I never got angry at Bush for taking steps to make sure that nobody at his town halls/rallies would ever ask him what it felt like to mastermind 9/11, nor do I take issue with Obama for making sure nobody ever asks him, "DudewhowasborninKenyasayswhat?"
The thing that irritated me about Bush was the fact that he outright banned people of the opposing ideology from his rallies and generally avoided answering tough questions. Obama and the Democrats, meanwhile, don't seem to be stacking the decks entirely with registered Democrats, nor are they fielding questions on healthcare exclusively from people who already support it. Rather, they recognize that it's a complex issue and are taking steps to educate the public about it by answering the questions they have, albeit from questioners who can ask without descending into lunacy, like the people who go to townhalls to tell people they're going to hell.
Don't forget the Free Speech Zones! Found on the corner of Hypocrisy Lane and Oxymoron Avenue.
Didn't your media get all pissy because Obama's team told a HuffPuff journalist the night beforehand that she/he'd be called upon to ask a specific question that Obama would know in advance? Or is that not what happened? I don't follow these stories much.
Politico got pissy that a competing website was called on by the President and baselessly insinuated that they'd coordinated questions beforehand. They hadn't.
I'm pretty sure it was some really old female reporter complaining about it at a press conference.
Because planting questions, at press conferences or townhalls, is dishonest. The sported venue is that of open debate, either between elected officials and the press, or elected officials and the public.
If you don't want that, fine, but don't say that you that.
I didn't like the planted HuffPo question much, though I understand how the administration wanted it to be asked. These events all have limited time, and once you start slotting planted questions, why stop with just a few?
I always thought that the point of town halls was to directly address the public, not to just let the public have at you with whatever they have to ask, regardless of whether or not it's nonsense. That's not debate, but rather a recipe for chaos. Fuck, if I had been at a town hall meeting with GWB and could ask whatever I wanted, I would have asked if he missed cocaine.
I do agree that planting questions at press conferences is bullshit, though, but I would also draw a distinction between calling on someone when you know what they're going to ask and putting your own journalist in the pool to ask a question with no substance. If the president is at a press conference and feels there's a question that especially merits answering, there's no reason he should have to cross his fingers and hope someone asks it, simply because that preserves the image of spontaneity.
Still, it's a slippery slope, and one hopes Obama doesn't eventually take on Bush's own policy of controlling his environment to the point of stifling dissent and inquisition rather than simply addressing it.
Didn't your media get all pissy because Obama's team told a HuffPuff journalist the night beforehand that she/he'd be called upon to ask a specific question that Obama would know in advance? Or is that not what happened? I don't follow these stories much.
Politico got pissy that a competing website was called on by the President and baselessly insinuated that they'd coordinated questions beforehand. They hadn't.
I'm pretty sure it was some really old female reporter complaining about it at a press conference.
The old media was just pissed off that the new media asked a real question, while the best they could come up with was "So....uh....how 'bout that weather?"
In his first daytime news conference yesterday, President Obama preempted "All My Children," "Days of Our Lives" and "The Young and the Restless." But the soap viewers shouldn't have been disappointed: The president had arranged some prepackaged entertainment for them.
After the obligatory first question from the Associated Press, Obama treated the overflowing White House briefing room to a surprise. "I know Nico Pitney is here from the Huffington Post," he announced.
Obama knew this because White House aides had called Pitney the day before to invite him, and they had escorted him into the room. They told him the president was likely to call on him, with the understanding that he would ask a question about Iran that had been submitted online by an Iranian. "I know that there may actually be questions from people in Iran who are communicating through the Internet," Obama went on. "Do you have a question?"
Pitney recognized his prompt. "That's right," he said, standing in the aisle and wearing a temporary White House press pass. "I wanted to use this opportunity to ask you a question directly from an Iranian."
Pitney asked his arranged question. Reporters looked at one another in amazement at the stagecraft they were witnessing. White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel grinned at the surprised TV correspondents in the first row.
So it's not just politico whining about it.
And that old female reporter I mentioned was Helen Thomas, apparently, who said that even Nixon didn't do that, or something *shrug*.
