Tense White House Exchange

Tense White House Exchange

news.yahoo.com

Contentious exchanges between White House press secretaries and members of the media have been fairly commonplace during the past few presidential administrations.

However, the one that took place Wednesday between White House press secretary Robert Gibbs and April Ryan of American Urban Radio, in which Gibbs essentially compared Ryan to a petulant child, is among the most heated (and entertaining) in recent memory.

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www.msnbc.msn.com

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Okay, this is quite silly to me, it seems as if both the Press Secretary and the White House reporter are both acting out some silly Yes you did, no I didn't skit straight from the funny and silly Monte Python.

Monty Python - Argument Clinic


This is the kind of silly thing that makes an Administration either seem neutered, or makes it get neutered, in my humble opinion.

Seems as if White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs lost control immediately, and April Ryan, went on the attack, both acting silly, when there are far more important things to discuss.

news.yahoo.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 4-12-2009 by SpartanKingLeonidas]

April was out of line. Plain and simple.

Quite honestly...does it matter if she was the one who invited herself or not?

Plus I heard it being said on the news that she "upstaged" Michele Obama, and April even said she was "the belle of the ball"...what kind of crap is that honestly?


She was there, yes, she was in charge of the guest list and some other things...but often times at normal office parties, the work on the day of the event is delegated to underlings.

The White House is an office.

Should she have maybe been paying a bit more attention, maybe.

Is it more the fault of the physical security who were on duty at the time. Absolutely

Saying that, Robert Gibbs has shown to be a pompous jerk a few times, and should have stopped talking earlier in the exchange, and should not have made the comment comparing her to a child.

Originally posted by iamsupermanv2
April was out of line. Plain and simple.

Quite honestly...does it matter if she was the one who invited herself or not?

Plus I heard it being said on the news that she "upstaged" Michele Obama, and April even said she was "the belle of the ball"...what kind of crap is that honestly?


She was there, yes, she was in charge of the guest list and some other things...but often times at normal office parties, the work on the day of the event is delegated to underlings.

The White House is an office.

Should she have maybe been paying a bit more attention, maybe.

Is it more the fault of the physical security who were on duty at the time. Absolutely

Saying that, Robert Gibbs has shown to be a pompous jerk a few times, and should have stopped talking earlier in the exchange, and should not have made the comment comparing her to a child.

That was my point exactly though, Washington D.C. is like that, really.

If you don't know so and so, you don't exist, if you can't upstage this guy, no one hears you.

The list is endless in how power is used, abused, and misconstrued.

This is about as silly as two kids fighting over the last piece of Halloween candy.

Yes, he was a pompous jerk, no one deserves being put down, or condescended to like that, but at the same time the whole issue of the party crashing is silly to begin with, and reporters focusing on it could very well be a side-tracking issue.

What else are we missing here now because of the Crashgate scandal?

Is it just an event, was it used as a distraction, or is it all smoke and mirrors?

Quote from : Wikipedia : Smoke and Mirrors

Smoke and mirrors is a metaphor for stress analysis, in other words insubstantial explanation or description.

The source of the name is based on magicians' illusions, where magicians make objects appear or disappear by extending or retracting mirrors amid a confusing burst of smoke.

The expression may have a connotation of virtuosity or cleverness in carrying out such a deception.

In the field of computer programming, it is used to describe a program or functionality that doesn't yet exist, but appears as though it does (cf. vaporware).

This is often done to demonstrate what a resulting project will function/look like after the code is complete — at a trade show, for example.

More generally, "smoke and mirrors" may refer to any sort of presentation by which the audience is intended to be deceived, such as an attempt to fool a prospective client into thinking that one has capabilities necessary to deliver a product in question.

Really, if it was smoke and mirrors, I'm mad, if it was a mistake, learn from it Secret Service, if it was a power play, fire the woman.

[edit on 4-12-2009 by SpartanKingLeonidas]

I don't think this was a smoke and mirrors thing...everyone was just way to thrown off by it, from what i've seen.

so sounds like the SS needs to step it up.

I mean seriously....if Obama has really received as many death threats as they have said... i dont think it would've been out of line to hand search everyone who walked through the doors.

Originally posted by iamsupermanv2
I don't think this was a smoke and mirrors thing...everyone was just way to thrown off by it, from what i've seen.

so sounds like the SS needs to step it up.

I mean seriously....if Obama has really received as many death threats as they have said... i dont think it would've been out of line to hand search everyone who walked through the doors.

It does sound like that, so far.

I always remember however that anything, and I mean, anything, coming from the White House is a sound byte, and is used as a means for leverage, with or without an agenda.

What most people forget is that the White House is a place where the world focuses their attention, therefore those within it know they have the attention of people, and will act accordingly if they need something portrayed a certain way.