Mad as Helen

[GIGAFAN99]

But are they going to take it anymore?

Just in case you missed it, walking cliche Chip Reid took issue with the President Oparency's town hall having more writers than Toy Story. H to the T had his back.

[jerseyhoya34]

Jul 1, 2009 21:46:52 GMT -5 GIGAFAN99 said:

But are they going to take it anymore?

Just in case you missed it, walking cliche Chip Reid took issue with the President Oparency's town hall having more writers than Toy Story. H to the T had his back.

At least HT was consistent when President Bush (#43) pre-selected participants in his presidential and campaign town halls. I don't recall similar outrage on this site at the time but could be corrected perhaps by a contemporaneous HoyaTalk thread. That being said, I was not a fan of the format then and I am not now.

I do wish President Obama could be more transparent, but I do believe he is more transparent than his predecessor, at least. In terms of press conferences, he held 23 as fo June 16 to Bush 43's 10 at the same stage, for example. The public can take advantage of an almost unprecedented media outreach machine on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, WhiteHouse.gov, etc. Lack of change as to certain Bush administration policies has been disappointing, but perhaps not unexpected.

[TC]

Yes, so terrible that it was choreographed and some lady didn't stand up and accuse him of being an Arab.

I get the point that they should be honest about things being pre-selected, how you package something matters. It was a pretty good show though - no repeat questions from the ABC ones, a couple aggressive questions, the one about defensive medicine was good, the taxing benefits thing was interesting and a page from McCain's proposal, only the last question was a pandering dud.

[Boz]

WP:
"The president called randomly on three audience members. All turned out to be members of groups with close ties to his administration: the Service Employees International Union, Health Care for America Now, and Organizing for America, which is a part of the Democratic National Committee. White House officials said that was a coincidence."

Uh-huh.

And I thought the question "What can I do to help you, Mr. President?" was particularly pointed and insightful.

As for the hug....well, I wasn't sure before that, but when I saw him hug that woman (who, yes, we can all sympathize with), that totally sold me on this boondoggle of a plan.



(I'm pretty sure Bill Clinton called Obama after the hug and said, "Don't even try that kid. You are the definition of stiff and unemotional. Leave that sort of thing to the pros.")


Finally, I'd add that the refrain of "Bush did it! Bush did it!" really isn't having that much traction anymore, people. Even if "Bush did it," how is that a defense of an administration that promised unprecedented tranparency, openness and "full and rigorous debate" on issues?

Oops, one more thing to add: Even if, like a broken watch, she is randomly correct about some things from time to time, that doesn't change the fact that Helen Thomas is a complete nutjob -- and almost certainly senile. I'm glad that Chip Reid raised this concern. Otherwise, it would be way too easy for the WH to laugh it off with "Oh, Helen. You so crazy!"

For all we may laugh occasionally about George Will being an old man shouting at clouds, the man is still sane and coherent. Helen Thomas on the other hand?

[TC]

Jul 2, 2009 9:38:29 GMT -5 Boz said:

And I thought the question "What can I do to help you, Mr. President?" was particularly pointed and insightful.

That was the pandering dud and the weakest part of the presentation. I didn't get why they even bothered with that question - they could have tagged the "don't fall for the scare tactics" part on to another question - if they had chosen a YouTube "socialized medicine turning us into France" question and then said "don't fall for the scare tactics", that would have been better. Other than that question, it was well done though.

[Elvado]

It's overall tone was akin to a Reifenstahl production. Great production values in support of an abhorrent proposition.

[Buckets]

I think that from here on out, every new thread started on the B&G page should have its Nazi reference in the first post, just to get it out of the way, you know?

[hoyarooter]

Stop ragging on Helen Thomas. We should all be that lucid should we live to be 124 years old.

[Boz]

;D ;D - Well done, freemoney and rooter. That was funny.

Seeing as how this thread is related to the press though, here's a couple of thoughts from today's news:

1. OK, so here is Obama's interview with the AP today after the really awful job numbers came out.

www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/02/obama-too-many-jobs-lost_n_224932.html

I grant you, this was one of those all-encompassing "let's get to as many issues as we can" interviews. It was not related just to the employment figures.

But I have to ask this question. What the hell is the AP thinking?

On a day when the market is tanking, job losses were huge, the week before he is going to Russia, with issues of democracy - or lack thereof - in Iran and Honduras still looming large, with his Supreme Court nominee coming up for hearings in a couple of weeks, when he's trying to sell cap and trade and a health care bill, among God knows what other important issues.....

.....did you really, REALLY just ask the President his opinion of Michael Jackson, Kobe Bryant and the White House pastry chef??

Honestly, my level of respect for Obama would have gone up about 1,000 points if he had simply looked at the questioner, smiled in his "I'm not happy" way, and said, "I think there are more pressing issues at hand than this."

I am not criticizing him because he didn't do that, don't get me wrong. I am just wondering what kind of White Hourse reporter honestly thinks these are worthwhile questions.

Ye gods. Get your act together. That's embarrassing.

__________________________________

2. Also was curious what the board thought of the news about the Washington Post today?

Other than it's a sign that they will do anything for cash. What's next, putting Sally Jenkins and Lisa de Moreas on a street corner somewhere?

www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/24441.html

This is really not a good thing, at least the way the original ad was worded. I know the Post is trying to cover their tracks on that now, but I kind of think the original was a little closer to what they wanted to do here.

On the other hand, if someone told me that for $25,000, I could go into a room with John Feinstein and have the opportunity to punch him right in his pizza face, I might have to consider that.

[TC]

Jul 2, 2009 13:17:05 GMT -5 Boz said:

Other than it's a sign that they will do anything for cash. What's next, putting Sally Jenkins and Lisa de Moreas on a street corner somewhere?

Oh come on, Boz, it's classier than that. They call them "parties", and it's Carolyn Hax and Amy Argetsinger, not Sally Jenkins and Lisa de Moreas.