In Speech, Obama Repeatedly Attacks Beltway Media Establishment
October 2, 2007 -- 1:25 PM EST // //
A lot of people are talking about the big speech Barack Obama gave today calling for multilateral nuclear disarmament. But I wanted to focus in on what I think is a significant aspect of the speech that has little to do with the actual policy questions addressed here. Specifically, I'm talking about Obama's repeated attacks on the Beltway media establishment.
Obama came back to this theme again and again today. Here, for instance, Obama makes a clear reference to the D.C. punditry, pointing out its astonishing addiction to Republican narratives and frames in the aftermath of September 11 and in the run-up to the Iraq invasion:
"We were counseled by some of the most experienced voices in Washington that the only way for Democrats to look tough was to talk, act and vote like a Republican."Here Obama targets the manifold failings of the media in the runup to the war -- specifically, the now-well-documented credulousness in the face of administration claims about Iraq WMD:
"Because the American people weren’t just failed by a President -- they were failed by much of Washington. By a media that too often reported spin instead of facts. By a foreign policy elite that largely boarded the bandwagon for war."Here's Obama fast-forwarding and attacking D.C. pundits for their endless fascination with the MoveOn-bashes-Petraeus story:
"The fact that violence today is only as horrific as in 2006 is held up as progress. Washington politicians and pundits trip over each other to debate a newspaper advertisement while our troops fight and die in Iraq."What's striking about these lines is how tightly they're in sync with the liberal blogospheric critique of the Beltway media. All these points hit on by Obama here -- the frequent pundit assertion that Dems will look weak if they don't walk in lockstep behind the GOP; the uncritical acceptance of administration spin; the punditry and media's willingness to parrot the GOP line on stories such as the MoveOn ad flap -- are central pillars in that media critique.
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http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/10/in_speech_obama.php