Detroit News columnist Marney Rich Keenan gives us a perfect example of this in hers headlined, "Whatever happened to simple phone etiquette?" It's supposed to be a piece lamenting the loss of the formal way of answering a telephone and really has nothing to do with politics. Keenan waxes nostalgic for that formal way of talking to folks and seems to say this loss is a cultural coarsening that is something to mourn... except when Obama does it, of course. Yes, when The One does it, why it's cool and hip and makes her "go weak in the knees."
Keenan writes of how caller ID has pretty much taken the surprise out of who is calling and notes that she still says "Hello?" as if she is unaware of who is calling regardless of her foreknowledge due to caller ID. She goes on to mark her perturbation that few people reply in the old way, identifying themselves and giving a salutation, before going on to the reason they called. "I guess 'Hello' and 'It's so and so calling' are formalities headed for the endangered species list," Keenan laments.
This is a whole column about modern phone etiquette and not about politics, I again want to point out. It has nothing to do with presidents, Washington D.C., or any topic in the news. It's just one reporter's lighthearted rant.
Keenan also notes how she dislikes a salutation as informal as "hey."
I know I should be used to the protocol -- the instant greeting by name, or from my kids that simple, breezy, nonchalant "Hey..." -- a form of slang I'm not entirely fond of.
So, we are regaled on how Keenan is unhappy with all this informality taking over in the world. It's shocking, degrading, horribly down scale, you see. She hates it when people do that... except...
Except when the President of the United States addresses the press corps, as in "Hey, guys" or "Thanks, guys." Now, he can pull it off. So much so, that if I were the recipient of one of those "heys" in the press briefing room, I'd go weak in the knees.
Ah, and there's that Obama sycophancy leaking out from a member of the Old Media once again.
Keenan says throughout this piece how much she hates all this informality, but when Obama does it, she goes "weak in the knees." This tends to show that no matter what Obama does, the denizens of the Old Media will give him a pass for it. Some are saying the honeymoon is over between Obama and his lapdogs in the press, but it is awfully hard to believe this guff when silly things like this seem to appear throughout the media on a daily basis.
But, remember. The Old Media isn't sold out to Obama. Just ask them, and they'll tell ya.
