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In context, Obama’s humble; but out of context…

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It’s as if the media is trying to make the presidential race — arguably, the most important in a generation — as mind-numbing as humanly possible. Take this truly ridiculous WaPo item today.

In his closed door meeting with House Democrats Tuesday night, presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama delivered a real zinger, according to a witness, suggesting that he was beginning to believe his own hype.

Obama was waxing lyrical about last week’s trip to Europe, when he concluded, according to the meeting attendee, “this is the moment, as Nancy [Pelosi] noted, that the world is waiting for.”

The 200,000 souls who thronged to his speech in Berlin came not just for him, he told the enthralled audience of congressional representatives. “I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions,” he said, according to the source.

The piece was written the WaPo’s Jonathan Weisman, perhaps best known for recently telling Post readers, “The great irony is that [Obama] is much more white than black, beyond skin color,” whatever the hell that means.

Conservatives have gone completely berserk over the notion that Obama described himself as “a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions.” The Republican National Convention has been pushing the quote relentlessly all morning, as has the McCain campaign.

There’s just one small problem: the anonymous quote Weisman used actually had it backwards.

A Democratic leadership aide — who, unlike the media, was in the room during Obama’s remarks — has been emailing reporters this morning:

“His entire point of that riff was that the campaign IS NOT about him. The Post left out the important first half of the sentence, which was something along the lines of: ‘It has become increasingly clear in my travel, the campaign, that the crowds, the enthusiasm, 200,000 people in Berlin, is not about me at all. It’s about America. I have just become a symbol….”

In other words, this wasn’t an example of Obama being “arrogant” or “presumptuous”; it’s an example of humility. He was saying all of this excitement isn’t about him personally, because he’s just a symbol of something larger.

Of course, we’ve reached a point at which reality no longer matters. A reporter found an anonymous source who took Obama’s comments out of context, changed the meaning entirely, and all of a sudden, we’re off to the races. As Vincent Rossmeier noted, “Of course, the simple fact that the quote isn’t accurate isn’t going to stop some on the right — and in the media — from using it as fuel for the emerging narrative about Obama.”

Right, because what matters is plugging news into the agreed-upon narratives, not telling the public what actually happened. Atrios was watching MSNBC this morning and learned:

MSNBC just informed me that the highly misleading clipped quote might feed the idea that Obama is “presumptuous” despite being, you know, a highly misleading clipped quote.

…Craig Crawford: “Even if it’s not true…”

“Even if it’s not true”? That’s supposed to be the end. If it’s not true, then it’s not true. If Obama didn’t say it, then there’s no reason for news outlets to pretend that he did, and speculate about how a bogus anonymous quote is going to affect the race.

Mark Murray and Chuck Todd reported: “Regardless of the context now, this narrative has been ready to explode at some point and even a misreported quote was enough to spark this arrogance watch. Some see him violating the cardinal sin of politics, acting as if this campaign is about him.”

Except, you know, there’s reality. “Regardless of the context”? What does that even mean? It’s as if reporters are telling us, “Sure, this is bogus, but we’ve decided to play it up anyway.”

There are simply too many people who want to turn the political process into a joke with no punch-line. Americans deserve better.

Comments

  • eric

    says:

    but, isn’t every pundit in the English speaking world in near unanimous agreement that it really is about Him? I am confused. My head hurts.

  • Nashville_fan

    says:

    Hell hath no furry like an all powerful corporate/media complex scorned.

    I posted about this very issue on the MSNBC First Read blog this morning:

    “Regardless of the context now, this narrative has been ready to explode at some point and even a misreported quote was enough to spark this arrogance watch. ”
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
    What does it say about the state of modern “journalism” that you could even write this and not be ashamed?

    Even a MISREPORTED QUOTE is ENOUGH? Really? WTF is the point if the ACCURACY of the story is IRRELEVANT?

    So basically, you are saying that it doesn’t matter if it’s true, that is the NARRATIVE that we have decided to tell? Truth be damned.

    It’s enough to make me just wanna throw in the towel sometimes.

