Edward Wasserman: Why media making Obama the fall guy?

[IDemo]

I, for one, am glad that the catastrophe off the Louisiana coast has been fully explained, and the failure first to prevent and then to halt the hemorrhage of crude oil that is fouling the Gulf of Mexico has finally been laid at the feet of the guy who's truly responsible: the president of the United States, Barack Obama.

What a relief. For a while it was getting confusing. No longer. And I have the country's news media to thank for this clarity.

The media have redirected the public's attention — away from BP's record of indifference to safety and health, away from the corners that were cut and the risks that were overlooked, away from the role of defective workmanship and cheapskate engineering in producing disaster for which, astonishingly, no effective industry response even existed.

I exaggerate. There has indeed been coverage of those areas, some of it excellent, and there will be more. But the story that the media love, the overriding narrative that drives the story through today's 24/7 news cycle, is Obama.

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20100609/OPINION06/6080346/Edward-Wasserman-Why-media-making-Obama-the-fall-guy-

[Bluzmann57]

1. Answer to the question in title line

Because they can.

[Doctor_J]

2. No, they could also blame Cheney

(more guilty than Obama), but don't. the answer is that they are owned, run, financed, and staffed by right-wing repukes.

[depakid]

3. That's not what happens when Democrats enable, legitimize and adopt Republican policies

Democrats themselves end up taking the heat.