Michael Barbaro does it again!

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2012

The nation's most pitiful child: In a more serious nation, there would be rioting in the streets about the New York Times' pitiful child, Michael Barbaro.

This morning, the pitiful child is asked to report Romney's Meet the Press appearance. As usual, the pitiful child showcased his skill at discerning a candidate's "tone:"

BARBARO (9/10/12): Adopting a new tone, Mitt Romney on Sunday said he would retain elements of President Obama's health care overhaul, blamed Republicans as much as Democrats for the ''mistake'' of agreeing to automatic cuts in military spending and said Mr. Obama's national security strategy had made America in ''some ways safer.''

The remarks were a marked departure from Mr. Romney's frequently harsh and openly partisan critiques of the president on the campaign trail over the last year, and seemed to amount to a different tenor now that he has officially become the Republican presidential nominee: bipartisanship, of sorts.

They came in a rare interview on the NBC News program ''Meet the Press,'' and not the friendlier terrain of Fox News, on which Mr. Romney prefers to appear.

The approach, however fleeting it may be, appeared to be a direct and deliberate appeal to middle-of-the-road voters who have not made up their minds yet and are likely to decide the race. At one point, Mr. Romney said the speech last week by the country's previous Democratic president, Bill Clinton, had ''elevated'' the party's convention in Charlotte, N.C.

Barbaro is very good at discerning nuance of tone and speculating about its genesis. But the pitiful child is very soft when it comes to matters of substance:

BARBARO (continuing directly): Asked by the show's host, David Gregory, what elements of the health care program he would maintain, Mr. Romney said he would ensure that those with pre-existing conditions can obtain coverage, just as the president's plan does.

''I'm not getting rid of all of health care reform,'' Mr. Romney said, while emphasizing that he planned to replace the president's plan with his own. ''There are a number of things that I like in health care reform that I'm going to put in place. One is to make sure that those with pre-existing conditions can get coverage.''

Pitiful! That was Barbaro's full discussion of Romney's comments on health care reform. The very slow child failed to cite the obvious problems with Romney's declaration that he would retain the guarantee of coverage for those with pre-existing conditions.

At the Washington Post, Bill Turque, a big-boy reporter, did a much better job with this topic. He explained the hollowness at the core of Romney's pledge, in the way a big boy would.

To read Turque's big-boy report, click here. To enjoy the mommy-pleasing mind-reading skills of an utterly silly child, continue with Barbaro's worthless report at our most famous newspaper.