Today’s Qs for O’s WH — 2/5/09

Testy, testy. Obama will be transparaent about what a goshdarn good guy he is.

Jake, why were you not this aggressive when Bush was in office? The thing the media does not recognize is that average Americans see right through the irony you put out for all to see. This is amazing…

OK, I’ll say it another way, Jake. You have here an administration that seems to at least be trying to be much more ethical than previous ones. It has set high standards and appears to be trying to adhere to them, though no one is 100% perfect, of course. You had a previous administration that didn’t give a flying fig about ethics and had lobbyists crawling all over the WH and didn’t care who knew it.
I understand that you want to hold the Obama administration to its own high standards but it seems to me there needs to be some acknowledgment that they ARE high standards. In other words, you shouldn’t be treating an administration that gets 90% of the way to perfect ethics in a decidedly more hostile manner than you did an administration that didn’t even ATTEMPT to get 20% of the way there.

“Jake, why were you not this aggressive when Bush was in office?”
I think Jake is right to be this way. Obama promised transparency and Jake, as a press guy, is expecting it. The press is the doorway to that transparency, so this affects him. Don’t blame him.
Also, the press was aggressive to Bush for all 8 years. If you didn’t see it, might be because you weren’t looking.

When this came up a week ago all of the “progressives” said “there is a waiver process! He has to sign a waiver! He is accountable through the waiver!”.
Now it turns out no one can see the waiver.
Best 100 Days Evah!

“Did you ask when Gibbs expects to be brifed on the policies of the Obama Administration so he can in turn share that information with the White House press corps?”
Gibbs really IS pretty much a clone — without the baby-faced charm — of Scott McClellan. And Gibbs dyes his hair, doesn’t he? NEVER an encouraging sign, especially in a middle-aged male.

Jake,
I watched the presser today and didn’t hear R Gibbs answer your last question about the Stimulus Bill. I thought he just ignored you. He came across very rude. Hope you aren’t covering for him?
Thanks for asking good probing questions. Don’t give up, don’t get intimidated. The American people need you.

Where were you during the Bush presidency Jake? Why werent you asking these kinds of questions? Now you are some hero of transparency?? please

So, is it, or is it not Patriotic to pay taxes? Joe Biden told us it was.
Yeah, the *Waiver*….
I wonder, the next time a client tells me that they are being audited, if I should advise them to use the *Waiver* excuse?
Oh, and remember folks: They work for us. For our taxes. They are supposed to do the People’s will. Not just what they want. They are using tax money for every piece of crap pork they can find.
Try to remember that.
Or, perhaps, the *Quickbooks* excuse that Geithner used for not paying his $34,000 bill?
First Geithner, then Daschle, then Killefer, now Solis. How many more of Obama’s staff have not paid taxes?
How Patriotic are they? These are not simple boo boos.
If you or I did it, it *might* be simple avoidance. However, what they did, with penalties, was evasion. No doubt in my mind.
Transparency? Bvll. Honesty? Bvll. They are politicians. They are paid to lie.

Jake –
You kept mentioning in that GMA piece the other day that “the American people” this and “the American people” that… inserting opinions for the broader American people.
Just to let you know, the vast majority of your clientele for this blog hardly represent a majority of the American people’s perspective.
So, as an American person, I’d ask that you stop saying in your television pieces that “the American people” think this or that and insert in some random judgment of your opinion turned reporting, when it’s clear that your marking the opinions of the few (your commentators) as the opinions of the broader American people.
You had no polls to back up what you suggested under the name of “the American people” in the GMA piece. It was your surmise. And when you only read the commentators on this blogs of yours, it’s hardly representative of the broader public.

Why don’t you post the video.
Aparently your higher ups are nervous about their buddies salaries.
The fact that you’ve been tougher on Obama & his administration in 15 days then you ever were on Bush & his cronies is NOT missed by any of US…

Jake is not being too accurate with the Gallup. According to the USA/Gallup poll write up today, Americans overwhelmingly want Congress to pass an economic stimulus bill, with 2/3 of the respondents predicting it would help the economy.

