# White House Press Corps - A Pack of Yipping Lap Dogs **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 7, 2003, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-press-corps-a-pack-of-yipping-lap-dogs/159751 "2003-03-07T17:13:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2003, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-press-corps-a-pack-of-yipping-lap-dogs/159751/1 "2003-03-07T17:13:05Z")
President Bush gave a prime-time press conference ([transcript](http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/03/06/bush.speech.transcript/index.html)) lasting about 45 minutes last night in the East Room of the White House. As expected, the questions focused on the potential war in Iraq. Indeed, of the twenty or so questions asked by the White House correspondents, all but two of them were on Iraq, and the other two were on North Korea. In response, President Bush got to repeat 18 variations on his canned answer as to why we should go to war with Iraq. (For a discussion of the substance of his responses, there are innumerable GQ threads that you can jump into.) What kind of little yipping lap dogs are the White House press corps? The United States is currently faced with a variety of foreign _and domestic_ issues beyond Iraq and North Korea: the economy, the stock market, domestic security, the arrests (and potential torture) of Al Queida terrorists, ongoing unrest in the Phillipines, the Palestinian conflict, the Estrada nomination, tax policy, the deficit, to name a few. But did the press ask questions in any of those areas? Hell no. Of course the first few questions should be on Iraq and North Korea, the most serious issues facing the country today. But once the President has given the same answer his speechmakers have prepared the half-dozenth time or so, don’t you think that it’s time to move on to another area? Do you really think that your particular phrasing of the same damn question particular question is going to make Bush break down sobbing on the lectern screaming, “Yes, you found me out, I’m doing it at the behest of the oil interests and because they went after my daddy.” Look, Bush even admitted that the questions were being asked of the correspondents from a prepared roster. If you’re eighth or twelfth or fifteenth on the list, shouldn’t you have a question ready on an alternate topic if, perchance, Iraq gets played out. Hell, it doesn’t even have to be entirely away from Iraq – a question about how fears of war with Iraq is affecting the economy and the sagging stock market would work. And please, folks, I know you worked all day on the questions you’ve prepared, but maybe you can move off your index cards to follow up on seeming inconsistencies in the prior answers. President Bush explained that he believes the North Korean situation should be resolved by multi-lateral efforts of regional stakeholders such as China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the U.S. On the other hand, he repeatedly said that the U.S. should disarm Iraq despite the strong opposition of many regional powers for the safety of the U.S. and the good of the oppressed Iraqi people. Both countries are ruled by oppressive dictators and appear to be developing weapons of mass destruction capable of threatening U.S. interests. I, for one, would liked to have heard how President Bush reconciles the differing treatment of these two countries. But did anyone pick up on this apparent incongruity and ask the President to explain? You guessed it – no. The Bush administration appears to be focused almost exclusively on Iraq, perhaps to the detriment other important issues. I sort of understand that, because we are in a difficult and tense international situation and trying to find the best way out of it. But I would have expected that the White House press corps would not unanimously follow the administration’s agenda and taken the opportunity to ask at least one question on other issues facing the American people. And the yipping lap dogs of the White House press corps are only one small part of the tame American news media, which apparently cannot focus on more than one thing at one time. Dammit, I’d like to turn on the TV news hear about something other than heroic soldiers leaving their families, missing women, the latest movie and reality TV shows once in a while. What the hell use is a free press, if it is lying asleep in its little doggie beds? ---
**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:** [March 7, 2003, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-press-corps-a-pack-of-yipping-lap-dogs/159751/2 "2003-03-07T18:31:24Z")
I’m trying to make a “How many Whitehouse press lapdogs does it take to…” joke, however, I’m drawing a blank at the moment ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2003, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-press-corps-a-pack-of-yipping-lap-dogs/159751/3 "2003-03-07T19:00:23Z")
