WELL, THIS IS REFRESHING – AT LEAST A LITTLE BIT – AT 9:53 A.M. ET:  We report here often on the support that the MSM has given President Obama.  But The Politico begs to differ, claiming that a hostility has grown toward the president among members of the White House press corps.  Very interesting:

One of the enduring storylines of Barack Obama’s presidency, dating back to the earliest days of his candidacy, is that the press loves him.

“Most of you covered me. All of you voted for me,” Obama joked last year at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.

But even then, only four months into his presidency, the joke fell flat. Now, a year later, with another correspondents’ dinner Saturday night likely to generate the familiar criticism of the press’s cozy relationship with power, the reality is even more at odds with the public perception.

President Obama and the media actually have a surprisingly hostile relationship – as contentious on a day-to-day basis as any between press and president in the last decade, reporters who cover the White House say.

Reporters say the White House is thin-skinned, controlling, eager to go over their heads and stingy with even basic information. All White Houses try to control the message. But this White House has pledged to be more open than its predecessors – and reporters feel it doesn’t live up to that pledge in several key areas.

COMMENT:  It's a long story, but well reported and worth reading.  The problem of bias, though, may not lie with the reporters as much as with their editors.  In the case of The New York Times, portrayed in the story as very close to the administration, it lies with the publisher, Pinch Sulzberger.

So, bottom line, how much will the hostility between the press corps and the White House mean when the chips are down and an election must be won?  I would suggest that there will be a kiss-and-make-up period, and that the media, eager to do its part for the political left, will buy in.  There won't be the same enthusiasm the next time as there was for Obama the last time, but it may not matter at all if we see a similar shaping of news stories and editorials.  For the real bottom line is that the press would rather have a cold, hostile liberal in power than a warm, courteous Republican. 

But the hostility that has grown up is surprising, and a testament to the incompetence and arrogance of this White House.

April 28