The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age

    Proof that Jay Carney et. al. rarely talks to the president but

    By artappraiser on Thu, 12/05/2013 - 10:07pm |

    just puts on a useless dog and pony show every day, riffing off of and babbling general talking points, or what his staff can find in books and on the internet if there are no applicable talking points:

    White House corrects record, says Obama did live with uncle briefly in 1980s
    By Aaron Blake and Juliet Eilperin, Washington Post, Dec. 5, 2013

    [....] White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters at Thursday’s White House briefing that, “back when this arose, folks looked at the record, including the president’s book, and there was no evidence that they had met and that was what was conveyed. Nobody spoke to the president.”

    When the issue of their relationship arose again this week during the Boston trial, Carney said, “I thought it was the right thing to do to go ask him.” [....]

    Comments

    A sometimes ruthlessly monopolistic dog and pony show:

    The red-faced photographer, joined by colleagues on the White House Correspondents' Association board, finished his 10-minute presentation with a flourish that made Carney, a former Moscow correspondent for Time, wince.

    "You guys," Mills said, "are just like Tass."

    Comparing the White House to the Russian news agency is a hyperbole, of course, but less so with each new administration. Obama's image-makers are taking advantage of new technologies that democratized the media, subverting independent news organizations that hold the president accountable. A generation ago, a few mainstream media organizations held a monopoly on public information about the White House. Today, the White House itself is behaving monopolistically.

    read on @

    Obama’s Image Machine: Monopolistic Propaganda Funded by You
    News organizations protest White House restrictions on independent photo coverage.
    By Ron Fournier, The National Journal, Nov. 21, 2013


    by artappraiser on Fri, 12/06/2013 - 2:49pm

    It is one thing to be famously aloof...it is quite another to leave your press guy "out of the loop"...


    by jollyroger on Fri, 12/06/2013 - 2:57pm

    On the other hand, knowing they're doing stupid dog and pony shows, an aloof president might not pay much attention to whatever the hell they are doing and saying, just out of personal choice? cheeky


    by artappraiser on Fri, 12/06/2013 - 5:18pm