Associated Press, 1987: 'Why Do Grown Men And Women Shout At President Reagan?'
You'd think from the reaction to Daily Caller White House Correspondent Neal Munro's shouted question during President Obama's announcement of de facto amnesty for 30-and-under illegal aliens at the Rose Garden yesterday that it's the first time any reporter has ever shouted a question at a U.S. president out of turn. Friday afternoon, the Daily Caller, Munro's employer, carried his explanation of the incident, as well as sturdy defenses from Editor-in-Chief Tucker Carlson and Publisher Neil Patel.
What follows is some historical perspective ("Why Do Grown Men And Women Shout At President Reagan?") coming from (yes, really) Associated Press writer Christopher Connell in October 1987 which is more than necessary in the circumstances (save here in full for fair use and discussion purposes; key items underlined by me).
Here it is:
Comments on the underlined items:
- Not only did they "do it for a living," they did it almost constantly during Reagan's eight years, almost regardless of the circumstances. It appeared to be a strategy designed to make the president appaer aloof and stand-offish, when by 1987 (which is probably why Connell decided to cover it) it was clear that the press's image had been severely tarnished by its years-long virtually non-stop childishness.
- It got so bad that by Reagan's second term, the press was almost routinely interrupting equivalent presidential functions like the one Robert Bork was involved in as described above.
- I believe it's fair to say that Obama and his apparatchiks have limited direct presidential access to Dear Leader far more than Reagan and his handlers ever did. Shoot, at one point (and I believe it's still the case), Obama's people were deciding ahead of time who in the press would get the privilege of asking him questions.
Now, all of a sudden, Neil Munro is a "heckler" getting a beat-down from the White House Correspondents Association amid speculation that The Daily Caller might "lose its access to the President and to the White House." What a bunch of flaming, presidential boot-licking hypocrisy.
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
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Comments
Reagan was white, an actor,
Submitted by killa37 on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 3:09pm.
Reagan was white, an actor, and he wasn't 'historic'.......................Boy Baraka is 'black', and he's the most intelligent and brilliant President any of us has ever been fortunate to have seen, and he is also the most 'historic' WON/ONE is anybody's lifetime.
Yeah, the only thing 'historic' about Boy Barry Baraka Hussein Obama is that he will go down in the anals of history as the WORST president this country has ever had to endure.
"the anals of history"
Submitted by TempusFugit on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 5:53pm.
Spelling intended killa?
U NO DAT, Tempus!!! How else
Submitted by killa37 on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 9:58pm.
U NO DAT, Tempus!!! How else could I say it - as it relates to Boy Baraka??? This guy is heinous..............and you know what that rhymes with!!!
Anyone who dares
Submitted by ohio granny on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 3:18pm.
Anyone who dares to ask a hard question of our petty little man-child president will be punished in some way. Obama is the dictator and he can do whatever he pleases and the stupid masses MUST not question the "won".
What a pathetic, pitiful excuse for a leader.
Tom . . And GW Bush?
Submitted by Gary Hall on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 3:48pm.
One can only imagine the target rich environment in finding examples of how reporters treated President George W Bush and VP Cheney.
That AP piece really is an excellent piece, is it not - as Obama has "sharply curtailed opportunities for the press corps to engage the President."
(;~/ gary
PS - suddenly Brian Williams comes to mind. Williams was interviewing the President, in a casual outside setting about what would normally be a warm fuzzy exchange. But no, Williams is on the attack from the git go, escalating it until he is finally repeatedly poking his finger into the President's chest.
Bush's "Ecelectic" Reading List
good call
Submitted by Jnoble on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 5:11pm.
I almost forgot about that. Look at Mr Pompous Williams standing right in front of W with his arms crossed with a non-so subtle hostile accusatory tone. And the chest poke. What an arrogant punk.
Replace W with O and suddenly Brian would be kneeling in front of his hero with little cartoon hearts in his eyes waiting patiently for a pat on the head or a hair tussle after he asked some easy softball questions to O-Blame-o. This is assuming that O-Blame-o even feels like fielding questions because sometimes they get in the way of another fundraiser before a round of golf.
Thank you Jnoble . . is possible to even imagine the . .
Submitted by Gary Hall on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 10:33pm.
