Who Broke the President’s Bully Pulpit?

Chronwatch.com ^ | 5/8/2006 | Lee Ellis

[frogjerk]

Ross Perot was annoying.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

An absentee president has no "bully pulpit."

[dirtboy]

The Bully Pulpit is alive and well. But the Bully Pulpit only works when the president has big ideas or big solutions based in reality. Reagan understood that - he did not waste the podium on the trivial, but used it to promote big ideas.

So when Bush stood up after 9-11, he was standing on the bully pulpit, and the nation listened. But when he stands at the podium and repeats ad naseum about work Americans won't do, in order to promote a pseudo-amnesty that most Americans do not want, at that he's just another politician and the pulpit will not amplify his voice.

[finnman69]

By itself it's a tool that still exists. You have to know how to use the Bully pulpit.

[butternut_squash_bisque]

"1. The TV media no longer will carry a Presidential speech in prime time unless it is a planned State of the Union address. There has been a weakening of the presidency by media, Congress and, perhaps, the lowering of educational standards"

Bears repeating. Especially for a GOP president. But they give unlimited airtime to lib-dem presidents, particularly if they go on TV, wagging their soiled finger and lying to us.

[Fishface]

He makes a good point. Rather than just reporting on what the President actually said, Peter Gregory and those of his ilk will deliver their interpretions of the political motives behind what the President actually said.

[KJC1]

I think Al Gore broke it.

His unbridled anger and lunacy really cheapened the office of the presidency, and he didn't even hold the title of POTUS. The fact that he'd been VP for 8 years and came within inches of the Oval Office was enough to cause damage. And that was only the beginning.

[rottndog]

The Bully Pulpit is still there and fully functional. It works differently now with the new media, but it is there. The problem we have now is a president who is either incapable and/or unwilling to use it.

[dirtboy]

He makes a good point. Rather than just reporting on what the President actually said, Peter Gregory and those of his ilk will deliver their interpretions of the political motives behind what the President actually said.

They did that all the time to Reagan, to no avail, because the power of Reagan's ideas could not be supressed by bad media coverage.

[BikerGold]

Some liberal whining for the good ol' days is just drivel as dementia sets in...

[rottndog]

...the power of Reagan's ideas could not be supressed by bad media coverage

So true--In the end, it is the ideas that carry the day. But, you have to have a strong messenger, who also is a true believer, to deliver them.

Sadly, Bush is neither.

[concerned about politics]

Mahatma Mohandas K. Gandhi (who died in 1948) had taught that the seven blunders of the world were: “politics without principle; pleasure without conscience; wealth without work; knowledge without character; commerce without morality; science without humanity; and worship without sacrifice.”

Very true indeed.
The democrats held us hostage for 40 years in a row. During that 40 years, they were bought and paid for by the socialist/communist enemies within.
It's not easy correcting all those years in such a short time. Hopefully, if the right can elude the left wing press and it's negative propaganda long enough, something pro-American can work it's way to the surface. It would be nice to be a free country again.
Now, if we only had the RINO's on board, we'd really get somewhere.

[CyberAnt]

It's really sad when an internet forum has to start a daily thread about the President's going's on - BECAUSE THE MEDIA WILL NOT SHOW IT.

We shamed them into showing him more, but I remember Clinton was in our face 24/7 - but we have to rummage around to find where the President can be seen on TV - and C-SPAN hides his speeches - or shows them at 3am - when normal people are sleeping.

It's just more of the drive-by media's attempt to control the public's access to the President. Disgraceful!!

So the answer to the thread's title is: THE DRIVE-BY MEDIA.

[evets]

Bully!

I'ts just that simple, Larry.

[ONEBYEONE]

We all know that President Bush has put all his priorities and energy into protection of the USA. This type of war is not just another ho hum day on a busy agenda. The problem isthat so many refuse to either listen or believe. If Americans choose another way, some day, maybe then they will believe. It's as simple as that. Now to the economy. Unless your head is in the sand, he should get all the credit. You can't blame him or the Republicans on not trying to fix social security or drill for oil.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

The Gip came to work every day.

[jordan8]

Today's word is fissiparous:

:tending to break up into parts: DIVISIVE

[rhombus]

2. We, as a people, have been trained over the past few decades to not honor or respect any authority figure. Thus, we are losing our ability to coalesce. We have become a fissiparous nation.

While I don't believe that a nation that survived a civil war is more divided (i.e., fissiparous) than in the past, I do think there is some truth to the statement that we are trained NOT to honor or respect any authority figure. This "Question Authority" mentality has given civil servants the green light to teach "protest" and civil disobedience in schools under the guise of teaching "critical thought".

[jpl]

The problem we have now is a president who is either incapable and/or unwilling to use it.

Bush knows the same thing that everyone else does: he's the least confident and worst communicator in the White House since Jimmy Carter. It's not too hard to understand why he doesn't enjoy utilizing the bully pulpit.