Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

People are complicated. Love is not.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Let there be snark.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

The revolution will be supervised.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

“More of this”, i said to the dog.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Now That’s Entertainment

Now That’s Entertainment

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This post is in: 

This is so funny:


Here’s the backstory in case you have a life and missed it. The Daily Beast wrote a piece with a banner headline stating that Jen Psaki’s team solicited questions before the press conference. Of course, this is pretty normal, even though the White House Correspondents’ Association whined and cried about it. Then, Palmieri picked up the story and said it was a big deal because Psaki would only call on those who told her their questions in advance. As Favreau points out, as well as noted harrasser James Fallows*, the Daily Beast piece itself said that Psaki had called on every single reporter, every time, in her press conferences to date. So, yes, Palmeri is lying, and Psaki and team are just trying to do a better job by anticipating and researching reporters’ questions. Calling Favreau’s response “harassment” is, basically, this:

Now That's Entertainment

Standing by itself, this isn’t really that noteworthy, other than to point out that a dumb drama queen, Palmeri, is co-editor of the execrable Politico Playbook. But, in the context of the original story, it makes me hate the White House Correspondents’ Association even more than I thought I did (which was a whole fucking lot).

First, they are wimps. Overall, they did a pretty poor job standing up to Trump, but now that the bully isn’t around to slap them around anymore, they’re gonna try to butch themselves up by going after Psaki with nothingburger nontroversies. This is classic weak victim behavior.

Second, even though they were slapped around by Trump, they filed a lot of attention-getting copy as White House correspondents because of Trump. And it was easy copy: Trump tweeted something, they wrote a story about it after getting a couple of reactions from whomever Trump offended that day. Psaki is clearly pushing back on that tradition by referring them to other executive branch agencies, and refusing to say what Biden thinks about every controversy of the day. They hate this because they’ll get fewer bylines.

Finally, some reporters like Jim Acosta made themselves part of the story by being the target for Trumpy anger. That’s not going to happen, so, again, less attention.

I really wish that the Biden White House would start giving more answers like Dr. Jill Biden did when asked about Biden’s “gaffes” — basically, don’t even go there.

*That’s a joke, Fallows is the least confrontational human being on Twitter or anywhere else.

Reader Interactions

103Comments

  2. 2.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    also im surprised you of all people would weigh in.

    ??? sounds like there’s a backstory there? I only know him from the O’Bros podcast, but Favreau seems about as aggressive as a golden retriever.

    and per her twitter bio, Palmieri used to work at the NY Post and the DC Examiner, so…. large grains of salt

  4. 4.

    Cheryl Rofer

    The reporters who are whining about this are giving away their game bigtime – we don’t want answers, we want gotchas!

    Psaki has been doing a good job of minimizing the questions on today’s Twitter nontroversies. She shut down one on the Gamerboys/RobinHood/whatever the other day, and I think there have been others.

    Secretary of State Blinken did something similar yesterday. I don’t have either exchange at hand, but the theme seems to be “We’re dealing with serious problems here, not playing games.”

    I love it.

  7. 7.

    Four Seasons Total Landscaping mistermix

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I guess if James Fallows and Jon Favreau are going after you on Twitter, and you want to play victim, you have to pick the meanest one, and Favs is definitely meaner than Fallows.

  8. 8.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Tara Palmeri @tarapalmeri 22h
    Thanks for featuring my latest dispatch from Wyoming on @TheView @MeghanMcCain nailed it — as per usual

    The View @TheView · 23h

    .@MeghanMcCain calls Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene “loud and embarrassing and not effective”: “Greene is giving the media and giving the public exactly the wrong thing at the wrong moment.”
    “I do think she should be removed from any and all appointments she had.”

    …. “Meghan McCain nailed it. As per usual.”
    My goodness.

  9. 9.

    Chyron HR

    I got bad news for you, sunshine–if Psaki knows you’re a stupid asshole, she doesn’t have to call on you either.

  10. 10.

    Fair Economist

    @zhena gogolia: It’s almost a pity Navalny’s not a woman because his line from the speech:

    Well, now we’ll have Vladimir the Underpants Poisoner.

    could be in English:

    Putin the panty poisoner.

