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| No yelling at Obama today |
| 2011-07-14 |
| A long-running tiff between the White House press corps and the West Wing over presidential access flared anew today when press secretary Jay Carney faced off with reporters over the right to shout questions at the president during debt talks. Obama chafes at the time-honored practice of answering questions shouted at him during pooled, non-press conference events — and his staff has often opted for “stills sprays,” excluding print reporters or TV cameras who might capture Obama in the less than flattering non-act of snubbing a query. When asked today why TV crews and print reporters were barred from the pool covering the White House meeting with congressional leaders on the deficit, Carney responded by pointing out that the administration has held two press conferences in the past two weeks and allowed TV cameras into the spray earlier this week. "People shouted questions at him," Carney said. He then added, "The purpose of the meeting is not to create a circus, but to negotiate, so today we're doing stills only." The White House Correspondents’ Association has protested exclusion of print and TV from pools — and several reporters in the briefing room took Carney’s comment as an annoyed expression of presidential displeasure with shouted questions. “It's an absurd reason to say that because we asked questions you're not going to allow cameras in there. He's capable of ignoring our questions. He does it all the time,” said Chip Reid of CBS. Carney, a former Time magazine White House reporter, shot back with, “I appreciate your opinion.” It didn’t end there. “Can I ask you to clarify — there's no reporters allowed in today's meeting because reporters misbehaved?” asked another scribe. “Earlier it sounded like you were punishing us.” Carney said he meant no such thing. “Look, as you know, we have had — different meetings have different levels of access, and we do it on a case-by-case basis. We have had — the president has taken questions quite a lot lately, as you know, and so he's not taking questions today. He may tomorrow. Or he may later, you know, but today, we're just doing a still spread, which is not unprecedented. We have done them in a lot of meetings.”’ "I used to be where you are, and I used to ask questions," the former journalist reminded his press corps. |
| Posted by:Beavis |
| #16 Obama is looking ever more and more like a wanna-be autocrat and dictator. And those sorts of people always end up deserving of a scaffold and rope. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2011-07-14 20:20 |
| #15 So far there have not been any shoes thrown at O'Bumble. These press conferences are such a farce anyway. There is no |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2011-07-14 18:22 |
| #14 The written Questions was the way It done until the Hoover (I think) administration, he once looked over all the questions then Proclaimed in a loud voice "The only question I care to answer is the one about My re-election" then he talked about a hour. (There was No question about His re-election) |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2011-07-14 16:48 |
| #13 There is an old Doonesbury strip about shouting questions and I thought it was funny. 1 reporter finally noticed another reporter wasn't there anymore & didn't know why. He shouted a question at Reagan & Reagan responded. The reporter reached the top. He was done. |
| Posted by: anonymous2u 2011-07-14 16:35 |
| #12 OBumbles hasn't had a press conference since he took office. Oh he had 'meetings' - with pre-scripted and pre-submitted questions from pre-selected (and friendly) journalists from friendly media. But not a 'real' press conference where he had to actually answer unscripted questions from people who weren't always on his side. Compare this with some of the Press Conferences Bush (and his press sect'y) had with the likes of Helen Thomas... |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2011-07-14 15:41 |
| #11 "I used to be where you are, and I used to ask questions," the former journalist reminded his press corps. "But I got over it." |
| Posted by: Barbara 2011-07-14 15:33 |
| #10 They shout because he refuses to answer anything other that a softball question. Respect is earned. Even the press sees the Zero for what he is. |
| Posted by: SR-71 2011-07-14 15:03 |
| #9 Shouting out questions is a horrible practice anyway. The President of the US should answer submitted questions in his weekly address or even better before a session of Congress on a regular basis the way they do in the UK. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2011-07-14 14:59 |
| #8 They are not being excluded because they yell questions. But because they don't have their kneepads on. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2011-07-14 14:27 |
| #7 EU6305, its press corpse, as in corpse-man. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2011-07-14 14:18 |
| #6 There should be a basic decorum in the office of the president. The President sets the tone. If reporters get up and yell stuff, then the president ignores them and answers someone's question with civility. The president in this case cannot lead. He needs to answer the tough questions, but he needs to show that he is conducting the press conference. Compare O's methods with that of General Honare or Swartzkopf. Got to stop being stuck on stupid. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2011-07-14 14:06 |
| #5 press corps. Looks like my TOTUS could use a little better programming too. |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2011-07-14 13:59 |
| #4 I think LBJ had a whole series of nervous breakdowns, just not in front of the press. The man was a wreck. The press core at these White House briefings used to hound the hell out of Dubya. He was a lot more patient with them than I would have been. Now it's Bummer's turn and he doesn't seem to handling it well. Whoever programs TOTUS should be working a little harder to give him the answers he needs. |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2011-07-14 13:58 |
| #3 I'm with Dale on this. I think it could possibly happen if the Republicans stick to their guns. Now wouldn't that be something. |
| Posted by: eltoroverde 2011-07-14 13:52 |
| #2 I'm waiting for Obama to take off his shoe, pound the table with it and proclaim he "will bury America!" |
| Posted by: Eohippus Phater7165 2011-07-14 13:15 |
| #1 Obama is so out of place. He is not the man for the times. Now we shall see how bad he can get. We could have a first. I don't recall a sitting president having a nervous breakdown in office. I believe we are nearly there. |
| Posted by: Dale 2011-07-14 12:57 |