CNN's Acosta: Obama Inaugural Speech 'Could Be One For the Ages' --1/14/2009

1. CNN's Acosta: Obama Inaugural Speech 'Could Be One For the Ages'
CNN correspondent Jim Acosta hyped the forthcoming inaugural address of President-elect Barack Obama during a report on Tuesday's American Morning: "Barack Obama's inaugural address may be more than the speech of his lifetime. Historians and speechwriters say it could be one for the ages, if he can rise to the occasion." He reenforced this sentiment with clips from a former Clinton-Gore speechwriter who predicted that it's "a pretty good certainty that you'll have schoolchildren reading this speech hundreds of years from now" and a professor who claimed that "it's almost impossible for Obama to fail."

2. Could Pro-Obama Bias Trump Media's Anti-American Bias?
Pointing out how a Reuters photo caption described those burning an effigy of President George W. Bush as merely "demonstrators," while in a caption a few days later those burning posters of President-elect Barack Obama were characterized as "hardline demonstrators," OpinionJournal's James Taranto on Tuesday observed: "Reuters' pro-Obama bias seems to be tempering its usual anti-American bias." Taranto wondered in his "Best of the Web Today" compilation for the Wall Street Journal's editorial page site: "It will be interesting to see whether this continues to be the case after Obama becomes President next week."

3. ABC's Barbara Walters Derides Palin Interview as 'Disturbing'
On Tuesday's edition of ABC's The View, co-host Barbara Walters dismissed a series of interviews Sarah Palin gave to a conservative filmmaker as "disturbing." The veteran journalist stiffly claimed that "one is not sure why she keeps doing these interviews." The comment occurred while the women of the ABC program were debating an assertion by Palin that the media may treat possible New York Senator Caroline Kennedy in a more favorable light. Responding to a clip of the former Republican vice presidential candidate arguing that there might be a class issue in how reporters will treat Kennedy, Walters complained: "Why she still makes it a class issue is something that, especially right now, and when we all want to work together, I found disturbing."

4. CBS's Harry Smith: No 'Job Well Done' on Bush's Report Card
Reacting to President Bush's Monday press conference, on Tuesday's CBS Early Show, co-host Harry Smith remarked: "Not going to get a 'job well done' on the report card, on the final report card." That observation was prompted by Republican strategist Ed Rollins declaring: "I think to a certain extent, we have a lot to be thankful to this President for his service, but he's not going to get a 'great job' from the American public."

CNN's Acosta: Obama Inaugural Speech
'Could Be One For the Ages'

CNN correspondent Jim Acosta hyped the forthcoming inaugural address of President-elect Barack Obama during a report on Tuesday's American Morning: "Barack Obama's inaugural address may be more than the speech of his lifetime. Historians and speechwriters say it could be one for the ages, if he can rise to the occasion." He reenforced this sentiment with clips from a former Clinton-Gore speechwriter who predicted that it's "a pretty good certainty that you'll have schoolchildren reading this speech hundreds of years from now" and a professor who claimed that "it's almost impossible for Obama to fail."

Co-host John Roberts introduced Acosta's report, which started 25 minutes into the 6 am Eastern hour of the CNN program, by focusing on the "great anticipation about the inaugural address" and how many "expect it to stand with some of the greatest ever presidential inaugural speeches." Acosta began with his "speech of his lifetime...one for the ages" line," and played a clip from Obama's 2004 speech at the Democratic convention. He echoed Roberts's earlier lines by stating how "the stage is being set for an address that's destined for the history books."

[This item, by the MRC's Matthew Balan, was posted Tuesday afternoon on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org [1] ]

The correspondent then played his first clip from Andrei Cherny, the former Clinton-Gore speechwriter, who made his prediction about future generations reading Obama's speech. Acosta highlighted how Cherny "expects to hear echoes of FDR" in Obama's upcoming address. Later, he played a clip from University of Virginia professor Larry Sabato, who opined that the President-elect "inevitably...will echo John F. Kennedy" and that "it's almost impossible for Obama to fail." Even Roberts gave his own take on Obama's inaugural address at the end of the segment: "...I expect that this will be a very moving and interesting speech."

