Some quick takes on the very brief presidential press conference wrap-ups on ABC, CBS and NBC before each returned to entertainment shows a bit after 9 PM EST:
- ABC anchor Charles Gibson lauded how President Obama treated “each question almost as a teaching moment with long and expansive answers.”- CBS anchor Katie Couric cited how Obama talked “about 'ideological blockage'” against the “stimulus” bill and wondered: “Do you think some of his Republican opponents on the Hill got the message with this news conference tonight?”
- On NBC, Brian Williams fretted Obama wasn't as tough sooner, postulating: “It may be said that if the President had used this voice -- some of the forcefulness we saw there at the top -- the result might, might have been different so far leading into this stimulus package vote.”
A little more on the barely minute-long, or less, post-news conference coverage:
While many would say Obama rambled with long, wandering answers, ABC's Gibson noted how he took “only thirteen questions over an hour, seemingly treating each question almost as a teaching moment with long and expansive answers.”
CBS's Couric declared Obama's “tone was stern, no nonsense” before she turned to Bob Schieffer as she admired his rebuke of conservatives:
COURIC TO BOB SCHIEFFER: Bob, we heard the President talk about 'ideological blockage.' Do you think some of his Republican opponents on the Hill got the message with this news conference tonight?SCHIEFFER: Well, he certainly made a compelling argument, whether you agree with it or not. But Katie, his problem is going to be with Democrats in the House. He's got to somehow keep them from loading up this bill with more spending, so much spending that they won't be able to get it through the Senate.
Last week, NBC's Williams revealed he had wanted to ask Obama if he is “ever tempted” to start over again with the stimulus bill “and give a stemwinder combination fireside chat/speech to the nation,” just as did Michael Douglas on “the crime bill” in The American President movie. Well, Williams saw his wish fulfilled Monday night, at least from his perspective:
BRIAN WILLIAMS: Chuck, it may be said that if the President had used this voice – some of the forcefulness we saw there at the top – the result might, might have been different so far leading into this stimulus package vote.
CHUCK TODD, AT THE WHITE HOUSE: Everything about today feels a week too late, although the White House would argue it's not too late, they're going to get their bill, they're winning the battle as far as getting the bill out of Congress – maybe they're not getting the public approval ratings that they want, maybe they're not getting the number of Republicans that they want on board – I think all of them wish they could re-do this and start a week earlier, literally take what happened today and have done it last Monday.
My February 4 NewsBusters item, “Williams Urges Obama to Copy Douglas in 'The American President,'” recounted:
Brian Williams revealed Wednesday afternoon that in a question he didn't get to with President Obama the day before, he wanted to ask Obama if he is “ever tempted” to start over again with the stimulus bill “and give a stemwinder combination fireside chat/speech to the nation,” just as did Michael Douglas on "the crime bill” in The American President movie, “and just say, 'look, here's what we got to do. I went wrong. It got loaded up. Now we're going to do the real thing?'”In that 1995 film, in which Douglas played Democratic President “Andrew Shepherd,” after compromising with Congress, he returns to his left-wing sensibilities and, in the climatic point of the movie cheered by liberal film-goers, walks to the press room where he delivers an impassioned lecture -- which earns affirmative nods from the journalists -- praising the ACLU, pushing for extreme action on global warming and promises, in the portion Williams admired, “to get the guns.” President Shepherd:
The other piece of legislation is the crime bill. As of today it no longer exists. I’m throwing it. I’m throwing it out and writing a law that makes sense. You cannot address crime prevention without getting rid of assault weapons and handguns. I consider them a threat to national security and I will go door-to-door if I have to but I’m going convince Americans that I’m right and I’m going to get the guns.
—Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
Idiots, all of 'em.
February 9, 2009 - 22:32 ET by dborschjr68“Do you think some of his Republican opponents on the Hill got the message with this news conference tonight?”
Idiots. Mr. Obama doesn't need the GOP, lady. Do your research, Couric, the Dems have the Senate locked up. Stop with all this not-so-subtle hintage at how the Republicans are being so difficult. It's as tedious and boring as a Maddow show. Conservatives and liberals will never see eye-to-eye, thankfully. Does she just not get this?
