White House: We Didn’t “Coordinate” Question With The Huffington Post
Some reporters and right wing bloggers are accusing the White House of “coordinating” a question with The Huffington Post at today’s press conference, suggesting this shows the White House cozying up to a lefty news outlet.
The White House, however, says No Dice. White House officials tell me they didn’t ask the Huffington Post reporter, Nico Pitney, what his question would be, and didn’t know what Pitney would be asking.
Those alleging collusion point out that Obama asked:
“Nico, I know you and all across the Internet, we’ve been seeing a lot of reports coming out of Iran. I know there may actually be questions from people in Iran who are communicating through the Internet. Do you have a question?”
The critics say the fact that the President knew that Pitney might ask a question directly from someone in Iran shows that this dance was choreographed in advance. Politico said that it “appeared to be a coordinated exchange,” and CBS Radio’s Mark Knoller, a White House veteran, said it was “very unusual.”
But White House spokesperson Josh Earnest offered a different explanation: White House officials knew that Pitney might do this because of what he’d been posting on his live-blog for days now, which is to say, the views of ordinary Iranians.
“Based on that work, we invited him to attend the press conference,” Earnest told me. “We reached out to him yesterday. We spoke to him and said it was possible he would get a question. Sure enough, the President called on him and he asked the toughest question that anyone asked as it relates to Iran.”
“We didn’t want to know the question, and we didn’t ask,” Earnest continues. “This was a creative way for us to answer a question from an Iranian.”
Something tells me that this won’t satisfy the accusers…
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I love delusional, obsessed conservatives
of course not Greg because what better strategy from the outrage brigade to take from this presser accusations that the WH coordinates the questions after he smacked down all the journalists. So why not create a controversy. if any of these idiots were reading Nico they would know why the Pres called on him. Jeez.
Greg; Not to worry; the wingnuts and the establishment types will go crazy. How dare a bollegr get the first question. When you lack substance …..
Oh, the hand-wringing demonstrations of angst from the navel-gazing DC press corps. Kabuki theater at its finest.
Just remember the outrage last time Huffington Post was allowed to ask a question, the MSM cried. I can tell you what’s happening. MSM is beginning to realize blogs are becoming a primary source of news for many and the major networks and news sources are becoming concerned. I’m not surprised they get defensive about bloggers getting asked questions. They can’t fathom someone being more relevant to them……………..First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win.
Hackio I mean, Politico, are saying that he did coordinate this:
http://www.politico.com/blogs/michaelcalderone/0609/Obama_calls_on_HuffPost_for_Iran_question.html
What losers
Politico is going crazy over this. They’re genuinely pissed that someone besides an “established reporter” should have a chance to ask the President a question. Or maybe they’re upset because the HuffPo question was better than “Do you still smoke?”.
Wow. Did Politico not get picked for a question? Are they upset that Huffington Post did? Sounds like someone over at Politico is a little touchy touchy today. The Calderone story came out. Now there is another story on their front page about Obama not bringing up the DC metro crash. Holy cow. It’s like watching Access Hollywood and talking about drama the entire time rather than discussing something substantive. Quick, someone give Politico some attention before they throw a tantrum!
Mike you nail it; the Politico is Access Hollywood for ugly people. It has all the trappings of a People or an US Weekly (look who hangs out where! she said what about who?! look at the shoes Michelle is wearing! Boehner has a new bronzer today). They don’t even try to hide it, and what’s worse is with the celeb-reality we live in, no one even thinks that it is totally f-ed up.
God save us all, as they usually set the political agenda every morning…
greg, I have a question–what is with the quotes around the word coordinate? if they said it why put it in quotes? otherwise it just seems you are trying to say something and not saying it. and as your devoted reader I just rather have you come out and say it.
What was his name, Jeff Gannon?
Sorry, this pisses me the **** off. The question and answer themselves were very pertinent, and all these GOPers and self-indulgent gossip journos can talk about is whether this was “coordinated”.
Keep your eye on the ball, folks.
politico’s first calderone headline was “White House-Huff conspire” Now they’ve walked it back to “Did Obama work with HuffPo?” They are embarrassing themselves.
Now that the DC press corps has realized it has been waiting at the bus stop for the past ten minutes, not knowing the bus left three minutes before it even showed up,it complains of not having a seat saved for it.
Dudes, you’re not even on the bus! -Kevo
Why has sbj gone quiet all of a sudden?
Sssshhh!
@sg: Why repeat what I’ve already written in the other thread?
@sg, it’s because he’s busy researching congressional bills from your stumper yesterday.
@sbj, this is what you said in the other thread, “The president should not know the content of a question before he receives it at a Presidential news conference. I’d think this would be something we could agree on.” You mean like Bush did with Jeff Gannon?
