OPINION:
ANALYSIS/OPINION:
BOCA GRANDE, Fla. — During this time of Thanksgiving, it is altogether fitting and appropriate that we stop to give thanks for one of our most important and cherished freedoms in America: our freedom of the press. Without the vigorous and unflinching watchdogs of truth and justice, where would we be today?
This freedom is why after eight months of hiding from the confrontational reporters who follow him most closely, President Obama finally got smoked out of the West Wing and was shamed into appearing before the demanding press a week after he secured re-election.
And what vicious watchdogs they were!
One dame began her question by thanking President Obama for blessing her with the opportunity to humbly ask him a question.
“Thank you, Mr. President. And congratulations, by the way,” she cooed.
Turns out, Mr. Obama told us, he and this reporteress “go back a ways.” Back to his days in Illinois when he was just organizing people on the street, hammering out his mettle to become president.
She swooned at all the reminiscing.
“I’ve never seen you lose,” she said dreamily.
Even Mr. Obama knew this was a lie. He splashed a glass of cold water in her face, reminding her that he had lost once. It was a primary. Back in 2000. Against a congressman named Bobby Rush. Don’t you remember?
“I wasn’t looking that one time,” said she, batting her eyes.
“There you go,” he replied lovingly to soothing laughter from the gathered press.
This one simple exchange explained everything. It explained how Mr. Obama won in 2008. Most of all, it explained how he so easily won re-election in 2012.
More than 12 million Americans are unemployed?
“I wasn’t looking,” said she.
Mr. Obama promised to cut the deficit in half and instead grew it by half to $16 trillion.
“I wasn’t looking,” said she.
He promised us a post-racial America where everyone would be judged based on their character and merits, not the color of their skin. Instead racial tensions have reached acrid new heights.
“I wasn’t looking,” said she.
He promised to banish lobbyists from the White House but has created a whole new industry of green lobbyists who haul away billions and billions in tax dollars to be thrown away on dodgy schemes that later go bankrupt.
“I wasn’t looking,” said she.
He promised us a “new era of responsibility.” But instead exploded the welfare rolls, created the largest new government entitlement, and spent four years personally denying responsibility for any of the troubles that afflict the country.
“I wasn’t looking,” said she.
Four years after promising to ease tensions in the Middle East, our greatest ally in the region is on the brink of war and the region is more inflamed that it has been in years.
“I wasn’t looking,” said she.
He promised absolute openness and honesty in the White House. But instead he sent out his U.N. ambassador to repeatedly tell a host of lies to cover up his administration’s rank incompetence and dangerous naivete in handling the worst terror attack against the U.S. since the previous Sept. 11 attack.
“I wasn’t looking,” said the reporteress to the president.
He said he knew her and they begat a second term.
• Charles Hurt can be reached at charleshurt@live.com.
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