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.