Obama Inauguration

NYT's Tale of Three Inaugurals: 'Questioning the Propriety' of Bush, But 'Cause for Celebration' for Obama
By Clay Waters | January 21, 2013 | 4:07 PM EST

A tale of three presidential inaugurations during wartime and strife. The New York Times found it bad form for Republicans to spend $40 million on President Bush's second inauguration in January 2005, during a time of war. A January 11, 2005 editorial on Bush's second inauguration, "Victor's Spoils," sniffed:

At the rate President Bush's supporters are giving money, his second inauguration threatens to stand out in the history books like the common folks' muddy boot prints on the White House furniture at Andrew Jackson's gala. The $40 million record for inaugural partying set four years ago for Mr. Bush is expected to be shattered this month....Ordinary citizens might have hoped that the overriding issue in Washington- the perilous Iraq war, with its drain on the nation's blood and treasure- would dictate restraint. But plans for the four-day extravaganza roll forward with nine celebratory balls being underwritten by the usual corporate and fat-cat supplicants in the political power mill. There's nothing new in Washington's triumphalist celebrations, festooned with price tags for access, but war usually mutes the singing and dancing. Not this year.

MSNBC's Hayes: 'We Are Now on the Frontier of Climate Disaster'
By Matt Vespa | January 21, 2013 | 3:48 PM EST

As Barack Obama enters his second term, his inaugural address delivered today, showed an undeniably strong shift to the left.  The mentions of climate change and gay rights were much more overt, and was music to the ears of liberal media cheerleaders. One such commenter, MSNBC’s Chris Hayes, seized on the occasion to hail the president for noticing that we’re on the “frontier of climate disaster.”

Hayes was adamant that we’re at zero hour on this issue:

CNN Hosts Wowed by Obama's Second Inaugural Address
By Matt Hadro | January 21, 2013 | 3:06 PM EST

During President Obama's second inaugural address on Monday, some CNN hosts couldn't hold back their amazement on Twitter.

"Obama sounding more and more like Martin Luther King as this speech goes on - powerful, rousing rhetoric. #inauguration," tweeted Piers Morgan.

CNN Asks Steve King If GOP Is 'Chastened' By Election Losses
By Matt Hadro | January 21, 2013 | 2:45 PM EST

During CNN's inauguration coverage on Monday's Starting Point, correspondent John King helped bolster President Obama's image as he asked Tea Party Congressman Steve King (R-Iowa) if Republicans were "chastened" by Democratic electoral victories.

"The President won an election that many historians say he shouldn't have won, given the high unemployment rate, given the sluggish recovery. He beat your party. Your majority in the House is a little smaller. Democrats gained a bit in the Senate. Are Republicans chastened now?" he asked the Tea Party congressman.

Rapper Lupe Fiasco Ejected from Concert, Organizers Insist It Wasn’t for Anti-Obama Rant
By Matthew Sheffield | January 21, 2013 | 1:52 PM EST

Rapper Lupe Fiasco was told to leave the stage at a Washington, DC concert after playing a single anti-war song for 30 minutes and informing the audience that he did not vote for President Obama.

Organizers insisted he was not forced out due to his political speech but rather because of his “bizarrely repetitive, jarring performance.”

ABC Lauds Obama for Highlighting 'Modern American Families'; He's a 'Democratic Reagan'
By Scott Whitlock | January 21, 2013 | 1:45 PM EST

Barack Obama's second inaugural met with much praise from the journalists at ABC. World News anchor Diane Sawyer hyped the President's mentions of gays as a recognition of the "modern American family." Jon Karl touted the "Democratic Reagan."

After Stephanopoulos asserted that Obama made the "first explicit mention...in an inaugural of gay Americans," Sawyer seemingly worked in a subtle plug for her network's primetime line-up: "He is talking about a modern American family. He's talking about gay and straight, rich and poor, everyone together." Stephanopoulos made the speech all about Obama: "The President, perhaps thinking of himself as he said 'Americans are made for this moment and we will seize it.' You could almost hear him talking to himself in that moment." [See video below. MP3 audio here.]

NBC Hypes Republican 'Disarray' as 'Bloodier-Minded' Obama Focuses on Beating GOP in 2nd Term
By Kyle Drennen | January 21, 2013 | 12:22 PM EST

A panel discussion on Monday's NBC Today on President Obama's second term quickly devolved into anti-Republican ranting, with correspondent Andrea Mitchell proclaiming: "It's been so toxic that I think the President is betting that the American people...are really fed up with this. And that it will be in the Republican Party's advantage to play somewhat toward getting something done." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

Special correspondent Tom Brokaw followed up by touting how the GOP "lost big time" in the 2012 election and declared: "Now the Republicans are in disarray, trying to organize their party so they have a future. And they're going to have to deal with the reality of that as well. It is a party that is so broken into a lot of parts on the GOP side and there's going to have to be a lot of mending done and then more outreach as well."

CBS Political Director John Dickerson Calls on Obama to 'Declare War on the Republican Party'
By Tom Blumer | January 21, 2013 | 12:06 PM EST

Decades ago, to demonstrate the leftist biases of most establishment press reporters, one needed to study their body of work over time. Many of them didn't make their political beliefs totally obvious until they retired or went elsewhere (e.g., Walter Cronkite, Tom Brokaw).

These days, we usually don't have to wait too long for reporters' biases to show. Over the weekend at Slate, CBS Political Director John Dickerson, whose leftist advocacy disguised as journalism has been evident for at least nine years, mapped out a strategy for his beloved President Obama, writing a 2,000-word battle plan disguised as a column begging the president to "declare war on the Republican Party'" (Slate's current headline tease on its "Most Popular" list is "Why Obama Should Seek To Destroy the Republican Party"; bolds are mine):

Bill Weir, Who Swooned That 'Seagulls' Were Awed By Obama, Now Sees 'History Keeping You Warm'
By Scott Whitlock | January 21, 2013 | 11:23 AM EST

Four years ago, ABC journalist Bill Weir swooned that "national pride" made the cold of Inauguration Day seem warmer and that even the seagulls were "awed." On Monday, the reporter was at it again, hyping "history" is "keeping [inauguration-goers] warm." On Good Morning America, the morning show crew gushed over every detail.

News reader Josh Elliott referred to the First Lady's new haircut as the "bangs that thrilled the nation...[Obama's] dear wife and the hair." Later, during live coverage, Weir talked to a 16-year-old in pajamas, visiting Washington for the inauguration. He wondered, "History is keeping you warm, right?" "Outstanding," enthused the journalist. World News anchor Diane Sawyer liked the line so much she repeated it later: "And I heard you say earlier, Bill, people are counting on history to keep them warm."

Not News: Pastor Goes Off on 'Enemies,' Leads Chants of 'Forward' With Obamas in Attendance
By Tom Blumer | January 21, 2013 | 1:13 AM EST

At the Associated Press today, Darlene "Supine" Superville filed a report on Barack and Michelle Obama's church attendance "at the historic Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church."

Ms. Superville told readers that "The Old Testament reading during the service came from the book of Exodus, Chapter 14, in which the Israelites cross the Red Sea as Moses leads them out of Egypt." That's nice, but she failed to report how church pastor Ronald E. Braxton used that passage in his sermon. Ben Shapiro at Big Government did (HT Gateway Pundit via Instapundit; links are in original; bolds are mine):

Media Bias Flashback: Four Years Ago, Media Tingled Over Obama's Inauguration
By Kyle Drennen | January 19, 2013 | 12:00 PM EST

When Barack Obama was inaugurated 44th President of the United States in January of 2009, his adoring fans in the media could not contain their elation as they reported on the event. As President Obama prepares to be sworn in for a second term, here is a look back at just how thrilled they were last time around. [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

Sally Quinn Waxes Philosophical About Our Need for Inaugural Ceremony; In 2005, She Bashed Bush for Extravagance at His
By Ken Shepherd | January 17, 2013 | 11:19 AM EST

In a 14-paragraph Style section front-pager today headlined "Ceremony is a civic ritual for all of us," the Washington Post's Sally Quinn waxed philosophical about how we as Americans need the pomp and circumstance of the quadrennial presidential inaugural ceremonies to unite us as Americans and swell our hearts with civic pride, regardless of who is president.  "[T]his is America's chance to show the world what democracy looks like," Quinn insisted, dismissing the complaint of a "young colleague" of hers who asked her,  "[W]hy bother to have a second inauguration" instead of "just get[ting] sworn in quietly" in a private ceremony.

Of course, on January 20, 2005, Quinn sounded a very different and quite sour note when it came to how President George W. Bush was to kick off his second term (emphasis mine):