You go, girl. Excellent questions, Jake, and excellent doggedness in parrying Gibbs’ attempts to dodge. And for those of you who bizarrely ask where such questions were during the bush administration, I have to wonder if you were even awake in those days. The press certainly hammered at the Bush press secretaries on a daily basis, far more pointedly than they are doing to Gibbs now. Mr. Tapper is a rare exception to the rule.
Thanks for consistently asking sensible and pertinent questions, Jake. And I’d love to actually see the waivers myself. And it is burningly obvious that the WH is concerned about having lost control of the stimulus debate. And thank goodness they have– we need to take a good long look at this mess before we get stuck with it and press our representatives on the Hill to fix it. Just because you CAN pass a bill does not mean it is a bill that deserves to be passed. I am rooting for Bill Nelson, John McCain, Claire McCaskill, Olympia Snow, etc. (a truly bipartisan list of names)to succeed in cutting unnecessary fat from the bill and improving it radically.

Jake,
do some investigating, pulitzers don’t come from TV camera showboating

“One’s a housekeeping one. In the name of the transparency that you and the president herald so much,”
Video would help here because the transcript makes this out to be quite condescending even though the question of being able to see disclosure & waiver forms is a good one.

“Video would help here because the transcript makes this out to be quite condescending…”
You’re in for a surprise, Ryan, if you think the transcript seems condescending. The video is even worse. Jake comes across as extremely condescending. But that’s become par for the course for him, and I suspect is why Gibbs is losing patience and deciding not to be as accomadating to Jake as Jake might like.

That the Puppet — “families are tightening their belts and so should Washington” hahaha — has been with the southerner Gibbs for SO long, and still doesn’t know Robert E. Lee from Braxton Bragg is … not as funny as Gibbs’ dye job.

Didn’t anyone else ask any questions, Jake? Are your questions the news, or are Obama’s answers the news? Don’t let your ego get in the way of your journalism.

listen ABC is in Full Protection Mode of the great one.. they will not allow you to criticize him
DOH-BAMA and his theft package that the democrats are trying to pass is just a pork spending bill and ABC is allowing the democrats to rip off the american people

Where were you when bush was taking us to an unnecessary war and telling the American people lies, lies, lies?! Where were you during the last horrible 8 bush years?! You were running scared that’s where, hiding under your rock afraid to ask questions of bush, afraid to do your real job, afraid of being called unpatriotic. You have zero credibility. You think “now” you can act tough. Obama has had more transparency in the few short weeks he’s been in office than bush had in 8 years! you can now crawl back under your rock with your wrong poll numbers and stupid questions. Gee have you considered fox news?

“Well what Obama is pushing is not *a* stimulus. He is pushing *the* stimulus the HR1 the Big Pig.”
What The Puppet is pushing — along with the attempt to buy up the churches, just as Bush did — is His treacherous self.
The glorious Senate, meanwhile, on a courageous voice vote (which leaves no record of who voted how) has backed off on the “Buy American” clause. (The AFP article is accessible through rawstory.)

“You have here an administration that seems to at least by trying to be much more ethical than previous ones.”
Too many people voted for Obama because of what he said as opposed to taking a hard look at what little he’d actually done.
Just words. Just speeches. Just saying something doesn’t make it so.
Saying your administration is going to be transparent doesn’t make it so. Saying your administration is going to be more ethical than those of the past doesn’t make it so.
I too was frustrated at the media’s failure to grill the Bush administration. But two wrongs don’t make a right. So they either need to ask the tough questions or risk becoming obsolete.

BREAKIN NEWS:::::::::::
more tax problems for Obama nominee
Obama: DOH!!!!!

The Obama administration is a thousand times more transparent than the secretive corrupt Bush administration. Yet you weren’t asking these questions to President Bush.

Congratulations, Jake. The only hope now for our country is that the MSM who swallowed whole every bit of propaganda that the Obama campaign put out – even after the election – will now wipe the fairy dust from their eyes and provide loyal (to our country, not our president) opposition. This was a good start. Keep it up?

