Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Speaking of Stupid Press People

From Fox News: The White House apologized Tuesday to Fox News contributor Charles Krauthammer for lambasting him over saying President Obama removed a bust of Winston Churchill from the Oval Office – an act that Krauthammer had argued was symbolic of the president’s failure to appreciate the United States' close allies.
White House Communication Director Dan Pfeiffer said in his apology that his comments on the official White House blog – including one dismissing Krauthammer’s claim as “ridiculous” – were the result of “internal confusion” about two Churchill busts.
“I take your criticism seriously and you are correct that you are owed an apology,” Pfeiffer wrote in an email that Krauthammer asked be made public. “There was clearly an internal confusion about the two busts and there was no intention to deceive.”...
 In his post, Pfeiffer wrote that he does not bother dealing with "a rumor that's so patently false" but felt compelled to issue a "fact check" on Krauthammer's charge in the column.
"This is 100% false," Pfeiffer blogged. "The bust still in the White House. In the Residence. Outside the Treaty Room."
The post also included an official White House photo of Obama showing British Prime Minister David Cameron a Churchill bust, which turned out to be the other one.
The British Embassy in Washington then released a statement saying there had been two busts in the White House, prompting Pfeiffer to update his blog post by noting the embassy was correct.
The one Krauthammer had referenced had been loaned to President George W. Bush after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and was in the Oval Office. It was returned after his presidency.
And from Romney's office of stupidity: A Mitt Romney spokesman reprimanded reporters traveling with the candidate on his six-day foreign trip, telling them to "kiss my a**" after they shouted questions from behind a rope line.
As Romney left the site of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw and walked toward his motorcade parked in Pilsudski Square, reporters began shouting questions from the line where campaign staffers had told them to stay behind, prompting traveling press secretary Rick Gorka to tell a group of reporters to "kiss my a**" and "shove it."  http://news.yahoo.com/mitt-romney-spokesman-tells-reporters-kiss-polish-holy-110442318--abc-news-politics.html?_esi=1
I understand the frustration of dealing with jerk reporters who think their poop don't stink.  Well, it does, but you have to deal with it and the press people for a candidate cannot become the story.
As the press person for a high profile candidate or elected politician, you get to be in the limelight but there are risks and mistakes you just cannot make.  Lying and telling the press to shove it are two of those mistakes.

1 comment:

  1. Regardless of any confusion over two busts of Winston Churchill, I really can't figure out what the Right Wing Outrage Machine was squawking about. A loaned bust is returned to the country that loaned it? There is STILL a bust of Winston Churchill in the White House? There is now an Abraham Lincoln bust where the loaned bust was? There is nothing outragous in any of that. Yes, the White House did a face plant trying to explain it, but maybe that will teach them not to even bother. There was nothing wrong going on in the first place.

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