Are you kidding? He had the same answer for every single question. Do you actually think that by asking different questions they would have gotten anything of substance out of him? ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2003, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-press-corps-a-pack-of-yipping-lap-dogs/159751/4 "2003-03-07T19:05:23Z")
I was literally screaming at my television listening to these lapdogs kowtowing to Bush. My wife had to restrain me, then sedate me, then pop in a DVD of Buffy Season II before I pulled an Elvis on my T.V. And these numbskulls who are asking the questions know it too, which also pisses me off to no end. They know they’re being played as fools, and still go along with it. That disgusts me. You could tell some of them really wanted to ask tough questions, but, in the end, just played along. For example, one questioner started with: > [@](#): > > Mr. President, as the nation is at odds over war, with many organizations like the Congressional Black Caucus pushing for continued diplomacy through the U.N. . . Oh my, thought **Hamlet** , a real question about the division in America over the necessity of war. This one will be a good one to see an answer to. Instead, the questioner goes on to ask > [@](#): > > . . .how is your faith guiding you? . Huh? Whazzat? Excuse me? A pathetic 180 turn from a real question to a softball that let’s Bush, once again, prattle on about his “faith.” It was infuriating. Or this one > [@](#): > > Mr. President, you and your top advisers, notably Secretary of State Powell, have repeatedly said that we have shared with our allies all of the current, up-to-date intelligence information that proves the imminence of the threat we face from Saddam Hussein and that they have been sharing their intelligence as well. If all of these nations, all of them our normal allies, have access to the same intelligence information, why is it that they are reluctant to think that the threat is so real, so imminent that we need to move to the brink of war now? This wasn’t a horrible question. Basically, it was an attempt to get out why the other Security Council and NATO allies are against it if they have all the information we do. Of course, rather than stopping there with a real question, the idiot goes on to ask a softball: > [@](#): > > And in relation to that, today, the British foreign minister, Jack Straw, suggested at the U.N. that it might be time to look at amending the resolution perhaps with an eye toward a timetable, like that proposed by the Canadians some two weeks ago, that would set a firm deadline to give Saddam Hussein a little bit of time to come clean. And also, obviously, that would give you a little bit of a chance to build more support with any members of the Security Council. > Is that something that the governments should be pursuing at the U.N. right now? just a wimpy, watered down version of the first question. God, it ticked me off. Probably moreso because while watching it, I had no idea it was completely scripted anyway. I just naturally expected these reporters would do their duties rather than kiss ass. My bad. ---
**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:** [March 7, 2003, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-press-corps-a-pack-of-yipping-lap-dogs/159751/5 "2003-03-07T19:10:42Z")
Who’s that old female reporter who’s always trying to stick it to Ari? ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2003, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-press-corps-a-pack-of-yipping-lap-dogs/159751/6 "2003-03-07T19:19:05Z")
Just shows ya how out of “press conference” mode I am that this didn’t even occur to me. Seems like it has been some time since presidents had frequent press conferences. Instead, the trend is towards completely managed tableaus. With the possible exception of Clinton who had no fear - he’d bullshit about anything. I seem to remember it differently as a kid. Nixon or Carter would call a press conference to talk about something in particular, and the press would just spring in questions about whatever they wanted. But I may misremember. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2003, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-press-corps-a-pack-of-yipping-lap-dogs/159751/7 "2003-03-07T19:37:02Z")
Speaking as an ex ‘lap dog’… Tough cookies, boyo. ---
