New York Times Disses McCain, Globe Slams Obama

GRAY LADY'S CONFUSION

Head-Scratching Over McCain Snub, Obama Slam







While talk radio and the blogosphere buzz over the outrageous attitude shown by the New York Times toward John McCain, its sister paper has taken a shockingly different approach.

Though the Gray Lady itself has refused to print an Op-Ed contribution by the McCain campaign, despite recently having done so for his Democratic challenger, fellow New York Times Company publication The Boston Globe yesterday ran a column that was stunningly critical of Barack Obama.

Written by Joan Vennochi, who is not known as a right- winger by any means, the column slams Obama's ever- expanding ego.

Even more astounding from an especially liberal newspaper, the piece cites Rush Limbaugh and agrees with him, rather than serving up the personal attacks one would normally expect:

The audacity of ego

By Joan Vennochi
Globe Columnist / July 20, 2008


JUST LIKE the Obama girl, Obama has a crush on Obama.

Barack Obama always was a larger-than-life candidate with a healthy ego. Now he's turning into the A-Rod of politics. It's all about him.

He's giving his opponent something other than issues to attack him on: narcissism.

A convention hall isn't good enough for the presumptive Democratic nominee. He plans to deliver his acceptance speech in the 75,000 seat stadium where the Denver Broncos play. Before a vote is cast, he's embarking on a foreign policy tour that will use cheering Europeans - and America's top news anchors - as extras in his campaign. What do you expect from a candidate who already auditioned a quasi-presidential seal with the Latin inscription, "Vero possumus" - "Yes, we can"?

Obama finds criticism of his wife "infuriating" and doesn't want either of them to be the target of satire. Tell that to the Carters, the Reagans, the Clintons, and the Bushes, father and son.

There's no such thing as a humble politician. But when Obama looks into the mirror, he doesn't just see a president; he sees JFK.

In 1960, John F. Kennedy accepted his party's nomination with an outdoor speech at the Los Angeles Coliseum. But he waited until he was elected before going to Germany to declare "Ich bin ein Berliner."

The fashionistas have already noted Michelle Obama's affinity for chanelling Jackie. And it's hard to watch the Obama daughters "Access Hollywood" interview and not think about Caroline and John F. Kennedy Jr. back in the days of Camelot.

So far, Dad is only promising to get the kids a dog, not a pony named Macaroni.


[...]


The conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh regularly ridicules "The Messiah also known as Obama." And "The Audacity of Obama" is turning into a ready-made take-off on the title of the Democrat's second book, "The Audacity of Hope."

The downside for Obama is how much his ego stands to resonate beyond the political right.

Given the flak that will inevitably result from publishing such a hard- hitting piece, it's difficult to understate the Boston Globe's courage in running it. If The Globies took this kind of approach more often, perhaps readership would be up, rather than sinking into an abyss.

Though the paper does employ Jeff Jacoby as a token conservative, non- liberal viewpoints outside of his column are rare.

Vennochi's column wasn't overlooked by El Rushbo himself, who has featured it on his website update this evening and addressed the broader issue on today's program.


Whether the Globe's rare flirtation with editorial open- mindedness negates its sister paper's outrageous antics is less than clear.

But McCain is the beneficiary of both circumstances: while the NYT appears to be in bed with Obama, its Boston counterpart has raised important questions about the Democratic nominee's increasingly- alarming position as a quasi- cult leader.

Another key point: the next time you see anyone in the mainstream media doubt Rush Limbaugh's influence during this election cycle, this example should help to put that viewpoint to rest for good.


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