I'm really surprised about the flack Obama has been catching about the recent interview of him and his family - Michelle, and daughters Malia (age 10) and Sasha (age 7) - by Maria Menounos on Access Hollywood.
I found the interview heartwarming and delightful. It was a pleasure to see a family joking, quipping, even complaining about Obama leaving his suitcase on the floor. Maybe I'm not objective, but this reminded me of my wife and our kids, when they were younger, and seemed refreshingly normal in a candidate for President.
So why the uproar?
Anderson Cooper, on CNN, was the first I saw expressing some displeasure, griping the night before last that the questions Ms. Menounos asked were softballs. Cooper expected, what, hard-hitting questions of children? Menounos conducted an excellent interview. As Dan Abrams (still my favorite on MSNBC) observed last night, Cooper was just jealous.
And what's vexing Andrew Sullivan? In his Daily Dish today, Sullivan says he was "was gob-smacked by the Obamas' decision to include their children in a soft-focus TV interview," and ties this to concerns about Obama's positions on FISA, the Second Amendment, Iraq, and deciding to give his acceptance speech in a huge outdoor stadium!
Talk about a laundry list. Much as I like seeing the word "gob-smacked," what on Earth is Sullivan talking about? Obama didn't change his position on Iraq or the Second Amendment, he did on FISA - I don't see that as such a problem, but even if I did - what does that have to do with having your family interviewed and wanting to accept your nomination in an outdoor stadium? Sullivan says it's all "hubris" for Obama - but, frankly, the hubris here looks more like Sullivan's.
Obama himself has said he regretted the family interview - but, I've got to say, that's one thing that I do disagree with Obama about. I predict Maria Menounos' interview of the Obama family will go down as an illuminating piece of history of a Presidential family to be.
Because, the fact is, we really don't have any others. Wouldn't you love to see one of JFK and his family right before he was elected? Of course, the timing wasn't quite right, Caroline was not even three, but you know what I mean.
But good for the Obamas and Access Hollywood and Maria Menounos for making this happen.
1 comment:
I've come to the conclusion that there's no reason to watch the traditional media anymore. The priorities and the perspective are so out of whack that it's almost easy to forget what real journalism looks like anymore.
I get CNNJ here in Japan, which I believe originates in Hong Kong. The journalists are primarily British ex-pats and a mish mash of international types. I wouldn't call it stellar journalism, but the quality is so far superior to standard CNN that I have to wonder if the international branch seceded from the mother company. It looks and feels a lot more like BBC.
Without brain dead pundits like Chris Matthews, Lou Dobbs, and anyone on Fox (to name just a few) my life feels so much more fulfilling and my mind is uncluttered by spin, trash journalism, and loudmouth posturing. And, if I want that there's always YouTube. ;)
Post a Comment