Throughout the report, Acosta shaded the potential of this inaugural address by including clips of famous presidential inaugural addresses, including FDR's "only thing we have to fear is fear itself" and JFK's "ask not what your country can do for you."

The entire transcript of Acosta's report from the January 13 American Morning:

JOHN ROBERTS: Just one week now until Barack Obama's inauguration and we are counting it down. Here's the clock -- seven days, five hours and 34 minutes and 14 seconds away, and there's great anticipation about the inaugural address. Many people expect it to stand with some of the greatest ever presidential inaugural speeches. That's a tall order, even for a gifted orator like Barack Obama.
CNN's Jim Acosta is live for us in Washington. Jim, we don't know if, you know, the actual text of the speech will go down in history as one of the greatest addresses ever, but certainly, from a significant standpoint, it will stand among them.
(CNN CAPTION: "Obama Inaugural Speech: Expectations are great for historic speech')
JIM ACOSTA: That's right, John. Barack Obama has some big shoes to fill, roughly the size of the ones up on the Lincoln Memorial. And I have to tell you that I did reach out to some aides for Barack Obama yesterday, trying to get some hints as to what this inaugural address may include, and I got nothing. But one thing we can tell you is that Barack Obama's inaugural address may be more than the speech of his lifetime. Historians and speechwriters say it could be one for the ages, if he can rise to the occasion.
PRESIDENT-ELECT BARACK OBAMA (from 2004): There is not a liberal America, and a conservative America. There is the United States of America.
ACOSTA: Barack Obama's path to the presidency started with a speech -- ended in triumph.
OBAMA: Change has come to America.
ACOSTA: Now, the stage is being set for an address that's destined for the history books.
ANDREI CHERNY, FORMER CLINTON-GORE SPEECHWRITER: There's a pretty good certainty that you'll have schoolchildren reading this speech hundreds of years from now because of this moment in American history.
ACOSTA: Former Clinton-Gore speechwriter, Andrei Cherny, expects to hear echoes of FDR.
FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT: That the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
ACOSTA: Who also waged an epic economic battle against the Great Depression. Cherny gave the young man who's helping craft Mr. Obama's inaugural address, Jon Favreau, his first speechwriting gig.
CHERNY: I think you are going to hear hope, but it's going to be a hope that is tempered by the reality of the situation, and that's actually a more honest kind of hope.
ACOSTA: The incoming president has also studied his Lincoln.
OBAMA: There's a genius to Lincoln that is not going to be matched. People then point to Kennedy's inauguration speech.
JOHN F. KENNEDY: The torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans.
ACOSTA: Kennedy -- to many, the gold standard of the television age.
KENNEDY: Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.
LARRY SABATO: In all of American history, we probably have a dozen lines that are remembered from all those addresses by all those presidents.
ACOSTA: Presidential scholar Larry Sabato says Barack Obama's challenge is to measure up to the moment -- the nation's first African-American president in the midst of a national crisis.
SABATO: When you consider it's the day after Martin Luther King Day, that, inevitably, he will echo John F. Kennedy, that it's almost impossible for Obama to fail.
ACOSTA: One question is whether Mr. Obama will use the occasion to detail a laundry list of proposals for the nation. But historians caution inaugurals are meant to inspire even during difficult times, and there will be plenty of time for detail in the State of the Union and in press conferences and evening addresses to the nation, John. And one thing we can say about this inaugural speech -- he still has one week to go. That's plenty of time to get this thing right. It's sort of like when we have two minutes before a live shot, that's a lifetime in TV. One week is a lifetime in speechwriting, John.
(CNN CAPTION: "Obama's Big Speech: Expectations are great for historic speech')
ROBERTS: It certainly is. But, you know, they've been working on themes for a long time, so I expect that this will be a very moving and interesting speech.
ACOSTA: Absolutely.
ROBERTS: Jim, thanks very much, appreciate that.
ACOSTA: Sure.

