White House Slams CNN, Declines To Express Regret For 9/11 Coast Guard Training Exercise

I’m sorry but the reporter(s) asking those questions are pretty stupid, no? How is this not the fault of overzealous CNN “reporters”? I understand that it is much more fun to blame this on POTUS but I mean, what a bunch of knobs those reporters are, as we say in England.

It is more important to get it out FIRST before getting it RIGHT. That’s is why they listen in by accessing the scanners. Peek a boo journalism is the way to go CNN.

Was the CNN White House correspondent there? Did he/she turn red in the face and run out crying while Gibbs and the other reporters laughed and pointed?

Man does your crowd come off poorly.
Even with your already established low standards.

Is there a way to identify the people asking the questions? Did I sense a little Chuck Todd?

Adding- if you feel that is “hammering” and “going after” then you are softer than a pillow.

I can’t begin to express my disgust with CNN.

CNN had a chance to become the alternative to MSNBC and Fox but instead they have skewered their coverage to the right.

The MSM’s decision to give so much air time to the Teabaggers angers me. Rightwing Republican extremists hating Democrats is not news. Instead of devoting hour upon hour to people carrying signs that accused Obama of being a Communistic Nazi Socialist the networks and newspapers could have chosen to show thoughtful Republicans explaining why they don’t support Pres Obama’s plan while giving equal time to Dems to express why their health-plan ideas are the way to go.

I guess the new motto for CNN (a partner with TIme) is “News That Hasn’t Been Conclusively Disproven”.

Gibbs is absolutely right. No one would have been alarmed if CNN hadn’t jumped on the air with “possible shots fired in POTUS’ vicinity”

Idiots.

CNN is tough to watch nowadays, There was a time when it was the go to place. CNN International is way out front and competes with BBC World (which, on balance, is better). I check both out when abroad. But I watch CNN here no more than three times a day: a few minutes in the am but I find it difficult to listen to the morning hosts. I check El Blitz but give up after a few minutes. And I may or may not see 10 minutes of 360. Funny, I manage to keep informed.

…meh. It’s not like they were having Air Force One buzz the Statue of Liberty for a photo op or something like that.

This is a failure on two fronts.

1. The Coasties failed Public Affairs 101. If you are going to do something that could POSSIBLY be misinterpreted as a live action, you notify the media in advance.

2. CNN/Fox went live without verifying it was actually happening.

A non-story and a non-issue . . . .
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Would be nice if the press, instead of hammering Gibbs with a non-issue, asked him tough questions about whether Obama’s actions during a Bush SOTU were inappropriate.

[...] The White House adds its spin… [...]

Talk about “non-story”…

Did he shout “YOU LIE!” at Bush?

If you read the Coast Guard press release, the information was taken from a closed channel used for training exercises. I heard on NPR that someone was listening in to that channel and called CNN.

The press release also points out that in order to ensure readiness, they conduct training exercises every day somewhere.

CNN should have verified, instead of trying to be first.

You do all realize that this is Obama’s fault. I mean, it’s in the Constitution that the chief executive him/herself must review and sign-off on all military training excercise performed anywhere in the world and at anytime.
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That said, knowing the tabloid/gotcha/breaking nature of today’s media, the Coast Guard probably should have told them that they were going to do this and that is was nothing to be concerned about. I doubt residents/workers in the area even noticed what was going on. (ie – it wasn’t like AF1 flying over downtown Manhattan)

Michael Scherer:

White House Slams CNN, Declines To Express Regret For 9/11 Coast Guard Training Exercise

How much value have you added to the news process by reporting using this technique?
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Isn’t this literally the definition of stenography?
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Why isn’t it possible for you to make the meaning of events clear to news users?
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Why can’t you say which party was right?

Guaranteed Rick Sanchez had something to do with this. what a joke

I don’t think the Coast Guard (or any other branch of the Armed Forces, for that matter) should be distributing its schedule of training exercises publicly. They should be able to count on “journalists” checking their facts before running with a sensationalistic story.

