Dana Milbank: Obama's disregard for media reaches new heights at nuclear summit

[Kber]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/13/AR2010041303067.html

World leaders arriving in Washington for President Obama's Nuclear Security Summit must have felt for a moment that they had instead been transported to Soviet-era Moscow.

They entered a capital that had become a military encampment, with camo-wearing military police in Humvees and enough Army vehicles to make it look like a May Day parade on New York Avenue, where a bicyclist was killed Monday by a National Guard truck.

In the middle of it all was Obama -- occupant of an office once informally known as "leader of the free world" -- putting on a clinic for some of the world's greatest dictators in how to circumvent a free press.

The only part of the summit, other than a post-meeting news conference, that was visible to the public was Obama's eight-minute opening statement, which ended with the words: "I'm going to ask that we take a few moments to allow the press to exit before our first session."


My comments - wow - Dana comes across like a jilted ex-lover. Maybe Obama thought that the Summit was actually a chance to get stuff done instead of a media event? Maybe he just thought that there are some things that should be discussed in private?

[LiberalFighter]

1. IMO Milbank is a right wing hack.

[gratuitous]

2. So much better under Bush, wasn't it Dana?

The scripted "press" conferences with pre-submitted questions ("Let's see, who has an easy one?"), the photo op events at the Crawford ranch stage, the two meaningless questions and "lunch is gettin' cold, see ya!" press availabilities. But at least there was always a buffet so that you could eat, and then submit a meal expense you didn't actually pay for and get reimbursed.

[Vincardog]

3. The talking heads on the Corporate Owned Media are upset? Cry me a river

[SemiCharmedQuark]

4. What. An. Asshole.

I thought this asshole got fired already?

[Psephos]

5. World's most powerful states discussing world's most powerful weapons. Reporters need not apply.

I'm sure we'll get the no-B.S. scoop from the official press release, though.

:sarcasm:

[SemiCharmedQuark]

6. OMG! They had security at a meeting filled with world leaders? Color me shocked.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

11. Also! Evil Communist Dictator Obamar went to a soccer game without the press.

The horror.

[EFerrari]

7. What a good fit Dana is at the WaHo.

:)

[AngryAmish]

8. THe press has one job: write down and distribute what the administration needs them to distribute

A lot of the questions asked are impertinent, not to mention borderline illegal in a country where a free press is cherished.

[Xenotime]

12. Exactly.

[Enrique]

9. any non-Milbank sources on this?

I looked a little, I couldn't find anyone other than Dana complaining.

[Kber]

19. not that I could find

Maybe Obama ran over his dog or something. Dana seems to be taking this very personally for some reason.

It seem's reasonable to assume that security discussions might take place in private.

On the other hand, I guess usually the "pre-work" should already be done and the "Summit" is really just an announcement of what was already agreed to.

So maybe you could write a purely speculative opinion piece about that, but this is just pure spite, imo.

[Kahuna]

10. milbank describes it as, "Soviet-era Moscow. He's

total tool. :puke:

[grantcart]

13. Didn't Dana Milbank used to be somebody?

[SemiCharmedQuark]

15. First he got kicked off Countdown, then his horrible web series got nixed.

I didn't even know he worked at WaPo anymore.

[Kahuna]

35. Not really. He's been trying but his time has past. Most people

are on to him. He's just a hack.

[bigtree]

14. disregard Milbank

[Subdivisions]

16. There some of you go...

Defending President Obama for doing the EXACT same thing bush did. Whereas I can personally see the need for privacy when you're talking about keeping nuclear material out of the hands of terrorists, there's still the matter of transparency we were promised and the First Amendment. But I can compromise. But this thing of defending this president on the very same actions we criticized bush for is just plain hypocritical.

[bigtree]

18. I don't think this one event represents 'the very same actions Bush took'

not by a longshot

[Subdivisions]

23. Doesn't matter if it's this one event. We complained every single time bush

did this, including the very first time he did it.

[bigtree]

44. because he made a concerted effort to conceal EVERYTHING of importance to the press

I don't see any other 'reporters' complaining about this event yet. I'm not even sure what you're specifically complaining about.

[Enrique]

21. still not sure Obama did anything

Milbank is simply not reliable.

[Subdivisions]

24. That is true. n/t

[SemiCharmedQuark]

25. Obama did not take the press pool with him when he went to see his daughter's soccer game.

Clearly this is like living in Soviet Russia.

[Bluebear]

True, but what about the comments from the foreign press?

...Alamiri's counterparts from around the world had similar experiences. Arabic-language MBC TV's Nadia Bilbassy had this to say of Obama's meeting with the Jordanian king: "We were there for around 30 seconds, not enough even to notice the color of tie of both presidents. I think blue for the king."

Lalit K. Jha of the Press Trust of India, at Obama's meeting with the Pakistani prime minister, reported, "In less than a minute, the pool was asked to leave." The Yomiuri Shimbun correspondent found that she was "ushered out about 30 seconds" after arriving for Obama's meeting with the Malaysian prime minister. Emel Bayrak of Turkey's TRT-Turk went to Obama's meeting with the president of Armenia but "we had to leave the room again after less than 40 seconds."

