A friend asked me if Obama was still on the golf course for his Christmas vacation. I don't know, but I sure wish that I were still golfing. Since I don't have a private 747 jet and staff to attend to me, I went back to work. But this reminded me of something I hope everyone keeps in their minds for 2010: The liberal bias is alive and well, and everyone should be on guard against it, especially liberals. Yes, it's dangerous for those that agree with the bias, maybe even more so.
President Barack Obama had only been in office for just over nine months, but he's already hit the links as much as President Bush did in over two years. CBS' Mark Knoller — an unofficial documentarian and statistician of all things White House-related — wrote on his Twitter feed that, "Today - Obama ties Pres. Bush in the number of rounds of golf played in office: 24. Took Bush 2 yrs & 10 months."
Honestly, I don’t care, because I like golf. But that’s not the story, whether we care about his golfing. The story is the biased media and our forgetfulness.
On Aug. 5, 2002, The Washington Post wrote about President Bush golfing near his parents’ home in Kennebunkport, Maine. Under the headline “Before Golf, Bush Decries Latest Deaths in Mideast,” staff writer Mike Allen described Bush as he “sprang from his golf cart at 6:15 a.m. and said he was "... distressed to hear about the latest suicide bombers in Israel.”
The article went further, “Bush, wearing khakis and a knit shirt, was holding a driver in his gloved left hand,” Allen wrote. “However incongruous the setting, the president plunged ahead. He then quoted Bush, "There are a few killers who want to stop the peace process that we have started, and we must not let them. I call upon all nations to do everything they can to stop these terrorist killers.” Allen then went on to state, “His business out of the way, Bush barely paused for breath before saying, ‘Thank you. Now watch this drive.'” (Many of you may remember this exchange in video in the Michael Moore film “Fahrenheit 911,” as this story was part of the movie trailer.)
Why did Bush take just 2 years and 10 months to play 24 rounds of golf? Wasn’t he President for 8 years? Yes. Bush QUIT playing golf on October 13, 2003. "I don't want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander-in-chief playing golf," Bush said. "I feel I owe it to the families to be in solidarity as best as I can with them." See http://afp.google.com/arti
So, what did the media report when he quit golfing? Bush was criticized for giving up golf. After Bush quit playing, Presidential Historian Robert Dallek said (May 14, 2008 in The Washington Post) Bush’s remarks about Iraq [and quitting golf] “speak to his shallowness.” Dallek added: “That's his idea of sacrifice, to give up golf?” Bush’s father, President George H.W. Bush, also was criticized for golfing in a time of war. Need more? Consider this video of Keith Olbermann http://www.youtube.com/wat
THE REST OF THE STORY - What has the media reported on Obama’s golf? The same Washington Post that criticized Bush, on June 9, 2009, published an article on Obama with the headline “Just the Sport for A Leader Most Driven.” That article in the Post offered the following report:
“What’s the deal? Why golf?” Post staff writer Richard Leiby wrote. “The attraction seems to be simple. It’s a great escape; the game demands such attention that nothing else matters. It’s time spent with friends, an unhurried afternoon in loose clothing (shorts seem to be Obama’s preference).”
The same paper that blasted Bush for golfing during a time of war describes the same activity of Obama – presidential golfing during a time at war – “a great escape; the game demands such attention that nothing else matters.” Friends, there is no debate, and there is no possible way to explain this other than intentional and unashamed BIAS.
My commentary – I don’t care if our Presidents play golf. I know that it is a great release of pressure, and it’s wonderful to get away from the pressures of life. So if the President wants to play golf during war time (all in moderation I suppose) then go for it. It’s probably better for the country and his marriage to take some time for the links. The time away might make him a better president. BUT THIS IS NOT ABOUT GOLF or presidential vacations. It is about the unashamed bias of the media and how foolish they must think we are.
If they will be so bold in their bias on a story such as this (presidential golf), what else are they shading? What other parts of the story are being withheld, protected, or what propaganda are they trying to push? One must be ignorant or a fool to think there is no bias.
And, to those who might have no problem with this bias, who agree with the media’s slant (we all have our opinions and free speech), are you really willing to allow news agencies to form your opinions? Do you not just want the facts, and you can shade them however you want? Media bias toward the left is just as dangerous for those on the left as it is for everyone else. Yes, it is just as perilous for those who agree with the slant than for those who don’t. Even if one leans to the left and likes the bias in the media, it is not in one’s best interest, nor is it intellectually sound, to allow those in the media to form opinions. We all – on all sides of the issues, whether left or right, Marxist or Free Capitalist – WE MUST THINK FOR OURSELVES.
To my friends that vote Democrat that are regular Americans, I ask you to think. Ask yourself the tough questions that this requires. Does this not cause you to ask yourself, “Was Bush really that bad? Maybe I need to do some research and find out more information. Is Obama really as wonderful as he is reported to be? Is he pure as the driven snow? Is Obama’s golfing somehow more virtuous than Bush’s?” If those questions don’t come to your mind, or, if you are offended by the thought of such questions, then it is possible that you too have been overtaken by the bias, and I ask you to rethink your positions, but rethink them with FACTS and not opinion.
There is little hope for the fringe left, as there is little hope for the fringe right, but the overwhelming majority of Americans will think. Let us all think just for a minute about this.
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