Here’s hoping it’s getting less rare (from today’s WaPo reporter chat):
Scranton, N.J.: Yeah, he’s taking hits in Washington and yet your own poll suggests he’s not taking hits with the American people. Everyday on cable news and in the Browser I read something to the effect of “will announcing this (some policy) affect Obama’s popularity? That is the big test?” And then it doesn’t. Kinda amusing; you guys keep waiting for him to fail in a way that I never saw with Bush (and for the record, I don’t agree with all of Obama’s policies so far)
Alec MacGillis: I know what you’re getting at here. There seems to be two different levels of evaluation going on — inside the Beltway, where expectations may have been out of proportion, and where many political reporters want to show that they’re going to give the rock star president a tough going-over; and around the country, where people seem willing to give the new guy some time to fix problems that preceded him.
One point I’d like to make, though, is that what we’re seeing is not a “tough going over” so much as an attempt at hazing. The questions Chuck Todd and Ed Henry asked Obama about “sacrifice” and his response to the AIG bonuses were not tough questions. Obama handled them easily and made the questioners look stupid in the process.
There’s a big difference between asking difficult questions about legitimate issues and trying to make the president look bad so that you can get a chest bump from Rick Santelli at the NBC commissary.
TenguPhule
Terrorist nipple rubbing?
TheHatOnMyCat
I agree about the hazing. It’s troubling to think that schoolboy antics are mistaken by these people for hard journalism.
Zifnab
And yet we never get to have a normal conversation about what you disagree with or why or what you have to support your beliefs. Because we’re too busy chasing phantom railroad projects or bullshit teleprompter memes. The GOP and its mouthpieces haven’t come up with anything resembling a plan that isn’t "Tax cuts + Deregulation + Free Market ??? = Profit!", but they’ve done an excellent job of pissing all over the public discourse to the point that all people can do is say, "I don’t agree with the President all the time, but I don’t have time to tell you why because I’ve got to rally behind / debunk another dump truck of right wing propaganda."
comrade scott's agenda of rage
What we just read was as close to penetrating naval gazing as any Postie will get.
Sad fate for a once-great paper. But, they support nothing but sad political reporters, this is to be expected.
flounder
When someone asked whether there were tax cheats in the Bush Admin or not,
I wrote in the following:
I want to give a whole set of journalistic assumptions "a tough going over".
ET
Also is the seeming near total lack of self awareness. I assume it is part of the incestuous Washington media environment, but the Washington press corps just seem blind to it’s own failings and in total denial about how they have gotten a little to cozy to the political machine.
Maybe I have lived in DC too long but I can’t abide them. Get rid of the op-ed pages, cancel the political nattering shows, and dim the lights from the DC beltway media stars. It doesn’t do them any good, it doesn’t do any good for the country, and it sure as heck doesn’t do anything for political and policy conversation in this country.
John S.
Fixed.
This warped fucking mentality poisons just about everything in our society. It is not unique to the news media, it’s just that we see it from them a lot more because of their public profile.
patrick
That became even more clear when Henry bragged that he had come to the press conference with at least five "provocative" questions. Not informative or thoughtful but provocative. The goal is to goad the prom king so he doesn’t look cool in front of the in crowd. I guess if your good enough at high school you get to do it over and over for big bucks.
zadig
I have to disagree here. This is less hazing than it is the ongoing and continual attempts by the not-so-liberal media to try to prove they’re not the liberal media that the right insists they are. They’ll keep doing this until people realize that the "liberal media" meme is crap and always has been.
The Moar You Know
I don’t expect this to happen in my lifetime. It’s been established for almost forty years, has contaminated at least three generations, and is still widely believed as fact, even by liberals. And it is taken as gospel by the media.
TenguPhule
There are three constants.
Death, Taxes and GOP lies.
Zifnab
@TenguPhule: :-p Please. This is hardly a problem limited strictly to the GOP. The cast of corporate sell-outs in Congress isn’t limited to guys with an (R) in front of their names (despite Tom DeLay’s best efforts).
We’ve been getting stabbed in the back on the bank boys in the New England crowd, knee-capped by the agro-business buddies in the Midwest, and sucker punched by fiscal "hawk" blue dogs for years and years. Democrats with business interests lined up to support Bush Tax Cuts and deregulations and wars. The last 8 years really have separated the liberal men from the DINO boys. And the DINOs loom large (pun!).
It’s not just GOP Lies that got us in this mess.
jake 4 that 1
1. Don’t conflate a handful of transcriptionists with people who live in D.C.
2. Open your eyes, people are still grinning so hard we look like we’ve got rigor mortis.
3. Where were you last year, and the year before that, and the year before that …?
4. Maybe, just possibly, do a little research, stop making shit up and telling us what you think.
TenguPhule
That’s a slap in the bus thrown under the face.
The Moar You Know
@Zifnab: I wish that wasn’t true but it is.
I’m not real fond of the efforts of Chris Dodd to put us all in slave camps run by credit card issuers, for example.
valdivia
OT
ZOMG! World Government! MSNBC is just now saying that coordinated regulation will lead to…. a World Currency and government.
Teh Stupid. It burns.
