Tell me more about what happened at the presser.
This is interesting, though I don’t see why it’s controversial.
Update. The comments at the Politico piece are priceless. The item must have been linked to by Drudge or Malkin.
Update update. Yup, there are fairly prominent links from both Drudge and Hot Air. Nothing from Halperin yet.
Incertus
It’s certainly not a Gannon situation.
Shinobi
Especially when Pitney said on the blog that he was going to be doing this. WTH?
Maybe everyone is just pissy because HuffPo has such good coverage of Iran right now. (I don’t usually read it at all and I’ve been hitting refresh on the page.)
Elroy's Lunch
It’s only controversial to Politico because they’re P.O.’d that they’re no longer the center of the DC blogger universe.
The DC press core asked stupid questions and were treated accordingly by Obama. As other said in the previous threads, they was pwned. Badly.
Aaron
Reading the comments from that Poltico article might have taken 5 years off my life and killed countless brain cells.
The Grand Panjandrum
The HuffPo question is a big deal because it gives the wingnuts a chance to blow off some steam without really addressing any issues. Pitney had a paragraph at the top of his liveblogging yesterday asking Iranians to send in questions to ask the POTUS. Someone at the WH contacts Pitney and let’s him know the President may call on him to answer such a question. I don’t see the problem. If this had been some back door deal I could understand the concern but this has been out on HuffPo for awhile. Someone at the WH Press Office sees it and they ask the Prez if he’ll take a question. No biggie. Jesus they don’t mind bombing these poor bastards back to the stone age but god forbid should a question from an actual Iranian get asked of the American Prez.
Actually TNC is upset about something else(Obama’s answer to the black unemployment question.) Interesting. I still don’t understand the problem he has with the question even after reading all the comments. Maybe someone can explain it to me.
Will
This only proves that Obama is more aware of what is going on in the new media better than the MSM is. Nico Pitney has been live-blogging Iran coverage for a week straight, with regular updates from Iranian citizens. No one else in the room had been doing that, so Obama’s particular convo with Nico makes sense, if one is paying attention.
guster
Read the comments at the Politico link. Wonderful.
JenJen
The WH Press Corps = Teenage Girls who didn’t make the cheerleading squad.
The Pitney Pout is a tad annoying, is it not?
YellowJournalism
@Aaron: I had to stop after reading that Obama is a “man-child”. Are they sure they know who’s President right now?
I don’t get the big deal. It was a way to answer questions directly from people in the heart of the conflict in Iran. Sounds like the questions weren’t easy, either. It wasn’t like he planted someone in the crowd who wasn’t even really a journalist to give him softball questions or anything. Not that any Republican president would do that.
But now we’ll have to hear more screaming about the “libural media” consipiring with the administration.
The Grand Panjandrum
@JenJen: I’m stealing that. That is fucking gold! In particualr the cheerleader image with the former Prez being a former cheerleader and all.
Bill E Pilgrim
Why is it controversial?
Three words: Outside the beltway.
Hippies. No bow ties in sight. Unwashed, non-traditional, bloggers and not even the acceptable conservative kind, not David Broder AT ALL, sput sput yammer BLUE MEANIES!!
Okay that was more than three words.
4tehlulz
>>The comments at the Politico piece are priceless.
Are they at their usual Stormfront level of quality?
nikkos
What, no questions about Mousavi’s birth certificate? How do we even know that guy’s Iranian? Goddamn librul media.
JenJen
@The Grand Panjandrum: Well, it just immediately popped into my mind. I mean, did you see Chuck Todd, for example, trying to get political punditry out of the President? Todd really sucks at being a WH correspondent. He needs to get back to the political desk crunching numbers for obscure House races. Everyone loved him then.
Here’s the thing… maybe the high school WH press corps would have a gripe if Obama threw to Pitney, and Pitney lobbed a Gannonesque softball. But, he didn’t, he asked a substantial question about a subject he’s been writing about for weeks. So honestly, the jealous little busy bee press corps, including Drudge and Drudge’s Kid Sister (Mark Halpering) can just STFU.
