Ironic Follow-Up to Truth vs. Optics

Last Sunday the New York Times ran a story in its Week in Review section titled, “The Label Factor: Is Obama a Wimp or a Warrior?,” intoning gravely that “like every Democratic president since John F. Kennedy, President Obama is battling the perception that he's a wimp on national security.” The article focused on the criticism and debate around the President’s handling of the foiled Christmas Day terrorist attack aboard an airliner headed for Detroit as well as his overall job performance combatting terrorism. In a nod to the optics of the issue the article noted that “labels count.”

One could reasonably conclude that CNN’s Jessica Yellin probably scanned the headline at least, thereby making her idiotic remark about the Democrats’ “history and baggage on national security.” The possibility of her reaching a similar independent conclusion would be much too coincidental as it pertains to the lazy electronic media. Then, the very next day Ms. Yellin’s network, CNN, actually polled a subset of the issue: 57% of respondents approved of the way President Obama handled the botched Christmas Day bombing of the airliner, against 39% who disapproved. Among Independents, 55% approved of how the President handled the situation.

A separate CBS News poll finds that 52% of the public approves of the President’s job performance on terrorism. So much for the “history and baggage” of Democrats on national security or, for that matter, uncritically believing the headlines in “all the news that’s fit to print.” Gray Lady down. Whoops.