# McClellan press briefing 9/6/05. Maybe the press has found their balls? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 7, 2005, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcclellan-press-briefing-9-6-05-maybe-the-press-has-found-their-balls/320481 "2005-09-07T05:50:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcclellan-press-briefing-9-6-05-maybe-the-press-has-found-their-balls/320481/21 "2005-09-07T14:27:58Z")
If we get into a blame game the terrorists^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h hurricanes have already won. -Joe, lost ---
**Author:** ![Hung\_Mung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcclellan-press-briefing-9-6-05-maybe-the-press-has-found-their-balls/320481/22 "2005-09-07T15:29:38Z")
Ahh, perhaps the poor cows have woken up from five years of contented mooing and chewing their cud. And perhaps in two months it will be business as usual. A brief scandal and a couple of missing teenagers will take us right back to Sleepy Land. I’ll cross my fingers, but I won’t hold my breath. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcclellan-press-briefing-9-6-05-maybe-the-press-has-found-their-balls/320481/23 "2005-09-07T16:27:04Z")
Check out Tuesday’s [Medium Large](http://www.drinkatwork.com/mediumlarge.html) (scroll down). I don’t know what to say about the issues of the press/government relationship (in our country, as well as yours). There’s so much bullshit being slung, and so much bootlicking and toadying that I just feel completely lost for any reliable information on anything. Anything the government says is simply what is most likely to damage their chances of re-election the least. Anything the press says is simply what is most likely to be sensational and generate advertising revenue. Everyone’s got an agenda, and educating/informing the public about what we need to know isn’t on anyone’s agenda. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcclellan-press-briefing-9-6-05-maybe-the-press-has-found-their-balls/320481/24 "2005-09-07T16:56:03Z")
> [@Hung Mung](#): > > Ahh, perhaps the poor cows have woken up from five years of contented mooing and chewing their cud. > > And perhaps in two months it will be business as usual. A brief scandal and a couple of missing teenagers will take us right back to Sleepy Land. > > I’ll cross my fingers, but I won’t hold my breath. Maybe that is the case… to be honest I hadn’t even considered it. It just seems to me that if, after one screwup the press can ask the right questions, they might be more likely to do it after the next. (Og forbid) ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcclellan-press-briefing-9-6-05-maybe-the-press-has-found-their-balls/320481/25 "2005-09-07T17:09:32Z")
There really are a bunch of nifty quotes from that clusterfuck. Here’s another. > [@](#): > > MR. McCLELLAN: Well, look, one thing we don’t want to do is disrupt ongoing response and recovery efforts, April, and there are still issues being addressed on the ground in New Orleans. There’s the flooding. We’re going to have a very ugly scenario once all the water is pumped out of New Orleans and we start to recover even more bodies and we start to address health issues that could come about because of all the massive flooding that occurred in New Orleans. We’ve got a lot of concern about health issues. > > Q – dysentery is on the – > > MR. McCLELLAN: Actually, I think you ought to talk to the health officials. Secretary Leavitt provided an update to the President about – > > Q Scott, you’re not up to date with what’s happening there. Dysentery has already started – > > MR. McCLELLAN: April, I’m going to move on, because I don’t think – > > Q But it sounds like you are not up to date. > > MR. McCLELLAN: No, I don’t think you have all the facts correct – > > Q No, I have enough facts. > > MR. McCLELLAN: – and making broad statements is one thing, but – > > Q I’m not making broad statements. The people have infection and dysentery already. > > MR. McCLELLAN: Secretary Leavitt and the CDC and others can provide you – yes, they can provide you with those health issues and how they’re addressing those health issues. Who’d a thunk it… talking points don’t make disease go away. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcclellan-press-briefing-9-6-05-maybe-the-press-has-found-their-balls/320481/26 "2005-09-07T17:26:23Z")
I believe that McClellan referred to the questioner as Terry. Would that be Terry Moran from ABC News? ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcclellan-press-briefing-9-6-05-maybe-the-press-has-found-their-balls/320481/27 "2005-09-07T17:26:40Z")
