Obama hand-holds Huffington Post blogger, snaps at dissident reporters
I noted on Twitter and in my live-blog of Obama’s press conference that the president called on/coached HuffPo’s Nico Pitney in an obvious, pre-planned question on Iranians communicating through social media and the Internet.
The question itself was unobjectionable and Obama’s response was so bland and rambling I don’t remember it.
But what was noteworthy was Obama’s embarrassingly obvious and patronizing coordination of the question. I have no love for the HuffPo people (and vice versa), but really, was such schoolmarm-ish hand-holding by the White House necessary?
Via the Politico:
In a clearly coordinated exchange, President Obama called on the Huffington Post’s Nico Pitney near the start of his press conference and requested a question directly from Iran.
“Nico, I know you and all across the Internet, we’ve been seeing a lot of reports coming out of Iran,” Obama said, addressing Pitney. “I know there may actually be questions from people in Iran who are communicating through the Internet. Do you have a question?”
Pitney, as if ignoring what Obama had just said, said: “I wanted to use this opportunity to ask you a question directly from an Iranian.”
He then noted that the site had solicited questions from people in the country “who were still courageous enough to be communicating online.”
“Under which conditions would you accept the election of Ahmadinejad, and if you do accept it without any significant changes in the conditions there, isn’t that a betrayal of the — of what the demonstrators there are working towards?”
Reporters typically don’t coordinate their questions for the president before press conferences.
Snort. Just wait until the ABC News health care infomercial tomorrow tonight…
***
Meanwhile, Obama snapped at a McClatchy reporter who had the audacity to ask him about his cigarette addiction in light of the recently passed FDA tobacco regs.
Obama sarcastically chastised the reporter for asking a “cute” question, then argued that the new regulations don’t apply to him, but to “future generations.”
In other words: Do as he says, not as he smokes.
Also targeted for Obama snappishness: Fox News reporter Major Garrett (for asking “What took you so long” on Iran) and Jake Tapper (for a non-respectful question on health care reform).
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Trackbacks
- Major Garrett exposes Obama at the presser, even Chuck Todd does! | Fire Andrea Mitchell!
- Should Obama Get Credit For The Iran Revolt? « NEOAVATARA
- Michelle Malkin » Obama-come-lately on Iran; O’s obligatory press conference
- The Obama Moment: What Iran, Golf, Ice Cream and Hungarians have in common « Jim Blazsik
- Nico, Nico, Nico… « Around The Sphere
- Disturbing turn of phrase at Bride of Rove
- One Voice of the “Silent Majority” Speaks Out Against Our Government | Glenn Beck Show: The Letter « Frugal Café Blog Zone
- Whew… Glad Obama’s Fourth of July BBQ Is Still on with Those Iranian Diplomats « Frugal Café Blog Zone
- Good Morning, Socialist Media! Obama Now Officially in Charge of ABC News to Force ObamaCare on Americans… Castro Should Be Proud « Frugal Café Blog Zone
- Obama Calls On HuffPo For Spiked Question » Pirate’s Cove
- Obama Calls On HuffPo For Spiked Question : Stop The ACLU
- The End of the Honeymoon « NEOAVATARA
- Does Obama have a JournoList password? « The TrogloPundit
- UrbanGrounds » Blog Archive » Obama’s BFFs in the Media
- links for 2009-06-23 | FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog
- White House Controlling What We Hear and How We Hear It — And Doing It In Plain Sight « Quick Daily Hits — Politics and Such
- “What Took You So Long?” Obama’s Waffling on Iranian Support & His BBQ with Murderous Mullahs (video) « Frugal Café Blog Zone
- Do [conservatives] dare to eat a peach? « The Edge of the American West
- Ed Driscoll » Lemmiwink’s Quest
- American Journalists: ‘Gerbilists’ In The National Press Corps « Romanticpoet’s Weblog
- The Greenroom » Forum Archive » Media and IG-Gate: Question the Timing?
