# 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:** 9
**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, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/161 "2005-02-11T03:36:23Z")
> [@Domokun](#): > > The government benches always get plenty of picks and, barring it being an Old Labour warhorse, they’re usually obviously planted questions. Ah. Well, that’s not what I’m daydreaming of. ---
**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, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/162 "2005-02-11T03:41:03Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Take, as an example, this killer question from the February 2 Question Time, in which a Labor MP throws Tony Blair a softball: That’s not what I’m daydreaming of either. We have planted reporters to do that. My grandmother had stacks of Canadian Parliment transcripts dating back to the '30s. I should have read more of them - sounds very entertaining in a cynical sort of way. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/163 "2005-02-11T03:46:17Z")
It’s in times like this, that I seek comfort in these words of hope: > [@](#): > > No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. ---
**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, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/164 "2005-02-11T03:46:29Z")
> [@This Year's Model](#): > > That’s not what I’m daydreaming of either. We have planted reporters to do that. > > My grandmother had stacks of Canadian Parliment transcripts dating back to the '30s. I should have read more of them - sounds very entertaining in a cynical sort of way. Actually, if you want real entertainment, you should go to the [Question Time Page](http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/page306.asp) and watch the streaming video. All the yelling of “hear hear,” and the various other noises of approval and opprobrium, are truly a laff-riot. ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/165 "2005-02-11T04:06:52Z")
> [@Mr. Moto](#): > > That would have allowed said stooge to go on trips with the President and feed him softball questions on the road as well. The invitation-only audiences at his “Ask President Bush” forums have been pretty good at lobbing softballs. He doesn’t need this hack to do that. ---
**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, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/166 "2005-02-11T04:10:22Z")
> [@Reeder](#): > > Oh yeah? > > What about puppies? Guppies? Bunny Rabbits? > > Just where would you draw the line? Young kids who are needlessly slaughtered in an unnecessary war. ---
**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:** [February 11, 2005, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/167 "2005-02-11T06:23:17Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Wait a second now! Are you saying the party in power gets questions and they \* have\* to answer them? Out loud, and everything? :eek: Why do you hate America, **elucidator**? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/168 "2005-02-11T16:26:07Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > I don’t recall ever hearing about JFK’s hidden health problems, can you elaborate a bit? Here’s a good summary of [PRES. KENNEDY’S HEALTH SECRETS](http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/july-dec02/jfk_11-18.html), from a 2002 PBS Newshour interview. > [@](#): > > By the time he was president, he was on ten, 12 medications a day. He was on antispasmodics for his bowel, paregoric, lamodal transatine [ph], he was on muscle relaxants, Phenobarbital, Librium, Meprobomate, he was on pain medications, Codeine, Demerol, Methadone, he was on oral cortisone; he was on injected cortisone, he was on testosterone, he was on Nembutal for sleep. And on top of that he was getting injected sometimes six times a day, six places on his back, by the White House physician, with Novocain, Procaine, just to enable him to face the day. That election was won with a razor thin margin. A lot of Kennedy’s appeal was because he was projected as being this handsome, athletic guy. I don’t mean to imply that his condition would have impaired his ability to govern, but it probably would have lost him more than a few votes-- and quite possibly the whole election-- had the public been aware of the details. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/169 "2005-02-11T16:52:32Z")
Dang. No wonder he wanted to play touch football against Pablo Casals. Anyone more robust probably would have snapped him in two like a Waverly cracker. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/170 "2005-02-11T16:52:38Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > Here’s a good summary of [PRES. KENNEDY’S HEALTH SECRETS](http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/july-dec02/jfk_11-18.html), from a 2002 PBS Newshour interview. Jesus, what was wrong with him? He wasn’t even 50 years old then, was he? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/171 "2005-02-11T16:54:34Z")
Oh, and I forgot to say: If Dave Barry wants that joke back, he’s going to have to come and TAKE it from me. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/172 "2005-02-11T17:00:13Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Jesus, what was wrong with him? He wasn’t even 50 years old then, was he? Yeah seriously, what was his deal? ---
**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, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/173 "2005-02-11T17:08:02Z")
It’s probably easier to list what _wasn’t_ wrong with him. [The Medical History of John F. Kennedy](http://www.doctorzebra.com/prez/g35.htm) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Corrado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a88e4f/32.png) [@John\_Corrado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Corrado)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/174 "2005-02-11T17:08:29Z")
> [@World Eater](#): > > Yeah seriously, what was his deal? Kennedy had Addison’s Disease, a withering of the adrenal glands. It was fatal prior to the 1940’s; Kennedy was diagnosed with it just a year after doctors had discovered that cortisone could be a treatement for it. [http://www.pbs.org/newshour/character/essays/kennedy.html](http://www.pbs.org/newshour/character/essays/kennedy.html) Kennedy had serious back pain and constant fatigue as a result. This was covered up by press stories that Kennedy still had shrapnel in his back from his boat being sunk in WW2, or that he had recently injured himself in a touch football game. ---
**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, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/175 "2005-02-11T17:16:12Z")
Thanks **John Mace** , interesting stuff. I had no idea he had such problems. ---
**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, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/176 "2005-02-11T17:24:44Z")
The first place i read about all of Kennedy’s health problems was in Robert Dallek’s long _Atlantic Monthly_ article from a couple of years back. It’s well worth a look, if you’re interested in this stuff. Robert Dallek, “The Medical Ordeals of JFK,” _Atlantic Monthly_ (December 2002), pp. 49-61. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/177 "2005-02-11T17:38:40Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > I had no idea he had such problems. Exactly the point I was trying to make. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/178 "2005-02-12T15:54:45Z")
**Thursday, Feb. 10** New York _Daily News_: story buried on p. 45 New York _Times_: no story **Friday, Feb. 11** New York _Daily News_: no story New York _Times_: story buried on p. A20 Yeesh. I guess the White House gets a free ride again. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/179 "2005-02-12T19:37:51Z")
So, I hear a rumor that Fox is looking for someone to headline a new news program… ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296/180 "2005-02-12T19:56:05Z")
Oh, delicious conjecture! Imagine the Darwinistic struggle for supremacy, red in tooth and claw! Hugh Hewitt, Mike Medfly, Michelle Merkin, Anne Coulter, Sean Hannasty, and many, many more, all gathered into a single Steel Cage Death Match. Now, _that’s_ entertainment! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-caught-planting-a-stooge-in-the-press-corps/289296.md?page=10)