Gibbs Pushes Back

[babylonsister]

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_03/017480.php

GIBBS PUSHES BACK.... After the president's prime-time press conference this week, two of the more popular topics of conversation in major media outlets were Obama reading an opening statement -- I still have no idea why this is a "story" -- and the president not calling on reporters from major daily newspapers.

Chatting yesterday with the Washington Post's Lois Romano, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs responded to the media's inordinate interest in these topics. (via Jamison Foser)

MS. ROMANO: The teleprompter changed last night.

MR. GIBBS: Mm-hmm.

MS. ROMANO: What was that about that? It's a big jumbotron now.

MR. GIBBS: You know can I tell you this?

MS. ROMANO: Yes.

MR. GIBBS: I am absolutely amazed that anybody in America cares about who the President picks at a news conference or the mechanism by which he reads his prepared remarks. You know, I guess America is a wonderful country.

MS. ROMANO: You're saying this is all Washington Beltway stuff?

MR. GIBBS: I don't even know if it's that. I don't think I should implicate the many people that live in Washington.

MR. GIBBS: No, I you know, I don't think the President let me just say this: My historical research has demonstrated that the President is not the first to use prepared remarks nor the first to use a teleprompter.

I've been watching presidential press conferences for about as long as I can remember, and seeing presidents begin with an opening statement is hardly unusual. The difference this week, I suppose, is that Obama read from a screen, while his modern predecessors read from pieces of paper. This, for odd reasons I'll never understand, has caused quite a stir among most of the media establishment.

Given this, Gibbs' response to Romano sounds about right.

-Steve Benen

[Duer 157099]

1. Hahah, Gibbs uses "wonderful" when he means "brain dead"

That's funny. He's a diplomat alright.

[firedupdem]

2. Gibbs is good. They won't stop until he says something like

What is the big deal? What are you insinuating? I hate that they have to waste time with these stupid freeper/puma issues.

[theoldman]

3. Have any of you thought back to the Press Secretaries who worked for Bush?

Gibbs is head and shoulders above any of them. At least he can think for himself and does not have to parrot Obama.

[FudaFuda]

4. Good.

Stupidest manufactured controversy. Speeches are read from prepared notes. Always have been, and it'll never change. If technology allows for a better method, then use it. If a screen in the back of the room works better for TV than a teleprompter, then use it.

I'm glad Gibbs got fed up with the media attempts to stir this crap even more.