This is really not news, I'm afraid. First off, the "woman" in question is Helen Thomas who has been a pain in the neck to every president since Kennedy. It reached a point several years ago that Bush's press secretaries refused to ever call on her after she went off on Ari Fleischer. She later called Bush the worst president she had ever been around. Helen Thomas creating a stir is expected. The story would be if she never had.

As to the concerns expressed in here, I suggest researching Jeff Gannon. He was a plant by Bush to ask easy questions that would portray Democrats poorly. Once he was busted as a non-journalist (and outed as a gay prostitute), his WH sleepovers (and press conference pass) were revoked. Fox News was solid then with access but now they are shut out (i.e. prevented from asking questions) simply because they are a fake news channel. 'Fox News: We distort, you comply". So of course they are "shocked, shocked, I tell you!!"

Town hall meetings were always filled by both Bush and McCain with their own supporters. People showing up with anti-war bumper stickers, much less shirts or plaques, were quickly escorted off the property even if they had legitimate tickets.

Short term memory works well if one seeks to forget. But to accuse Obama of something that is always done and then acting like it is a "new" thing or revelation is disingenous or displays an appalling lack of insight.

The right hand and the left hand are both tools of the same beast. I wonder how long the cynical exploitation of people will continue? Only as long as the people "see" the dichotomy, the duality in the drama. Once people merge the political left and right into one thing, I believe they might come to the same conclusion as me, that this thing can be personified as the Beast. Once people become aware of this, and also the vast and very real interconnectedness of everything, they might allow the Christ consciousness to develop. We are judging, condemning ourselves and everybody else into oblivion. Domination exists because of manipulation. Manipulation exists to undermine domination. We are disconnected from others in a very profound way, and it can be chalked up to bad programming and immature spirituality. When will we wake up from our collective slumber? When will people get tired of the infinite mirroring of everybody else and choose to just be?

Why did I write this? These tactics were well known in the Bush administration, and of course they go on in an Obama administration. Both ends of the same stick will swell in power to the extent that they are allowed. When and only the swelling becomes insufferable to people, these illusory concepts will dissolve and a greater order will emerge out of the chaos, although some birth pains may and seem very likely to occur.

Lol Obamatrons.

Obama is the biggest fake since Warren Harding and maybe the biggest fake ever, and everybody knows it now, this is just another cherry on top of that sundae. He's a total fraud.

And Helen Thomas is no friend of Fox News.

Fox news is the fortune teller of the media right now. While Bush was in office it was MSNBC. Listen closely and will hear whats going to happen in the next 6 months.

For instance Sean Hannity will say something like.... if we elect Obama North Korea is going to test us with their Nukes....

6 months later exactly what Hannity has warned of come true. The problem is in most cases he doesn't talk about what he has warned of anymore. It's now him warning us of whats going to happen 6 months from now.

He(FOX) just plants seeds so when it grows into reality, you won't be shocked.

Originally posted by Strictsum
Fox news is the fortune teller of the media right now. While Bush was in office it was MSNBC. Listen closely and will hear whats going to happen in the next 6 months.

For instance Sean Hannity will say something like.... if we elect Obama North Korea is going to test us with their Nukes....

6 months later exactly what Hannity has warned of come true. The problem is in most cases he doesn't talk about what he has warned of anymore. It's now him warning us of whats going to happen 6 months from now.

He(FOX) just plants seeds so when it grows into reality, you won't be shocked.

uh...no.

You know...I know a lot of people who said the North would test nukes...not because Obama was elected, but because N Korea does not give a flying F#%K about you.

Not because Obama was elected.

Unless you were making a point that Fox points out the obvious. In that case, that's sorta true. Sorta not. They fabricate things to their favor. When Bush was president, the world was dandy.

However now a black democrat is in office, IT'S HELL !!!!!!!


-Immaturity in the media alert-

It was a commercial to sell a product... They have this girl show up and cries, needs a hug and for Obama's health care reform plan to save her.