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You also said it stinks to high heaven, but now we’ve learned the White House didn’t coordinate the question. Does it still stink?
@sbj
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What Chris said! lol
@sbj, your “pitch-hitter” comment on the other thread might be the best point I have ever read from you. Your concern though is way past due, and someone brought it up earlier: Jeff Gannon is a perfect past example of a “pitch-hitter”(and sorry for the allusions to gay porn in the loaded term “pitch-hitter”, but it’s sbj’s and not my own). The WH decided to call on someone to toss softballs to Scott McClellan, and they went out and found a cheaper who*re than the regular WH Press Corp. I think the answer to your query is to do away with the White House Press Corps and only let adversaries of the WH ask questions. Let’s see how many “Are you now or have you ever been a Socialist/Fascist born in Kenya who can’t function without a teleprompter who wants to ration government-run healthcare?” can get asked before more of the country is laughing at you people…
OMG Greg have you seen Sevugan’s statement on Sanford?! Classic lol.
That’s right dance little sheeple. After all we know any bad thing out there is all the right’s fault. The left never could possibly do the same crooked **** that Dumbya and his crew did. Geez what a gullible bunch of blind sheep you people are.
If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.
All propaganda has to be popular and has to accommodate itself to the comprehension of the least intelligent of those whom it seeks to reach.
John Q. Citizen
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Is there some part of the story that you are refuting? Or are you just here to hit and run?
@Chris: You know Chris, I am big enough to say I was careless about the “content” and too strong about it “stinking.” But I wish you would read all of my comments. I also wrote, “it’s not usual to put this guy in the front row and then coordinate a question.” And, “I think it was a great question and I agree that the answer should not be overshadowed by the unusual nature of the coordination or the departure from White House protocol by calling on The Huffington Post second.” I also asked, “aren’t you concerned that the WH gets to decide who is the most informed? Aren’t you concerned that the next admin could simply bring in pinch-hitters to ask questions? What’s next? For healthcare thay call in Ezra Klein to ask question about the public insurance option? . . . It was a good question, there was nothing nefarious, I am concerend about some of the precedents it might set. I don’t think that’s unreasonable.”
And @williamc – “pinch hitter” is not really loaded, it’s “pitching” versus “catching.” And no, my concern is not past due. I in no way approved of Gannon or softball questions or plants. Still don’t.
The position of the WH on Iran has me thinking (dangerous). What if they strongly believe that Rasfanjani may indeed find the support to topple Khamenei. Could this be why Obama stated we don’t know how things are going to play out when Todd from MSNBC tried to drill him on what his response will be regarding the human rights violations going on right now? Any interference or loud posturing from Obama could disrupt what Rasjafani is trying to accomplish right now in Iran. Interesting times indeed.
Call it hit and run or whatever you want. I merely point out how easily led sheep will believe anything that is spoon fed to them by this administration. They, and you if you lap up the pablum spewed by this group, are no better than the Bushies were in lapping up the garbage that dripped from that administration.
@sbj, unlike with Bush and Gannon, this was not an implant. Nico Pitney is not a fake journalist and he’s not asking snowball questions about endless war. But I do love how you tell me to read all your comments. This from a guy who routinely skips over me purposely evading anything I might add. I am glad to see you backing down from your previous comments, however.
@sg can’t find what sevugan said on sanford. dying to know. do you have a link?
So what you are really saying John Q. Public is that you have no information that refutes the story but you think people who believe it are sheep where as you who evidently don’t believe it for any reason other than you don’t want to are some how superior? Right, somehow I don’t think your messaging will be effective here. Especially when Obama has been criticized on this blog more than Bush ever was on any right wing blog until he became a lame duck and thats in a very very short period of time. Go down the hall sir, you are in the wrong place.
Kathleen
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I saw it on MSNBC so I have to paraphrase but basically Sevugan said the people of SC told Sanford to take a hike after he tried to deprive them of badly needed stimulus fund but nobody knew he would take them so literally! lol
SG, thanks. Good one!
Nico has a post up now about how his question came to be asked. This should put an end to the idiotic outrage but I am sure it won’t.
