Helen Thomas hammers Gibbs on Obama’s phony town hall

[bijou]

hony, that is, in the sense that the White House knows in advance the questions that’ll be asked, which makes the questioners de facto plants of the most transparent administration evah. I have no big problem with The One putting on a pageant — that’s standard presidential stagecraft in a television age — but I do have a problem with the NYT taking care to note the “orchestration” when Bush pulled this while neglecting to mention it this time. It’s in keeping with the media’s narratives about Dubya and Obama, though, the former shifty and stupid and therefore dependent on softballs, the latter “open” and ingenious and no longer required to prove his ability to handle tough questions. Also, and needless to say, while Thomas’s and Chip Reid’s effort is appreciated, O doesn’t need to shut out the press in order to “control” it. That’s what Rahm’s mad manipulation skillz are for, and what Rahm (and Axelrod) can’t control, old-fashioned liberal bias can be trusted to take care of. As lefty rag Vanity Fair admitted early last month:

They have been handed a most remarkable historical moment—in which they get to remake the media in their own image. They have the power and they are the subject. These people in this White House are in greater control of the media than any administration before them.

Frankly, with ABC holding infomercials for Obama in prime time, it seems almost petty to get exercised about a phony town hall. Exit question: How seriously should we take concerns that Obama’s not facing enough tough questions when voiced by a woman known to wonder why the White House considers Iran a threat? Click the image to watch. ...

http://hotair.com/archives/2009/07/01/blue-on-blue-helen-thomas-hammers-gibbs-on-obamas-phony-town-hall/

Is there room for Helen Thomas under the bus? 

[tuolumnejim]

Ah Gibbs is just like his master, flapping his gums and not saying a thing.  It must be pretty scary at the zero's house when even your loyal base is starting to question if the Emperor is wearing any cloths. 

[DumbAss Tanker]

http://hotair.com/archives/2009/07/01/blue-on-blue-helen-thomas-hammers-gibbs-on-obamas-phony-town-hall/

Is there room for Helen Thomas under the bus? 

Hey, they're the "Big Bus Party."  Sure there is!

 

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

http://hotair.com/archives/2009/07/01/blue-on-blue-helen-thomas-hammers-gibbs-on-obamas-phony-town-hall/

Is there room for Helen Thomas under the bus? 

I thought she had already been hit.

[Eupher]

I thought she had already been hit.

She does look a lot like road kill.....

[ironhorsedriver]

At least Chip Reid and Helen Thomas show that the MSM is slowly catching on. I'm figuring that both of them will lose their White House Press Credentials, probably by tomorrow. Eventually Gibbs will be sitting in front of the Obercrap and Chris tingleleg only. They and MSNBC will probably stand by their man till the end.

[YupItsMe]

Following a testy exchange during Wednesday’s briefing with White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas told CNSNews.com that not even Richard Nixon tried to control the press the way President Obama is trying to control the press.

“Nixon didn’t try to do that,” Thomas said. “They couldn’t control (the media). They didn’t try."  ..... more

http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=50445
For once I might agree with the old bat. 

[bijou]

http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=50445
For once I might agree with the old bat. 

Agreeing with Helen Thomas, scary feeling isn't it? 

[Ptarmigan]

Helen Thomas is right and I am not fond of her.

[Eupher]

Here is one of the responses from the link:

kelly k (19 minutes ago)     
“'What the hell do they think we are, puppets?' Thomas said." Yes, Helen. That's exactly what they think. And where on earth would they have gotten that idea? Helen Thomas had no problem with media bias and collusion until it came back to bite her. Now she's angry that the Obama admin isn't treating her like the grand dame of the WH press corps, so suddenly, it's a travesty. For years--decades--the biased mainstream media has done the American people a terrible disservice. I feel no pity for Thomas and her ilk. They're seeing the fruits of their own labor.

Absolutely spot on. Helen is miffed because she's not allowed to play the game SHE wants to play it.

In a certain matter of speaking, Hopey McChangesnorter IS being "open and transparent." He's colluding with the press openly and with no aversions.

I'm wondering what it's going to take to get the very same media that built Lord Zero up to tear him back down. I think it's happening as we speak, but it will take some time.

[Rebel]

Helen Thomas: Not Even Nixon Tried to Control the Media Like Obama
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
By Penny Starr and Fred Lucas




President Obama is introduced before taking questions during a discussion on health care, July 1, 2009, at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale , Va. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)(CNSNews.com) - Following a testy exchange during today’s briefing with White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas told CNSNews.com that not even Richard Nixon tried to control the press the way President Obama is trying to control the press.

“Nixon didn’t try to do that,” Thomas said. “They couldn’t control (the media). They didn’t try.

