FILE - In this Dec. 31, 2009 file pohto, President Barack Obama watches the ball after making a putt on the ninth green during his golf match at Mid-Pacific County Club in Kailua, Hawaii. Obama played golf Sunday with Tiger Woods, the White House said Sunday. Once the sport's dominant player before his career was sidetracked by scandal, Woods joined Obama at the Floridian, a secluded and exclusive yacht and golf club on Florida's Treasure Coast where Obama is spending the long Presidents Day weekend. The two had met before, but Sunday was the first time they played together. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson, File) (A2009)
Members of the national media are never so unattractive as when they turn the spotlight on themselves, and their weekend hissy fit after President Obama ignored them proves the point. It was the equivalent of a lovers’ quarrel over leaving the cap off the toothpaste tube. It makes for juicy gossip among the neighbors, but ultimately, nobody really cares.
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Yet WaWaWa went the wail when the White House press corps traveled to Florida and couldn’t get a staged picture of Obama playing golf with Tiger Woods. The First Duffer wouldn’t even reveal his score.
The outrage! The drama! How dare he treat us this way!
The answer is obvious. The media gave Obama the milk without making him buy the cow. It’s a little late to demand respect.
For more than four years, the fawning mainstream coverage of the president has been a national disgrace. The only standard was a double standard, and Obama accepted the adoration and demanded more. Never lacking in self-reverence, he came to believe that he can arbitrarily set the terms of news coverage, and cleverly uses carrots and sticks to get his way.
Click to read Michael Goodwin’s complete column in the New York Post.
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