The Politico article has a laff-a-minute comment section, btw. Highly recommended if you want to see just how bizarre and childlike current Republicans can be.
ETA: Ahh, I see Aaron already warned everyone about the comment section!
Adrienne
@nikkos:
FTW.
Aaron
@YellowJournalism:
Yeah, it seems quite reasonable, but it does undermine the position of traditional journalists that they are the only road to enlightenment.
Re: the comments at Politico – I think those commenters are quite divorced from reality, but in a way that blurs the line between being sad and being funny.
On a related note, I think they are all perfect fits for the Dunning-Kruger Effect
GregB
Jeff Gannon is rolling over in his futon.
-G
Shinobi
The comments at Politico are what would happen if any of the cast of Flavor of Love knew how to spell politics.
Legalize
The question obviously wasn’t pre-screened because the substance of the question called on the president to explain if it would be appropriate to continue talking to the Iranians if he simultaneously didn’t view the Iranians as legitimate. It was a question that asked the President to explain what could be viewed as a contradiction in policy – one that could very directly impact the fucking life of the person asking the question! All this shows is that the President was keeping up on excellent coverage – and it is excellent coverage by Pitney.
It’s interesting that the talking hair-dos did nothing but blather on about tough talk from McCain, while someone on the ground apparently wanted to know how the President’s policies would actually affect him or her.
We just saw a shining example of the irrelevancy of the press corps – one of many in this press conference. You can tell that president knows full well that while the press might be shaping the inside-the-beltway conventional wisdom, it has fuck all to do with real life.
I also liked how the president told the insurance industry to stop being all butt-hurt about competition.
The Grand Panjandrum
@JenJen: True dat. Chuck is out of his depth. He just isn’t real quick on his feet, is he? Too bad because he was pretty darn good at analyzing electoral process. And I did take a stroll through the comment section. It really is entertaining.
guster
@GregB: Hey! Stop with the funny. Some of us are pretending to work.
DrPresident
@guster:
Do I really want to? I’m afraid. :(
valdivia
also–easier no to get all outraged about this than report what really happened at the presser. God this people make my brain hurt.
JenJen
@DougJ, top: You nailed a possible Malkin link as a probable source for the brain-damaged Politico comments! Here’s her snarky entry; par for the course, really.
Like you, I’m a little shocked Halperin doesn’t have anything about it yet. Of course we’re all waiting with bated breath as to how Howie Kurtz will respond. :-)
Violet
@JenJen:
Absolutely. I used to fangirl for Chuckie, but these days I can’t even imagine what I saw in him. He’s like a low-rent David Gregory. That ain’t a compliment. Occasionally I see the flashes of the old Chuck Todd, but mostly I think they keep him cooped up in some Gregory Makeover Room at NBC so he won’t upset the Beltway applecart.
Nylund
One of the first comments was condeming “media adulation” of Obama. I would like to remind the world of this quote from “Hardball with Chris Mathews” (after the “Mission Accomplished” speech):
“He has just won every woman’s vote in the United States of America. You know, all those women who say size doesn’t count — they’re all liars. Check that out.”
We had a media that would go on the air and very literally discuss how awesome and huge President Bush’s penis looked.
JenJen
@Violet: Chuck Todd is still really good when he’s on, say, “Morning Joe” and giving backstory to political intrigue on the Hill and at the White House. Also, he’s truly excellent at analyzing poll data, and explaining to the audience what the crosstabs say; what the data really means when drilled down.
But I just cringe when he gets tossed a question in a White House presser. It’s just not his thing; he’s not a reporter, he’s a political analyst, and a damned good one.
(Of course, I’m not convinced half the WH press corps are bona fide reporters, either.)
Strawmanmunny
I found this link via Atrios. Pretty funny recap of the press conference. It does have, what some would consider, foul language. I consider it “colorful”.
http://moonshinepatriot.blogspot.com/2009/06/obama-press-conference-june-23-2009.html
valdivia
I refuse to click on Politico links so as not to give them traffic. I also refuse to check out Ambinder but whenever I read Sulli I see the titles of his posts. In the last hour he has been peddling 3 stories: Obama changes tune on Iran, the democrats are afraid and see a defeat coming in 2010 and Obama made a crack about AA and isn’t that weird?
