President Obama’s ceremonial first pitch at Major League Baseball’s All Star game in St. Louis fell considerably short of its intended target, never even reaching home plate.  Acting catcher, St. Louis first

baseman Albert Pujols, had to perform a short hop catch to avert a disastrous passed ball.  The most appalling aspect of the ordeal was not the fact the president can’t throw, but the deception by the Whitehouse handlers and the subsequent cover-up by the media with their efforts to paint the debacle as a success.  The irony in this episode is how it parallels President Obama’s initiatives, like his so-called stimulus, that have all fallen significantly short thus far and the national media’s persistent efforts to spin them as a success, creating a disturbing trend.

Normally such an occurrence as a botched first pitch would simply be the occasion for a brief national chuckle.  However, the problem with this episode lies in how scripted the event seemed to be (absent the overwhelming Boos the president received as he walked onto the field), clearly evident in the movement of the Fox Network’s camera away from the baseball’s path at the last minute when it was evident the pitch was falling short, and the deception that continued the next day when media outlets strove to cover-up for the president and lie about his prowess, making claims that he “threw a perfect strike” and “threw the ball over the plate”.

In the short time of his presidency we have seen the warning signs repeatedly in the form of scripted media events with planted questions, town hall meetings where all the questions were assigned by Whitehouse staff beforehand, Whitehouse arm twisting, threats and ridiculing of those who don’t buy into their agenda, the excuses offered for Mr. Obama’s repeated inaction in the face of international crisis, and the continuous cover up by the media on the President’s behalf in all these areas. 

If we can’t trust the Whitehouse and the national media to be honest about something as insignificant as a ceremonial first pitch, how can we trust them to be honest to us about the more important issues such as the costs of healthcare and so-called climate change legislation?