> [@Harborwolf](#): > > Let’s not get too happy about this. The journalists and news outlets have always been whores to public opinion and this case is no different. People are angry about the response to Katrina so now you have every “journalist” rushing to be the first to claim their shiny crediblity and edginess merit badge to put on their khaki cargo vest. > > “Look at me. I’m hard nosed and edgy!!!” > > The standard for journalistic cajones was set when Murrow went after McCarthy. This ain’t even close. I tend to agree that we probably shouldn’t burst out of our skins with praise for the media just yet. It would take a lot more of this, over a lot longer period, and over multiple issues, for me to start feeling better about the level of journalistic integrity in the White House press corps. But i’m not sure that i completely agree with your comment about journalists as “whores to public opinion.” If that were really the case, we would have seen much more hard-nosed, critical journalism over the past couple of years. Since the war in Iraq began, a sizable proportion of the American population has opposed it, for various reasons. And this percentage has grown over time, as we got bogged down, American and Iraqi deaths continued to rise, and peace still seems quite a way off. And yet, despite this large and growing swell of questioning among the American people, the allegedly-rabidly-liberal mainstream media has, for the most part, limited itself to pretty lame and apologetic questioning of the Administration. The sort of aggressive questioning we’ve seen this week should have been the norm in Washington for the past four years. Anyhow, on the current situation, i can’t help thinking that everyone in the Bush administration is thanking their God that this disaster didn’t happen last hurricane season, two months _before_ the election, instead of ten months _after_ it. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcclellan-press-briefing-9-6-05-maybe-the-press-has-found-their-balls/320481/28 "2005-09-07T17:59:08Z")
> [@Mr. McClellan](#): > > We’ve seen the devastation on the ground. We’ve seen the homes that are no longer there. You gotta admit, that’s a pretty neat trick. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcclellan-press-briefing-9-6-05-maybe-the-press-has-found-their-balls/320481/29 "2005-09-07T18:01:12Z")
> [@Beware of Doug](#): > > I believe his name was Q. > > I think _his_ name was Q, too. [Well no WONDER he was able to ask such hard hitting questions](http://www.st-files.de/logbuch/tng/images/001_dermaechtige/szene007.JPG) ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcclellan-press-briefing-9-6-05-maybe-the-press-has-found-their-balls/320481/30 "2005-09-07T18:19:02Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > [Well no WONDER he was able to ask such hard hitting questions](http://www.st-files.de/logbuch/tng/images/001_dermaechtige/szene007.JPG) [I was hoping his microphone would be a cleverly disguised rocket launcher.](http://www.klast.net/bond/q.html) ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcclellan-press-briefing-9-6-05-maybe-the-press-has-found-their-balls/320481/31 "2005-09-07T18:37:58Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > [I was hoping his microphone would be a cleverly disguised rocket launcher.](http://www.klast.net/bond/q.html) [Edgy though he might be, this reporter is anything but hard-nosed](http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/images/qbert_regex_16.png) ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcclellan-press-briefing-9-6-05-maybe-the-press-has-found-their-balls/320481/32 "2005-09-07T18:53:49Z")
> [@I Love Me](#): > > I believe that McClellan referred to the questioner as Terry. Would that be Terry Moran from ABC News? Yes, ABC’s Terry Moran was the “Q” at that point in the briefing (where he asks about where the buck stops in the Bush Administration). A portion of that exchange was shown in Terry’s report that evening. At other times, “Q” was another reporter … “April” for instance. ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcclellan-press-briefing-9-6-05-maybe-the-press-has-found-their-balls/320481/33 "2005-09-07T19:01:44Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > [Edgy though he might be, this reporter is anything but hard-nosed](http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/images/qbert_regex_16.png) In his off-time, this reporter is also a [religious authority](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q_document). Tread lightly and ask for his blessing when you sneeze. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcclellan-press-briefing-9-6-05-maybe-the-press-has-found-their-balls/320481/34 "2005-09-07T19:11:59Z")
