Hope and change
Follow the script: The White House had decided in advance who would be allowed to question the President and who was left out.
Remember, I do this to entertain me, not you.
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February 13th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
I know the conservative movement is predicated on being perpetually aggrieved…but I’m trying to figure out what the objection is to having a list of Reporter’s names prior to the press conference. Is it more democratic to call on the person shouting out “MR. PRESIDENT!” the loudest and holding their hands the highest?
February 13th, 2009 at 1:11 pm
it’s not that anyone is aggrieved. it’s the pledges of openness being disregarded.
February 13th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
Sean are you one of Obama’s Truther Cybernauts? Just admit that The Lightbringer is a run of the mill politician who lied to get elected.
February 13th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
Uncle,
How is it not being open? He took questions from various reporters, including two from the Republican Party’s news channel. Why is being prepared with a list, so you can ask questions from diverse media sources, wrong? Would it be better if he just called on those reporters he was most friendly and familiar with?
February 13th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
The problem is not with the President having or making a list, it is with the possibility that the reporters on that list have previous knowledge that they are on the list, or perhaps agreed to be on it, in exchange for asking specific questions. In other words, the reporters are not to be trusted.
February 13th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
I’m with Sean on this one. I don’t see any “there” there. Maybe conservatives would have liked it better if Obama had cutesy nicknames for everybody…
February 13th, 2009 at 4:33 pm
Now if the reporters were asked to submit their questions in writing in advance, THAT would be a big deal.
Of course, if the questions were submitted in advance, I don’t think I’d call on the A-Rod guy or the Biden guy. 😉
February 13th, 2009 at 5:25 pm
Yeah, because I am 100% certain that the reporters chosen were picked randomly, and without any bias or ulterior motives. Because, y’know, the Messiah is sinless and shit.
February 13th, 2009 at 9:33 pm
Ok tgirsch, show your proof that friendly questions weren’t the basis for reporter selection. Where’s your proof that Obama didn’t have a chance to rehearse answers to previously known questions. Give us the proof.
February 14th, 2009 at 9:39 am
Wow, I wonder where all these pissed off people have been for the last eight years.
Straightarrow, the burden of proof is not upon tgirsch to prove a negative—which is generally impossible—the burden of proof is on you, if you’re making the claim that friendly questions were the basis for reporter selection and that answers were rehearsed.
February 14th, 2009 at 10:11 am
Sean: nice try. The point of the article isn’t that the White House knew the names of the reporters appearing. That would indeed have been a non-issue. The point is that the reporters were pre-selected by the WH. If they were (and you’ve yet to provide a shred of evidence that the WSJ is wrong in reporting that they were), then it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that the pre-selector was pre-selecting according to who was perceived as friendly to the WH. What would have been the point of pre-selecting on any other basis?
Guav, three words: res ipsa loquitur. We know from the article that the reporters were pre-selected by the WH. Therefore, the null hypothesis should be that the WH pre-selected according to criteria deemed to be in the WH’s best interest. If you think the WH pre-selected on any other basis, the burden is on you to identify the criteria you think were applied instead, and then to prove why your theory is more likely to be correct than the obvious one.
February 14th, 2009 at 5:49 pm
uh oh, xrlq and I are in agreement. Where the Hell are my nitro pills???
February 14th, 2009 at 5:50 pm
That last was just me being a dick. Couldn’t help, been hanging around bad company. Actually x, we agree on quite a lot.
February 16th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
Xrlq,
Major Garrett with Fox News is friendly to the White House? They pre-selected reporters in order to have variety, and to make sure print and television had representation.