At this point we’re starting to notice that the Associated Press is being a little overly critical of ol’ Barack Obama. I’m not sure what’s motivating it, but it seems like most stories about him are clearly tipped to one side of the fence, and it’s not the side Obama himself is on.

I caught this article, which frankly just started off wrong: Democrat’s vision will collide with reality. I almost didn’t believe what I was looking at, but sure enough it’s a whole article about how Obama’s various promises won’t happen.

The promise: Pull all U.S. combat forces out of Iraq within 16 months, send more combat troops to Afghanistan and provide better care for wounded troops and veterans.

The problem: A troop pullout is feasible and conforms roughly to a withdrawal timetable advocated by the Iraqi government. But a 16-month timetable risks shifting responsibility to Iraq’s security forces before they are ready, and it gives the insurgents an explicit target date for waiting out the Americans.

That’s a paragraph that practically came right out of the GOP handbook, right down to the “a timetable tells the terrorists when we’re leaving” line. Keep in mind that point at the end doesn’t have anything to do with how long the timetable is, that would be true for a 6 month, 16 month, or a 60 month timetable, so if you’re going to bitch at Obama for it you better start telling the Iraqis to knock it off as well.

It doesn’t get better, either.

The promise: Obama says he would engage both allies and adversaries to repair the U.S. image abroad and regain leverage and leadership that he says Bush squandered. He says he will marshal international pressure against Iran, boost U.S. efforts against extremists along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and get a faster and firmer start on Middle East peacemaking.

The problem: The United States has already reversed many policies other nations saw as isolationist or bullying – for example, by joining international diplomatic efforts with “axis of evil” nations Iran and North Korea. Obama would continue those efforts and others without any greater guarantee of success.

Honestly, now. I’m not sure what “many policies” we’ve seen reversals on aside from North Korea and Iran, and certainly none of them have been employed for long enough to have any clue how they’re going. What we do know is that six years of stick but no carrot foreign policy didn’t stop Korea from testing missiles and building nukes, nor has it gotten Iran to suspend its enrichment.

Oh and by the way, North Korea recently decided to “un-suspend” its nuclear program because the Bushies didn’t hold up their end of the bargain and left NK on the state sponsors of terrorism list.

Sometimes the AP’s analysis just gets stupid.

The promise: Obama would increase the number of people with health insurance by having the government subsidize the cost of coverage for low- and middle-income families. To help pay for that expense, Obama would increase taxes for those families earning more than $250,000. He also would require employers not offering health coverage to pay a percentage of their payroll toward a national health plan. And he would mandate that children have health insurance, and expand who can participate in Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.

The problem: While the plan would help millions of people obtain health insurance, some health analysts say it falls short of universal coverage. The Tax Policy Center says the Obama plan would reduce the number of uninsured by 18 million in 2009, from the current figure of 45 million. That still would leave millions uninsured.

I mean, look at that. Obama promises to increase the number of people with insurance, the TPC says he’d give an extra 18 million people insurance, cutting the number of uninsured Americans by 40%. So by my account, that means his promise is entirely feasible and the TPC says he could do exactly what he says he would. Somehow, though, the AP sees this as a “collision with reality”.

Keep in mind there wasn’t any big announcement to spur this on. The Associated Press decided, in the spirit of the convention I guess, to just toss out a hit piece article basically making the claim that every single one of Obama’s platforms are impossible, just like the WaPo did with their article on the candidates’ tax plans.

Watch out, folks, the media’s getting a little more insistent with smacking Obama around. Must be an attempt to balance out the fact that McCain’s making a jackass of himself constantly and they have to report it.