Like athletes limbering up for the big game, White House reporters have been going through elaborate preparatory rituals as they bone up for tonight’s prime-time news conference with President Obama, the second formal “presser” of his presidency.
The Bush White House liked to spring its news conferences with as little as a few hours’ notice, on the theory that reporters would have less time to dream up stumpers and zingers. But Obama aides confidently announced tonight’s 8 ET session six days in advance.
There are 160 chairs, and somewhere between 12 and 20 correspondents are likely to get questions.
The unspoken contest playing out under the East Room lights: The president wants to deliver a message – in this case, reassurance on the economy and a plug for his budget – and not get tripped up by issues he considers extraneous, or that might overshadow what he wants to say.
Reporters have the opposite incentive: They want to “make news” by getting the president to say something he hasn’t said before, or wasn’t prepared to say – which, by definition, is not his message.
President Obama with the success of your first term, do you plan on running for a second term?
Mr President,
what is your favorite colour?
Mr. President, you do realize that the campaign is over, right?
Mr. President,
Did you really have to interrupt “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” with your speech?
Mr President,
How many times a day do you poop? Do you look at it afterward? Can I have some to sell on Ebay?
Mr President do you read Dvorak Uncensored?
26 ->
No, he doesn’t. We do and we’re taking names and collecting IP addresses.
@24, LibertyLover
Three words: bittorrent, hulu and Netflix. What? Your Entertainment Center isn’t connected to the Internet?
Are you going to be another Puppet, or are you going to do something?
Are you going to make it so the Demo/reps point and say “SEE, we told you a black person and women cant RUN this country”.
Do you REALLY know what you are doing??
#28,
Mr president: is that your face,or did your nech throw up.
Mr. President, when are you going to stop running the entertainment circuit like you’re still campaiging and ACTUALLY DO YOUR JOB?
Thank you very much, Barry. Keep up the good work.
“How can America rid itself of these toxic conservatives?”
Sir, are you a WHITE Bush jr, painted black??
Thank you very much President of the United States of America Barack H. Obama.
Mr. President,can you believe all the fucktards that are so critical of your administration and leadership after only 60+ days in office and expect you to have already fixed the super-gigantic fuck up that Bush the Retard and Cheney the Evil left behind, in such an unreasonably short amount of time?
Mr. President, can you believe the Rushpublican party was so morally bankrupt, intellectually challenged and bereft of any ideas or leadership that you were elected the first black president of the United States…EVER!
Thank you once again, Mr. President.
Mr President, did George Bush cause 98% or 95% of all the problems in the world?
To follow up, would it take Jesus and Buddha working together or Jesus, Buddha AND Superman to possibly fix any of it in 4 years?
I think the GOP has hit their heads and forgotten the last 8 years. What a bunch of delusional idiots. 8 years of having the ability to fix things and not, then pillorying the man who is trying to fix it when he hasn’t even been in office 100 days.
Mr. President, who is correct? While Hamas operative Muhammad Abu Wardeh said “If you become a martyr, God will give you 70 virgins, 70 wives, and everlasting happiness,”
MPAC’s Executive Director in Los Angeles, Salaam Al-Maryati disagreed, saying “There is nothing in the Koran or in Islamic teachings about 70 virgins or sex in Paradise. This is ridiculous, and every true Muslim knows that.”
However, Muslim Scholar Sheikh Palazzi states that there are 72 wives for every believer who is admitted to Paradise.
What is your finding on this important question Mr. President, who is right?
and Obama sezs: “Alfred, STFU and sit down.”
Man, my send button gets in the way. There is nothing inconsistent in those two very different statements:
martyrs vs admitted to heaven.
So simple.