I’ll bet the whole thing started because Lou Dobbs thought the Coast Guard was a boatload of illegal aliens and spazzed out again.

Neither party was right. CNN does nothing that is news. It is a political hack for the left. Fact checking is for everyone else and not them.

And how clueless, insensitive and just outright stupid can this WH be to allow a security training exercise to be held on the anniversary of the say when so many Americans died from a terror attack in the area where one of the attacks occurred.

Just another sign of the tin ear this administration has to everyday Americans. If he cared, the WH could have picked one of the 55 states he visited besides PA, NY or DC to have the exercise.

Billie’s right.

Why would the military routinely announce when and where a training exercise is going to take place?

Bill, the point is that Obama didn’t exactly behave with decorum at a Bush SOTU. I might also add that Dems were known to catcall and boo Bush at SOTUs. But Joe Wilson’s acts are unprecedented? Ok, gotcha.

So people heckle Obama. Big deal. Whenever Bush gave a speech, I kept invisioning the singing sphincter in “Pink Flamingoes”.

“And for other potential terrorist attacks, check my Twitter page, hasta manana!”
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(The Spanish was for him to remind people that in case his last name didn’t make it clear enough, yes, he IS hispanic).

Finally! Another patron of the arts that appreciates the genius and beauty of John Waters.

If CNN did not jump the gun and report the observation of some bystander as dead-set fact this would bnot have been a story.

Gibbs is absolutely right in standing up for the White House and the Coast Guard. Do people really think the president is privy or in some way has direct command over what the Coast Guard is doing every day in Washington? Like he looked at a daily schedule and ordered a radio training exercise today? That’s insane…

http://www.political-buzz.com/

Maybe Obama doesn’t look at the schedule of the Coast Guard but somebody in this administration does making them all incompetent. The aides for not noticing and Obama for hiring them.

Rationalize away but the WH is equally complicit in stupidity here.

freeinpa – Do you seriously think that Obama, his NSC team, Napolitano, etc, are in the loop and give personal sign-off to every Coast Guard excercise performed, no matter what the location? It’s silly to try to pin any blame for this on the WH. This was a routine excercise planned by the Coast Guard alone, and excercise similar the ones they perform everyday across the nation. You can criticize them for being stupid – although I would then ask, “Why do you hate our military?” – but trying to lay blame for this on the administration is just silly.

Queue, “Well, if this happened when George Bush was president, the left…”, in 3….2….1…..

This is how your colleague Steve Collinson reported the incident, Scherer. Collinson, a real reporter, a journalist and White House Press Correspondent from Agence France Presse, put the incident in the fourth paragraph:

The solemn ceremonies were marred by a security scare in Washington after a Coast Guard training event on the Potomac River prompted unfounded reports that a suspicious boat had been fired on.

Then he goes on to report the essential points of the White House ceremonies and other commemorations around the US. He assigns the incident EXACTLY the importance it should have, unlike you petulent drama queens in the American press.

Of course, Collinson isn’t a stenographer and cheap headline-monger like you are, Scherer.

Source:”Obama leads US in September 11 commemoration” by Steven Collinson AFP

free – The only one equally complicit in the stupidity here is you. And that’s sad because while I disagree with most of what you post here, you have shown that you can make logical, informed, and reasonable arguments. Think about what you are saying for a moment. Directives for excercises like this rarely come from the WH or even from DHS. They – like similar excercises in any branch of the military – are standard, regular excercises and almost certainly not subject to regular review but some civilian bureaucrat. I highly doubt even the commandant of the Coast Guard – not hired by Obama (he was appointed by Bush)…and the people serving in the Coast Guard are also not “hired” but Obama – knew about this excercise. Somebody in the chain of command may have failed in their responsiblities – and I’m not even sure that’s the case – but it’s probably far down the chain within the Coast Guard itself and nowhere near reaching the level of the administration itself. Do you really want civilian appointee/employees working for the administration meddling to the level of reviewing a schedule of daily, standard, military excercises. Heck, I remember the days when many folks were fans of the Bush “whatever Petraeus wants, I’ll keep my hands off” approach when it came to significant military actions and strategies in a gosh darned war. No we want the president and/or his appointees to get involved in stuff like this?
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Stop being silly and stop looking for a cheap gotcha.

