White House press has devoted more airtime to ask whether Pres Obama was born in Africa than to ask how he’s working with Africa. #USAfrica
— sfpelosi (@sfpelosi) August 6, 2014
• • •
There ends the U.S.-Africa Summit presser. Qs from WH press corps on Ebola, Russia, Exec Orders, Israel. Not one on Africa. Unbelievable.
— TheObamaDiary.com (@TheObamaDiary) August 6, 2014
• • •
US media’s disgraceful disinterest in continent of Africa is precisely reason why China, India, Brazil, EU will beat US biznesses there
— zizi2 (@zizii2) August 6, 2014
• • •
Sorry, Africa. You are of zero interest to the WHPC.
— Allan Brauer (@allanbrauer) August 6, 2014
• • •
The press corps covering the world’s most powerful politician is a morass of parochialism and stupidity.
— Liberal Librarian (@Lib_Librarian) August 6, 2014
• • •
.@sfpelosi Pitiful that the ONLY question the reg WHpress contingent asked actually relating to Africa was re the #Ebola outbreak. #USAfrica
— Only4RM (@Only4RM) August 6, 2014
• • •
Is it a requirement that you prove you are an absolute idiot before you are allowed to be in the WH press corps?
— Steve Weinstein (@steveweinstein) August 6, 2014
• • •
LOL Jon Karl: “When you were running for president, you said a thing and will you now do a thing so your enemies can say another thing?”
— That 70s Hoe (@eclecticbrotha) August 6, 2014
• • •
And needless to say, it was Benghazi boy @JonKarl who asked President about being “imperial”. Funny, he didn’t ask anything about Benghazi.
— TheObamaDiary.com (@TheObamaDiary) August 6, 2014
• • •
HOW does @BarackObama keep calm when @jonkarl asks an ASININE ques like “which bothers you more- being called Imperial or Do Nothing Pres?
— Nancy Bigda Parent (@Nanbp) August 6, 2014
• • •
@Nanbp @BarackObama @jonkarl @TheObamaDiary The fact that he can keep his cool is EXACTLY what drives them to distraction!
— Nancy LeTourneau (@Smartypants60) August 6, 2014
• • •
Dear @PressSec yes we witnessed the #WHPC #NEWSTAINERS fail to ask ONE question relevant to the US, African Summit. Total #FAIL. cc @vj44
— Bobfr (@Our4thEstate) August 6, 2014
• • •
Gatekeepers with White House press credentials came off as Ugly Americans today. No wonder Africans feel ignored. #USAfrica @professorx10
— sfpelosi (@sfpelosi) August 6, 2014
• • •
How WHPC totally ignored the summit that was the reason 4 this PC, should tell U everything about their disrespect of the first black POTUS.
— BWD (@theonlyadult) August 6, 2014
• • •
@TheObamaDiary I’ll bet most of the WHPC couldn’t even locate half a dozen African countries on a map – much less ask an intelligent ?
— Nancy LeTourneau (@Smartypants60) August 6, 2014
• • •
Hi press corps, since when did Ukraine and Israel move to Africa? nvm …. #USAfrica
— sfpelosi (@sfpelosi) August 6, 2014
• • •
THAT ladies and gents is a textbook example of what the President is up against. That performance by the WHPC was an absolute disgrace.
— Mr. NFTG (@Kennymack1971) August 6, 2014
• • •
Wow, it’s incredibly disgusting to watch American press do everything they can to undermine America at this moment. @abc @cbs @nbc @CNN
— meta (@metaquest) August 6, 2014
• • •
And White House Press Corps complains that President Obama doesn’t hold more press conferences. Today was your answer, you worthless shills
— TheObamaDiary.com (@TheObamaDiary) August 6, 2014
• • •
The WHPC once again exhibiting its cluelessness. I actually wonder if many of them could even find Africa on a map, much less any countries
— john miller (@deaconmill) August 6, 2014
• • •
Dear @CNN, the area you marked “Nigeria” is actually “Niger”; Nigeria is the area below it. Get a map-reader, please! pic.twitter.com/e03Fv1pcC2
— Gimba Kakanda (@gimbakakanda) August 6, 2014
• • •
Don’t feel to bad, #CNN, about not being able to locate #Nigeria on a map. I can’t locate you on my cable dial either. #FAIL
— AlGiordano (@AlGiordano) August 6, 2014
The Obama Diary 
WPC – love it
Juuuuuuuuuuuuuudy!!
