Well, he’s trying to establish the standard the questions cannot or should not be repeated. Implicit in his scenario, however, is that he is routinely refusing to answer questions.
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“The bottom line is the mainstream media had a stranglehold on deciding
what information the American people got to see and are in some ways
upset that more people are getting the opportunity to get involved and
having their questions answered to participate in democracy,”
And you’re doing that be limited press access. Good to know you boot licking fascist.
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I see this as part of the ‘schizophrenic 4th estate’. They’ve given up on Republicans. They expect them to play dirty politics, dismiss and disrespect the press, and otherwise game the system to aggrandize themselves with power and lucre. Its not news, any more if a Republican falls from grace. There’s simply no grace to fall from. That leaves the Democrats, who flawed as they are, like all political parties and politicians are, do try to engage in self reflection, not let hyperbole get out of hand, be respectful to the press and concentrate on policy and pragmatic solutions to real problems. Dems try to hold their politicos’ feet to the fire, ethically. They demand ‘purity tests’ in some cases. So when a Democrat lies, falls from grace, it’s news!
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Put on your big boy panties, Spicey.
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Says SNL star.
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When our opponents heavily use MSM propaganda in concert with their lies, fixes elections by gerrymandering and other less than legal means, constantly obstructs when Democrats manage to win an election, and managed to get a person that is the most unqualified in the history of America, vulgar, and an admitted sexual assaulter electing to the Presidency over his highly qualified and experience opponent, I don’t think calm and respectful is going to cut it anymore.
What will work? I don’t know. One thing I know for certain, is it’s going to get a lot worse before (if) it ever gets better. American does not yet see Trump and the Republican Congress as an existential threat. Will they ever? If they do, how will the react? By howling on Facebook and twitter? What would push enough disconnected and unconcerned people to demand change even in the face of everything arrayed against them?
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But the majority of Americans do see Trump as a existential threat. We’ve marched, we’ve harassed the hell out of the GOP lawmakers and generally let it be known that we, the majority of America, do not accept this man because he is not fit to be president.
McConnell just smirks. Ryan just smiles. But we are the majority.
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“The nice thing about turning the cameras off sometimes is, and I find this, when it is not performance art, as you call it, you sometimes end up having a more substantive discussion about actual issues," Spicer said. "You can actually focus on the substance of the issues,”
For example:
- “Does the president accept the conclusion of 17 U.S. intelligence agencies that the Russians hacked into our election system with the objective of benefiting Trump?” Spicer reply, “I don’t know - I haven’t had that discussion with the president.”
- “Does the president believe the scientific consensus that climate change is, in fact, real?” Spicer reply, “I don’t know - I haven’t had that discussion with the president.”
Quite substantive indeed.
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Well they don’t use snark…don’t ya know.
Talk about inane drivel and deflection…
A majority marched? I must have missed that. I clearly recall an impressive number of a vocal small minority marching. I was there for two marches, calling it a majority vastly over inflates what was accomplished. Step out of the realm of the hyper-political that you and I and many people on TPM inhabit. The vast majority of the public are completely tired of hearing about it. It hasn’t effected their lives, and if it doesn’t, they aren’t likely to become actively involved. I know Trumps poll numbers are in the toilet–so were Obama’s during parts of his Presidency. Taking 2 minutes to answer a poll doesn’t equate to the majority opposing Trump beyond how the responded to the poll. It doesn’t even reflect if they’ll make the effort to vote or not. I know you’ve done more, as some us have on TPM. We’ve volunteered or we’ve sent money, but until people are personally hurt by what Trump and the Republican Congress do, he and they will be free to do as they wish, and the only push back will come from our small vocal minority.
Fear and pain motivate. The Republicans understand this. We should as well. I hate thinking this way. I just don’t see a way out of this situation without America suffering real pain. It may trigger demand for change, but even that isn’t assured. If we’ve lost so much, and no longer have the ability to get out of this hole, I don’t see America recovering in any of our lifetimes.
Goddess, am I ever maudlin today!
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Yeah you are maudlin.
A majority of those who voted didn’t vote for Trump - he was a minority president by one of the largest margins in history.
Three million Americans marched on January 21. Not a majority but they represented just about every town in America. Twelve thousand marched in Oklahoma City. It was not a series of futile minority demonstrations.
And neither have the Town Hall turnouts been small minority demonstrations. And the Americans who instantly showed up at the airports to stop them from harassing Muslims was not a series of small futile demonstrations.
Trump lost the popular vote by close to 12 million votes. I wish the left would pull up its socks.
Wasn’t it just 5 minutes ago that Spicer was quitting/fired/being promoted?
WTF.
If Sean is careful about what he says, who can blame him? If I were in his position, I’d be dodging questions, too. I wonder if he’s hired a lawyer. The folks in the WH press room should be grateful that the senior staff don’t fill them in on everything.
“The nice thing about turning the cameras off sometimes is, and I find this, when it is not performance art, as you call it, you sometimes end up having a more substantive discussion about actual issues because they’re not trying to get their clips, they’re not trying to figure out, ‘How do I get on TV?’ ‘How do I ask some snarky question?’ You can actually focus on the substance of the issues,” he said.
Says the guy, who represents the guy who is going to a “campaign rally” today, seven months after the election. What do you wanna bet the rally shows up on YouTube?
One person’s snark is another person’s search for the truth through a maze of bull shit, deflection, and lies.
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The reason the reporters are asking the questions ‘eight’ times is that you don’t answer the question the first ‘seven’ times, if ever. Try answering the questions truthfully and fully the first time and there would be no need for them to repeat themselves. How about that?
My ex-husband used to bartend in a very similar costume. I used to have a photo of him behind the bar making drinks with that frightening thing on. This was back when that kind of thing wasn’t unusual in the East Village.