Obama a Big-Government Liberal? Who'd Suggest It?

An otherwise fairly good piece this morning from the Miami Herald's McClatchy about the Obama administration's assault on the Catholic Church's opposition to contraception and abortion contains one unfortunate paragraph that would be funny if it weren't so illuminating in how most of this country's media outlets see Obama, Republicans and, most importantly, voters at the beginning of an election year:

"Analysts suggest the controversy feeds into a narrative that Republicans have nurtured of Obama: that he's a big-government liberal with little respect for religious values."

Really. This is a "narrative Republicans have nurtured"? ("Nurtured," by the way, is either a great choice of words or an exceedingly poor one in this context, suggesting, as it does, a woman giving birth and feeding and raising a child.)

What "analyst" in his (or her, of course) right mind (no pun intended) would dare to "suggest" that our president is a "big-government liberal" with little respect for religious values?

Big government liberal;
A health-care law that puts the government in charge of health care for you and your family.

Wall Street and auto industry bailouts that made the government a major stockholder in two of the Big Three U.S. automakers. (Let's hear it for Ford!)

Berating the Supreme Court in front of Congress, on national television, during a State of the Union address for ruling that Big Government has no business controlling Americans' freedom of political speech.

Little respect for religious values:

Three words: Liberal. Jeremiah Wright.

If I were an analyst -- instead of some journalist hack -- I'd probably "suggest" the controversy with the Catholic Church feeds into a "narrative" any clear-eyed, honest person who follows politics knows in his (or her, of course) soul:

Obama is a big-government liberal with little respect for religious values.

Wish I were an analyst.