Fun in New Delhi as Obama's traveling circus sends in the clown
NEW DELHI -- Tensions between the White House press corps and Indian security boiled over on the third day of President Obama's visit, prompting press secretary Robert Gibbs to threaten to pull President Obama out of his bilateral meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.Okay, where to start? First off, where in the Constitution does the freakin' White House Press Secretary get authority to tell the President what to do?
Eight members of the press corps were about to be taken into a room at the Hyderabad House where Obama was meeting with Singh, when Indian officials tried to cut the agreed-upon number to five.
And why wasn't this all clarified in advance by the State Department advance team? That's why they call it the advance team--'cause it works out all the geeky protocol issues in advance.
Administration officials, including Katie Lillie of White House advance, lobbied their Indian counterparts to accept the eight, according to print pool reporter Scott Wilson of The Washington Post. When Indian officials refused to back down, Gibbs intervened, announcing on the steps of the Hyderabad House, the main venue at the Indian equivalent of Camp David, that he would pull Obama out of his bilateral meeting with Singh unless "the White House 8" were allowed inside.
Why isn't Obama doing the talking here? This is the WH press corps, some of his staunchest supporters--why isn't he sticking up for them himself?
At one point, according to Wilson's pool report, Gibbs had his foot lodged in the door to the meeting as Indian security officials pushed hard to shut it. In an angry shouting match, Gibbs asked the officials if they were going to break his foot as he repeated his threat to pull Obama....
And finally, don't you think that your #1 P.R. guy should be smart enough to realize how bad it looks when Administration officials interrupt a state visit to throw a temper tantrum right in front of the press, including the host country's press?
"Do you know who I am?!"