The Lynching of the President

The American Spectator ^ | 1/25/2007 | Ben Stein

[NorCoGOP]

So there I was, lying in my bed in Malibu with my dogs, watching Mr. Bush's State of the Union speech. I thought it was darned good. Realistic, gracious, modest, sensible. I happen to think we should get out of Iraq yesterday, but I thought Mr Bush put forward his case well. And Congress responded graciously and generously on both sides of the aisle.

Then, whaam, as soon as the speech was over, ABC was bashing him, telling us how pathetic he was, how irrelevant he was, how weak he was, how unrealistic he was.

Right after that, Jim Webb gave a very short speech biting Bush's head off -- but not making any concrete proposals about anything. No network person mentioned how simple minded and unrealistic he was.

Then, tonight, the next night, I walked into the kitchen where my wife had left the radio going with NPR to amuse the cats. NPR was having a call-in show talking about the State of the Union. The first speaker I heard was a country music legend, Merle Haggard, who said he had never seen things so bad in this country. Then a legion of anonymous callers chimed in with similar thoughts.

And suddenly it hit me. The media is staging a coup against Mr. Bush. They cannot impeach him because he hasn't done anything illegal. But they can endlessly tell us what a loser he is and how out of touch he is (and I mean ENDLESSLY) and how he's just a vestigial organ on the body politic right now.

The media is doing what it can to basically oust Mr. Bush while still leaving him alive and well in the White House. It's a sort of neutron bomb of media that seeks to kill him while leaving the White House standing (for their favorite unknown, Barack Obama, to occupy).

How dare NPR ask a country singer who hates Bush to spew venom at Bush? Merle Haggard is a truly great singer and musician, but he's just one old guy. There are plenty of country singers who love Bush and would campaign for him right now. And in what sense is Mr Haggard an expert on the state of the union?

The truth is that we are in a huge economic boom. We are coming off a mammoth real estate explosion that put the most Americans in history in their own homes. We have totally full employment. After decades of stagnation, real wages are rising. Gasoline prices are way, way down. The nation is wealthier than it has ever been (although this is very unevenly distributed). Opportunities for subsidized higher education are better than they have ever been.

Most important of all, who would have ever been rash enough on September 12, 2001 to say there would not be one major or even minor successful terrorist incident against the U.S. homeland in over five years? Who would have thought we would escape without more massive terror? But we have, and it is a foolhardy person who would say that's an accident. Bush may not have done it by himself, but he had something to do with it.

True, we are mired in a war without end, costing us far too may great young and old Americans and too many limbs and wrecked families and vastly too much money. But we all know we're getting out soon. It was a huge mistake, but I'd like to see a President who did not make immense mistakes. Compared with the mistakes of Truman and FDR and Kennedy, Iraq is a mistake, but not worse than theirs.

True, we have virtually no federal oversight of corporate looting and executive suite misconduct, but we didn't have any under Clinton either. The rich get away with murder. That's what happens in the real world. Bush is to blame, but all politicians cater to the rich, and Hillary will and Barack Obama will, too. It's nauseating and I fight it constantly, but that's life.

My point: let's be aware that Bush has presided over a lot of success in addition to substantial failure. My second point: no one elected the media to anything. If we let them lynch the man we elected as President we are throwing out the Constitution with the war in Iraq. In the studios and newsrooms, there is a lynch mob at work. Let's see it for what it is. We have a good man who has made mistakes in the Oval Office. He's the only President we have, and I trust him a lot more than I trust unelected princes of the newsroom.

[edcoil]

Democrat coup d'etat

They don't care they were elected to only ONE branch of our government. They demand it all weather you like it, or not.

[roses of sharon]

Finally a conservative columnist takes on the MSM.

[Psalm 73]

"...my wife had left the radio going with NPR to amuse the cats."

Odd, my cats like NPR also - and they're not even Democrats, I don't think.........

[IrishMike]

Poll: Viewers have positive reaction to Bush speech
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/01/23/sotu.poll/

W was so good, the venom had to fly immediately.

[zook]

Ben! You mean you're just now figuring this out? I thought you were smarter than that!

[newconhere]

Good Article. Surprised about Merle Haggard, did I miss something?

[SuziQ]

He's the only President we have, and I trust him a lot more than I trust unelected princes of the newsroom.

Amen!

[PzLdr]

If they are, move - and leave them where you live now.

[zarf]

lol. They're still just pissed off about the 2000 election. They need to confirm that Al Gore would have been "better" and that they knew "better".

History will render it's judgement, all this other stuff is noise.

[Grampa Dave]

The electronic lynching of GW by the mediots, rats in congress and pseudo conservatives started before GW was sworn in after beating the Goron.

The Bush Derangement Syndrome makes these a$$holes incapable of rational thought.

[Bob Loblaw]

As usual, Ben Stein nails it.

[raybbr]

How come no one on this thread is attacking Stein for calling him "Mr." Bush and not "president Bush"?

[rlmorel]

"...Odd, my cats like NPR also - and they're not even Democrats, I don't think..."

LOL...I know MY cat isn't...he guards my vehicle from marauding moonbats up here in Massachusetts...would YOU attack with this cat looking at you????

Don't worry...the license plate has been...altered...:)

[BuffaloJack]

I suppose the press wil paint 3-7-77 on the front door of thw White House.

[mystery-ak]

Ben Stein is just now noticing this!...this has been going on since Jan 20, 2001....and I am not counting what happened during the 2000 election.

[Proudcongal]

You know the SOTU address was effective when the demonic left has been spewing their hatred even moreso than usual. Just when you thought it couldn't get worse....

Good job, Mr. President, keep it up!

[agincourt1415]

Let the Media and the Democrats emplode, they are over playing the role of Drive By Media.

It will turn around.

[LexBaird]

All cats are unreconstructed theocratic monarchists ... with themselves as divine rulers.

[kevinm13]

The negative noise from the lame media has continued louder and has continued since at least the beginning of 2006 during the election campaign. The media is largely responsible for the Dim majorities in the House and Senate. Constant badgering about positions the President has taken on all the issues. The President was not on the ballot in 2006 although the media and the Dims made him the key point in the election.

I agree with much of what Ben Stein said in this article. I don't agree with his suggestion of pulling out yesterday. We are there to fight so that the terrorists don't take the battle to us here.

The media lies or distorts the truth and tries to make stories of something that shouldn't be heard (Jim Webb's citing of a poll at Military Times is a good example). Call out the media when they are wrong or make the story so one-sided to be inflammatory.