Siiiiiii! Great selection of tweets above – loved yours during the questions, too, although the word questions is a total misnomer.
Way to go, Judy!!
Thank you Chips!!!!
Congrats on first Judy.
😀 Judy Judy Judy!
Me!
Hey Me – flattered to share with you
And me. Don’t forget me, Lib_L!
Sekind. Chelsea would take that this season. #DutchRevolution 😎
10 days, baby!!!!
Holy crap, slow PC and all!
Great work! Does your PC do the entry dance too?
dance, followed by a curtsy vc
So it’s a common feature! 😀 Sometimes I have to chase up and down after the new post’s title before it will allow me to click on it.
I’ve got it!
I missed it….glad I did. They are as pathetic as ever, I see. I think they deserve a giant shaming…
Chips, you did it. Excellent Tweets. Wow.
I am still lamenting on this one and I am in agreement 1001%
AH!! So Black Violin is coming to town in Nov…Right up the street from me…I think I may just want to go!!!
Awesome! 😀
And this…not gonna work out real well for him..
Wow, maybe Chris Jansen should have done a little research before she asked, “are the sanctions working”?
You mean WORK??? She can’t even figure out that PBO was born in HAWAII and not KENYA for goodness sakes! You expect her to drive into the question of whether or not sanctions are working? COS 🙂 You’re so silly!
🙂 Exactly DF. I forgot that she said PBO was from Kenya yesterday. LOL
Honestly. I’m so over the entire bunch of them. They are why Americans are flipping clueless about who’s really working for them. They can all kiss my arse.
Wow, I just got told off by an egg with 3 followers. Help!
😆 Scramble them, Meta!
Dearest, I have my big bad sturdy can of BLOCK. Pine scented!
Oooo, post it here! Post it here!!!
You’re so funny, LL.
This is HUGE meta. A game-changer! Shit just got real….
You know it, girl!
Run for the hills!
meta – Same egg with 3 followers just hit another bunch of us. Ha.
Seriously Jacqueline, all this talk has me hungry for egg and soldiers 😦
Now I want some. Dang. Are they sliced up bun toppers? 🙂
Hello? Are you mocking my bun bottoms’ issue?????
Oh, sorry, bun bottoms. 🙂
Compassionless, that’s what you are Jacqueline.
(Did you see my confession today? I found the tops in the freezer. Seriously).
I did see your confession, and this reminded me. You are absolved! (Glad I’m not the only one who does things like that. Seriously. #WhatWereYaThinkin)
I felt waaaay better, though, Jacqueline when Layla admitted she’d lost her wallet and then found it in the freezer. She blamed her cat #Riiiiiiight.
The Cat in the Freezer story. I’ve heard it all before! 🙂
I know, right? Needless to say, Danny caused the buns top/bottoms freezer scandal, but he’s totally not a cat.
Totally not. Ha!
Talk about freezing your assets.
Rolling!! 🙂 🙂
The jackals lack of interest in this momentous U.S. Africa Summit is disgusting, but true to form. This is the first event of its kind. A remarkable achievement. But President Obama gets no credit and they act like the summit never happened. All we get are snarky, gotcha questions dripping with sarcasm on everything except the Africa Summit. They just can’t hide their contempt for President Obama.
U.S. AFRICA SUMMIT – August 4-6, 2014
—————————————
President Obama welcomes leaders from across the African continent to the nation’s capital for a three-day U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, the first such event of its kind. This Summit, the largest event any U.S. President has held with African heads of state and government, builds on the President’s trip to Africa in the summer of 2013 and will strengthen ties between the United States and one of the world’s most dynamic and fastest growing regions. Specifically, the August 4-6 Summit advances the Administration’s focus on trade and investment in Africa and highlights America’s commitment to Africa’s security, its democratic development, and its people. At the same time, it highlights the depth and breadth of the United States’ commitment to the African continent, advances our shared priorities, and enables discussion of concrete ideas to deepen the partnership. At its core, this Summit is about fostering stronger ties between the United States and Africa.