“White House Slams CNN, Declines To Express Regret For 9/11 Coast Guard Training Exercise.”
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Seriously, that is the headline you decided to go with?
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Here is a tip on a police officer getting hurt in a training excercise in Tennessee last month. Why don’t you crack reporters see if the WH wants to apologize for that too!
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http://www.officer.com/online/article.jsp?id=47929&siteSection=1&cPage=2&OrderBy=InsertDate&Dir=ASC

While I expect nothing less from the wingnuts who blame this administration for their hang nails…
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But first, it was Obama’s fault because he doesn’t make absolutely sure than nothing happens that will distract the press from focusing on the news rather than information about health care reform.
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Then, it’s Obama’s fault that the press is in such a rush for an exclusive that went on air before verifying their facts.
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Now, it’s Obama’s fault because the news media have been scorekeepers and stenographers for so long that they’ve forgotten how to investigate properly.
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Get a grip people GTFU

“And how clueless, insensitive and just outright stupid can this WH be to allow a security training exercise to be held on the anniversary of the say when so many Americans died from a terror attack in the area where one of the attacks occurred.”

First of all, the idea that the WH has anything to do with scheduling military exercises is preposterous.

Second, how manhy days should there not be exercises on? Let’s start with December 7th and keep going.

it’s simple, if one media outlet had not been reckless and unprofessional, no-one would know.

It is not at all like the Air Force One NY flyover.

CNN has become to news what cotton candy is to cuisine. It’s just sad.

Last week freeper had a hair in his soup.
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Obviously, its was the Obama administration’s fault.

My only surprise is that CNN interrupted their Michael Jackson coverage for this story.

what do you mean right? In a moral sense? In a factual sense?

in a factual sense, there is no doubt. CNN was wrong. As a matter of journalistic convention, they were also wrong. News organizations are generally responsible for false reports, even if they are attributed. We are supposed to check things. That said, the current breaking news rush does not often allow all that. CNN took a chance and got burned.

But the journalistic efforts and ethics were not the subject of my post. Gibbs reaction was. And that is legitimate, even if you would prefer something else, or if James LA would prefer a story about the memorial service.

Of course it’s Obama’s fault!

On the other hand, had he received a daily briefing titled,
“Bid Landen determined to strike within the U.S.” then of course, it would have been the CIA’s fault.

So it appears as if a lot of this might have been avoided.

This is your idea of “media criticism”?

and if we are playing the blame game, i would add that the Coast Guard might have done a better job of foreseeing the reaction of bystanders, given the time and place. But the Coast Guard oversight does not absolve CNN
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Michael, what the hell is the matter with you lately. This is a “Mayor insists he’s not beating his wife” post.

Maybe it’s different when you hear it, but I don’t see Gibbs “slamming” CNN, and why shouldn’t they decline to express regret over a training exercise? Your phrasing implies that they should have.

Maybe what we should take away from all of this stupidity is this:

It’s September 11th, 2008, and the Coast Guard is running drills. These drills are designed to keep us safe. Barack Obama neither cancelled these drills, nor drew unnecessary attention to these drills, meaning that the drills were handled in a professional, responsible, apolitical manner, as is befitting our armed services in general. Had Obama or the Coast Guard cancelled these drills, the wingnuts would have accused them of weaking our nation. Had Obama or the Coast Guard announced the drills, they would have been “playing politics.” In the end this was handled properly, up to and including Gibbs scolding the “uber-liberal leftist loons” at CNN.