I can't believe anyone would fault Obama for coordinating on answering a question from Iranians via Nico Pitney in the middle of an Iranian Revolution. It wasn't a planted question, he just arranged to have the guy doing the best reporting on the Iran crisis to ask A question, is my understanding. Dana Milbank can choke on a cock, that self-entitled little shit.
I can't believe anyone would fault Obama for coordinating on answering a question from Iranians via Nico Pitney in the middle of an Iranian Revolution. It wasn't a planted question, he just arranged to have the guy doing the best reporting on the Iran crisis to ask A question, is my understanding. Dana Milbank can choke on a cock, that self-entitled little shit.
That's not just Dana Milbank, although he is one of the worst, it's the entire old media. They just can't wrap their entitled little heads around the fact that while they're too busy trying to find out why Obama is a socialist and what Britney Spears is fucking now, the internet media is doing their actual jobs
That's not just Dana Milbank, although he is one of the worst, it's the entire old media. They just can't wrap their entitled little heads around the fact that while they're too busy trying to find out why Obama is a socialist and what Britney Spears is fucking now, the internet media is doing their actual jobs
Frankly, whenever any kid gets to ask the president a question in public, it's going to be a total softball. Changing the kid or the kids' parents isn't going to change that fact, unless we're talking about parents who specifically train their child to ask something hard or critical, which a kid would never be able to do on their own.
Does the American media have some kind of special yankee-only area where they fawn over the Republican Party and attack Obama all day long? Apart from Fox, I never saw CNN, MSNBC, CBS reports about how Obama was a socialist and shit like that. And jesus christ do you really think these people want to cover Britney Spears and Paris Hilton? If you're angry about that kind of thing complain to the millions of viewers the news media cover that stuff for.
Does the American media have some kind of special yankee-only area where they fawn over the Republican Party and attack Obama all day long? Apart from Fox, I never saw CNN, MSNBC, CBS reports about how Obama was a socialist and shit like that. And jesus christ do you really think these people want to cover Britney Spears and Paris Hilton? If you're angry about that kind of thing complain to the millions of viewers the news media cover that stuff for.
Fox will go in total attack mode when Democrats are in a position of power. The remarkable thing about Fox is that they have a clear message from their morning segment on that is pushed all day. The other news networks really don't have clear talking points that are pushed in this way. Thier problem seems to be that if Fox (or any outlet really) pushes a story hard enough they think they have to cover it. This was seen with the birther nonsense. Fox and right wing radio/blogs mentioned it loudly enough that the other networks felt they had to give the story air time. It was presented as the "Birther Controversy". Even though the non FOX MSM denounced it they still gave birthers air time to spout their nonsense. The biggest problem I have with the MSM is that they will take an issue like the birther bullshit and bring two opposing viewpoints on to a program as if the debate had equal sides. CNN is most guilty of this. They try to be so centrist at times that it carries over into things where they are neglecting their journalistic duty by not slapping it down.
Does the American media have some kind of special yankee-only area where they fawn over the Republican Party and attack Obama all day long? Apart from Fox, I never saw CNN, MSNBC, CBS reports about how Obama was a socialist and shit like that. And jesus christ do you really think these people want to cover Britney Spears and Paris Hilton? If you're angry about that kind of thing complain to the millions of viewers the news media cover that stuff for.
Fox will go in total attack mode when Democrats are in a position of power. The remarkable thing about Fox is that they have a clear message from their morning segment on that is pushed all day. The other news networks really don't have clear talking points that are pushed in this way. Thier problem seems to be that if Fox (or any outlet really) pushes a story hard enough they think they have to cover it. This was seen with the birther nonsense. Fox and right wing radio/blogs mentioned it loudly enough that the other networks felt they had to give the story air time. It was presented as the "Birther Controversy". Even though the non FOX MSM denounced it they still gave birthers air time to spout their nonsense. The biggest problem I have with the MSM is that they will take an issue like the birther bullshit and bring two opposing viewpoints on to a program as if the debate had equal sides. CNN is most guilty of this. They try to be so centrist at times that it carries over into things where they are neglecting their journalistic duty by not slapping it down.
