Maybe a little of a double standard......From Politico

[KansasVoter]

I am sure this will be unrecommended to <0 in 10 seconds. But I guarantee if Bush had done some of this stuff we would have been ripping him. I know I would have!
I am not saying Obama is doing anything wrong, but that people on this board, including me, give Obama a break when we would not have with Bush because we like Obama and think he is a much better man. Still, some valid things to look at. Even if you won't admit it.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20091027/pl_politico/28764

A four-hour stop in New Orleans, on his way to a $3 million fundraiser.
Snubbing the Dalai Lama.
Signing off on a secret deal with drug makers.
Freezing out a TV network.
Doing more fundraisers than the last president. More golf, too.
President Barack Obama has done all of those things — and more.
What’s remarkable is what hasn’t happened. These episodes haven’t become metaphors for Obama’s personal and political character — or consuming controversies that sidetracked the rest of his agenda.
It’s a sign that the media’s echo chamber can be a funny thing, prone to the vagaries of news judgment, and an illustration that, in politics, context is everything.
Conservatives look on with a mix of indignation and amazement and ask: Imagine the fuss if George W. Bush had done these things?
And quickly add, with a hint of jealousy: How does Obama get away with it?
“We have a joke about it. We’re going to start a website: IfBushHadDoneThat.com,” former Bush counselor Ed Gillespie said. “The watchdogs are curled up around his feet, sleeping soundly. ... There are countless examples: some silly, some serious.”
Indeed, Bush got grief for secret meetings with the oil industry, politicizing the White House and spending too much time on his beloved bike. But it’s not just Republicans who notice. Media observers note that the president often gets kid-glove treatment from the press, fellow Democrats and, particularly, interest groups on the left — Bush’s loudest critics, Obama’s biggest backers.
But others say there’s a larger phenomenon at work — in the story line the media wrote about Obama’s presidency. For Bush, the theme was that of a Big Business Republican who rode the family name to the White House, so stories about secret energy meetings and a certain laziness, intellectual and otherwise, fit neatly into the theme, to be replayed over and over again.

<snip>

[Thrill]

1. Politico is a RW rag. Keep on eating their shit up

You'll be hard pressed to find even one positive article on Obama or any other Democrat
on their site.

[KansasVoter]

4. Thanks for making my point. Nothing Obama does is wrong here and if you say so you are ripped!

[Thrill]

7. No you just proved the point about Politico

They've showed themselves since the primary.

[phleshdef]

20. It would help if you would point out some of the legitimate problems with Obama...

...instead of pointing to a bunch of phony BS coming out of politico.

[Orsino]

25. There are valid criticisms to level at President Obama...

...yet for some reason you chose to recycle unsupported semi-truths.

Your homework is to examine context. Start simply: which president showed up late in New Orleans following a natural disaster, and which merely stopped in to check up, four years after? Which president spent more time on vacation in his first nine months?

These are basic, basic points to think about before parroting known right-wing propagandists, and frankly, you blew it. Please add some substance next time.

[ej510]

2. The fund-raising issue is a gret reason to have federal public financing.

[islandmkl]

3. yahoo?...politico?...and 'double standard'?

sounds about right...

they left out any expansion of the FACTS in each of the examples...but hey, you can't digest rightwing bullshit if its not presented in small bites...

[sharp_stick]

5. All righty I'll take a shot

I doubt that Obama is doing more fundraisers than shrubbo did in the first term. Shrubbo was fucking toxic over the last 3 years of his second term and nobody wanted to be within a block of him if they were facing re-election.

More golf, that's cause shrub sucked at golf and spent more time on vacation hanging at the pig farm and Camp David than he ever did in Washington. Perhaps they could calculate total vacation time up to November instead of focusing on a single sport, if you consider smacking a little white ball sport.

4 hour stopover in New Orleans, shrub didn't even land the fucking plane in New Orleans, he was busy having a birthday party for McCain, in Texas of course, while the city was swamped.

Freezing out a TV network: Shrubbo held dinners for Fox News and Conservative Opinion Writers in the White House while not allowing other networks to ask questions of his spokesassholes. Lets not forget putting a known male prostitute in the press gallery to ask pre-written questions.

Snubbing the Dalai Lama, politics is a bitch and sometimes you have to do stuff you don't really want to do. Did shrubbo ever meet with him while China was pissed at Tibet?

Secret deal with drug makers, not so secret if everyone knows about and see above... Politics is a bitch and sometimes you have to make deals with people you normally wouldn't.

[Connie_Corleone]

6. It's easy to cherry pick when you think Obama hasn't done anything.

Bush spent more time on vacation than Obama has in his first year in office.
We were attacked under Bush's watch almost 9 months into his first term of office.
Bush ignored New Orleans after Katrina hit.
Bush started a war of choice in Iraq.
Bush's administration stopped giving interviews to NBC and MSNBC.
Bush used torture techniques to get false information out of detainees

Meanwhile:

Obama is about to sign into law historic health insurance reform (by Christmas).
He will sign into law historic hate crimes bill Wednesday.
Iraq is ahead of schedule in withdrawing troops.
Nuclear nonproliferation unanimous agreement at the UN.
Gitmo will be closed next year (maybe not by January, but close).
Obama got a stimulus package that is just now kicking in.
Getting agreement with France and Russia regarding Iran.
Ledbetter bill being signed into law.
Obama will also be meeting with the Dalai Lama after his trip to China.
Fox News hasn't been freezed out. The Obama administration is just telling the truth that Fox isn't really a "news" channel.

But let's cherry pick and focus on Obama playing golf on Sundays and trying to raise money for the Democratic Party because he's our best spokesman.

