After reading the news that Jesse Jackson Jr. has been an INFORMANT for the prosecutor against Blagojevich for some time now, I've finally had it with this whole Blagojevich nonsense - it has gone so far overboard that I really think it's high time Obama did something about it. And by "something" I do not mean cave in and answer whatever they want, whenever they want it. Instead, he needs to make the MSM stand in the corner and cool the fuck down, and here's how he can do it...
As I've watched the news unfold over the last week, I've seen an amazing effort by the MSM to try to strong arm Obama into giving them all the juicy Blagojevich gossip they want NOW, or risk having his reputation sullied. I have heard the following illogical argument on EVERY news channel:
- "Blagojevich tried to sell Obama's Senate seat. He's bad."
- "NOTHING suggests Obama or his team was in any way complicit."
- "Yes, Blagojevich is on tape CURSING Obama for NOT playing ball."
- ".... Yes, all those things are true. And yet, here's why we should all still be suspicious of Obama anyway...."
Ummm, what!?!? How the fuck does "everything that is known suggests Obama is innocent" somehow lead into a discussion of why we should suspect guilt??? They did the same shit with JJ Jr. This is EXACTLY why the MSM has a RESPONSIBILITY not to draw conclusions until they know all the facts! Jesse Jackson Jr was an informant, not a Blagojevich collaborator!!! He. Did. Nothing. Wrong (at least, not in this case). Yet, the media spent a week casting doubt and raising suspicions about JJ's innocence, just as they have Obama's. And for NO OTHER REASON than because they were all too fucking impatient to wait for all the facts to come out. And let's be clear - that is the ONLY REASON.
There is nothing that is particularly mission critical or time-sensitive about this case. Nothing. NO lives are at stake, no one's health is at risk, no Armageddon on the horizon. But the MSM has been acting like there is some kind of shot-clock associated with this, and that if Obama doesn't talk NOW then something bad will happen. But clearly, that is not the case - the dirty deed has been done, and Blago has been caught. At this point, it's simply a matter of prosecution, which neither Obama nor Jackson Jr. can make happen any faster by talking to the media (if anything, they risk jeopardizing the case by talking). Moreover, everything that we DO know suggests that Team Obama has done NO WRONG. So if Obama answers questions today or next week, what's the difference? NONE! The ONLY difference is that in the latter case the media has to... OMG... wait! They have to actually be patient, and they just aren't willing to do that.
"We want answers! Now, now, now!!!! And until we get them we're going to continue to cast doubt on Obama and Jackson and anyone else by saying: 'If they aren't talking, then they MUST be hiding something and we should all be suspicious."
I mean, how utterly irresponsible and unprofessional is that? We've reached a point of total conflation between "reporting facts" and peddling unsubstantiated speculation. And it feels deliberate - as if the media realizes what they are doing to Obama's reputation but insist on continuing to do so until they get what they want. Honestly, it feels like I'm watching my President be extorted by a self-serving, immature group of journalists. I've never seen so many people in the media act like petulant children who've been told that they have to eat their veggies before they get dessert. Whining, pouting, and yelling at Obama (yeah, Scarborough is now outright yelling at Obama) because he won't talk NOW, NOW, NOW! Whaaaaaa!!!
What a bunch of assholes. At this point, I WANT Obama to wait another two weeks before he tells them ANYTHING. Just so that he can draw a line and let it be known that he won't let controversy-seeking 'journalists' strong-arm him into playing their stupid ass game. The press absolutely has a duty to ask tough questions of the President, but they do not have the right to CREATE controversy in order to satiate their need for drama when it has already been made clear that the answers they seek WILL be coming pending an investigation, especially when all other available facts suggest no wrong doing by Obama.
BUT HOW CAN OBAMA FIGHT BACK?
The press has gotten too comfortable with their own relevance. While they marvel at the new and innovative ways in which Pres-elect Obama has taken to using the internet, they seem completely oblivious to the fact that this new media puts their own existence in jeopardy - similar to that of printed newspaper. In this new age of the internet, and with this President in particular, the MSM seriously needs to reevaluate its importance to the President and to the American people. Quite frankly, Obama DOES NOT NEED THEM like previous Presidents did. Why? Because everything that Obama plans to tell the media about Blagojevich, for example, he can just as easily say on YouTube, speaking directly to the people. In fact, he can even answer questions posed to him online (as he has already started to do at Change.gov). In fact, if he were so inclined, he could very easily make regular video releases online (like his weekly web-address), complete with question and answer sessions, where the questions come from the American people. Using the voting system that has been implemented at change.gov, one can be confident that the cream will rise to the top. That is, the questions asked will be those most voted on by the public, meaning they will represent the questions that people care about the most. This is NOT the case when selecting questions from the press pool, whose motivation tends to be more concerned with ratings and controversy than with the concerns of the American public.
And where would that leave the self-important journalists? That's right, NO WHERE! But here's the beauty of it - in the past, refusal to answer questions would swiftly be met by accusations of secrecy and opacity. But Obama would not be refusing to answer questions, he just wouldn't be answering THEIRS. And one cannot accuse him of not being transparent when he is speaking directly with the American people.
Obama does NOT need the media as previous Presidents have. Nor do the American people. Think about what he has already done to increase transparency in politics: making expense reports and donor names available, taking questions directly from average citizens, and creating www.change.gov so that everyone can track the assembly of his new cabinet and the transition to power. He's already done more than any other incoming president in recent history, and NONE of that required the MSM one bit! It was all online. So if the media wants to say "you better give us what we want when we want it or we'll continue to cast doubt on you and destroy your public image until you do," then I say bring it on bitches!!! This is a game of chicken that the MSM will NOT win.
Think about it - Obama can give just as many "net"-conferences and answer just as many questions, while in no way involving the MSM! Now, do I realistically think he would conduct business this way for the next 4 years? Not at all. But he CAN give them a taste of this alternative, and remind them (or rather, make them aware for the first time) that they do NOT hold the power in this relationship. Remind them that, in this day and age, their ability ask questions directly to the President is a privilege that can easily be revoked while still keeping an open line of communication with the American people.
If reporters want to report the FACTS and nothing but the facts, then I'm happy to have Obama deal directly with them until he leaves office. But if they are going to make a habit out of substituting unsubstantiated speculation where facts are unavailable, and using the inevitable damage to his reputation as means of coercing him into jumping through their hoops, then the MSM can go suck a fat one. Hounding the president when there is actually a REASON to suspect he's done something wrong, is a requirement. But insisting that he MUST have done something wrong simply because he won't answer all your questions right away and you need something scandalous for the nightly news, well that's something else altogether. And I'm not going to sit by and watch the press continue to squeeze the President for the sake of ratings.
All I ask is for just two internet based net-conferences to remind them that, unlike previous Presidents, this one DOES have other options!