Realistically, the false equivalency approach to coverage is the lesser of all evils, in my opinion. Like you say CNN etc. were running those kind of stories because they were big, but also pointing out the lack of evidence. I only know FOX's "hard" coverage (i.e. not glenn beck etc.) from breezing past their website (I need to get the the video player to watch Redeye) which seemed to be "we're totally not pushing this or anything and the actual article will criticize it but we're going to run it front-page with a vague title anyway". MSNBC I only know from their opinion shows, which with the exception of Scarborough were covering the story even more than FOX, probably - from what I saw at the time - because they don't seem very friendly to republicans and like running anything that makes them look bad.
I just read the Boston Globe article in the OP and I don't understand why the girl is a plant. The article said the girl wrote her own question, and there was nothing that said she had been artificially singled out to ask it.
So . . .
What?
I mean, the daughter of someone who donated to the Obama campaign and did work for them being at an Obama event . . . it's not exactly a meteor striking earth on the probability scale. It would be like if Thanatos went to an event with his niece and she was called on.
I know that if W had answered a planted question at a town hall I would have been irritated, I would have written an angry blog post about it or bitched about it on the forums. But when Obama employs a similar strategy I am fine with it. Health Care is an important issue; to ensure that Obama can communicate the necessary facts perhaps he needs to employ planted questions.
You pretty much nailed it there. The same criticism you used against Bush for the past eight years is coming back to bite you in the ass. The fact that you use double standards shows how hypocritical and weak you truly are.
I know that if W had answered a planted question at a town hall I would have been irritated, I would have written an angry blog post about it or bitched about it on the forums. But when Obama employs a similar strategy I am fine with it. Health Care is an important issue; to ensure that Obama can communicate the necessary facts perhaps he needs to employ planted questions.
You pretty much nailed it there. The same criticism you used against Bush for the past eight years is coming back to bite you in the ass. The fact that you use double standards shows how hypocritical and weak you truly are.
Except that there's no proof that Obama is doing this, so lay off.
Does the American media have some kind of special yankee-only area where they fawn over the Republican Party and attack Obama all day long? Apart from Fox, I never saw CNN, MSNBC, CBS reports about how Obama was a socialist and shit like that. And jesus christ do you really think these people want to cover Britney Spears and Paris Hilton? If you're angry about that kind of thing complain to the millions of viewers the news media cover that stuff for.
I know that if W had answered a planted question at a town hall I would have been irritated, I would have written an angry blog post about it or bitched about it on the forums. But when Obama employs a similar strategy I am fine with it. Health Care is an important issue; to ensure that Obama can communicate the necessary facts perhaps he needs to employ planted questions.
You pretty much nailed it there. The same criticism you used against Bush for the past eight years is coming back to bite you in the ass. The fact that you use double standards shows how hypocritical and weak you truly are.
Loyalty oaths and free speech zones aren't the same thing as letting a cute little girl ask a question, except to people who are insane. Are you insane?
I know that if W had answered a planted question at a town hall I would have been irritated, I would have written an angry blog post about it or bitched about it on the forums. But when Obama employs a similar strategy I am fine with it. Health Care is an important issue; to ensure that Obama can communicate the necessary facts perhaps he needs to employ planted questions.
You pretty much nailed it there. The same criticism you used against Bush for the past eight years is coming back to bite you in the ass. The fact that you use double standards shows how hypocritical and weak you truly are.
Loyalty oaths and free speech zones aren't the same thing as asking a cute little girl a question, except to people who are insane. Are you insane?
Does the American media have some kind of special yankee-only area where they fawn over the Republican Party and attack Obama all day long? Apart from Fox, I never saw CNN, MSNBC, CBS reports about how Obama was a socialist and shit like that. And jesus christ do you really think these people want to cover Britney Spears and Paris Hilton? If you're angry about that kind of thing complain to the millions of viewers the news media cover that stuff for.