    The news media have become nothing more than a roving pack of jackals, seeking to devour someone.

    You all are shamelessly admitting that you MAKE STUFF UP to fit a NARRATIVE! Back in the old days, that was called LYING!

    I can’t believe so many Americans are relying on NARRATIVES which are MADE UP by the media to make their decisions. I hang my head in shame.

  • JS

    says:

    I am so tired of the media trying to help out The Low Road Express that I feel like screaming, now I am reading that the polls (Gallup) are being fudged in fa vor of McCain. I have emailed the Washington Post asking that they retract the story about Obama today and print the full context of his statement. I hope everyone will do the same.

  • Gregory

    says:

    There’s just one small problem: the anonymous quote Weisman used actually had it backwards.

    As if the GOP would let the facts get in the way of a perfectly good smear “narrative”.

  • carwinrpc

    says:

    “Regardless of context” means that buried beneath the dross of the current narrative themes about Obama, are additional themes(or additional evidence to support the current themes). This comment tips their hand–they were going to get here eventually, the mis-quote just got us there faster.

  • Gregory

    says:

    “Regardless of the context now, this narrative has been ready to explode at some point and even a misreported quote was enough to spark this arrogance watch. ”

    Shorter MSNBC: The GOP has been pushing the “arrogance” meme for weeks, and the MSM finally has an excuse to discuss it.

    Jeez, didn’t Joe Conason write all about this blog-to-Drudge-to-MSM bullshit years ago?

  • stevem

    says:

    Mark Murray and Chuck Todd reported: “Regardless of the context now, this narrative has been ready to explode at some point and even a misreported quote was enough to spark this arrogance watch. Some see him violating the cardinal sin of politics, acting as if this campaign is about him.”

    What do they mean, “has been ready to explode”? All that “Messiah” talk wasn’t an example of the arrogance narrative exploding months ago?

  • citizen_pain

    says:

    Day in, day out, same shit. McCain lies, distorts, gaffes, flip-flops, is never called out, and is still very much in the race.

    Obama, clearly the more intelligent, articulate and talented candidate, has his words twisted into lies, and the MSM reports them as fact. Even worse, the MSM acknowledges the lie, yet continues to report the “narrative” (which I find to be an extremely annoying buzzword this campaign).

    Just follow the money people. The handful of corporations that own 80 + % of all media want McCain to win so they can contunue getting the free ride they have been given by Bu$h and his handlers.

    The fix is in people. This is your smoking gun, and the only thing being done about it by the press is to inhale the smoke.

    All it’s going to take is a few more months of Obama bashing, disenfranchise some voters towards election time, throw away a few thousand ballots in key states, and let Diebold do the rest.

    Hello 3rd world America! Home to the gated community 1%’rs and the the rest, the serfs.

  • FreeProton

    says:

    Thing is, so far no “narrative” could stick to Obama, no matter how vigorously flung. Witness the quick emergence and fizzling of the Jesse Jackson comments, or the double surfacing of Jeremiah Wright, or the fact that Obama occasionally (gasp!) had dinner at the house of that notorious Weatherman, or the Tony Rezko “scandal”. TV talking heads were pumping these with all they’ve got… and nothing happened, Obama’s star kept rising, he won the primaries, he’s trouncing John McCain in fuckin’ JULY. Where’s the “narrative”? Where’s the “scandal” that could put Obama’s candidacy in peril? There’s got to be SOME dirt they can dig up on a Democratic candidate, I mean come on!

    So as soon as someone came up with something sticky (“ah ha! Arrogance! And it’s a dog-whistle for the ‘uppity n****r’ theme that worked for Reagan!”) the media pounced. NOW their ratings will go up, now the scandal-starved audience will tune in to see (for the eighth time) a talking head talk eagerly and seriously about whether Obama is “too arrogant” to be President. Because that’s the in-depth analysis we all crave. As well as news of high-school students glueing school doors shut. Yes.

