Obama scored relatively well, even talking head Bill O’Reilly gave him a B on domestic policies. But regardless, the media, especially CNN, has hyped this event as if it is the Superbowl of his administration. 

At least there were no holograms this time.

It is clear that when Pennsylvania voted for Obama and that democrats were gaining a significant majority in representation, Specter, who is near re-election, is keeping his interests in mind, keeping his power. 

This whole matter of “representing” one’s views, values, or beliefs are just two-faced promises that are broken and fuel the fire of Washingtonian politics, that is, doing whatever is necessary to keep power and push agenda.  

If our politicians actually believed in what they fought for, even if they happened to be dead wrong, but actually believed in what they were saying, then you wouldn’t have senators like Specter switching from party but switching from belief and values. 

Parties in America are factions that hinder and hurt the process of democracy. It is when one power grows too strong that the other seeks vengeance and it is this that fuels the cycle of noncooperation. 

As President Obama said, we are not democrats, or republicans but the United States of America.

Apparently this flu, that originated from Mexico, and has spread to a pandemic that has spread throughout the globe.

The video below is representative of what the news sounds like and how some may perceive it.

I guess it is just a slow news cycle.

This is either the human fascination for dogs or the humanization effect of a political figure such as President Obama.

But at the end of the day, what this clip comes down to is just a dog running past a line of cameras, journalists and photographers.

But hey if it sells…

No it’s not ___________(insert poor taste of humor here) its Bo’, President Obama’s new dog. 

What can be paralleled to similar anticipation of cabinet nominee’s and foreign policy plans, the Obamas with the lobbying of Ted Kennedy chose a Portuguese water dog. 

Apparently, there were meetings taken place as to the selection of the dog. 

It is safe to say that foreign relations with Portugal have never been more solidified until now. 

It will be interesting to see what will be media’s next attempt to try and personalize President Obama. That is not to say it is a bad or good thing, regardless it will be interesting.

CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, CNBC are for the most part not outlets of journalism but News Commentary. Sure, this is probably well known but to what degree? 

This confusion of interpreting what Mr. O’Reilly may be spewing on Fox News one day or what Chris Matthews has to applaud President Obama on the other is getting out of control. 

Enter Glenn Beck. 

Still riding on the coattails of the previous administration’s fear wave, Glen Beck loves America. He loves America so much that he will cry for it. (Evident by the intense close up shots on his show) Glen Beck loves America so much that he has devised a brilliant plan to bring America back to the way it was on 9/12/2001. According to him that would be patriotic, strong spirited, and another synonym for patriotic. 

Really. He wants Americans to feel like they did on 9/12/2001. Sure there was patriotism but there was also the feeling of invulnerability, fear, insecurity…the list goes on. But what makes Beck a sleezball is a clip shown by Stephen T. Colbert. 

Beck differs from other news and political pundits as his he hinges his whole ideology based of fear. Fear is what many speculate to be the cause of the Iraq and Afghan wars. It’s this instillment of fear that clouds any credible analysis of news or even thought. 

There are good analysts and there are people like Glenn Beck. 

But then again, he just loves his country.

Did you know that President Obama had to separate French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Chinese President Hu Jintao after got into a bitter disagreement.

Or did you read about how President Obama extended (figuratively speaking) America’s arm to the World’s Muslim population in a speech given in Turkey? 

If you did, then congratulations! You win in reading and watching past the constant nonsense of “tabloid” journalism and reading actual news. By “tabloid” I refer to what could be found in the National Enquirer or TMZ. By actual I refer to news of utter importance versus news that sells.

For example, the above mentioned was overshadowed initially by First Lady Michelle Obama’s pat on the back to the Queen of England. Mr. Obama’s bow to the Saudi Arabian King Abdullah stirred up the media waves as he bowed in an expression of respect. 

To be fair, and not to be constantly calling out FOX, network television ate up the story. Granted, it is newsworthy, but is it necessary to pull out “specialists” and “experts” on foreign affairs or even monarchies to examine, second by second, the Obamas’ gestures to both King and Queen? 

If it sells, yes. If news content mattered, I think probably not.

The Obama’s had the right touch when it came to greeting the queen– at least First Lady Michelle Obama did. Apparently like any monarch, be it king or queen, there are a set of rules, ethics and codes that must be followed to prevent being swallowed up by foreign and American media.

If for some odd reason you are given the great honor to greet the Queen of England, who is a figure head and plays no role in British Government, then I suggest you read up on what and what not to do here. 

Regardless, according to NBC’s Brian Williams, a source close to Queen said she was not offended by the gesture. 

President Obama with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev hanging out above China's Hu Jintao

What did offend the Queen was Italy’s Prime Minister Berlusconi who immediately shouted “Mr. Obama” after a G-20 group photo was taken. The Queen was upset. 

It was just interesting to see so many British specialists on CNN and Fox News who happened to be experts on the Queen.

 I traveled to Washington D.C. to see British M.P. George Galloway of the Respect Party give a speech.

British MP George Galloway

I managed to interview Galloway an hour before his speech, thanks to family connections, and sat down with him for roughly 40 minutes discussing how he came about fighting for Muslim rights and more specifically the Palestinian voice in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

The transcript and audio of Galloway’s interview will be posted up soon.

However, Galloway traveled to Buffalo today to see if he could cross the Canadian border. Canada has banned Galloway from its country because Galloway spearheaded a convoy of supplies and goods into Gaza, though the Canadian government alleges to Hamas.

Little has been reported about this in American media, the ban of a political figure because of an accusation of supporting a terrorist group.

Instead there are stories covering Michelle Obama’s talk with Oprah Winfrey or pythons in Florida.

Galloway, known for controversies in the past, has denied any support for Hamas, the elected party of the people of Gaza, but said he does support democracy. Other controversies stem from his relationship with Saddam Hussein and the U.S. Senate’s accusation of Galloway profiting from Oil-for-Food scandal. 

As a side note, it seems more and more that his blog is a forum for me to complain about how much I dislike the news media’s decision on what is “news.” With many news outlets misguided by advertising numbers and corporate owners, my frustration may simply never end.

From this point on I will look for the little good in this failure state of journalism.