The problem is that a lot of birthers hitch their hat on Lou Dobbs, and claim the main-stream media wants to/is covering the story, so they must be relevant. Of course, it's really only Lou Dobbs at this point...
I just read the Boston Globe article in the OP and I don't understand why the girl is a plant. The article said the girl wrote her own question, and there was nothing that said she had been artificially singled out to ask it.
So . . .
What?
I mean, the daughter of someone who donated to the Obama campaign and did work for them being at an Obama event . . . it's not exactly a meteor striking earth on the probability scale. It would be like if Thanatos went to an event with his niece and she was called on.
I just read the Boston Globe article in the OP and I don't understand why the girl is a plant. The article said the girl wrote her own question, and there was nothing that said she had been artificially singled out to ask it.
So . . .
What?
I mean, the daughter of someone who donated to the Obama campaign and did work for them being at an Obama event . . . it's not exactly a meteor striking earth on the probability scale. It would be like if Thanatos went to an event with his niece and she was called on.
This whole thread seems like a mistake?
You're a mistake.
Let's not turn this into a thread about sex ed. in public schools, please.
Seems a little shady to use a planted question no matter who does it, even if it's a straightforward question from an adult. The way it was phrased and the fact that it was a kid makes it seem worse because there's an element of exploitation there (e.g. she's not old enough to be really informed about this stuff either way and is just being used by Obama and/or her mother). So yeah, it's a shitty thing to do when Obama does it, just like it would be were it a neocon pushing his agenda.
Except this HAD to be asked. No one else had the balls, and the President didn't want to add legitimacy by just outright addressing it.
Should he have used a plant? No. Is it as bad as Bush's plants of "Mister President, how come so many people hate America and don't want us to win in Iraq and stop terror forever?" Not at all.
And I don't think this is a "plant" in the same sense of the word as that either. It sounds more like they asked this kid to ask a question and SHE chose "What the fuck is wrong with those psychos screaming at everyone?"
I know that if W had answered a planted question at a town hall I would have been irritated, I would have written an angry blog post about it or bitched about it on the forums. But when Obama employs a similar strategy I am fine with it. Health Care is an important issue; to ensure that Obama can communicate the necessary facts perhaps he needs to employ planted questions.
You pretty much nailed it there. The same criticism you used against Bush for the past eight years is coming back to bite you in the ass. The fact that you use double standards shows how hypocritical and weak you truly are.
This is not a zero-sum game though. If I do a rolling stop through a 4-way intersection, that does not make me exactly the same as somebody that blows past every single stop sign he comes across without so much as tapping the breaks.
Edit: Plus the, you know, complete and total lack of evidence that this was even a plant in the first place.
In his first daytime news conference yesterday, President Obama preempted "All My Children," "Days of Our Lives" and "The Young and the Restless." But the soap viewers shouldn't have been disappointed: The president had arranged some prepackaged entertainment for them.
After the obligatory first question from the Associated Press, Obama treated the overflowing White House briefing room to a surprise. "I know Nico Pitney is here from the Huffington Post," he announced.
Obama knew this because White House aides had called Pitney the day before to invite him, and they had escorted him into the room. They told him the president was likely to call on him, with the understanding that he would ask a question about Iran that had been submitted online by an Iranian. "I know that there may actually be questions from people in Iran who are communicating through the Internet," Obama went on. "Do you have a question?"
Pitney recognized his prompt. "That's right," he said, standing in the aisle and wearing a temporary White House press pass. "I wanted to use this opportunity to ask you a question directly from an Iranian."
Pitney asked his arranged question. Reporters looked at one another in amazement at the stagecraft they were witnessing. White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel grinned at the surprised TV correspondents in the first row.
So it's not just politico whining about it.
And that old female reporter I mentioned was Helen Thomas, apparently, who said that even Nixon didn't do that, or something *shrug*.
Yeah, he kept it such a secret, too. I mean, look how well he concealed the fact that it was totally a setup. No one would have ever figured it out, if he hadn't slipped up and declared ahead of time "I know you're here, and I know you have a question from an Iranian."