Could Pro-Obama Bias Trump Media's Anti-American
Bias?

Pointing out how a Reuters photo caption described those burning an effigy of President George W. Bush as merely "demonstrators," while in a caption a few days later those burning posters of President-elect Barack Obama were characterized as "hardline demonstrators," Opinion Journal's James Taranto on Tuesday observed: "Reuters' pro-Obama bias seems to be tempering its usual anti-American bias." Taranto wondered in his "Best of the Web Today" compilation for the Wall Street Journal's editorial page site: "It will be interesting to see whether this continues to be the case after Obama becomes President next week."

[This item, by the MRC's Brent Baker, was posted Tuesday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org [2] ]

The two Reuters photo captions on anti-Israel demonstrations, as posted by Yahoo News. From Friday, January 9: "Demonstrators burn an effigy of U.S. President George W. Bush during a demonstration outside the U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, in protest of Israeli aggression against Palestinians January 9, 2009. About 2,000 Muslim protesters gathered outside the U.S. embassy in the Malaysian capital on Friday holding placards and banners, and shouting anti-Israel slogans." See: news.yahoo.com [3]

The Reuters photo caption from Tuesday, January 13: "Hardline demonstrators burn posters of U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, during a demonstration in support of the people of Gaza, in front of the Swiss Embassy in Tehran January 13, 2009." See: news.yahoo.com [4]

Taranto's take:

Not surprisingly, both captions are biased against Israel, the first referring to "Israeli aggression," and the second claiming the poster-burners support "the people of Gaza" when one presumes they actually back the Islamic supremacist movement Hamas.

But note the difference: The guys who are burning Bush in effigy are merely "demonstrators," while the guys who are burning Obama's poster are "hardline demonstrators." Reuters' pro-Obama bias seems to be tempering its usual anti-American bias. It will be interesting to see whether this continues to be the case after Obama becomes president next week. Is Reuters merely an anti-American news service, or is it a hardline one?

Taranto's January 13 compilation: online.wsj.com [5]

OpinionJournal's home page: online.wsj.com [6]

ABC's Barbara Walters Derides Palin Interview
as 'Disturbing'

Responding to a clip of the former Republican vice presidential candidate arguing that there might be a class issue in how reporters will treat Kennedy, Walters complained: "Why she still makes it a class issue is something that, especially right now, and when we all want to work together, I found disturbing."

[This item, by the MRC's Scott Whitlock, was posted Tuesday afternoon on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org [7] ]

The longtime ABC correspondent also contended that Palin made an aggressive appeal to anti-elitism during the '08 campaign. She later added: "Mostly, she [Palin] was criticized for being uninformed. That's what it was." And while Walters appeared unhappy with Palin's continued willingness to speak out, this is the same person who in November touted an exclusive interview with Barack and Michelle Obama by cooing to Good Morning America co-host Robin Roberts: "I don't want to gush. They're very cute, and very -- and very funny in this interview together." For more, see a December 1, CyberAlert posting: www.mrc.org [8]

During the View segment, co-host Whoopi Goldberg bizarrely compared the mannerisms of Palin to Ebonics: "You know, we had Ebonics for a long time. People said, you know what, one of the things we don't like in the educational systems, we don't like to hear people using sort of regular old terms. Put the T's at the end of the words that have T's and S where they're supposed to be. So, I think that her brand of Ebonics which was sort of the street talk that she knows came under scrutiny for the same reason."

