# "You can't ask questions in here--it's the press room!"
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cant-ask-questions-in-here-its-the-press-room/482901
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [January 25, 2009, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cant-ask-questions-in-here-its-the-press-room/482901 "2009-01-25T07:31:43Z")
**Posts on this page:** 13
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2009, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cant-ask-questions-in-here-its-the-press-room/482901/1 "2009-01-25T07:31:43Z")
Yes, in response to Obama’s recent irritation at the press, one of Prof. Ann Althouse’s commenters came up with this line. [Althouse: "Well, you can see why that would catch him by surprise..."](http://althouse.blogspot.com/2009/01/well-you-can-see-why-that-would-catch.html)
And in a later post another commenter came up with this related line:
“Dr. Changegov, Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bama” [Althouse: You can't ask questions in here! This is the press room!](http://althouse.blogspot.com/2009/01/you-cant-ask-questions-in-here-this-is.html)
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!
If random Internet posters can come up with pure comedy gold like this, the pros can stop worrying they won’t have material. 😃
---
### Author:  [@Terraplane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terraplane)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2009, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cant-ask-questions-in-here-its-the-press-room/482901/2 "2009-01-25T07:54:20Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#):
>
> Yes, in response to Obama’s recent irritation at the press, one of Prof. Ann Althouse’s commenters came up with this line. [Althouse: "Well, you can see why that would catch him by surprise..."](http://althouse.blogspot.com/2009/01/well-you-can-see-why-that-would-catch.html)
>
> And in a later post another commenter came up with this related line:
>
> “Dr. Changegov, Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bama” [Althouse: You can't ask questions in here! This is the press room!](http://althouse.blogspot.com/2009/01/you-cant-ask-questions-in-here-this-is.html)
>
> BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!
>
> If random Internet posters can come up with pure comedy gold like this, the pros can stop worrying they won’t have material. 😃
If you think this is comedy gold I’d hate to know what you consider a bad joke.
---
### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2009, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cant-ask-questions-in-here-its-the-press-room/482901/3 "2009-01-25T11:49:28Z")
This must be a location joke.
And I wasn’t there.
---
### Author:  [@Aquila\_Be](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquila_Be)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2009, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cant-ask-questions-in-here-its-the-press-room/482901/4 "2009-01-25T12:46:21Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#):
>
> Yes, in response to Obama’s recent irritation at the press, one of Prof. Ann Althouse’s commenters came up with this line. [Althouse: "Well, you can see why that would catch him by surprise..."](http://althouse.blogspot.com/2009/01/well-you-can-see-why-that-would-catch.html)
>
> And in a later post another commenter came up with this related line:
>
> “Dr. Changegov, Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bama” [Althouse: You can't ask questions in here! This is the press room!](http://althouse.blogspot.com/2009/01/you-cant-ask-questions-in-here-this-is.html)
>
> BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!
>
> If random Internet posters can come up with pure comedy gold like this, the pros can stop worrying they won’t have material. 😃
I didn’t bother to click on the links as you didn’t give enough information on the contents to justify such an action.
Is this supposed to be a pit thread of some kind?
---
### Author:  [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2009, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cant-ask-questions-in-here-its-the-press-room/482901/5 "2009-01-25T18:43:22Z")
Obama visited the White House Press Room, somebody asked him a substantive question about the lobbying rules and Bill Lynn, and Obama got annoyed and didn’t answer him. That’s undoubtedly what this thread is about. Here’s a link with the story and video clip.
> **[Obama flashes irritation in press room](https://www.politico.com/story/2009/01/obama-flashes-irritation-in-press-room-017831)**
>
> Obama pays a quick visit to the WH press corps, but makes it clear he is there on a social call.
---
### Author:  [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2009, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cant-ask-questions-in-here-its-the-press-room/482901/6 "2009-01-25T22:24:58Z")
Meet-and-greet session hijacked into formal press conference mode; president explains its a meet-and-greet and that the formal press conference was scheduled for later.
Non-story. _yawn_
---
### Author:  [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2009, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cant-ask-questions-in-here-its-the-press-room/482901/7 "2009-01-26T01:42:30Z")
I guess you guys never saw the movie “Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb”. And the best line in the movie (or in any movie, IMHO) is when a fistfight does break out in the War Room, and the President says, “You can’t fight in here! This is the War Room!”
Oh well. Your loss.
---
### Author:  [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2009, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cant-ask-questions-in-here-its-the-press-room/482901/8 "2009-01-26T01:53:13Z")
We’ll get over it.
---
### Author:  [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2009, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cant-ask-questions-in-here-its-the-press-room/482901/9 "2009-01-26T02:01:04Z")
The amount of irritation shown by Obama in the Politico clip is somewhat less than the amount of irritation I get when an OP makes a solid reference to Dr. Strangelove, only to find upon investigation that the reference wasn’t apt at all.
---
### Author:  [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2009, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cant-ask-questions-in-here-its-the-press-room/482901/10 "2009-01-26T04:02:43Z")
As an Obama suporter I have to say this could be A Very Bad Sign[sup]TM[/sup]. Or it could be yesterday’s news. I’m hoping it’s a non-story, but only future events will tell. Like regular Obama news conferences where he actually answers questions, even tough ones.
I don’t mind the media growing a pair, I wish they’d done so sooner.
I’d also like to see White House staffers quoted by name in background briefings. There was a quote in today’s Washington Post about Obama’s proposed stimulus package. The quote was entirely laudatory - so why did it have to be from an anonymous “White House” source instead of “John Smith, Assistant to the President for Saying Nice Things About Favored Legislation”? :rolleyes:
Since I knew about the incident (everyone should read Dan Froomkin’s blog on [washingtonpost.com](http://washingtonpost.com)), I immediately got the OP’s Dr. Strangelove reference, and I thought it was good. If one had not heard of this particular kerfluffle I can see where the OP would cause a WTF reaction.
---
### Author:  [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2009, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cant-ask-questions-in-here-its-the-press-room/482901/11 "2009-01-26T05:34:06Z")
If a WH rep or the Prez had said, there’s no asking questions, this is the press room, then it would have been hilarious. Not taking questions now, but I am later is not so funny. But I’m glad to see that the press has decided that they will now shout questions to the Prez. I kinda missed an independent press the last eight years.
---
### Author:  [@Buckler\_of\_Swashing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buckler_of_Swashing)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2009, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cant-ask-questions-in-here-its-the-press-room/482901/12 "2009-01-26T14:14:07Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#):
>
> I guess you guys never saw the movie “Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb”. And the best line in the movie (or in any movie, IMHO) is when a fistfight does break out in the War Room, and the President says, “You can’t fight in here! This is the War Room!”
>
> Oh well. Your loss.
I would wager that the majority of Dopers have seen the film and recognise the quote. The problem here is that taking a classic clever line and substituting two words so that it (kinda-sorta) applies to X situation rarely makes for ‘pure comedy gold’ and certainly hasn’t in this case.
---
### Author:  [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2009, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-cant-ask-questions-in-here-its-the-press-room/482901/13 "2009-01-26T14:25:50Z")
> [@Buckler\_of\_Swashing](#):
>
> I would wager that the majority of Dopers have seen the film and recognise the quote. The problem here is that taking a classic clever line and substituting two words so that it (kinda-sorta) applies to X situation rarely makes for ‘pure comedy gold’ and certainly hasn’t in this case.
In other words, we “got” whatever little there was to “get”.