  11. 11.

    rikyrah

    @Cheryl Rofer:

     

    The reporters who are whining about this are giving away their game bigtime – we don’t want answers, we want gotchas!

     

    They don’t want substance. Referring them to other agencies would mean that they would have to actually KNOW about the subject matter. They would have to research. They would have to actually know about the substance of the story, and not just ‘policy’.

    They don’t want that.

    And, if they don’t want to do any work, then get a new job.

  13. 13.

    Fair Economist

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    [email protected] calls Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene “loud and embarrassing and not effective”:

    And so Meghan admits in a kind of Freudian slip that she’s on the same team as MTG. MTG is just making tactical mistakes by, I guess, being open about antisemitism *before* the Republicans have put the Jews in the camps, or something like that.

  14. 14.

    trnc

    I think Psaki should have a “5 minute fun time” at the end of her briefings where any reporter who asked a serious question on policy that day gets to ask about the AF1 color scheme or which treats Champ and Major like, or why Don Jr won’t be able to have xbox in federal prison. This would basically guarantee Palmeri never gets to ask a question.

  15. 15.

    Soprano2

    I think some members of the press need a 12-step program to break them of their Trump addiction. That’s what you’re seeing here, some of them got used to the press briefings being nasty, with “gotcha” lines and pointed barbs, and that’s what they’re looking for now. They forgot that press briefings are supposed to actually disseminate information!

  18. 18.

    Another Scott

    Psaki is excellent.

    ObOpenThread:

    Hi, it's Ken, your friendly area guy who gets offputtingly agitated when you don't display the same obsessive grasp of legal history and terminology that he has amassed at the cost of his very soul!

    Let's talk about the "shout fire in a theater" thing.

    /1https://t.co/4X3h1Or0sQ

    — UnitesStatesofPopehat (@Popehat) February 2, 2021

    #NOTALLSNAKES

    Excellent thread.

    That is all.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  19. 19.

    Amir Khalid

    Jen Psaki calls on every reporter in the room, every time. And she asks for questions in advance so she can have answers ready. In my own journo days, I never had the pleasure of working with a corporate or political press sec who showed that level of professionalism.

  22. 22.

    Edmund Dantes

    Sports reporters are the worst for this. There is a reason they hate Belichick. He doesn’t give anodyne stupid answers to stupid questions. He doesn’t humor them.

    ask him a real football question, and he will go into great detail and explanation. But something stupid like “what’s your plan for how to defeat the upcoming team?”

    bill parcels gave good copy. Belichick makes you actually work.  

  25. 25.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @schrodingers_cat: Rolex is a well known and reasonably identifiable luxury brand.  It is also the brand Biden happened to be wearing.  It is my understanding that he also owns two Omegas of similar value.  The brand doesn’t particularly matter as much as find a Democrat doing something “wrong.”

  33. 33.

    Joe Falco

    @Omnes Omnibus: It’s the “wealth signaling” that’s easily turned into arguments by rabble-rousers on Twitter and such that Democrats and/or Democratic leadership don’t care about the plight of everyday Americans. Whether it’s Joe wearing Rolexes or Pelosi showing off deep freezers full of ice cream, every picture is shown as evidence of Dems being insensitive and that they are just bad as Republicans. It’s simple-minded but effective propaganda.

  34. 34.

    BruceFromOhio

    LOLOL watching the DPB now, and Psaki is just fucking masterful. She doesn’t dodge anything, she takes it all on.

    I have no inkling who Tara Palmieri is, other than she’s simply wrong. I look forward to the twatterverse twattering her ruthlessly.​

    ETA: @Amir Khalid: ​  it shows, this stuff is engaging, refreshing, informative.​

  35. 35.

    Old School

    @cain:

    Looks like we are completely going to be skipping Gen Xers. That’s ok, we’re cool with that.

    I was thinking Kamala Harris was Gen X, but she was born in October 1964.  Gen X starts in 1965.

  38. 38.

