# Media Covering for Obama **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 18, 2012, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-covering-for-obama/635117 "2012-09-18T23:52:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chen019](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f19dbf/32.png) [@Chen019](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chen019)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-covering-for-obama/635117/1 "2012-09-18T23:52:14Z")
Ramirez, the IBD’s editorial cartoonist and senior editor, has a point - if Dan Quayle or Bush had made these gaffes the media would be all over it. The media (aside from the equally biased Fox News) simply downplay news that reflects badly on Obama (eg. jobs, the economy) while ampifying anything that assists him: > [@](#): > > Quayle’s mind must have been on other things. It wasn’t like he repeated the mistake in all 57 states, or more precisely in Beaverton, Ore., in May 2008; or while traveling on the “Intercontinental” railroad in Cincinnati on Sept. 23, 2011; or perhaps, while he was speaking to the “President” of Canada in Chicago on Aug. 7, 2007. > > He might not have known how to say it in “Austrian” while in Strasbourg, France, on April 5, 2009; or perhaps he was thinking of “Polish Death Camps” at the White House on May 30, 2012; or thinking about when he met with world leaders in that splendid “Asian” city, Honolulu, on Nov. 16, 2011. > > He might have been thinking of the brave Navy “corpse” man at the prayer breakfast in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 5, 2010, which may not sound so strange to someone who also said: “On this Memorial Day, as our nation honors its unbroken line of fallen heroes — and I see many of them in the audience here today…” [http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials-viewpoint/082712-623715-one-sided-media-coverage-shows-bias.htm?p=full](http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials-viewpoint/082712-623715-one-sided-media-coverage-shows-bias.htm?p=full) ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-covering-for-obama/635117/2 "2012-09-18T23:57:47Z")
You’re right. Dan Quayle is an intellectual giant next to Barack Obama, and the only reason everyone on Earth but you disagrees is that nasty liberal media. ---
**Author:** ![Chen019](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f19dbf/32.png) [@Chen019](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chen019)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-covering-for-obama/635117/3 "2012-09-19T00:00:38Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > You’re right. Dan Quayle is an intellectual giant next to Barack Obama, and the only reason everyone on Earth but you disagrees is that nasty liberal media. You’re missing the point (perhaps deliberately?). The coverage of the respective gaffes is so disproportionate that it’s reasonable to conclude media bias. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-covering-for-obama/635117/4 "2012-09-19T00:03:00Z")
Your ideas intrigue me. I tried to subscribe to your newsletter, but an evil media cabal stopped me. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-covering-for-obama/635117/5 "2012-09-19T00:03:55Z")
Al Gore invented the internet. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-covering-for-obama/635117/6 "2012-09-19T00:04:15Z")
You’re not only right but as you yourself point out, you’re incredibly reasonable. I don’t know how I could have drawn the conclusion that Obama is smarter than Dan Quayle without being brainwashed by the liberal media. I’ve been hoodwinked!! I feel so dirty now. ---
**Author:** ![Chen019](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f19dbf/32.png) [@Chen019](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chen019)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-covering-for-obama/635117/7 "2012-09-19T00:06:14Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > You’re not only right but as you yourself point out, you’re incredibly reasonable. I don’t know how I could have drawn the conclusion that Obama is smarter than Dan Quayle without being brainwashed by the liberal media. I’ve been hoodwinked!! I feel so dirty now. Re-read the post. It’s not a claim about the respective intelligence of the individuals. It is about how the media cover gaffes and choose to amplify/downplay news in a manner which suggests bias. ---
**Author:** ![Tarwater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de0a6/32.png) [@Tarwater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarwater)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-covering-for-obama/635117/8 "2012-09-19T00:19:10Z")
I love that certain Republican demagogues have been reduced to suggesting that Obama’s _verbal_ gaffes – of which there are plenty, I’m the first to admit – are in any way comparable to Romney’s _social_ gaffes. When Romney admits that he doesn’t watch NASCAR, _but that some of his best friends are team owners_ – sorry, dudes, but that’s not a slip of the tongue. That’s him accidentally revealing how out-of-touch and stuffy he really is. Or when he accuses the Obama administration of capitulating to terrorism in the wake of the embassy attacks. Let’s not pretend that’s even remotely the same as accidentally implying that there are fifty-seven states. One is a verbal mistake. One is a character flaw. The only thing that Obama’s said that even rises to the same level as Romney’s constant buffoonery is his referring to Nazi concentration camps in Poland as “Polish death camps,” a remark that got a ridiculous amount of play in the mainstream media. It was a hot topic for several news cycles, because even though it was probably only a verbal mistake, it was also insensitive and inappropriate and even hurtful to the Polish people. And that’s the same reason Romney’s blunders have gotten such coverage. It’s not a matter of him being linguistically confused, stumbling over his words when he’s making a statement. That’s something people easily forget. It’s his constant, constant stream of legitimate political faux pas that keep the media yapping at his heels. ---
