Newsweek's Howard Fineman: Obama thinks he's all that

[babylonsister]

http://mediamatters.org/blog/200909280029


Newsweek's Howard Fineman: Obama thinks he's all that

September 28, 2009 3:12 pm ET by Eric Boehlert


This must be one of the stranger White House critiques I've read in quite a while {emphasis added}:

Obama can seem a mite too impressed with his own aura, as if his presence on the stage is the Answer. There is, at times, a self-referential (even self-reverential) tone in his big speeches. They are heavily salted with the words "I" and "my." (He used the former 11 times in the first few paragraphs of his address to the U.N. last week.) Obama is a historic figure, but that is the beginning, not the end, of the story.

Does Obama constantly refer to himself as an historic figure? Not that I can tell. But maybe Fineman's hearing something else from Obama.

As for Obama's speech to the U.N., which Fineman claimed was way too self-referential, let's take a quick look at the text:

I come before you humbled by the responsibility that the American people have placed upon me, mindful of the enormous challenges of our moment in history, and determined to act boldly and collectively on behalf of justice and prosperity at home and abroad. I have been in office for just nine months -- though some days it seems a lot longer. I am well aware of the expectations that accompany my presidency around the world. These expectations are not about me. Rather, they are rooted, I believe, in a discontent with a status quo that has allowed us to be increasingly defined by our differences, and outpaced by our problems.

Yeah, Obama just needs to get over himself.

[Avalux]

1. "Howard the Downer" has been irritating me quite a bit lately.

I used to think he was OK but lately, he's been hypercritical of Obama and his Administration. ONe man's opinion - taken with a grain of salt; a turn of the channel or a click of the page.

[tularetom]

2. Some of the shoe polish that Fineman put on his hair seeped into his brain

In recent months on Countdown he has stretched the boundaries of repub talking points, even complimenting Obama once or twice, and I guess it was time for him to be jerked back into line.

[Forkboy]

3. Compared to Fineman, who isn't?

[Captain Hilts]

4. Fineman is a tool who feels threatened by articulate Democratic presidents. Ugh! nt

[Captain Hilts]

5. And being absorbed in your "own aura" is something all good presidents have. It helps you survive.

[Cha]

15. I know..I mean, WTF! "Aura" talk from

a corpmedia writer! Counting how many times PO used "I"?!!

[Captain Hilts]

17. Fineman's jealous. nt

[HopeOverFear]

6. Guess what, Fineman? He IS all that....AND a bag of chips

[Cha]

21. He is totally All That and humble, too.

He's All That and a side of ribs:P

[ecstatic]

23. LOL! nt

[JamesA1102]

7. In early 2007 Fineman wrote a scathing piece on the

Democratic Presidential candidates comparing them with high school students. I waited for a comparable piece on the GOP candidates but he never wrote one. From that day on Fineman lost all credibility with me.

[BootinUp]

16. Fineman was a tool long before that

He is one of the tools that spun Gore into some kind of a freak character from another universe.

[glowing]

8. Howard and other D.C. media types don't know how to take Obama down.

They are trying every which way. Its just not working. AND they, the media, who love their own voices but do little to actually present factual news, are sooo envious of Pres. Obama. Fineman has been jealous of him for some time.

[elocs]

9. He's "all that"? Really, who talks like that? n/t

[Captain Hilts]

20. He's jealous he isn't as articulate. He gave the same rap to Bubba. nt

[Cha]

22. Well, I heard it in teen movies and there's even

a flick, "She's All That".
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0160862/

[Bicoastal]

10. And a bag of chips.

Asshole...

[BlueIdaho]

11. Political commentators have nothing to do with politics.

They only pretend to have something to do with politics. If we dolly back and zoom out we suddenly see that all of these pretty faces are wrong far more often than they are right. They score a little higher when they try to talk about what happened a week or two ago but frankly, You might as well flip a coin to figure out the world of politics because these folks are far too busy feathering their own nests and being invited to all the right cocktail parties.

Its a shame we don't have a fully functioning fourth estate - this country would be a far better place to live right now.

edit = typo

[DevonRex]

12. I highly rec this OP so everybody will see how truly stupid and sad Howie is

these days. Poor thing.

[Cha]

13. Howard Fineman is a mediawhore who sounds very jealous here.

I plan to write Mr Fineman about this.. I found this for his contact addy.

[e-mail]

[Jackeens]

14. Maybe the President should do a Maggie Thatcher and refer to himself as "we"?

'We have become a grandmother' was UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's statement to the press in 1989, on the birth of her first grandchild, Mark Thatcher's son Michael.

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/401700.html


:-)

[Cha]

18. The Imperial We..that would

really get the old goat.

[sandnsea]

19. cynical chic

They're afraid their colleagues will laugh at them if they don't join the bashfest.

[FrenchieCat]

24. Yep....President Obama's just plain uppity! And Fineman is a fucking cable barfbag loser

whose opinion I value as much as a piece of shit stuck to my shoe.

[polichick]

25. Oh-oh, Howie's showing his butt. nt

[ErinBerin84]

26. I'm always amazed

at how far "journalists" stretttttch to push the "he's so arrogant meme",from Dana doctoring that Obama quote last year, to Fineman in true RW fashion counting the numbers of 'Me's.

[MarjorieG]

27. With longtime coziness to Bush, GOP, general media 'can build or break them,' doesn't like

Obama's strength. Why uncomfortable with Obama's confidence I ask?

[Arkana]

28. Howard Fineman is useless.

He's been that way for a long time, but this is just the turd on top of the shit cake.