The audacious Barack Obama has gone on world tour!  Like the rock star that he is, Obama is off to visit world leaders, our troops in Iraq, and to speak with the people of many nations about his desire to become President of The United States.

Never mind the fact that no presidential candidate has ever done such a thing. Certainly, Presidents go on tour, but no presidential candidate has ever attempted to pull off such a feat.

Obviously, his campaign hopes to make Obama look “presidential.” And being the smooth operator that he is, Obama is likely to pull it off.

Another first is the fact that no less than four network anchors are joining Obama on his world tour. The last time four network anchors traveled with a president on his world tour, much less a presidential candidate was… Never!   Not at least in our recollection.

But there is yet another first coming from this presidential candidate, which Andrea Mitchell of NBC News spelled out recently to Chris Matthews on “Hardball.” In a harsh criticism leveled at Obama, she points out that all the lovely footage of Obama meeting troops in Iraq and Afghanistan is staged. Not one bit of it comes from normal media sources.

Instead, it’s footage captured by the Obama campaign and/or the military, then released to look like normal media snippets. Ms. Mitchell calls this what it is; “fake interviews.” If you listen, it comes across quite plainly that Ms. Mitchell is frustrated with the way she and other members of the media are being treated.

So how does Chris Matthews respond to the rebuke at the Obama camp? He ignores everything Ms Mitchell tells him and instead asks Ms. Mitchell about all the “happy,” and “excited” faces he sees on the videos. “Are they there because they really love this guy or what,” asks Matthews in so many words.

Ms. Mitchell replies quite honestly that she doesn’t know. You see, she reminds him, reporters weren’t allowed to be there, so she has no idea how the event was set up. Again she criticizes the Obama Campaign for not letting them do their job, and states that she’s never seen any candidate do this before. Though it’s not included in the YouTube segment, Matthews responds to Ms. Mitchell again by ignoring her and asking yet another softball question about the military perhaps “liking Obama too much.”

The question remains, why would Obama invite a legion of reporters to come with him but not give them access to his events in Iraq and Afghanistan?  Perhaps because it looks great in the press to see a host of members of the press all piling onto his campaign plane to go on tour?

Clearly, it  boosts Senator Obama’s prestige to be seen with this media army which follows him.  At the same time, we’re not sure we’ve ever seen members of the mainstream media so blithely used and manipulated.  Yet another first for the Obama campaign.

Of course, when someone insults, embarrasses, or criticizes Senator Obama, his campaign tends to respond negatively. Ryan Lizza from the “New Yorker,” who penned the article which accompanied the satirical New Yorker cover, discovered this after she was denied access to the “Obama World Tour.” The cover was meant to mock conservative stereotypes, but it wound up making conservatives laugh and the Obama campaign livid.

Now that Ms. Mitchell has said something negative, will she be the next one denied access? “I’m sorry Ms. Mitchell, but your seat on the plane is being taken out for maintenance, you’ll have to go home. And don’t let the hatch hit you on your bottom as you exit the plane.”

The pertinent question is this; are you “in the tank” or “under the bus” when it comes to Senator Obama?  Chris Matthews?  Clearly in the tank for Obama. Andrea Mitchell?  Perhaps no longer so enthusiastic.  In which case, she’ll soon be under the bus with Pastor Wright, Obama’s grandmother, and several former aides.

With Senator Obama, there seems to be very little gray when it comes to these kinds of things. Either get in the tank or he’ll throw you under the bus. What his grandmother ever did to deserve the “under the bus” treatment is a mystery, but we’re sure there was good reason.