Posted on 03/20/2012 7:37:25 AM PDT by Zakeet
After it was reported Monday that Malia Obama was going to Mexico for spring break with 25 Secret Service agents, people began to notice that such reports were being scrubbed from the Internet.
Politico's Dylan Byers reported Tuesday this was done at the request of the White House:
The AFP page for the story now links to a story titled "Senegal music star Youssou Ndour hits campaign trail," as does the Yahoo page. The Huffington Post page now links directly back to the Huffington Post homepage. The Daily Mail, Telegraph, and Australian stories now lead to 404 error pages, reading "page not found."
In an update, Byers explained who was responsible for the scrubbing:
Kristina Schake, Communications Director to the First Lady, emails to confirm this was a White House effort:
From the beginning of the administration, the White House has asked news outlets not to report on or photograph the Obama children when they are not with their parents and there is no vital news interest. We have reminded outlets of this request in order to protect the privacy and security of these girls.
Must be nice to command such an obedient media.
If we could see the Obamas pay the bills out of their own funds it would be legitimate for the media to stay mum.
It’s nice to be king.
Well, I guess we have to depend on the National Enquirer or other tabloids, to report on what Obama’s daughter is up to.
The media enthusiastically covered stories about the Bush daughters going out drinking and such, though admittedly the Bush daughters were older than Malia. But still, she’s what, 13 or 14? How many of you would let your young teen daughter go on spring break like that without you?
Executive Order #66666666 will require the news sources to comply or be shutdown.
True - here’s how ‘journalists’ talk when they think they’re only with each other...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBFOmUXR080
FR has a long standing-policy of a hands-off approach to personal comments posted about the children of politicians. Too bad the Obamas will use their kids as political props when they see fit while simulataneously demanding privacy for them.
But FR will still adhere to our own standards even if the Obamas cannot and will not do so consistently.
Sorry, but the children should be off limits for the reasons cited, i.e. privacy and their security. Anyone who would risk the lives of the Obama daughters by posting information that compromises their security deserves to be condemned. When it comes to protecting the children, politics be damned.
Wouldn't it be simpler just to ask them to have all stories reviewed by the white house press office first in the future? < / sarcasm >
Probably justified concern, considering he gave Mexican Drug cartel the weapons to kill 35,000+ Mexicans.
Their security is compromised because idiotic parents send a 13 year old to the drug/gang/murder capital of the Western Hemisphere despite State Dept. warnings.
Sure, the kids can only be used when Obama needs them for fundraising pictures and vote-getting. They are his props, not the media’s. The taxpayers have no right to know where their money is going.
T-shirt: “Obama’s kid went on vacation to Mexico and all we got was a lousy bill.”
It was obama who started pulling his children in for “campaign” reasons, using them as props to try and bolster his ratings.
Vital news interest? 25 Secret Service agents accompanying 13 13 year old exclusive private school students on a trip out of the country when 99% of American school children are lucky to eat pink goo in their lunches?
I think Americans are pretty generous and tolerant when it comes to providing security for the children of presidents and former presidents. But when the economy stinks and folks cannot afford to buy gas to go to work or to buy ground beef at the grocery store, then it becomes a news story when the president sends his daughter on a trip out of the country at an age when most children spend their vacations at home with their parents or on a trip to something close to home.
Gee, It didn’t seem to bother these pukes much when the left was saying disgusting things about Sarah’s kids.
Well said!
I imagine, that considering what he’s done to Mexicans, his family is not too welcome there:
H.RES.490 — Expressing no confidence in the Attorney General of the United States. (Introduced in House - IH)
Excerpt:
Whereas under Attorney General Holder’s watch, this operation was not set up to catch criminals and no proper monitoring of the guns being sold or transferred was undertaken;
Whereas Attorney General Holder further failed to inform or cooperate with Mexican authorities even though hundreds of weapons were being sent to Mexico;
Whereas currently, Mexico is under severe stress due to drug cartel wars;
Whereas credible sources estimate that over 35,000 Mexicans have been killed since 2007;
Whereas due to Attorney General Holder’s failure to properly control, monitor, or establish Operation Fast and Furious, it is likely Mexican nationals were killed or wounded by weapons sold through this scheme;
Whereas the carnage resulting from Operation Fast and Furious is not limited to Mexico;
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:H.+Res.+490:
It is completely appropriate to maintain a hands off policy on Obama’s kids. Nevertheless, the adjunct story— the cost associated with the necessity of sending 25 agents for protection— in a time of belt-tightening for most Americans, is, in fact, newsworthy.
Exactly!! When I'm forced to pay the bills for a 13 yr old to go on a Mexican Vacation, for her and 20+ of her friends, plus 25 Security (something I can't afford to take my wife on, let alone any 'guests'); being told to STFU about it, does nothing but further infuriate me.
If the Obamas were to pay for this trip (minus security, I'll grant ANY sitting president security for himself, and his immedate family) - then I'd agree. Where she goes, what she does isn't any of my business. The Obamas can easily afford to do this - however, I cannot afford to do this. So, when this exhorbinate 'perk' is foistered upon the 51% of the population, who pays taxes; we have a RIGHT to know how our tax dollars are being spent. In this case, it's being spent entertaining a spoiled brat and 20 of her equally spoiled friends - on my dime.