If you didn't see this as fake from the beginning, without Helen Thomas or fox news, then you are among the multitude of gullible ignorant Americans that Obama's town hall meetings are designed for.

Playing on your emotions and fears to push through the most destructive legislation in history... And so many fools will fall for it.

I am actually beginning to believe that many Americans will deserve what is coming, they will be unprepared and uninformed, and they wont have a chance.

If they can't wake up, then surely the Obama administration can create fictionalized television and public events to put them to sleep, and keep them there for just long enough to achieve their goals.

[edit on 2-7-2009 by Walkswithfish]

The people who have tried to say Bush did the same thing are off base. Bush didn't plant people in his crowds and reporter pools intended to ask questions or make comments sympathetic with his agenda, he simply didn't give a crap what people thought of him... and unsuprisingly the same people who eat up Obama's crap with a spoon were the ones most critical of Bush for not giving a darn what people thought. Even more apparent was (and to this day is) Dick Cheney's handling of critics and criticism. He may be a cold, ruthless SOB, but the guy has never claimed or pretended to be anything he isn't. Cheney (and Bush) welcomed the "tough questions" by directly refusing to answer them or berating those who asked them... but they were at least asked. With Obama we're just getting complete avoidance from the get-go, by an administration which does everything in it's power to not even open the door for the tough questions to be voiced in the first place and then saying it's "under attack" from critics and whining incessantly when the rare tough question does manage to slip into the conferences and town hall meetings.

A great example of this was seen just last week with the ABC network's health care program. Meticulous care was taken by both the administration and the media to make sure no dissenting opinions or concerns were even raised, let alone addressed by Obama. Remember, you can only put responses on a telestrator if you know exactly what the questions will be beforehand. Any divergence from the script and suddenly you've got a guy who's outstanding at reading someone else's messages and delivering them to an audience trying his hand at authoring his own responses and having to fly solo on his wits alone... something this president has demonstrated numerous times to be a major weakness for him.

Not to condone his tactics if true (I didn't see the news conference). But just a little reminder to you all. There are 50 million Americans without healthcare, a lot of them children. I would call that a serious problem that receives very little attention but why not just use the real people and be upfront? I guess then everyone would call it blatant propaganda...

By the way I more than disappointed in Obama. He is Bush lite and in the pocket of all the corporations same as Bush just a little less violent and psychotic.

haha...silly Americans.

I'm sick of hearing people siding with one party over the other. American politics is essentially a Coke vs. Pepsi debate at this point.

People on this thread are making the point that Bush probably did the same thing, so that makes it okay for Obama to do it?

Some people are saying 'big deal' because this kind of behavior has a long rooted history in American politics?

How about instead of crapping all over each other, you all join together in constructive attempts to do what is in your power to remove this type of corruption from your government?

Everyone should want to have leaders that do what is in the public's interest, versus what is in their interest.

Well, a guy can dream.

(Public health care is awesome btw)

[edit on 2-7-2009 by Nickmare]

So much for the kinder more honest administration! What do you people think will happen once the mainstream media gets disenchanted w/ Obama? Will we really see any changes on how the press deals with him? I just know I am going to be jumped on for this statement, but really Hitler and Obama are a lot alike! Ever watch any of the old footage of one of Hitlers speech's? Look at the crowds of adoring citizens, we see how all that worked out!

It's always been a setup with Obama - How else could you answer a town hall question with a teleprompter? I'm surprised the fainting woman wasn't there.

As for the old woman at the press conference, that's Helen Thomas and she's been in that room since Lincoln was elected.

Fox may not be perfect but the rest of the media are nothing but whores and Obama is their pimp. At least with fox you can get both sides of a story or at the very least have the possibility of getting both sides.

Originally posted by Leo Strauss
Not to condone his tactics if true (I didn't see the news conference). But just a little reminder to you all. There are 50 million Americans without healthcare, a lot of them children. I would call that a serious problem that receives very little attention but why not just use the real people and be upfront? I guess then everyone would call it blatant propaganda...

