THE UNRELEASED AMERICANS PRISONERS IN IRAN
Posted on 07/16/2015 7:12:55 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
How does it feel to get rebuked by the President of the United States on national television for asking a tough question? While some of Major Garrett’s colleagues in the media wagged their fingers at the framing of his question, the CBS White House correspondent doesn’t seem to be losing sleep over it. “Clearly, it struck a nerve,” Garrett tells Contessa Brewer. “That was my intention.”
“Clearly it struck a nerve,” Garrett told CBS anchor Contessa Brewer. “That was my intention. Because everyone who works for the president, and the families of those four Americans, have heard the president say he’s not content and they will work overtime to win their eventual release.”
“Was it provocative? Yes. Was it intended to be as such? Absolutely,” Garrett said on the network’s livestreaming website, adding he wanted to get Obama to share “a full range of his interpretation of the whys and why-nots” of not including the Americans’ release in the deal announced Tuesday.
“I believe that was achieved. Sometimes you have to take a president’s scolding, if that’s the best way to characterize it, in order to get to an answer like that, that’s part of my job. My skin’s plenty tough enough, and I look forward to the next press conference,” Garrett added.
Garrett wings a rebuke right back at Obama to start off his remarks. “Politicians, especially those who are elected President of the United States,” Garrett notes, “are very adept at creating straw men… That’s exactly what the President did.” That’s exactly what this President always does, including at this press conference. Obama crafted his argument as if the deal was the only alternative to an immediate war, which is utter nonsense — and ignores the fact that Iran is conducting hot wars around the region already in Syria, Yemen, and in support of Hamas in Gaza.
Obama’s defense of his exclusion of the four Americans was also a straw man. There is nothing mutually exclusive about negotiating for prisoners in a diplomatic deal. Obama got around to a better explanation toward the end, but the beginning of his answer made it sound as though Obama had to choose between one or the other, which is only true if you’re a really lousy negotiator. The Iran deal speaks for itself on that point.
Not all of Garrett’s journalistic peers spent the evening sneering at him. Washington Post media critic Erik Wemple called the reaction among the media “a troubling deference to pomp”:
Yes, it was theatrical. Yes, it was a bit presumptuous. Yes, it laid out a particular case. But it bore in on a critical matter, and one that is all over the news: Why are these Americans still sitting in Iranian prisons while U.S. officials are touting their diplomatic achievements? Though Garrett got ripped for asking the question, Obama went forth and gave an interesting response to it, including: “Now, if the question is why we did not tie the negotiations to their release, think about the logic that that creates. Suddenly, Iran realizes, ‘You know what? Maybe we can get additional concessions out of the Americans by holding these individuals.’”
Let’s circle back to Bash’s indictment: “But there’s a fine line, especially — maybe I’m old school — standing in the East Room — a fine line between asking a tough question and maybe crossing that line a little bit, and being disrespectful. So I think that that happened there.” Bold text added to highlight a troubling deference to pomp.
There’s been a lot of that over the last six-plus years. I can’t wait for a Republican to win the presidency so that all of the fainting-couch class of the White House press corps can rediscover their journalistic toughness.
I hope Major Garett’s income tax returns are in order.
And I hope, if he is audited or harrassed in some other manner, that such harrassment will be widely publicized.
Garrett should have received an ESPY for “courage” last night. One of the few reporters left who has “gravitas”.
Has Hillary said how disappointed she was by the question yet?
Garrett has been declared an apostate for daring to question Their Lord And Savior, The Obama, The Messiah, The Won.
And he did it during the Call To Worship (aka presser).
Anyone else notice, that the media reaction to Garrett’s question, was to call him out for asking a perceived improper question.
The media paid little attention to the president’s answer. They paid no attention to the content of the question. Instead, the tone of the coverage was that the media were shocked, just shocked, that Garrett would ask such a question.
Well, at least for now, we have a free press in this country. The president, or any public official, should be able and willing to answer the tough questions.
Charlie Rose was also upset with Garrett, asked him if he wanted to take the question back : http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3312589/posts
Obama doesn’t care a whit about the lives of the hostages. In fact, a good bit of the 100 billion or more that Obama is going to send to Iran will end up being used to kill Americans and non Shia throughout the world.
Interesting that a mere question set the pretender in chief off. I am left with the question “are any of the four held of the ‘black lives matter’ persuasion?”
Perhaps the answer to that question would tell us all we need to know.
I am sure Garrett can handle Obama’s petulance.
Whether he can handle the IRS cavity search that is surely headed his way is another matter.
LOL..sort of like a loud fart in church...
I read about this on Facebook early first thing this morning. What’s really brutal is reading the comments from people who were saying things like “Go Obama, go” or “Way to speak back to him, Obama” or “I loved the look Obama gave to that reporter before responding to him”. Really is scary to see all of those examples of how at the very worst, Obama’s popularity could drop to the mid to high 30s percentile range, but not any lower given these mental midgets and what they still think of him.
I just hope he disables his OnStar in his car!
I hope his taxes are in good order.
But this is what the founding fathers wanted to see. They wanted a vigorous and free press to challenge our leaders on the issues of the day. They wanted people and the media to challenge and criticize our leaders without fear of retribution.
Does anyone REALLY think being first up, with a question as biting as that and lasting so long was not known aforetime ?
psyops !
If we can get out of the gate with a demeanor that is a ga rawn teed, gen yoo ine righteous anger, the element of my being a monster traitor will be diffused and we can begin the buffalo chip meal
When Garret is no longer allowed a seat in the briefing ... THEN I will believe anything he has to say about this matter AND what jug ears' opinion may be.
That’s the built-in advantage the Demonrats will always have: a lock on the 30% moronic vote.
I take cold comfort in the fact that when the SHTF these are the ones that won’t even know what hit them.
Perhaps someday Garrett will be scolded by an actual President instead of by a petulant child.
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