People overwhelmingly approve of Obama’s leadership.

From Politico.com

The latest CNN/Opinion Research poll finds President Obama with sky high approval ratings and very similar to the Gallup poll released earlier today.
Obama gets an amazing 76% approval rating with 80% saying he’s is doing a good job providing leadership for the country. Even 61% say he’s doing a good job choosing his cabinet, though he’s obviously had some problems with his appointments lately.
Republican leaders need to pay attention to their own numbers: 60% approve the job congressional Democrats are performing, versus 44% who say the same of congressional Republicans. In addition, 74% say Obama is doing enough to cooperate with Republicans, while just 39% say the Republicans are doing enough to cooperate with him.

Eighty percent approval despite all the media malignment. Amazing.

Charles McMillion convincingly refutes the claim, recently publicized by the Washington Post, that the New Deal under Roosevelt failed to turn the economy around. He does this by the simple means of showing us the data on economic and industrial production through the 1930s. [Thanks Rita Crane for the reference.]

It is plain for all to see. The chart of the right shows economic output started rising sharply soon after FDR took office. It turned down briefly in mid-decade, but this was when the government slashed it spending programs, in the mistaken belief that the economy was then self sustaining. When this policy was reversed, production resumed its rise and continued rising up to the start of World War II.

The author of the Washington Post piece by Amity Shlaes, which was featured on page one was without data, but long on emotion and unsubstantiated assertion.

There is no need to question further whether or not the New Deal worked. The real question that needs addressing is why the Washington Post, and other mainstream media, are so vigorously and irresponsibly trying to discredit Obama’s National Recovery Act? Do they honestly believe that this is poor policy? If so, they are going against the nearly unanimous opinion of the economic establishment, an establishment that has long provided support for the government policies that favor the elites, including the Post and other major media. Or, now having the person they endorsed in office, are they upset because he is doing the things he promised to do? It is a puzzlement and would be funny if we weren’t is such dire straights, where we need the country, including the media, to come together in the interests of the people.

I am dismayed that, rather than rallying around our new president, the media talking heads, even on MSNBC, are creating drama and discord with their shrill, unsubstantiated attacks. The Republicans are doing the same. One might have hoped, as Obama did, that they could have risen in this time of crisis  above their dogmatic ideology and partisan outlook. Such was not within their ability. This is regrettable, but not surprising. They will eventually pay the price in terms of further erosion of popular support.

I thought that the election and its immediate aftermath showed that the nation had developed a higher sensibility and was ready to conduct public affairs at a higher level of maturity. Sadly I was wrong. How can we who reject this politics of petty discord help to get the country beyond it?

Until I begin posting photos and observations from the Inauguration, I thought you might enjoy the following eye opening video. (Thanks to Barry Ritholtz for the reference)

Alisa Miller, head of Public Radio International, talks about why — though we want to know more about the world than ever — the US media is actually showing less. Eye-opening stats and graphs. [Email subscribers, click here to see video.]

May 2008 As the CEO of Public Radio International, Alisa Miller works to bring the most significant news stories to millions — empowering Americans with the knowledge to make choices in an… Full bio and more links