Alec Jacobs, Guest Columnist
Ideology: Very Conservative | Writing From: New Jersey
This past week, President Obama did the most presidential thing a Democrat president can do: inappropriately fantasized about a young woman’s rear end. If he wasn’t so busy calling Obama’s campaign the “biggest fairy tale” he’d ever seen and fuming over his failure to vicariously earn the 2008 nomination through his wife, Bill Clinton would be proud. 
Immediately after the release of the incriminating photograph, news outlets clamored to defend their beloved leader. Media Matters (which dedicates itself to bashing conservatives) pounced on the Drudge Report for daring to post the photograph. MSNBC called the picture a “right wing smear.” Every outlet (yes, including FoxNews) played the video of the event, all in an attempt to prove that Obama was still the Messiah; that he was only holding another girl’s hand to help her down the stairs. He was no Bill Clinton. No John F. Kennedy. No Franklin D. Roosevelt. Unlike every Democrat president before him, he was acting appropriately!
If Obama can ram healthcare, stimulus after stimulus, and cap and trade through Congress all at the same time, he’s probably a good enough at multi-tasking that he can help someone down the stairs while, at the same time, eyeing a 16-year old girl. But whatever the case may be, the media defended Obama in a way they never would have defended George W. Bush.
Countless sites ar
e dedicated to posting embarrassing pictures of our 43rd president. But strangely enough, Bush was never defended. In fact, he was only ridiculed by the likes of television “journalists” like Keith Olbermann. There are plenty of examples of this kind of fair, honest reporting.
These pictures, taken at the Olympics, gave the liberal media a field day. In the first, Bush is looking in the general direction of the volleyball game (which is so odd, because it’s not like they were playing an Olympic volleyball game or anything). This one is sort of like the Obama picture, except that with Obama, you can tell exactly what he’s looking at.
This second picture created even more of a stir. Feminist groups were up in arms (but aren’t they always?) and The Huffington Post went so far as to hold a caption contest, all while acknowledging that the photo was a set-up! As the Associated Press correctly reported, volleyball player Misty May-Treanor offered her rear (twice) to the Pres
ident during a photo-opp, and he playfully tapped her on the small of her back.
Still, having known the real story behind the pictures, the media never rushed to the aid of Bush the way they have for Obama.
What were all of the MSNBC personalities doing when these “embarrassing” Bush photos were released? If I had to guess, I’d say Rachel Maddow was busy telling everyone she was “a big lesbian who looks like a man,” Chris Matthews was talking unnecessarily loudly, and Keith Olbermann was probably naming Bush the “Worst Person in the World” for doing something totally mundane, calling him a “jackass” and telling him to “shut the hell up”.
How about some fairness in reporting? …didn’t think so.
Alec,
This is clearly playing with photography on both sides of the aisle. Obama was simply waiting to link arms with the woman, and Bush was clearly watching a volleyball game. However, it is strange that misty may-treanor offered her “rear-end” to the President, but to each his (or her) own. However, Bush did have a past of inappropriately rubbing the Chancellor of Germany’s shoulders, whether it was sexual harrasment or just over-stepping personal space and suspending decorum a little bit too much can be left open to interpretation. This is a cheap shot at the president, just as you say MSNBC did with Bush at the volleyball game (and i agree). Stick to criticizing the president’s policies(it’s better for the american people and the future of the country to not get too involved in this kind of stuff), and not an easy punchline.
Kelsi,
Bush rubbed the German chancellor’s shoulders, and Obama kissed Hugo Chavez’s feet. That isn’t the point.
I acknowledged that people were playing with photography in both instances. I’m not criticizing Obama in this post (though, admittedly, I made a few jokes), I’m criticizing the media.