**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:** [March 7, 2003, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-press-corps-a-pack-of-yipping-lap-dogs/159751/8 "2003-03-07T19:51:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jonathan Chance \* > \*\*Speaking as an ex ‘lap dog’… > > Tough cookies, boyo. \*\* How about shedding some light, instead of making snarky comments? For starters, whats the deal with the softballs? Did it bother you to ask them, were you just trying to keep your job, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2003, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-press-corps-a-pack-of-yipping-lap-dogs/159751/9 "2003-03-07T20:07:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jonathan Chance \* > Speaking as an ex ‘lap dog’… > > Tough cookies, boyo. Well, Mr. Ex-Lap Dog, I know it’s tough cookies. That’s why I’m bitching about it here rather than making a futile effort to do something about it. Actually, **JC** , do you know if there is any reason why the reporters always seem to ask such damn predictable questions? As the President knows just about what they are going to ask and can totally prepare for the expected questions, isn’t the press conference all a bit of a farce? ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2003, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-press-corps-a-pack-of-yipping-lap-dogs/159751/10 "2003-03-07T20:07:49Z")
I’ll make snarky comments if I want. The entire OP is a snarky comment. Bearing in mind I was junior assistant WHPC weenie… What questions get asked are generally agreed to ahead of time in a ‘The President is holding a press conference on topic X. Anyone who doesn’t ask questions on topic X will never be called on again or shipped off to the back row’ kind of way. Within those guidelines it’s pretty free. Though unless you’re a senior senior senior type your editor is going to choose your question for you. And yes, put you hand up, get acknowledged, and ask the wrong question and you’re out out OUT! For good. For ever. Here’s an article on last nights press conference from _The Washington Post_: [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55451-2003Mar7.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55451-2003Mar7.html) ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2003, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-press-corps-a-pack-of-yipping-lap-dogs/159751/11 "2003-03-07T20:24:57Z")
I started shouting “BARF!” anytime somebody brought up religion. I ended up shouting “BARF!” a lot. When that one woman asked if Bush thought the American People should be praying, I experienced a sudden surge in blood pressure and my left eyeball exploded. Ah, here it is. Please sheild your keyboards and monitors in case of exploding eyeballs: > [@](#): > > QUESTION: Mr. President, as the nation is at odds over war, with many organizations like the Congressional Black Caucus pushing for continued diplomacy through the U.N., how is your faith guiding you? And what should you tell America? Well, what should America do collectively as you instructed before 9/11? Should it be pray? Because you are saying, “Let’s continue the war on terror.” > > BUSH: I appreciate that question a lot. Pray, blah blah blah pray blah blah blah pray blah, blah pray, blah. Pray. **BARF!** ---
**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:** [March 7, 2003, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-press-corps-a-pack-of-yipping-lap-dogs/159751/12 "2003-03-07T21:10:35Z")
\Her name was Helen Thomas\ ---
**Author:** ![Wikkit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c0e974/32.png) [@Wikkit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wikkit)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2003, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-press-corps-a-pack-of-yipping-lap-dogs/159751/13 "2003-03-07T22:57:26Z")
My plan for the night was to tune into some mindless, mildy annoying drivel. So when I got shrub, rather than Survivor, I wasn’t let down. Five minutes into it, I made up a drinking game. Every time the phrase “weapons of mass destruction”, “9/11”, “United Nations Security Council”, or “regime” was used, I drank. I’m still drunk. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-press-corps-a-pack-of-yipping-lap-dogs/159751/14 "2003-03-08T01:48:39Z")
Yeah, I got tired and went to bed halfway through. Here’s something for you. In that article I linked to up there Kurtz points out that Helen Thomas has been beating on Ari Fleisher for months now and last night…for the first time in about a zillion years…she wasn’t called upon to ask a question. That’s a message being sent there, folks. Give this administration a hard time and your access is **gone**. And that’s the worst thing on earth for a reporter. Absolutely the worst. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-press-corps-a-pack-of-yipping-lap-dogs/159751/15 "2003-03-08T02:03:09Z")
The craven little wimp can’t even stand up to a little old lady. Bill Clinton _enjoyed_ Helen Thomas, but The Man Who Fell Up can’t take it. Maybe if he was wearing his bombardier jacket… ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-press-corps-a-pack-of-yipping-lap-dogs/159751/16 "2003-03-08T02:19:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jonathan Chance \* > \*\*…And that’s the worst thing on earth for a reporter. Absolutely the worst. \*\* True. But to call Helen Thomas a ‘reporter’ is quite a stretch. A hoary old hag? Definitely. A reporter? Nah… ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-press-corps-a-pack-of-yipping-lap-dogs/159751/17 "2003-03-08T02:36:50Z")