> [@Harborwolf](#): > > I don’t think so. If they keep asking tough questions about the accountability of this thing after the public has lost interest, then I’ll acknowledge them as _having done their jobs_. I’d bet money that in under a month we’ll be back to looking for the missing white women. This will only last for as long as the majority remains angry. 5…4…3… I’ll take that bet. I think you underestimate just how angry people are, and to what extent this catastrophe effects the entire nation. It would not surprise me if in a month from now new horrors were still being discovered. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcclellan-press-briefing-9-6-05-maybe-the-press-has-found-their-balls/320481/35 "2005-09-07T19:18:22Z")
[Um, I beg to differ.](http://www.banality.nl/images/q_winged_serpent.jpg) > [@Enderw24](#): > > [Edgy though he might be, this reporter is anything but hard-nosed](http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/images/qbert_regex_16.png) ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcclellan-press-briefing-9-6-05-maybe-the-press-has-found-their-balls/320481/36 "2005-09-07T19:20:25Z")
[I mean, I really beg to differ.](http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000096I9P.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcclellan-press-briefing-9-6-05-maybe-the-press-has-found-their-balls/320481/37 "2005-09-07T20:07:38Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > I’ll take that bet. I think you underestimate just how angry people are, and to what extent this catastrophe effects the entire nation. It would not surprise me if in a month from now new horrors were still being discovered. This is going to have long-term economic impacts that can’t be hand-waved away as normal ebb and flow. A lot of commodities are going to go up in price, and the explanation will go back to the loss of the New Orleans port. Insurance rates will show the impact of the huge amounts to be paid out in claims. You can’t in essence remove an entire large city from the economy without the effects hitting the whole country. People are going to be feeling this in the pocketbook, and they’re not going to like it. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcclellan-press-briefing-9-6-05-maybe-the-press-has-found-their-balls/320481/38 "2005-09-07T20:14:33Z")
Wow, that reporter is just like a fat guy whose car is being robbed. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcclellan-press-briefing-9-6-05-maybe-the-press-has-found-their-balls/320481/39 "2005-09-07T20:27:07Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > This is going to have long-term economic impacts that can’t be hand-waved away as normal ebb and flow. A lot of commodities are going to go up in price, and the explanation will go back to the loss of the New Orleans port. Insurance rates will show the impact of the huge amounts to be paid out in claims. You can’t in essence remove an entire large city from the economy without the effects hitting the whole country. > > People are going to be feeling this in the pocketbook, and they’re not going to like it. You know, the more I think about it, the more insulting the idea that “in a month no one will care” becomes. For all we know, they will still be digging bodies out in a month. It could take three monthes just to pump all the water out of New Orleans. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcclellan-press-briefing-9-6-05-maybe-the-press-has-found-their-balls/320481/40 "2005-09-07T20:59:36Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > You know, the more I think about it, the more insulting the idea that “in a month no one will care” becomes. For all we know, they will still be digging bodies out in a month. It could take three monthes just to pump all the water out of New Orleans. Isn’t the count on the pumping 80 days? Or has it changed? Anyways, insulting or not, that’s the way the news cycle works. The first confirmed death is a tragedy, a week later there’s more and more and more. People become…innoculated to such things. Think about all the (American) deaths in Iraq. It was news every time a couple soldiers were killed…I can remember a soldier getting shot from behind while he was getting a Coke at a vending machine…how do I remember the particular death after nearly 2000 of them? Because at the time it was news, and I’m fairly certain that the media played it up because it was a situation that seemed particuarly shitty (The guy just wanted to get a Coke from a vending machine!). But now? It takes an entire transport chopper to go down to be considered significant news. -Joe [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcclellan-press-briefing-9-6-05-maybe-the-press-has-found-their-balls/320481.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcclellan-press-briefing-9-6-05-maybe-the-press-has-found-their-balls/320481.md?page=3)