    So yeah, of course it’s bogus and wrong. And we know it. And THEY know it. Everyone knows it. But the point is not reporting, it’s to tell a whoppin’ fun story. It’s reality TV, folks. Regardless of context.

  • Gridlock

    says:

    I just heard from a McCain campaign staffer who chooses to remain nameless that when John McCain heard about the Obama quote he said, and I quote:

    “Obama isn’t a symbol. I’m a symbol. I’m a symbol of America and its never say die attitude. I served this country in the navy and in the House and Senate for over 25 years. I know Washington and I know America. I AM America!”

    Apparently he was very angry and was turning red by the end.

    I can only assume he meant Washington DC and not George Washington in the quote above.

  • GuyFromOhio

    says:

    … the simple fact that the quote isn’t accurate isn’t going to stop some on the right — and in the media …

    I’ve found it’s easier just to blend those two things together and treat them as one entity. It simplifies the task of newsgathering and parsing pretty dramatically.

  • SadOldVet

    says:

    Point Number 1: The corporate media is pro rethugnican – no matter how many times the repugs say otherwise & the media echo chamber repeats it

    Point Number 2: A ‘close’ election with all of the horse race aspects sells more advertising than an election that is not close

    Point Number 3: This presidential race must be about ‘personality’ because McSame is on the wrong side of all the substantive issues

    Point Number 4: The rethugs & the corporate media cannot call Obama an ‘uppity nigger’ directly – so they have extended conversions about his ‘arrogance’

    Point Number 5: The rethugs & the corporate media, so far, cannot call Obama a ‘nigger’ directly – so they have columns & conversations about Obama being ‘different’

    If it becomes more apparent to voters, as this campaign proceeds, that Obama is in a winning position – look for the racism to become less covert & more overt.

  • Racer X

    says:

    Do Americans really deserve better?

    Seriously, we elected Bush twice. OK, they probably stole both of those, but he should have gotten trounced both times.

    We deserve what we got, and probably worse.

  • The Caped Composer

    says:

    This “narrative” genuinely worries me. This is exactly what they did to Al Gore with the “discovering Love Canal” and “inventing the Internet” crap. Obama has run a terrific campaign so far; I hope like hell that he knows how to fight this off better than Gore and Kerry did!

  • smiley

    says:

    Weisman went back and edited his original post to include the context without stating that it was an “update”. Sloppy, dishonest journalism.

  • Rob_in_Hawaii

    says:

    This is just another poorly camouflaged attempt to say that Obama is “uppity.” And it’s only July. It can’t be much longer before racist whites are being treated to bogus stories on how he wants to buy a new Cadillac car and come date their sisters.

  • citizen_pain

    says:

    Obama should call a press conference immediately to address this business. The script would be simple, something along the lines of:

    “McCain promised to run an honorable campaign. But just a few short weeks ago, Karl Rove, perhaps the most poisonous of all surrogates, cheif architect of Geroge Bu$h’s election and re-election; a man who thinks he does not have to answer to the Congress of the United States nor the American people, overtly joined my opponent’s campaign, whereas he had been hiding behind the scenes prior. As a matter of fact, contempt of Congress charges have just been filed against Mr. Rove, my opponent’s most prominent surrogate, for openly disregarding a legal subpoena calling him to testify. Since Mr. Rove’s introduction into the campaign, we have seen a return to the mudslinging, swift boating, and outright lying sort of campaign the American people have come to hate.

    I will not dignify these juvenile swipes at my character with a response, because to do so will simply allow this nonsense to continue on through another news cycle or two. Since Karl Rove has openly joined my opponent’s campaign, we have seen the debasing of the dialogue and the infusion of gutter politics that only serves to derail the true intent of campaigning, which is to present a clear contrast between the two candidates and their ideals, so that the American public can make an informed judgement and vote accordingly.

    Therefore, I issue a challenge to my opponent. Fire Karl Rove and his subordinates, and return to running an honorable campaign that revolves around the issue that matter to the American public, not the gossip columnists.

    Americans deserve better than what your campaign has become.

    (AHH, wishful thinking).