- Hot Air on Obama’s firing of Inspector General Walpin: There is no need to worry that IG-Gate will disappear. It has grown legs. | The Kansas Progress
- Who Would’ve Thought? WH Reporters Chip Reid and Helen Thomas Criticize Obama’s Manipulation of Media at Phony Town Hall (video) « Frugal Café Blog Zone
- Gazzer’s Gabfest » The One is more like a Zero…
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Well OF COURSE there’s hand holding seeing as most mainstream media outlets don’t seem to have much more intellectual processes than a 1st grader regarding barry hussein.
That sounds just like what the Iranians would be asking, doesn’t it? Besides the obvious first person/third person perspective.
Exactly as we have been arguing.
Is it tomorrow or tonight? Clearly, it’s not on my radar, either way. I’ll be watching DVR’d episodes of “MacGyver”…
Nothing applies to Obama. Our nation’s problems are all Bush’s fault, and after Obama’s out of office, they’re the problem of whoever succeeds him. Laws aren’t for Messiahs, after all. They’re just for the little people.
And I say this as a non-smoker who never had the desire to smoke, but as someone who thinks a LEGAL substance bilked time and again for increased tax revenues is getting an unfair shake.
That was before State Owned media.
We have become overwhelmed by process and appearance in this era of mass society, communication, and technology. Substance is a very difficult thing to identify. If you can’t dazzle them with your brilliance, baffle them with your BS. The Age of Information offers very few guidelines or controls. Throw as much as you can on the wall and see what sticks. Our leftist adversaries know and use their weapons well.
My thought exactly. Gee, sorry, I’m going to miss that. I’ll be watching paint dry.
Did anyone notice how Odumbo took yet another cheap shot at Booooossshh, by comparing us to Chile except that we wasted our surplus, while Chile saved their money. Kinda like how we’re saving so much of our money now, right?
Good point.
This is a question from an Iranian? That refers to Iran as “there” and not “here”… and the use of the phrase “the demonstrators” is at the very least, questionable.
Who supposedly asked this question? …Ahmadinejad????
in zero world even his pseudo courage has to be scripted. pathetic is too nice a word when addressing this overhyped, overrated, subservient underachiever. the sheep who voted for this piece of human waste should shower with bleach to disinfect themselves and take those tight fitting blinders off and see what they really got in return, NOTHING!
yeah..what you said!
Lawzy! How dast they?!
mm mmm mm. Suh! You forget your place, suh!
Belvedere–bring me anothuh julep.
So, is the president’s main objective in holding these pressers a chance to grade the reporters? Good Lord!
A reporter by very definition would be dissident. All other “reporters” are just puppets these days only capable of repeating talking points.
Cracks…
forming.
Weird personality flaws…
showing.
OPERATION OVER-REACH proceeding ahead of schedule.
My autistic son is in piano class now. I’ll be too busy going over his lessons with him. That’s MUCH more important than listening to how great Duh One’s medical plan is.
Note to the Press: Don’t dare ask tough questions to the POS.
Excuse me, I meant POTUS.
No wait, I was right the first time.
why youall pickin on po ole me? i am the messiah, don’t you know. read my lips, no new taxes unless you are a greedy rich bastard like me.
Agreed, the heat is on and he’s trapped in the kitchen.
Pressure doesn’t build character. It reveals it.
This is needed. The TOTUS needs input prior to the “impromptu” press conference.
Tonight will be my last evening to watch ABC. (if there’s anything to watch)
I will tape the ‘infomercial” just as I do the Superbowl–just to see the sponsor’s ads.
Those who buy ads on the show will have seen my last purchase.
It’s not a boycot. It’s a vote. (with my wallet)
I may even consider doing it to anybody who advertises on any ABC show.
Drug laws didn’t apply to him in his youth either. In his mind, they probably don’t today.
I wish someone could have asked when hussain will step down and stop being such a national disgrace. About health care: while this jackass goes on and on about the high cost of health care, at least he could stop promoting obessity by showing on tv how well he can shovel ice cream into his mouth.
