Tukana, I've been lucky enough to be in one of those sort of situations -- once seeing Clinton. It's hard to tell who is laughing. Usually these groups are not all journalists -- they people like me who were lucky enough to be asked to gather round on one of these occasions. These people include supporters visiting the white house, junior staffers, interns and the like.
Posted by Joelarama at March 8, 2008 08:08 AMLook at the commedians Obama had as advisors now terminated...Austan "Naftaquiddick" and Powers, Obama's "Condi Rice". He discarded them in an hour. Where does he stand up for his? Gee, one hour and Stephanie Powers is a goner just for calling Sen. Clinton a "monster". What ever happened to "sticks and stones"? Weak, very weak, along with his candidacy. Both of your "leaders" are weak, light weights. Biden and Dodd, now there are some heavy weights, just not POPular.
Posted by peter at March 8, 2008 08:11 AMpants pissing peter, does the RNC pay by the word? do you get health benefits? 401(k)?
and why haven't you reported on your trip to Baghdad since it is so now nowdays?
whoops, left out a word: "and why haven't you reported on your trip to Baghdad since it is so SAFE nowdays?"
Thye WH press corps was either cravenly beaten down by Bushco "punishments" (shrouding, displays of anger or mockery, status demotions, etc) or they have been instructed by their corporate editors that the Repub prez is not to pressed too hard or held accountable for anything.
And certainly no story is to be developed or allowed to "get legs". Every scandal is over and done with in a week.
No group of independent professionals whose job it was to gather crucial information for the voters and Congress (backed by editors in independent news organizatons) would behave in the way the WH press corps has over the past 8 years. And this with a 19% lame duck! The only thing that explains it is his Repub status.
A crucial reason for the colossal failure of the electorate in 2004 was the compromised in-the-GOoP-pocket corporate press. That hasn't changed in the slightest, even with OVERWHELMING evidence of a dozen instances of outright executive lawbreaking and uncountable demonstrated lies. Yet they are as deferential and submissive to this monster as they have ever been. How, in God's name?
With the Tuesday debacle, Dems have placed themselves in a very, very bad position against McGeezer's united Repubs. There's no way out of the awful split we have brought down on our heads, we're stuck with it and the unreformed GOoP-leaning television news teams stand at the ready for a replay of 2004. This will be quite the tragedy.
Posted by euzoius at March 8, 2008 08:28 AMTurkana, the White House press corps are indeed sycophants, a bunch of sniveling toadies, just like the press pool covering Hillary.
Posted by Brian Bell at March 8, 2008 08:44 AMyes, brian...
the press is known to go soft on clinton and hard on obama. or something.
joelarama,
your point is well taken, but there have been plenty of reports, through the years, of the press themselves lapping up bush's stupid drivel. we can't be sure it was all them, in that clip, but it has certainly been their pattern.
Posted by Turkana at March 8, 2008 08:59 AMCome on guys, this was amusing, nothing more, nothing less, they covered it live. Just some fun.
I find it also amusing that some here want to blame the voters for the debacle Democrats are in. These voters in Texas and Ohio should have helped them out of this morass by just picking one over the other. Conspire with other voters there, not to vote their conscience, but vote for the parties sake. What's good for the party, yet those states before got to vote their conscience. Yeah, blame the voters of Texas and Ohio, that's the thing to do. Absolve yourselves of all blame.
Posted by peter at March 8, 2008 09:08 AMThen, let's look at the Florida-Michigan debacle. Seems a revote isn't in the cards unless the DNC pays for it and they just don't have the money, less than $4 million on hand. Florida state Democrats are even in a worse state, they surely can't pay for it. The "count every vote" cause is suffering at the DNC's hands. The third and fifth largest delegations won't have a say in who represents them.
Posted by peter at March 8, 2008 09:31 AMPeter, I think you're right about the MI and FL messes. I was a Howard Dean supporter, both for president and for party chair. It seems some of the arguments against him being party chair have been proven, unfortunately, correct, that he wanted to bank it all on a risky, unproven strategy. It may cost the party dearly in Michigan, too, a swing state where the party elders are so aligned with Hillary and handing over the delegates to her while the largest base of Democratic support in the state -- Detroit -- is clearly behind Obama. It's a recipe for disaster, and Dean did nothing to resolve it and everything to help cause it. It all stems from the party permitting to let Nevada have an earlier caucus. If that hadn't happened, the Florida and Michigan problems would not exist. It's pretty easy to imagine Michigan turning red for McCain.
Posted by Brian Bell at March 8, 2008 10:06 AMIf bush really wanted to get a laugh, why didn't he pretend to look around for the weapons of mass destruction again?
I laughed till I cried on that one.
Posted by TIKI AL at March 8, 2008 10:18 AMTIKI, I'm with you there! This brutish little toddler is the leader of the free world. How embarrassing for us all.
Posted by iamcoyote at March 8, 2008 11:01 AM"Come on guys, this was amusing, nothing more, nothing less, they covered it live. Just some fun...."
wow, I agree with pants pissing peter for once! Hell, after all Hitler did a jig in Paris in 1940, just having some fun.
Posted by gay veteran at March 8, 2008 01:29 PMMaybe the most disturbing thing about Bush doing this stupid little dance is the larger truth it represents; that's all he's doing, killing time from now until January, until someone (McCain in his mind) comes and relieves him. His crimes and other offenses are made that much more disgusting by the fact that it is abundantly clear that little Lord Bushleroy really was not interested in much more than an extended exercise in puffing up his narcissism. He clearly got bored when things got at all tough. Too bad so many people had to die for it. Too bad for all the other destruction he'll leave in his path. Nothing could be more vulgar than watching him do his little jig followed by his little 'laugh'.
Posted by worriedmind at March 8, 2008 04:45 PM