Did you hear the one about the decline of print journalism? ...one of Biden's finest moments!

...darn near fell off my chair...

On a side note, while I

Obama just held another very quiet sitdown (a day or so ago) with some VERY minor press. He's done this a couple of times, where he invites in people (from this recent one, for example) from Bangor, Maine, and South Dakota and Missouri. Small-town newspaper folks. And he lets them ask him questions.

Of course, he's making some political hay, since some of the states he concentrates on are ones with senators he is trying to convince to vote with him (like Maine, for instance). But still, the fact he is smart enough to reach out to the small-town press like this shows one whale of a lot of political savvy.

-CW

Whoops! Forgot Ed Henry's question and Obama's answer. He should be shoehorned in between the Stars And Stripes guy and the Fox News guy (I told you my notes were kind of cryptic, missed this one during the writeup).

This was a big one to miss, as you point out. Obama's answer was one of the best of the night, and I have it written down almost exactly as you reported it -- "I like to know what I'm talking about" is why I didn't respond to the cable news' insane expectations.

An excellent answer, and one that showed better than most of the night what I was trying to say here -- there is a WIDE GULF between what the talking heads on teevee think is important, and what the American people think is important. They're still desperately trying to chase down a non-story ("who knew and when did they know it?!?") which nobody but themselves actually cares about. Obama hit this one out of the park. The public cares about the bonuses, and the whole AIG thing, but they decidedly DON'T care about "should Obama have said something on Friday instead of on Saturday" and all the rest of it.

I'd like to see some poll numbers on what the public thinks of the media themselves. I bet their numbers are sinking like a stone. I mean, OK, report the story if there is one, but stop trying to manufacture one where there isn't.

Anyway, thanks for pointing it out, this was a big error of omission for me.

What would I do without you guys to keep me honest?

:-)

-CW

My favourite part: Ed Henry, from CNN...ahem...I am happy to report that I'm listening to them less and less with each passing day.

But, back to Ed and his question...why, oh why, did it take sooooooooo very long for President Obama to voice his outrage over the dreaded AIG bonuses...Why, Mr President....

Well, Ed...said the President, and I paraphrase...I like to take the time to know what I'm talking about before I open my mouth. Ha! Something the media has never learned...and Ed is still "licking his wounds"...and trying to figure out why...WHY!?

Lesson: print is dead ("print" being defined as traditional, big business media). The "new media" now enjoys the same access and delivers the quality that "print" used to deliver. IOW, the internet really HAS democratized the news, and Obama is exploiting that to its fullest potential.

Print is dead. Long live the internet!