Huh? “Lie to Me” was on Fox last night…
Who watches abc anymore??? Most people with cable chose to watch something more entertaining.
If enough reporters asked him tough questions, he’d have a public meltdown. Never seen a Pres go postal before…it would be quite a sight.
did anyone notice if mathews was there? I understand there is in effect a 100m police protection order against him.
On June 23rd, 2009 at 2:24 pm, vinny said:
Why watch ABC when there is always Benny Hill re-runs or ShamWalla infomercials to watch.
If there is any justice in the world, these few dissident questioners are the beginning of the collapse of Obama’s house of cards. Without the media he’s nothing, and if enough of it become dissatisfied with the results of his moronic, radically antiquated policies, Obama’s administration will crumble.
I liked “Pushing Daisies” a lot, but the writer’s strike last year pretty much killed it and the series finale was June 13. So no ABC for me. Even “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” has become a source of disappointment when people use their gift of a house to finance largess and get bit for it later…
tough questions are not allowed since the open sore aka zero might have to actually respond with real answers. much better to address those spur of the moment scripted questions. (the ones he already has answers for)
Obamacorn barry ’21st Century Capone soteoro’ obama, YOU’RE A PANSY ARSE CLOWN.
He’s an inconsistent liar and an embarrassment to the entire country.
This fool is NO leader.
obama is just a condescending, dangerously narcissistic, prick.
What Obama did with the Huffington Post reporter was powerful and touching. He clearly stated that he was calling on that reporter because the question had come from Iran. By saying so himself, he was telling the world that he was deliberately soliciting a dialogue with the people of Iran. If the reporter had said it instead, it might have looked like an ambush.
Question (paraphrase): is there any way the American government will view the election as legitimate?
Answer (paraphrase): It’s not for us to say (the answer all foreign policy experts — Republican and Democrat — agree is best). It’s for the Iranian people to say (the right answer in anyone’s book). Right now, lots of them say no. The Iranian government needs to be legitimate in the eyes of its own people.
Why this is a great answer:
* It puts the focus on the Iranian government, where it belongs.
* It portrays America as on the side of justice, not a particular party in Iran.
* It shows that Obama has the wisdom and discipline not to do what Ahmadinejad is goading him to do (with the help of American neocons) — explicitly side with Mousavi.
zero is a disgusting individual. if he was on fire in the middle of the desert on a clear day, I wouldn’t even piss on him to put him out.
lgm,
When you went to school, did you ride a long bus with a lot of other kids…
or did a little short bus come to your door and pick you up?
Oh, I agree. Rigging a press conference with a planted question is a powerful statement, and it certainly touched me.
Viscerally.
I am physically disgusted.
ITS 1979 ALL OVER AGAIN!
Welcome back Carter 2.0…
lgm
That question was obviously not posed by Iranian protesters. An obvious fraud.
The answer was a non-answer.
It is all brilliant to you. I’m sorry for you.
Obama’s achilles heel is when his questionable activites are scrutinzed too closely. He reacts badly when the media points it out and criticizes or disagrees with him on any number of subjects. Obama flusters easy in these situations.
It was evident during the campaign going so far as to demand that the Justice Department assign a “Special Prosecutor” to investigate not ACORN but the McCain campaign and the Bush administration when attention was being focused on the determined effort by ACORN, Obama’s wholly owned vote-fraud division, to steal the 2008 election.
Conservatives need to keep going for this weak spot and eventually he’ll play his hand convincing those sheeple who are blindly following this usurper to the Presidency what type of person he really is.
b-cat said (#37):
That “rings true” for you, but do you have any evidence?
Ah don’ need no stinkin’ evidence!
I finally realized there IS a reason for Obama’s big ears: he can actually hear mainstream media reporters ask him questions while their heads are buried in his ass. Normally, the sound would be muffled or incoherent. From now on, I’ll think of his ears as the human equivalent of two large earth-bound spy satellites.
