I’m not sure what compels me to read Powerline every day. I suppose it goes hand-in-hand with my affinity for the music of the Shaggs, or my love of Turkish re-makes of classic American movies. In other words, I enjoy suffering needlessly. Witness today’s nugget of genius from Hindrocket:
I haven’t seen a report on how many people watched Bush’s speech; in fact, I’m only assuming that it was broadcast by someone. My guess is that very few either saw it or will read it in its entirety. Instead, the overwhelming majority depend on what they read about Bush’s speech in the newspapers or hear on television news reports. Those articles and reports, with hardly any exceptions, will be carefully framed to minimize the speech’s impact.
People used to talk about the Presidency as a “bully pulpit,” but I think one lesson of the Bush years is that the President’s ability to communicate effectively with the American people, outside of the context of an election campaign, is limited. The real “bully pulpit” belongs to the mainstream press, which is just about unanimously devoted to undermining the President’s effort to communicate with, and thereby lead, the American people.
So there you have it: the President cannot effectively lead the American people because the press is always undermining him by fact-checking and providing context to his remarks.
Anyway, I’ve got some work to do. I’ll be back later today with a very, “special” Kaye Grogan… column.
