subtle oddities

I was listening to NPR on the way to work this morning and I heard two things that struck me as curious.

The first was a brief story about a possible terrorist attack that didn't happen. Here is a rough paraphrase of the story: "Homeland Security, suspecting a shoe bomber, apprehended a diplomat from Qatar smoking in an airplane restroom. No one was harmed."
This brief story is so loaded with subtext that I couldn't believe they left it at just a few seconds like this. While smoking isn't a terrorist act YET, smoking on an airplane these days is a pretty stupid thing to do. What I don't understand is where the 'shoe-bomber' came from. And why was it important to stress, after clearly stating that the guy was just smoking, that no one was harmed?
In it's incredible lack of detail and overwhelming sense of terrorist hysteria this story just reeks of Orwell. It has a "we're winning the war, but you still need to be afraid" feel to it. Listener beware, Big Brother is speaking.

The second item concerns a trend I have noticed on NPR. All through the Bush administrations, the reporters referred to Bush as 'the president' or 'President Bush.' Lately though NPR refers to Obama almost exclusively as 'Mr. Obama.' This is confusing to me. Are they showing more or less respect for the president by never referring to him as the president?

Did we constantly need to be reminded that Bush was the president? Or were they assisting Bush in maintaining the image that he was Commander In Chief and totally in charge in a 'time of crisis?'

And is Obama just that guy who happens to be president right now? Or are they trying to put forth the image that he is 'one of us.' You know, just Mr. Obama over there on Pennsylvania Avenue.

I don't understand the message they are trying to send. All my life I have heard about the evils of the liberal media, but in reality I prefer the liberal media to the conservative demagoguery that prevails on the nations airwaves right now. Reporters gnashing their teeth in pursuit of the truth is much more appealing than reporters gnashing their teeth and baying for the blood of the infidel.

Anyway, enough political rant for today. My next subject: Reality TV