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The crowd size remarks are very unfair as this latest speech was invitation only.

It seems that FReepers as well as the media have short memories. We ALL poo-pooed the crowd size in '08 because of the concert. To use the drop in attendance to illustrate Zer0's waning popularity is intellectually dishonest.

What you say is true, but it goes both ways. I believe the media in 2008 poo-poohed the concert and the free beer. "Oh, people aren't there for the music -- they are there for the historic moment of hearing a great speech from the greatest American ever." At the time, Obama was god-like and got massive credit for every little thing.

Now things are different, and the media is guilty of its own flavor of intellectual dishonesty by just shrugging and saying, "Of course the crowd is small: no free beer this time; it's no reflection on Obama, of course."

Both sides need to maintain their intellectual honesty. I'm pretty sure most Conservatives can fess up and say "Yeah, maybe I'm being a little inconsistent on this." But the media? Does anyone see them saying "We were drinking kool-aid in 2008, but we now realize that this guy is basically a phony"? I don't see it. I think the media is perfectly comfortable with its double-standard: Maybe 2008 is not like 2013, but the main thing is that Obama is still the greatest American ever.