June 11, 2013

"President Obama held an off-the-record meeting with select reporters from some of the nation’s largest print and online outlets Monday..."

"... in the White House’s latest effort to placate an increasingly restive press corps."
Initially billed as a conversation with White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, the president made a surprise appearance — a very unusual move — and the White House placed the proceedings off the record beforehand. The meeting came amid a series of scandals crashing over the White House that has placed the administration on defense in a way it hasn’t been until now.

61 comments:

pm317 said...

a very unusual move

My foot.. fxxkers! (Sorry, Ann).

pm317 said...

So boycotting off-record tete e tete works only with Holder. Obama has still got it, baby!

Mark O said...

JHC.

SteveR said...

Why doesn't he talk to us? First time for everything.

Anonymous said...

Off the record to send out his MSM propagandists to placate the restive little people who have voted for him.

David said...

So much for refusing off the record. It was all for show. The sucking up continues.

Trust No One.

edutcher said...

He's going to save AmnestyCare - which may be the one thing that can kill it.

Yeah, he'd love to change the subject, but sticking his foot in this makes nobody happy.

And will not save his scrawny ass.

Carl said...

Didn't know Obama was on JournoList. Should've guessed!

Mogget said...

Haha. They're gonna fall for him again. It was all just a misunderstanding, see. He really does love you and he'll totally respect you in the morning.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

He needs his cheerleaders to tow the line.. and understand... and laugh a bit. Those silly Americans.

Gahrie said...

He didn't mean to hurt you, but you got him so angry.....so just don't get him angry anymore..OK?

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Beorn said...

I hope somebody saves the blue dress for evidence later.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Wake Up! The donks and repubs are gaining steam for a massive national screw over.

Can I go to France for free?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Private press meetings with a select few. Lemme guess.. Politico and the Journolisters.
Viva pro-Obama cheerleaders. *go team go*.

Brent said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
SteveR said...

So they had a circle jerk, who was the pivot man?

Brent said...

Will somebody PLEASE tell me why the off-the-record meeting with journalists - when the White House called the session and obviously only has an interest in making itself look good is in any way a good thing for the country?

I don't care who is in the White House . . . is this a good thing for the people of this country? Or is it only really good for the Administration and the press, this keeping Americans in the dark?

Seriously.

Anyone?

lemondog said...

Off the Record

A common practice with past presidents?

Beorn said...

@SteveR
So they had a circle jerk, who was the pivot man?

Well, Obama has been wanting to pivot to the economy for several years now. Maybe this is his chance.

carrie said...

Think what would happen if we had a president who wasn't committed to transparency.

carrie said...

Think what would happen if we had a president who wasn't committed to transparency.

Michael Haz said...

Now, now, now. It's the President's job to tell the journalists what to write. If he didn't, how would they ever write anything?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Off the record.

From the administration that promised transparency.



lemondog said...

Will the NSA be blocked?

lemondog said...

WH has a lead-lined room, right?

Ipso Fatso said...

My guess is that Obama-clown, Josh Marshall, was there, sitting right next to Obama, dreamily gazing into his saviors eyes. God, I hate the press.

Lewis Wetzel said...

I think that the meeting happened because Obama wants to hear where the journo's are in this scandal business.
He knows that he is a creature of the press. If they turn on him, if they treat him the way that they treated GW Bush from his first day in office, he's toast.

Oso Negro said...

It is sickening to think that a roomful of "journalists" can participate in an "off-the-record" session in times like these and not a one of them has the stones to say "fuck it", I am reporting this anyway.

Peter said...

Oh, just buy off the press with a shield law. (With some federal bureau deciding who is and isn't a journalist, of course- or perhaps the IRS could do it.)

And buy off The People with some more free stuff.


traditionalguy said...

The mouth that is lying if it's moving is moving faster and faster...off the record of course. Records can be proof of lies later. That's why we take depositions under oath.

Obama is never under oath any more than Dracula is around during daylight. But a blunt assessment in a talk to the American people would sort of put Obama in the same bind.

