Is it me or does the AP have some subtle "hackery" going on?
Cast in point, this article from the AP. I was reading it but I couldn't help saying to myself on more than one occasion "WHY is she slipping that into her comments. Case in point again this quote
At the same time, Obama may be drawn into an unfolding political scandal over Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's alleged efforts to trade the president-elect's former Senate seat for personal gain. The ongoing federal investigation could ensnare some of his top advisers and taint the self-styled reformer who has tried to steer clear of notorious Chicago politics.
REALLY? Is that what she REALLY thinks? Other than Fitzgerald saying the PE is in no way under investigation and our very own Obama laying the hammer down saying he is "confident" noone was involved in any underhandedness I am wondering why she decided to pull this one out of her ass. NEXT is this
President-elect Barack Obama, relatively young and inexperienced, is facing a rapidly growing list of monumental challenges as he prepares to take the reins of a nation in turmoil.
He has surrounded himself with people in his incoming White House and Cabinet who have decades more experience than him in government, as well as foreign and domestic policy
Obama has been on the national stage for a short time. He was introduced to the country during the Democratic convention in 2004 when he was in the Illinois Legislature and running for the U.S. Senate. Age 47, he will become president after serving just four years in the Senate
Roosevelt was already an established politician when he came into office at the depths of the Great Depression in a society with no safety net for the suffering
I feel like yelling ALRIGHT I GET IT he isn't the most experienced incoming President but what are you trying to get at?
Don't get me wrong here she actually sums up already known knowledge pretty well but for some reason some of those comments seemed to glare out at me. Is it just me being paranoid or it there some subtlety there that others can decipher?
P.S. Where have I heard the name Liz Sidoti before?
Drum Roll.... young, inexperienced neophyte... dwarfed by ....
Gosh, darn it, he just won the presidency!
December 13, 2008 10:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Some things never change.............my friend ;-)
December 13, 2008 10:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Perhaps Liz is cousins with Nedra Pickler? Nedra is one of my least faves at AP. I know her name by heart because I always think "sour pickle" when I see her name next to a news item.
This Liz lady has no right to be talking about our next President like he's a kid, btw. He had enough wisdom to oversee the best damn campaign ever seen. And he's our next President and therefore deserves some respect.
December 13, 2008 11:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
She's still mad that her candidate (McCain) got his butt kicked.
And she worked so hard on her anti-Obama hit pieces too...
December 14, 2008 10:07 AM | Reply | Permalink
Inexperienced. The best and the brightest team seen ever in this White House. Why not just call him a community organizer and have a laugh fest. The last laugh will be on them.
This team for got more than all the leaders we have had in the last 3 decades. Do not think for a moment, do not worry for a moment, this team is going to protect Obama to the very end.
They are very good chess players.
December 13, 2008 11:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
No, theone 718, the hackery you noticed is far from subtle.
In fact, the skewed campaign coverage by the Associated Press has been much discussed here at TPM. Here's a post I wrote a few months back:
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/2008/09/hey-ap-idiots-its-democratbash.php
LisB is correct when she mentally links Sidoti with Nedra Pickler; the pair often share joint bylines.
Both are acolytes of Ron Fournier, AP's Washington Bureau chief, whose own reporting became so noticeably biased against Obama at one point that AP had to circulate a talking-points memo on how to defend his impartiality.
With so many papers dropping its services, I would have hoped AP might rein this trio in, but apparently not.
December 14, 2008 2:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wB7EDnW-yns
I GOT IT folks. This is Liz Sidoti, I knew I remembered her from somewhere. She is the woman who got McCain's favorite donuts and coffee (during that AP interview with the candidates) and for Obama they got him a misspeaking by calling him Osama. Wonderful contrast, n'est pas?
December 14, 2008 8:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, Sidoti is a known McCain supporter, giving her bias away when she giggled like a school girl when she finally got to meet her hero. She also wrote several loaded pieces during the general election, most famously: "Analysis: Obama Chooses Winning Over His Word."
December 14, 2008 10:06 AM | Reply | Permalink
You note that Obama is being criticized by the AP for hiring officials with more experience than him. But when Bill Clinton hired "rookies", in 1992, the media pounced. Damned if Democrats do, damned if they don't.
December 14, 2008 9:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
That's just the road we must take. We can't allow it to make us waiver though, the road ahead is much to tough to have the media rattle us.
December 14, 2008 10:09 AM | Reply | Permalink
It ain't very subtle hackery at all if you ask me, but I do believe the AP is on a mission of some kind.
They seem to go out of their way to try and raise eyebrows over nothing and generally write with disrespect for Obama. The disrespectfulness I find is more subtle than the political hack jobs they do.
Last night they ran a piece titled "What are Obama's true colors?" It was all about his race and whether he should be called the first black President or perhaps the first "multiracial" President. Other possibilities they threw out there for readers were "half and half" and "Obama's own term" "mutt". The AP is no lnoger a reliable source for the basic facts to say the least.
December 14, 2008 10:21 AM | Reply | Permalink
I think the AP has a very clear, overt agenda. And it's Republican-biased. And here's where you've heard of Liz Sidoti:
http://www.google.com/search?q=Liz+Sidoti
December 14, 2008 11:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2008/07/8994_fournier_place_associated_press_ap_tillman_waxman_oversight_accountability_journalism.html
http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=1DA639E4-3048-5C12-0010F30E475931F7
December 14, 2008 12:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
The AP Washington bureau wasfor McCain, so why would old "what`s her name"be any different?
But after 8 years of Bush and the thug party,Obama looks pretty damn good.
Why can`t these pundit twerps behave themselves?
December 14, 2008 2:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sidoti works for Ron Fournier in the AP D.C. bureau and has never been subtle in showing her disdain about Obama. (Fournier has been remarkably quiet in recent weeks, or at least I haven't seen anything with his byline).
If you want to contact them about this report, here is the email address for general comments: info@ap.org
Here is contact information for the Washington Bureau:
1100 13th St. NW, Suite 700
Washington, DC 20005-4076
(202) 641-9000
263-8800 Fax/Newsroom
December 14, 2008 3:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
As others here have stated AP has earned a new reputation of 'partiality' in reporting and has been equated with Fox 'News'. AP's reputation of the past is gone.
December 14, 2008 3:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
I call them the Associated Pundits, purveyors of propaganda.
December 14, 2008 4:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually, I think the "A" stands for "Asshat."
December 14, 2008 9:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Comments on "experience" are a joke. They presume that the commenter has the experience to judge, yet the only people qualified to judge Obama's experience to be President are . . .former Presidents. What the hell does a AP hack know about being President? Anything? Doubtful. They are too busy drumming up the next big controversy, or pre-thinking a cool, catchy phrase for the next scary viral outbreak.
I'll take competence and intelligence over experience any day, and Obama has displayed the first two in spades.
The AP sounds like they don't realize the campaign is over. They keep repeating Republican talking points as if anyone cares.
December 14, 2008 3:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Some things can always be counted on:
1) The Democratic presidential nominee will be portrayed as the most liberal politician in America.
2) The Democratic president will be portrayed as coming from the most corrupt state in the nation.
December 14, 2008 4:10 PM | Reply | Permalink