Wow, Jake! You really stepped into it with the Dem faithful. To regain their
loyalty you’ll have to go back to
blasting Bush, Cheney, et. al. Picking
on Obama is considered heresy.

GIBBS: No, I’m not.
====
I’m glad to see you post this. I thought he had not answered and went right to Chuck Todd.

It’s great writing, though. Think of it as folk art.

You can almost see the strings working
Gibbs in these daily sessions. You can
almost smell the sawdust burning as
he thinks up puerile responses to the
questions. He’s almost as effective a
spokesman as Scottie McClellan. Yup,
the prez sure picked a peach.

Kathy either always seeks to obfuscate and not discuss even the facts – like poll results – or she is a headline reader only which is typical of an Obama supporter.
3/4 want something done – well that’s not an issue – even most Republicans are amenable to some sort of plan especially targeted tax cuts.
That’s the headline. But the graph clearly shows a split of 38% who say a trillion is fine by them, a similar percentage want major changes, and 25% rejectionists or no opinion. They should do a correlation to see whether most taxpayers (only abot 50% of pop) are NOT in the happy trillion sector.

Jake that was awesome!
Now if only other reporters will have the courage to do the same–especially with Obama.
Good job Jake…

Hey Jake !!!!!! The Dems WON, and the GOP is searching for meaning. . .in the end, when the numbers get more NEGATIVE, the GOP will have to explain HOW rewarding the same people who got us into this mess, will ‘change’, and actually HELP the American worker ????
BAnks; CEO’s; Top 1%; etc. . .etc. .
will continue to insist on the ‘trickle down’ theory of the American economy.
If you don’t want to deal with the ‘rules of taking tax payor $$$$$’
than DON’T TAKE IT !!!! Regular people can’t get these deals. . never have. . .
but the same people who aren’t for minimum wage; are for corporate welfare.
NO ! Give ‘em hell Obama !!! For once, we’ll have someone who actually WORKS FOR AMERICANS !!!!! NOT CORPORATE CHEATS !!!!!

Tough questions, fair questions, Jake. Now a tough and fair question for you. Where were your tough questions during the 8 ruinous, divisive, dismissive years of the Bush presidency? You seem to have found your courage all of a sudden. Where did it come from, Jake?

Obviously, this blog has been invaded by Rush friends and if that’s the group of people that you want to associated with you, Jake, then feel free to act the way you did today.
I thought you were obnoxious and rude to put it mildly. Your first request was appropriate — it was not a question — but your follow up comment was just your opinion and you’re not there to provide your opinion but to ask questions. Your second question was just out of spite and I’m glad that Robert answered it the way he did.
In the meantime, enjoy the support from Rush disciples, I’m sure you like to gloat about that fact.

Jake Tapper you are HOT!
Can’t believe the way Gibbs
“‘dissed” you like that!
Have fun thinking up ways
to strike back at the next
briefing!
GO Jake!

Are you worried at all that you’ve lost control of the process on how these bills are received?
***************************
Why waste your question with this one? Were you expecting him to say

Where were you hiding when Bush was in office, Jake?

“I’m glad that Robert answered it the way he did.”
Gibbs is a no-nickname guy? Well, probably there’s NOTHING about him that inspires fonder forms of address. You’d think the “Obama” organization would use somebody cuter, who DOESN’T just peeve people off, and let the repellent Gibbs whisper ‘em the answers electronically.
The Obamas tried to bring back Daschle from diselection, and are trying to install Republican has-beens in the cabinet. THAT being true, maybe The Puppet could lure Perino back.
If Perino’s a no-go, the press could just take to juggling their loafers while Gibbs shines ‘em on. It’d make for better teevee, and distract viewers from the unfortunate way the light hits Gibbs’ Reagan-black hair.

There is nothing offensive about the words “snarky” or “obnoxious”. What is the reason for cutting those words out of my sentence?
This goes beyond moderating and excising offensive comments and CROSSES THE LINE into changing the CONTENT of people’s comments for no easily discernible reason.
And you have the nerve to carp about transparency in the White House?