The hell with that,that is news if the vacation is being paid for by the Tax payer.
Every jaunt the obama’s go on are probably on our dime.I sure want an accounting to prove otherwise.
Agreed. In this case however, the information published was in the public domain (and likely VERY well known in Mexico!) AND was in no way derogatory. This, there is no legitimate "Security" interest and her privacy has not been invaded.
The Great Scrub serves only one purpose - to expunge an embarrassing situation where the WH must explain why it is AGAIN necessary to have the taxpayer pay for such extravagances.
Exactly, so why on earth would you pick the place for a vacation??
The truth should be broadcast here if the lame-stream refuses to drive the points in this thread home (imho).
What is not off-limits is who is paying the bill?
Obama has Air Force One, Wide Load has Air Force First lady and now malia has Air Force Malia?
That is not off-limits.
Who is paying the bill
25 Secret Service Agents is a great expense.plus the cost of an Air Force plane.
Armored cars there? Who knows?
If Obama is catering this affair -—fine. If we are paying the bill that is not off limits.
First: I detest just about everything from Barry and his American hating wife and his administration.
Second: I do not trust the media, even FOX (that is a shame) to be our watchdog. They are big government lapdogs.
With that out of the way, I see no reason to place his children at additional risk via media coverage especially when their parents have so little regard for them to allow them to go to this drug war crazed hell hole.
What should happen, if my “Second” comment were not true, is the media could report fully what if any cost the US Taxpayers incurred for the royal family’s ill advised trip after they are safely home.
+1
Amen Brother.
This is BS.
This trip will cost the American taxpayers over a million dollars.
I R a Sister!
+1
Is it off limts to ask how much WE paid for a kid’s Spring break vacation with a dozen or so friends and a crew of USSS chaperones, or is the information about the cost of such a trip equally off-limts?
Well at least she will not be able to eat any fatty foods since her mommy said they were bad for children.
Oh wait, I forgot we were talking about one of mac dadddies chldren, that does apply to them.
That part of the story is entirely in-play on FR and, given the Obama's two-faced demand for privacy for their kids while using them as campaign props, is probably why they wanted to have the larger story yanked in the first place, given all the bad press their high-cost-to-taxpayer vacations have earned them. It's a shame for Malia that her parent's lack of restraint and consideration for taxpayers has made this kind of scrutiny of a school trip come to pass, but it is what it is.
The FR mods are only pulling posts that make it personal about the kids, and pulling threads where such posts are just getting too pervasive. There is no Eric Holder batphone to the mod lounge tell us what to do, we had this standard back in the Clinton Admin years with posts about Chelsea.
LOL
Sooo, Obozo can pull his daughters out of the hat anytime he wants for political purposes, a la the Fluke phonecall, but can invoke “daughter’s privacy” when the repotage on the daughters doesn’t help him. Wonderful!
“(minus security, I’ll grant ANY sitting president security for himself, and his immedate family)”
I disagree - especially when it comes to deliberately going to dangerous places and paying for the security to be stupid. The Presidency should come with sacrifices the family agrees to; it should not be the gorging smorgasbord of worldwide luxury travel the Obamas have made it.
Heck, we'll provide the paintballs. Meghan McCain is an adult, albeit not acting like one.
Sorry if their security is so important don’t be shipping them off some place so insecure they need 29 body guards around them at all time.
Send them and their little friends up to Camp David. I hear they have a nice swimming pool and everything.
And it’s secure.
I wonder where Bo the Dog is vacationing?
There is another reason this is an embarrassment to the Administration—something I pointed out in the FR post that was pulled. This shows extremely poor judgement on the part of both of the Obamas. I am SURE the director of the US Secret Service implored the President not to push ahead with this trip because of the security risks. The First Daughter is a tempting target for the cartels. I was shocked to read the number of SS agents as that is usually classified. Mexico is incredibly violent and the police and military are notoriously corrupt. No matter how much Malia complained, the Obamas should’ve put their foot down. I won’t be surprised if a book comes out in a few years confirming my suspicion that Obama was overriding the advice of the men and women tasked with protecting the lives of him and his family.
Makes one think Congress has better things to do than stop zer0 from spending the people's money. All that expense equals zer0 paying or the taxpayer paying?
not news worthy!
Well except the DHS warned Americans not to travel to Mexico...
I guess Drudge didn’t get the memo, he’s got several links and pictures right hear the top. That must mean the Romney campaign wants it there, or they forgot to order Drudge to play nice and take it down.
DOES EVERYONE REMEMBER HOW THE BUSH TWINS WERE TREATED? HOW ABOUT THE PALIN KIDS?
Media asskissers make me sick.
why would a story of communist usurper parents in the white house sending their 13 yr old daughter on spring break to mexico, a country off limits to Americans, not be newsworthy.
I agree, if they were doing reasonable things, but taking 25 secret service agents to Mexico to baby sit a 13 year and her friends is Insane misuse of taxpayer resources. That is the story.
It is a huge story.
Er, wouldn't that be Zero and Moochelle since they put her in this position?
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