    Hoodie

    Sounds like Manchin is a go for reconciliation.  He’s got Justice saying go big back home while his bipartisan friends in the Senate GOP are searching the couch cushions for quarters.   Pretty easy choice there.

  39. 39.

    West of the Rockies

    Has Biden and co. rescinded press credentials for the crazies Trump brought in (OAN, for example)?

  40. 40.

    Major Major Major Major

    @Hoodie: if you think the Justice Dems threatening to primary Manchin had anything to do with this decision, I have a bridge to sell you. He was always a yes, this is kayfabe. Filibuster will be gone by August IMO, we just have to watch them go through the motions.

  43. 43.

    Dan B

    @Major Major Major Major: It’s great that Pete Buttigieg was confirmed today.  The first openly gay cabinet member.  The list of Senators who voted against confirmation forms a simple ven diagram.  You know, a circle, with the most execrable RWNJ’s in the senate.  Cruz, Cotton, etc.

    It’s especially poignant for the thousands of LGBT people who were fired from government jobs between the 50’s and 90’s, and the hundreds of thousands who lived in fear.  Being fired for being LGBT was a Scarlet Letter that would derail most job prospects.  How many suicides resulted?  There were far more people fired for being gay than for being communist.

    When I figured out that I was “homosexual” at age 14, because my younger brother was interested in Playboy and I was not at all, I had no idea where the word homosexual came from, but I knew it described me.  The only source was the McCarthy Hearings.  That was the only time I heard the word growing up.  I realized in an instant that I had to be invisible or I would be in serious trouble.  To have Mayor Pete confirmed is one more break in that horrible chain of repression.

  46. 46.

    Roger Moore

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    The reporters who are whining about this are giving away their game bigtime – we don’t want answers, we want gotchas!

    This is exactly the right framing.  Psaki wants to know their questions in advance so she has a chance to research the answer.  If the goal of the question is to get an answer, that’s great.  It’s only a problem if the goal is to make her look bad by stumping her.

  49. 49.

    The Moar You Know

    They bent the knee fully for Trump.  I expect nothing less than a four-year attempt to undermine a non-fascist, non- Republican (but I repeat myself) administration.  I think the Biden admin expects nothing else as well.

  50. 50.

    Jeffro

    @Major Major Major Major: we’ll gladly count her in with GenX since she’s only a few months shy of the ‘official’ demarcation  ;)

    My kids seem to think it’s doubly funny to occasionally thrown an “ok boomer” at me it’s it’s both a) insulting and b) inaccurate.

    I respond with some of their dumb Gen Z slang, which usually shuts them up right away.

  53. 53.

    BruceFromOhio

    @Roger Moore:

    It’s only a problem if the goal is to make her look bad by stumping her.

    She gets stumped, as in, does not have a ready answer to a specific question. But she’s handily demonstrated two useful mechanisms: “I don’t know, I’ll get back to you” and then she does, and referring to a question as “it’s the plane of the day”, as in, okay, that’s kind of ridiculous, but I’ll check into it any way.

    .. and she’s saying just now to a reporter, “that’s not what I said, and I don’t appreciate you putting words in my mouth.”

    Stump away, OAN or whoever else wants to play.

  54. 54.

    Roger Moore

    @Old School:

    I was thinking Kamala Harris was Gen X, but she was born in October 1964. Gen X starts in 1965.

    The boundary between Boomer and Gen X is a bit fuzzy.  I’ve heard it placed at 1960/1 rather than 1964/5.  The social changes that mark the beginning of the new generation came before the end of the demographic boom.

  55. 55.

    Brachiator

    @Dan B:

    Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., and a Democratic presidential candidate, received overwhelming bipartisan support with a 86-13 vote.

    Perhaps it is a hopeful sign that the vote was pretty goddam overwhelming. Most of the “family values” Republicans got on board.

  57. 57.

    aliasofwestgate

    Jen Psaki is Gen X, btw. Born in 1978. *grins* I love seeing her romp over the idiot questions and making sure information is gotten out as accurately as possible.

  61. 61.

    PST

    James Fallows may not be particularly confrontational, but he has certainly been forthright, consistent, and unrelenting in his criticism of Trump. I still remember the long series of Trump Time Capsule during the 2016 campaign.

