In the annals of mindless partisan sniping, this may place at the top.
This morning, Fox & Friends joined the New York Post in attacking President Obama for using a paper clip. Read that again: They attacked Obama for using a paper clip.
The Post's story today on Obama's jobs bill is headlined “O gives jobs 'clip' service; $447B 'tax hike' plan bound by chintzy fastener,” and its first two paragraphs attack Obama for his choice of document fasteners:
President Obama's plan to reverse the nation's staggering jobless rate is held together with a paper clip!
“Here it is,” Obama said, waving a copy of his jobs plan during a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden yesterday, an enormous paper clip binding the pages together.
Witness the madness:
The accompanying photo's caption reads, “President Obama, joined by VP Joe Biden, yesterday wields a copy of his jobs plan - with a giant paper clip.”
Fox & Friends co-host Steve Doocy repeated this attack at the top of the show today -- right down to using the word “chintzy” -- while the on-screen graphic read “Obama's 'Clip' Service”:
DOOCY: Meanwhile, come and get your copy. President Obama's jobs bill, hot off the presses -- at Kinko's? Hundreds of billions in tax hikes and new spending bound together with a chintzy clip. Look at that thing.
BRIAN KILMEADE (co-host): Right.
DOOCY: What's that about?
KILMEADE: We've never had the word “chintzy” in the cold open before.
GRETCHEN CARLSON (co-host): We're in a recession.
So, the question here is, what would these right-wing outlets prefer? That Obama use a more costly way to hold together a sheaf of papers, like a bound copy of the bill?
Wouldn't that constitute the always-hated government waste?
In all seriousness, this nicely illustrates the right-wing media's willingness to attack Obama over literally anything, including his use of a paper clip.
We've documented many examples of this in the past:
Obama Derangement Syndrome: Hurricane Irene Edition
Obama Derangement Syndrome: Earthquake Edition
CNN's Erickson Giddy About Downgrade Of U.S. Credit Rating
Wash. Times' Obama Derangement Syndrome Extends To Bin Laden Death
Fox's Obama Derangement Syndrome Extends All The Way To Children's Easter Egg Roll
This Is What Happens When You Suffer From Obama Derangement Syndrome
Michelle Obama derangement syndrome: Instapundit posts pic of First Lady as Marie Antoinette
Obama Derangement Syndrome rages on in Wash. Times with calls for impeachment
“Summer of rage”: Obama Derangement Syndrome grips conservative media once again
UPDATE: It seems that Fox News' afternoon chat show, The Five, was on the case early. Here's the crew on Monday discussing Obama's flagrant use of a paper clip (transcript from Nexis):
KIMBERLY GUILFOYLE (co-host): Well, that was President Obama earlier today. What happens next?
Dana, how is he going to make it through Congress? Because we all know that this is going to have tax hikes in this to raise to revenue.
DANA PERINO (co-host): So, what he was holding there was that's apparently the bill that he was telling them last Thursday that they had to pass right now. Interestingly on Friday night, aides, Democratic aides said the president is going to wait two weeks and go travel the country to swing state to try to sell this plan and lay the groundwork before turning it in.
If I were in the communication office of the White House right now, I would want to strangle legislative affairs because Congress isn't even in session later in October. So, that's why I think they scramble, put together the thing.
Do I think it will pass? It didn't pass the same bill when the Democrats were in the majority in the House and the Senate. So, I don't see how they're going to try to get this done.
GUILFOYLE: Yes. How are they get it through the House now?
GREG GUTFELD (co-host): You make a good point about them scrambling because if you notice, that was not in a binder. It was held together by a paperclip.
PERINO: A paper clip.
GUTFELD: Come on, this is your jobs bill. That deserves a large shiny binder. Instead, it's with a little clip.
(CROSSTALK)
GUILFOYLE: We need the one from Kinko's, right?
GUTFELD: Not a good sign.
ERIC BOLLING (co-host): I think it was a prop.
(LAUGHTER)
BOLLING: It wasn't like 800,000 pages long. It was like 150 pages.
GUILFOYLE: Somebody printed out the first part of it.