Awesome video: Gibbs squirms as Obama is called out on transparency

[BenIsForRon]

http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/07/01/helen-thomas-hits-white-house-for-lack-of-transparency/

Great video in the link. Looks like Helen Thomas and some others were looking forward to some changes, and are quite disappointed now that Obama is emulating Bush on transparency. It's painfully obvious that the white house is pre-selecting questions and audience members.

[Sandman33]

I wish the press would have just bumrushed him.

[purplechoe]

I saw that live on C-Span today. Pretty pathetic if you ask me.

[LittleLightShining]

I thought this was great. I wish Reid hadn't interrupted Thomas so much, though. She's been around the block a few times and her observations and comments are worth more in this context because of it.

[Bruno]

I just watched the repeat on this and came here knowing someone would have a post on it.

Maybe she remembered she was a reporter and shouldn't throw softball questions? Way to go, Helen! He sure squirmed. :)

[iddo]

feel free to contribute to his greatest hits collection that i started here:
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Gibbs
i'm quite confident that the end result will be as good as:
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dana_Perino
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Scott_McClellan
:)

[ItsTime]

Who has the list of people that asked the questions? They were all pro-Obama backers/activists

[TRIGRHAPPY]

WOW, that was brutal. I've never seen a press secretary get grilled so ruthlessly. Notice how he really started failing when SHE spoke up. She's been there through something like 6 or 7 different presidents and she called this administration "the worst".

[silverhawks]

Gibbs is just a very bad spin machine.

"I'll let you ask me a question"...what an ass.

And my heart sung when I saw ACTUAL journalism rear its head in the White House press corps.

[Indy Vidual]

Nice :)

[akihabro]

Who is that guy to dare question to WH's media control system?;) He better shut up especially from CBS if he wants to keep his job.
Why did they not run up and hold him hostage until Obama actually does what he proposed during his campaign? I can have my pie in the sky dreams.
He so got burned by Helen at the end. She has been in the front row with press secretaries for a long time.

[Romulus]

What an arrogant slimy, prick.

[Feenix566]

I went to a town hall meeting with the Master of Evil Himself, Dick Cheney. You know, that guy who everyone thinks would be better suited as a Bond villian than an elected official. Yeah, that guy. I went to a town hall meeting with him. Before the cameras came on, he specifically instructed the audience that we could ask him anything we wanted to. He was there to talk about social security private accounts, but he told us we could ask him any question on any other topic.

Of course, one of the prerequisites to be invited to the meeting was that I was a Republican activist. (i did phone banks and door to door stuff for county candidates) BUT, the local party leaders had no idea whether or not I was going to ask a question, or what I believed on every issue. All they knew was that I want to keep my county taxes low. That's it. I could have asked the man anything on live television.

[georgiaboy]

well worth the watch.

What does one call a Town Hall meeting that is staged?

[Feenix566]

well worth the watch.

What does one call a Town Hall meeting that is staged?

A play?

Sketch comedy?

Political theater?

[ItsTime]

well worth the watch.

What does one call a Town Hall meeting that is staged?

Obamas type of transparency. :eek:


I cant find the list of people who asked questions, but didnt most work for him during the campaign or worked for an org that campaigned for him?

[pacelli]

Today's WH press meeting is supposed to start soon, supposedly C-SPAN1 will carry it. Wondering if Gibbs will be out today, especially considering his promise made during yesterday's propaganda meeting.

By the way, every single member of the press should be a Helen Thomas. The fact that they are NOT like Helen is troublesome.

[Kraig]

I watched the video this morning, awesome that they grilled him but I every time I see this Gibbs guy he is acting like a smug, two faced, bitch and I just want to punch him in the face to make him stop laughing and smirking. Yeah he got grilled, but he laughed his way through the whole thing, almost like he knows their pissed off but it doesn't matter because he works for the king. :mad:

[surf]

i'm surprised to see these reporters biting the hand that feeds them....

if they piss off the King they may actually have to write their own stories - on their own!

[Romulus]

Helen Thomas: Not Even Nixon Tried to Control the Media Like Obama

http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=50445

[StilesBC]

That made me smile.

[gb13]

WOW! That was fantastic. He squirmed like a frigging rodent in an eagles talons.

Slithering rat.

[Golding]

Nice. :D

[satchelmcqueen]

helen better watch it. they might taze her or boot her out for terrorist actions.

[angelatc]

It's like watching your worst enemies fight each other.

Remember the debates? I don't recall any reporters paying much attention to the media manipulation then....