More a ‘columnist’ at this point. And keep the insults to yourself. She’s very kind in person. (Not that I know her any better than ‘in passing’) On thinking on elucidator’s ‘wimps’ line… This administration is famous for not having ‘leaks’ (such as it is…). They believe strongly in information **control**. If you get some time with the President they already know what questions you ask because they’ve _told_ you what questions you’ll ask. Don’t play along? Don’t get access. So it’s not being ‘wimpy’. It’s (in their mind) staying ‘on message’. Screw anything else. ---
**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:** [March 8, 2003, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-press-corps-a-pack-of-yipping-lap-dogs/159751/18 "2003-03-08T03:18:47Z")
> [@](#): > > _originally posted by Jonathan Chance_ > **So it’s not being ‘wimpy’. It’s (in their mind) staying ‘on message’. Screw anything else.** So, where does that leave the concept of accountability to the public? Or the American people having a right to know what their government is doing, and why? Out the window? Actually, I’ve considered ever since January 2001 that this is the case. I just want Shrub to have the sack to flat out say that out loud to the nation. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-press-corps-a-pack-of-yipping-lap-dogs/159751/19 "2003-03-08T14:19:47Z")
Am I wrong, or did Bush not once use the word “evildoers”? Odd. I was hoping for some follow-up questions when he weaseled out of addressing estimates of the casualties and costs in a war and occupation in Iraq. Fairly important questions, those, whether you’re for or against military action. He seems to be expecting people not only to agree with him, but to trust blindly. ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-press-corps-a-pack-of-yipping-lap-dogs/159751/20 "2003-03-08T14:54:09Z")
[James Lileks had quite a different view of the White House press corps performance](http://www.lileks.com/bleats/). > [@](#): > > I think the best way to characterize the President’s press conference was “on message.” You could have asked him about the merits of Coke vs. Pepsi, and you would have been informed that the issue is not cola preference, it is disarmament. I heard nothing new but I didn’t expect anything new; this was the obligatory have-at-me, lads press conference before the solo performance of the equally obligatory Oval Office speech. He didn’t seem to want to be there at all, and if I had to face some of these idiots I’d be hard-pressed to gin up enthusiasm for the event, either. Imagine that you’re in your office looking at satellite photos of oil wells Saddam has already set on fire, as well some chatter about sleeper-cells planning retaliatory embassy bombings in European capitals, and as you put the papers down to go face the press you know someone’s going to ask for a comment on Sen. Kennedy’s assertion that this is animated by a personal grudge against Saddam. > > My favorite question came from Terry Moran - and whoever named him bought the wrong vowel. > > “Thank you, sir. May I follow up on Jim Angle’s question. In the past several weeks your policy on Iraq has generated opposition from the governments of France, Russia, China, Germany, Turkey, the Arab League and many other countries, NATO and the U.N., and drawn millions of ordinary citizens around the world into the streets in anti-war protests. May I ask, what went wrong that so many governments and peoples around the world now not only disagree with you very strongly but see the U.S. under your leadership as an arrogant power? “ > > Ideal response: > > “Oh, many things went wrong, Terry. We failed to understand the extent to which the French are economically entwined with Iraq, and how this war would make their knees vibrate like orgasmic hummingbirds. While we realized the power of Anti-Americanism as a cudgel with which to beat the rest of Europe into accepting a Franco-German hegemony, we didn’t think they’d screw us this hard for short-term political gain. We misunderestimated Turkish protestations of support - although, as you no doubt noted from my earlier comments supporting their EU membership and lauding their role in NATO, we’re certainly not going to kick them in the nads in public like some of our allies have done to us. And while I agree that ordinary citizens have protested our government in foreign capitals, I’d ask you why American security should be determined by 26 year old Belgian college students, and I’d also note that these rallies have been organized by people who’d dance in the street if someone set off a tactical nuclear device in the lobby of the Monsanto corporate office. But more to the point, Terry, I’d ask: What went wrong in your education that you believe that the disapproval of China constitutes failure?” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-house-press-corps-a-pack-of-yipping-lap-dogs/159751.md?page=2)