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You are here: Home / Politics / Media / Blast from the past

Blast from the past

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It’s interesting to compare the tough coverage George W. Bush received during his first few weeks in office with the disgusting, pro-Obama bias that we’re now seeing. Here’s Fred Hiatt in January 2001:

In these honeymoon weeks, Mr. Bush’s more open-minded opponents have seemed willing to work with him, and those who have spurned his overtures have been left looking churlish. As time goes on, it may be harder to sustain optimism. Mr. Bush wins points now by declaring that he aims to “rid the system of rancor.” At a certain time, however, his promises will begin to sound hollow unless he has helped foster real change in the political culture.

[….]

Yet precisely because power is separated, the system desperately needs charm to lubricate it. That is why “bipartisan” sometimes seems to be the highest compliment in Washington, and why the tone of President Bush’s first fortnight deserves a warm welcome.

Heh indeedy.

Update: To be fair, Hiatt could have been influenced, I suppose, by the fact that Bush received a resounding mandate in 2000 while Obama squeaked into office with a controversial victory this fall.

Reader Interactions

28Comments

  3. 3.

    Zifnab25

    Meh. Whatever. Rush and Hannity were giving out the same sort of BJs in 2001. And they’re piling on the same vitrol, baseless allegations, and slander today.

    Hypocrites are hypocritical. In other news, dog bites man.

  7. 7.

    Comrade Jake

    Speaking of idiots, did anyone catch the stream of nonsense from various sources today claiming that Obama threw Biden under the bus at his presser?

    I mean check out the NoIQ stupid in rare form. I guess the notion is that Obama should now feel pretty silly for picking Biden as his VP over Hill-A-REE. These morons never stop.

  8. 8.

    KG

    From the Pundit to English dictionary:

    "Bipartisanship": 1. a system of government wherein the party which wins the presidency gets everything it wants with the agreement of the losing party; 2. a system of government wherein a few members of one party join the vast majority of the other party to pass a piece of legislation; 3. a moment, usually preceding an election, wherein elected officials realize they should stop pissing off voters and actually pass important legislation; 4. complete and total bullshit.

  9. 9.

    KG

    @7: yeah, Hewitt was already speculating that Biden will not be on the ticket in 2012. It’s a shame that W didn’t think of that in ’04. But then, again, it probably would have made impeachment easier without a Sith Lord as Veep.

  11. 11.

    Fencedude

    @Comrade Jake:

    Maybe its just me, but isn’t SecState in actuality a significantly "better" position than Veep?

    I mean, if I was interested in actual (non-extra constitutional) power…I’d rather be SecState…

  16. 16.

    Sleeper

    I forgot how weird it was over at No Quarter.

    My friend went to dinner with the Clintons. This is, I swear to God the truth…they said the backroom deal for SOS is this: The Clintons know (as we all do) that Obama is from Kenya and not eligible. At some point in the next four years, he will step down, admit it, and Hillary will be President. I swear I heard this from the real thing. I always knew there was some backroom deal that kept HRC in the wheelhouse of the Fraud. I pray this is true.

    yikes. These PUMA alternate histories put Harry Turtledove to shame.

  17. 17.

    Peter J

    My friend went to dinner with the Clintons. This is, I swear to God the truth…they said the backroom deal for SOS is this: The Clintons know (as we all do) that Obama is from Kenya and not eligible. At some point in the next four years, he will step down, admit it, and Hillary will be President. I swear I heard this from the real thing. I always knew there was some backroom deal that kept HRC in the wheelhouse of the Fraud. I pray this is true.

    I shouldn’t complain about the mentally ill. But didn’t he forget about Biden, Pelosi and Byrd? Or are they too born in Kenya?

  18. 18.

    AnneLaurie

    My friend went to dinner with the Clintons. This is, I swear to God the truth…

    Anthropological note: It’s not a true Urban Myth until someone invokes the FOAF (Friend-of-A-Friend).

    It’s like Godwin’s Law for the credible and ill-informed.

  22. 22.

    aimai

    AnneLaurie, how true. FOAF is good. But I love the "went to dinner with" meme. I’ve got to put that right up with "overheard in a supermarket aisle, right next to the dog food" and also "on the internet."

    aimai

  24. 24.

    El Cid

    This is totally unfair. Hiatt & all were simply being nice to Bush Jr. because he was our first retarded President (unless you want to count later-term Reagan).

    Obama is a grown man capable of handling tough questions, and not at all likely to choke on pretzels or fall over on bicycles and Segways and not know how to leave press conferences and say "fool me can’t get fooled again" and "food on your family" and what not.

  26. 26.

    ricky

    I shouldn’t complain about the mentally ill. But didn’t he forget about Biden, Pelosi and Byrd? Or are they too born in Kenya?

    Not if the "friend" was Al Haig.

  27. 27.

    ricky

    Anthropological note: It’s not a true Urban Myth until someone invokes the FOAF (Friend-of-A-Friend).

    A friend of a friend had dinner with the Clintons and they are impressed with the intelligence and perception displayed by Fred Hiatt throughout his career and consider him the next David Broder.

  28. 28.

    scarshapedstar

    Yet precisely because power is separated, the system desperately needs charm to lubricate it.

    The cheeks of power are spread wide apart, there’s little lube to go around, and so the only option is to head straight to the center and start pushing. Even if America screams and cries, they’ll probably feel pretty good afterwards.

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