Glenn Beck called the mainstream media the fringe media earlier this week. Saying "You can't call them mainstream any more". I usually start my day with a cup of coffee and the news from various feeds delivered to my home page. I scan the headlines to try to find the things I care to dig deeper on, like many people I suspect.
I no longer consider myself Republican or Democrat and haven't for some time now and only get feeds from CNN, MSNBC, CNET, Dallas Newspaper, WSJ, Research Hound and FOX to get a sampling of what is being reported across the media outlets. I don't pay for my news except for my Research Hound Feed, which aggregates some news for to save time. Here is what I found today that raised my eyebrows a bit:
"Obama scraps Bush-era missile defense for new plan". (
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/09/17/missile.defense.shield/index.html?eref=rss_politics) Factual is turns out if you take the time to read the story, nothing really wrong with the title unless you really read the article...
Missile defense has been around for decades with various administrations focus and flavor. That is not news. In 2007 prior President, George Bush spoke of the European Missile Defense Program. 2 years ago, the threats from missiles were much different from today and I am sure most will agree that plans often to be changed to meet the needs of current and ongoing threats. But that is NOT what I am writing about today...
This story could have been titled many things... Europe Needs Updated Defense, Obama Targets Missile Defense Upgrade or Iran Forces Obama to Strengthen Missile Defense Strategy, Obama Saves Money by Updating European Missile Defense Plans...
CNN however, decides to include former President Bush in the headline... I for one am a bit tired of seeing every political, policy or economic issue tied to someone who no longer "OWNS" the issue or is responsible for fixing it! The finger pointing at previous political figures HAS TO STOP PEOPLE! Get over Bush and his policies, his actions and his left-overs!
Media keeps looking backwards and trying to lay blame instead of looking at the NOW and how the people responsible for anything TODAY are dealing with things. Here are some un-needed pre-Obama references for you to review and ask yourself, "Are these really needed for this to be news-worthy?"
Here is a picture from the WSJ depicting Iran Missile Threat abilities:
Directly From the CNN article referenced above:
"Earlier Vice President Joe Biden refused to confirm that the Bush-era plan was being shelved." - Really? a change in where and what will be placed "instead of" is NOT shelving a plan, it is simply updating it.
"The Bush administration had cited the perceived nuclear threat from Iran as one of the key reasons it wanted to install the missile shield in Eastern Europe." - And is the threat stated here still not real today? The article points out that technology and systems have improved that change what can be deployed at a lower cost and higher effectiveness.
"The U.S. reversal is likely to please Russia, which had fiercely opposed the plan." - Russia, really? A reversal is hardly what this is. This is NOT an opposite direction (look up reversal in the dictionary) but a change in a plan that is still needed.
The article goes on to mention Poland and Czech Republic officials stating that the program should be suspended, but then counters with a one line blurb... "This is catastrophic for Poland" - What? This article is all over the map trying to tie 2 year old Bush with Obama just throwing out the old and coming in to save the day with a "reversed" plan.
This presidency is not about Bush-Bashing anymore, the election is over and Bush can no longer fix anything. Obama now OWNS everything, is responsible for "change" being applied to what he now is ultimately responsible for. PLEASE, CNN, stop using BUSH references and get with the program change America wants to see... Facts, investigative journalism and current topics so we visit your web site, watch your channel and lend our valuable time to your reporting.
For those who took the time to comment on the article:
Stop showing your ignorance by Bush bashing and taking everything backwards, PLEASE! Everyone in today's administration OWNS this stuff, they are the ones who need to update, fix or create the things we need or don't need. BUSH cant do anything to fix it! Referring to Bush or his administration as "crooks" or anything else is so childish. There are crooks in government TODAY! Let's focus on them for a bit and MAYBE the media will catch on that we need to MOVE FORWARD instead of living in the past.
UPDATE
Wall Street Journal Covers the same topic with a different spin but same substance:
"U.S. Changes Course on Eastern European Nuclear-Missile Shield" (
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125317801774419047.html?mod=igoogle_wsj_gadgv1&)
While this article does take 3 separate paragraphs to focus on Bush-era plan, they go into more details about what is currently being done and why. This article would be so much better if they would just STOP referring back to Bush and focus on the NOW.