[TwilightGardener]

17. +1--Such a slacker, that Obama. Except for when people complain

that he's too ambitious, trying too much too soon, going too many places, giving too many speeches, always in our faces and on TV...

[Jennicut]

8. Freezing out a tv network? You mean we need to feel for Faux?

It is not legitimate news and the more Dems treat it that way, the better.
It is pure propaganda.

As far as golfing goes, Bush did a ton of golfing and then stopped because he was embarrassed to be filmed doing it while he decided to invade Iraq.

Fund raising will be necessary evil until all campaigns are publicly financed. Rethugs had an advantage for years. We are about to pass something, anything to do with health care reform and without a Dem majority we would not even be talking about any kind of reform.

As much as some want to say Obama's presidency is a third Bush term, it is utter BS. We would not even be discussing what to do in Afghanistan, want to do on health care, etc. There would be no discussion if Obama was "just like Bush".

[phleshdef]

9. DL wasn't snubbed, the deal wasn't secret, Fox has been trying to get him KILLED....

I don't give a shit about the New Orleans stop, Katrina happened years ago. Plus, he campaigned there anyway. Its not like he hasn't had other places to go.

As far as fundraisers and golf bullshit go, shut the fuck up, Obama has been working his ASS off with hardly any real vacation taken at all. His work ethic speaks for itself regardless of what anyone thinks about policy.

[Spazito]

10. I am curious whether you did any research of your own before you....

came to the conclusion these were valid points?

I ask because I did and none of them are actually factual when examined in context but I will leave you, given it is your OP and your conclusion they are valid, to show proof these are valid before I offer proof they are garbage.

[TankLV]

11. Posting the same BULLSHIT again and again I see...

I see a TROLL!!!

[Dreamer Tatum]

12. There is a huge double standard. Anyone who denies it is fooling themselves. But...

...the difference I see is intent. People mistrusted Bush's intent, whereas they trust Obama's. That reconciles a lot of the double standard.

[Vinnie From Indy]

13. What a load of horseshit!

Politico is as biased and corrupt as they come. Mike Allen and the rest are all committed, diehard, delusional Republicans.

Also, in regard to the post in question, please get back to me when Obama starts a needless war that kills over a million people, shreds the Constitution, eliminates almost all federal regulation for businesses, disregards and ignores urgent warnings about a massive attack on America, steals two elections, allows male prostitutes to pose as reporters in the White House press room etc. etc. etc. The article is complete nonsense. Anyone that buys into this BS needs to rethink the issue.

[joeycola]

18. We know those problems you spell out exist but it is

necessary to listen up to even those posts related to what Obama does or does not do. This is a discussion board.

[phleshdef]

22. "This is a discussion board" is no a defense for pushing phony outrage memes.

[joeycola]

27. what to you is outrage is real issue to me.

[ellie]

14. Jesus, what a bunch of shit.

[jenmito]

15. "Freezing out a TV network. Doing more fundraisers than the last president. More golf, too."

1. He did NOT freeze out Faux. The WH just called them what they are, and said Obama will still appear on Faux, but he'll go in viewing them as "the opposition," hich they ARE.

2. The reason he's doing so many fundraisers is because Bush's donors gave him huge amounts of money, making more in the ones HE did than the amount Obama has made so far. He's the fundraiser in chief. He's doing this for his party.

3. He played more golf but cleared less brush and took WAY fewer vacation days and accomplished more than nearly any other president in this amount of time.

Nice try. :eyes:

[joeycola]

16. signing off to the secret drug deal is probably the worst one

IMHO.

[FrenchieCat]

19. Fuck that fucked up slanted ass shit and the horse it rode on......

that would be the right wing horse that started Politico.

[Peacetrain]

21. Ya think!.. I do

I think about what I post before I go off half cocked... something to ponder

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

23. You're a joke.

[johnaries]

24. What a ridiculous comparison. How about some truth?

New Orleans:
According to FEMA, 76 of the 120 Louisiana reconstruction projects that were stuck at the beginning of his presidency have been resolved, sending more than $1.4 billion in additional federal aid to Louisiana.

Obama said officials from his administration have made 35 trips to the Gulf Coast since March — and "not just to make appearances, but to listen and to learn and help you move forward."

"People say he's going to be here a short little time, that's true," Nagin said. "Don't be fooled. This administration is focused on New Orleans."

The administration's recovery efforts have drawn praise from Republicans, too, including Gov. Bobby Jindal. Jindal has credited Obama's team with bringing a more practical and flexible approach to the process. "There's a sense of momentum and a desire to get things done," he said in August.

Dalai Lama:
He didn't "snub" the Dalai Lama, he postponed meeting him until after scheduled negotiations with China. Need I say why?

Secret Deal with Drug Makers:
And the effect on the HCR has been - what? HCR is moving forward and there is no evidence of a "secret deal" hindering it.

Freezing out a network:
That has been debunked as a distortion by Fox News.

Fundraisers:
Bush didn't need to do as many fundraisers - he used the DOJ.

Golf:
"Watch this drive!" Bush also did a lot more biking and "brush clearing" than Obama. Compare the amount of vacation time that Bush took to Obama, instead.

Bottom line - no comparison.

[Arkana]

26. Obama freezing out Fox "News" is absolutely correct.

He should ignore them as long as they refuse to report the news and keep passing off opinion as fact.

And Bush DID do all those things.

EDIT: And I really don't think we'd give a shit if he stopped in NOLA for a few hours before a fundraiser. They did have a bigassed hurricane a few years back, and seeing as how the former President was too busy eating cake and strumming a guitar while it drowned, I don't think we'd take too much of an issue.

[Dr Robert]

28. POLITICON!!!

[butterfly77]

29. Who is this Mike Allen at Politico..

the little fake asshole,did he climb out of Bush's ass yet? Is that you Mike?