Obama Charming The Press

[NickCole]

Obama visited the press corps last night.

This video is revealing in the way it shows Obama using charm and seduction to get people --in this instance the press that's supposed to ask him tough questions-- to feel they're his friends and will therefore protect and defend him.




And this report, of the same event, also is revealing:

President Obama made a surprise visit to the White House press corps Thursday night, but got agitated when he was faced with a substantive question.

Asked how he could reconcile a strict ban on lobbyists in his administration with a Deputy Defense Secretary nominee who lobbied for Raytheon, Obama interrupted with a knowing smile on his face.

"Ahh, see," he said, "I came down here to visit. See this is what happens. I can't end up visiting with you guys and shaking hands if I'm going to get grilled every time I come down here."

Pressed further by the Politico reporter about his Pentagon nominee, William J. Lynn III, Obama turned more serious, putting his hand on the reporter's shoulder and staring him in the eye.

"Alright, come on" he said, with obvious irritation in his voice. "We will be having a press conference at which time you can feel free to [ask] questions. Right now, I just wanted to say hello and introduce myself to you guys - that's all I was trying to do." ...

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/17831.html

He's manipulative, the press fell for it long ago, and clearly he's going to keep feeding it. Very dangerous for us when the President manipulates the press into wanting him to like them.

 

[NickCole]

Maybe he's just a genuinely charming guy.

Maybe he is. That's not the point.

The point is manipulation of the press whose job it is to hold elected officials' feet to the fire.

Either that, or he's the big bad Anti-Christ. Charming the globe together so he can take us all to hell!

I realize Obama supporters believe Obama is going to do good things so what difference does it make if the press wants to protect and defend him. But as Samuel Johnson said, "Hell is paved with good intentions."

 

[Corny]

"Alright, come on" he said, with obvious irritation in his voice. "We will be having a press conference at which time you can feel free to [ask] questions. Right now, I just wanted to say hello and introduce myself to you guys - that's all I was trying to do." ...

This actually sounds as if he was really just wanting to pay them a visit, see where they hang out (note the beginning of the video where he said it's smaller than he thought) etc, and was not prepared to get asked some questions, because it was not a press conference .. guess he learned that lesson

 

[NickCole]

This actually sounds as if he was really just wanting to pay them a visit, see where they hang out (note the beginning of the video where he said it's smaller than he thought) etc, and was not prepared to get asked some questions, because it was not a press conference .. guess he learned that lesson

Obama didn't just decide to pay them a visit and see where they hang out.

Earlier in the day reporters had been frustrated with Obama's press secretary Robert Gibbs' responses to questions. Obama went down in the evening to charm them and manipulate them. And the reason he didn't want to answer the question is because the question pointed out his hypocrisy and dishonesty.

A report of the Gibbs press briefing:

A growing media frustration with Barack Obama’s team spilled into the open at Thursday’s briefing, with reporters accusing the White House of stifling access to his oath re-do and giving Obama’s first interview as president to a multi-million dollar inauguration sponsor. ...

He also asked new press secretary Robert Gibbs why ABC, which paid millions to host the DC Neighborhood Ball, was granted the only inauguration day interview with President Obama – a move he equated to “pay to play.”

“We have a tradition here of covering the president,” said Plante, who is covering his fourth administration. ...

It’s been a bumpy 24 hours for Gibbs and company, as members of the White House press corps have publicly expressed frustration with an administration promising openness and transparency.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/17833.html

 

[Spiff]

Yep. Your Obama's biggest fan.

 

[NickCole]

Actually, I think it's "the road to hell is paved with good intentions," LoL.

Nope. Samuel Johnson is quoted as saying, "Hell is paved with good intentions."

Although many people believe that Samuel Johnson said "The road to hell is paved with good intentions," ... In Boswell's Life of Johnson, in an entry marked April 14, 1775, Boswell quotes Johnson as saying (on some other occasion), "Hell is paved with good intentions."

http://www.samueljohnson.com/road.html

 

[NickCole]

Yep. Your Obama's biggest fan.

I'm a Bruce Springsteen fan and a fan of John Steinbeck; I'm no elected official's fan.

Elected officials are supposed to be public servants, not our friends and not pop personalities that make us feel good.

