Bully Boy in Chief

You want to know about how the White House media is REALLY dealing with the Bush White House? Read Eric Boehlert's work.

Today's column, Lapdogs to the End?, is filled with specific examples and his usual spot on analysis.

I think the frat boy, teasing dynamic is really the key to understanding this

Then last summer, when the White House press room was closed in order to make some much-needed renovations, Bush made a rare appearance in the room where he "insult[ed] pretty much everyone in spitting distance," according to Dan Froomkin on Washingtonpost.com. Bush mocked reporters' make-up, he called one a "crackpot," and he derided ABC's veteran reporter Sam Donaldson as a has-been. The assembled press corps loved it, basking in the attention, as well as the insults.

It's a frat boy bully thing and it's an immature, insecure BOY thing. (There are some frats that are good, don't want to insult ALL frats.)

In Boehlert's current column, Rosencrantz asks the following question.

This is what I don't get about the Press's total cowardice. Why do they need Bush at all? Why not just get up and refuse to report on the President if he keeps acting unprofessionally or stonewalling their questions.

One reason they don't just say, "We aren't going to keep eating this dirt and calling it manna," is because they don't ever want to act together or be seen acting together, even when it involves defending themselves, our colleagues and our profession. Why not? Is it because Rush or Drudge or Hannity will call them "the liberal media" who "can't handle a bit of teasing?" Guess what, they ALREADY say that about you.

WHCA Needs To Change

The group that lets people into the press conferences, the WHCA, needs to let in someone who would defend their profession AND the other journalists.

Hey White House Correspondents' Association! I'm looking at you WHCA president Ann Compton and Vice President Jennifer Loven, Associated Press. Do you want to do something good for your profession and your legacy?

Here's a suggestion. Invite a few journalist defenders into your club (Eric Boehlert? Me? Jay Rosen? Allison Hantschel). You need someone in your club who is going to defend the rights of your members and demand better behavior from the White House. You are the only group that has even a tiny bit of leverage because presumably you are speaking for more than just one news organization. If you don't do it NO ONE will. I'll ask you politely, but maybe I would have better luck if I treated you like dirt, since it seems to work for the President. Nah, I'll ask politely.


What Would this Journalist Defender Do?

For starters a defender of the profession IN the White House press briefing room could help the other journalists to do their job. He or she would start with telling the White House that it is NOT acceptable to treat the WHCA members like trained poodles. This JD will clearly explain that you will NOT accept this childish manipulation game of telling you to go one place while news is being made in another.

Format Changes
Make some demands! Why not? How about this one:

Presidential press conferences will not be limited to one question, no follow ups (or only one follow up).

You need a format change that provides more flexibility for questions and more time for follow ups from everyone. The current format limits everyone’s ability to get the most current information.

How could they possibly deny a simple request for MORE time to be spent with the President? I'm sure they will have excuses (Brush MUST be Cut!). But here's the deal, when you make the demand and they reject it out of hand it will force them to acknowledge their manipulation. When they deny your suggestion you will have your own little news event and you can report on yourself. I know you hate to cover yourself, you won't look like whiners, you just wanted more information, what is the White House afraid of? What are they trying to hide?

You and I know exactly what they are afraid of. Bush losing it on TV. Nobody in the White House wants Americas to see the real man under real stress. That is why they go to such lengths to protect him from any real critical interaction with anyone. He's a classic, "Can dish it out but can't take it" kind of guy. Remember how he acted with that Irish reporter? Why must his true nature be hidden from the people? In AA I think they call this enabling behavior.

You see Ann and Jennifer, the president is actually very, very fragile and the White House media management people understand that, unlike President Clinton, the President can NOT handle himself in front of a media that asks hard questions. So they have removed that ability by playing to your individual vanity and fixing the format in their favor.


Journalist Defenders in the White House Press Briefing Room
How would having a Journalist Defender in the press room change things? Not only could he ask great questions, when the president insults the media for the 239th time, he can say:

"Okay, that's enough Mr. President. It's not cute, it's not funny. That's it. And no, we are not being whiners, we deserve your respect as professionals and human beings.You have had your chance to treat us like adults and you have failed time and time again. Enough.

Everyone who is a WHCA member will be leaving right now. We should have done this when you kicked Helen Thomas to the back row or when you made us sit next to a male escort and pretend he was one of us knowing full well that we wouldn't act. When a male escort gets more access than we do, we know what you think of us and what it takes to get access in this White House and we aren't going to play by those rules anymore.

This isn't a strike, we aren't a union, but we are professionals who have been treated worse than dogs. I know you think that we aren't treating "the office of the President" with respect, but we have been treating the office with respect but for too long you have proven unworthy of our respect. It is YOU sir who is not treating us with respect, and it is you sir that we are walking out on.

I know your instinct will be to punish us. You will threaten our jobs, our access and our careers. But you will not be doing anything new, you already do all that and we still tiptoe around your ego and cover for you to the American people. No more.

Here's a news flash Mr. President. We don't need you anymore. You don't make news anyway. We have been acting as fools and suckers long enough.

For those of you at Fox news or other organization that see this as your moment to have the President all to yourself and "scoop" the rest of us, I have been authorized to take away your WHCA credentials.

The White House has granted us the privilege of selecting who can attend the briefings, so we will hold up our end of the bargain. I expect all current and former members to stand with us and not attend any briefings until you agree to treat us with respect.

Why MUST we do this? Because according to our bylaws,

No substantial part of the activities of the Corporation shall be the carrying on of propaganda, or otherwise attempting to influence legislation, and the Corporation shall not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distribution of any statements) any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office.

We will not carry propaganda. Not anymore. And unless you make some simple changes we just aren't going to show up anymore.

And if you complain about our behavior to the American public you can be sure we will do a complete story about WHY we had to do this. We'll tell your side of the story and we'll have to tell ours. Even we are more popular than you, who do you think will be seen as the rude one, the bully, the whiner the man who can't handle tough questions?