White House Press Release Praises Obama's Speech

It's unbelievable that the White House would just release this under the guise of a dispassionate news analysis, claiming their boss did such a wonderful job.

In soaring rhetoric, Barack Obama ran through his logic for closing the Guantanamo Bay prison, deliberately planting himself on the middle ground between his conservative critics — led by Dick Cheney — and those to the left who accuse the new president of failing to restore American justice for all.

Obama slid easily back into his role as constitutional scholar, gliding through a long, carefully reasoned brief in the rotunda of the storied National Archives on Thursday. One of his aims appeared to be diminishing Cheney's message across town in a cramped-by-comparisonconference hall at the conservative American Enterprise Institute.

In the company of original copies of the Constitution, Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights, Obama stood firm behind his decision — announced on the second day of his presidency — to close Guantanamo prison, a lockup reviled in the Muslim world and a drag on U.S. relations with many of its oldest allies.

...

There is a noisy backlash — mainly fueled by Republicans' relentless criticism of Obama's plans — against putting what are seen as dangerous terrorists in U.S. prisons.

But that did not seem to be Obama's top concern. He seemed more intent on placing himself between the Cheneyites and his critics on the left who are bitterly complaining the president is not strongly defending American legal protections.

Ahhh... right in the middle, huh?

Well, as over-the-top as that is, what do you expect? They're on Obama's payroll, after all.

Wait -- did I say that was a White House press release? My bad.

That's the AP's official "analysis."

Both tip and cutting remark thanks to flenser.

posted by Ace at 06:48 PM

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