(CNN) - Newsweek magazine got some unsolicited PR Wednesday from President Obama, but it wasn't exactly a ringing endorsement of periodical's latest issue.
At a North Carolina town-hall health care event, Obama asked if anyone had seen the latest cover of Newsweek that boldly declares, "The Recession is Over!"
"I don't know whether you've seen the cover of the latest Newsweek magazine on the rack at the grocery store, but the cover says: 'The Recession is Over,'" the president said as part of his prepared remarks at the event.
"I imagine you might have found that news a little startling," Obama continued. "I know I did."
Obama went on to say while certain indicators are improving, like the stock market and home sales, "That's little comfort if you are one of the folks who have lost their job."
The article in question - with the sub-headline of 'Good Luck Surviving the Recovery' - actually says much the same as Obama did Wednesday - that leading indicators appear to suggest the recession is nearing an end, but the recovery is likely to be a slow process.
"When economists proclaim a recession over, they're celebrating a technicality: they mean economic output has stopped contracting," Newsweek's Daniel Gross writes. "And while that is good news, you might wait a while before adding Judy Garland's rendition of 'Happy Days Are Here Again' to your iPod."
UPDATE: Gross has issued a response to the president in a posting on Newsweek.com entitled, "Obama rips Newsweek's cover. We rip back."
"The article notes—as Obama's speech does—that the discussion surrounding the end of the recession is largely a technical discussion ("GDP growth alone can't feed a family, or a pay a mortgage") and that we face tough economic times and a recovery that will feel a lot like a recession," says Gross.
"It's common to hear journalists complain of being overworked. And in this case, it's true. In addition to writing the first draft of history, we seem to be writing the first draft of the president's speeches," he also says.
From CNN Politics
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Another example of how the media tilts EXTREMELY left (NewsWeek), my god, even Obama thought the cover was ridiculous.
Does this guy ever do any real work. Have fun drinking beers tomorrow. lay of the drama for a while and yell at congress for this garbage health care reform.
The fundamentals of our economy are strong says McCain!!
The GOP needs to understand that majority of Americans do not see the welfare of the Insurance industry as having priority over the welfare of the citizens. When people are dying due to lack of health insurance, who cares about the Insurance industry going bankrupt?
wait for the bounce folks, hold your wallets and purses shut. We have not even begun to see the bad from this yet. This is still the outer banks of a very big storm. Remember Jimmy Carter....
WHAT OCTOBAMA MEANS TO SAY: This RECESSION ain't over 'till I SAY IT'S OVER. And it ain't over until I've trotted it out and MILKED IT for every nickel I can squeeze out to pacify my liberal base and set this nation in the correct path to NEO-SOCIALISM.
Maybe we should vote for him like he voted for us. He prides himself on never having voted Republican = well we pride ourselves on never having voted for him.
Interesting that Obama should "mock" a magazine that has been and continues to be one of his leading left-wing media supporters.
Well, everyone knows Newsweek used to be a serious newsmagazine, but it recently changed its format, layout and editorial approach. It is now a frivolous entertainment magazine like Vanity Fair and Cosmopolitan. Fortunately, my subscription expired last week and I don't plan to renew it.
You dont really expect the President of the United States of America to actually READ the entire article !!!
All thru his political life he has lived on headlines .. you cant really expect HIM to change now ...
So CNN, what's your point?? Why the sensational headline "Obama mocks Newsweek cover?" Either your webcontent editor needs serious tuition in basic English or someone at the newsdesk requires some head examination. Is today a slow news day???
sub-caption should read: ...whelmingly pervasive and made all the worse by an over-meddling and less than presidential pop star wanna be.
Yes, I'll stop celebrating for the rest of the day at least!
Obama is soooo funny! Yes, the recession is ending but ........ where are those 2 or 3 million jobs he promised with all of his earlier smooth talk? This man could sell healthcare to a dead man for sure just as easily as he sold it to those millions who want it for nothing. I too would love to have it for nothing, but alas, I'm one of those lifetime working fools who has watched this government rip me off for years in order to make some sort of social justice for those who don't want to work.
The recession is not nearly over and will take more time, but I would like to thank our hard working Administration for leading us in that direction. Deregulation and oversight of the important entities of our economy is a must to avoid another disaster. VOTE DEMOCRAT TO ENSURE STABILITY IN ALL OUR LIVES.
Ohhhhhhh, President Teleprompter, there you go again – dead wrong. What the headline means is that now that YOU are soon to be over, the recession is over. With you and the socialist horde in control, we can never be free from economic danger.
HALLELUJAH!!!!
See now Redumbicans?
Obama did it in 6 months..... "The Recession is Over".
THE REDUMBLICAN PARTY OF AMERICA...... GOP
This is The Obama Recession. Hold your ankles.
He must have saw it while he was standing in line at Krogers.
Obama – always the opportunist – to make points for himself.
This unpresidential arrogant fool has just got to go.
I'd hardly call that mocking, CNN...
The guy is running the country into the ground. Would you dems please wake the heck up. He is destroying everything that was america and spending us into the ground to boot.
That qualifies as mocking?
Mocking would be: I only saw Newsweak's cover because CNN showed it to me. Really, it's Newsweak that already over.
Preve ntion is better than cure. Why wait till the balloon goes Pop, on Obama's mis-interpretation of your Total Population..