Merle Haggard - It's Almost 'Criminal' What They Do To President Obama

[eridani]

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/05/1368652/-Merle-Haggard-To-Rolling-Stone-It-s-Almost-Criminal-What-They-Do-To-President-Obama

A Merle Haggard quote has been circulating social media over the last two days, almost as if it appeared in response to the incredible disrespect shown to President Obama by Republicans in Congress and foreign leader, Benjamin Netanyahu. The quote is from a 2010 Rolling Stone interview. Patrick Doyle spoke with music legend Merle Haggard, who was attending the 33rd Kennedy Center Honors. Haggard was invited to the White House to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Doyle asked Merle Haggard about President Obama, and the traditional 'stone-country' singer-songwriter said he enjoyed meeting Obama and found the President to be quite different from what he had seen in the media. That's when Haggard interestingly added:

"It's really almost criminal what they do with our President. There seems to be no shame or anything. They call him all kinds of names all day long, saying he's doing certain things that he's not. It's just a big old political game that I don't want to be part of. There are people spending their lives putting him down. I'm sure some of it's true and some of it's not. I was very surprised to find the man very humble and he had a nice handshake. His wife was very cordial to the guests and especially me. They made a special effort to make me feel welcome. It was not at all the way the media described him to be."

[madokie]

1. I love me some Merle Haggard

I put him up there with Johnny and Willie as one of the greats of our time

[still_one]

2. It is outrageous, and the media is a willing co-conspirator

[Fred Sanders]

5. Indeed. The media is silent...worse than that they are part of the smearing...why?

The calmness and humbleness will win out, watch and see...Gandhi won out also......with calmness, never anger. Never anger is what will drive the enemy mad and over the edge.

[Bluenorthwest]

9. Except that the Haggard story comes from the media, Rolling Stone is the media.

At a certain point I hope the reductive rhetoric merchants will note the extreme irony in responding to stories from major media outlets by saying 'the media is silent'.
I guess some of you think 'the media' is a term meaning 'three cable commentary outlets few Americans actually watch'. 'The Media' is a term which collectively refers to all forms of mass communications, film, TV, radio, magazines, newspapers, the internet, all of it.
While too much of the media is inferior, not all of it is. Broad brushing 'the media' equates Rachel Maddow to Rush Limbaugh, they are the media, the media is silent. But that is not a true equation, Maddow is not silent, Maddow is the media. This thread discusses an article from Rolling Stone, also the media. Had the media not interviewed Haggard, published the interview and continued discussing two years later, this thread would not exist. This thread links to Kos, the media, which cites Rolling Stone, the media, about Merle Haggard, famous for his music and the media presence it has had for many years. This entire thread is about that which the media told you about a media celebrity. But the media is silent? Mad Hatter's Tea Party logic.

[George II]

10. Very well put. Unfortunately the knee-jerk reaction of some when they read anything...

...is to immediately blame "the media", or worse the "MSM" (I refuse to use the childish dollar sign)

I'm afraid the internet, and sites like this, attract some really unhappy and negative people.

[still_one]

14. ActuallyRolling Stone would not be considered the MSM, though much of their reporting is excellent

and well researched, much more than I would say from the majority of the corporate media which many times report their news from 2nd or third party source, not first hand.

Remember how the MSM was quick to report that the ACA was ruled against by the SC, when that wasn't the case, or the initial reports from the major news outlets that Gabby Giffords was killed, and a lot of other shoddy lazy reporting.

Perhaps the most destructive example was the majority of the MSM, including the NY Times propagating the WMD myth in Iraq, even though there were a few voices who tried to correct that lie, they were mostly ignored by the illustrious media

[Trillo]

3. Yes. President Obama is the first president that I remember

being so routinely mocked in the media with outright lies. Haggard claims it's an old political game, but it's not one I remember having occurred with any prior U.S. President.

[George II]

11. Most Presidents in my lifetime have been "mocked", but it was more like good-natured ribbing, not...

...as personal as the attacks endured by Obama. And many of these attacks have had racial undertones, too. I would suspect that he wouldn't be criticized nearly as much if he was just another good ol' white guy.

[sheshe2]

4. Thanks to Merle Haggard

for putting it into words. Sadly we see a lot of that here as well.

Thanks for your Op eridani.

[freshwest]

7. +1

[spanone]

6. k&r...

[CanSocDem]

8. Well...there is this:

[Tanuki]

12. There's also this

&feature=player_detailpage

"Hungry Eyes"

A canvas covered cabin in a crowded labour camp
Stand out in this memory I revived;
Cause my daddy raised a family there, with two hard working hands
And tried to feed my mama's hungry eyes.

He dreamed of something better, and my mama's faith was strong
And us kids were just too young to realize
That another class of people put us somewhere just below;
One more reason for my mama's hungry eyes.

Mama never had the luxuries she wanted
But it wasn't cause my daddy didn't try.
She only wanted things she really needed;
One more reason for my mama's hungry eyes.

I remember daddy praying for a better way of life
But I don't recall a change of any size;
Just a little loss of courage, as their age began to show
And more sadness in my mama's hungry eyes.

Mama never had the luxuries she wanted
But it wasn't cause my daddy didn't try.
She only wanted things she really needed;
One more reason for my mama's hungry eyes.

Oh, I still recall my mama's hungry eyes.

[eridani]

15. We should all be grateful that he wasn't from Winnemucca, NV n/t

[Thor_MN]

13. Merle is almost right. He should have left out almost.

[Omaha Steve]

16. K&R!

[grahamhgreen]

17. What's criminal is I turned 21 in prison doin life without parole!