A transcript of the January 13 segment, which aired at 11:26am EST:

WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Sarah Palin is speaking out in a new documentary about the way the media portrayed her during the campaign. Take a look.
SARAH PALIN: I've been interested also to see how Caroline Kennedy will be handled and if she'll be handled with kid gloves or if she will be under such a microscope also. It's going to be interesting to see how that plays out. And I think that as we watch that we will, perhaps, be able to prove that there is a class issue here also that was such a factor in the scrutiny of my candidacy versus, say, the scrutiny of what her candidacy may be.
GOLDBERG: So is the media treating her any better? Is this a class issue? Or-
BARBARA WALTERS: The fact that she raises it as- somebody said yes. [Referring to a "View" audience member who replied "yes.] The fact that she raises it- that was very much a part of her campaign. 'I'm a soccer mom. I'm middle class. I'm not elite. I'm not-' And I'm not sure that those are the things that Sarah Palin was criticized for. Caroline Kennedy also is not one heartbeat away from the president, two. And number three, Caroline Kennedy has already been criticized. We did it here on the program. She's already been attacked for various things. And in part because she's Caroline Kennedy. So she's already had to face it. But I think for Sarah Palin- and one is not sure why she keeps doing these interviews again- why she still makes it a class issue is something that, especially right now, and when we all want to work together, I found disturbing.
ELISABETH HASSELBECK: It's interesting, too. I mean, look, I said and I certainly don't align with Caroline Kennedy politically, but I felt that the criticism she fell under in terms of her qualifications to step into the job were- I thought she was being wrongly examined in some ways.
WALTERS: Because of class?
HASSELBECK: Um, you know, not in this case. I think that some people felt as though, look, in this country we say, 'Anyone can be the president. Anyone can be the vice president. Look at the stories that can happen.' As long as you talk a certain way and don't do some things. And, you know, I think there was a vibe during the election that some people, I'm not speaking for myself, maybe felt that, look, there- is there an elitism going on?
WALTERS: But, look- You have a president that- You have a president and a first lady who came up, both of them the hard way. You can hardly call Michelle Obama's family elitism. You can hardly call Barack Obama's experience elitism.
HASSELBECK: I'm not. I'm not. You know, there is that idea that if you didn't go to Yale Law, you know, there is that idea that and they've said it about Bush before. They said it about his family.
WALTERS: He did go to Yale Law.
HASSELBECK: I'm saying there is an idea that if you talk-
WALTERS: Harvard Business School.
HASSELBECK: -like you're from the Midwest- people critiqued her for the way she spoke. And instead of listening to what she said at times-
JOY BEHAR [Speaking in thick New York accent]: The same kind of criticism for what I talk like?
HASSELBECK: You would- SHERRI SHEPHERD: You know, when people use that word elitism, that just bugs me when people would use that word elitism.
HASSELBECK: Sure.
SHEPHERD: I know you said some people feel, and they were using it about Barack Obama-
HASSELBECK: They were.
SHEPHERD: -a man who went to Yale, who graduated at the top of his class. He did what he was supposed to do.
WALTERS: Harvard.
SHEPHERD: Harvard, excuse me. 'Cause that was his wife.
WALTERS: Harvard was his wife. Sorry.
BEHAR: It doesn't matter.
SHEPHERD: The fact that you would put the term elite on him when he did what he was supposed to do, what else do you want?
HASSELBECK: I'm not putting that term on him. I'm saying there are people in our audience who felt that that was a unfair thing.
SHEPHERD: I'm saying you, the collective you. Not you.
HASSELBECK: But I don't think it applies to Caroline Kennedy. I don't.
GOLDBERG: I wonder if she fell under the scrutiny and maybe I'm crazy, but I think it was a little bit because it seemed very fast. She came out of nowhere. No one knew who she was, so there was-
HASSELBECK: Sarah?
GOLDBERG: Sarah Palin I'm talking about. So there was a huge amount of scrutiny to figure out who this woman was. Because it happened, sort of, boom, there she was.
WALTERS: She wasn't vetted.
GOLDBERG: No one who wasn't listening to Rush Limbaugh really do who she was. So, I think a lot of the scrutiny came from that because nobody knew her. But, also, I think, some of the scrutiny came because people, you know, they get very funny. You know, we had Ebonics for a long time. People said, you know what, one of the things we don't like in the educational systems, we don't like to hear people using sort of regular old terms. Put the T's at the end of the words that have T's and S where they're supposed to be. So, I think that her brand of Ebonics which was sort of the street talk that she knows came under scrutiny for the same reason.
WALTERS: Mostly, she was criticized for being uninformed. That's what it was.

