The New York Times misses the mark

Wow. It's a huge leap of faith/imagination/conjecture to jump from a story saying that the Obama Administration is bracing for a populist backlash to a story implying that the sole reason President Obama is taking action against AIG is to avert a backlash.

In other words, the Times' lede paints Obama as a callous jerk who doesn't care about the people of this country, doesn't care about right vs. wrong, doesn't even care about what AIG is doing. Yup, Obama only cares about politics, or at least that's the impression one gets from reading this story.

Personally, I'd be amazed if Obama isn't as furious at AIG as I am.

“Under these circumstances, it’s hard to understand how derivative traders at A.I.G. warranted any bonuses at all, much less $165 million in extra pay,” Mr. Obama said. “How do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat?”