Frankly, I'm surprised Obama's popularity hasn't cratered.
When Pres. Bush was in office, the media did everything in their power to carry his water and certainly pushed the idea that, in a time of war, any criticism, regardless of how legitimate, potentially made the Commander in Chief look weak. They deftly spread the White House's lies, offering up talking points to the American people as if they were written entirely by Karl Rove (I'm sure some were). They helped lie about Iraq, telling us of the dangers, imploring us to support the cause, spreading fear about the weapons of mass destruction - and they also pushed the idea that Iraq would be easily conquered. When it was in those early days, even those who were critical of the war (*cough* Chris Matthews *cough*) fell all over themselves to praise Bush and the war.
His approval soared. He was a hero.
Then the reality sunk in. No matter how hard the media tried, the images of Iraq became too real and Bush's ratings tanked. In 2006, his presidency was done and his standing in the history books pretty much set in stone.
Now, as the U.S. fights to fix Bush's mistakes (both economically and within foreign policy), we do so with a media that has, apparently, decided to press every aspect of this president's policy - whether good or bad. You've got guys like Chuck Todd, who many consider (dumb fucks, mind you) a respectable journalist who flat-out said it was not the media's job to correct the Republican lies. He said it. Look it up.
In just the past decade or so, the media went from openly pushing the White House (err, Republican White House) lies to blatantly stating now that it isn't their job to correct those lies.
It's the Democrats' job. If they can't do it, despite a media that is reluctant to call a spade a spade nowadays, that's their own damn fault.
With ISIS, the media has spent the last half-year telling us it's Obama's fault. It's his creation. Sure, they don't explicitly say that (unless you're watching FOX News), but it doesn't take a genius to read between the lines.
Then they tell us Obama is disorganized in his foreign policy and bring on, you guessed it, Republicans and even some weak-kneed Democrats, to reinforce the idea.
It's a constant theme - from ABC to NBC to CBS: Obama isn't doing a good enough job.
"Some Democrats, and Republicans, fear Obama is too..."
Then, when the American people are told over and over again of these struggles, they start believing it - and eventually, the narrative matches the poll results.
"Americans have lost faith in Obama..."
I wonder why?
The thing is, even today, Obama's numbers aren't awful. In most polls, he's sitting at somewhere in the low 40s. Certainly not good, but compared to Bush, who had dipped into the 30s by this point in his presidency, even with a media fighting to prop him up at all costs, it's down right spectacular.
It makes you wonder where Obama's numbers would be if we had a legitimate media in this country actually reporting the news and not trying to shape it.
Alas...
= new reply since forum marked as read
as I found out last year when the last straw broke. No more. I will not trust the "news" anymore to give me the real stories. I read other sources and get my information from those sources and then check it out. It is hard though for people who do not have time or the inclination to do that. They get home from work, turn on the news and listen to those lies and half truths.
When I tell friends I know I don't watch the news anymore they asked me how can not want to know what's going on. I explain how I actually can and do, and they shake their heads in doubt. What can you do? 
