President Obama’s Press Office

The time honored tradition of Presidential leaks to key media outlets may be going away. Currently, President Obama has the ear of the press. He is a media darling. Whatever program he wants to tout will get ready backing of the New York Times and all their followers.

But what happens when the media starts to turn on Mr. Obama? What happens the first time they challenge him? What happens when the White House even feels any resistance? They will bypass the media. No planned leaks. No more unconfirmed White House sources. Mr. Obama will do something new.

My prediction of the new plan will be to go directly to the people. Courtesy of the web 2.0. Blogging, Twitter, Facebook, you name it. Unfiltered stories. No spin. Control of message. Goodbye sound bites. Hello complete story. This could bring in a new era of the vigilant press. A strong, fair press would serve as a challenge to Mr. Obama to make him a better President. Think of it as resistance training.

Now, in the hands of a mad man like Hugo Chavez, this would be a big brother, propaganda nightmare. But in America, this could be a great thing. Bill O’Reilly on Fox News says, “we report, you decide.” This might go that one better. The White House informs, the talking heads banter, now you decide.

Oh, the campaign attack machine Mr. Obama used so effectively has to be dropped. It was unseemly to attack WGN Radio’s Milt Rosenberg and others during the campaign, but as President, it would be way over the top.

Extravagant, wasteful spending on Inauguration?

The Associated Press called the Presidential Inauguration spending of just over $40 million an extravagant waste…in 2005. The Obama Inauguration on 2009, the AP seems to be silent on the reported $72 million to $150 million budget. In 2005 economic times were pretty good. Nobody would think that now. We are in the midst of a recession, housing prices have crashed, employment has crashed, and the auto industry has, um, well, let me say stumbled.

Why no outrage? We know it can’t be media bias. That does not exist. My guess—no long term memory. Or perhaps the thought is the spending is all part of the economic stimulus package. I feel better. My retirement account is popping. All’s well.

What’s wrong with Obama?

Obama and I are the same age—he’s a few weeks older than me. He is from Illinois. Me too. He vacations in Hawaii. I would like to. He is raising two daughters just like me.

He’s energetic and charismatic. He seems likable. He plays basketball. He seems self deprecating. His presidency is historic and racially groundbreaking. So why don’t I like the guy?Why don’t I connect with him?

I’m not sure. Maybe it has to do with his platform and socialist leanings. Perhaps it is his questionable choice of friends. Or it could be his taint by Illinois politics. Right now, I don’t know. Dennis Miller’s line during the primaries fits my feeling for Obama, “he’s got everything but my vote.”