And the press is supposed to push the President with tough questions and then follow up with solid reporting on the veracity of the President's answers and the actions that follow.

Being charmed by the people one is supposed to watchdog is a bad dynamic.

 

[pisces_ken02]

He's manipulative, the press fell for it long ago, and clearly he's going to keep feeding it. Very dangerous for us when the President manipulates the press into wanting him to like them.

I wonder would your tune be different if it was a WHITE Republican doing it.

 

[NickCole]

I wonder would your tune be different if it was a WHITE Republican doing it.

I said the same about George Bush.

 

[chance1]

charm and seduction are not necessarily bad things nick

and watching this i see that he is definately "managing" the situation which every politician/salesman tries to do - strives to do

he's very good at it - duh

he was great at it during the primaries and general - generally

he seems even more confident as pres than he was as a candidate

the press is a bunch of lightweights IMO - but they were for BO before and they're gonna give him a lotta leash

remember when chris matthews said it was his job to help the new president succeed? scary shit

i imagine we have some of this happening now

but i wouldn't expect the press to be too tough just yet - he hasn't really done anything yet

lets see what happens in 6 mos.

i think ur a bit sensitive here nick

 

[Kulindahr]

I'm far more concerned about the press' willingness to be manipulated than Obama's attempts to manipulate them. Politicians are going to try to manipulate the press or lighten a tense moment. I think it's natural. The press are there to be professionals.

Definitely.

I saw it as an attempt to make a pass through, let them know he's not shutting them out, shake some hands. If that's "manipulating"... oh, well.

Politicians need the press on friendly terms, and the press wants a politician to be on friendly terms. It's an elaborate dance, especially on the side of the press, because they need to be critical, but they need access if they're going to accomplish much, so they have to tread carefully.

In the vid clip, it seemed to me he was more than a little brain dead, which is something that can make many people irritable and snippy.

 

[NickCole]

charm and seduction are not necessarily bad things nick

Charm and seduction are terrific things.

However, when they're used to manipulate people into behavior that's contrary to their best interest, charm and seduction become tools for a con.

It's very smart for every President to have as good a relationship with the press, and everyone else for that matter, as he can. But there's a big difference between forging a good relationship and manipulating.

The press has a job to do. They're supposed to ask tough questions, press for answers when they're avoided, dig for more information and the truth. Also, for columnists, express individual opinion -- and informed opinion adversarial to the President is as important to the process, if not moreso, as opinion that's flattering.

Emotional connection between members of the press and elected officials is a bad thing for investigative reporting, forthrightness and truth telling. (Same goes for bullying and intimidation.) And that's what Obama is trying to do; it's what he did all through the Primaries and General. It's the reason he attended those dinners with conservative and liberal columnists. Limbaugh didn't attend, and even though I can't stand the man I respect him for not caving to Obama's manipulation and going to that dinner -- none of those columnists should be having dinner with the President. And here's what Obama said yesterday:

President Obama warned Republicans on Capitol Hill today that they need to quit listening to radio king Rush Limbaugh if they want to get along with Democrats and the new administration.

"You can't just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done," he told top GOP leaders, whom he had invited to the White House to discuss his nearly $1 trillion stimulus package.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/0123200...zings_gop_foe_in_a_timulating_talk_151572.htm

Obama tries to seduce people to be on his side, protect and defend him, offers them inclusion in the In Group, but if they resist, he warns others to shun them.

This really is not a new tactic in world history, and it's not new with Obama - he's been using it for a long time.

It's bad because it results in reporters and columnists protecting him, defending him when he doesn't deserve it, failing to do independent investigative research, failing to challenge him. We're at our best when we're challenged, and at our worst when we get passes all the time. Not only does it deny the citizenry access to good information, it hands Obama and his team more and more unchecked power, which makes people more arrogant, more careless and more prone to bad choices. This same dynamic has played out countless times; when it's in other people's interpersonal relationships and private sector professional relationships then that's their problem, but when it's elected officials then it becomes ours.