By the way this entire thread is a decent example of the correct way to use the phrase "Begging the Question". "Obama's planting questions are just as dishonest and unethical as Bush's" or "Obama's planting questions are not just as dishonest and unethical as Bush's" are the options suggested by the OP. The fact that the questioner being a plant was not established and in fact seems incredibly unlikely to glossed over.
Does the American media have some kind of special yankee-only area where they fawn over the Republican Party and attack Obama all day long? Apart from Fox, I never saw CNN, MSNBC, CBS reports about how Obama was a socialist and shit like that. And jesus christ do you really think these people want to cover Britney Spears and Paris Hilton? If you're angry about that kind of thing complain to the millions of viewers the news media cover that stuff for.
Now look back at the two videos you've posted so far.
How exactly does -
A: A clip of a CNN opinion segment where the host pushes birtherism
or
B: A clip of a roundtable discussion about birtherism where birthers were invited
Does the American media have some kind of special yankee-only area where they fawn over the Republican Party and attack Obama all day long? Apart from Fox, I never saw CNN, MSNBC, CBS reports about how Obama was a socialist and shit like that. And jesus christ do you really think these people want to cover Britney Spears and Paris Hilton? If you're angry about that kind of thing complain to the millions of viewers the news media cover that stuff for.
Now look back at the two videos you've posted so far.
How exactly does -
A: A clip of a CNN opinion segment where the host pushes birtherism
or
B: A clip of a roundtable discussion about birtherism where birthers were invited
do anything to dispute what I said?
Apart from Fox, I never saw CNN, MSNBC, CBS reports about how Obama was a socialist and shit like that.
Apart from Fox, I never saw CNN, MSNBC, CBS reports about how Obama was a socialist and shit like that.
Do you understand the difference between hard news and opinion segments? You've failed to show any evidence that the networks mentioned are pushing these stories.
Posts
Don't forget the Free Speech Zones! Found on the corner of Hypocrisy Lane and Oxymoron Avenue.
PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126
I'm pretty sure it was some really old female reporter complaining about it at a press conference.
I do agree that planting questions at press conferences is bullshit, though, but I would also draw a distinction between calling on someone when you know what they're going to ask and putting your own journalist in the pool to ask a question with no substance. If the president is at a press conference and feels there's a question that especially merits answering, there's no reason he should have to cross his fingers and hope someone asks it, simply because that preserves the image of spontaneity.
Still, it's a slippery slope, and one hopes Obama doesn't eventually take on Bush's own policy of controlling his environment to the point of stifling dissent and inquisition rather than simply addressing it.
https://twitter.com/Hooraydiation
Google, motherfucker
What year are you from? It's all right there.
That lead me to this thread which lead me to this post which led me to google again which led me oh god
Steam 3DS: 1160-9885-2554
Pluto was a planet and I'll never forget
The old media was just pissed off that the new media asked a real question, while the best they could come up with was "So....uh....how 'bout that weather?"
PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126
You popped my sig cherry. I am so happy
Steam 3DS: 1160-9885-2554
So it's not just politico whining about it.
And that old female reporter I mentioned was Helen Thomas, apparently, who said that even Nixon didn't do that, or something *shrug*.
I can't believe anyone would fault Obama for coordinating on answering a question from Iranians via Nico Pitney in the middle of an Iranian Revolution. It wasn't a planted question, he just arranged to have the guy doing the best reporting on the Iran crisis to ask A question, is my understanding. Dana Milbank can choke on a cock, that self-entitled little shit.
That's not just Dana Milbank, although he is one of the worst, it's the entire old media. They just can't wrap their entitled little heads around the fact that while they're too busy trying to find out why Obama is a socialist and what Britney Spears is fucking now, the internet media is doing their actual jobs
PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126
Testify.
https://twitter.com/Hooraydiation
Fox will go in total attack mode when Democrats are in a position of power. The remarkable thing about Fox is that they have a clear message from their morning segment on that is pushed all day. The other news networks really don't have clear talking points that are pushed in this way. Thier problem seems to be that if Fox (or any outlet really) pushes a story hard enough they think they have to cover it. This was seen with the birther nonsense. Fox and right wing radio/blogs mentioned it loudly enough that the other networks felt they had to give the story air time. It was presented as the "Birther Controversy". Even though the non FOX MSM denounced it they still gave birthers air time to spout their nonsense. The biggest problem I have with the MSM is that they will take an issue like the birther bullshit and bring two opposing viewpoints on to a program as if the debate had equal sides. CNN is most guilty of this. They try to be so centrist at times that it carries over into things where they are neglecting their journalistic duty by not slapping it down.