The theme of the Summit is “Investing in the Next Generation.” Focusing on the next generation is at the core of a government’s responsibility and work, and this Summit is an opportunity to discuss ways of stimulating growth, unlocking opportunities, and creating an enabling environment for the next generation.
—————————————-
http://www.whitehouse.gov/us-africa-leaders-summit
Maybe this is all over their heads…you ever get that feeling? I get that feeling for so many things like this with the WHPC. They just don’t seem very well versed in many issues. If they’re afraid of looking stupid, I think they’ve already let that horse out of the barn.
One thing in their favor … they truly represent the stupid party. There’s that.
There’s that! They must be so proud:)
They certainly aren’t employable anywhere else.
Well..they shouldn’t even be employed NOW.
Exactly. Pink slips all around.
YUP!
The fact that so many knew that the WHPC wouldn’t ask any questions about the summit is telling. How much of their behavior is arrogance and how much is ineptness? They can’t seem to stop demonstrating their stupidity (can’t seem to learn that they can’t outsmart/outthink President Obama) and their insanity (continue to do the same thing over and over again and expecting to come out on top).
It’s arrogant ineptness. It’s not an either/or issue. 😉
You’re right Mary.
Df, I think you hit the nail squarely on the head. In the days when there were real journalists they spent serious time keeping informed and studying issues. Today’s so-called press corps spends time inflating their own egos by lunching with the Republican “in” crowd and sharing snark about the President of the United States over drinks and cocktail wienies. They are so cocksure of their own greatness that they don’t need to keep informed and work hard at anything. Their talking points are delivered to them and they don’t have to get their hands dirty talking to real people. All they have to do is fluff their hair, spend bundles on clothes and make sure their camera makeup is freshened up.
Precisely. America is worse for their selfish inaction and attention to details and the truth.
They only recognize international events that relate to Europe df – wonder why that would be?
So of course, I got an important call just as he called on liar Jansing…
https://twitter.com/jazziz2/status/497171756462125057
corrected…
I love this so much! Tell people what you WILL do for them if elected, not what they can’t do ( paging party of NO!)
http://www.politicususa.com/2014/08/06/democrats-promise-list-legislation-pass-100-days-house-dem-majority.html
The Democrats’ Make It In America plan:
• Republicans voted to give tax breaks to companies that ship American jobs overseas
• Democrats will introduce the “21st Century Make It In America Act” to provide tax incentives for creating good-paying jobs here at home
• Republicans blocked legislation to make long-term investments in our nation’s aging highway system and opposed creating clean energy jobs of the future
• House Democrats will pass the “Build America Bonds Act” to boost job growth and modernize America’s infrastructure by building roads, bridges, broadband technology and investing in clean energy initiatives – paid for by closing corporate tax loopholes
• Republicans refused to raise the minimum wage but gave massive tax giveaways to corporate special interests and the ultra-wealthy
House Democrats will pass the “Fair Minimum Wage Act” and the “CEO/Employee Pay Fairness Act” to deny CEOs the ability to claim tax deductions for pay over $1 million unless they give their employees a raise
Here’s the entire thing on Speaker Pelosi’s site here: http://www.democraticleader.gov/middle-class-jumpstart/
Can someone Tweet this?? Thank you!!
Df, I hope that the DNC invests serious money in making sure this plan is known far and wide. Every Democratic should be singing from this song sheet.
Me too, jackie. Me too
” Are they REALLY this fucking clueless???!!” He’s got more patience than I would EVER have. EVER!
I know…it’s an expression of half – ” I can’t believe this shit & it figures you’d ask a dumbass question “.
Perfect tweet, Chips. He must drink after these things. Hell, I’d have a flask in my pocket, ready to roll.
Chips – PRICELESS ❤
PBO HAS THE PATIENCE TO PERSEVERE….PEOPLE ARE CRAZY AND THEIR TONGUE WAGGING IS OUT OF CONTROL!
Mr. President did you know you were Black and when did you know it and if you did know it when were you going to tell the American people?
http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/carl-bernstein-theres-a-lack-of-leadership-in-news_b234524
Bernstein says “There’s a lack of leadership in news,” citing Walter Cronkite and CBS president at the time Bill Paley — for whom the Paley Center is named — who dedicated half of the “CBS Evening News” to the Watergate scandal the day it broke, and another big chunk of time the next night.