  • Roddy McCorley

    says:

    this wasn’t an example of Obama being “arrogant” or “presumptuous”; it’s an example of humility.

    You’re forgetting that Obama is an elitist. Therefore, he can’t be humble. So any expression of humility simply must be in reality a sign of arrogance.

    I hope this has been helpful.

  • Diogenes

    says:

    One of the most disappointing moments of my life is when I realized that almost everyone is about equally competent. Our leaders, the media, teachers, your boss, none of them have any special wisdom or guidance. So, picture the guy bagging your groceries. You know the one, he puts the bread in first, sets the eggs on top of them, and then tosses in a couple of cans of soup, and it takes him about 10 minutes to bag what it took you 8 to find and buy. That guy has no greater natural aptitude at his job than, for example, Jonathan Weisman. It doesn’t matter if they’re making $8.50 an hour, or $500,000 a year. People are just people, and if they don’t really care about what they’re doing, they’re probably going to do it in a half-assed manner, just good enough to keep from being fired. That’s why bloggers, who generally aren’t making much (if any) money generally provide good analysis. They care about it. Big talking heads only care about maintaining their status. They’ll work overtime to ensure that they don’t loose their privileged positions, but at the end of the day, they don’t care about making sure that the truth is what gets out there.

  • Joey

    says:

    AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH. What pathetic idiots the right wing press be. “Even though it’s not true…McCain is really not a maggot…this suggestion will make him squirm like one and may affect how he is viewed in the future”….Absurd, ridiculous, pathetic…They must know how lame their reporting has become. Summing up what the press has reported so far shows them to be ludicrous and far below average intelligence. It’s beyond shameful.

  • -jayinge-

    says:

    “Conservatives have gone completely berserk over the notion that Obama described himself as “a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions.” Yeah, these presumptive darkies need to understand this is the province of grandfatherly white guys who speak with deep serious voices.
    I am sick to tears of right-wing extremists and conservatives “going berserk” all the time without anyone noting that maybe such a continuous behavior means that they really ARE nuts. I seem to also remember a time when most of the country once found these kinds of people embarrassing and silly. Praise be to St. Ronnie and St. Rupert for bringing back the monarchy.

  • SadOldVet

    says:

    Obama is an arrogant elitist!!! And he is different!!!

    Corporate Media / Rethug-speak interpretation:

    Arrogant = uppity n*gger
    Elitist = intelligent & informed (unacceptable to the belief crowd)
    Different = n*gger

  • Hannah

    says:

    What the heck is the matter with these people? Any title of “journalist” appearing on their resumes should be pulled immediately.

    Not sure if this has been posted, but Obama’s tests from his professorial days are posted here:
    http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/29/inside-professor-obamas-classroom/

    His sense of humor comes across in his instructions (from the 2003 exam):
    “Your answer must be no more than 3000 words, but no more than 12 pages. I will stop reading after 12 pages.

    “Read each question and think before you write. Please do not feel obliged to make use of the maximum number of words in formulating your answers. Precision and imagination, rather than volume, are what I am looking for.”

    His test questions/case examples (years 1996-2003) reference the State of Nirvana, the State of Wazoo, and the State of Utopia, with its governor, Arnold Whatzanager. One question refers to a married couple named Maria and Arnold (though not the famous Maria and Arnold, as the test couple have different occupations). Another test refers to a couple named Abe and Sarah (probably a take on the Biblical Abraham and Sarah since the fictitious Abe and Sarah cannot conceive and want to use their housekeeper as a surrogate). And yet another refers to Mary and Joseph, residents of Bethlehem City. There’s also Mayor Dudley Duright of Wazoo City. Nice to have a bit of humor interjected into your final exam, I always say.

    After reading these exams and the obvious intelligence and thoughtfulness of Obama, I’m absolutely bewildered that so many people are fixated on such stupidity as whether or not he is/isn’t patriotic, a Christian/Muslim, for the terrorists, etc., etc. It’s all so shallow and frankly, quite embarrasing that people in this country are so un-thinking. I won’t say stupid, because I don’t believe that. There’s just too much “sheeple” in many folks. Wake up!

