Obama’s crappy pitch a hit with shoddy reporters
Call it sour grapes, but President Barack Obama threw a crappy pitch last night at the 80th Major League Baseball All-Star Game. Not only did Obama fail to make it across home plate, but St. Louis’ beloved first baseman Albert Pujols had to reach out several feet to actually catch the president’s pitch. The Fox Sports’ cameras were situated in such a way that the ball’s progression could not be seen clearly. Only in a brief moment of footage at MLB.com is the camera angle fit to see how the ball missed the mark.
As an aside, why was Pujols playing the role of catcher anyway, when it’s traditionally an actual catcher who holds this honor? For more on what appears to be yet another masterful media manipulation, check out Andrew McCarthy’s latest post at NRO.
The fact that the president threw such a poor pitch wouldn’t be as noteworthy had not the Fox Sports’ team fawned over it, and the president’s presence in general, deliberately obscuring things in Obama’s favor. It also became a little nauseating when every single player interviewed seemed to be questioned on how “wonderful” and “touching” it was to briefly mingle with the president. Such softball (yes, that was a poor pun) interviewing made it easy to forget the mix of boos and cheers as the president rushed onto the Cardinal’s field.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good thing for the America’s leader to attend such events and to be treated with respect while there. However, necessary respect should not be used as an excuse for shoddy reporting. To gloss over Obama’s obvious mishaps represents the cowardice of the president’s PR machine and its condescension toward Americans’ increasingly unfavorable opinion of him. Last night’s game was representative of that disconnect.