Allan
@Aaron: Thanks for that! I finally have a name to associate with that condition.
Joel
The outrage is simple to understand from a MSM reporter or administrator’s view:
Putney is effectively providing unfiltered access to collected sources. Not a trusted source, and there’s minimal “traditional” reporting going on here; he’s not making judgement calls, or figuring out how to report the story. He’s just putting the information out there.
This is what many claimed Drudge was doing years ago, but that was a patently false and self-serving claim. A lot of reporters liked Drudge because he represented an overhaul in the traditional pyramid, without changing the overall order of things. However, if people start congregating to sources like Pitney, what is the role of a “traditional” reporter then?
Certainly there will still be a role, but only for the best of them. And that means, down the line, a lot of these clowns are out of a job (save for the propagandists).
comrade scott's agenda of rage
When the DC Press Corpse stops asking stooopid questions, we all know the Rapture is nigh. Or the life-as-we-know-it ending asteroid is about to strike.
Ash
Everyone has said it already, but there’s obviously “outrage” because what the HuffPo is doing is unconventional. AND ZOMG WE CAN’T HAVE THAT DAMMIT.
Punchy
OT:
Check out this blurb from TPM:
WTF is really going on? Can we PLEASE get an answer to…..whether Obama fires up Camels or GPCs?
LD50
@GregB:
Well, to be fair, that *is* his job…
Martin
Well, the meta behind the HuffPo is interesting and all, but I thought Obama gave a very smart answer on the public option:
That’s a nice put up or shut up response and should give some Dems cover, should they wish to avail themselves of it. Let’s hope that very question gets asked more broadly of opponents of the public option.
x
This is long, & prolly a first draft, but Wyclef Jean has brought this to the levels of the anti apartheid movement.
Equal rights and justice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QG-2ElE4oZE
I wish we could embed.
jomo
What continually blows my mind in the Politico comments is the contention (repeated constantly by Hannity) that Obama is stupid and cannot function without a teleprompter. It is parroted relentlessly.
Brick Oven Bill
Obama’s policy of not engaging Iran is the correct policy. He excels at inaction, and Iran is a great opportunity for him to exercise this particular skill.
gnomedad
@YellowJournalism:
“man-child” == “boy”. Simple racism.
smiley
From Calderone’s comments:
Is this a right wing meme that I was unaware of? Obama won the election with 4% of the votes? What about the other 50-or-so million? Wow, the stupid.
The Moar You Know
If the White House Press Corps, or more accurately the media they represent, are so hellbent on making themselves irrelevant (as they proved today) then it should come as no shock to them when Obama decides to bypass them entirely and start talking to people who do actual reporting.
I can hear the screaming from the nerd-raged Politico douchebags all the way here in California.
Ash
Oh, and if anyone didn’t get a chance to catch the presser, there’s some Best Of clips here.
grimc
I loved this:
Professor keeping the class on track.
Punchy
OMFG….from the article about Sanford on MSNBC First Read…..check out the name of the forest ranger they’ve picked to comment on the Naked Hiking Day tradition:
hahahahahahahahahaha! I’d SWEAR this was the Onion if I didn’t know any better.
Joel
@x: I was half-expecting Jean to perform a cover of Peter Tosh’s song.
Evinfuilt
@Legalize:
You’re right, instead of the press deciding for us whats important. A real question was asked, it kinda feels like real freedom of press instead of corporate news for the sheeple.
Ash Can
I saw only a few seconds of the presser. But those few seconds featured Obama laughing, everyone else in the room laughing in the background, and Chip Reid on the other side of the split screen looking as if he were about to cry. My first thought was “This guy doesn’t know enough to come in out of the rain, does he?” since I recalled him earning guffaws at a previous presser with a stupid question. My second thought was, “Yeah, I’ll be seeing the video of this on the GOS in a little while.” (And sure enough, there are multiple threads on the presser up at Daily Kos, featuring videos, transcripts, and all that good stuff.)