“That was real leadership what Cronkite did there,” he said. “[Paley] let his news division at CBS operate without making a profit. The three networks insist the news divisions need to operate at the same profit margins rather than say, ‘hey we have a public responsibility here.’”
“Bernstein also reflected how the rise of cable news has impacted viewers. “There are fewer people open minded to the best attainable version of the truth. They’re looking increasingly for information as ammunition, to fit into their already preconceived ideologies, notions, politics, and religious beliefs.”
////
I wish Bernstein would begin his criticism at his employer, CNN.
Charity is supposed to be HOME bound……First.
Nena, that last line nails it. “They’re looking increasingly for information as ammunition…” Forget informing the public, that’s so passe in today’s media world.
I remember when the prez went to Columbia and all the WHPC asked was about the secret service banging some Hoe.
I remember that too.
President Obama is both gracious and graceful as he goes about his job. I am often in awe of all he is able to do. Where does he find the energy? Having to operate under different rules than previous presidents have had to do…dealing with extremists in government, in media, in the public sector…being the leader of this country AND being looked to as a leader of the world…I can’t imagine anyone else doing a better job than PBO.
(I just have songs running through my head today.)
ABC News Take.
So it’s tonight – not on his birthday as was initially reported:
Hf, why do I think they will have a good laugh about the dolts in the WHPC as they sip their cocktails and enjoy their dinner?
It’s Obamas fault, it has to be. This time I am sure of it. 🙂
ALWAYS a contractor – this is what happens when governments outsource their critical functions – should NOT be done.
Why didn’t he just stay home? What an embarrassment!
DITTO UGH HERE…YES INDEED GEORGE CAN’T LET HIS WIFE GO ANYWHERE BY HERSELF…HE’S AFRAID SHE’LL TELL EVERYONE WHAT REALLY GOES ON AT HOME…OOOOPS…GEORGE FELL OFF THE COUCH AGAIN!
That’s too funny.
But it definitely applies to Jon Karl. Could anyone look any stupider than him? He had to read his question about whether PBO was bothered more by being an “imperial President” or by being a “do-nothing President.” Karl obviously mixed up his notes from when PBO calls out the GOP House.
I missed Chris Jansing yesterday — did she say President Obama was born in Kenya on air?
She did Arapaho415 –
Must Read.
http://www.stonekettle.com/2014/08/america-youre-still-using-that-word.html
Perfect.
I imagine PBO sitting on a round top wooden stool listening to a WHPC question then looking down in silence for a moment raising his head then calling on another reporter. I imagine him totally ignoring the stupid questions while only answering the relevant intelligent questions.
So many of the tweets are funny but there is an edge here of sadness since it is clear that the entire WHPC and the entire Media are negative and hateful towards our President.
Opposition that is this overwhelming and malevolent is getting so predictable that I think—-hope—– that the pendulum has to start to swing back towards sense and sanity.
May it be so even sooner than we think.
Vicki, I think the media as depicted in all its absurdity by the WHPC is just becoming irrelevant. We laugh because they’re all just a sad parody of what media used to be.
No response to this on previous thread — I had the great timing to post just before the press conference began, LOL.
It is more appropriate for this thread however. Sample quote from the article (from PBO’s trip to Asia this past Spring):
PBO “offered up an oddly sophomoric mantra for his foreign policy: ‘Don’t do stupid shit.'”
money quotes
Obama, during his two campaigns for the presidency, had made a point of going over the heads of the media (denigrated as “the filter”) and communicating directly with voters.
…
The origin story of Obama’s messy relationship with the press is the origin story of the president himself and his seminal 2008 campaign. Even as Obama was showing off an electrifying knack for motivating and organizing people, his team was beginning to grapple with what was quite obviously a media world in the throes of reinvention. To start with, there was Politico, a website founded just as the race began. Opinionated, grabby and lightning-quick, Politico played to the adrenaline junkie in every reader with content that was cheap to produce and a subject – the vagaries of political fortune – that was inexhaustible. Obama’s advisers detested Politico from the start, accurately recognizing its potential to wreak havoc on their carefully crafted narratives, and to inspire their competitors to indulge in the same bad habits.