  • Hannah

    says:

    #13 Thanks for the further updates (see #25). As Jodi Kantor was also the author at the link I referenced, I’m bewildered at some of the conclusions she reaches in her article. Sheesh.

  • Willard

    says:

    I don’t see how the “missing” context makes Obama appears humble. In context, he essentially said “It’s not about me, it’s about America, and the people of the world have selected me as the symbol of America’s greatness.” What is humble about that? Sounds arrogant to me.

  • Megalomania

    says:

    I am, therefore I am, nothing like spicing the contextual mix with a little bible pepper. One must feel an omnipresent relation surrounded by two hundred thousand citizens of a foreign country.

    We are all pretty sure Sean Hannity could not have bussed in that many Republicans to prime the pump in Berlin. So our modern political system has the ability to create a “Messiah”? The Media minds are really giving a run for our money printing that kind of message.

    Since the crowd was not carrying torches or pitch forks but waving American flags we could guess Obama does not appear to be a new Frankenstein. Or is our Mainstream Media that far reaching? One wonders, or the crowd did expect to see if Obama would wheeled out a guitar and start his Rock star appearance.

    For me, I am troubled by Obama continuous use of “This Is the Moment”.

    A moment of something ? What exactly is that moment ? Well of course that mix of Black/ and White. Everyone can look in amazement how this colored man looks. How he talks, that resonances with a not too low baritone Bogart way.

    Talking with a sense of expression a White person can relate to while feeling the conversation buoyed by a Harvard bias. Here, we all wonder if Obama is coached well or does he have the ability to lead. There is no proof many say. Though as time moves on I am more impressed and willing to give him a chance to lead. Yes it looks like its all about Obama.

    What interests me is how much of his mother punched through. Obama’s mother mind and soul is the impressive part. Here, giving life to what seems to be a wondering soul. Here, Obama’s mother could very well be in that suit, God only knows. Perhaps there is a way to measure how that Black White blend of conception happens.

    And we all are finding out by dialing in on this contextual exchange.

    Here sovereignty are in my words just as they are in yours.

  • zeitgeist

    says:

    tAiO, it seems hard to believe this much time has passed already since the last campaign, but it apparently is time for us to bring the goats back out.

    Maybe have a 527 called “Committee to Protect Goats from McCain” or something.

    “Regardless of the context now, the underlying narrative is that John McCain f*cks goats. While his campaign strenuously denies it, zeitgeist and others on the left insist this only shows how scared the McCain camp is of the truth being revealed. Neither the McCain camp nor its accusers could provide any proof that Senator McCain does, or does not, f*ck goats, so this narrative could stick around a while. At least until we get more BBQ. Hey, what was that meat McCain served us anyway?”

  • Patrick Briggs

    says:

    We need a revolution in how our political system operates. Corporate power needs to be reigned in. Anything less attempted will never be enough.

  • blue

    says:

    As a person who lives in another country , one with an actual free press that is not beholding to Corporations and, thus, a media who whose obvious bias and agendas are for those Corporations, including ‘polls’, I find your media an absolute farce at best, and a criminal enterprise at worst. The job of any media in any country is to objectively report facts so that the people living in whatever country can them make choices and determinations based on those facts. When you have a media who primary agenda is to make ‘profits’ for the Corporations themselves you then create a media that lies, deceives, manipulates, and creates propaganda in order to serve the interests of the Corporations themselves. The ‘end justifies the means’ mentality. This is why your country went from being one of the most admired in the world for many, many years to one of the most hated and feared: a laughingstock of stupidity. And that happened once Bush was installed as your president. Once that happened you country became a fascist state: the melding of the Corporations with the government in which the government does the bidding of the Corporations themselves. This is what Hitler did, and it is what Mussolini did. It is what Putin is doing now. China is the most gross example of course. This is the company that your country now keeps. The whole world wants Obama to be the President of your country .. the whole world because of what he represents, of who he is. This is why there were 200,000 people in Berlin. He wants to make American what is always has been starting with a social system that is fair for all. And yet in your own country you have a Corporate media that is doing all that it can to defeat him because of their own interests: money/ profits equaling millionaire ‘journalists’ themselves. You pay these idiots enough and they will all become ‘dancing monkeys’ at the end of a line attached to the organ machine, the Corporations themselves playing the music. As a result, sadly and pathetically, you have something like McCain , who is the very embodiment of Corporate interests, a man who should actually be in DEPENDS and given given memory pills to help him keep one sentence actually connected to another in a rationale way , being protected by your Corporate media so that they can do all they can to get him installed as your next president. This is what the once great country called America has come too: a fascist state who wants to dominate the world for it’s own interests, a country in which the rich get richer, the poor ever more poor, the middle class subsidizing each and dying as a result, and a Corporate media that lies to you in order to make it all happen.

