Any Opportunity to Bash Obama

The front page of Town Talk was kinda meta today– an extra-large photograph, taken by the Associated Press, of Governor Bobby Jindal holding up the front page of another newspaper, The Times-Picayune:

This picture was placed in the context of an article titled “Saints raise their city’s spirits, maybe for good.” I’m not sure what Governor Jindal has to do with a story about the Saints raising the spirit of New Orleans. Maybe it’s just me.

And I normally wouldn’t call attention to this, but The Town Talk extended their Jindal/ Saints praise into their editorial page. From today’s Our View:

Every now and then, your government gets it right — all the way right — and all you can do is say thank you.

Forget for the moment that the president of the United States believes the Indianapolis Colts are better than the New Orleans Saints because, as President Obama said Sunday, the Colts have “perhaps the best quarterback in history.”

Forget all of the that today, and just say thank you.

Thank you, Gov. Bobby Jindal, for getting it all the way right by proclaiming this to be “Saints Week” to honor the Saints — the best pro football team on the planet — for dismantling the Baltimore-now-Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV.

A few things:

If they honestly believe that a benign, feel-good proclamation about the Saints winning the Super Bowl is truly an example of the government getting “it right — all the way right,” then you really have to wonder about the editorial board’s understanding of the role and function of government. Proclamations, like these, are standard operating procedure; I’m sure the Governor of Indiana would have done something very similar had the Colts won. Actually, I’m pretty certain Jindal would have issued a proclamation praising the Saints regardless of the outcome of Sunday’s game. It was an incredible season, and it meant a lot to the people of Louisiana.

It’s good to know the Governor recognized this.

Though I am still not sure why The Town Talk felt it necessary to praise Jindal for praising the Saints, I find it even more baffling that they used the opportunity to offer an underhanded criticism of President Obama.

Obama never said that the Colts were “better than the New Orleans Saints.” That is a lie. In fact, President Obama made it known, as early as January 26th, that he was actually rooting for the Saints.

“You know, I think both teams are terrific,” the nation’s 44th president said of Super Bowl 44 during an ABC News interview Monday night. “I guess I am rooting a little bit for the Saints as the underdog, partly just because when I think about what’s happened in New Orleans over the last several years and how much that team means to them. You know, I’m pretty sympathetic.”

Most presidents don’t express preferences on major sporting events like the Super Bowl and World Series, unless their local team is playing.

He said the same thing during his pre-Super Bowl interview with Katie Couric on CBS.

President Barack Obama, while rooting for the New Orleans Saints in the Super Bowl today, allows that the Indianapolis Colts “have to be favored.”

“I think the Colts probably have to be favored, mainly because they have the best quarterback in history. Peyton Manning is unbelievable,” the president said in a pre-game interview just now with CBS News. “I do have a soft spot in my heart for New Orleans, mainly because of what that town has gone through….

“The Colts have to be favored,” he said, confessing that he could be bearing a grudge in today’s match: “One other factor that I have to confess here – when my Bears went to the Super Bowl several years ago, it was the Colts that beat them.”

Here’s the transcript:

KATIE COURIC: All right. And finally, a Super Bowl question. I know you have said that you are rooting for the Saints a bit. You’re impressed by what Drew Brees has done for New Orleans. But I’m gonna let you show off your sports knowledge for a moment. Who do you think will win and why?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: You know, I think the Colts probably have to be favored. Mainly because they’ve got perhaps the best quarterback in history. I mean, Peyton Manning is unbelievable. And you know, they’ve got a team that has complete confidence in him. Everybody knows the system. There’s enormous continuity with that team. So they are tough. I do have a soft spot in my heart for New Orleans. Mainly because of what the city’s gone through. Over these last several years. And I just know how much that team means to them. And I got to know Drew Brees when we shot a commercial for having kids get more active and get off the couch. And he’s just a class act. Terrific guy. Wonderful family. But I would say that the Colts have to be favored. Now, one other factor that I have to confess here is that when my Bears went to the Super Bowl several years ago, it was the Indianapolis Colts that beat ’em. So I probably–

Guess what? The Colts WERE favored in Sunday’s game. They were favored in Las Vegas. They were favored by the pundits. That’s just a statement of fact.

And by the way, Peyton Manning is from New Orleans, Louisiana. So the President thinks a New Orleanian could be considered the greatest quarterback in NFL history. And we’re supposed to feel slighted?

Where are these writers from?

I guess I don’t understand the need to politicize the Saints victory. The real story is about the people of New Orleans, not the President or the Governor.