Who indeed? If only the Leeds Student journalist had followed up with that intriguing question.
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Note: Harry's question is one that appropriately applies to a front page news article today: Obama Takes Direct Aim at Anti-Government Rhetoric
Fox News.com, May 1, 2010.
President Obama arrives to give the commencement address at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Saturday, May 1, 2010. Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm gives a thumbs-up, left, and at right is University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman. (AP)
President Obama took aim Saturday at the angry rhetoric of those who denigrate government as "inherently bad" and said their off-base line of attack ignores the fact that in a democracy, "government is us."
Obama used his commencement speech at the University of Michigan to respond to foes who portray government as oppressive and tyrannical -- and to warn that overheated language can signal extremists that "perhaps violence is ... justifiable."
Just 45 miles from the immense Michigan Stadium, capacity 106,201, the GOP's 2008 vice presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, told an anti-tax gathering Obama's policies are "big government" recipes that are "intrusive" in the lives of average Americans.
In Obama's 31-minute address to what the White House said was his biggest audience since the inauguration, the president made no mention of Palin or the tea party movement. He did say that debates about the size and role of government are as old as the republic itself.
"But what troubles me is when I hear people say that all of government is inherently bad," said Obama, who received an honorary doctor of laws degree. "When our government is spoken of as some menacing, threatening foreign entity, it ignores the fact that in our democracy, government is us."
Government, he said, is the roads we drive on and the speed limits that keep us safe. It's the men and women in the military, the inspectors in our mines, the pioneering researchers in public universities.
The financial meltdown dramatically showed the dangers of too little government, he said, "when a lack of accountability on Wall Street nearly led to the collapse of our entire economy."
Palin told an audience at a meeting sponsored by the anti-tax Americans for Prosperity Foundation that Obama is overreaching. "The fundamental transformation of America is not what we all bargained for," she said.
Obama urged both sides in the political debate to tone it down. "Throwing around phrases like 'socialists' and 'Soviet-style takeover,' 'fascists' and 'right-wing nut' -- that may grab headlines," he said. But it also "closes the door to the possibility of compromise...
"At its worst, it can send signals to the most extreme elements of our society that perhaps violence is a justifiable response."
Passionate rhetoric isn't new, he acknowledged. Politics in America, he said, "has never been for the thin-skinned or the faint of heart. ... If you enter the arena, you should expect to get roughed up."
Obama hoped the graduates hearing his words can avoid cynicism and brush off the overheated noise of politics. In fact, he said, they should seek out opposing views.
His advice: If you're a regular Glenn Beck listener, then check out the Huffington Post sometimes. If you read The New York Times editorial page the morning, then glance every now and then at The Wall Street Journal.
"It may make your blood boil. Your mind may not be changed. But the practice of listening to opposing views is essential for effective citizenship," he said.
The speech was part of a busy weekend for the president: the White House Correspondents' Association dinner Saturday evening near the White House and visit the Gulf Coast on Sunday morning for a firsthand update on the massive oil spill. See more:
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Okay, back to the original question asked on "Harry's Place" - "Who does control the media?" Obama discovered a few months back that he could not control all the media, even though he tired to blackball Fox News and Glenn Beck. He again mentioned Beck during today's speech, which demonstrates that Obama considers Beck to be a "thorn" in his side. He recognizes his opposition.
Interesting that he mentions "If you enter the arena, you should expect to get roughed up." Since Obama is president of the United States, would anyone disagree that he entered the arena? While he, as president, cannot control all the media/press, it has been obvious for some time that journalist have left off telling both sides of the story and for the most part, lean towards the left i.e. Democrats and are on Obama's team.
I am sure the young college graduates could pick out the finer points of Obama's commencement speech, however, I would like to point out a few comments that are extremely disturbing.
1. "Government is us". This is a lie straight out of a Marxist book! The government of the United States is suppose to be "for the people, by the people" and when government ignores the will of the people, begins bribing Congressional members to pass a health care bill that the majority of people did not want; and when a president by-passes Congress to hire crooks and jailbirds straight out of prison, there is cause for concern "by the people"! When a president ignores America's allies and begins chumming around with America's enemies, refuses to call an Islamic attack on U.S. troops (Ft. Hood), erases the words "Islamic terrorists" from National Security documents, then America can no longer define the enemy and we, as a nation, are in big trouble.
2. Obama used this commencement to lash out at those who disagree with his polices, by
referring to those who disagree with his agenda as "foes" and worse, our objections to the road our government is traveling, causes Obama to say our First Amendment rights "can send signals to the most extreme elements of our society that perhaps violence is a justifiable response." What do you suppose he is referring to?
He refers to Tea Party demonstrations, where Americas are voicing their disagreement to Obama's "big government" agenda, that does not take into consideration the "will of the people". He refers to blogs, such as this one, that print news from around the world, since most of the news locally is too liberal and one-sided to bother quoting.
With a broad stroke, Obama is telling the young graduates to "sit down, shut up, or else be accused of inciting "extreme elements of our society - extreme in this case, meaning "violence".
What Obama misses is the fact that disagreement, debates and objections to government policy is an American "right" under our Constitution and unless the Constitution has been burned and rejected by America, it is up to each and every individual to speak up when they notice that our Washington leaders have decided that they were not voted to "represent" America.
3. Obama plays the switch the blame game - the problems our government have caused, he then turns and blames on Wall Street, or former President's, and refuses to take responsibility for his own actions for the past year and a half. By shifting blame, to anyone other than government, it then gives government the opportunity to take more and more control of the lives of every individual and since Obama took the oath of Office, that includes taking over private corporations and business.
The owners of each media station and newspaper control to a certain extent what is printed, or what can be reported, but the day our government has control of both the media and press, then you know you are no longer living in a democracy.
Our founding fathers did not have this in mind, nor is it the will of the people for government to tell us what to think, eat, drive, and say - that goes for blogs, Internet, comments in newspapers, etc. When that day arrives, you will wake up to find yourself in a communist country, and if it happens while living in your homes here in America, then you will know for certain that America has died. Welcome to the Fourth Reich!
BeeSting
