never ending stream of negative press. What was going “wrong” in Afghanistan and Iraq was always headline news. It’s as if the wars ended the day Obama was sworn in. This has been the bloodiest year in Afghanistan since the war began, yet it’s not even news. The economy is in tatters and the President still blames Bush after spending over a trillion dollars. After receiving non-stop adulation from the mainstream media for four years how does Obama spin his way out of this? The American people have tuned it out. These are very strange days.

The Quran Burning Riots of 2011

On April 3, 2011, in Politics, by Henshaw

Last year a Florida preacher no one had ever heard of decided he would make world headlines by burning the handbook of female oppression and religious intolerance (also known as the Quran or Koran). In the end he didn’t go through with it, but apparently another preacher at his congregation set the Quran ablaze a few days ago. The response from peace loving Muslims in Afghanistan has been predictable: Burn effigies of our President and kill innocent civilians.

Obviously some Muslims find burning the how-to-book-of-jihad offensive, but as I wrote in September that’s not all they find offensive.

Guess what else is offensive to Muslims… The Gospel of Jesus Christ, for one, but also women, freedom, Jews, drawings, thinking, the United States, gays, alcohol and pork chops. Should we stop all these things as well so as not to “offend” anyone? How about we stop people from burning Qurans after infidels are granted full freedom to practice their religion, including proselytizing, in Muslim nations?

One of the most annoying things about the Bush administration was the idea that these crazy people would somehow be changed by freedom. To be changed by freedom a culture has to first be willing to be free. Let’s face it, many of these cultures in Asia are stuck in the middle ages. We’ll have better luck giving them free basic cable and forcing them to watch reality TV for a decade. Unfortunately, the Real Housewives of Jalalabad doesn’t make for compelling television.

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krauthammer: quit blaming bush

On October 30, 2009, in Politics, by Henshaw

Charles Krauthammer makes a good point in his column today. It’s time the President stops bashing his predecessor. It’s beyond stale and serves no purpose. Obama should take as much time as he wants to make a decision about Afghanistan, but blaming Bush for the current policy is nonsense. Obama set the current policy.

Is there anything he hasn’t blamed George W. Bush for? The economy, global warming, the credit crisis, Middle East stalemate, the deficit, anti-Americanism abroad — everything but swine flu. It’s as if Obama’s presidency hasn’t really started. He’s still taking inventory of the Bush years. Just this Monday, he referred to “long years of drift” in Afghanistan in order to, I suppose, explain away his own, well, year-long drift on Afghanistan.
This compulsion to attack his predecessor is as stale as it is unseemly. Obama was elected a year ago. He became commander in chief two months later. He then solemnly announced his own “comprehensive new strategy” for Afghanistan seven months ago.
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Obama is obviously unhappy with the path he himself chose in March. Fine. He has every right — indeed, duty — to reconsider. But what Obama is reacting to is the failure of his own strategy.

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