Media doesn't hold back on President Obama

[Commentary] In recent months, and especially since the start of the Syria mess, President Barack Obama has been enduring some of the toughest and most widespread press criticism of his four-and-a-half years as President.

It isn’t just coming from the usual suspects on the right. Increasingly, the skepticism is coming from the center and even from the left — from White House reporters, progressive editorial boards, foreign policy experts and MSNBC hosts. And President Obama has mostly himself to blame for the recent wave of media negativity (although the Republicans have been glad to lend a hand). To hear the press tell it, his handling of the Syria crisis has been confusing and contradictory at best, making him appear weak on the international stage. His Administration’s persecution of whistleblowers and surveillance of the press are at odds with the promises he made as a candidate. His inability to push a progressive agenda through congress makes him appear ineffective.