Steam 3DS: 1160-9885-2554
Realistically, the false equivalency approach to coverage is the lesser of all evils, in my opinion. Like you say CNN etc. were running those kind of stories because they were big, but also pointing out the lack of evidence. I only know FOX's "hard" coverage (i.e. not glenn beck etc.) from breezing past their website (I need to get the the video player to watch Redeye) which seemed to be "we're totally not pushing this or anything and the actual article will criticize it but we're going to run it front-page with a vague title anyway". MSNBC I only know from their opinion shows, which with the exception of Scarborough were covering the story even more than FOX, probably - from what I saw at the time - because they don't seem very friendly to republicans and like running anything that makes them look bad.
The first is the HuffPost/Politico pissing match from a month ago.
MEDIA FIRESTORM
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
So does that make the Penny Arcade forums...part of the american media? :winky:
cat you can be dana milbank.
I shall be Helen Thomas.
Speaking of which, I was going to browse the WaPo site to see if they had any stories related to this other than the one I posted.
But it keeps asking me to register
This is why I never read NYT online either.
So . . .
What?
I mean, the daughter of someone who donated to the Obama campaign and did work for them being at an Obama event . . . it's not exactly a meteor striking earth on the probability scale. It would be like if Thanatos went to an event with his niece and she was called on.
This whole thread seems like a mistake?
You pretty much nailed it there. The same criticism you used against Bush for the past eight years is coming back to bite you in the ass. The fact that you use double standards shows how hypocritical and weak you truly are.
Except that there's no proof that Obama is doing this, so lay off.
ORLY? (see what I did there?)
QEDMF xbl: PantsB G+
Loyalty oaths and free speech zones aren't the same thing as letting a cute little girl ask a question, except to people who are insane. Are you insane?
https://twitter.com/Hooraydiation
After that post do you really need to ask?
Wow one guy in an opinion segment. (?)
Because I'm seeing a lot of the same curvy logic we get with the birth certificate/death panel stuff.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
You're a mistake.
Should he have used a plant? No. Is it as bad as Bush's plants of "Mister President, how come so many people hate America and don't want us to win in Iraq and stop terror forever?" Not at all.
And I don't think this is a "plant" in the same sense of the word as that either. It sounds more like they asked this kid to ask a question and SHE chose "What the fuck is wrong with those psychos screaming at everyone?"
I feel dumb now.
This is not a zero-sum game though. If I do a rolling stop through a 4-way intersection, that does not make me exactly the same as somebody that blows past every single stop sign he comes across without so much as tapping the breaks.
Edit: Plus the, you know, complete and total lack of evidence that this was even a plant in the first place.
If it makes you feel better that's not the joke.
But I'm not sure why that would make you feel better.
edit
By the way this entire thread is a decent example of the correct way to use the phrase "Begging the Question". "Obama's planting questions are just as dishonest and unethical as Bush's" or "Obama's planting questions are not just as dishonest and unethical as Bush's" are the options suggested by the OP. The fact that the questioner being a plant was not established and in fact seems incredibly unlikely to glossed over.
QEDMF xbl: PantsB G+
Look at the the post of mine you quoted again:
Now look back at the two videos you've posted so far.
How exactly does -
A: A clip of a CNN opinion segment where the host pushes birtherism
or
B: A clip of a roundtable discussion about birtherism where birthers were invited
do anything to dispute what I said?
QEDMF xbl: PantsB G+
Do you understand the difference between hard news and opinion segments? You've failed to show any evidence that the networks mentioned are pushing these stories.