. . insanity that would engulf the national MSM if a national anchor - oh, and if they belonged to Fox - so treated President Obama?
Why the conservative side of the aisle can't empower themselves to put this to bed in an instant, escapes me.
It's past time for a 25 million person march on the White House.
(:~/ gary
delete
Submitted by Rush Fan on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 4:19pm.
Short answer:
Submitted by CobraMan on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 4:17pm.
"Why Do Grown Men And Women Shout At President Reagan?"
Short answer: Immaturity.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
protocol
Submitted by Barabbus on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 5:12pm.
See, he should have thrown his shoe first. Then the press "corpses" would have accepted it as the proper way to get his attention.
The proper way
Submitted by CobraMan on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 5:24pm.
The proper way to get Obama's attention is to precede anything you say with Hail, Cesar!
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
Notice the nasty article by Carl Rowan
Submitted by Kingfish17 on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 5:54pm.
Rowan would regular rail in his column against the 2nd Amendment and gun rights. Hypocrisy with regards to liberal columnists isn't a new phenomenon:
Rowan, who had advocated strict handgun control, found himself in the center of a gun controversy during the 1980s when he was arrested and charged with using an unregistered weapon
"You can’t go take a trip to Las Vegas...on the taxpayer’s dime." Barack Obama
Shouting at Presidents
Submitted by SmartyMarty on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 6:57pm.
Can someone recount the exploits of the hateful Sam Donaldson? Obnoxious and rude as can be! This is how Ronaldus Magnus dealt with him
http://lonelyconservative.com/2011/01/flashback-ronald-reagan-and-sam-donaldson/
'. . . .you have blamed
Submitted by DontFeedTheTrolls on Sun, 06/17/2012 - 7:20am.
'. . . .you have blamed mistakes of the past and you have blamed the Congress. . . .'
That sounds familiar. Wonder why they don't ask Obama the same question.
The difference is that this
Submitted by balboa on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 7:20pm.
The difference is that this recent guy yelled while Obama was speaking.
Not that it matters. This is a non-event.
Not True
Submitted by stratman on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 10:50pm.
Interrupting a President has happened other times in America's history.
And it does matter, first from a proprietary way we treat the President and second from a respectful way a President doesn't crap on the Constitution and the American people with dictatorial-like end around decrees.
Like that has never happed beforre
Submitted by CobraMan on Sun, 06/17/2012 - 2:13pm.
Suddenly Bush's State of the Union Address comes to mind. You know the one where democrat members of Congress started yelling while he was giving that address.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
I don't remember that. Is
Submitted by balboa on Sun, 06/17/2012 - 4:06pm.
I don't remember that. Is that where the Republicans got the idea to do it, too? ;-)
I don't think so
Submitted by CobraMan on Sun, 06/17/2012 - 4:29pm.
No, I think the idea first formed during the Nixon administration, when every public appearance he ever had was met with shouts and interruptions, including the young men and women who became today's elected democrats. I don't ever remember a public appearance by Nixon that wasn't met with shouts of indignation, especially by the liberal press of the day.
Remember when John Kerry proudly threw "his" medals over the White House fence? Well, guess what was going on when he did that? That's right, a Nixon press conference on the White House lawn less than 100 yards away. Tell me that wasn't an attempted interruption, I dare ya. :-)
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
GWB
Submitted by stratman on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 10:44pm.
Not to mention George W Bush being heckled by Democrats in Congress during a State Of The Union address in 2005.
To add insult to injury, the Democrats were dead WRONG and knew it when they booed Bush about the impending fiscal crisis ahead for Social Security.
IMHO
Submitted by amyshulk on Sun, 06/17/2012 - 1:49am.
Easy - we have a King now, not a president. Next thing on his list? Doing what the left said Pres. Bush would do - martial law and suspension of elections. Crazy? Couldn't happen here? Look at the stuff - from the GM bailout on down - where they "couldn't do that" and tell me how they were stopped/punished.
Ronald Reagan
When I
Submitted by nolefan2 on Sun, 06/17/2012 - 10:34am.
first heard the whining about 'interrupting" BHO, I said, "well, they had no problem interrupting Reagen and Bush. All this deserves is an eye roll and a head shake. It is just more hypocrisy from the left.....and they know it. They just can't help it. It's a character flaw they were born with.