  • Mystic55

    says:

    What country is this that has an ‘actual free press’? Lilliput?

    There *IS* no country where there is an ‘actual free press.’ Its either the government or corporations.

    This country has a lot of problems. The fact that people believe this crap or that our magpie on a telephone wire media actually bothers to give 30 seconds to a news ad involving politics that compares Barack Obama to BRITNEY SPEARS shows that we’re populated in large part by morons, but I’m entirely sure that whatever country you’re from is doing equally stupid, moronic or cowardly things.

  • blue

    says:

    Simply go to the website for reporters without boarders and you will find a list of all the countries in the world that is then ranked in terms of the relative freedom of the press .. the one that is on top of that list as most free is the one that i am from .. the one you are from is ranked, of all countries in the world, number 54 ……… you might want to actually educate yourself before you make you ‘opinions’ …….

  • z

    says:

    JM was in elementary school during washington’s first term of office. He was Lincoln’s Snr in High school and baby sat FDR! JM the Highlander!

  • libra

    says:

    zeitgeist, @29,

    Billy goats or nanny goats? Makes a difference… And are you certain-sure it was goats? Because I’ve heard it was chickens (he was seen, on the grounds of Sedona, jumping up and down on several of them. Just before that BBQ). Very sprightly he looked, too, according to witnesses.

  • Aiken Blue

    says:

    Obama is humble and just because he speaks well and carries himself like no other, it is presumptuous to say that he is arrogant. In all his speeches, Obama has been positive and humble, which is more than either McCain or Clinton has ever been. The media is not to be trusted. Support Obama, visit WHYOBAMA08.org

  • Megalomania

    says:

    I find your media an absolute farce at best, and a criminal enterprise at worst.

    yes, they are indeed, and will change with the rest of us soon…

    But I love this line its great

    ‘journalists’ themselves. You pay these idiots enough and they will all become ‘dancing monkeys’ do I laugh, now thats funny…

    Hang in there Blue…

  • cincigal74

    says:

    The Obamanuts are really frantic over this.They totally ignore when Obama LIES just like bush.For instance when he was putting on a show in Isareal,he made this statement about a bill that he said was passed in the Senate Banking committee,and he said”and this is MY committee”infering that he is the Senate Banking committee chairman.He is not and has never been even a member of that committee.Chuck Hagel,who was traveling with the dunce,is actually a member of that committee,but never even called him on his LIE.This is a good example of how Obama gets by with his LIES.Dont even mention anyone lying,Obama is the worst one of them all.If he is elected,he will make Bush look like the most competent president in our entire history.

  • Tim

    says:

    As someone who, sadly, works in news, this kind of thing breaks my heart. The Hearst model of journalism is now dominant – newspapers, TV stations and the like exist for the solitary purpose of advancing their owners’ agendas, with no lingering thoughts of public duty or ethical practice to hinder the propaganda. I can only hope the few decent and responsible people left in the news media will stop acting like quislings and cowards and actually stand up for objective fact. Huffington Post and the like are a step in the right direction, but we need stronger organizations of decent people to counter the corporate media.

    Until then, I’m shopping my resume around in other industries (mostly non-profit). I’m ashamed to call myself a journalist.