The Fox TV network has ruffled some feathers by turning down President Obama's request to show his prime-time news conference tonight, which marks his 100th day in office. (All other major networks will bump their primetime shows for the presser.)
Instead of the president, Fox viewers will see an episode of the Tim Roth drama "Lie to Me" at 8PM EST.I trust you all fully appreciate how tempting it would be to say that, at that same hour, ABC, CBS and NBC will be airing a different program by the same name. (Or would it be "Lie to Us"?)
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But I will resist that temptation, because it would be disrespectful and perhaps inaccurate, since so far Obama has done pretty much what he told "Joe the Plumber" he intended to do. [See this post from last November.] With Obama, it's not so much a question of lying--it's a question of smooth-tongued fast-talk to a nation in search of Big government cure-alls. Fox TV is simply saying that it doesn't want to be the fourth wheel on Obama's snake-oil wagon.
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Like this L.A. Times blogger says, the choice makes perfect sense for Fox since their Fox News channel will take the market share of cable viewers. One way or the other, I think a lot of people will be watching "Lie to Me" tonight.
Update: Having now watched the press conference, I must change the "smooth-tongued fast talk" line. There is nothing fast about his talk when he is off the telelprompter. His answers stumble and stammer out with endless "uhs" between the words in such a way so as to seem "deep" and less like "snake oil" than molasses. The changes Obama has brought to this nation in 100 days have made our heads spin, but his talking about it tonight nearly lulled me to sleep.
Two things did jump out at me: This morning I said, "Obama has done pretty much what he told Joe the Plumber he intended to do." Tonight he said, "“The priorities that we’ve acted on are the things we said we would do during the campaign. It’s not like anybody should be surprised.” The other obvious observation from the presser is that Obama certainly still has the press "enchanted." I suppose things could be worse, and I fear that in the months ahead, we will see that group asking far more urgent questions. We'll see how the stumbling "ums" play out when the conference is not staged.
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3 comments:
While you were watching the Press conference, I was viewing a DVD that was an HBO-movie called "John Adams" It's a 3-dvd showing and Netflix only sent the first one, so the whole thing will be a process... it was nearly 3 hours long so it must have been a series at one time. It chronicles his life from just as Boston was being taxed and they did the tea party til the Constitution is formed. It's pretty interesting in that many men were divided back then on how they wanted their lives to proceed. It was well-done and made me think about the ensuing 200-plus years and how "change" has taken place. The movie is kind of slow moving but still worth viewing. As a student, I hated History...but now find it fascinating!!
WSL
Anonymous, I LOVED the John Adams miniseries. I loved it so much that I ended up buying the DVD for our library.
WSL,
I know what you mean about "history." I wish I could go back and take it again. I now love it. Beleive me, I did not particularly want to watch the presser, but I figured if I was going to post about it, I really should know how it went.
Today I am taking three high school students to a "Law Day" speech contest. I will be hearing about 20 speeches about whether or not we should grant habeas corpus rights to terrorists at Gitmo. I'm sure many of the speeches will reflect the current trends rather than the rationale Lincoln used during the Civil War.
SQ,
I've heard you talk about the John Adams series WSL is watching. My sister also gave it high marks. I will have to go rent it when I have some time to watch.
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