It may be a serious problem, but the plan being pushed by Obama is not a serious solution to it. Rather, the problem is being used as a leveraging tool to push a greater agenda aimed at not bringing the un(der)insured up to the standards of those with insurance, but bringing those with insurance down greatly, while slightly uplifting the have-nots until everyone meets somewhere below the current middle. This is something also known as SOCIALISM.

Under our current system in which we're told by Obama that medical bills are far too high and the benefits too low, we are suffering massive doctor and nurse shortages in many parts of the nation. The call to cap medical prices by the adminsitration as well as increase oversight of all procedures sure as hell is only going to exaccerbate that shortage. What happens then? Will we see a movement towards government directed medical education programs? Sort of a "since you displayed some proficiency in sciences in high school and we need doctors you'll have to go to a medical college for a degree in order to get any federal educational assistance?"

I don't know how many of you people remember, but Helen Thomas (the reporter who stated this) was pushed to the back of the room after questioning Ari Fleischer (Bush's original press secretary). She hated them, too. You know what discourages me? How the liberals and conservatives on this site love it when they get to zing the other side. Even though many of you purport to not believing in the two party system (that it is a facade and a means of controlling the pop). Listen, can we just agree that Bush sucked and Obama sucked and there's not much (Substantive) difference between the two of them after all?

(I can't wait until someone fires a verbal missile at me for stating this).

This is nothing new, questions have been pre-screened for some time among politicians and it is a disturbing trend. How to remedy the problem, your guess is as good as mine? I suppose if disenfranchised people at these town hall meetings raise a commotion -- maybe it will catch the eye of the American people about how all these press conferences, town hall meetings, and questioning in general is a bunch of theater.

Healthcare is great and if everyone could have it, even better, however; we shouldn't blindly follow anyone that is playing with our pocket books.

Don't expect the MSM to hold his feet to fire when it comes to pushing through his radical agenda. We have to carry this task on our shoulders alone. The MSM sacrificed their objectivity during the campaign and now they are bound to that type of treatment during President Obama's term. They showed him, then, that they are suckers for a few clever words and phrases and now he is pushing them over to get his agenda accomplished.

We can write our legislatures and complain and make our positions known. We can start blogs. Tell our family and friends about the President's disasterous policies and back our views up with undeniable facts.
Those are a few things I can think of off the top of my head. I'll say it again the MSM have been comprised and they can no longer be relied upon.

[edit on 2-7-2009 by Jakes51]

aren't you glad we got "change we can believe in
?

Originally posted by Leo Strauss
Not to condone his tactics if true (I didn't see the news conference). But just a little reminder to you all. There are 50 million Americans without healthcare, a lot of them children. I would call that a serious problem that receives very little attention but why not just use the real people and be upfront? I guess then everyone would call it blatant propaganda...

By the way I more than disappointed in Obama. He is Bush lite and in the pocket of all the corporations same as Bush just a little less violent and psychotic.

There in no legal citizen in the US without choice of ACCESS or not to health care. Further, if the citizen does choose health coverage, it's their FREEDOM of choice to use their own money to the type of health care to receive.

Just most people would rather spend hundreds of dollars on alcohol, toys, the 50th pair of shoes to never be worn, go out to eat at fast food places, the Caddy instead of the Kia.

I know I can see some of you seething at me and those comments. I had hard times to the point of the wife and I going out for a walk hoping to find some change so we could buy a loaf of bread or something 'cause we were starving. (we found 50 cents and ate like a king and queen) But if we had to get health care, the state would allow us access to any hospital to be seen. Still does. Same for everyone.

If you want better health care, everyone, just has to pay for it and not spend their money on that 12-pack every night. Change jobs to get a better health care plan. People do that all the time.

It's all about FREEDOM and not forced care. FREEDOM is scary and it takes a lot of work, a lot of personal responsibility, no "mommy and daddy govt." Remember we moved away from mommy and daddy because we didn't want all the behavior strings attached to your freedom of choice. So why does everyone want the govt. to be their mommy and daddy.

Stand on your own 2 feet. Hard work, scarey, never absolute security, welcome to planet Earth, pal.