In Speech, Obama Repeatedly Attacks Beltway Media Establishment

In Speech, Obama Repeatedly Attacks Beltway Media Establishment
October 2, 2007 -- 1:25 PM EST // //

A lot of people are talking about the big speech Barack Obama gave today calling for multilateral nuclear disarmament. But I wanted to focus in on what I think is a significant aspect of the speech that has little to do with the actual policy questions addressed here. Specifically, I'm talking about Obama's repeated attacks on the Beltway media establishment.

Obama came back to this theme again and again today. Here, for instance, Obama makes a clear reference to the D.C. punditry, pointing out its astonishing addiction to Republican narratives and frames in the aftermath of September 11 and in the run-up to the Iraq invasion:

"We were counseled by some of the most experienced voices in Washington that the only way for Democrats to look tough was to talk, act and vote like a Republican."

Here Obama targets the manifold failings of the media in the runup to the war -- specifically, the now-well-documented credulousness in the face of administration claims about Iraq WMD:

"Because the American people weren’t just failed by a President -- they were failed by much of Washington. By a media that too often reported spin instead of facts. By a foreign policy elite that largely boarded the bandwagon for war."

Here's Obama fast-forwarding and attacking D.C. pundits for their endless fascination with the MoveOn-bashes-Petraeus story:

"The fact that violence today is only as horrific as in 2006 is held up as progress. Washington politicians and pundits trip over each other to debate a newspaper advertisement while our troops fight and die in Iraq."

What's striking about these lines is how tightly they're in sync with the liberal blogospheric critique of the Beltway media. All these points hit on by Obama here -- the frequent pundit assertion that Dems will look weak if they don't walk in lockstep behind the GOP; the uncritical acceptance of administration spin; the punditry and media's willingness to parrot the GOP line on stories such as the MoveOn ad flap -- are central pillars in that media critique.

more...

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/10/in_speech_obama.php

:)

"The hard truth is that the war in Iraq is not about a catalog of many mistakes – it is about one big mistake. The war in Iraq should never have been fought."

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/10/_obamas_full_antinukes_speech_blasts_beltway_establishment.php#more

"Because the American people weren’t just failed by a President -- they were failed by much of Washington. By a media that too often reported spin instead of facts. By a foreign policy elite that largely boarded the bandwagon for war."

The elites who "advised" the Democratic party are 99% establishment mules who were on Bush's side.
The punditry, the mediawhores, the stenographers, the consultants, they are establishment tools and are not to be trusted.

eom

Clearly this kind of talk only appeals to netroots people. He needs to shake it up a bit and start dealing with important issues like raunchy video games.

Meanwhile, Hillary hired press critic Peter Daou as her internet outreach chief. The Hillary campaign took great care to play up Bill Clinton's on-air attack on Fox's Chris Wallace as a way to get cred with bloggers and Dem activists. Both Hillary and Chris Dodd competed to most aggressively attack Bill O'Reilly when he went after YearlyKos.

I wish he'd come out and say that she didn't even read the intel. before voting for the IWR! He needs to do more than just keep saying he was against it from the beginning, since she keeps coming back with her line that she voted to give Bush the ability to use more diplomacy, and if she knew then what she knows now she wouldn't have voted that way. He should go strong against her, saying that even after how many years "experience" she had in 2003, she didn't know to read the intel.

speech, he makes a lot of valid, excellent points.

(quote truncated to fit subject line, full quote below)

"What's striking about these lines is how tightly they're in sync with the liberal blogospheric critique of the Beltway media."
Interesting place to go for policy ideas.