Just curious…
Does anyone here besides me worry about how bad he will collapse when things start to really turn against him? I have some real concerns about his stability.
lgm: What obama did was touching.
But, was it bad touch or good touch?
From the reaction of most sane people….bad touch.
He was in a live-in school, where the teachers all wore white coats…..
Do you hear TV programs when the set is off, as well?
Cripes… Get those meds regulated!
Good Lord, lgm…. just WHAT IS IT with people like you? Do you not see anything in context? You should be afraid, very afraid. The time is coming very soon when all of you cut from this thread will be exposed in your true colors. Many of us see you for who you really are, but the blinders are slowly coming off the eyes of the masses in middle America. Soon…
No, what he was clearly doing is coordinating questions in advance, as has been his pattern since he came to prominence. It may be “powerful and touching” to you, but I would guess that it appears “cynical and contrived” to other than Obama shills.
“Soliciting a dialogue” with the people revolting the election in Iran could very well be interpreted as a form of subversion by the Ayatollah. That would be choosing a side which you claim he is not doing.
It’s not an answer to the question. It’s a non-answer. The question asked if there were conditions under which the U.S. would recognize Ahmadinejad as president. Certainly this is an important question and one he wanted asked since it was orchestrated. Recognition of a government (e.g. Republic of China) by the U.S. has meaning. Tying that meaning to some undefinable standard is a non-answer.
What does “It’s for the Iranian people to say” mean for the people of Iran asking that question? Certainly we cannot determine what the majority of Iran wants through election. The people of Iran want to know if the U.S. will recognize the sham election and Obama gave them some unclear direction on what they would need to do to convince him otherwise. How would you react if you were the Iranian voice that asked this question?
It might be a politically safe non-answer, but it’s not a direct answer to the question.
You say this as if they live in a democratic state and not a theocracy.
What justice? It’s an odd contrast to condemn the death of Neda only to remain non-committal on the debate that led to her death.
So questioning the legitimacy of an election means you are automatically siding with the party that lost?
I just laugh when I see little Caesar loos his composure when he is called out. Unless it is something simple like eating a waffle, he just does not have the capacity, knowledge or depth to be anything other than a Community Organizer that spends others hard earned money on useless projects and does not have to be accountable. Notice when he is called out, he gets so very testy. LOL
Reihl World has a great take on this episode.
It was actually a technological break-through…
Obama has a two-way teleprompter now, who knew?
Your “paraphrases” were unrecognizable as having any connection to the actual question/answer. Your “great answer” bullet points are fawning gibberish.
‘Nuff said.
ECS
lgm has been touched by obama…he is now probably feeling something tinkle down his leg.
I was going to make a similar comment but Rags, you’ve said it best!
This sounds like the same answer for our fiscal policy.
lgm,
did you pee in your pants during court hearings too, or this something new? If it is new, you should get your prostate examined at the local government run clinic. Uncle Joe is probably waiting for you there.
LGM, it’s not such a big deal that Obamachev wanted to create a situation where he could deliver just the right crafted statement. Of course he could have just made a speach to do that.
The problem here is the apparently rigged nature of the presser. Maybe the question did come from Iran, but please tell me you’d feel the same about it if Booosh had been behind the mic. You know you wouldn’t, and you shouldn’t no matter who is.
The problem is rigging a presser, not the statement he wished to make. NO ONE should be in the business of rigging press conferences, otherwise our “watchdog” press truly is a lapdog.
Wayyy too many news media/pundits/blogs wanting to know;
“why so late”
“why not tougher”
“why no specifics”
maybe I’m just feeling positive today…
gladz,
I imagine those insolent reporters are now at the unemployment office. Puff-host is new darling of the court.
I just love it when he snaps…
Calling people who question our president “dissidents” is hilarious in the same way congressional Republicans compare themselves to Iranian protesters.
CNS News on how the media treated Bush’s golf outings….compared to President Urkel’s:
http://cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=49931
lgm,
Could you please tell me how upholding the principle that every valid vote should count would somehow play into the little guy’s hands?
