Reuters, WSJ are asshats too

As Turneresq so eloquently puts it, there is no doubt that John McCain is an asshat for leaking Obama's travel plans...not to mention running a misleading attack ad when Obama is leaving the country and putting himself in harm's way.

But let's not forget the media's role in this security breach.  The Obama campaign asked the media to keep Obama's travel plans quiet, but this morning the Wall Street Journal wrote, "Barack Obama departs for Iraq as early as this weekend" and soon after McCain made his leak, the Reuters news service blasted this as their lead story (h/t to Josh Marshall)

Why is the corporate media able to keep its mouth shut when George W Bush or John McCain make overseas trips, but it can't do so for Obama?

Just like in the Valerie Plame leak, the Bush crowd were asshats/criminals for leaking the information, but we can't forget Bob Novak's role in getting it out there.

I am so sick of the media's behavior with this trip.  Although they are the ones sending their network news anchors to Europe, they are also pushing a meme that the media (i.e. them) give Obama too much airtime and John McCain is some kind of victim here.  

When the media openly speculate if it is favoring a candidate, they are actually trying to cynically hurt that candidate by contriving a media-darling meme.

The pundits have the gall to muse whether it was fair that John McCain did not get as much attention when he was overseas...never mind that they hushed-up his frequent Shia/Sunni gaffes and his need for Lieberman to correct him.  Poor John McCain, he did not get enough attention when he made gaffes overseas.  Give me a break.

It's very post-modern and manipulative, but the corporate media do it all the time.

They are also raising expectations for Obama so that unless he walks on water, they will deem it it a reason why Obama can't be trusted to be Commander in Chief.   But if he does have a dramatic moment, they will be sure to say that Obama is too close to the Europeans, raising questions of his patriotism, of course.

Oh, one final asshat...General Petraeus.  Interesting that he's giving an interview to Andrea Mitchell right before Obama comes in which he hems and haws about whether 16 months is enough time to withdraw.  Is he military commander in Iraq or John McCain's mouthpiece?  Shouldn't he be focusing on his mission instead of interfering with the election?  He shouldn't have granted an interview timed for this news cycle.  

The McCain campaign, the corporate media, the Bush-appointed General..they all seem to have their knives out for Obama as he travels overseas.  They are willing to breach his security, spin narratives against him, launch attack ads, and politicize the military leadership.  

With behavior like this from Obama's fellow Americans as he travels overseas, I think that dealing with the foreign leaders will be the easy part.