Obama May Be Presumptuous, But Would It Kill Dana To Get His Facts Straight?

[DeepModem Mom]

Radar: Barack Obama May Be Presumptuous, But Would It Kill You To Get Your Facts Straight?
By Alex Balk

The Barack Obama Presumption Watch continues! Today, the Washington Post's Dana Milbank—considered to be one of the nation's funniest reporters by a group of people who also consider Mark Russell and the Capitol Steps to be on the cutting-edge of political humor—excoriates the candidate in a piece titled "President Obama Continues Hectic Victory Tour." What's Milbank's problem with Obama? Basically, he thinks he's all that!


Milbank: "The 5:20 TBA turned out to be his adoration session with lawmakers in the Cannon Caucus Room, where even committee chairmen arrived early, as if for the State of the Union. Capitol Police cleared the halls -- just as they do for the actual president. The Secret Service hustled him in through a side door -- just as they do for the actual president. Inside, according to a witness, he told the House members, 'This is the moment . . . that the world is waiting for,' adding: 'I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions.'"


There's only one problem: According to a Democratic source, "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 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...'"

Puts things in a slightly different light, right? In the same vein, Milbank notes that "Obama was even feeling confident enough to give British Prime Minister Gordon Brown some management advice over the weekend. 'If what you're trying to do is micromanage and solve everything, then you end up being a dilettante,' he advised the prime minister, portraying his relative inexperience much as President Bush did in 2000."

That certainly does sound presumptuous, unless you consider the fact that Obama actually said it to Conservative opposition leader David Cameron, who, despite Brown's best efforts, is not yet prime minister. So instead of a junior senator lecturing a sitting head of state, you've actually got two gentlemen who may very well become their nations' respective leaders discussing the ways in which they'll avoid the mistakes of their predecessors. Which, in my book, counts as planning, not presumption....

http://radaronline.com/exclusives/2008/07/barack-obama-presumptuous-president.php

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Dana Milbank is a halfwitted twit.

I am at a loss to explain his presence on Countdown.

[Hissyspit]

2. Who the fuck cares whether he's being presumptuous, anyway?

Somebody has to lead this damn country away from the abyss and it sure as shit isn't going to be John W. McCain.

[madfloridian]

3. As Wonkette says...Milbank does not read blogs.

He said in this video Wonkette filmed at a bar somewhere....that if anything important happened, someone would let him know.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/2426

[Cha]

4. Yes, it would kill him to get his facts right..

dana milbank thinks he's untouchable and doesn't have to report facts only mediawhore propaganda.