  66. 66.

    PST

    I just finished the House Trial Memorandum. It is masterful, especially in its statement of facts. I very much liked the 77 days story in the New York Times, but this is much better. I expected it to be good, but it was even better. (There should be a word for things we expected to love but love even more than we expected.) I admit some of the discussion over Senate jurisdiction bored me a little, but I can’t see how it could be otherwise. The recitation of facts, though, is gripping and persuasive. I don’t know how anyone could read that while planning to vote to acquit and not burn with shame. Of course, some won’t read it and others are shameless, but the memorandum really does the job. It can be found here as a google document, but I’m sure it is everywhere. I guess I should read the rebuttal now.

  70. 70.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    in one of the WH briefings I saw, Psaki called on Nepotistic Fox troll fail-son Doocey Jr twice, and both his questions were petulant trolling

  71. 71.

    JoyceH

    @trnc: ​
     

    I think Psaki should have a “5 minute fun time” at the end of her briefings where any reporter who asked a serious question on policy that day gets to ask about the AF1 color scheme or which treats Champ and Major like, or why Don Jr won’t be able to have xbox in federal prison.

    I’m here for that. Because frankly, I want to KNOW that the Biden administration is jettisoning the plan to repaint AF1 so that it looks like a gaudy Trump Org plane. And I’m always ready for a good Champ and Major story.

  72. 72.

    jonas

    @Cheryl Rofer:  we don’t want answers, we want gotchas!

    This ^^.  1. By “tough” questions she means stupid “gotcha” bullshit that informs absolutely no-one, but lets the reporter make themselves part of the story.

  73. 73.

    jonas

    @PST: It’s especially important in light of the fact that Trump’s defense will basically boil down to his lawyer standing up and reading the words “go fuck yourselves” off a 3×5 card.

  74. 74.

    WaterGirl

    Speaking of Jen P….

    I remember when I started rewatching Homicide in reruns a million years ago.  it was so obvious that they were using the first few episodes to “teach us” what we needed to know.

    We learned about the board, about the teams, about someone being “primary”, etc.  They were teaching us the rules.

    That’s what Jen is doing to these reporters who are either lazy or stupid.  She teaches them “circle back”, and she does just that.  Yesterday she taught them not to pull the stupid “some people say” bullshit in the framing of their questions.

    Today, she taught them what happens when they try to get cute and twist her words: “I don’t appreciate you putting words in my mouth… that is not what I said”.

    I went to Catholic grade school, and I have to say Jen’s approach reminds me of a much more gentle version of getting your knuckles smacked with a ruler wielded by a nun.

    I can totally see why Jen would appeal to Biden.  Be nice, be respectful, but don’t take any bullshit.

  77. 77.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Major Major Major Major: there’s a bit more today, about primarying Manchin and Sinema. I’d get behind a Reuben Gallego challenge of Sinema, though former Phoenician Suzanne says that’s not realistic

  79. 79.

    cain

    @Old School:

    On the other hand, GenXs are represented by the likes of Ted Cruz – which is a good reason to just skip us and move on to millennials :)

  80. 80.

    randy khan

    I’ve read some of the transcripts of the briefings and they are really marvelous.  She’s direct, clear, knowledgeable, but also willing to acknowledge what she doesn’t know.  And some humor, too.

  82. 82.

    citizen dave

    @WaterGirl: It’s a beautiful thing happening, and Jen Psaki is at the front of the administration.  As noted above, they are dealing with serious issues.  I’ve been thinking about the actual strategy and planning that Biden and his team are now implementing (including teaching the press to be press)–it is wondrous.  The other day I was watching one of the briefings and thinking of that old adage that you don’t have to remember stuff if you’re always telling the truth

    google: Understanding Mark Twain’s “If you tell the truth you don’t have to remember anything” Quote. Mark Twain is said to have said, “If you tell the truth you don’t have to remember anything,” meaning if you tell a lie you have to remember what lie you told to who.Aug 22, 2016

  84. 84.

    cain

    @Jeffro:

    I don’t think they know that the Gen Xers pretty much built the modern Internet lingo/memes and everything else and we adapt very quickly. :-)

    #WeBuiltThis

  85. 85.

    louc

    @PST: I’ve been an admirer of James Fallows since he accurately predicted the destabilization of Eastern Europe after the fall of the Iron Curtain and the death of Tito. The Serbian War started sooner after.

