Depends upon what your definition of is is...
OK, thanks to the confusion our first black president has caused, I will endeavour to explain my intent:
If I took a brick and painted it gold, what is it? A gold brick or a brick painted gold? It is what it is. It could be a deception of the truth. You should not readily accept it is a gold brick because it looks like one, but question whether it might be a brick painted gold and someone is trying to deceive you. Maybe I should have said "What you see is what you get". Does that clarify my intent any better? Probably not.
My intent was to use sarcasm to make you aware the media might be trying to spin the the matter differently than the facts suggest. Of course we know the media would never do that.