dagblog - Comments for "The Media Changes Its Story (Not for the Last Time)"

"Lincoln Delano Kennedy." I

acanuck — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 19:53:00 +0000

In reply to The Media Changes Its Story (Not for the Last Time)

"Lincoln Delano Kennedy." I love it, doctor. You're absolutely right about the lazy, lemming-brained, "hook"-driven media. But for the moment, they are catching a very important mood change among Democrats, which I think will be echoed across the country.

I don't believe even the "fixed" Senate bill goes as far as it needed to. But its passage was essential for the party's prospects in November.

Obama showed his leadership smarts by going with Pelosi's approach rather than Rahm's "incrementalism." Once HCR is fully in place, there's plenty of time for incremental improvements -- first and most crucially, repeal of the insurance companies' anti-trust exemption, to be followed swiftly by DOJ investigations and, ideally, trials and serious jail time for some greedy, soulless execs.

Fair enough. I certainly

Doctor Cleveland — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 18:48:02 +0000

In reply to Good points all, but I'd like

Fair enough. I certainly don't think Carter got a fair shake in the media, and I'm a fan of his.

But Carter wasn't necessarily great at enacting his agenda. Part of that is perception, based on the fact that he was a moderate, and so his agenda didn't feel like big successes. Reagan, who wasn't always popular and didn't always poll well (and who was "up" and "down" in the seasonal media narratives) did manage to get his policies enacted. The hard truth is, there's a big slice of independent voters or weakly partisan voters who will gravitate to an incumbent if he seems like he's getting things done, right or left. Some voters just like a winner.

Good points all, but I'd like

Nebton — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 18:41:50 +0000

In reply to The Media Changes Its Story (Not for the Last Time)

Good points all, but I'd like to add that I don't think even Jimmy Carter was Jimmy Carter, if you know what I mean.