And Greg I seem to be posting too quickly…
Was I in a room to see if a deal was made to ask the question? No. But knowing the track record of this administration, and many others before it, both Rep and Dem saying one thing but doing another, let’s just say I don’t take everything at face value like others do. Do you mean I’m in the wrong place because I stopped in a left wing echo chamber and called a spade a spade? Well you can justify your slavish devotion to this admin in whatever way helps you sleep at night. The most pathetic part about this blindness is that there are a lot of you people that are intelligent people and have a lot to offer but you can’t get past your hate for anything that is not of your side or of the same opinion as you and your hate seeps into your opinions. You act like you are better than those on the right but you aren’t and much like them you can’t see your own faults. I’m not a rightie or a leftie simply someone who is sick of seeing those that are putting their party before their country. Besides here’s food for thought, healthy skepticism of what your government tells you isn’t treasonous, it is merely being cautious because if you don’t think they’ll take advantage of your blind devotion at some point you are kidding yourself.
sg, JQP is like every other wingnut troll: let’s throw some nazi references out there (big ups Glenn Beck), call leftist sheep (yeah, we were totally the one’s led to the Iraqi slaughterhouse by a cowboy), pretend they are an independent (I’m not a leftie or a rightie), spend a few moments making false equivalencies between the netroots and right blogistan (both slavish echo chambers) and never actually use facts to engage in a conversation, just grave intonations of “The Big Lie” (aka We Must Kill them all, They Hate Us for Our Freedoms). He is obviously new here, we attack the President and the Democratic Congress all the time because that’s what liberals do: fight to make things better, as opposed to conservatives: fight for the status quo.
I agree with your prescription though…take it down the hall (literally at the WaPo: Kriston, Krauthammer, Gerson, and Will live here too)
John Q Public, like I said you haven’t been here long or you are a dumb @ss or both. There is no slavish devotion here and we don’t need your help with calling a spade a spade especially when you don’t have the courage to even take a stance on the story of which thread you are now commenting on. Go over to freerepublic or redstate and do your preaching over there about mindless followers. Its not going down like that over here. And nobody is buying your cover story either wingnut.
williamc – ROTLMAO – Good generalizations. You mean like how persons such as yourself call everyone that don’t think like you a wingnut? Repug? Hitler youth? Or the other person must be a right wingnut because they surely are not an independent? Or they watch Beck or Rush Windbag or one of those buffoons? You chastise me for behavior you exhibit? Hypocritical much?
I mean surely the rest of us that aren’t liberal or conservative must not be able to think for ourselves now can we? Isn’t it funny how the independents just happen to decide numerous elections but then why try and convince us of anything, hating us for not being like you is so much better. One last thing there big guy, Ole Dumbya didn’t exactly drag the country to Iraq by himself there were quite a few Dem voters that also supported it. And if you attempt to use the BS they were misled excuse then answer me this, if they were duped by someone so clownish as Bush then why are they in public office? Obviously they are too stupid to serve if they were duped by one so stupid aren’t they.
sgwhiteinfl – yawn. I already told you I took a stance on the story, I think it is bs. Just because they say they didn’t make a deal to ask a question then everyone believes it? I’m sure if ole Dumbya and the boys would have said this then you’d have believed them too? Sorry but I refuse to blindly have faith in the government to tell the truth about a lot of things. Besides do you really think they would come out and say they made a deal? Especially after Gannon? It’s just easier to point the finger at right wingers isn’t it? Because they know the base will lap it up and ask no further questions. But that is my opinion, which the last I heard in this country I am entitled to.
Thank you gentlemen, or ladies if you are so. Your interaction has been enlightening to say the least. Even though I know you don’t wish the same to me, have a nice day.
John Q still can’t get over the fact that Bush was the most unpopular president in modern American history. And without a doubt, the most unpopular two-term president ever.
I don’t disagree as to Bush’s unpopularity, why would it bother me I’m not a Repub? Frankly he has destroyed the Republican party for years but that is their problem not mine.
“Based on that work……we reached out to him yesterday.We spoke to him and said it was possible he would get a question.” is exactly like telling your friend “I know tomorrow is your birthday, so you may want to wear something nice when you come over to watch my kids while I do some random errand, just in case it’s really a surprise party for you.”
“politico’s first calderone headline was “White House-Huff conspire” Now they’ve walked it back to “Did Obama work with HuffPo?” They are embarrassing themselves.”
Why is this embarassing? Just because good ol’ Barry (who has NEVER told a lie in his life) says that the White House didn’t conspire with HuffPo doesn’t mean that it’s all good and dandy. Sure, this isn’t a pressing issue by any means, but I have a right to know the truth, and I can guarantee you libs would be calling for Bush’s impeachment had he done something similar to this.
Also, Bush was not the worst president ever. I can go through the list of names, Grant, Carter, Johnson, and Buchannan to name a few. Not saying he was great, just not the worst.
Politico is embarrassing themselves because they literally shoot first and ask questions later.
The question was good; there’s no doubt about that. But it just came to be in the wrong way. It was clearly planned up to the point where the question was asked. Obama probably didn’t know what the question would be, considering he barely answered it.
http://www.newsy.com/videos/statecraft_vs_stagecraft