The liberal media has let the dogs off the chain

I recently saw a video of Charles Krauthammer speaking on Bill O'Reilly's show where the prior referred to Obama's presidency as "untethered." My trusty MW Collegiate Dictionary refers to a tether as "... something (as a rope or chain) by which an animal is fastened so that it can range only within a set radius."

Before any Lefties reading this get upset with Charles for suggesting that our president is "an animal" or that he's come loose from his "rope or chain," allow me to assure you that Mr. Krauthammer was speaking of a figurative "tether." That, of course, poses the logical question of what 'figurative' rope or chain is he speaking of.

Some of us remember a time when the media, albeit with a dash or two of liberal favoritism, served as the watchdogs of our republic. There's a movie about how two Washington Post reporters, Woodward and Bernstein, were pitbulls who refused to let go of a small story about a break in at the Democratic National Committee Headquarters. A pitbull is an dog with a powerful set of teeth that, once it bites down on something with its vice-like chompers, is virtually impossible to remove until it decides to let go.

In the case of Watergate, the media demonstrated that Nixon was tethered to the rule of law. It's not too much of a stretch to say that two young journalists, for all intents and purposes, took down a presidency. Can you think of anything during the Obama administration so far, even if it's not in the category of a Watergate moment, that might have justified a little journalistic interest? Just a nibble, at least?

As a journalist myself, I was once involved in a story that resulted in a change at the top for the local health care system (not quite the presidency or Watergate, but still having a significant influence in the community). A doctor at one of their hospitals setup a one-man picket outside of the hospital to protest "a lack of civility towards patients" at the facility. I thought that was an interesting story to begin with. However, when the CEO and board president for the health care system refused to return my calls and, when I did talk to them, quickly brought the conversation to unproductive conclusion, something happened inside my head.

A little bell started to ring and I asked myself a simple question: "What are they trying to hide?"

Whatever you think of birthers, Obama's failure to produce a birth certificate and put this matter to bed should ring at least a small bell or two for legitimate reporters. After building a presidential campaign based, first and foremost, on "transparency," choosing to lock down his academic records would, you think, generate a mild level of interest for a reporter somewhere. The Leftstream Media has shown how much compulsion it had to take the president to task for the utter lack of transparency during the Obamacare debates? No one on the Left stopped to ask, "How many pages?"

That's what Krauthammer meant when he said Obama is "untethered;" the man has little or no media restraint. Media restraint is the political and legal caution brought on by the realization that your words and actions are likely to experience the light of day at the deft hands of a determined Fourth Estate.

Despots despise 'the light of day.' It has a tendency to limit their authority. In the case of America today, only right-leaning commentators and folks on FOXNews seem to have any desire to serve as a presidential tether. And how has Obama and the Left reacted to that? They've sought to diminish and, where possible, ignore anyone who opposes their agenda. Those of us who aren't in their camp are radicals and racists.

But, the question isn't what Obama is doing; the question is 'why is the Leftstream Media' letting him get away with it?

In spite of their hard-left leanings, I still would have expected the media to require a little more arm twisting before they compliantly fell in line, which is where they are obviously marching today. I sense that they were somewhat caught up in the 'making of history' when America elected its first 'black' president. But I can't imagine that carrying them this far. No, there's something else going on here; someone else has got their dirty little fingers in the pie. For my money, it begs the question, "How do you spell S-O-R-O-S?"