Helen Thomas, 1976
White House correspondent Helen Thomas has been around forever. She’s well known as an ultra liberal and was a huge supporter of Obama. Now, however, her attitude seems to be changing. Please take the 4 minutes to watch this You Tube Video of yesterday’s White House Press Conference. CBS’s Chip Reed and Helen Thomas are upset about the controlled nature of the Town Hall meeting Obama has planned, and also about how reporters at even regular press conferences are called the night before and told they will be called on at the events!
Team Obama played the news media like cheap banjos throughout the campaign, but now that the public seems to finally be catching on to their sellout, the press is getting very defensive and protective of their “credibility”. Where was these journalistic sock puppets’ indignation when they were being manipulated like so much Silly Putty for the past two years or so?
Comment by Bill — July 2, 2009 @ 7:24 pm
Chip and Helen sounded sincere. Let’s hope more of the Press start to realize that they need to stop feeding the Beast before the Beast eats them.
Comment by citizen — July 2, 2009 @ 9:02 pm
After the press conference, Helen Thomas said made these comments. She said that not even Richard Nixon tried to control the press the way President Obama is trying to control the press.
Comment by mary — July 2, 2009 @ 9:19 pm
Yes, Helen, the Obama administration does think you (the news media) are puppets. How could they think differently given your obviously ceding your journalistic independence during the campaign and the first few months of this administration? The press was and still is eager to be part of this “historic presidency,” not just report it. It will be easier to cheer Helen and Chip Reid on if they have the courage to engage the President with the same dialogue at his next press conference .
I am fairly sure that the late Katharine Graham and Arthur Ochs Sulzberger would have agreed Helen is wrong when she says the Nixon administration didn’t try to control the press.
Comment by Bill — July 3, 2009 @ 8:00 am
WOW!
Our freedoms are certainly being lost with the Obama administration.
Watching the press conference reminded me of the the tune of our local entities who have lost sight of our community values.
Comment by LTR — July 3, 2009 @ 9:07 am
At every level the political class has determined that they have little or no need to pay attention to us ‘little people’. Their contempt for us is real and palpable. They are setting the stage for a very ugly end game.
Comment by Pariah — July 3, 2009 @ 2:45 pm