They Miss The Soundbites And Bumper Stickers

I really think our media was somewhat spoiled during the Bush years in that because he spoke in such simplistic and nonnuanced terms belying his lack of substantive thought, the press core didn't have to think too hard to do any reporting on him. Now that we have President Obama in office and he can actually answer a question in more than a slogan or a ready made soundbite, the Villagers are quite miffed. The reaction to President Obama's grasp of the issues during the health care reform press conference on Wednesday was particularly laughable as Steve Benen points out.

AN AVERSION TO SUBSTANCE.... MSNBC's First Read had an item yesterday about the president's prime-time news conference, which it called a "snoozer," and criticized Obama for his depth and substantive responses. (via DougJ)

"Honest question: Is there a point when the president knows too much about an issue?" First Read asked. "He got into the weeds a number of times on a number of different aspects of health care, which is what his diehard supporters love, but might not grab the attention of the average viewer."

Apparently, the president may have done more to impress if he'd talked down to the country.
Paul Krugman is right to seem frustrated.

The talking heads on cable TV panned President Obama's Wednesday press conference. You see, he didn't offer a lot of folksy anecdotes.

Shame on them. The health care system is in crisis. The fate of America's middle class hangs in the balance. And there on our TVs was a president with an impressive command of the issues, who truly understands the stakes.

This might be less frustrating if it weren't so common. There are notable exceptions, but too many major media figures not only steer clear of policy details, they seem genuinely annoyed by those who prefer more substantive in the discourse.

People had better wake up to the reality that our lazy press corps don't care about keeping us informed. They just care about being able to do their job while exerting as little mental effort as possible. And with something as important to all of us as health care reform the stakes are too high to rely on these idiots to give us the facts.

I thank God for the internet, every single day.