"When you only see the president for 15 or 20 seconds without him asking if you have any questions, it's very frustrating," said Laura Haim of France's Canal+, which persuaded the White House to include foreign outlets in the press pool. "It's very important for this president, who wants to restore the image of the United States, to have more access."

Obama's official schedule for Tuesday would have pleased China's Central Committee. Excerpts: "The President will attend the Heads of Delegation working lunch. This lunch is closed press . . . The President will meet with Prime Minster Erdogan of Turkey. This meeting is closed press. . . . The President will attend Plenary Session II of the Nuclear Security Summit. This session is closed press."

[Bluebear]

46. dupe

.

[EFerrari]

28. It's not clear that keeping the press out of this meeting

will result in no transparency.

Although, to be fair, it is an even bet.

On the third hand, Dana is not a journalist but a hack. So even had he had access to this event, it wouldn't have resulted in journalism.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

31. His hysteria is pathetic.

He can't make the case that it's so terrible, so he tries to pad his case with a story about how a reporter was killed by a national guard truck (as though Obama personally ordered that) and Obama not taking the press pool with him to his daughter's soccer match.

[EFerrari]

33. Yep. And the WaHo prints it.

So disgusting. Soap Opera Weekly is better than this, lol.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

34. I sent it to Wonkette, just in case.

[EFerrari]

36. Good job!

[SemiCharmedQuark]

41. Ha! Wonkette put it up!!!

[EFerrari]

43. Ha!

Excellent. :)

[Kahuna]

37. Get a grip. There is no comparison, although you'd like to think there is..

:eyes:

[Subdivisions]

45. Why would I like to think there is?

Edited to add: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes:

[elleng]

17. REALLY!

Imagine that, HOMEWORK!

As LBJ said, "You're talkin' to the commander in chief of the most powerful military in the world, and you ask a chickenshit question like that?"

[msanthrope]

20. Hey, Dana--Ever think that suggesting the SoS drink "Mad Bitch" beer

is the reason you aren't taken seriously anymore?

Maybe that's why you don't get invited to hang....

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/07/in-beer-summit-spoof-milbank-suggests-hillary-drink-mad-bitch-beer.php

[Historic NY]

22. Obama needs to get the fax machine presser working again like W.

[Supersedeas]

26. maybe he is too dense to realize that with these leaders gathered in one place, a terrorist

might be just as interested as a RW Media hack with an axe to grind.

[Kickin_Donkey]

27. ... "a free press" ...

that's a good one. WaPo and Milbanks are bought-and-paid-for neocon whores.

[laughingliberal]

29. He's just setting up his next story about how Rahm advised the President to give more access

to the press and how his Presidency was hurt by not listening to him. I predict he'll make, at least, a 3 page article from that.

[tom_paine]

30. Dana is just going with the flow, joining the Dominant Bushiganda Narrative, writing to script

This month's Bushiganda is to compare Obama to the SOVIETS.

Never mind that all this Sovietization started as Bushification. NOW alluvasudden, Milbank sees it and has to speak out.

Both embarassing and amazing. How do the Bushies DO that? Is Dana a paid member of Operation Mockingbird v2.0? Is it simple repetition or some mutation of the journalistsic profession?

Milbank often appears on Keith Olberman, but he's just another Media Whore palying to the script from Corporate.

Back when Bushler was starting all this shit, Dana couldn't say "boo" and he SURE wouldn't dare to compare Fearless Fuhrer Bushler to the Soviets, even though he was so VERY Soviet like in his dealing with the press, much more consistently than Obama, by far.

Embarassing and amazing. How the hell did the Bushies rig things up like this? Ed Bernays' techniques? Money? Murder? Intimidation? Or perhaps nothing so direct.

It doesn't matter how the Bushies idd it, they have full control of our National Dialogue, which runs right through the RW Lie Machine for a good laundering before it gets pumped to us Plebs.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

32. Milbank USED TO appear on Countdown.

Keith kicked his ass off years ago.

[BurtWorm]

38. Our free press has abused its freedom to the point of making itself utterly irrelevant.

[Kahuna]

39. DING DING DING DING DING! nt

:applause:

[WCGreen]

40. My god Dana, does this mean you will have to get off your ass

and actually do some reporting...

Novak and Evans back in the good old days would have known what happened before it happened...

Point and shoot and comment is not journalism. It's lazy. It's crass. It's not good for the country.

[joeybee12]

42. Hey Dana, do your job and then maybe Obama won't ignore you...

...you worthless hack.

[ncteechur]

47. Dana, what about the media's disregard for the truth? Fuck you and the media horse you ride.

[Cha]

48. Poor dana milbank is such a little ignored mediawhore..the

timbre of this article is an example. Pres Obama got where he is and where we are without the help of the corporatemediawhorepress.

Without the mediawhores there would have been no bush or war on Iraq.

[spanone]

49. oh, the irony that dana fails to see.

[MinM]

50. Milbank [Skull & Boner] says Obama44 is worse than S&Bush43

I'm shocked... :sarcasm: