Todd S. Purdum

Politico's Purdum: Obama Had to Lie to Pass ACA Because Public Couldn't Handle 'Unpleasant Truths'
By Tom Blumer | November 17, 2013 | 8:52 PM EST

In a pathetic analyis piece at the Politico on Friday morning, Politico's Todd S. Purdum engaged in egregious excuse-making driven by a de facto admission that the Affordable Care Act would never have passed if the public had been told the truth about what was in it.

This is the same Todd S. Purdum who recently, as Mark Finkelstein at NewsBusters reported earlier this month, accused Republicans of "calculated sabotage" of Obamacare, and compared their opposition to the "pattern of 'massive resistance' not seen since the Southern states’ defiance of the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954." His Friday exercise, which should have been headlined "The Obamacare Scam," was barely less odious (bolds and numbered tags are mine):

Todd Purdum In Politico: Republicans 'Sabotaged' Obamacare Like Segregationists Resisted School Integration
By Mark Finkelstein | November 1, 2013 | 9:42 AM EDT

What an odious piece of garbage.  Today's Politico, in an article by Todd Purdum, accuses Republicans of "calculated sabotage" of Obamacare, comparing their opposition to the "pattern of 'massive resistance' not seen since the Southern states’ defiance of the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954."

Purdum himself seems to recognize just how loony he comes off, writing "[t]hat may sound like a left-wing conspiracy theory . . . But there is a strong factual basis for such a charge."  Sabotage, really?  People who understand democracy would call it entirely legitimate opposition to a philosophy and a program that millions of Americans believe undermine what this country should be about. More after the jump.

Politico Gushes Over Obama’s ‘Dazzling’ Smile, Blasts ‘Extreme Views of His Die-hard Opponents’
By Randy Hall | September 19, 2013 | 9:37 AM EDT

In an effort to report on the popularity and status of President Barack Obama now that he's well into his second term in the White House, Politico website writers Todd S. Purdum and John F. Harris posted two articles on Wednesday. The first is entitled “What's wrong with President Obama?” and the second missive is called “And what's right with President Obama?”

The second article claims that Obama's personality is one of his strong points: “His smile remains dazzling, even if he flashes it less often.” That drew several responses from people on the Twitter social media website, including @KentBushart, who charged that the message is “Pure Presidential love from glue-sniffers at Politico.”

Vanity Fair Editor Calls Newt Gingrich a 'Big Baby'
By Noel Sheppard | November 25, 2011 | 1:31 PM EST

Now that he's frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, Newt Gingrich must feel a sense of deja vu with all the attacks he's getting from liberal media members.

Keeping up his end Thursday was Vanity Fair's national editor Todd S. Purdum with a hit piece intelligently titled "Big Baby":

The Hitman -- Vanity Fair's Todd Purdum Unleashes Vicious Attack On Palin
By Mike Sargent | June 30, 2009 | 2:15 PM EDT

**UPDATE BELOW**

 Todd S. Purdum has really outdone himself.

The Vanity Fair national editor most recently known for publishing a withering criticism of the Clintons during the 2008 presidential race has chosen a new target for summary destruction: Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

This is no mere attack on the Governor’s policy positions, nor on her performance during the 2008 campaign – nor even on her performance since.  Purdum, in this article, plies his very best Luca Brazzi impression – hopelessly pathetic, yet reliably purposeful in ‘whacking’ the opposition.

In spinning his yarn, Purdum goes well below the belt:

Clinton Calls Vanity Fair Writer 'Sleazy' 'Slimy' 'Scumbag'
By Noel Sheppard | June 2, 2008 | 11:36 PM EDT

Bill Clinton's hysterical response to Todd S. Purdum's Vanity Fair exposé hit a fevered pitch on the campaign trail Monday when the former president called the author "sleazy," "dishonest," "slimy," and a "scumbag"

Even better, he blamed the whole article on "the national media's attempt to nail Hillary for Obama."

This followed a statement revealed by FoxNews.com Sunday from the Office of the former president claiming the Vanity Fair piece to be "journalism of personal destruction at its worst," as previously reported by NewsBusters' Tim Graham.

Clearly, Clinton hadn't cooled off by Monday, for at a campaign stop for his wife in Milbank, South Dakota, the former president went on a bit of a tirade after being asked about the Vanity Fair piece by the Huffington Post's Mayhill Fowler (must-hear audio available here, emphasis added throughout, picture courtesy Huffington Post):