WP: Growing Separation of Press, State: WH press corps' first day in exile

[DeepModem Mom]

A Growing Separation of Press and State
By Dana Milbank
Tuesday, August 15, 2006; Page A02


White House press secretary Tony Snow trekked across Pennsylvania Avenue to brief. (By Ron Edmonds -- Associated Press)

The White House press corps spent its first day in exile yesterday, banished from the White House compound for the first time since the John Adams presidency while the West Wing briefing room undergoes a renovation.

As if to deepen the isolation, press secretary Tony Snow, stepping over some plywood and into the new digs on Jackson Place NW for his daily briefing, adopted the Borscht Belt comics' practice of answering questions with questions....

***

Snow's performance...fits neatly in a renewed Bush administration effort to keep the media at a safe distance....

***

...correspondents...were...historians say, operating from the other side of Pennsylvania Avenue for the first time ever. "You can't even see the White House from the new press center," chief Associated Press correspondent Terry Hunt grumbled.

True, a rotating group of 18 correspondents and camera crews get to stay in a trailer near the White House. But they have to share a single toilet as they worry that they will not be allowed to return after the promised nine months.

One resident of the trailer park, the Chicago Tribune's Mark Silva, reported back to his colleagues on Sunday: "We passed the gutted press briefing room, the chairs gone, and paused to wonder about you-know-what."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/14/AR2006081401000.html

[msongs]

1. washington press corps = toadies and suck ups, who cares where they are?

they do not do the job of the free media which is protect citizens from corrupt, dishonest, and illegal government and its tactics and strategies.

the washington press corps might better save its time and print NRC handouts.

Msongs
www.msongs.com/political-shirts.htm

[depakid]

27. As far as I'm concerned- they stay gone

They've proven useless.

Snow (or whoever else has been in his job) just gets up and lies with impunity.

[ClusterFreak]

2. Kinda like crocodile tears from these guys though...

What about taking BushCo to task from within the old briefing room when they had the chance? Guess you don't know what you have, till they take it away from you.

[AliceWonderland]

22. Amen, friend. Syncophants and toadies should expect to be pushed aside.

My first thought as well: cry me a river. Perhaps if you had acted like journalists, you might not have been so easily pushed aside as toadies.

[KansDem]

24. Spot on! The only things this crew cares about are...

Being seen in the White House Press Corps and being seen and DC cocktail parties. And not necessarily in that order!

[Pierzin]

3. Do you remember Bush #41 didn't have that many press mtgs, either?

It was a staggering few. Bush just doesn't even want to have to answer to the press, dont you see? They say they are remodeling the press suite in Roosevelts old swimming pool, but come on are they really?
Someone just pull the plug on the MSM while they're at it and play Walt Disney movies from the 60's for all the good most of the press is good for. We need to hold these mofos accountable.

[Solo_in_MD]

4. Looks like whining to me

- Physical proximity does not buy you anything today
- Pool is nearby in case of popups
- 9 months is pretty good for any kind of rehab

Sorry, no empalthy here. Now if they were actually doing their jobs, I might feel a little different. Instead they are lap poodles of the powerful who whine about the lack of press planes and not being invited.

[Kagemusha]

5. NOW Milbank cares.

Finally they came for the press, and now he cares.

[Supersedeas]

12. as if none of the questions presented to the WH Spokesspinner were ever

dodged before...suddenly know it is convenient to notice

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

28. He DOESN'T Care!!

He's a right wing sympathizer. I'm just sorry that Keith Olbermann has him on so frequently, and his bias is showing more and more, especially when he supports what this administration does consistently. I don't care what "dana" thinks.

[rurallib]

6. did they find any real questions laying around on the ground out there?

They can't seem to find any in the press room.

[Joe Bacon]

7. Any reporters there besides Helen Thomas?

Excluding Helen (who knows what a reporter really does), seems to be the usual gang of ass-kissing stenographers... :puke:

[OregonBlue]

8. Imagine all of the bugs and spy equipment being built into the new

facility. Any reporter would have to be crazy to say ANYTHING in that new press facility. I bet the White House will be able to hear every whisper. Probably a tiny camera trained on every keyboard!

[Beetwasher]

9. Who Wants To Be That The "Renovations" Will Never Be Finished?

Or at least for the next two years.

