0bama's crack pipe was more important
Chief Egalitarian
Obama's disregard for media reaches new heights at nuclear summit
By Dana Milbank
Wednesday, April 14, 2010;
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."
Reporters for foreign outlets, many operating in repressive countries, got
the impression that the vaunted American freedoms are not all they're
cracked up to be.
Yasmeen Alamiri from the Saudi Press Agency got this lesson in press freedom
when trying to cover Obama's opening remarks as part of a limited press
"pool": "The foreign reporters/cameramen were escorted out in under two
minutes, just as the leaders were about to begin, and Obama was going to
make remarks. . . . Sorry, it is what it is."
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."
Reporters, even those on the White House beat for two decades, said it was
the most restrictive set of meetings they had ever seen in Washington. They
complained to both the administration and White House Correspondents'
Association, which will discuss the matter Thursday with White House press
secretary Robert Gibbs.
The restrictions have become a common practice for the Obama White House.
When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to the White House a
couple of weeks ago, reporters were kept away. Soon after that, Obama signed
an executive order on abortion, again without any coverage.
Over the weekend, Obama broke with years of protocol and slipped off to a
soccer game without the "protective" pool that is always in the vicinity of
the president in case the unthinkable occurs. Obama joked about it later to
Pakistan's prime minister, saying reporters "were very upset."
In "bilateral" meetings with foreign leaders, presidents usually take
questions, or at least trade statements. But at most of Obama's, there were
only written "readouts":
Canada: "The president and the prime minister noted the enduring strength of
our bilateral partnership." India: "The two leaders vowed to continue to
strengthen the robust relationship between the people of their countries."
Pakistan: "President Obama began by noting that he is very fond of
Pakistan."
Reporters, many in a "filing center" about a quarter-mile away from the
leaders' meetings, relied on dispatches from colleagues allowed in as the
press pool. The dispatches, over three days, were uniform: "They were too
far away to hear conversation. . . . Again, Obama had nothing to say of
substance that pooler heard. . . . We were in for all of 30 seconds. No
news; no quotes and again no statements. . . . Same deal folks."
Finally, Obama walked over to a group of reporters Monday afternoon. Would
he give them an account of his meetings? "I'll let somebody else do it," he
said with a smile.
Cliff
wrote:
>Obama's disregard for media reaches new heights at nuclear summit
<Snicker>
Obama who has held so many open press events & answered so
many questions.
Unlike bushco with their very few (but scripted) events with
no real questions allowed. And their "free speach zones" miles
away behind barbed wire fences with armed guards to keep
them in ....
OTOH a Summit Meeting is NOT a press event (though often
the press is allowed to observe parts).
Lots of press reports:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&tbo=p&ie=ISO-8859-1&tbs=nws%3A1&q=obama+nuclear+Summit+Meeting&btnG=Search
HTH
--
Cliff