Wolf Blitzer and Co are in defiant mode. Fran Townsend was trotted out. It seems that because today is 11 Sept we should do nothing in the way of training.

CNN Breaking News looks to much like breaking wind nowadays.

Michael Scherer:
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Thanks for responding –I was just about to tweet this post as an example of reporting that poorly serves news users.
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I’ll try to be very careful in describing what I believe to be the inadequacy of this report. The failure lies in your identification of the subject of the story.
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When I ask “Why can’t you say which party was right?“, I’m doing so because I perceive the events in question to be more than the conflict between the two parties (CNN, the WH Press Secretary).
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You have reported the existence of the controversy, and ended the subject there. For news users to benefit from a report on a controversy, I believe that it’s imperative that reporters explicitly report which of the sides in a public dispute is correct –”right”– in their assertions. Otherwise, the reader is left to arbitrate the dispute themselves without the benefit of the reporter having assigned a value to the assertions –without the value supposedly added by journalists to what is, by itself, merely a transcript of a video of the event.
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When you ask “what do you mean right? In a moral sense? In a factual sense? “, the answer lies in the sense of the word “wrong” that you, yourself used as a journalist in the description “Gibbs…declined support the idea that the Coast Guard had done anything wrong.“. I mean “right” in the same sense as you meant “wrong”, as the term would be used by readers to determine the answer to the most important and perpetual readers’ question “Who amongst the parties in the dispute was in the right, and who was in the wrong?“. Without such declarations –however threatening they would be to the reporter’s advertisement of objectivity, however exposed the reporters’ inability to correctly determine which party was in the right might be — the readers’ key interests are poorly served.
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When you assert “the journalistic efforts and ethics were not the subject of my post.“, I would say that it is impossible to decently report a controversy involving such matters without explicitly stating whether such “efforts and ethics” were better or worse in this controversy’s case. Simply stating that CNN’s reporting was false prior to transcribing the exchange doesn’t automatically assign a value to the press conference reporters’ (obviously –I mean, come on, Michael Scherer) leading questions “do you feel that the exercise was appropriate?” or “how smart is it to have something like this“. These are assertive questions that rhetorically seek to absolve CNN from responsibility for their failure in this incident, and frame the situation as one in which it is “smart” or “not smart” for the White House to have somehow put the press corps in the position of being likely to fail in this way.
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Surely you’re not professionally obtuse enough not to acknowledge that, right, Michael Scherer?
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“Gibbs reaction was” not the story, although it was, certainly, the subject of your post, hence my complaint. The legitimacy of reporting that the White House commented on this organization’s failure (“false reports“) isn’t in question. But (somewhat pejoratively, I’m sure you can admit) characterizing Gibbs as a “a media critic“, and his commentary as “hammering CNN” without explicitly assigning a value to that criticism is merely reporting the controversy.
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If my original question was imprecise, Michael Scherer, then I can be faulted for that, I suppose.
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Let me then ask the real question, the one that journalists and editors supposedly ask themselves every time a story is ran:
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How are news users’ interests best served by reporting on a dispute between the Press Secretary and the press in a public conference, when the reporter won’t say which of the parties’ arguments was the most legitimate?
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You’re right, I “would prefer something else“, Michael Scherer. I would prefer that reporting on controversial events or topics be accompanied by the value the profession of journalism supposedly adds to the news consumption and use process. I would prefer it if reporters did not solely note certain facts, transcribe conflicts and then call it a day –job well done. I would prefer it if there was better, more useful journalism, instead of techniques designed to shield reporters from criticism. Whatever the preferences of James LA for memorial services may or may not be, yes, I and an ever increasing number of news users would prefer “something else” than this style of reporting.
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Thanks for reading and considering this, Michael Scherer. I very, very much appreciate you having taken the time and trouble to respond to such a contentious comment as mine. I hope that I am more clear in my criticisms, and that at least you are slightly entertained by them.

