Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Obama was not inserted "into" biographies

There was much outrage  yesterday on the Hannity boards, as well as the news article message board from which the news came that the Hannity boards ran with... about "Obama" inserting "himself" into biographies of other Presidents on the White House site.

But of course he didn't.

I doubt if Obama ordered the "insertions", or even did them himself. He's got staff for that.

Secondly, the insertions are not "in" the biographies themselves, but rather are added as bullet points *after* the biography. So he's not really "inserting' anything, but rather adding information, and thereby attempting to show that he's just following int he footsteps of what other presidents have done.

Not a big deal. It's like the "External Links" on Wikipedia. Doesn't affect the bios in any way.

From USA Today: White House links Obama to presidential history

The White House has found a new way to cite President Obama's actions on issues ranging from Medicare and Social Security to energy, trade, taxes, veterans and civil rights -- by linking from the biographies of former presidents on the White House web site.

Click on almost any president since Calvin Coolidge, scroll to the bottom of his official bio, and you'll find one or two references to something Obama has done to carry on that president's achievements.

The additions -- first noted in a tweet from the conservative Heritage Foundation, then picked up by the neoconservative magazine Commentary and given broader attention by ABC's Jake Tapper -- already have spurred a reaction from the Republican National Committee.

On its Tumblr account, the RNC has pictured Obama in "world-changing events you didn't know Obama played a part in." Here you can see Obama landing in the New World with Christopher Columbus, attending Napolean's coronation, guest-lecturing with Albert Einstein and hanging out with Elvis and the Beatles.
White House officials point out that the official biographies are not altered in any way. The links after them take readers to other places on the White House web site via "Did you know?" tabs.
Some of the historical references are innocuous. For instance, after Coolidge's bio, the White House added this:
On Feb. 22, 1924, Calvin Coolidge became the first president to make a public radio address to the American people. President Coolidge later helped create the Federal Radio Commission, which has now evolved to become the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). President Obama became the first president to hold virtual gatherings and town halls using Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, etc.
Jump all the way to George W. Bush, and you get another reference to social media:
In 2002, President George W. Bush's State of the Union was the first to be live broadcast on the Internet. In 2011 and 2012, President Obama's State of the Union speeches were available in an enhanced live stream version that featured infographics, charts and data side-by-side in real time with the President's speech.
But in between, the references to Obama -- complete with hyperlinks that take you elsewhere on the White House web site -- clearly highlight efforts the White House would like noted, such as fighting to protect Medicare and Social Security or expanding the rights of gays and veterans.
 

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