**Author:** ![csupp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@csupp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/csupp)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-covering-for-obama/635117/9 "2012-09-19T00:23:58Z")
Did we not just have an entire RNC themed by a somewhat-manipulated verbal gaffe of Obama’s? A gaffe that was covered extensively in the media? ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-covering-for-obama/635117/10 "2012-09-19T00:24:18Z")
Dan Quayle? Really? That’s the best example the author can come up with? That was 20 flippin years ago. You’re really going to compare the media’s treatment of politicians by a 20 year gap? Get real. I can turn on Fox these days and get 24/7 Obama bashing if I want to. Or get a daily dose of Rush Limbaugh taking jabs at Obama. Or go on the internet to TheDrudgeReport or NewsMax or a hundred other sites to get a never ending flow of anti-Obama news. Or do you not consider any of these things media? ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-covering-for-obama/635117/11 "2012-09-19T00:28:40Z")
Did you know that Hank Aaron struck out 1,383 times. Willie McGee only struck out 1,238. Nevertheless, the liberal media totally wants to pretend that Hank Aaron was the more remarkable hitter. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-covering-for-obama/635117/12 "2012-09-19T00:36:08Z")
Or maybe “Genuinely Dumb VP Says Dumb Shit” is news and “Highly Intelligent President Momentarily Mis-speaks” is not. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-covering-for-obama/635117/13 "2012-09-19T00:42:43Z")
That was a partisan lie in the form of a deliberate mis-quote, not a gaffe. To the OP there may be media bias towards typecasting. Al Gore’s typecasting was smart, but stiff. The first means nobody reports on his occasional typo or verbal slip. The second means nobody reports on his humor or personal warmth. Dan Quayle’s typecasting was young, enthusiastic, and dumb. Probably from his high school cheerleader like performance at the press conference when GHWB announced him a running mate. So every typo or tongue slip Quayle made fed right into the story. Anything smart he did fell through the cracks. He’s written 5 books - 5 more than I have. Much of the media coverage is about caricature, not character. Many people who know him personally describe Mitt Romney as caring and charitable. I do not know how to reconcile that with the smug, cold, heartless, clueless, graceless, and sometimes offensive RomBot who is running for office. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-covering-for-obama/635117/14 "2012-09-19T00:43:46Z")
> [@](#): > > If Vice President Quayle had only been misspelling “Ohio” as “Oiho” with three college students instead of one elementary student, at an institution of higher learning like Ohio State University instead of an elementary school, the media would certainly have ignored it. Uh… Obama didn’t misspell Ohio. He and three students [stood in the wrong order](http://thehill.com/blogs/twitter-room/other-news/244765-romney-campaign-calls-out-obama-for-spelling-ohio-wrong). ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-covering-for-obama/635117/15 "2012-09-19T00:43:51Z")
The “that” in my first sentence was the “you didn’t build that” line. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-covering-for-obama/635117/16 "2012-09-19T00:44:34Z")
yeah, so? Just proves it sucks to be on your side. You know, the wrong one. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-covering-for-obama/635117/17 "2012-09-19T01:01:18Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Uh… Obama didn’t misspell Ohio. He and three students [stood in the wrong order](http://thehill.com/blogs/twitter-room/other-news/244765-romney-campaign-calls-out-obama-for-spelling-ohio-wrong). Seriously? That’s the story and you have people trying to claim media bias because Obama isn’t being called out on it? We all know that American politics is dumb - but seriously? Really and honstly someone is trying to make something of that? Does rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic mean anything to anyone? What should be getting coverage over such a photo is Obama’s joviality, his friendliness, his ability to relate to people and make them enthusiastic, and yes - his willingness to do, what very much looks like, an unscripted and unplanned photo. ---
**Author:** ![Baracus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@Baracus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baracus)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-covering-for-obama/635117/18 "2012-09-19T01:12:08Z")
> [@bengangmo](#): > > Seriously? That’s the story and you have people trying to claim media bias because Obama isn’t being called out on it? We all know that American politics is dumb - but seriously? Really and honstly someone is trying to make something of that? > > Does rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic mean anything to anyone? > > What should be getting coverage over such a photo is Obama’s joviality, his friendliness, his ability to relate to people and make them enthusiastic, and yes - his willingness to do, what very much looks like, an unscripted and unplanned photo. Well, if he would just release his fifth grade states and capitals test, as requested, we could kill two birds with one stone and settle whether he _really_ knows there are not 57 states and how to spell Ohio. ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-covering-for-obama/635117/19 "2012-09-19T02:46:23Z")
Just so we’re clear, are we supposed to give any credence to the newspaper that claimed that had Stephen Hawking been British and had to rely on the NHS for health care that he would have been allowed to die? Because obvious and only mildly competent partisan hacks like that probably shouldn’t be calling out the media over some piddling BS like what’s quoted in the OP. And that’s assuming that it’s not a pack of lies, which isn’t actually an assumption I think the IBD deserves. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-covering-for-obama/635117/20 "2012-09-19T02:54:09Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Uh… Obama didn’t misspell Ohio. He and three students [stood in the wrong order](http://thehill.com/blogs/twitter-room/other-news/244765-romney-campaign-calls-out-obama-for-spelling-ohio-wrong). Go Navy! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-covering-for-obama/635117.md?page=2)