Will Obama Succumb to Pressure by the Nattering Nabobs of the Press?

You remember that famous phrase "nattering nabobs of negativism" uttered by the infamous Spiro Agnew? You don't? It's worth looking up. And it's the one time I have ever agreed with a Republican...and it had to be Agnew, but there you go. The LA Times even posted my letter of support, way back when. William Safire actually wrote those definitive words for Agnew and here's why:

The words that William Safire penned and that Spiro Agnew mouthed actually had enormous impact that has lasted until this day. They helped foster among conservatives and the folks that Nixon called "the silent majority" a growing mistrust of the mainstream media, a mistrust that grew over two generations into a form of hatred. It also started a dangerous spiral of events -- journalists started bending backwards to kowtow to their conservative critics, beginning in the time of Reagan, an ill-advised shift that did not win back a single reader or viewer on the right. Instead, it caused a lot of folks on the left and even the center to wonder why the national media had stopped doing its job, stopped questioning authority. Today, the vast majority of Americans of all political stripes -- conservative, liberal, centrist -- don't believe the "nattering nabobs of negativism, a.k.a. the mainstream media, in record numbers. In the long run, a New Media is emerging that may ultimately prove to be better than what it is replacing, but in the meantime the cost to America in the journalism that was lost during the run-up to the Iraq war and Wall Street's hijacking of the U.S. economy is incalculable.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/attytood/Nabobs_natter_about_the_passing_of_William_Safire_1929-2009.html#8Ezvo5kA7k4ljeGw.99

The words that William Safire penned and that Spiro Agnew mouthed actually had enormous impact that has lasted until this day. They helped foster among conservatives and the folks that Nixon called "the silent majority" a growing mistrust of the mainstream media, a mistrust that grew over two generations into a form of hatred. It also started a dangerous spiral of events -- journalists started bending backwards to kowtow to their conservative critics, beginning in the time of Reagan, an ill-advised shift that did not win back a single reader or viewer on the right. Instead, it caused a lot of folks on the left and even the center to wonder why the national media had stopped doing its job, stopped questioning authority. Today, the vast majority of Americans of all political stripes -- conservative, liberal, centrist -- don't believe the "nattering nabobs of negativism, a.k.a. the mainstream media, in record numbers. In the long run, a New Media is emerging that may ultimately prove to be better than what it is replacing, but in the meantime the cost to America in the journalism that was lost during the run-up to the Iraq war and Wall Street's hijacking of the U.S. economy is incalculable.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/attytood/Nabobs_natter_about_the_passing_of_William_Safire_1929-2009.html#8Ezvo5kA7k4ljeGw.99

The words that William Safire penned and that Spiro Agnew mouthed actually had enormous impact that has lasted until this day. They helped foster among conservatives and the folks that Nixon called "the silent majority" a growing mistrust of the mainstream media, a mistrust that grew over two generations into a form of hatred. It also started a dangerous spiral of events -- journalists started bending backwards to kowtow to their conservative critics, beginning in the time of Reagan, an ill-advised shift that did not win back a single reader or viewer on the right. Instead, it caused a lot of folks on the left and even the center to wonder why the national media had stopped doing its job, stopped questioning authority. 

Today, the vast majority of Americans of all political stripes -- conservative, liberal, centrist -- don't believe the "nattering nabobs of negativism, a.k.a. the mainstream media, in record numbers. In the long run, a New Media is emerging that may ultimately prove to be better than what it is replacing, but in the meantime the cost to America in the journalism that was lost during the run-up to the Iraq war and Wall Street's hijacking of the U.S. economy is incalculable. SOURCE

And here they go again. Saying Obama will be considered "weak", his "legacy will be tarnished" if he doesn't go to war. No, his legacy will be 'burnished' if he doesn't go to war. This is insanity. The press - by the way, who the fuck are they? Why does anybody even care what they think? They are simply glorified prompter readers ascribed an exalted understanding of 'what's happening now' - and they are  playing bait and switch with their opinions. How they have the temerity to call Obama weak, at this point, because he is reluctant to go to war is breathtaking. As often as I have disagreed with the President, in this case, getting Congress' approval or disapproval is a brilliant strategic tactic, to get those loud-mouthed do-nothing paid political hacks on record so they can put up or shut up and quit taunting Obama about how his foreign policy is screwed if he doesn't blow up the Middle East. Conscript these malingerers. The army needs more recruits.

It's not just the issues like 'we can't afford another war', 'the money would be better spent on education', 'the U.S. isn't the world's police', 'we have war fatigue'. No. NO, war is not the answer. You've heard this before and certainly after all recent wars, what have we got? Nothing and more war. The country is starving for the dollars we spend on the military. Any high-flying CEO would be fired if his ROI came in with nothing in the annual report. We know that the economy is dependent on the industrial war machine, right? But war solves nothing. And yet, the self-righteous "nattering nabobs of negativism", particularly on CNN, are stoking their war cries with twisted logic.

When a four star general and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, is reluctant to go to war, then listen to the Pentagon. I can't believe I just wrote that. But there you have it.

The words that William Safire penned and that Spiro Agnew mouthed actually had enormous impact that has lasted until this day. They helped foster among conservatives and the folks that Nixon called "the silent majority" a growing mistrust of the mainstream media, a mistrust that grew over two generations into a form of hatred. It also started a dangerous spiral of events -- journalists started bending backwards to kowtow to their conservative critics, beginning in the time of Reagan, an ill-advised shift that did not win back a single reader or viewer on the right. Instead, it caused a lot of folks on the left and even the center to wonder why the national media had stopped doing its job, stopped questioning authority. Today, the vast majority of Americans of all political stripes -- conservative, liberal, centrist -- don't believe the "nattering nabobs of negativism, a.k.a. the mainstream media, in record numbers. In the long run, a New Media is emerging that may ultimately prove to be better than what it is replacing, but in the meantime the cost to America in the journalism that was lost during the run-up to the Iraq war and Wall Street's hijacking of the U.S. economy is incalculable.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/attytood/Nabobs_natter_about_the_passing_of_William_Safire_1929-2009.html#8Ezvo5kA7k4ljeGw.99