AhabTDefenestrator
The burning sensation means that Teh Stupid(TM) is working; just relax as let it slowly leeches away your wit and personality!
TR
No, I think it’s exactly the opposite. All of these guys — Ed Henry, David Gregory, etc. — seem like they were hopeless losers in high school. Nerdy, introspective, and deeply deeply unpopular. They see their media status as offering them the chance to reinvent themselves as the cool kids, and they’re desperate to make their mark.
They are, of course, making their mark. They’re showing us all that they’re pathetic children. Still.
AhabTDefenestrator
And another nexus of Obama criticism and Teh Stupid(TM): Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you a horse’s patoot!
valdivia
@AhabTDefenestrator:
oh is that the way it works? thanks for the heads up. I will just sit here and let my brain slowly dissapear (a miracle it has lasted this long given Teh Stupid)
Tax Analyst
Gosh, I’m sitting here struggling to come up with a more apropos mixed metaphor and I just can’t.
Hmmm…but how about "It’s a slap in the face of the baby whose bathwater was thrown under the bus."
Naw, I still like yours better.
AhabTDefenestrator
I think that you both are over-thinking it. In most cases, I doubt that it is anything more than what it appears to be: shallow careerists making their way in a deeply un-serious and sensationalistic society.
The Republicans can get away with it because by the rules, they are not expected to have morals or principles (although I am not sure about morels).
Democrats, and in a broader sense, liberals are to be held to a higher standard, because that is what they aspire to. This applies only in the narrowest sense, and irregardless of any context or detail.
Mary
Is this was an April Fool’s joke? Because it looks like the Obama Administration has punked the GOP Governors refusing to take the stimulus money. Peter Orzag has stated that the state legislatures cannot override the governors’ decisions.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/244/story/65264.html
AhabTDefenestrator
@valdivia: Better living through modern chemistry! ;-)
MikeJ
Thank gopod. I always thought the posturing was stupid. Take away the safety net so they can’t bitch about their cake and repave their highways with it too.
gbear
@AhabTDefenestrator:
Penn Jillette just better cool his Obama-bashing jets or I’ll digitize my 1988 (?) vinyl recording of Never Mind The Sex Pistols, Here’s Bongos, Bass and Bob and post it on the internets. Penn is ‘Bass’, and his song writing ‘skills’ left a lot to be desired. The ‘best’ songs on the record were by
Dean ‘Bongos’ Seal.
DougJ
Stop.
smiley
Sorry to go OT but one has to wonder who makes the gift-giving decisions at the White house. According to a crawl at the BBC site, President Obama gave the Queen an iPod.
Edit: Actually an iPod video with a video of her last visit to the US preloaded.
Dennis-SGMM
OT, but rare candor indeed:
Republicans Disinvite Palin to Major Fundraiser
TenguPhule
There are creams that can fix that….or so I heard.
TenguPhule
April Fool.
Bad Horse's Filly
Slight OT and sorry if it’s been stated before (I’m at work and BJ isn’t exactly on my list of things to do), but wasn’t today the day the Repubs were suppose to release their magic budget? Anyone heard anything?
And just to relevant to the thread – I agree with DougJ all the way. I’m so over these people and their smug idiocy.
BenA
@AhabTDefenestrator:
Sadly, Penn Jillette’s commentary was a lot better than I thought it was going to be…. maybe that’s a sign that my brain is already gone. It could have actually been a decent commentary if he wasn’t such an unbelievably arrogant tool.
smiley
@TenguPhule:
Perhaps. If so, they got me. The other crawls are real news though.
DougJ
@Bad Horse’s Filly
Yeah, TPM is on it.
Bad Horse's Filly
@DougJ: Thanks, that made me feel all warm and snuggly. I can resume my oh-so-important duties now.
Tax Analyst
OOH! I ALMOST FORGOT! I hope they put it out there today, ’cause it will be one of the bestest birthday gifts I ever got.
Thanks for reminding me.
Chris Andersen
I think Mr. MacGillis still doesn’t get it. Notice how he completely avoids the question of the disparity of treatment of Bush and Obama. The media took years to even entertain the idea that Bush was losing popularity, while, with Obama, they keep digging through the polling hoping to find some hint that his popularity is waning.
valdivia
yes the budget is out and it is a joke. Read this about how they plan to change the tax system and what it means for the budget
tam1MI
Not to mention the endless "Bush Comeback!" meme every time the Dauphin’s favorables blipped ever so slightly upward.
Tonal Crow
@Dennis-SGMM: (On GOP Palin disinvite):
1. Apparently she got the invitation "weeks ago", but never answered it. How’s that for executive competence?
2. Some of the comments on that story are precious. Examples: "The GOP needs to remember that there are plenty of women voters out there and the majority of them supported Sarah Palin. And that’s not just GOP women voters.", ""Fox is playing us anyway, trying to keep the topic alive", "When are the vast majority of the GOP going to wake up and realize you are being used by the robber barons?…Maybe it would be better to be the Party of Lincoln than the Party of Bush. ", "There my party goes again – Screwing it up! Will these SO CALLED republicans take a hike & get the real people who hold our parties values into office. Yes, you guys have let us down, again & again & again! GINGRICH – May as well have a democrat run for us! Dumb Shites!"
