CNN's Survey says Americans Believe Obama Respected by World Leaders

A timely poll from CNN as Obama hosts world leaders for a nuclear security summit in Washington this week. Results of the poll show that 56% of Americans believe Obama is respected by major leaders of other countries. This, to me, is a question of marginal value because it says nothing about the more important question of whether world leaders actually respect President Obama. I have a few thoughts on that question but will save them for another post.

The survey is largely a reflection of Americans perception of respect and those perceptions will be shaped by how Obama is portrayed in the media. To say that Obama has enjoyed far more favorable coverage than his predecessors is an understatement.  Despite widespread media cheerleading, however, Americans have taken Obama down from his pedestal though CNN is quick to point out he enjoys a loftier position than previous presidents:

The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation released Tuesday indicates that 56 percent of the public believe that international leaders respect Obama. While that's down 16 points from a year ago, Obama scores higher than his predecessors.

"President Obama does fare better on that question than Bill Clinton did in 1994 or George W. Bush did after the start of the war in Iraq," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "The 56 percent he gets on that question now is down significantly from 72 percent who felt that way last March, when Obama was still in his 'honeymoon' phase and his poll results on virtually every question were in the political stratosphere.

Aww he has fallen from the stratosphere to a spot still above mere mortals.  What a surprise.  As we might expect, perceptions of how far Obama has fallen from the pedestal varies greatly among different demographics:

The survey indicates a gender gap: 56 percent of women approve of the job Obama is doing in the White House, compared to 47 percent among male respondents. There is also a generational divide, with 62 percent of people under 40 giving the president a thumb's up. His approval rating among those 40 and older drops to 46 percent. Finally, there is also an income split: 58 percent of those making less than $50,000 a year approve of Obama's job performance, and 48 percent of those making $50,000 or more approve of his performance.

The 16 point spread between those under 40 and those over 40 is perhaps most telling. I would guess those over 40 are far more likely to be paying close attention to Obama's performance on the world stage and here at home. It's hard to imagine yet another photo of Obama bowing before a world leader does much to raise him higher on the pedestal among the over 40 crew.  Would Jintao have preferred a kiss first?

Alan Grayson and Rick Sanchez Tag Team Jordan Marks

Via Newsbusters who also has a transcript in case anyone wants to verify that the insanity word for word, because it is just that incredible. Alan Grayson seems to be going for some sort of award for inflammatory speech. Here is a sample:

GRAYSON: You know, listen, people like you -- people like you -- and it's very apt that your name is Marks -- people like you, your dreams turn into other people's nightmares. And it's time you owned up to it.

MARKS: We as conservatives believe we have winning principles and we stick by these principles. Small government.

GRAYSON: Your principles are violence.

MARKS: I don't think anyone and my principles are --

GRAYSON: Anger, hatred and violence.

MARKS: In fact, in the charter of my personal organization, it says if you are a person that does do the so-called acts that happen towards these congressmen, you're kicked out of my organization.

GRAYSON: Oh, yes.

MARKS: You can go look it up online. We are a public organization.

GRAYSON: See if that helps to bring back the dead.

Rick Sanchez never challenges Grayson, rather he seems just as committed as Grayson in promoting the impression tea parties are built around a core of violent fringe lunatics. Remind me again, which party had one of its contributors arrested for making death threats against Republican Congressman Eric Cantor?

Every day the media continues to assist Democrats in promoting this outrageous narrative that those who oppose health care are dangerous, is another day I come closer to being convinced this country has been hijacked and held hostage for the sake of a failing presidency. Interviews like this should be held up for the vile propaganda they are. The bright spot in this? Jordan Marks handles the Grayson/Sanchez insanity with ease.

A question for anyone who might know, how in the world did Alan Grayson get elected in a right leaning district. Heaven help us if this lunatic is sworn in with the next Congress.

CNN Summarizes Health Care Summit in 2 Minutes - What Could Go Wrong?

CNN must be fearful that Barack Obama didn't fare very well in the health care summit last week. They put together a summary for those who missed the 7 hour summit condensing it into a two minute recap of the entire event. Surely they must realize when they are picking and choosing specific soundbites from an event of that length they are editorializing. If they realize they are editorializing you might think a news agency would make that point clearly. Don't strain yourself watching for such an admission, however.  It's missing along with the other 6 hours and 58 minutes they cut to make this summary.

