# White House caught planting a stooge in the press corps **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 9, 2005, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296 "2005-02-09T23:26:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/141 "2005-02-11T02:33:01Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > But also keep in mind that JFK would have been raked over the coals for his extramarital activities and his well hidden health problems had the press then been like the press today. I don’t recall ever hearing about JFK’s hidden health problems, can you elaborate a bit? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/142 "2005-02-11T02:33:35Z")
I want to second that commendation to **John Mace**. I should have done it a long time ago. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/143 "2005-02-11T02:33:48Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > But also keep in mind that JFK would have been raked over the coals for his extramarital activities and his well hidden health problems had the press then been like the press today. I’m not excusing th kind of activity this thread is discussing, but “Camelot” wasn’t exactly all it was cracked up to be. > > Not sure what I did to warrent that, but I appreciate the sentiment. 🙂 Forgive me…but where was JFK’s morals mentioned in the OP? Is this a repug bait and switch? ---
**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:** [February 11, 2005, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/144 "2005-02-11T02:34:31Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > I think that Vanderbilt University keeps archives of WH press conferences. It would be interesting to see exactly how “Gannon” was used. All White House press briefings, gaggles, and conferences are on the [White House website](http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/), although for the most part the transcripts do not say which reporters are asking the questions. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/145 "2005-02-11T02:45:03Z")
> [@Reeder](#): > > Forgive me…but where was JFK’s morals mentioned in the OP? > > Is this a repug bait and switch? He was Catholic. It’s anti-Catholic smearing. JFK should never have brought up. Please start a pit on this. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/146 "2005-02-11T02:45:14Z")
> [@Reeder](#): > > Forgive me…but where was JFK’s morals mentioned in the OP? He is right. The times were different then, but still, he’s right. The press knew (at least in general) about JFK’s health and womanizing issues, and let it go. And I’ve got to be honest: JFK’s bonking a Mafia don’s mistress bothers me one hell of a lot more than WJC’s bonking some random intern. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/147 "2005-02-11T02:45:58Z")
> [@](#): > > White House spokesman Scott McClellan On Thursday challenged liberal media activists, who are currently feigning outrage over events surrounding “Jeff Gannon,” to examine the definition of reporter in the new century. > > “In this day and age, when you have a changing media, it’s not an easy issue to decide or try to pick and choose who is a journalist. It gets into the issue of advocacy journalism,” McClellan said. > > "Where do you draw the line? There are a number of people who cross that line in the briefing room. > > “There are a number of people in that room that express their points of view, and there are people in that room that represent traditional media, they represent talk radio, they’re columnists, and they represent online news organizations.” Source: [http://www.drudgereport.com/flash3jg.htm](http://www.drudgereport.com/flash3jg.htm) Yeah, yeah it’s Drudge. But the fact remains the White House is attempting to change the definition of a reporter rather than admit getting caught. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/148 "2005-02-11T02:49:11Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > Source: [http://www.drudgereport.com/flash3jg.htm](http://www.drudgereport.com/flash3jg.htm) > > Yeah, yeah it’s Drudge. But the fact remains the White House is attempting to change the definition of a reporter rather than admit getting caught. Well, they’ve changed the definition of things like “WMDs”, “torture”, “human rights”, “terrorist” and “treason”, why not switch up on “reporter”? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/149 "2005-02-11T02:51:21Z")
> [@This Year's Model](#): > > He is right. The times were different then, but still, he’s right. He, of course, being **John Mace** in this post: > [@](#): > > But also keep in mind that JFK would have been raked over the coals for his extramarital activities and his well hidden health problems had the press then been like the press today. I’m not excusing th kind of activity this thread is discussing, but “Camelot” wasn’t exactly all it was cracked up to be. ---
**Author:** ![Domokun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c77e96/32.png) [@Domokun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Domokun)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/150 "2005-02-11T02:54:38Z")
Tony Blair does this every Prime Minster’s question time. But his stooges are fine upstanding MPs! The brass neck is quite amusing, as is the gay porn angle (what is it with gay 'pubbies anyway?). But I can’t muster any outrage. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/151 "2005-02-11T02:58:09Z")
> [@Domokun](#): > > Tony Blair does this every Prime Minster’s question time. But his stooges are fine upstanding MPs! Y’know? I would love to see the President (any President) have to stand in front of Congress for an hour every week and answer whatever bullshit question the opposition thinks up. That’d be great! ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/152 "2005-02-11T03:05:58Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > Since the guy must have been caught on camera a number of times, I would expect that someone, somewhere should be able to dredge up a picture of him that shows what kind of badge he’s wearing. Wouldn’t you think? Absolutely. ---
**Author:** ![Domokun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c77e96/32.png) [@Domokun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Domokun)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/153 "2005-02-11T03:07:49Z")
> [@This Year's Model](#): > > Y’know? I would love to see the President (any President) have to stand in front of Congress for an hour every week and answer whatever bullshit question the opposition thinks up. That’d be great! It’s not those questions I have an issue with. It’s the toadying (and clearly planted) stuff from his own benches that’s usually cringe worthy. Funny how codified it all is too. They occasionally get told off, usually for making statements rather than making statements pretending to be questions. Not that I wouldn’t love to see Bush (or any POTUS 😉 ) properly grilled too. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/154 "2005-02-11T03:09:26Z")