…and, like you, Michael Scherer, I am under deadline constraints, and so get the first version of my posts wrong in detail upon occasion:
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No, the conflict wasn’t “between the two parties (CNN, the WH Press Secretary)” as I mistakenly typed in shorthand, the sentence should have read “between the two parties (the press corps, the WH Press Secretary)“.
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I hope that you will forgive and try to honestly understand similar unclear shorthand in my comment, if I have left that in; my apologies.

Hey MS, you want to talk about media coverage. How about doing your job and looking at something that at least your colleague in the entertainment field has the chops to cover:

http://tunedin.blogs.time.com/2009/09/11/dont-tell-me-what-912-means-glenn-beck/

This one is gonna show up in Slansky’s list fer sher…

Stuart, we have gone here before, and I am sure we will again. I agree in principle to the idea that it is wrong to just report conflicts, especially conflicting factual statements, without resolving the difference. But once you move beyond facts to finer questions of, for instance, government and journalistic responsibility, i don’t think every news piece, especially a quick blog post, has to resolve all qualitative issues, nor do I always think that my opinion on such matters is always so interesting. I don’t think there is an objective resolution to who messed up more here, the Coast Guard, CNN, Gibbs, or me and the press corps in responding to the others. I could muse, but i didn’t, and i think that’s fine. It’s not a failure. It’s a choice. And since this is a blog it is almost an entirely subjective choice. If I had more time today, if I drank more coffee, if it was not raining when I woke up, I might have done differently. We can agree that I chose to write the story on a subject which you did not prefer. And for the record, thought it does not matter much, I was not one of the reporters quoted in the post.

I very, very much appreciate the opportunity to speak with you this way about a subject that seems important to both of us, Michael Scherer, thank you so much for your generous response.

Oh dear lord, NBC led off with this story – and CNN is stating that “it would have been irresponsible” to not report the incident. What was irresponsible was running a story on this without determining the veracity first.

Holy crap. I had the TV on mute until the segment went to more trivial things, like the actual reason for remembering what this day means to so many families.

And before the wrath of Rusty, Testy, et al jump on me about ‘my lack of patriotism’ for being disgusted with CNN – I would like to ask “would Murrow or Cronkite or Brinkley have aired this story without verification?”

“This whole creation is essentially subjective, and the dream is the theater where the dreamer is at once: scene, actor, prompter, stage manager, author, audience, and critic.”
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Jung

Actually mmchampion, I was watching Fox News, and they gave CNN a pass. Unlike our dear Leaders, staff in his White House.
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It IS for those of you who have forgotten, 9/11. It would make perfect sense for someone to “jump” or be a little “trigger happy”.
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The 2nd thing to note is that on the communication from the Coast Guard, they failed to mention at the onset of the “drill”, that this was a “test”. They simply said, “Shots fired”.
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As we also know our media friends listen to their little scanners for news. They heard “shots fired”, but did not hear that it was simply a routine “test”. Gibbs is as Michael said, “White House Slams CNN, Declines To Express Regret For 9/11 Coast Guard Training Exercise”.
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Michael, don’t let these liberal trolls get under your skin. That is what they live for.

Actually, if there had been a real security alert, the media would have been notified. The fact that a bunch of Coast Guard boats were rampaging around in the Tidal Basin area with no other real spasm of emergency vehicles should have been a strong clue.

Well, at least to the apparently not particularly panicked public. The soft and fainting souls of the media seem to be made of gentler stuff…

@rustyreturns

Since you evidently sit slack-jawed in front of your television all day allowing Fox News to bathe you in propaganda and demagoguery, you probably missed the Coast Guard press conference.
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To wit:

The Coast Guard account of what happened
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In that news conference, Coast Guard Vice Admiral John Currier said the radio traffic was on an unencrypted Coast Guard channel. In a real emergency, he said, the Coast Guard would have switched to encrypted channels. Currier said the radio chatter was “a normal technique” used in training exercises.
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He did add that before any transmissions occurred for the exercise, someone would have said something to make it clear that the traffic to follow was part of a drill. The report of shots fired, Currier said, came from a person who said “bang bang” on the radio. He also said that, contrary to reports, the President was not near the bridge where the exercise was staged.
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The Coast Guard, Currier said, “trains every day and this was a routine exercise.” And he said this was a “low profile training exercise.” But “this was no ad-libbing by anyone involved. It was pre-planned.”

