If Mike Allen thought the flag story was something to go cuckoo over then he must be really going cuckoo this morning over the equally devoid story about the way President Obama holds his pen. No joke, this one is a must read! The president actually even gives away one of his pens on camera!!!! OMG!!! Mike Allen is going cuckoo!!!

Does anyone still read The Note? I haven't looked at it in years.

It's all simple mathematics: Washington Times + Mike Allen's Playbook = Enormous Pile of Used Kitty Litter.

A rational person would expect the President of the United States to appear with the flag of his country. But we're not talking about rational people. We're talking about people who see Old Glory as a symbol of right wing patriotism. For someone from the left to usurp it is a violation.
Harper was probably also looking to provoke chatter on that favorite topic from the outer fringes - Obama's citizenship.

mike allen? politico? arent they little goat devils that dick cheney had his way with copious times in the basement of the white house?

If Mike Allen thought the flag story was something to go cuckoo over then he must be really going cuckoo this morning over the equally devoid story about the way President Obama holds his pen.

Got a link? I Googled and didn't find any story about it.

he must be really going cuckoo this morning over the equally devoid story about the way President Obama holds his pen

Well, CNN is all over it this AM, though I think what they were showing was a Jeanne Moos piece from last night.

"Pseudo-news by pseudo-journalists" sounds like a good answer to the question, "why is the newspaper industry in such deep financial trouble?"

The meaningless ineptitude of a mediocre hack. Why bother writing about it.

And here I thought topic A today would be the attack-chimp.

Found the lefty piece over at the CNN website. What drivel. They're right "up" there with The Politico as examples of inane MSM crap.

In case I wasn't clear: "the lefty piece" = the way President Obama holds his pen.

msmolly, when I turned on the tube at 5:45 this morning, Candy Crowley was interviewing people in the street as to what they think about Obama's "pen flourish". It's big news, bound to be a lead story tonight.

Steve:

The point of the story is obvious: The President of the United States hates America. And possibly eats fancy lettuces.

-- publish a news-free article about the president and flags, and wait for the chatter.

All it needs is a shark and missing blonde child

Thank you for reporting wingnut schlock, but be careful because actually reading that drivel will undoubtedly puddle your mind. For example, at one time Steele could utter a coherent sentence.

Nearly 100 years ago in his famous book "Public Opinion," Walter Lippmann said that democracies must always be on guard against what he called "pseudo-events" -- make-believe events whose only purpose was to shape public opinion. If a nation is not careful this invented reality can overtake reality itself. People will have opinions for and against almost any "real" issue. But the real danger, said Lippmann, is when elites start trying to manipulate public opionon for their own purposes by creating their own realities out of whole cloth, which can often be very effective since public opinion is nothing more than "the pictures we carry around with us in our heads." We do not see first and then define, said Lippmann. We define first and then see. Define liberalism as "evil" and you will more than likely see evil in everything that liberals do. That's how you lose touch with reality.

The point is that this didn't work -- the Washington Times wrote it, presumably taking its inspiration from the Moon. The Note, which seems to be positioning itself squarely between the Times and Politico, buzzed it. Politico picked it up and threw it to Drudge, they were all positive it would be a MSM sensation, and it went nowhere. If anything, it proves that none of these churn mills have anywhere near the influence they did before the election, and shouldn't have had much then. That's the story; if they were real journalists, they'd cover it.

The left hand story was a Jeanne Moos piece on CNN, meant to be humorous. Candy Crowley, as well as possessing a brain, is marginally more serious. Obama does write funny; a lot of left-handers do. The only sane way for a left-hander (I'm one) to write is from right to left.

Exhibit #64,012,793,447 that the elite political media is dominated by those who see things from the Republican viewpoint.

They *did* go ga-ga over Obama during the primaries, to be sure. Probably mostly because as a group they loathe the Clintons. And they did act like angry jilted lovers after McCain's moronic campaign managers had him stop his informal talks with the press. "What, , no more BBQs at your ranch?"

But now they are back to picking on minutia, and on quoting any far right conspiracy theory drivel as fact. "WHAT, he has AMERICAN FLAGS in the background at his speeches? WHO EVER HEARD OF SUCH A THING?" "WHAT, they sometimes TAKE OFF THEIR JACKETS IN THE OVAL OFFICE? WHAT WILL WE TELL THE CHILDREN????"

Keep in mind that at this time 8 years ago the dominant news story was how Clinton's staff trashed the White House on the way out. This was proven to be completely fabricated, of course, but that old fake news was recycled just last month by the big networks.

I usually don't agree with with media conspiracy stories too much, but it is painfully obvious that the pseudo-stories exist for a reason. Watch Fox News sometime when the news cycle is getting away from the GOP and I guarantee you will see a flag-pin/missing-person/child-in-a-well story become THE news of the day.

These stories are promoted to distract. It's that simple.

"We're talking about people who see Old Glory as a symbol of right wing patriotism. For someone from the left to usurp it is a violation."

That's why I made sure to buy a flag and start flying it this year. It's time to take back not only our country but its symbols.