Quite the entertaining presser indeed. I have to say, Obama sounds an awful lot like the other neighborhood grade-school moms and I when we give our kids a good talking-to for doing something boneheaded. You’d think these guys would start getting the hint that they need to be bringing their A games to these pressers, because let’s face it, Obama’s that professor from j-school who’s going to find the holes in your argument, stuff ’em full of dynamite, and light the fuse where everyone can see.
Martin
He excels at measured restraint – something that politicians, almost by definition, suck at.
gnomedad
@jomo:
There is something comforting about this level of desperation. Of all the things one might say about Obama, the least credible is that he is stupid.
smiley
@Punchy: That is hilarious.
Brick Oven Bill
Martin, by his health insurance answer, you can tell that Obama has never operated in the private sector. The government can not only compete with the private sector in health insurance, it is guaranteed to win.
This is because the government will make the rules.
But Obama is correct in not interfering in Iran. I hope he does not cave to pressure.
formerly someone else
@Punchy: From what I heard from a conservative little bird with strong ties to SC, Doug’s post from early yesterday was accurate. What seems to have happened is that the repubs are now openly discussing it. A Presidential run seems unlikely.
Napoleon
@The Grand Panjandrum:
I can’t explain it to you, and I suspect it would have to be a black person, but I can tell you two things: 1) I have caught very little of Obama’s pressers but I caught this question in this one and it was virtually the exact same question as he got in a presser from somebody from Ebony, or some other traditional black publication, a couple of months ago when I happen to catch 20 minutes of that presser and, 2) for the exact same reasons that I think it would be complete political suicide to make a priority of gay rights at this point in his presidency he would be nuts to say anything that could in any way, shape or form be interpreted as “I am going to go out of my way to do more for blacks then whites”. If he does his presidency would effectively be over right when it left his lips. If he would have answered that question any different then he did he would be crazy. You don’t understand the problem because intuitively you know it would be nuts for BO to say anything other then what he said, but TNC can not see that.
(by the way, unlike gay rights I think that if at any time during his presidency he explicitly said he was setting out to help blacks any more then whites he might as well stand on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and shoot his brains out because his political career is over, whereas I think if he successfully gets health care done and some other things like that of general nature he will have the political breathing room on gay issues. Also my distinct impression is that BO would like to make government to do more in general for those less well off, and that a natural byproduct would be that it would help lift minorities boats more rapidly.)
The Saff
@Ash Can:
You just rule. I started watching the presser about 5 minutes after it started when Obama was making his remarks. And then when he started answering questions, I’m reacting like my favorite sports team is whupping on the opposition (“yes!” “good answer!” “STFU, Chip Reid, you’re an idiot.”).
I was reading some of those comments on Politico but it hurt my head so I stopped. I also had no idea why they kept referring to Obama as “man-child” but now I know. Those people are just evil.
Susan Kitchens
Commenters: Must Bash The Annointed Obambi One, because taking a question from a journalist who is, you know, in actual touch with actual people in Iran is TEH TRAITOROUS and TEH STUPID. It is the height of arrogance and bad governance on part of the president (and also. where’s the birth certificate?)
Why don’t those bomb-worthy Iranians and the Librul-tards at Huff Po understand that only Church of the Savvy are worthy to ask questions? Don’t those Eye-ranians understand that the only good question is one like Major Garrett’s “What took you so long?” A man with real perspective on the matter is Chuck Todd, who invites the President to play pundit . Because really, people, this isn’t life and death — Let’s all act like the whole world is one big cable punditry show.
The Grand Panjandrum
@Napoleon: OK. Thanks. I’ll go back to TNC’s thread and ask him directly.
LD50
I suppose that’s a valid reaction if you think the solution to all our problems with Iran is to bomb them.
Legalize
Good. “So what?” is Obama’s answer. So? What?
Max Peck
@Brick Oven Bill:
To give you an idea what the last eight years was like….
