If there's one thing elite media seem to know for sure, it's that Barack Obama doesn't like war. One phrase in particular seems to stand out:
It was a remarkable moment for a reluctant warrior.
-Jonathan Karl (ABC Nightline, 9/10/14)
He's a very reluctant warrior, didn't want to do this. But you have to say, it is good he recognized reality.
-David Gergen (CNN, 9/10/14)
Is he going to become a warrior, and not a reluctant warrior, when he is taking such a strong stance that he will do anything to defeat ISIS, except for if it involves American troops?
-Erin Burnett (CNN, 9/10/14)
He's a reluctant warrior.
-David Brooks (PBS NewsHour, 9/10/14)
You have a reluctant warrior in President Obama, and the press saying, "Do something."
-Lauren Ashburn (Fox News, 9/12/14)
He is, as you know, the standard phrase, the reluctant warrior. And I think he's played that long before this decision.
-David Bergen (CNN, 9/14/14)
But now with weekly beheadings by ISIS, the reluctant warrior must wage war, but not total war-tepid war.
-Bill O'Reilly (Fox News, 9/15/14)
Late Monday night came the announcement that US had begun conducting airstrikes on Syria. Glenn Greenwald of The Intercept posted a story (9/23/14) with this headline:
It does make one wonder: What would an enthusiastic warrior look like to the corporate media? Would bombing eight countries in six years be enough?