You won't see a single word Paul Ryan uttered proclaiming the health care reform a fiscal train wreck. You won't see Obama cutting off Republicans as they are making clear arguments against the current proposed health care reform and offer reasoned and thoughtful alternatives. Nor will you see Democrats suffering from "annectdotitis" relating stories from constituents who wear their dead sister's teeth when dental coverage is not at issue.

What we do see is a montage of soundbites from Republicans suggesting they start over along with a few snarky responses from Obama on the use of the 2400 page bill as a prop. Worse still, is a montage of seemingly sincere Democrats suggesting there are many areas of agreement between the two sides followed by another montage of Republicans pointing to significant differences. The segment is concluded with Obama's final ultimatum. Having watched nearly all of the 7 hour summit, I would have summarized the event entirely differently. My summary would have been equally biased, perhaps even more so.   Then again I freely admit my bias, maybe it is time for CNN to do the same.



Related at Hot Air "CNN: We need a radical procedure to save the ObamaCare patient"
Cross posted at Potluck

19% Think Obama Has Earned Nobel Peace Prize

Via Memeorandum
New CNN poll:

19% think Obama has accomplished enough to deserve the Nobel Peace Prize which is down from 32% in October, wow.  I would love to know what those 19% think he has actually done so far.  CNN explains the why some have changed their mind since October:

"That number dropped 21 among Democrats and 10 points among independents, possibly due in part to Obama's recent decision to send 30,000 more U.S. combat troops to the war in Afghanistan," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.

But although most people do not think the president currently deserves the peace prize, seven in 10 questioned - including a majority of Republicans - say he should go to Oslo, Norway Thursday to accept the award.

 Well he went and gave his speech, which was incredibly boring in my humble opinion.  It was also incredibly long, again, in my humble opinion.   Kathryn Lopez's commentary on twitter was quite entertaining though, here's a sample:

Obama Mao Banned T Shirt

The banned Obama Mao t-shirt, which has been officially inducted into the Obama Kitsch Guide, caused a CNN reporter to be detained for hours by market security and Chinese police.  Emily Chang, a Beijing-based reporter, blogged about the incident after she hunted down the shirt that was reportedly banned amidst fears it would offend Obama:

Chang said she held the shirt up to the camera while filming a story in a Shanghai market.

"Two security guards happened to pass by at the moment I announced to the camera: 'This is the T-shirt everybody is talking about,'" she said.

"And that was it. They scrambled towards us and tried to pry the shirt out of my hands," Chang said. "I didn't give in.

They wanted the shirt and who can blame them?  It is obviously now greatly increased in value since its' inclusion in the "Official Obama Kitsch Guide."  Hey, it's a very classy publication.  So desperate were the Chinese officials to confiscate the banned shirt they called for reinforcements:

"We ended up being detained for two hours in the cold, maze of a market," she said. "A crowd gathered round. More security and then police showed up."They wanted our press cards, our passports, but most of all, they wanted the shirt," she said. "Finally, they let us go. Phew!"

Phew indeed.  The best news is Chang was able to keep the valuable shirt:

Chang refused to surrender the offending shirt and joked that a number of jealous White House and CNN colleagues had tried to "bribe" her for it.

I guess we know what fashionable White House staffers will be wearing this holiday season.  Or not...

CNN on the Obama Referenda

I thought this analysis by John King was pretty good because it highlights distinct elements of the vote which at the end of the day can be used to underscore how today's vote reflects on the Obama administration and agenda regardless of the outcome. If, for example, Corzine manages to pull out a win we would be able to look to shifts in the votes of Independents compared to patterns seen a year ago in the presidential election, to determine whether Obama is gaining or losing that group. There is some effort to spin here but the bottom line is they can't spin it all.



Of course we can't discount the thug factor that may play a role in the Jersey election. When the Democrats feel the need to bring out the gang members to GOTV, they will have a hard time claiming they enjoy any real support at all in my opinion. Democrats are so desperate that in spite of all the recent scrutiny on ACORN fraud, they are addicted to the type of mischief ACORN can wreak on an election.

Judd Gregg: We are on a Path to a Banana Republic

Via Memeorandum
Senator Judd Gregg made an appearance on CNN's "State of the Union" yesterday. Gregg described the budget deficit under the current administration and the devastating impact it will have on quality of life for us and our children:



Judd Gregg's criticism is particularly devastating as he was chosen to be head of the Commerce Department. Gregg removed himself from consideration over disagreements with the Obama administration on policy. In this clip Gregg describes the proposed health care reforms as a huge expansion of government. In his words such an expansion of government would have a "very debilitating effect" on the overall economy and the ability to get health care in the future.