Could you please tell me how denouncing the use of tear gas, clubs, and deadly force against non-violent demonstrators palys into the little guy’s hands?
Could you please explain how telling the Iranian government there will be no “business as usual” with America or the rest of the free world until violence against their citizens stops plays into the little guy’s hands?
Obama voted “Present” for a week and only polls forced him to mouth these words today. Everyone INCLUDING IRAN sees his remarks for what they are; empty.
LGM:
1) Specifically(!) what is Ahmadinejad goading Obama to do?
2)Are you inferring that Ahmadinejad is manipulating our president (by our president attempting to assume what Ahmadinejad would want?)
You can bet that the Supreme Leader and Ahmadinejad already know what the republican politicians are saying about this. My guess is that some of our president’s motivation in being noncommittal is that he doesn’t want to sound like he is being manipulated by ‘the right’ and to heck with the Iranian people.
Hey Vinny, and with their heads held high!
Spines more spines!
lgm: Are you really prasing obama for saying he has no idea what conditions he would consider an election legitimate?
The reporter is asking for obamas own opinion. obama should know what his own opinion is.
Its a cowardly answer.
Yeah, RSB…
Wyatt Cenac using people being beaten in the streets, being shot to death, being gassed and having chemical agents dropped on them as a stand up for a lame “comedy” routine…
that’s Classic…
Do your really not see how perverse you are?
LGM,
Here is a leader speaking out in a similar situation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_BZe4eNe48
This is just a taste of what’s to come.
Hope-a-Dope’s staging of questions in advance with left-wing propagandists is like the Emperor with No Clothes giving a press conference at a nudist colony — where even some of the nudists are beginning to ask awkward questions about his “new duds.”
Just wait until the American People begin to feel the delayed effects of the massive dose of poison that this man and his party have injected into our politics, or economy and our society: to keep his “Camelot” illusion going, watching Hope-a-Dope’s increasingly phony press conferences is going to feel more and more like watching a re-run of “Capricorn One.”
That, and look for him and his remaining loyal media propagandists to dust off Clinton’s “Wag the Dog” tactics as the country’s downward spiral tightens. It’s coming…
There seems to be a lot of things that don’t apply to Obama, from the legislation he co-sponsored requiring 30 days notice to fire an Inspector General, to his pledge for an open and transparent government free from unwise spending. Have you noticed that liberals always exempt themselves from the rules they impose on others? That’s why both Obama and Gore can fly jets all over the world while telling others not to.
Obama is trying to show how cool and “with it” he is on the internet. Too bad the pleas of the Iranians over the internet are falling on his deaf ears.
txvet2 said:
Do you think he coordinated with the Fox guy with the insulting question?
vinny said:
I was wearing a skirt.
meangreenfan said:
The difference: Obama did not say he would forgo ice cream until the Iran situation clears up. The press was going after Bush hypocrisy, not Bush golf.
Flyoverman said:
Interesting. Reagan did exactly what Obama is doing — he condemned the crackdown without taking sides in the dispute.
Reagan has never done anything like Obama does! NEVA!!!!
Reagan… Iran…
You’re right, RWR occupied his own sphere of corruption.
This is going to be a network special that combines “Lie to Me”, “All The President’s Men”, “Dancing With the Czars”, and “America’s Got Talented Suckups” all in one program. In the first episode, the Biggest Loser gets voted out of the Lincoln Bedroom.
It’s bad enough that we had to watch the media make out with Obama on the campaign trail, but now they’re moving in together and taking cameras with them. All I can hope for is that it ends like “Jon and Kate Plus 8″ — in an ugly and public divorce.
LGM was in court. Wearing a skirt. And he is a guy.
oookkkaaayyy
Is your argument that since he did not coordinate his question with Fox it was perfectly acceptable to do so with the Huffington Post?
Secondly, what is insulting about the question “What took you so long?”? Conservatives aren’t the only ones that were wondering about the answer to that question. It seems to be the whole reason he had the press conference.