"Liberate tutume ex inferis, liberal puppets." Me.
I didn't watch any of the networks......
February 9, 2009 - 22:39 ET by connman....but if I'm not mistaken didn't the MSM make sure that they always had an opposing opinion after every GWB press conference? Just wondering.
Pssssst <whispers> Emperor Barry isn't wearing any clothes!
They know this.
February 9, 2009 - 22:47 ET by pbthinkerThese TV Anchors know the Democrats can get what they want and pass this bill, without Republican support. What they also know, and won't admit is, they're looking for cover, if this thing falls apart.
I hope the Republicans are smart enough to not let them have any cover.
Election 2008-God's way of showing us that elections count.
Mmmmmm. Mmmmmmm. Good.
February 9, 2009 - 22:38 ET by JWFYummy tasty democrat propaganda. Slathered with liberal goo. Chock full o' media bias. Dripping with hopey change.
I am full. Good Night All!
Sincerely,
a Veteran of a 1000 psychic wars.
It was stultifyingly boring. I have absolutely
February 9, 2009 - 22:40 ET by thebutlerdiditno idea what he said. And for those who said Bush was a poor speaker, if you thought that was great, you need your head examined! The few points he made you had to pick out of all the excess goo. The answer to the first question was 10-11 minutes, for goodness sakes! It was not a press conference, it was a speech, with people cueing him up for the subject changes. And of course, Helen Thomas asked if there were any "so-called" terrorists in Pock ee stahn. I wanted to throw a brick, instead of a shoe, at old Helen. Then he took a question from a person from HuffPo. Really? They are a legitimate news organization, now? I guess he decided to throw his worshippers a bone. BTW, Obama, could you bash Bush, just one more time, please? You didn't manage to bring him up but about 11eleventy times. And evidently he is responsible for all your bad decisions now. He spent out 700 bil. That was a bad thing. So, I am going to spend waaay more, and you will like it! Or be a dissident!
All a Democrat needs is the upper-story window of public attention and the chamber pot of rhetoric. How else to explain the rise of Joe Biden? P.J. O' Rourke
Boring?
February 9, 2009 - 22:47 ET by Sergeant ROCKSo, you didn't have to take a cold shower afterwards like shawn?
I was going to say something else, but this summed it up almost as well.
"I ask, Sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people. To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them."
George Mason
Bolton/KEYES 2012
I was highly offended at how
February 10, 2009 - 07:32 ET by ThatDudeI was highly offended at how he used the deaths of those three soldiers. When asked the question he jumped at the opportunity to bring up their deaths to drum up emotional support without mentioning the cuts in the military budget that further endangers the lives of our servicemen. It was a sickening political action.
Then he took a question
February 10, 2009 - 08:06 ET by motherbeltThen he took a question from a person from HuffPo. Really? They are a legitimate news organization, now?
Not only that, but lib radio commentator Ed Schultz was in the front row!!
I didn't think it was physically possible, but this both sucks and blows. -Bart Simpson
We are honestly without a
February 9, 2009 - 22:40 ET by ConservativeRexWe are honestly without a legitimate press for the first time since the Revolutionary War.
I hope what passes for the MSM is happy with how they have given themselves up to Obami. This poser who has done nothing, has created nothing, has grown men eating out of his hand and they say how much they like it.
The word needs to continue to get out that you absolutely can not believe a single thing reported on Obami. This is not hyperbole, this is fact. We are in dire straights, and I do not mean economically. I am beginning to believe that the press, and Obami's minions want us eliminated, and not eliminated in a "just go away" type.
Be on guard. As an avowed Conservative we are soon to be viewed as an enemy. We must always be ready to respond in kind. Remain vigilent.
CR... You are so
February 9, 2009 - 22:50 ET by bigtimerCR...
You are so right.
I am.
...and I do know others are too.
We are not alone, and will not go quietly into the night.
He's really out of his depth
February 9, 2009 - 22:57 ET by KC MulvilleSchieffer: "Well, he certainly made a compelling argument, whether you agree with it or not. " Poor Bob doesn't know the meaning of the word compelling. If it's a compelling argument, you can't agree with it or not. Compelling means you must agree with it.
As for Obama's performance? A parade of straw men.