 

[NickCole]

i think ur a bit sensitive here nick

The video I posted in this thread is an example of what Obama does, caught on tape. If you watch it with a discerning eye you can see the way he uses charm and seduction, including touching them, to reduce them to giddy children. And it's very revealing that when one reporter asks Obama a serious question, a totally appropriate and timely one, respectfully presented, but one that challenges Obama and interferes with his power of seduction, Obama gets instantly agitated. And none of the reporter's peers, collegues, protect him or stand with him, they meekly take cues from Obama. This is the same dynamic we saw with Bush - remember Helen Thomas? She was the only one asking the kind of questions every reporter should have been asking.

 

[techboywi]

The video I posted in this thread is an example of what Obama does, caught on tape. If you watch it with a discerning eye you can see the way he uses charm and seduction, including touching them, to reduce them to giddy children

Translation: If you watch it with your mind already made up to hate the man because you are so-far right wing, you'll look for any sign you can find to try and make your point, no matter how flimsy that evidence is

 

[Kulindahr]

Nick has a certain point about the glad-handling of the press, but from videos I've watched of Obama in other venues, that seems to just be his style.

Further, when you say you're just there to chat and/or say hi, and someone tries to change the agenda, what human wouldn't be irritated? It's as though I started a thread about going out on a whim for fast food, and someone butted in with questions about how I felt about all the pork in Congress.

 

[NickCole]

Translation: If you watch it with your mind already made up to hate the man because you are so-far right wing, you'll look for any sign you can find to try and make your point, no matter how flimsy that evidence is

I've been a registered Democrat longer than you've been alive.

 

[NickCole]

Nick has a certain point about the glad-handling of the press, but from videos I've watched of Obama in other venues, that seems to just be his style.

That's my point. What I've described in this thread, and before, is Obama's style. In a word: manipulation.

Further, when you say you're just there to chat and/or say hi, and someone tries to change the agenda, what human wouldn't be irritated?

What's to be irritated about if the President's genuine intent were to be friendly and say hi to a group of WH reporters and a reporter asked a question about a policy issue that came up that day. That's what reporters do! Or are supposed to do anyway. That's what the WH press corps is supposed to be interested in. What's the big surprise? Those reporters aren't Obama's friends, they're reporters who're at the WH to do a job. The reporter didn't ask an inappropriate question about the President's wife or daughters; it was a policy question - why should that be surprising or offensive to the President? If he didn't want to answer it, fine, but the agitation was revealing.

 

[NickCole]

So, perhaps, has Fred Phelps, maybe longer than you've been alive... your one-sentence post doesn't prove anything.

It wasn't intended to prove anything.

It's information.

 

[Kulindahr]

That's my point. What I've described in this thread, and before, is Obama's style. In a word: manipulation.

No, your point is quite contrary to mine: People have different personal styles; some stand far from others, some stand close; some gesture, some don't; some touch others, some don't; and so on. I pointing out that what you call manipulation may just be Obama's personal style, whether he's out to get something or is just talking about, oh, the music at the inauguration.

Now, from the way you read what you already wanted to see into what I said, I could conclude that your style is deceit, and from now on interpret everything you say in that light. Does that sound fair?

What's to be irritated about if the President's genuine intent were to be friendly and say hi to a group of WH reporters and a reporter asked a question about a policy issue that came up that day. That's what reporters do! Or are supposed to do anyway. That's what the WH press corps is supposed to be interested in. What's the big surprise? Those reporters aren't Obama's friends, they're reporters who're at the WH to do a job. The reporter didn't ask an inappropriate question about the President's wife or daughters; it was a policy question - why should that be surprising or offensive to the President? If he didn't want to answer it, fine, but the agitation was revealing.

But it was not necessarily revealing of what you claim. It may be revealing that Obama is irritated that the press can't handle a simple request; it may be revealing of any number of things.

 

[chance1]

It's fallacious and manipulative, which is why it wasn't intended to prove anything. Personal information isn't welcomed or needed on this board.

say what?

try that one again

then again, don't

love that nickcole is taking shit cuz he doesn't swoon for BO

must be something wrong with him for not "seeing the light"

he must not be a "good dem"

and other assorted BS

ironic that the same folks who crash/burn anything republican are soooooooooooooooooo sensitive when it comes to their messiah

it's pathetic really

nick - i think ur take here is far fetched and stretching it

but i defend ur right to stretch

and race issue?

gimme a break