Obama’s in trouble. Whether it’s the economy or the oil spill or the Ground Zero Caring Sharing Togetherness Mosque or whatever else that’s gone wrong for him, his approval ratings are drooping like a 49-year-old man’s pecs. More and more Americans are wondering why they voted for this guy. More and more Americans are getting fed up with the way things are going. More and more Americans are flipping their calendars to November 2010 and 2012 and marking the dates.
You’ll never guess whose fault that is!
In Defining Obama, Misperceptions Stick
Americans need only stand in line at the grocery checkout counter to glimpse the conspiracy theories percolating about President Obama. “Birthplace Cover-Up,” screams the current issue of the racy tabloid Globe. “Obama’s Secret Life Exposed!”
The article claims, without proof, that Mr. Obama uses a phony Social Security number as “part of an elaborate scheme to conceal that he is not a natural-born U.S. citizen…”
Have any other U.S. presidents ever appeared in tabloids? Did the New York Times do stories about it when those presidents’ approval ratings fell?
The NYT then cites a poll saying that 18 percent of Americans think Obama’s a Muslim. Which is ridiculous, because we all know he spent 20 years in a church where he didn’t hear a single thing the preacher said.
Personally, I don’t think Obama has any real religious beliefs at all, because that would entail believing in a power higher than himself. But some people think he does, and apparently that explains why his popularity is fading. Although if that’s the case, it doesn’t explain how he got elected in the first place. But these are questions for people who aren’t as smart as the staff of the New York Times.
Here’s the lede of WaPo’s take on the “You Are Too Dumb to Appreciate Obama” story:
The number of Americans who believe — wrongly — that President Obama is a Muslim has increased significantly since his inauguration and now account for nearly 20 percent of the nation’s population.
The key there is the “wrongly.” Gotta set it apart with em dashes, even! You can almost taste the indignation. I’m surprised they didn’t use bold, italics, and all caps as well. “WRONGLY!!”
I don’t blame the news industry for trying to protect their considerable emotional investment in Obama. I understand their pain, their frustration with the common folk and their rustic notions.
The question is… how is it supposed to sell newspapers?
P.S. Matt Welch: “Wait, the Economy Is Lousy and Obama Is Unpopular? How Could That Ever Be?”
P.P.S. Chuck Todd: “The big irony of this story: President Obama is more religious than Reagan or H.W. Bush ever was; in fact, he gets Bible verses sent to his blackberry EVERY DAY.” Excellent point. I’ll bet those two didn’t even HAVE Blackberries!
P.P.P.S. The Associated Press does its best to help.
P.P.P.P.S. After the 2004 election, some lefties branded the U.S. “Jesusland.” Now they’re scrambling to deny rumors that Obama doesn’t love Jesus. Odd, yes?