Michael K said...

Did he bring his TelePrompter ?

Methadras said...

He needed to disseminate his daily instructions. They weren't on their knees that long.

Amartel said...

Gawd, what a bunch of starfuckers. I hope nobody squealed or wet his pants when the celebrity in chief made a surprise guest appearance.

I have a compromise suggestion for the MSM which is clearly deeply in love and can neither see nor hear nor sense in any way any wrongdoing on Boyfriend's part. I bet the scandals just make him seem more interestingly dangerous. Fine. I've been in love and I know how that is. So. Do your job as to every other bureaucrat, congresscritter and government functionary. Pretend they're Bush! Pretend the government is like the world's most enormous horrible twisted corporation. Boooo, corporations. Boo, Booooosh. Investigate, question, look with skepticism and contempt on the transparently false and phony justifications they offer. Accept nothing at face value. Finally be the tough guy voice of the people you allegedly went to journalism school to be.

Amartel said...

Gawd, what a bunch of starfuckers. I hope nobody squealed or wet his pants when the celebrity in chief made a surprise guest appearance.

I have a compromise suggestion for the MSM which is clearly deeply in love and can neither see nor hear nor sense in any way any wrongdoing on Boyfriend's part. I bet the scandals just make him seem more interestingly dangerous. Fine. I've been in love and I know how that is. So. Do your job as to every other bureaucrat, congresscritter and government functionary. Pretend they're Bush! Pretend the government is like the world's most enormous horrible twisted corporation. Boooo, corporations. Boo, Booooosh. Investigate, question, look with skepticism and contempt on the transparently false and phony justifications they offer. Accept nothing at face value. Finally be the tough guy voice of the people you allegedly went to journalism school to be.

Limited Blogger said...

“Think of the press as a great keyboard
on which the government can play.” ― Joseph Goebbels

http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/281832.Joseph_Goebbels

Fritz said...

Oh, just buy off the press with a shield law. (With some federal bureau deciding who is and isn't a journalist, of course- or perhaps the IRS could do it.)

Piece of cake. Make a federal journalism license with a tax and let the non-profits side of the IRS decide who gets one.

AllenS said...

From the article:

and reporters from The New York Times, Washington Post, Huffington Post, Time, McClatchy, Politico, Tribune, NPR, Bloomberg, USA Today, AFP, Yahoo and other outlets were milling around the briefing room waiting to be called in. In total, about two dozen reporters were included.

These are the people you never, and I mean never, want to trust as a news source. Chickenshits, all.

Chip Ahoy said...

It was kneepad handing out day. The new ones are an homage to the new Superman. The red white and blue is gone, replaced with gunmetal gray chainmail design, and turns out the O represents "optimism" all along.

AllenS said...

Did Bush ever do this? And, if he did, who showed up for the secret off the record get together?

Anonymous said...

Let me be clear, you know our ideals line up, so how do we get this thing back on track?

Chip Ahoy said...

Those things get torn up under heavy use you know, fer instance, by way of comparison, a ballet dancer can go through six pair of shoes a week. Those pointe things. And that's an average classical dancer. Man, that's gotta be h e double hockeysticks on your feet. It's gotta tear 'em up don't you think? Well, these are not ballet shoes but rather kneepads and the regular professional rugkickers are insufficiently rugged for this kind of heavyduty world class fellatery.

Bryan C said...

I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. After all, it's not like the administration would ever gather information under false pretenses for the purpose of targeting uncooperative journalists. Though, now that mention it, I'm sure that would be perfectly legal. Perhaps even essential. Practically required, now that we think about it.

hawkeyedjb said...

This is how the news gets disappeared. President Obama comes to the room and pets his puppies, gives them a biscuit, and they're all happy and slobbery again.

"Roll over boy, let me pet your tummy." And all of a sudden, it's important to remember the nuances of national security. And let's write something about Sarah Palin.

Matt Sablan said...