…
And then there is Twitter, which is now the premier driver of a news cycle that boils around the clock. In an erosion of traditional editorial neutrality, reporters take to Twitter not just to break stories but also to break half-stories, or rumors, or just retweet another reporter’s tweet about a possible development. It’s a kind of accelerating group-reporting that blurs traditional ideas of journalistic responsibility. “The intensity of the way stories break and become huge deals,” Carney says, “and on the back end the way they burn out more quickly, too” – as the hive moves on to the next item of interest – “that’s totally new.”
…
The White House isn’t panicking. They know that in spite of everything, they have managed over six years to accomplish much of what Obama promised to do, even if accomplishing it helped speed the process of partisan breakdown. “Everything that you’re saying about communications is not actually about communications per se as it is about the polarized nature of the country,” the White House adviser says. “There’s no clean shot” for communicating the president’s message. “That’s just where the country’s going. And it’s going to be worse for the next president,” he adds, “hands down.”
///
I somehow doubt the last line. The next rethug prez will get all kindsa passes from ‘the press’.
AMK, thanks for this snippet from Jay Carney. It makes clear that the president went into all of this with his eyes open and fully expected this idiocy. That’s why he keeps such a cool head. He never stoops to their level, but just let’s them reveal themselves for the dolts they are.
I don’t if the Next POTUS is a Dem. The Media has had an affection for GOPers and a great animus to a Dem POTUS since LBJ. They loved JFK. They didn’t even bother to report Reagan’s illness that was later confirmed by him in 1994. Leslie Stahl did in 2012……decades too late.
THIS PRETTY MUCH SAYS IT ALL!
MY REFERENCE WAS TO THE CARTOON….
I read it but rushed away for Presser, arapaho. TY for bringing it to TOD.
I found it a bleak but accurate portrayal of what’s been happening.
Perfect.
Perfection doesn’t exist. But I humbly must say, I am close.
🙂
Music for every occasion – can’t decide who I love the most PBO or Ms Chips 🙂 You so pick me up when I feel down. Bless you.
😆 And I feared I’d lose every TOD friend I ever had by posting that video, 99ts!!!
Always been one of my favorites 🙂 I think there is an aussie version – I know – don’t say it – I’m weird
Well……… —-> weird <—–
I said don’t say it!!
😀 Ah the joys of humility!
Yes, I know you experience the same joy in humility as I do.
Teeheehee! 😀 😀 😀
The only related question that I heard came from the black man who had the African accent.
I’m so glad to see the twitter outrage!
My admiration for PBO rose as high as the tallest building in the World!
New post in 26 minutes, 17.42 seconds.
Ezra Klein doing his part to help the GOP. This man is really bitter that the ACA’s failure didn’t turn out to be his personal cash cow…
I’ll keep it short & simple: Ezra Klein is a flunky.
Only in the minds of white privilege pundits can the first AA President who has nonstop bashing, obstruction, lies, death threats and can still get so much more accomplished than previous DEM presidents is called a success & failure.
I have to admit, I always knew that a lot of the opposition to PBO was based in racism. But I always felt a lot of the WHPC and pundit class just were being GOP talkers, doing the bidding of the RW. But the more I see and hear them, the more I realize the racism is there as well, just better h. They just can’t deal with a black man being more intelligent and better spoken than they are.
It isn’t lack of access. Hell, they wouldn’t know how to handle extra access. It isn’t about Pete getting all the good photos. It is about a bunch of childish, immature brats who feel inferior to a black man. Rather than attempt to raise themselves up to his level and try to have real, positive conversations, they get petty and try to drag him down to their level.
Many years ago, I went to a new dermatologist in town (and this was many years ago). Pharmacists hated him, because he actually had them mix up special prescriptions. They didn’t like someone telling them how to do things, even though the doctor was the expert. The same thing applies here. They are jealous and can;’t stand the fact the person they are jealous of is black.
Egg. Sack.Lee.
I agree. They are jealous, they can’t get under his skin, there is nothing they can say or do to PBO without them making total fools if themselves. The stupid hate filled questions a six yr old would ask, fake polls, fake scandels, all fall short of what they want to accomplish.
And the beauty of it is that Obama lets them show their worsening stupidity and lies at every PC. Long rope and all that.
Ezra Klein sold his soul
For a potential bag of cash
First he can shut his pie hole
And then he can kiss my ass.
#CaseDismissed
🙂 Wordsmith you are!