This is unreal. Whomever is moderating these comments actually CHANGED my sentence from “Jake comes across as extremely condescending, snarky and obnoxious” to “Jake comes across as extremely condescending.”
There is nothing offensive about the words “snarky” or “obnoxious”. What is the reason for cutting those words out of my comment?
This goes beyond moderating and excising offensive comments and CROSSES THE LINE into changing the CONTENT of people’s comments for no easily discernible reason.
And you have the nerve to carp about transparency in the White House?
Update: And then you immediately excised this comment.
TRANSPARENCY, folks! I guess it doesn’t apply to journalists??

Is not just Tapper, although I know you guys feel horrified that the press would ask a press secretary question about the president’s own policies.
Gibbs also did a complete whiff on a reporter asking him about Hilda’s tax liens.
The guy is about as defensive as a teeenager sneaking in late.

Jake you forgot to ask Gibbs about the president’s feelings.
You know–the really tough questions that the Obama staff is used to.

“If the line about Obama had been that innocuous, it wouldn’t have been removed and edited out of your first response.”
The beauty of it is that the now-censored line (which was not mine) “Take a big Obama”, while flushed from this blog, has not passed from public consciousness.

Why are you deleting comments that are critical of Tapper?

“Perhaps you didn’t catch Gibb’s sarcasm … ”
Even in print (with no tone of voice), “Knowing of your crystal clarity on his opinion, I’ll certainly check” would be pretty hard to miss.

Way to act like a moron during the press conference. Check your tone … for someone who used to work in the PR business you sure know how to taint ABC’s reputation. You’re working for ABC now!

Funny,
The purpose of journalism is to get the facts… not try be clever, rude, and grab the spotlight. It’s basic human behavior…acting arrogant never gets you what you want, it just makes people defensive and shut down.
Pretty simple.

Too bad you didn’t scrutinize the last crooks in the White House.

WOOT! You go, Jake. I can’t believe what you said to Gibbs, but it was amazing. You totally smacked him down.
I must confess that I disliked you very early on during the election coverage. I found some of your slanted reporting to be biased, just like the features from the liberal media. BUT, I found your more recent posts, especially about the Obama administration to be truly truth and fact-finding, and that is what journalism should be.
In my eyes you’re earning that journalistic integrity more and more each day, unlike your other colleagues. Keep up the good work and keep remembering that your job serves the public and its interest, not a liberal or Obama agenda.

And unfortunately for the left, you cannot possible argue that you have leverage or inclination to make changes in the stimulus bill.
It is solely in the hands of Republicans plus Blue Dog Dems, most of which don’t subscribe to Kos koolaid.
The President, if he were truly being the people’s rep would really be for an efficient and quick stimulus instead of this porkapalooza.

“Snotty sarcasm … ”
OBAMA used snotty sarcasm all through the primaries. The Puppet’s mouthpiece Gibbs uses snotty sarcasm whenEVER he isn’t saying he won’t answer something — he might’ve used it on the wrong day: the day after putting off his “briefing” for hours might not’ve been the day.
Now, somebody’s SURE to seek out Gibbs’ hairdresser. And all that.

Wow, aggressive reporting from the White House press corps. After the last 8 hours, I almost forgot what it looked like. I guess all it took was a Democratic president.

“The purpose of journalism (in a “free” society) is to provide people with the information they need to be free and self-governing.
To fulfill this task:
Journalism’s first obligation is to the truth.
Its first loyalty is to citizens.
Its essence is a discipline of verification.
Its practitioners must maintain an independence from those they cover.
It must serve as an independent monitor of power.
It must provide a forum for public criticism and compromise.
It must strive to make the significant interesting and relevant.
It must keep the news comprehensive and proportional.
Its practitioners must be allowed to exercise their personal conscience.”
Jake Tapper passes all the criteria.
Gibbs is having a rough time of trying to be the mouthpiece for a presidency in disarray. The Cabinet of Corruption is impossible to defend. The pork laden “stimulus” bill is beyond preposterous to defend. Gibbs does not have a job anyone would envy right now, but he is doing his job as press secretary just as Jake is doing his as journalist.

