It’s like letting your kids throw their steak and veggies on the floor, but then getting mad when they don’t finish their dessert.
This is all over the interblogs today, and far be it from me to ignore whatever’s all over the interblogs. Look! A Memeroandum thread!
Hey, look, No Sheeples Here got her own Memeorandum thread!
Sweet.
The story: Helen Thomas and CBS’ Chip Reid went at it with White House media guy Robert Gibbs. They’re mad that the White House is taking questions in advance for the President’s health care town hall.
Gibbs: “… But, again, let’s–How about we do this? I promise we will interrupt the AP’s tradition of asking the first question. I will let you [Chip Reid] ask me a question tomorrow as to whether you thought the questions at the town hall meeting that the President conducted in Annandale—“
Chip Reid: “I’m perfectly happy to—”
Helen Thomas: “That’s not his point. The point is the control–”
Reid: “Exactly.”
Thomas: “We have never had that in the White House. And we have had some, but not– This White House.”
Gibbs: “Yes, I was going to say, I’ll let you amend her question.”
Here’s video, which I got from Pat Austin. The exchange starts at 2:32:
First thought: Helen Thomas isn’t looking all that well. She’s lost some weight, I think.
Hey, no kvetching about Mrs. Thomas. Sure, she’s a harpy, but now she’s our harpy. So you go, girl!
Second thought: are we really so surprised about this? Surely nobody expects the White House to hold a “town hall” and not exert some control – Lord knows how many rabid gun-toting Right Wing bible-thumping gay-bashers would find their way in and turn the thing into a travesty! Or a sham!
Or they might get the same question five times. Or they might get somebody asking about parking validation. Or they might get such an embarrassingly fawning, slobberingly worshipful question that it makes the whole thing a joke.
Yeah, I know, it’s already a joke. But from their perspective.
Yeah, I know, that presumes some capacity for embarrassment on their part. Work with me, please.
Point is, the surprise isn’t that the White House is exerting control. The surprise would be if they weren’t. So what’s the press room’s problem?
I’ll tell you the press room’s problem: they’re starting to realize they’ve been a bunch of pliant little puppies. Not only that, but they’re starting to realize that they’re the last ones realizing that they’ve been a bunch of pliant little puppies. They’re realizing that the White House is playing them like a drunk at a bar piano, and they have just enough self-esteem to insist that the White House at least pretend to respect them in the morning.
Please excuse the mixed metaphors.
So they’re getting all whiny about pre-selected questions at a town hall, and a set-up question at a press conference, and they probably figure that makes up for not asking tough questions about policy and stuff.
I first became aware of this over at Cold Fury.
Comments are closed.