If what he’s doing is making YOU mad, then that’s confirmation that what he’s doing is right and I’m happy with it. :)
Susan Kitchens
Or, to put it another way:
Taking a question from an actual, you know, Iranian is not as important as striking the right forceful concern troll tone about the evil Eye-ranians.
JL
I’m in moderation cause I tried to change my name but Sanford’s career is probably finished since Repubs are now openly discussing his problems. Doug was right.
Bender
Yeah, like with the stimulus and bailouts, right? Yeah, measured restraint.
Obama’s noodle-armed flip-flopping on Iran being called “restraint” is reminiscent of Bush’s brash Iraq posturing being labeled “bold moral leadership.”
Obama even admitted today that I was 100% right last week when I said that no matter what words came out of O’s golden throat, Iran’s mullahs didn’t give a shit — they’d still do exactly what they wanted to the protesters and would still blame the US for meddling.
If The Obamateur weren’t so inexperienced, he would’ve realized that the only people hearing his waffling messages last week were the very twittering protesters who needed to hear that weak garbage the LEAST. Most Iranians were stuck listening to the state message, which ignored Obama’s “we won’t meddle” embarrassment and blamed the US and Israel anyway. Germany and France showed clear leadership — how embarrassing for the US!
Susan Kitchens
@Susan Kitchens:
oops. concern troll was meant to be struck out. (then net blockage ensued while my 5 minutes of edit were up)
PeopleAreNoDamnGood
@Ash:
Here is the entire press conference video.
Allan
@Bender: See @Aaron: above for your diagnosis.
matoko_chan
Bender you are a moron.
If data is getting out of Iran, data is getting in, packets flow both ways, dude.
CSMACD protocols.
Obama was giving two speeches, one for regular America, one for dar al islam.
The speech for the Green Wave included 6 justices, 1 MLK quote, and zero mentions of the d-word (democracy, which is now a dirty word in MENA courtesy GW Bush).
Svensker
@GregB:
Hahhahhahhahhahahaah
PeopleAreNoDamnGood
Five dollars says Bender is DougJ trolling his own thread.
Nylund
I found the criticism of “media adulation” on the Politico comments section so funny that I thought I’d remind people of the media’s response to Bush’s Mission Accomplished speech. The best quotes were about the size of Mr. Bush’s package and how awesome it was, but sadly, it seems to have gotten caught in moderation purgatory since the media’s comments read so much like spam for …well, how I can say it without tripping the filters again?
matoko_chan
And an answer for Nico’s question, which was prominently featured that he would ask one if called upon on Huff-po yest.
Likely SOMEONE on Obama’s staff reads Huff-po, dooontcha think?
Speaking of thinking….where is Palin on this?
Still cramming to be able to differentiate between Iran and Iraq?
freelancer
via Benen:
For instance when Obama wants to highlight the inanity and insular nature of the Washington Press Corps and TV punditry as a whole, he calls on Jake Tapper, Chuck Todd, and anyone from Fox. If the man wants to laugh about Clown Shoes, he gets to call on a few jesters.
Allan
@matoko_chan: Palin to self:
Eye-ran: that’s the one that John wants to “bomb bomb bomb” but only after we declare solidarity with the brave muslin terrists who yearn for American democracy.
Eye-rack: that’s the one we already bombed in solidarity with the brave muslin terrists who yearn for American democracy.
OK, I’m ready for my press conference!
Bad Horse's Filly
I really hate these people (man-child?!). I hate that the President has to bother with them. But this is why he’s such a good politician, he knows how to play their game and beat them at it.
Personally I would have told them to STFU years ago and that would have been the end of my political career. This would be why I’ve never envisioned a career in politics.
freelancer
no ciali$ mentioned, so I got modded because…
matoko_chan
LOL!
Allan, u rawk.
Max Peck
Is there a name for the particular BJ code bug that makes browsers confused by 3 captialized letters? Try it? Hover your mouse over this, LOL.
JenJen
Here’s an interesting question posed by Ana Marie Cox in her very recent tweet:
JK
@JenJen:
Ana Marie Cox is a clown who can’t be taken seriously about anything. Several months ago on the Rachel Maddow Show, Cox professed her deep admiration for John McCain. Cox is not worth the time of day.
