There's not much I can add to Glenn Greenwald's takedown of this nonsense. But if you want to see an amazing display of sheer pundit audacity, watch the boys at 3:37. Greenwald:
Moreover, Alter's own explanation is self-contradictory. In the course of praising Obama's FISA stance, he says that a politician looks "weak if you're flip-flopping" and "you look weak if you don't fight back against your political adversaries." But that's exactly what Obama is doing here -- completely reversing himself on telecom amnesty and warrantless eavesdropping, all in order to give the right-wing of the GOP everything it wants on national security issues in order to avoid a fight. By Alter's own reasoning, what Obama's doing is "weak" in the extreme, yet Alter bizarrely praises Obama for showing "strength."
Jonathan Alter is far from the most egregious gasbag in Washington. He's actually not afraid to say something intelligent. That he's eager to debase himself in such a ridiculous manner--by characterizing a blatant political flip-flop as a profile in courage--shows the depth of the media's current bias toward Obama. Even Olbermann seems embarrassed.
We haven't seen such sycophancy since Bush after 9/11. That didn't turn out very well.
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