The Other McCain, Meghan McCain and CNN - Oh My!

The Other McCain has been busy building a google bomb extraordinaire after Meghan McCain posted a hey look at my boobs  photo on her twitter account.  Meghan didn't get the attention she was seeking, however, and a swearin' like a porn star meltdown ensued.  Admittedly, it's tough to tell Meghan McCain's swearin like a porn star meltdowns from her normal twitter posts, but I digress.

Now Meghan has been burned by the MSM that she typically seeks out when she feels a need to rant on what is wrong with the Republican party. 

So CNN has time fact check Saturday Night live,  run whole segments on Meghan McCain's boobs and twitter dramas but no time to fact check the bogus quotes they attributed to Rush Limbaugh.   Anita Dunn would be so proud. As juvenile as McCain's attention seeking twitter pic boob drama was, I have to agree with her.   CNN is #3 in the ratings for a reason, not even Meghan's boobs can save them. 

CNN Fact Checks Saturday Night Live Skit - Yes You Read That Right

Well the media is certainly falling over themselves to undo some of the damage from the opening skit of Saturday Night Live that mocked Obama as a "do nothing" president. I noted in my last report Hardball was trying to revive the "tingle" in a blame Bush/giant rationalization segment excusing Obama for doing nothing. CNN tries a different approach, arguing instead that Obama has made progress in Afghinastan and trying to portray the comedy skit as "unfair." Of course none of this was done when Sarah Palin was the target. I believe voters went to the polls believing Palin had actually said she could see Russia from her house. My how things change when the tag after the politician's name is (D) for Democrat. This must be seen to be believed:

CNN & Huffington Post Politicize Death of Army Spc. Gregory James Missman

Army Spc. Gregory James Missman died in Bagram Afghanistan on July 8, 2009 after being inured by an improvised explosive device. The Gazette report dated July 10 notes Missman re-enlisted in the military after losing his job as a computer consultant:

Missman had served in the Army in the early 1990s but had been a civilian for 11 years, his father, Jim Missman, told WCPO in Cincinnati. He recently re-enlisted after a divorce to provide health insurance for his son, his father said.

Nearly two months later, CNN reports on his death highlighting Missman's reason for re-enlistment, specifically his lack of health insurance.

The Huffington Post picked up the story in what seems to be an effort to politicize Missman's death. The HuffPo headline reads: "Soldier Who Re-Enlisted For Health Care, Killed In Afghanistan." In their brief recap of the CNN report, HuffPo writes:

According to Missman's father, health care is what pushed his son back into service. After losing his job, Missman's young family, a wife and son were no longer insured.

There are a few facts missing in this interpretation of Missman's motivation for re-enlisting. According to a report issued by WCPO News at the time of Missman's death:

"He'd gone through a separation, a divorce. Greg has a four-year-old son and was obligated to provide him health insurance monthly support and he was unemployed so I believe that was probably the stimulus that he was going to fulfill his obligation," continued Greg's father.

Let me say first, my heart goes out to Missman's family. Losing a child is a tragedy and his father's grief must be immense. I certainly understand Mr. Missman's desire to make sense of his son's death, this is a normal part of the grieving process.

I do, however, question the timing of CNN and Huffington Post's reporting on Missman's reasons for re-enlistment at this time. Under current law, Missman's son would have been eligible for health insurance due Missman's lost employment provided of course, his ex-wife did not have insurance on her own. Regardless, of the terms of their divorce, Missman could not have been expected to provide insurance when he was unemployed. Perhaps I am mistaken but I don't see how Missman's re-enlistment would provide insurance for his ex-wife who is portrayed as a wife in Huffington Post's misleading report.

There is a logical flaw in this politicized review of the death of Specialist Missman. The argument is presented in such terms that his lack of insurance resulted in his death. No one disagrees that insurance should be more affordable and clearly insurance tied to employment creates a host of problems for those who lose their jobs. Missman's son would have been covered under current law as previously mentioned, as he surely would be after some nebulous reform. I could equally assert the failure of the stimulus to save or create a job for Missman resulted in his death, if I chose to make a fallacious politicized argument. Missman's service and sacrifice deserves better than that however, and certainly greater respect than is shown by either CNN or Huffington Post.