> [@Domokun](#): > > It’s not those questions I have an issue with. It’s the toadying (and clearly planted) stuff from his own benches that’s usually cringe worthy. Funny how codified it all is too. They occasionally get told off, usually for making statements rather than making statements pretending to be questions. Not that I wouldn’t love to see Bush (or any POTUS 😉 ) properly grilled too. So the questions are not just for the opposition? The party in power gets them too? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/155 "2005-02-11T03:12:51Z")
Wait a second now! Are you saying the party in power gets questions and they \* have\* to answer them? Out loud, and everything? ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/156 "2005-02-11T03:19:53Z")
> [@](#): > > With all the talk of Bushco (Copyright Diogenes, 19??) being involved in world-wide conspiracies with other countries, business interests, raping women and children, felling magic trees, pissing in the French water supply, denying the vote to minorities and putting grandma out in the streets, I have to question your sincerety in this thread. (BTW, I hear he’s in cahoots with the puppy-kickers!) I hear he kills kittens, too. I could forgive all that easily enough. Its the invading countries for reasons that turn out to be completely false that I can’t abide. Its the telling his citizens that Iraq was six months away from having nuclear weapons when Iraq wasn’t even trying to develop them while North Korea probably actually does have them and Iran almost certainly has them that I can’t abide. Its the lies about the cost of the Medicare drug plan that pisses me off, as do the lies about the iminent collapse of the Social Security system. I didn’t know about the denying the vote to minorities, though—if its true, that pisses me off as well. Another thing that pisses me off is the blatant pandering to the religous right with his espoual of a Constitutional amendment denying fundamental rights to a certain class of citizen. There are other things that piss me off, too, not the least of which is the simple fact that people are able to convince themselves that he is a good president. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/157 "2005-02-11T03:24:09Z")
> [@](#): > > I hear he kills kittens, too. I could forgive all that easily enough Oh yeah? What about puppies? Guppies? Bunny Rabbits? Just where would you draw the line? ---
**Author:** ![Domokun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c77e96/32.png) [@Domokun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Domokun)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/158 "2005-02-11T03:29:50Z")
> [@This Year's Model](#): > > So the questions are not just for the opposition? The party in power gets them too? I believe only the leader of the opposition is actually allotted a set number of questions to ask. Could be wrong there. The 3rd party leader might get some too or he could just be getting picked out of politeness. Everyone else just has to stand up and hope they catch the Speaker’s eye. The government benches always get plenty of picks and, barring it being an Old Labour warhorse, they’re usually obviously planted questions (“Would the Prime Minster please explain how under Labour things are so great and a return to Tory rule would result in plague, famine and repeats of 'Ello 'Ello on BBC1”). ---
**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:** [February 11, 2005, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/159 "2005-02-11T03:33:59Z")
> [@This Year's Model](#): > > So the questions are not just for the opposition? The party in power gets them too? Damn right they do. Same in the Australian Parliament. And it would be funny if it weren’t so pathetic. Take, as an example, this killer question from the February 2 Question Time, in which a Labor MP throws Tony Blair a softball: > [@](#): > > Q2. [212244] \*\*Mr. Clive Soley (Ealing, Acton and Shepherd’s Bush) (Lab):\*\*Will the Prime Minister think back to all those Jeremiahs who have tried to talk down the success of the British economy, despite the fact that we have just had our 50th quarter of progressive growth? Will he comment on why he thinks those Jeremiahs keep getting it wrong? > > **The Prime Minister:** Not merely have we had the longest period of consecutive economic growth, but 2 million more people are now in work. Low unemployment has saved us some £21 billion since we came to office. Most of all, the new deal has helped 1 million people off benefit and into work. That is a remarkable achievement for that programme and that is why this Government, unlike the Conservative party, will keep that programme in being, to help people off benefit and into worthwhile work. Or this beauty, from the same day: > [@](#): > > Q7. [212249] **Vera Baird (Redcar) (Lab):** In the Tees valley, largely thanks to the new deal, unemployment is right down to less than 4 per cent., but there are still low-skilled people who could achieve more. Will my right hon. Friend congratulate more than 100 employers who have already signed up to our wonderful support for skills programme so that their employees in the workplace, free of charge, can learn basic skills? Can this training programme continue so that the people of Redcar, who were long neglected by the Tories, can achieve the tools to get a better life? > > **The Prime Minister:** I certainly congratulate the employers in my hon. and learned Friend’s constituency. I think that the overall number of apprenticeships has trebled over the past few years, so we must keep that going along with skills support and the new deal for the unemployed. We must ensure that the Jobcentre Plus programme, which is helping many people off benefit and into work, is not cut savagely. The Conservative party’s programme, which we will obviously not endorse, would lead to massive cuts in the very front-line services that help to get unemployed people off benefit and into work. [Interruption.] The right hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Mr. Forth) might yawn about that, but people who are unemployed need that help to get back into work. I’m not sure if the term has wider currency, but in Australia we call these type of questions “Dorothy Dixers,” after US advice columnist Dorothy Dix (real name: Elizabeth Meriwether Gilmer) who apparently often wrote and answered her own questions. Questions asked of a PM during Question Time by people in his own party tend to be pre-arranged softballs that give the PM a chance to hold forth on a topic that he wants to get on the record about, or give him an opportunity to slam the opposition and point out how great the government is doing. ---
**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:** [February 11, 2005, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/160 "2005-02-11T03:35:18Z")
Sorry. [Here’s the link for the quotations in my previous post.](http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200405/cmhansrd/cm050202/debtext/50202-03.htm#50202-03_sbhd1) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296.md?page=9)