"...as they worry that they will not be allowed to return after the promised nine months."

Gee, ya think? :eyes:

Get the hint, dumbasses. You are not going to return. They've banished you from the WH.

[Nickster]

10. Well, you know the contractors have concerns about the overall

structural integrity of the room and the surrounding rooms, so the renovation has expanded in depth and scope. Because of the cost over-runs from the original projections, it will require us to put off the renovation until the next budget is passed, that will add a year to the previously planned nine months. We are sorry for the inconvenience, but in the meantime, you will be allowed to use the lavish facilities that we have rented for you in the great state of Ohio. Thank you and God Bless America.:-)

[Na Gael]

14. Rumor has it

Jimmy Hoffa is buried underneath the seating area...(not really)

[newyawker99]

30. Hi Na Gael!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Auntie Bush]

17. Hey! They got all those dilapidated trailers in Louisana...why not

bring some of them up here for the press corp? :shrug:

lol- in case anyone thought I was serious.

[cyberpj]

21. Or we could always put you up in our palace, er, embassy in Iraq:

US "Embassy Iraq", the largest fortress in history, est. cost 1 billion
Iraqis call it "George W.'s Palace".

In the chaos of Iraq, one project is on target: a giant US embassy
From Daniel McGrory in Baghdad
May 03, 2006

THE question puzzles and enrages a city: how is it that the Americans cannot keep the electricity running in Baghdad for more than a couple of hours a day, yet still manage to build themselves the biggest embassy on Earth?

Irritation grows as residents deprived of air-conditioning and running water three years after the US-led invasion watch the massive US Embassy they call “George W’s palace” rising from the banks of the Tigris.

In the pavement cafés, people moan that the structure is bigger than anything Saddam Hussein built. They are not impressed by the architects’ claims that the diplomatic outpost will be visible from space and cover an area that is larger than the Vatican city and big enough to accommodate four Millennium Domes. They are more interested in knowing whether the US State Department paid for the prime real estate or simply took it.

cont'd...
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7374-2162249,00.html

Embassy? What embassy? The U.S. is building its grandest complex ever, anywhere, in Baghdad. Officially, it's a secret.
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/nation/14628738.htm

[never cry wolf]

11. No, Mark Silva, we don't know what....

At least I don't, anyone else have any idea?

One resident of the trailer park, the Chicago Tribune's Mark Silva, reported back to his colleagues on Sunday: "We passed the gutted press briefing room, the chairs gone, and paused to wonder about you-know-what."

[halobeam]

13. REALLY. Wtf... DOES that mean? - you -know-what... HUH?

:wtf:

[Na Gael]

15. Hmmm...

Maybe Jimmy Hoffa really is buried there.

[never cry wolf]

16. LOL

Welcome to DU :hi:

[halobeam]

25. why not? it's as good a guess as any at this point.

:rofl:

[Beetwasher]

26. Yeah, That's Pretty Cryptic, But My Guess Is That It Refers To The

previous paragraph and their fears that this banishment is PERMANENT.

A year from now there will be a small, buried story about how the renovations are taking longer than expected and that reporters are now used their new location and don't expect to return to the WH any time before the next admin., blah blah blah.

[riona]

18. Pu-leeze

You can regurgitate the WH spin from any location.

[BenDavid]

19. I wonder if Tony Snow

still thinks now since the 2600 mark has been reached of American dead in Iraq, that this is still, "a number"?

[OzarkDem]

20. So Bush has been dodging them?

Holding photo op events, without inviting reporters (photogs only?). And its all being done with the approval of the reporter's bosses. Didn't they realize Bush would dump them like a stripped out oil company if they ever started asking real questions?

Now they whine? :nopity:

[regularguy]

23. Make, announce, type.

Make, announce,type. Boohoo!

[ConcernedCanuk]

29. One toilet for 18 people? - Classy government y'all got there!

.
.
.

SO

Do ya leave the seat UP?

or Down . .

Remember

"If you sprinkle while you tinkle

Please be a sweetie

And wipe the seatie"

USA Momba one . . .

yeah right

[niyad]

31. I think the thugs of this maladminstration understood jefferson very well

when he said that, given a choice between newspapers and no government, or government and no newspapers, he would infinitely prefer the former over the latter.