“What the hell do they think we are, puppets?” Thomas said. “They’re supposed to stay out of our business. They are our public servants. We pay them.”

Thomas said she was especially concerned about the arrangement between the Obama Administration and a writer from the liberal Huffington Post Web site. The writer was invited by the White House to President Obama’s press conference last week on the understanding that he would ask Obama a question about Iran from among questions that had been sent to him by people in Iran.

“When you call the reporter the night before you know damn well what they are going to ask to control you,” Thomas said.

“I’m not saying there has never been managed news before, but this is carried to fare-thee-well--for the town halls, for the press conferences,” she said. “It’s blatant. They don’t give a damn if you know it or not. They ought to be hanging their heads in shame.”

During today’s briefing, Thomas interrupted a back-and-forth between Gibbs and Chip Reid, the White House correspondent for CBS News, when Reid was questioning Gibbs about who was going to decide what questions would be asked of President Obama in a townhall meeting that was scheduled to take place in Annandale, Va., today.

Gibbs then had an exchange involving Reid and Thomas that went as follows:

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.”

Thomas: “I'm amazed. I'm amazed at you people who call for openness and transparency and—”

Gibbs: “Helen, you haven't even heard the questions.”

Reid: “It doesn't matter. It's the process.”

Thomas: “You have left open—”

Reid: “Even if there's a tough question, it's a question coming from somebody who was invited or was screened, or the question was screened.”

Thomas: “It's shocking. It's really shocking.”

Gibbs: “Chip, let's have this discussion at the conclusion of the town hall meeting. How about that?”

Reid: “Okay.”

Gibbs: “I think—“

Thomas: “No, no, no, we're having it now--”

Gibbs: “Well, I'd be happy to have it now.”

Thomas: “It's a pattern.”

Gibbs: “Which question did you object to at the town hall meeting, Helen?”

Thomas: “It's a pattern. It isn't the question—”

Gibbs: “What's a pattern?”

Thomas: “It's a pattern of controlling the press.”

Gibbs: “How so? Is there any evidence currently going on that I'm controlling the press--poorly, I might add.”

Thomas: “Your formal engagements are pre-packaged.”

Gibbs: “How so?”

Reid: “Well, and controlling the public—”

Thomas: “How so? By calling reporters the night before to tell them they're going to be called on. That is shocking.”

Gibbs: “We had this discussion ad nauseam and—”

Thomas: “Of course you would, because you don't have any answers.”

Gibbs: “Well, because I didn't know you were going to ask a question, Helen.
Go ahead.”

Thomas: “Well, you should have.”

Reporter: Thank you for your support.

Gibbs: “That's good. Have you e-mailed your question today?”

Thomas: “I don't have to e-mail it. I can tell you right now what I want to ask.”

Gibbs: “I don't doubt that at all, Helen. I don't doubt that at all.”

Thomas, 89, has covered the White House during every presidency since John F. Kennedy’s.

[Chris_]

Wassamatter Helen, getting a little crowded under Uncle Zer0's bus?  You weren't smart enough to see this coming?  

[Carl]

Gee.... an empty suit that voted present for most of his short elected career trying to not answer tough questions???

Who would have thunk it.

[Chris_]

Gee.... an empty suit that voted present for most of his short elected career trying to not answer tough questions???

Who would have thunk it.

You'd think those reporters would know better than to ask those questions in the first place.      They've been so accustomed to asking questions that are phrased to try to put him on the spot, that they don't know any other way now. Old habits are just too hard to break.

[DixieBelle]

Don't mess with Helen. She can remember when President Van Buren used to hold press conferences.

[Eupher]

Don't mess with Helen. She can remember when President Van Buren used to hold press conferences.

Eighty-nine years old. Good God. That she still has even a few synapses that fire is simply amazing.

[DumbAss Tanker]

I have to respect her fighting spirit, even though I expect I disagree with her on almost every national policy point of substance.

[Wineslob]

I have to respect her fighting spirit, even though I expect I disagree with her on almost every national policy point of substance.

Heh, I hope she lives long enough to a REAL thorn in the side of Oblahma.   

[ironhorsedriver]

Heh, I hope she lives long enough to a REAL thorn in the side of Oblahma.   

She will lose her WH Press Credentials before that happens. Probably her and Reid both. The Obama won't stand for this long.

[Eupher]

She will lose her WH Press Credentials before that happens. Probably her and Reid both. The Obama won't stand for this long.

Dunno about Helen - Reid, possibly, 'cause he's a young pup. But I don't think they'd pull Helen's credentials. There's be holy hell to pay for that.

Helen's a lot like J. Edgar was back in the day. She knows too much and she's too much of an institution.

No, there are other more diabolical ways of dealing with Helen Thomas.

Like stealing her supply of Depends, for example.