...

GOLDBERG: So, here's the bottom line. I just think that people were listening to her speaking and not saying "Oh, do I want my president to sound like me when I talk? Do I want the president to sound like someone who is different from me?" And I think most people discovered that they did. You know?

CBS's Harry Smith: No 'Job Well Done'
on Bush's Report Card

Reacting to President Bush's Monday press conference, on Tuesday's CBS Early Show, co-host Harry Smith remarked: "Not going to get a 'job well done'...on the report card, on the final report card." That observation was prompted by Republican strategist Ed Rollins declaring: "I think to a certain extent, we have a lot to be thankful to this president for his service, but he's not going to get a 'great job' from the American public."

Prior to that exchange, Rollins criticized Bush for being too confident: "...you saw a lot of confidence yesterday, he always was a man that was overly confident." Smith asked: "Did you say overly confident?" Rollins elaborated: "I think he's overly confident. I think he's overly confident about a lot of things. I -- there was no humility there yesterday when you basically talk in terms of the 'Mission Impossible' [Referring to 'Mission Accomplished' banner] sign, at the same time he can't find weapons of mass destruction...You know, you also -- forget 'Mission Accomplished,' he flew in a jet, he had a pilot's outfit on, it was sort of the conquering hero."

[This item, by the MRC's Kyle Drennen, was posted Tuesday afternoon on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org [9] ]

Smith also spoke with former Bush advisor Dan Bartlett and used Rollins comments to ask: "Dan Bartlett, that whole 'Mission Accomplished' thing, there's been so many stories about that. The Navy said they did it, Scott McClellan said he was responsible. Who really was responsible for that?" Bartlett responded: "...yours truly was the guy who actually signed off from the people out on the air craft carrier...But the president didn't throw us under the bus, he took responsibility, and that's why he endears so much loyalty from people like myself and others who have worked for him."

Here is the full transcript of the January 13 segment:

7:00AM TEASE:
JULIE CHEN: President Bush reflects on his eight years in office.
GEORGE W. BUSH: Clearly, putting a 'Mission Accomplished' on a air craft carrier was a mistake.

7:12AM TEASE:
HARRY SMITH: Coming up next, President Bush, candid, emotional. What a range yesterday in that press conference. We're going to talk to Republican insiders about what he had to say.