  86. 86.

    zhena gogolia

    @Fair Economist:

    Well, the investigation has revived the archaic word “codpiece,” because the FSB guy said they put the poison in the “codpiece” (gulfik), which sounds hilarious in Russian.

  88. 88.

    HumboldtBlue

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I just got my Twitter privileges back after I comment on a McCain whiny-ass post yesterday.

    The silly bint was whinging about the GOP being labeled extremist and crying she was being lumped in with the rest.

    Twitter didn’t like it I called her a fat-ass traitor who has all the intellect of a bowl of cottage cheese.

    Or something like that.

  91. 91.

    karen marie

    @HumboldtBlue:  My twitter account was suspended on January 7th (Permanently?  Who knows!  Twitter hasn’t responded to my appeal – I don’t expect they ever will.) after I tweeted about her in an unflattering way.  No threats – not even remotely.  It’s actually been a bonus.  I can visit and read specific accounts but can’t do anything else.  I’ve been doing much more constructive things with all the time that’s suddenly been freed up.

  92. 92.

    Ken

    @Major Major Major Major: Filibuster will be gone by August IMO, we just have to watch them go through the motions.

    I’m thinking sooner, if the Republicans keep blocking the organizing resolution and the change of committee chairs.  I can’t think of anything more likely to get a Senator riled up than keeping him (or her) from power.

  93. 93.

    Kathleen

    @Cheryl Rofer: You are so right about the “gotchas”. And it seems like the entire Biden administration has neither the time nor the patience for it. I’m loving it!

  95. 95.

    Kathleen

    @schrodingers_cat:  The real question is what WON’T be the fancy mustard and tan suit. I tweeted today that I predict the 1/6/21 insurrection/riot will quickly be known as “Biden’s Katrina”.

  97. 97.

    Kathleen

    @Major Major Major Major: Like the new homeowners on the Progressive ads who are being coached on how not to turn into their parents since they bought their houses. My favorite is the woman saying, “I’m going to have a big lunch then just have a snack for dinner” into her speakerphone. I so resemble so many of those people in the commercial it cracks me up.

  98. 98.

    Anya

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I wasn’t sure about what she meant by that. Maybe she means he’s too close to the admin, he might as well be part of the administration so he’s biased?

     

    Her aggressiveness and defensiveness says much about her and her agenda. What a tool.

  99. 99.

    Anya

    @Fair Economist: Meghan McCain cried on the View when Ilhan Omar was making headlines about her ill advised “It’s about the Benjamins” tweet because it hurt her ‘family’ Joe and Hadassah Lieberman but now it’s a tactical error rather than antisemitism. You can always depend on Meghan McCain to make everything about her, and to be tribalistic. I honestly don’t understand why she’s a thing?

  100. 100.

    Anya

    @Dan B: Thank you for sharing. “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” Let’s hope we continue marching towards justice to the point that we won’t ever need to celebrate  “the first…” in anything.

  101. 101.

    RSA

    @rp:

    Life is moving at a faster and faster pace, so what once took weeks or months into an administration to figure out now only takes days.

    That’s a Wrath of Khan allusion, isn’t it? Unfortunately, I’m not smart enough to figure it out.

  103. 103.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Dan B: Thank you for sharing.  This is a good reminder that I need to congratulate all my LGBTQ friends.

    PS- if you don’t watch it already, Netflix’ comedy Sex Education has some very lovely and moving depictions of young LGBTQ students becoming aware of their sexuality, coming out etc.  It’s also a hilarious show.  But the queer coming-of-age aspects are really great, positive and uplifting (while not sugar-coating the challenges, stress etc.).  It’s one of those shows that we literally can say “made us laugh, made us cry” for just about every episode.

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