Does ABC’s health care program from the White House represent a friendly merger of the Forth Branch of government with the Executive Branch? Or is it simply a case of Obama nationalizing a private company in another government takeover?
There’s no earthly way of knowing
Which direction Obama is going.
There’s no knowing where he’s rowing
Or which way the river’s flowing.
Is it raining?
Is it snowing?
Is a hurricane a blowing?
Not a speck of light is showing
so the danger must be growing.
Are the fires of hell a glowing?
Is the grisly reaper mowing?
Yes! The danger must be growing
For the rowers keep on rowing.
And they’re certainly not showing
any signs that they are slowing!
(apologies to Willy Wonka)
RSS & LGM: Are you really comparing Reagan in Poland to obama in Iran???
I can even begin to tell you how wrong you are.
Moving right along one of the ‘other’ total lies in Obama’s statements today.
Obama snidely claimed that only an un-fit insruance provider would not be able to compete price-wise with a ‘free’ ‘non profit’ government program with an unlimited hidden budget.
Obama is either an economic idiot or a pathological liar.
The answer is yes.
But we cannot infer from such incidents that the left wing media is in league with the Democrat Party and the Obama administration in particular.
Just because he owns them and they worship him does not mean we are supposed to notice and comment on it!
Not hardly. I am not sure it is included in that clip, but in that speech he specifically told the Polish Government there would NOT be business as usual while the government was repressing its people by force.
TRANSLATION: No hot dogs on the 4th of July. Obama won’t even threaten that. He’s laughable. He treats Fox News more harshly then a government who uses snipers against its own unarmed citizens.
I caught that too. He was trying to say that opponents of the public plan argue that the public plan will price out the private plans. His convoluted logic argued that they were wrong in as much that if the Government option was as badly ran as most other Government agencies, then the private plan would naturally be the option most taken. His logic being that the public option would spur private options to be more competitive. Earth to Obama, private plans have shareholders to answer to, the public option answers only to the plebes who will only be asked to cough up more money to fund yet another failing Government enterprise.
Salt said (#75):
Yes, sort of (insert waffling snark here). It’s OK because he explicitly and deliberately made it clear exactly how the question had been coordinated. He wasn’t trying to fool anyone. And it’s OK because it was the only coordinated question — as the question from Fox helps to show (snark about logic here).
So, what’s the point of asking the Huffington Post to ask the question? Why not just make the statement?
If anything, it helps to underscore the notion that reporters are vetting their questions prior to the conference. Even if that is not the case, are you really okay with the President purposely seeking out one news agency to serve as a sockpuppet to set himself up with his own question? That suggests he’s more concerned about controlling the questions rather than his responses to them.
So you say.
I’ll ask again, what was insulting about Garrett’s question? Time matters in dealing with foreign policy, does it not?
Lastly, and more out of morbid curiosity, what part of my previous post to you was snarky?
As opposed to what? Obama’s corruption. Your statement implies as much.
For those of us who actually experienced the Ronald Reagan’s presidency…your reference to some sort of corruption by him doesn’t deserve a response.
By the way, Why doesn’t Odumbo compare himself to Carter? He’s compared himself to every past president who have gotten a measure of respect except for Carter, the one he most resembles?
No he didn’t. He tried to fake it.
Making it clear would be saying, “I’ve asked the HP to ask me a question from an Iranian.”
lgm said:
So journalists can work openly with Democrats in coordinating efforts to establish a one-party government as long as they are open and clear about it? Alrighty then. But does that go for bribery too? How about cheating on a spouse? It’s OK as long as it’s done openly in public? What an insight into lgm’s ethics! Any sin’s OK as long as you do it openly and don’t try to fool anyone. At least lgm’s consistent in that respect — he isn’t fooling anyone…
Does anyone still believe that Madoff was the biggest con artist this country has ever seen?
Swinging from delusion to delusion like Cheetah on a rope.
What a maroon…!!!
No way…!!!
The Ponzimeister Of The United States is at work, and that makes everything else pale by comparison.