2010 archive

Glenn Greenwald has a post about unhappiness amongst the White House Press Corps.

Depending on who exactly is telling the story,

• the reporters think that they are not treated with enough respect,
• the Obama White House is not transparent enough,
• the administration is more likely to give scoops to reporters they like (surprise, surprise),
• Robert Gibbs should make massaging their egos returning their phone calls and emails his A-Number-One priority and not delegate anything to his staff, or
• what-EVUH.

Indeed, the topic came up on Diane Rehm’s Friday News Round-Up last week and was rapidly laughed off when one of the guests, a reporter, pointed out that he or she (I can’t remember which) suspected that the American people really don’t care if the White House Press Corps’ noses are a little out of joint.

I lost patience when they were complaining that Mr. Obama dared attend his daughter’s soccer game before a lot of them had shown up for work, rather than commending him for trying to make a moment for fatherhood. (See Note) Let the man have some privacy (well, as much privacy as the Secret Service would allow) with his kid, for Heaven’s sake).

Greenwald points out that, according to several reports he has heard, reporters are afraid to complain publically for fear of retaliation (that is, someone else might get the scoop) and wonders

National political reporters are furious over various White House practices involving transparency and information control, but are unwilling to say so for attribution due to fear of “retaliation,” instead insisting on hiding behind a wall of anonymity (which Politico, needless to say, happily provides). Isn’t that a rather serious problem: that the White House press corps is afraid to criticize the President and the White House for fear of losing access and suffering other forms of retribution? What does that say about their “journalism”? It’s the flip side of those White House reporters who need the good graces of Obama aides for their behind-the-scenes books and thus desperately do their bidding: what kind of reporter covering the White House would possibly admit that they’re afraid to say anything with their names attached that might anger the President and his aides? How could you possibly be a minimally credible White House reporter if you have that fear? Doesn’t that unwillingness rather obviously render their reporting worthless?

They are called “Villagers” because they think it’s all about them.

Note:

According to the story at the link, which seems sane compared to the loonies were tried to claim there was no game, most of them were planning to show up by 11:30 to be with Mr. Obama for something else on the schedule. Mr. Obama decided at the last minute to attend the 9:30 game. By the time the White House staff had rounded up the reporters who were present and loaded them in a van, the game was over.

This makes much more sense than the reports from the wingnut loony bin claiming there was no game.

Speaking of the wingnut loony bin, Shaun Mullen has another round up of the week in wingnuttery.

Someone’s unhappy:

Disturbing? Yes. Illegal? Probably not.

That’s what police, residents and free-speech experts say about a truck seen driving around the city displaying handmade signs disparaging women. The placards, stuck to the back of the dark purple pickup, include messages such as “All women are Satan” and “A perfect woman is a dead woman.”

The display is protected as free speech, according to prosecutors and state and local police.

Follow the link for a picture and a rather good discussion of the difference between obnoxious speech and threatening speech.

What I suspect to be most persons’ immediate question–What’s bugging him anyway?–is not answered.

In other news, the owner of license plate 14CV88, who was in the news last week, explains his choice of the plate. I updated my original post to include his explanation, . . .

Addendum:

. . . as well as a link to Raw Story’s deconstruction of his explanation; it is, er, rather shaky on several points.

Dick Polman rounds up some strays.

Via Mudflats.

All about what he’s learned about controlling stink bugs in his garden, which isn’t much because there’s not much that can be done, but he can get you headed in the right direction.

I would suggest not conducting any experiments to determine whether the little stinkers are aptly named. They are and they do.

A little earthquake just up the river from here; I’d be surprised if anyone on the surface noticed it.

I was in a 4.something-I-think-4 once in San Francisco. I had traveled there by train for a conference. (One of the bennies in traveling on a business pass was being entitled to a private room in a sleeping car.)

It was my first night on the ground after three nights en route (leave Philly in the evening, arrive in Chicago in the morning, kill a day, leave in the late afternoon, arrive Oakland late the second morning–it is a big country).

I woke up dreaming I was back in the sleeping car rocking in the berth from crossing rough switches. It lasted about as long as it would take to cross two tracks at slow speed leaving a station.

I realized what had happened, figured it was over, and went back to sleep. The next morning, the desk clerk told me that a number of persons had come down at three o’clock and checked out.

I have always wondered, where did they go at three o’clock in the morning? Another hotel in downtown San Francisco?