His partisanship is strikingly shallow. He believes that we have to have a free market that must be controlled. Well, pick. Is it free? Or is it controlled? You can't have both.
He has pointed to a problem, and he offered his solution. But he uses rhetoric to imply that there's only one solution, his, and that anything else is a surrender to the problem. It's as if he was a doctor that prescribed a lobotomy for a headache; and when the patient resisted, Obama argued "well I guess you don't want to get rid of the headache." No, I may agree with the diagnosis without agreeing to the treatment.
I was shouting at the screen at times. You can't be this shallow.
Oy Vey!!!
February 9, 2009 - 23:38 ET by rockyracoonKC you & me both; the more this man, BHO speaks the worse he sounds to my ears anyway. I too was shouting at the TV screen. UHHHHHH, UHHHH!!!! What a horrible speaker, Is the emperor NOT wearing any clothes??
What did happen to hope and change? All I hear is this is the worse economy since the "great depression."
Not that this matters to the MSM, but eventually the American people are going to get tired of 0bambi whining and blaming others, president Bush for one, constantly. We'll get tired of hearing about the labor pains, and demand to see the baby. You better deliver, president Hussein.
The teleprompter
February 9, 2009 - 23:51 ET by KC MulvilleWhen the teleprompter went down, so did his diction.
I fully understand that trying to make sense of a reporter's question, on the fly, while trying to get a message out ... that's not as easy as it seems. It's only natural that a person would stumble, hesitate, and grope for words. I said that about Bush, and now I say it about Obama.
Remember - by all accounts, George Bush was a speaker's nightmare, and Obama is a speaker's dream. But did anyone see a huge difference tonight?
KC... No, I
February 10, 2009 - 00:17 ET by bigtimerKC...
No, I didn't.
...and my mind was on the same track as yours behind the scenes while all this was going on if you know what I mean...glad you brought this up, I had forgot about this.
Not much difference at all...
...but wait!
To the msm, he is The ONE!
...plus shipping and handling.
A Definite Difference
February 10, 2009 - 01:25 ET by stratmanYes, I did.
I read he answered 13 questions in an hour. I guess the perfesser was 'splaining things for us pupils for tomorrows pop quiz.
Bush was more brief and to the point with most questions. Whether he answered the question, it was at least sometimes mercifully brief.
Obama obfuscates with words, a circle of words, that oftentimes tonite did not answer the question, but fell back upon campaign rhetoric and Lefty red meat digs. His ignorance is marked by verbosity and flat generalities.
Anyone else see the smirk on Glorious Dear Leader's face when he crapped on Bush for the umpteenth time at the end of the Q&A?
Keep lecturing and wagging your finger at the public, Barry. Keep up the gloom and doom stuff too, Prez Hopey-Changey. It will make your fall from grace all that more swift and humiliating.
KC
February 10, 2009 - 00:21 ET by thebutlerdiditThe headache/lobotomy analogy is great. It truly sums it up, in a nutshell. No pun intended. I can't help but think of the line "resistance is futile."
All a Democrat needs is the upper-story window of public attention and the chamber pot of rhetoric. How else to explain the rise of Joe Biden? P.J. O' Rourke
Good news
February 10, 2009 - 00:57 ET by well99No earmarks in the stimulus.I believe that.Wait I have to go feed my pet rock.
well...Don't forger to
February 10, 2009 - 01:09 ET by bigtimerwell...
Don't forget to water that GiaPet too while you're at it.
The best part about this was
February 10, 2009 - 01:57 ET by MrSnugglesThe best part about this was when he blamed the Bush tax cuts for the recession, and then went on to say that what happened to japan in the 1990s could happen to us now. Yet, he wants to do EXACTLY WHAT THE JAPANESE DID that caused that 10 year recession. And it wasn't tax cuts!
Did he happen to use any
February 10, 2009 - 08:29 ET by motherbeltDid he happen to use any examples of countries that have taxed and spent themselves into prosperity?
I didn't think it was physically possible, but this both sucks and blows. -Bart Simpson
Agreed
February 10, 2009 - 10:29 ET by KC MulvilleThe problem with a free market is that it's free. Let's face facts, this recession had nothing to do with Bush's policies or free-market conservativism. Instead, some people took advantage of that freedom. But is the answer to take the freedom away? Regulate the market so much that it dies? The freedom of the market makes it risky. That's the point. But along with the rewards come the dangers.