AnneLaurie
"Dude, I just tagged the White House! I am soooo kewl!"
Maybe the Administration could give out warm-up jackets embroidered with LAMER and the WH seal. The Media Village Idiots loves customized warm-up jackets! Or instead of jogging in the Crawford summer heat, like the previous Oval Office Occupant made them, the MVIs could play five-on-five basketball versus Obama and four selected Secret Service agents. Imagine the oversubcribed lotteries for a spot, and the strutting pathos of the Chosen Ones…
JosieJ
@Dennis-SGMM:
Oooh, burn!
valdivia
in the meantime the NYT is crying about not being called enough in today’s press conference with Brown. Boo hoo hoo.
Hey guys wake up—this is the G20, it is *not* about you.
JosieJ
Damn, how does one make the blockquote all in one box?!
Comrade Nikolita
OT, sorry, but just wanted to say how awesome it is that I click onto BJ and the first ad I saw was one for the Furminator. I’d forgotten to check amazon.com, and it was looking like I’d have to spend at least $30 – $40 on ebay. So thank you John!
—
On topic, I agree with DougJ’s post.
Xecky Gilchrist
@zadig: I have to disagree here. This is less hazing than it is the ongoing and continual attempts by the not-so-liberal media to try to prove they’re not the liberal media that the right insists they are. They’ll keep doing this until people realize that the "liberal media" meme is crap and always has been.
Exactly. "Hazing" eventually ends and they let you be a member of the club.
AnneLaurie
How this techno-incompetent does it: Highlight everything you want blocked, click the B-QUOTE button, highlight it again, click the P (paragraph?) button. The P-button also seems to take the highlighted text out of boldface.
AhabTDefenestrator
And then pray, because even when you do that EXACTLY, it still might be screwed up when you click submit. And don’t count on preview either, uh-uh, no. It is damaged.
Andre
This is classic lampshading. These cretins draw attention to how ridiculous their behaviour is to deflect criticism, then carry on doing it anyway.
Mike in NC
Like McPOW before him, Gingrich knows he’s running out of time to grab the brass ring. He’s setting himself up to be the GOP frontrunner for 2012. Remember he dumped a spouse because she "wasn’t pretty enough to be the president’s wife". Anything about Palin or Jindal is background noise. Get ready to see a lot more of Newt on cable TV and the rightwing radio shows. He’s probably putting the finishing touches on "Contract with America v2.0" for summer rollout.
Tonal Crow
@AhabTDefenestrator: Damaged? This site’s software is "damaged"? Is that all you can say? (BTW, as I’m typing this, my preview screen says "Tonal Crow says:" followed by a line break, followed by a single @ sign.)
This site’s software is not "damaged". Rather, it’s the computational offspring you might get from mating Sarah Palin, William Archibald Spooner, and General Protection.
MNPundit
Can we go back to more internet questions? Those were actually substantive. Normal people ask better questions than Washington Reporters? Who knew?!
AhabTDefenestrator
I was trying to be "nice." I’m told that I am not very good at it.
OrganicGeorge
What makes the Chuck Todd question even more reprehensible is that prior to his absurd question, he had gone on the air and asked the viewing public to send him questions to ask the President.
I would bet that not one person suggested the question he asked. Only somebody with a secure seven figure job would think to ask if the average American worker has sacrificed enough in today’s economy.
smiley
@smiley: Apparently no one is interested in this, and I can’t blame you, but the Obama’s did give the Queen an iPod. The usual suspects are appalled. The Queen gave the Obama’s an autographed photo of her in an engraved silver frame. This kind of thing is going to continue to cause the usual suspects to frame the Obama administration as amateurs, And we all know that the media runs with what the usual suspects get upset about.
/concern troll
[delurk]...[/delurk]
@JosieJ:
I finally got frustrated, right-clicked and hit "view source" to see how a successful multiparagraph blockquote worked. (Substitute less-than/greater-than brackets for square brackets of course:)
[blockquote]
[p]Yada-yada-yada.[/p]
[p]
[p]Blah-blah-blah.[/p]
[p]
[p]Homina-homina-homina[/p]
[/blockquote]
gwangung
And a Richard Rogers songbook.
I dunno…what the hell is wrong with giving that kind of stuff? Seems perfectly fine to me (but then, I’m considered particularly guache….)
smiley
@gwangung:
Giving modern technology to an 84 year old woman is gauche, apparently (it’s been reported that she already has an iPod). I dunno, maybe sticking to traditional gifts for the first year or two can cut down on the "diplomatic gaffe, blunder" meme. OTOH, imagine if President Obama had given the Queen of England an autographed photo of hisself!
Breezeblock
Wait, I live in NJ for some 47 odd years (some odd, some not so much). Where the fuck is Scranton, NJ?
The Pale Scot
It’s in Pennsy Bro, I thought the same
Steeplejack
@[delurk]…[/delurk]:
I’m late to the thread again (as usual), but here’s what absolutely works. Substitute HTML angle brackets for the braces below.