tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post7455521833089201222..comments2024-03-29T10:17:28.697-04:00Comments on the daily howler: Breaking: Who is Barack Obama!<b>bob somerby</b>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02963464534685954436noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-80949070239848623342013-05-30T00:20:05.783-04:002013-05-30T00:20:05.783-04:00You're right about Bob's blindspots. We ...You're right about Bob's blindspots. We all have them, I guess. I think Bob's work is very important, but his interest is in what happens in DC and how it is reported (very badly), but that's all he seems to write about, with the exception of education. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-4118149927328315722013-05-29T17:29:29.944-04:002013-05-29T17:29:29.944-04:00Alter doesn't seem to get any distinction betw...Alter doesn't seem to get any distinction between leaks of legitimate state secrets -- think the D-Day landing sites, for example, or the fact that we have an insider in North Korea feeding us information -- versus leaks of government wrongdoing. Is there a difference there, or are a reporter and his or her editor supposed to be the sole arbiters of what constitutes legitimate government secrets and what does not?urban legendnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-23582484533396548672013-05-29T10:59:19.848-04:002013-05-29T10:59:19.848-04:00Yes, it's crappy narrative writing by Alter.
...Yes, it's crappy narrative writing by Alter.<br /><br />But some folks, Bob, will likely note that you create an inference of your own from the facts presented here: Is there a "fairly obvious" way in which the press corps doesn't "do their jobs," thus meriting president Obama's disdain?<br /><br />Yes, there are many ways in which the press have failed, harming Obama in the process (you have admirably documented much of this failure).<br /><br />To be scrupulously fair though, there are also many ways in which the press has carried water for Obama. This too is a major failure of the press corps.<br /><br />This is not a partisan issue, as the ways in which the press helps the Obama administration, to the detriment of the people, in my opinion, are generally those in which it helps most presidents:<br /><br />- Foreign policy is almost never examined or criticised in any other than an American-exceptionalism frame.<br /><br />- Domestic policies on which there is "bipartisan agreement" to support business interests rather than citizen interests are not criticised.<br /><br />You generally don't attend to such matters, as is your choice. But in the long run, such a blind spot to a major defect in the "American discourse" does affect you own credibility.<br /><br />Just saying, of course.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com