Our Fearless Independent Media

“Obama Takes On Health Care Critics”–headline, NPR.org, Aug. 11
“Obama Takes On Health Care Reform Critics”–headline, Voice of America Web site, Aug. 11
“Obama Takes On Health Care Critics”–headline, Associated Press, Aug. 12
“Obama Takes On Health Care Critics”–headline, USA Today, Aug. 12
“Obama Takes On Critics at Town Hall Forum”–headline, Chicago Tribune, Aug. 12
“Obama Takes On Health Care Critics”–headline, Slate.com, Aug. 12
“Obama to Take On Health-Care Critics”–headline, Washington Post, Aug. 14

Read more at the Wall Street Journal

Two Presidents in One!

“This is not about me.”–President Obama, responding to critics of his health-care proposals, July 22
“I’m from Chicago. I don’t break.”–President Obama, responding to critics of his health-care proposals, July 23

Read more at the Wall Street Journal

To Whom It May Concern
“Obama Tells the AP He Is Deeply Concerned About Rising Unemployment”–headline, Associated Press, July 2
More at WSJ

To Whom It May Concern

“Obama Breaks Silence on Gaza, Voices ‘Deep Concern’ Over Civilian Deaths”–headline, Ha’aretz, Jan. 7
“Obama Voices Concern About Freed Guantanamo Inmates”–headline, Reuters, Feb. 2
“Obama Voices Concern About Pakistan”–headline, New York Times, April 30
“Obama Expresses Concern for Tissainayagam”–headline, TamilNet.com, May 2
“Obama: Long-Term Joblessness a Concern”–headline, CNN.com, May 20
“Obama Says North Korea Nuclear Test a ‘Grave Concern’ ”–headline, Reuters, May 25
“Obama to ‘Voice Concerns’ in Egypt Speech”–headline, Hill, May 29
“Obama Concerned at Sentence of Journalists in NKorea”–headline, Agence France-Presse, June 8
“Obama Names Video Games as Health Concern in Speech to A.M.A.”–headline, GamePolitics.com, June 15
“Obama Has ‘Deep Concerns’ About Iran’s …

Imperial Russia is still history, but there’s yet another new czar: Cameron Davis of Evanston, Ill. The Chicago Sun-Times reports President Obama has tapped Davis “to serve as special adviser on the Great Lakes, acting in effect as the new administration’s first-ever ‘Great Lakes Czar’ ”:
Davis isn’t sure yet how much of his time will be split between this area and Washington, D.C., but believes it’s important “to keep one foot in Washington and one foot in the eco-system.”
You’d think Obama would pick someone with the sensitivity to keep his feet …

News reporters aren’t supposed to be partisan, and look at the lead paragraph from a dispatch by the Associated Press’s Jeannine Aversa, headlined “US Loses Just 345,000 Jobs in May, Raising Hopes”:
Employers throttled back on layoffs in May and cut the fewest jobs in any month since the financial crisis erupted last fall–raising the brightest hope yet that an economic recovery will take hold later this year.

Contrast that with Aversa’s report on the same statistic a year ago, titled “Jobless Rates Jumps [sic] to 5.5 Percent–Biggest Rise Since ’86″:
The nation’s …

“The $328,835 snapshots of an Air Force One backup plane buzzing lower Manhattan last week will not be shown to the public, the White House said yesterday,” reports the New York Post:
“We have no plans to release them,” an aide to President Obama told The Post, refusing to comment further.
The sole purpose of the secret photo-op, which sent thousands of New Yorkers running for cover, was to take new publicity shots of the presidential jet over the city.
“The photos . . . are classified–that’s ridiculous,” Councilman Peter Vallone Jr., said.
The photos have …

“The argument against unions–that they unduly burden employers with unreasonable demands–is one that corporate America makes in good times and bad. . . . There is a strong argument that the slack labor market of a recession actually makes unions all the more important. Without a united front, workers will have even less bargaining power in the recession than they had during the growth years of this decade, when they largely failed to get raises even as productivity and profits soared. If pay continues to lag, it will only prolong the downturn …

Great Moments in Public Education
From Chicago’s WBBM-TV:
Hundreds of students have allegedly been beaten by teachers, coaches and staff at Chicago Public Schools. 2 Investigator Dave Savini continues his ongoing investigation involving the illegal use corporal punishment.
Treveon Martin, 10, is afraid of a teacher at his school.
“I’ve seen him hit five of them in the classroom,” Martin said.
Martin says he and others have been hit, grabbed and even struck with a belt. . . .
An exclusive CBS 2 investigation discovered Treveon Martin is one of at least 818 Chicago Public School students, since 2003, to …

What Would We Do Without Etiquette Experts?
“Rod Blagojevich Shows Foulmouthed Side: Etiquette experts say such language still unprofessional”–headline and subheadline, Chicago Tribune, Dec. 11