The liberals are now braying like donkeys (how appropriate) that the market is risky. Hello? Didn't they know that? Or is this just a populist plea, pretending that they can regulate the danger away? The danger is like fire. It's dangerous, but we need it.
Of course, it's one thing to discover that a market economy is risky. What's worse is the confidence that they can regulate it and remove the risk. You can't make the market safe. It's a fool's errand to try.
Oooops
February 10, 2009 - 10:31 ET by KC MulvilleDouble post - hiccup while submitting - please delete
KC...All good observations.
February 10, 2009 - 10:21 ET by celatorKC...All good observations. Obama is programmed to respond with his "I'm OK and you are not OK, but I can fix you" mantra within a very narrow set of circumstances. A freewheeling press conference is not his forte.
The comparision between his "stage presence" when he is standing on ground he has been coached to stand on and be comfortable, and the otherwise freewheeling format is quite stunning. It's as though two different personalities existed in the same body.
For liberal Democrats and the Old Media, everything is crisis, chaos, calamity and catastrophe. That justifies stealing your property and liberties.
Ari Fleischer
February 10, 2009 - 10:40 ET by KC MulvilleI happened to catch a brief segment on the post-game show on O'Reilly (during commercials of 24). Ari Fleischer was on, and he said the obvious - so obvious that we need to be reminded of it.
The trick in a press conference is for the speaker to make his points, while seeming to be answering the questions. The reporters help that along when they ask questions that can easily be converted to talking points. These questions were easily transformable, and yet Obama kept stumbling. He didn't offer any sound bytes.
No CBO Question?
February 9, 2009 - 23:44 ET by slickwillie2001Unfortunately on the issue of bipartisanship, no one asked him why the democratic-controlled CBO doesn't think the bill will be stimulative, and says that we will come out of the recession in six to nine months if we do NOTHING.
I was aggravated to about
February 10, 2009 - 00:02 ET by bigtimerI was also aggravated about this.
Yet he had the audacity to say Govt. was the only entity that could solve this problem....
Hmmmm...Govt. has created this problem in my eyes.
Reagan was right.
"Yet he had the audacity to
February 10, 2009 - 00:33 ET by krendler"Yet he had the audacity to say Govt. was the only entity that could solve this problem....
Hmmmm...Govt. has created this problem in my eyes."
Precisely.
Government isn't the
February 10, 2009 - 00:51 ET by bigtimerGovernment isn't the solution...Government IS the problem.
I wished with all my heart people were required to watch their Representatives on the floor, with all their speeches, then their votes.
...and COMPREHEND what all was said, how they voted, understand how the particular vote they just said Aye or Nays for meant to their daily lives...for decades and decades...if not longer.
Why are folks all concerned about the abilities...
February 9, 2009 - 23:45 ET by wnaegele...[or lack thereof] of O's press secretary when every mainstream media talking head, sans those at Fox, serve as his spinmeister?
A Teachable Moment?
February 9, 2009 - 23:47 ET by GottafangYou know, Obama could go on like this for two minutes. . .
http://www.youtube.c...
And the MSM would think it was a teachable moment.
Gf... Now ain't that the
February 10, 2009 - 00:09 ET by bigtimerGf...
Now ain't that the truth!
You have me cracking up laughing here....
...thanks, I needed that.
Hitler reborn....
February 9, 2009 - 23:51 ET by ScrapironOnly in a more stupid package. He has the idiots and weakling's following him. They'll kiss his a** but they won't fight for their country much less a mutt.
Old, Retired and glad of it.
Well said Scrapiron....................
February 10, 2009 - 01:22 ET by BEGRUNTObama is a "cheap" Hitler.........."Hitler lite"..........LOL!!
"Blago got in touch with his inner dirt bag"
Dennis Miller
bambi, the first stupid
February 10, 2009 - 01:13 ET by jdhawkbambi, the first stupid liberal, did not have to have a press conference (if you can call it that) at all. He already has the votes - thank you RHINO senators Specter, Collins and Snowe.