If it is off-the-record, what's the point of going since you can't report on it?

Tom said...

It's time for Obama to explain his precise position on each of these scandals to the American people, ultimately is employer and the people which he is privileged to lead and serve. We need to hear precisely from him he is not a crook. We're all accountable for our actions and the actions of those we lead. Time for him to accept that accountability.

Tom said...

Lets list the scandals:

Solandria
Secret Service Prostitutes
Benghazi
EPA fake email accounts
IRS targeting tax exempt liberty minded groups
IRS targeting Romney donors
"Tell Putin ill have more flexibility after the election"
Candy Crowley
Mrs O Vacations
NSA domestic spying
Drones killing US citizens
Drones terrorizing northern Pakistan
CIA director affair
DHS (homeland) buying ammo
Other DHS shaking down healthcare companies to donate to Obamacare propaganda
GM bailout
NLRB Boeing ruling (not allowing a new jet to be built in right to work South Carolina)

That's off the top of my head - what am I missing?

Michael K said...

Blogger Matthew Sablan said...

"If it is off-the-record, what's the point of going since you can't report on it?"

Blowjobs are always off the record. Ask Bill.

Chip S. said...

The man's entire life is off the record.

Saint Croix said...

I swear, Obama acts like he is Screwtape sometimes. Or Darth Vader. "Come on over to the dark side! Don't you want to have a secret meeting with me? I will let you inside my circle of corruption."

Is he not trying to seduce them? Tempt them?

I picture the New York Times in a skirt, trying to keep its virtue intact.

CWJ said...

You're right. It is seduction, nothing more. We are no longer citizens acting upon the information before us. We are peasants. We are irrelevant to those who revel in power or being close to power.

The short answer is that once the feds stopped doing things and started simply moving money from one group to another, the jig was up. It opened Pandora's box. From then on it was only a matter of time before machine politics would work its way to the top of government, and now it has.

In Europe they were called courtiers. In the Us we called them ward heelers. Different phrases, no difference.

Methadras said...

I wonder if Little Miss Sullivan is still sulking because her dream to be the kneeler-in-chief was passed over once again. Will she ever get a break to see her dream of devouring her god's chum come true?

glenn said...

Well at least we have a list of some of the media outlets we never could trust anyway. Snicker Snicker.

effinayright said...

"Those things [kneepads] get torn up under heavy use you know, fer instance, by way of comparison, a ballet dancer can go through six pair of shoes a week."

Ffffttt. Obama goes through twice that many shoes a week, breaking his wingtips off in the asses of Journolists who didn't quite meet their quota of regurgitating talking points and toed-lines.

"We're gonna have a contest here," he snarled, "and the winner gets to keep his WH press credentials."

(second prize: a set of steak knives)

Levi Starks said...

he had them at hello

lonetown said...

Did it include any bloggers? because, let's face it, they are the only ones doing any real reporting and thus are the real reporters.

Robert Cook said...

Every reporter who attended the "off the record" meeting has disgraced him- or herself and rendered themselves forever untrustworthy, as "damaged goods."

If they all had refused the meeting if it were off the record, I wonder how swiftly the White House would have capitulated and agreed to let it remain "for the record?"

Michael Haz said...

Had GWB held an off-the-record breifing, two things would have happened: Either (1) None of those who attended the BHO briefing would have attended, or (2) They would have attended and then written articles reporting excatly what was briefed off-the- record.

But with BHO? A compliant media does what he asks, then thanks him for the opportunity.

Robert Cook said...

"Did it include any bloggers? because, let's face it, they are the only ones doing any real reporting and thus are the real reporters."

How would we know? The meeting was "off the record!"

(BTW, most bloggers do not "report" anything, but merely comment on what others have reported.)

Anonymous said...

Look what they do when you call them out on their blatant media bias: "Oh, so you're saying everybody gets together in a room where they all agree on what they're going to say? That's ridiculous"

Well, here you go.

Anthony said...

I call it a BHO-job.