Free Republic

I was going to leave it to the policy wonks to argue about Obama's 100 Days, but then I reconsidered. Act one of the Obama Era, I believe, should also be judged in terms of sheer showmanship, and by that criterion it's been, to use a Variety word, downright boffo. Barack Obama's persona could easily have been buried amid economic upheaval. The unprecedented blizzard of policy initiatives could have canceled each other out and diluted the Obama message. But somehow this hasn't happened. What has emerged from the 100 days is not confusion, but rather a clear presidential presence --...

It's a love-in, man! Looks like the grown-ups at NBC/MSNBC have taken the kids aside and told them to kiss and make up. After the embarrassing "tension convention" [to quote Imus] at the DNC amongst Keith Olbermann, Chris Matthews and Joe Scarborough, we've already seen the Countdown host plucked out of the GOP convention, under the convenient excuse that he would be anchoring—back in NYC and safely removed from St. Paul—the coverage of Hurricane Gustav. When Olbermann and Matthews appeared on split-screen during the 7 PM EDT hour this evening, they were clearly on their best behavior. The dueling duo...

From CNN to the New York Times, the media hyped Barack Obama's Portland, Oregon rally on Sunday, some comparing him to a rock star. Unmentioned in national reporting was the fact that Obama was preceded by a rare, 45-minute free concert by actual rock stars The Decemberists. The Portland-based band has drawn rave reviews from Rolling Stone magazine, which gave their 2005 album Picaresque four and a half stars (out of five), and another four and a half stars for 2007's The Crane Wife. How many of the people showed up to hear Obama, and how many to hear the...