He did this to shove it up our collective a**es as conservatives. Talk about an arrogant S.O.B. This is going to be a knock down drag out four years - who am I kidding. So long as he has the three stooges of our party in his pocket, this is going to be a cake walk for socialists.
Note, this "stimulus" bill is just the beginning. In a few short months, congress will queue up for next year's budget. That budget will use this "stimulus" bill as the baseline and go up from there.
Over the last eight years I used to get upset everytime President Bush would ladle on the pork - expanding government 50% during his terms of office. bambi, is going to do that in his first month in office!
You think Obama was bad?
February 10, 2009 - 01:36 ET by BigSky1970You think Obama was bad? Brian Williams often has trouble trying to find the period at the end of a sentence.
BS70......Even if you
February 10, 2009 - 01:48 ET by bigtimerBS70...
...Even if you gave him a month.
Obama explicitly blamed this
February 10, 2009 - 01:58 ET by MrSnugglesObama explicitly blamed this recession on the Bush tax cuts. Can anyone tell me any time in the history of mankind that a tax cut lead to a recession?
MrSnug... I
February 10, 2009 - 02:03 ET by bigtimerMrSnug...
I can't.
Maybe someone will come along and say different.
Maybe not...
After-all...Trolls all have to be getting back to their diggins before sun-up.
The MSM got took with
February 10, 2009 - 02:23 ET by RR GOPThe MSM got took with Present Obama's stumping tonight. Of course, they are fantasizing about having lurid sex with the guy, so getting down on all fours and taking it was quite satisfying for 'em I suppose.
Why do they even bother with a 'press corps'? Save money. Fire them and just print and talk about the talking points Emanuel has sent out. Pretty much all they're doing now anyway.
One of the 24% who thinks George W. Bush was a great President. One of the 89% who wants to bring back the stock and pillory.
SIXTY MILLION rational Americans DID NOT vote for BARRKY ...
February 10, 2009 - 07:01 ET by Jayke... because they can see through the THIN VENEER that covers his MARXIST IDEOLOGY. His secret mission is to DESTROY capitalism and he is succeeding with the help of fellow IDEOLOGUES in the media. They all know it and don't care. They think they can make communism work this time because they are smarter than STALIN or MAO or CASTRO or CHAVEZ. I will NEVER let go of my RIGID IDEOLOGICAL BELIEF that communism will ALWAYS FAIL everywhere it's tried. Oh ,and by the way, can I see your LONG FORM BIRTH CERTIFICATE BARRKY?!
Definition:
February 10, 2009 - 08:14 ET by Indiana Joe"Idealogue:" (n) a word used by idealogues to denigrate those who disagree with them.
"Meet the new boss, same as the old boss..." - The Who
These talking heads are so easily entertained...
February 10, 2009 - 09:14 ET by ThalpyThese talking heads are so easily entertained; it's as if they all have a Thing going on. Nothing+Nothing=Nothing.
phony political theatre
February 10, 2009 - 10:10 ET by jondelwicheA. The media has a love affair with the President,which doesnt
bode well for the Republic, or journalism. I saw a guy who stammered thru a few answers (and bumps his head, and trys to walk thru a window). Genuis IS in the eye of the beholder.
B. One party has the office of the Presidency, and 59% majorities in both the House and the Senate. Gridlock is NOT the word when one party fumbles its powerful position.
C. Partisanship? Wasnt it the last recession, spring of 2001, that the opposition was SO concerned about "bipartisanship" that they flipped a Senator to take control of the Senate? Talk about a power grab undoing an election.......
common sense
February 10, 2009 - 11:51 ET by welderforeKenneth J Roberts
Black mark on college educations , I say they need to instill common sense and remove some of the not so useful crap in the teaching of the higher groups , common sense I don't believe should be left out in search of higher learning . It appears that most journalistic teaching has left that part of the education process outside in the rain. Or is it that journalism is a cop out and the ones who can't cut the normal education opt for that so they can at least graduate? It makes one wonder as most of the reporting today has no common sense nor so does it have any truth to it . We were sold a bill of goods with Obama and now we are seeing he has no ability to deal with normal things much less the critical items that we face now . His idea of being together or included is if all agree with him.