MazeDancer
Two, four, six, eight, who do we appreciate?</em
Jen Jen! Jen Jen!
Bender
matoko chan, you are a moron.
Iran had gone into lockdown mode long before Obamateur Hour. Guaranteed that only a very small portion of Iran heard his speech, regardless of how many times he mouthed the double-secret “I support you” code words (not one “freedom?”) that heartened absolutely no one. Read those Twitters from the early days of Iranians pleading with Obama to make a stand for them. ObamaFail.
Instead of looking for code words, I prefer to look at the real words. Like when Obama continued to describe killing of protesters in the streets as “debate.” Shameful.
What rubbish. The handmade signs and students chanting “The D Word” would seem to prove that notion a silly fantasy of the haters who still haven’t gotten over Bush.
MazeDancer
@Ash Can
The J-School analogy: Brilliant.
@The Saff
Much loud, sports-like cheering here, too. What an uplifiting, exciting thing to watch such a smart man dribbling around others just using his brains. And to have him be our President is still astonishing.
IMHO, Jake Tapper dissing the President of The United States with that “Spock like logic” crack was not okay. It was snidey disrespect, not good humored fun. (Though Mr. Obama tried to make it that.) And it would not have been okay even if we were watching from Canada because the other guy had won. (Though the nuclear war from the bomb,bomb,bomb might have cut down on the reception.)
matoko_chan
Bender you ignorant twodigit simpleton.
CSMA-CD Dude.
Data is a two way stream, and plenty is getting out, so plenty is getting in. They don’t have the star property on facebook and twitter.
Everyone on the right side of the bellcurve of IQ knows Obama can’t do n/e thing but speak Shi’ia code to the Green Wave, because the criminal hirgabi Khameni would just twist it into Operation Ajax Part Deux.
Democracy IS a dirty word in MENA, because of Bush, Operation Ajax, the tyrant Shah and the EPIC FAIL of the Manifest Destiny of Judeoxian DEMOCRACY in MENA aka the Bush Doctrine.
Show me one link where the greens are begging for democracy, one sign, and prove it isn’t regime spoofers trying to get Obama to make a mistep and endorse the Green Wave so the regime can de-legitimize it.
matoko_chan
The greens are not chanting “democracy now” from nighttime Tehran rooftops.
They are chanting Allahu Akbar and Death to the Dictator.
Just EXACTLY like when they did 30 years ago when the Shi’ia overthrew the american-puppet and tyrant Shah.
matoko_chan
Everyone on the rightside of the bellcurve……except….some that might want Obama to fail…..so very badly …..that they don’t care if the greens get de-legitimized and fail, get arrested as foreign agitators…..as long as it makes Obama look bad.
Is that you Bender?
Why do you hate the Greens?
matoko_chan
This is the only sign I have seen that features “democracy”.
Is this what you meant, Bender?
Ivan Ivanovich Renko
Wow. Just… wow.
eyeball
This is an amazing failure of simple syntax. Obama’s questions was (rephrased): “Pose me a question from one of the many Iranians who have sent you questions intended for me.” This ensured that the Q would be unpredictable, not “pre-selected.” The only thing pre-selected was the questioner.
The rightists are so unhinged just now that they are trying to make themselves believe that the question was pre-selected. Politico has a partisan interest in carrying that tainted water rather than authoring anything truthful. That interest stems from Politico’s need to a) get linked by the drudge report, and b) cope with its insignificance vis-a-vis the Huffington post.
This is the swamp these hacks inhabit. Their problem is that there are so many turds in the water already, another one hardly makes a
splish.
asiangrrlMN
I thought Nico’s question was a hell of a lot more interesting than, “How many cigarettes do you smoke a day where do you smoke them when do you smoke them oh my god i’m running out of breath?” And I loved the way the prez laughed when stupid boy asked, “Were you getting all manly because Graham and McCain called you out?” It as perfect. “What do you think?” was Obama’s way of saying, fuck no.
Via Atrios. I love this translation of the presser.