Jake,
I used to really enjoy your reporting on Salon. It was hard hitting without being sensationalistic. I haven’t been as impressed ever since you left. I never really understood why you didn’t ask the same hard hitting questions of Bush and his administration that you asked while you worked at Salon. I understood you were reporting for a different audience but I never saw you as a liberal shill to begin with.
I check in here from time to time to see if you’ve gotten your mojo back. I rarely read the comments (and this is the first time I’ve ever commented here) and decided to read them today. Now I see that you’ve got a great little fan base here that lauds your efforts while at the same time they refer to our President as BO, BHO or Barry. Honestly Jake – that all by itself speaks volumes. C’mon – at one point you were so much better than that. By all means – please hold President Obama accountable but do it by focusing on the real issues – his policies. In case you hadn’t heard, a lot of people are losing their jobs and they could give two craps about your ####### matches with Gibbs.

Well, there goes Jake’s invitation to George Stephanopoulos’ house for dinner this weekend.

Ask questions by all means, but stop trying to pick a fight.

Believe it or not I think this was a very reasonable line of questioning, and from the transcript it sure sounds like Gibbs handling of it was not good.
Nice job, Jake.

Since I’m part of the 37% that want major changes, I thought I’d add my two cents, because it appears that Mr. Tapper has misused my opposition to the bill.
I believe that it should be changed to double the amount of Food Stamps, since that is the most effective money in terms of stimulus.
Second, it should extend and increase unemployment benefits, since that is the next most effective stimulus.
Next, it should provide at least triple the amount of aid to the states.
Finally, it should remove all tax cuts, as that has been shown to be the least effective stimulus method.
I think it is important to explain why people want changes in this bill, to understand the real issues involved.

Robert Gibbs is by far the worst press secretary in modern history.
Jake Tapper is the only honest reporter left out there. He’s not intimidated by this administration and is smart enough to not be fooled by the Obama smoke and mirrors techniques.
Please continue to ask the tough questionsn the American people deserve answers to.

THANK YOU !!!!
FINALLY a single main stream reporter asked the questions we Americans SCREAM at the TV every day…Keep at it, I am a forever fan now…..
Good Job. America LOVES you.

Classic, Jake! GREAT stuff.

What a rude way to express oneself. Gibbs told Mr. Tapper over and over that he would check and all Tapper did was keep hammering at Gibbs trying to create a confrontational situation. It made Tapper look foolish and I thought it was rather childish.

Sure would have been nice, Jake, if you would have brought such an inquiring spirit to just one of your questions of Barack Obama during the campaign?

why is this blog deleting all comments critical of Tapper? Where is your transparency?

Mr Tapper,
Great job! You even made Helen Thomas laugh with one of your follow ups!
Thank you….and so much for transparency.

Thank you, Jake Tapper! For asking the question, for persisting, for giving us some hope that journalism is not prostitution with a college degree. Making public servants comfortable is not journalism in the public’s interest: the more uncomfortable they are the better. When they have nothing to feel ashamed about, maybe they’ll be able to answer a question straightforwardly.

Obama is transparent about how transparent he is.
It is kind of like “no lobbyists will work in my administration… except those that do”

FINALLY somebody in the media takes on the great messiah Obama.

WTG Jake Tapper!
You are one of a few journalists that still have ethics attached to your profession. Keep it up and we may find out just how “transparent” this administration really is.

Jake, I see most of the comments here are complimenting you on a fine job. I also would like to say fine job, however I find it very hard to believe when it comes to transperency this administration has zero,nada,zilch. Lets see how long it takes you to get what you ask for. With over 40 lawsuits that have made it to the federal level and five cases conferenced at SCOTUS. With retired Military Officers now filing suit all to get the president to have Hawaii release THE ORIGINAL VAULT BIRTH CERTIFICATE maybe you’ll have better luck with your request. If not get in line and file your own suit.