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Obama Reads Joe

By Michael Crowley | @CrowleyTIME | October 26, 2010 | +

My colleague will be too modest to brag, but a new GQ profile of Robert Gibbs singles out someone on Barack Obama’s reading list with whom Swampland readers may be famililar:

Obama does reserve a certain respect for opinion writers such as Tom Friedman and David Brooks of The New York Times, Jerry Seib of The Wall Street Journal, E. J. Dionne of The Washington Post, and Joe Klein of Time. “My impression is that he reads a lot of columnists,” says Brooks, “and therefore he sort of cares about what they say.”

Here’s Joe’s latest column on Delaware’s temporary Democratic Senator, Ted Kaufman, which happens to conclude with a direct appeal: “So, Mr. President, if you’re reading this, you need to pass the Ted Kaufman Employment Act. Hire this man.” Maybe he will!

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  • grape_crush

    Obama does reserve a certain respect for opinion writers such as Tom Friedman and David Brooks of The New York Times, Jerry Seib of The Wall Street Journal, E. J. Dionne of The Washington Post, and Joe Klein of Time.

    Well, that explains a lot.

  • Paul-no not that one

    “Tom Friedman and David Brooks of The New York Times, Jerry Seib of The Wall Street Journal, E. J. Dionne of The Washington Post, and Joe Klein”
    .

    Quite the political spectrum, that list.

  • pintortwo

    Of course he does. Joe’s a devout centrist and helps the admin push its New Way Democrat rouse– that the government can serve the interests of big business and the people at the same time. This despite evidence that it produces unsatisfying, less-than-optimal laws (see HCR, bank reform) and plainly-evident-yet-ignored conflicts in policy (ie. we’re for peace as we amplify war; we value diplomacy while we block discussion; we’re for transparency while “looking forward never back” and denouncing leakers while ignoring what they reveal…).
    .
    Obama loves him some Joe. Joe helps keep our election choices between corporatists and corporatists who throw the people an occasional bone, just as the elite like it.

  • nflfoghorn

    That didn’t sound too complimentary IIRC [as in reading] :)

  • nflfoghorn

    “Now you better watch your mouth or I’ll drop you for Hillary!”
    .
    OH. Never mind.

  • mccainfluffer

    Seeing the reading list helps explain why Obama has been out of touch with the reality of what’s going on outside of the village bubble.

  • Paul-no not that one

    “What about me?”-David Broder

  • allthingsinaname

    Hopefully not the blogs.

  • http://gum0nshoe.wordpress.com gumOnShoe

    It would explain his hesitation to go with either the left or the right entirely on any idea.

  • koabd

    I guess none of you see the irony in ridculing the President for his reading list while also reading and commenting on the works of some of those same columnists…

  • acameronw

    I know the Presiden thas a lot of demands on his time, but it’s kind of embarrassing to find out he reads less than Sarah Palin. Mr. Obama mentioned just a handful of columnists but when asked by Katie Couric what newspapers she reads, Ms. Palin, as you may remember, answered “All of them!”

    C’mon Mr. President. Try and keep up, willya?

  • http://phd9.blogspot.com Paul Dirks

    Yes, he reads Joe Klein. But does he read the comment section?! Enquiring minds want to know!

  • apr2563

    Lord help us! No Krugman, Kristof, Corn, Conason, Taibbi, Rich, Herbert, Robinson. I hope Gibbs is wrong.

  • freeinpa

    “No Krugman, Kristof, Corn, Conason, Taibbi, Rich, Herbert, Robinson”
    .
    I may have judged Obama too harshly. Even their own mothers read the crap these guys spew

  • http://jcapan.wordpress.com jcapan

    Ridiculing both the president and 3 of the worst columnists in America (The Unit, Brooks, and Joe)–how is that ironic. Looks pretty consistent to me.
    .
    Irony would be admin. apologists who read & ridicule that trio but contort themselves into maintaining support for O.
    .
    And that GQ profile is nothing new. NY Mag had piece on Obama’s regard for Brooks back in July.

  • apr2563

    freeper: I know you are busy watching Beck but what exactly do you read for political and issue information?

  • maverick2k9

    I hope nobody in the WH reads Michael Crowley.
    .
    Because cleaning the vomit off the WH carpets would cost a lot of taxpayers money.

  • http://cafephilos.wordpress.com/ Paul Sunstone

    Obama respects the opinions of Brooks and Friedman? I find that difficult to believe. What kind of person respects the opinions of those two? Surely not a president!

  • http://cafephilos.wordpress.com/ Paul Sunstone

    Well, on second thought, maybe Bush respected Brooks and Friedman’s opinions.

  • freeinpa

    Surprise surprise another wrong assumption by a liberal who believes that any conservative must by blood oath watch/listen to Beck, Limbaugh et al.. It’s not America that is stupid its extreme liberals like you who make asinine assumptions.

  • maverick2k9

    oh.. I forgot ..Increased WH spending will rile up the teatards even more.
    -
    So maybe it is a good idea, after all, for WH folks to read Michael Crowley.
    - :)

  • shibha

    Come on, the guy’s gotta read something. Wasn’t he the one who said something like listen to opposite views on huffpo and wall street journal, something like that ?

    And I read free#1 and #2 here often here, haven’t changed my opinion on a thing because of them — no offense Joe. I like your writing style, hope you are glad to be mentioned and have moved to on to your next task.

  • stuartzechman
  • http://jcapan.wordpress.com jcapan

    While it’s awesome to hear from you (especially on this side of the Prime Meridian), I highly recommend throwing your connectivity into the sound.

  • maverick2k9

    sz, maybe because you havent met Gollum yet? :)

  • apr2563

    Beautiful Stuart. I never had a desire to visit Australia but New Zealand is another story. Enjoy your travels.

  • stuartzechman

    I will not throw transport down the well (so my country can be free)…I mean, throw connectivity into the sound, I need it confirm that Lake Michigan is one-third the surface area of the South Island of New Zealand.
    .
    Also, I require the internet to drop in here, so that I can tell you folks all about Rohan.
    .
    How else can I inform you that @lovely_bride and I drove across Crown Ridge Road from Queenstown to Wanaka today, before we chartered a boat (another couple from Australia joined us) across a glacial lake in the middle of the Southern Alps, and hiked a small island in the middle of it, itself having a tiny rain-created lake on the top of its tallest hill?
    .
    http://www.google.co.nz/imgres?imgurl=http://lh6.ggpht.com/_Rr6I5HD8VRE/SI8QM0jzr-I/AAAAAAAAEuA/NwhdOwXR6dw/IMG_0377.JPG&imgrefurl=http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Sg8q7XQEUyN0uV83yPNw1A&usg=__6LGisgz_o1r9p81TNFoqHGJ9vdM=&h=1200&w=1600&sz=519&hl=en&start=0&zoom=0&tbnid=tPTlPaJrp8BVcM:&tbnh=113&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcrown%2Bridge%2Broad%2Bnew%2Bzealand%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1440%26bih%3D710%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=376&vpy=125&dur=273&hovh=113&hovw=150&tx=83&ty=46&ei=R8vHTMe7GIvYuAOA_MyzDw&oei=R8vHTMe7GIvYuAOA_MyzDw&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=28&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0

  • apr2563

    Who and what do you read for information freeper?

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