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Heh heh. The Coastie said ‘This is a drill.” Then he said “Shots fired. Bang bang.” As in, what they do every day in every training exercise.
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CNN rushes to air breathlessly, rusty got his nut up, but, alas, letdown! rusty fumes.
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Michael BLAMES THE WHITE HOUSE for all this, because, you know, that’s what he does. Ed “My job is to make news” Henry draws up in petulant self-righteous indignity pretending that the frickin White House should authorize ALL training exercise EVERYWHERE. His CNN clownish coworkers along with dumbass “reporters” at Washington Post think “it would be irresponsible” not to run with this.

All in a day’s work in the beltway. Corrupt. Irredeemably corrupt.

ogliberal

Well I think the only cheap shot is yours. Last I checked the President is the Commander-in-Chief of our Armed Forces which I believe includes the Coast Guard. I would bet you an adult beverage that the Coast Guard or any other branch did not hold terrorist training on 9/11 in PA, NY or DC for the past 8 years. Nor fly-by’s the Statute of Liberty either.

No matter how you slice it the insensitivity of this administration is mind-boggling and the buck stops there.

Typical liberal response in that they are not responsible for anything.

I think the White House needs to concern its self with Beck, Palin, the Republican spin machine and the Healthcare plan issues—they should leave these little exchanges for some other time when there are less pressing matters to be addressed.

This CNN/WH exchange is a waste of time.

http://theblindspotsofgod.wordpress.com/

Kudos to stuartzechman and kathy (above)

This is idiotic. I don’t know how Robert Gibbs keeps his head from exploding with this press nonsense. On the positive side, thanks MS, for publishing the press corp transcript and exposing that. On the down side, the nitwit spin on the headline for this Swampland post is painful. Get outta tha bubble once in a while, dude.

What? Me?
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Your spin on the thing was unfair and preposterous, Scherer. You explicitly imply that the WH 1) the training exercise was somehow botched or conducted or conceived in bad judgment, which it was not; 2) that the WH was responsible for catching or scheduling the exercise, or should have known about it and stopped it, which is silly and unreasonable, if you think about it; and 3) unreasonably slams CNN. And that’s just the HEADLINE. And all three points are stupid and meanspirited and typical of you pompous and self-obsessed emotional adolescents in the WHPC. You could tell all of this had you listened or attended the Coastie press conference.
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Seriously, Michael you and your colleagues need to grow the f*ck up and start being reporters and quit acting like narcissistic frat boys. I pointed out the work of a reporter, Steve Collinson, who acts professionally and takes his job, and his responsibility to his readers, seriously. He has a blog (AFP has a blog) and still he doesn’t publish insider-the-beltway pathological bullsh!t like you do. You and your adolescent jocks like Ed Henry are clowns and hucksters, not journalists.
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I was just pointing that fact out, and trying to show you an example of good reporting.

Also, Scherer:
I don’t think there is an objective resolution to who messed up more here, the Coast Guard, CNN, Gibbs, or me and the press corps in responding to the others.
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In what conceivable way do you feel like GIBBS “messed up here”??
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I guess a case could be made that the Coast Guard failed to divine that CNN might be so irresponsible as to run with a ginned up story with fabricated details on a day like this, but how the hell do you get any culpability from GIBBS for God’s sake? That is just objectively preposterous.

[...] House spokesman Robert Gibbs pushed back against suggestions that this week’s episode was somehow like one earlier this year when the Air [...]

[...] House spokesman Robert Gibbs pushed back against suggestions that this week’s episode was somehow like one earlier this year when the [...]