All ya need is the phrase “kiss my ass” and we can be anything we want to be! 🙂
HAHAHAHAHAHAHahaha. Perfect slam – JO’B!!!
Thanks, sugar!
Jacqueline, have I told you lately that I loooooooooooove you!!
Awww, thank you. There’s something about telling these buzzards to kiss my ass at least once a week that’s so very liberating!
THIS!
Wow, jacquelineo. excellent work
Thx!
Fabulous poem describing exactly what I felt when he did the show covering for Chris Hayes who I never usually watch. Thanks, I needed that!
Good! And thank you.
Wow.
The conundrum of being a person of Color in US and having been elected Twice to the TOP Job? No small task in a Nation with 238 yrs have ONLY elected 2 Black Governors and Paterson who became Gov of NY due to a resignation.
Never good enough. Always second guessed. Never judged by merit or by the same standard as the 43rd presidents before the 44th. In USA, a Black man dealing with unimaginable challenges in US and the world is judged by a Nobody as a Success and a Failure and MSNBC gave him the platitude to do so?
Wow.
Exactly. Well-said Nena.
Thanks HF. I am trying to catch up. I didn’t know anyone was here with me. 😉
I meant to write Platform instead of platitude…. 😳
yeah..I read it as “platform” based on the context! 🙂
I noticed awhile ago – when Christie talks to the press – he specifies the topic. If they ask an off topic question – he rudely tells them to go away. Imagine the reaction in the media is PBO did this – but Christie – he’s brilliant because he doesn’t answer questions!!
My mind will NEVER understand the reasons behind the truly DUMB of the WHPC
In fairness, the Obama Team has Never held a presser on just one topic.
At the WH presser when one subjected is addressed, they do it in this administration by bringing a guest and Press Sec steps aside and allocates time and when that time is up, then the Press Sec allows general questioning.
If The Obama Team wanted a targeted focused presser, they can do it.
I’ve watched many press events when the President is travelling – NEVER do the US media in attendance ask about the trip – they ask about the GOP “scandals” – I consider them one topic events, but maybe I see it differently to most.
Family Photo from earlier today
Sorry, wrong link.
So true.
They will get their second wind after Labor Day (when they truly will be in a panic, when newsrooms look at their staffing levels and realize that they have a lot of dead [and dead-wrong] wood they’re paying salaries to). Would really like to see some of the most insufferable have to get Obamacare.
I’m a broken record on this point, but the MSM’s worst nightmare is a Dem-controlled House and Senate. Even these flacks can’t milk “HRC 2016” throughout all of 2015.
Kansas…get a clue, will ya! http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-06/brownback-s-tax-cuts-prompt-s-p-to-reduce-kansas-s-credit-rating.html
When I said “New post in 26 minutes, 17.42 seconds” there was a typo, should have been 126 minutes.
Coming soon. Ish.
The book President Obama writes post presidency will be the most riveting ever written, especially if he finally tells us what he really thought about the absurdity he has had to deal with it. I hope he does it in multiple parst–one on domestic issues, one on international and then one titled “Idiots I have Dealt With.” I would stand in line for hours to buy them all and pay a premium for the one on idiots.
I’d pay a premium for ALL THREE!
Local 10PM news — all Ebola! [Sigh!]
All those dark people storming the white house, Dudette. Oh horrors….. 🙂
😀
🙄 In addition to being impatient, you are weird, but you know that, I think.
I like weird people! 😎
For goodness sakes, don’t tell *him* that, D-ette!
Tell *him* what?
Lamb’s sake, now you’re trying to pull a lazy msm tactic on me! Do your own research, you.
It’s already Thursday there. 🙂
Yep. 530 am Thursday in Tehran …. now ….
Yup..I hope it means what we think it does. Let’s keep our fingers crossed. 🙂
This is so good to hear!!! I am not going to let myself get too excited,though.
I know right? But we can keep our fingers crossed – and #HOPE.
After being on continuously the entire day, I do believe my laptop is hot and tired. It’s Pres O’s fault. I keep getting this message every few seconds –
‘A script on this page may be busy, or it may have stopped responding. You can stop the script now, or you can continue to see if the script will complete.’
New post:
http://theobamadiary.com/2014/08/06/us-africa-leaders-summit/