Tuesday, May 25, 2010

The lapdogs are getting hungry: Obama ignores the press


In today’s Washington Examiner, Byron York details how Obama is abusing his media lapdogs. Obama has basically abandoned the formal news press conference format. 
Will Barack Obama go an entire year without holding a formal news conference? He’s getting close: The president’s last full-scale session with the press was on July 22, 2009, which was 307 days ago. […]
In its defense, the White House says Obama answers a lot of questions from reporters, just not in the traditional news-conference setting. In fact, the president does a lot of one-on-one interviews, frequently with sympathetic reporters. But even in terms of brief question-and-answer sessions with the White House press corps, he has still done fewer than Bush or Clinton.
The neutered lapdogs of the media are starting to yap that Dear Leader won’t feed them their kibble. But they have no one to blame but themselves. These folks flat out let it be known to both Obama and the public that they were on his side. So, no surprise that Obama has now chosen to abuse this cozy relationship. Obama is fully aware of the symbiotic relationship between Democrats and the media. Add to the mix that the White House is in a position to dole out information and now you have the current situation.

I think Obama may want to start doling out some kibble again, because even the tiniest dogs can bite when you starve them.  The oil spill in the Gulf is just the kind of story that gets the lapdogs growling.  Witness this hungry little mutt.

 

16 comments:

Lipton T. Bagg said...

Clifton:

IMHO, not gonna happen.

I discussed this a bit earlier in the month:

http://viewedfromtheright.blogspot.com/2010/05/welcome-to-obama-news-netor-for-short.html

And while there is sarcasm inserted in the commentary, the message from the White House is clear:

"We don't trust the press - even the MSM - to spin things as we desire; so we will spin it for you". Simply put, I believe Obama to be creating a quasi-state media agency to control and disseminate his message. Press agencies either follows lockstep, or becomes an enemy of the Administration.

It's as Orwellian as we've ever seen the U.S. Government. And saddens me greatly.

-LTB

LL said...

Part of barack hussein obama's problem is that he doesn't do well in interview settings where there is no "friendly one-on-one reporter" to allow edits and softball questions. We joke about his NEED for a teleprompter but it's a real problem for him. Whenever he doesn't read from a script he "goes off message" and gets into trouble.

I don't think we'll see anymore press conferences with obama.

El Cerdo Ignatius said...

Barack held so many interviews and press events early in his presidency that he cheapened the currency, to borrow a term from (dare I?) Richard Nixon. And now that the president is likely to find himself on the defensive, albeit by the standards set by his obsequious press groupies, he's not too likely to put himself out there anytime soon.

But he'd be wise not to let it run on too long - if I were him, I'd hold a press conference before the financial situation in Europe gets any worse. And we all know just how clueless Obama is on economic issues.

Jess said...

The problem he now faces is that the press is not static. Without any input, they'll create what's necessary, which leads to a defensive position. This is never advantagious to a sitting President. Politically, he's turned the tides towards his own failure.

Cynthia Yockey, A Conservative Lesbian said...

Thank you for the "Blog of the Day" listing! I looked for your RSS feed to put you in the newsfeed at my place and couldn't find it. If you don't have one yet, check out Feedburner at Google and please let me know when you have one. I want to get to know you better. As minorities on the conservative side, we have the power to pushback against the deadly apathy of grievance groupthink the Left uses to keep minorities passive and dependent. I think we need to get people excited about how conservativism empowers people to fulfill their full potential. I look forward to learning more about how you see this.

Janelle said...

Old dog jokes keep coming to mind, but I'd just as soon feed this POTUS kibble, instead of very spendy Japanese beef. But, I'm heartened that he is so busy building his own doghouse that he hasn't noticed the feral cats.

Anonymous said...

Love the picture of the dog, but there's no way to tell if it's neutered. If so, you've found the perfect mascot for the Lame Stream Media.

Osumashi Kinyobe said...

How refreshing it would be to see the media turn on Obama like a pack of rabid dogs. Their deliberate fawning of this bozo is delicious schadenfraude in and of itself but if they turn on him that would just be awesome.

Clifton B said...

LL:

Part of barack hussein obama's problem is that he doesn't do well in interview settings where there is no "friendly one-on-one reporter" to allow edits and softball questions.

Bret Baier proved this point!

Clifton B said...

Lipton T. Bag:

You make a great point in your post about Obama creating his own news network. However, time and time again we have seen the MSM display their strong belief in their own self importance. They may love Obama and the Democrats, but they do not love them to the point of their own extinction. Sooner or later they will be forced to bite Obama or risk being officially irrelevant.

BTW: That is one great screen name you picked, KUDOS!

Clifton B said...

El Cerdo:

You are right, Obama spent his face time currency within two months of taking the presidency. He is nothing special now. However, keep the press at bay is a necessity, because Obama has way too many contradictions that are still unanswered. A press conference would be like walking through a mine field. He could never know which contradiction would come up.

You are correct to say if he does break down to hold a press conference, holding one before Europe flops would be best.

Clifton B said...

Jess:

As I said in an earlier comment, the press will not tolerate being made officially irrelevant. They are going to bite him sooner or later.

Clifton B said...

Cynthia Yockey:

Glad to give you blog of the day. I have admired your blog since I first ran across it at The Other McCain.

My RSS feed should be on the right hand side of the blog, just below the search block. Pick ATOM from the pull down menu. Just in case I got a Feedburner addy today http://feeds.feedburner.com/ AnotherBlackConservative

Nothing would please me more than to "pushback against the deadly apathy of grievance groupthink the Left uses".

I will drop you an email shortly!

Clifton B said...

Janelle:

You are so right about the dog house and the cats. He doesn't realize that the media still has a few tiny teeth left.

Given the way he has blow through our nation's cash, he should eat only kibble from now until 2012.

Clifton B said...

madmath1:

Of course it is neutered, why do you think it is snarling now ;-0

Clifton B said...

Osumashi:

They will have to turn on him sooner or later. The media firmly believes it its self importance. No way they will sit by and have Obama officially make them irrelevant.

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