7:16AM SEGMENT:
HARRY SMITH: One week from today, President Bush leaves office. On Monday, he held his final news conference at the White House, offering a candid look back at the past eight years.
GEORGE W. BUSH: Clearly, putting a 'Mission Accomplished' on a air craft carrier was a mistake [Picture of Banner]...There have been disappointments, Abu Ghraib, obviously, was a huge disappointment during the presidency [Picture of Abu Ghraib]...Not having weapons of mass destruction was a significant disappointment. I don't know if you want to call those mistakes or not but they were -- things didn't go according to plan, let's put it that way...I thought long and hard about Katrina, you know, could I have done something differently, absolutely, but when I hear people say 'the federal response was slow,' what are they going to say to those chopper drivers or the 30,000 that got pulled off the roofs [Picture of Bush on Air Force One]...I believe the phrase 'burdens of the office' is over stated, yeah, it's kind of like 'why me?,' Oh, the burdens,' 'why did the financial collapse have to happen on my watch?' It's just -- it's pathetic, isn't it, self pity...I was affected by TV after the elections, when I saw people saying 'I never thought I would see the day that a black person would be erected president' and a lot of people had tears streaming down their cheeks when they said it. [Footage of Obama victory speech and Jesse Jackson crying] And so, I am -- I am -- consider myself fortunate to have a front row seat on what is going to be a historic moment for the country.
SMITH: Joining us, Dan Bartlett, former senior advisor to President Bush, and a CBS News consultant, and Ed Rollins, a Republican strategist. Good morning to you both.
ED ROLLINS: Good morning.
DAN BARTLETT: Morning, Harry.
SMITH: Dan, I want to start with you. You know this guy as well as anybody on this planet, worked so closely with him. When you watched this 46-minute news conference yesterday, what went through your mind?
BARTLETT: Wow. I mean, this was the guy I saw everyday in the Oval Office. And this was the type of person I think that a lot of Americans came to really enjoy to watch and the reason why they probably voted for him in 2000 and 2004. He really is an open book, Harry when you walk in-
SMITH: He was yesterday, that's what-
BARTLETT: a whole wide range of-
SMITH: I thought yesterday-
BARTLETT: He was-
SMITH: Because the window really opened yesterday in a way we hadn't seen in years.
BARTLETT: And that -- and the interesting thing is that's really how he is everyday in the Oval Office when he's going about doing his job. He's funny, he can get mad, he can be steadfast in his views. I'm just glad that the American people got a good glimpse of it hear at the -- in the final chapter of his presidency.
SMITH: One of the things that he talked about with such passion yesterday, at the end, was connecting the dots, that section where he said 'do you remember what it was like here after 9/11? And it -- he basically said the reason I did the things I did with the laws of this country, the reason there is a Guantanamo, the reason there is all of this stuff, is because that's my responsibility. We saw an answer to that question that I didn't think we'd ever seen before.
ED ROLLINS: I think this president has assumed those responsibilities in a very important way after 9/11. I think 9/11 obviously had a great impact on all of us. And I think that's the highlight of his presidency. I think lots of other things that he did, you saw a lot of confidence yesterday, he always was a man that was overly confident. The things-
SMITH: Did you say overly confident?
ROLLINS: I think he's overly confident. I think he's overly confident about a lot of things. I -- there was no humility there yesterday when you basically talk in terms of the 'Mission Impossible' sign, at the same time he can't find weapons of mass destruction-
SMITH: 'Mission Accomplished,' yeah.
ROLLINS: You know, you also -- forget 'Mission Accomplished,' he flew in a jet, he had a pilot's outfit on, it was sort of the conquering hero. And I think to a certain extent, we have a lot to be thankful to this president for his service, but he's not going to get a 'great job' from the American public.
SMITH: Not going to get a 'job well done'-
ROLLINS: Right.
SMITH: on the report card, on the final report card.
ROLLINS: I don't think so.
SMITH: Dan Bartlett, that whole 'Mission Accomplished' thing, there's been so many stories about that. The Navy said they did it, Scott McClellan said he was responsible. Who really was responsible for that?
BARTLETT: Well, the interesting thing, and I think it speaks to the character of this president, that he didn't attempt to throw any staff under the bus yesterday when it came to the banner. Of course, as you know, Harry, he didn't have anything to do with the actual banner. And I -- it's funny that Scott said it, quite frankly, yours truly was the guy who actually signed off from the people out on the air craft carrier, actually, when they were going through Hawaii, to say they wanted to hang this sign to tribute to the troops who had been on leave for more than 14 months, I think the longest service ever of an air craft carrier in war. And I was the guy they called and I conferred with Ari Fleischer and others, and we said 'yeah, that sounded fine.' And I regret it to this day, because it did send the wrong message. The old communications adage that a picture is worth a thousand words, was so true. But the president didn't throw us under the bus, he took responsibility, and that's why he endears so much loyalty from people like myself and others who have worked for him.
SMITH: Dan Bartlett, thank you so much, do appreciate it, good to see you sir. Ed, thanks for stopping in as well.
BARTLETT: You too, Harry.
ROLLINS: Thank you, thank you.
SMITH: Alright, guys.

-- Brent Baker